Chapter 73

It's Saturday.

In front of me is an already opened D-can.

Let me explain everything.

What? You want me to skip the trash items and only report the important ones?

There's no such thing as a skip function in the real world.

You might think I'm muttering to myself, but I've been struggling to open these, so I'm in a weird mood.

I chose relatively easy ones to open, but 100 is still a lot. In the end, I only managed to open about half of them.

So, let me announce the list of opened items again.

First, the low-value items.

Kitchen timer, a large spring toy to play with on the stairs, a collection of copper coins, a kendama, a traffic safety charm, a keychain with a mini book of 100 riddles, premium pet food (already finished by Kuro and Shiro), marbles, whole tomatoes (already offered to my mom), green socks, a postcard of Danpon, a wooden dagger, a sports drink, a world map, a beret, a headband, a red feather, a white leather notebook, a lacquered bowl, gloves, a glass goldfish, a talisman (what kind of money?), reading glasses, a maneki-neko, straw sandals, sunflower seeds, bandages, a round stone, a potted cactus, a Danpon plushie.

Most of these are things you'd find at a 100-yen store.

I thought the round stone might be a special item, but it was just a regular stone.

However, the white leather notebook turned out to be a schedule book with this year's calendar. I wonder if the contents of the D-can are updated? If I opened it next year, would it contain a notebook with next year's calendar?

Next, the somewhat valuable items.

Silver ingot, gold pocket watch, platinum ring, magic silk handkerchief, magic stone (yellow), earth stone, eel.

There aren't many, but there are some good ones.

The earth stone can add an earth attribute to equipment.

I think Yano will use it eventually.

The eel gives experience points when eaten.

Items with special effects.

I'll explain each one in detail.

【Magic Ice Bag: A bag that produces ice when a magic stone is inserted. A black magic stone produces about 3 kg of ice.】

【Magic Microwave: A microwave that works when a magic stone is inserted.】

【Thunder Gauntlet: A gauntlet that electrifies the target when you punch them.】

【Master's Fishing Rod: A fishing rod that significantly improves your catch.】

【Bond Brooch (Set of 4): Allows you to roughly locate your companions when they wear the brooch.】

【Magic Flask (Curry): A flask that produces delicious curry when a magic stone is inserted. A black magic stone produces about 1 liter of curry.】

Wait a minute.

Curry is a drink, but it comes out of a flask.

It's going to be a pain to clean.

Finally, the much-anticipated skills.

All of them have been learned.

Let me recall the skills and their effects.

【Basic Spear Technique: Allows you to use basic spear techniques.】

【Magic Reflection: Reflects magic.】

【Shoulder Substitute: Takes damage in place of a companion.】

【Treasure Up: Increases the chance of getting good items from treasure chests.】

【Fairy Circle: ????】

I don't understand the last one.

I think it's a unique skill, but I don't know its effect.

Until now, I've only encountered skills like magic, detailed appraisal, and cloning, which I could understand from their names.

But here, I have a skill I don't understand.

When I searched "Fairy Circle" on the internet, I found a ring of mushrooms called a fairy ring. Is it related to that?

It doesn't activate when I shout.

I can't use it, and it has no effect.

I don't know if it's an active skill or a passive skill.

It's a mystery.

And two more.

Two extremely rare items appeared.

One is a hero's elixir.

I wish it was a saint's elixir, but I can't be picky.

The other is a golden bamboo.

When I think of golden bamboo, I remember Shingen's bamboo sword, but this is a special item, not a weapon.

【Golden Bamboo: When you break it while thinking of a skill, it can raise the rank of one skill by one level.】

A golden bamboo stick.

Raising a skill's rank is different from increasing its proficiency.

For example, fire magic could become flame magic.

It has been circulated in the market a few times, and its auction price was comparable to a hero's elixir.

I was torn.

If I wanted to improve the team, I could raise Ayame's wind magic, which would make her much stronger.

If I wanted to ensure safety, I could raise Milk's healing magic, which would allow her to create amazing potions.

But I wanted to raise a different skill.

It was either:

【PD Generation】

【Detailed Appraisal】

One of these two.

The reason is that these two skills have greatly contributed to my strength.

If I could further enhance these unique skills, how would they evolve?

For example, if I enhanced PD Generation, it might allow companions to enter. If I enhanced Detailed Appraisal, it might allow me to appraise not just items in the dungeon but also monsters and skills.

I considered waiting to get a new skill, but I was afraid I might never use it.

I asked Danpon what would happen if I enhanced PD Generation, but even with a snack as a bribe, he wouldn't tell me. It seems to be a rule violation.

He said he would tell me once I used it, so I decided to trust myself and enhance PD Generation.

I wished for the enhancement of PD Generation and broke the golden bamboo with a wooden dagger. The golden bamboo shattered instantly, as if embodying the phrase "break the bamboo."

My skill name changed to PD Generation II.

"Danpon, the enhancement is complete. What changes will PD Generation II bring?"

"Congratulations on the enhancement. First, warp points have been set up in the dungeon. This allows instant teleportation in five-floor increments."

"That's great. It was a hassle to go down to the 10th floor every time."

"You can now increase the spawn rate of monsters up to 10 times."

"That's fine as it is... Increasing it further would be dangerous."

"Next, I can now sell various items in exchange for D-coins. The D-coins used will be reflected in the cash value and ranking, so I encourage you to buy more."

Danpon showed me a catalog.

There were no extremely rare items like a hero's elixir, but there were recovery potions, magic stones, and magical items like the magic flask.

There were also services, such as health recovery and weapon repair.

I asked how much it would cost to repair a broken stone-cutting sword, and it required 10,000 D-coins.

It would be cheaper to buy a new stone-cutting sword.

However, it could be useful for repairing weapons like the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, which can't be bought with money.

"Can I pay in cash for repairs?"

"No, only with D-coins."

"Okay. Tell me what else changed with the enhancement."

"Finally, Taira's partner can now enter the dungeon."

"Partner?"

"Yes. The private dungeon and partner dungeon now have two meanings."

Partner?

When I think of my dungeon's partner, I think of Kuro, but he could already enter the dungeon.

So, it must be something else—

"Does that mean my companions can enter?"

"No, only Taira's spouse can enter."

"Oh, I see. Well, that's the general meaning of a partner, I guess."

I see, I understand.

So, the last one doesn't apply to me right now.

Taira: "The keychain with the mini book of 100 riddles... it's actually a book."

Father: "It brings back memories. Everyone had one when I was a kid."

Taira: "Was there a riddle boom?"

Father: "No, there wasn't a boom."

Taira: "Then why?"

Father: "Why, I wonder...? Tetris was also popular at the time."

Taira: "The Famicom version?"

Father: "The small Tetris on the keychain."

Taira: "Was there a keychain boom?"

Father: "No, there wasn't a boom."

Taira: "Then why was it popular?"

Father: "...Why, I wonder?"