Chapter 6

---

Huh! When he realized it, in front of Seiki's eyes lay a large number of onions.

Indeed, they were fresh onions.

Tears wouldn't stop flowing.

Holding the green leafy part in one hand, he managed to carry ten onions, a total of twenty, and headed towards a small room near the stairs on the second floor.

There, a gate connected each floor of the dungeon to the ground.

The gate operated like an elevator, moving up and down.

Basically, it could only go to the floor the user had activated.

If you had reached a certain floor in a dungeon, you could go there just by focusing at the gate location.

Some people accidentally forgot to activate certain floors, resulting in gaps in their accessible floors.

Even if you reached the 10th floor in an activated dungeon, you would have to start over in a different dungeon.

When setting up barricades, one had to be mindful of the gate's location.

(As a result, the entrance to the property became a bit narrower.)

The gate would move when focused on, with the ground rising and falling.

The movement felt like passing through the esophagus of a giant creature.

The ground would split open, and one would proceed through it.

The gate was a magical device, and its mechanism was unknown.

Currently, prestigious universities were conducting research to uncover its secrets.

The ceiling of the gate opened, and the platform arrived on the ground.

There, he saw onions spread out across the property, their leaves removed and drying in the sun.

"Who on earth picked so many onions?"

Of course, it was Seiki.

Overjoyed by the rare vegetables, he had gathered them in a frenzy.

In the dungeon, moving vegetables were not particularly rare monsters.

However, with the current high prices of vegetables, adventurers who came to harvest these moving vegetables were in constant demand, making them hard to obtain.

But now, he could get them almost exclusively in a dungeon he had almost monopolized!

What a wonderful thing!

Even if vegetables were expensive, the limit for selling Onion Monsters would be 1,000 yen per onion. Any higher, and there would be no buyers.

A Melon Monster would probably cost at least 10,000 yen.

But such monsters didn't exist yet.

There was a Melon Bear in a nearby town, but it didn't seem very tasty.

He processed the onions he had gathered and laid them out to dry in the sun.

During this time, Seiki returned to the dungeon to collect the abandoned Gegege shells.

Suddenly curious, Seiki summoned his skill board.

Then,

"Huh?"

Skill Points: 1

His skill points had increased.

---

When he shared the onions with his neighbor, Mr. Kito, who lived ten minutes away, the man's eyes turned red with joy.

It must have stung his eyes.

"Back in the day, I used to grow onions with my wife. But we were attacked by monsters... Damn, she passed away first. Since then, I've lost the will to tend to the fields. Ah... what a nostalgic feeling. Really, nostalgic."

Seiki's eyes also moistened a bit.

Indeed, these onions were a bit teary.

The next day, after filling his tank with 10 liters of 10,000 yen gasoline, Seiki headed to Sapporo.

While hunting onions, his worn-out knife had broken.

So he needed to buy a new weapon first...

Upon arriving in Sapporo, Seiki went to the material buyback store, "Ichibishi Buyback."

He opened the door and stood at the counter.

"Excuse me."

"......"

"Excuse me!!"

"Wh-What!?"

It took a loud shout for the female clerk to notice Seiki's presence.

(When did this guy get here!?)

Her eyes seemed to be thinking.

...Well, it's fine.

Ignoring the clerk's reaction, Seiki carried in as many Gegege shells as he could fit in his car.

"Is this all of it?"

"Yes."

"......Excuse me, did you collect all of these by yourself?"

"Yes, that's right."

The clerk's face slightly twitched.

Did she dislike Gegege so much?

The pile of Gegege shells on the counter.

A total of 216 shells.

The shells could be stacked, so he managed to fit them in the car.

But the weight was almost too much, and the engine started to struggle when he exceeded 40 km/h.

It took longer to get to Sapporo than usual, and the fuel efficiency was terrible.

At least the gas money...

Thinking this, the clerk handed Seiki an appraisal document.

"The materials have been appraised. A total of 216 shells. Unblemished shells are 1,000 yen each, and damaged ones are 100 yen and up. Please check, and if it's okay, touch your IC card."

Seiki read the appraisal document.

The total was 153,800 yen!

The shells from the first day's battle were quite damaged.

It was probably because Seiki was weak and it took him a while to dismantle them.

Still, over 100,000 yen!

This was from two days of hunting.

Gegege were truly formidable.

"Oh, I saw 'Become an Adventurer'!"

Seiki said the catchphrase used when using the 'Become an Adventurer' request board.

The usage of the 'Become an Adventurer' request board was very simple.

Register an account with an IC card and accept a request.

Bring the requested item to the requester's store and say, "I saw 'Become an Adventurer.'"

This completes the request.

Payment is made with an IC card, and the 'Become an Adventurer' system adds adventure points to the linked account.

For material buyback requests, the appraisal price is usually increased.

There's no reason not to accept a request.

"Thank you very much. I have confirmed you as the request acceptor. I will add 5% to the appraisal price."

"Wow."

A total of 161,490 yen.

In just two days, he had earned as much as a full-time professional adventurer in a day.

For a half-professional like Seiki, this was equivalent to two weeks' worth.

Thank you, Gegege.

Seiki took out his adventurer-specific IC card from his wallet and waved it.

Placing his eyes in front of the retinal scanner at eye level, a pleasant "chime" sound rang out.

Adventurers, of course, are taxed like ordinary citizens.

This IC card handles all financial transactions.

Cash earned from adventurer activities is stored in the card.

Electronic money can be obtained only at material and item buyback stores.

The accumulated electronic money can be used at various stores, like Suica or Waon.

At the end of the fiscal year, the tax amount for the next year is determined based on the accumulated electronic money in the card.

The basic deduction is 1,000,000 yen.

All used electronic money is counted as expenses.

Of course, it can be cashed out, but without a receipt, it will be counted as income.

Even if you earn 100 million yen, if you spend 99 million, you won't be taxed.

There's no reason not to use the money in the card.

This somewhat brutal system ensures that adventurers spend money on tax planning.

As a result, despite the population decline, the economy continues to function without stagnation.

Leaving 'Ichibishi Material Buyback' with a satisfied smile, Seiki next headed to the weapon store, 'Ichibishi Weapon Sales.'

As the name suggests, the buyback and sales stores are subsidiaries of the same large corporation.

They buy large amounts of monster materials, manufacture weapons at affiliated manufacturing companies, and sell them at affiliated sales companies.

By handling buyback, manufacturing, and sales within the same group, they achieve high efficiency and low costs.

While there are individual stores, they can't match the pipeline of trading companies. The large corporations will likely maintain their dominance for a while.

First, he needed to replace his broken weapon.

He entered the store and looked at the shelves from one end to the other.

The well-known Ichibishi 'Ichi,' 'Ichi,' and 'Ichi' series.

The incredibly expensive Kawakami 'KS' series, worth as much as a house.

The 'IBI' series by Banmasei, which performs well in the mid-price range but has a significant quirk.

Each series, with their logos, lined the shelves.

However, the demand for daggers was low, so the sales space was much smaller than for other weapons.

Despite the limited selection, he was quite dazzled.

Each weapon looked good, and his body felt hot, as if he were in love.

Being excited by daggers was a bit unusual a while ago.

The lowest price was 20,000 yen for the Ichibishi entry model 'Ichi.'

The most expensive was a 1,000,000 yen dagger from the mid-range 'Ichi' series.

Indeed, the high price of the mid-range model was justified.

The product tag read, "Ichi Werewolf Dagger."

The 50 cm black blade had a slightly wavy pattern.

Werewolves were monsters that appeared in the middle layers.

Using their materials meant it had a very sharp edge.

If he could get this...

Seiki fantasized, but with his current funds, it was out of reach.

Moreover,

"Still, it's impossible, isn't it?"

Indeed, it was expensive because it used a lot of high-value monster materials.

Even when he picked it up, it didn't feel like it would lift.

It wasn't heavy, but rather, it didn't transmit any force.

It felt like pushing a concrete building.

It was strange that it actually weighed less than 1 kg.

Weapons made from materials found on Earth didn't select users based on weight.

But weapons made from dungeon materials did.

Lower-level adventurers were often rejected.

Higher-level adventurers could usually equip most weapons.

One might think the bottleneck was level, but there were other conditions.

It was known that it was difficult to equip weapons other than the main one frequently used.

Even an adventurer who could equip any sword couldn't equip a bow of the same quality.

There seemed to be a level of proficiency that couldn't be quantified.

Or perhaps it was a matter of suitability.

Seiki's skill board had one-handed swords in the technique section, but not bows or greatswords.

He probably had a talent for swords but not for other weapons.

Even if he continued to level up, he might not be able to equip a greatsword made from dungeon materials.

"Greatswords look cool, though."

They looked flashy but lacked personality.

That wouldn't make Seiki stand out.

He might not even appear in photos.

Seiki didn't want to be on the front lines or focus on efficiency.

As long as he increased his presence, it was fine for now.

Until he hit a wall, daggers and knives would suffice.

That aside, it was a weapon.

He gave up on the 1,000,000 yen dagger and looked at other weapons.

Then, one dagger caught his eye.

The price was 98,000 yen.

A 40 cm black blade with a rough handle.

At first glance, it was a rugged dagger, and it was hard to understand why it was so expensive.

The tag read, "Ichi Silver Wolf Dagger."

It seemed to be an Ichibishi entry model.

Compared to a 50,000 yen knife next to it, the difference was unclear.

But when he picked it up, the difference was clear.

The handle was rough and uneven, but it felt comfortable in his hand.

The weight and balance of the blade were just right.

In contrast, the 50,000 yen knife was too light.

The feel was slightly cheap.

The difference was obvious.

Even without an appraisal eye, it was clear.

"Okay. I'll take this one."

Without hesitation, Seiki placed the knife on the counter.

"Welcome. Would you like to purchase this item?"

"---What!?"

At that moment, Seiki was more surprised than when he first faced a monster.

No way...

How could she...

She noticed me without me speaking!?

Lately, his presence had become increasingly transparent, and he had never seen anyone notice him before he spoke.

Yet, the female clerk at the counter had clearly noticed him.

She had a slightly red ponytail, a white shirt, a black apron, and pants, giving her a clean and tidy appearance.

The fabric around her chest seemed to be struggling, either in joy or pain.

She didn't seem to have any special ability to see through people.

However, she was undoubtedly beautiful.

Seiki couldn't even think of approaching her.

Her eyes met his, and his face turned red.

Unaccustomed to being seen, Seiki was intensely flustered just by eye contact.

Of course, it wasn't romantic.

It was purely because he wasn't used to being seen.

It was like a person who had spent all their time indoors suddenly being exposed to sunlight and feeling dizzy.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I'll take this dagger."

"Understood. ...Excuse me, can you equip this dagger?"

"Yes."

When asked, Seiki lifted the knife with its sheath in front of the woman.

He swung it lightly, and the woman nodded in understanding.

"I see. If you can equip it, there's no problem."

"Yes... ...By the way, can't you sell items that can't be equipped?"

"No. Sometimes people buy based on appearance or price and later complain that they can't equip it. We usually punch them and kick them out of the store—"

Huh?

"Because it's troublesome to deal with each one."

"Um... punch?"

"Yes. Not just one punch, though. At most, until their face is deformed—"

"That's enough."

Oh...

She looked delicate but was quite fierce.

However, it made sense.

Adventurers exploring dungeons often became overconfident after defeating monsters.

Empowered adventurers sometimes did incredibly foolish things.

Attacking in public or suddenly slashing people with weapons.

Of course, such fools were a minority, but they did exist.

They were drunk on their own power.

If the store clerk was a clean and well-endowed woman, overconfident fools might try to take advantage.

She might be assaulted or use her physical abilities to commit theft...

To handle any situation, the store might have a strong clerk at the reception.

"Never seen you before. Are you on an expedition?"

"No. I just became an adventurer recently."

"I see. I thought you were a mid-level adventurer because your leather armor is quite damaged."

"N-no, I'm not that strong! I'm still a beginner."

Being seen as strong was a new experience for Seiki.

He was usually seen as weak... or not seen at all.

Don't look at me!

No, I want to be seen!

---No!!

Seiki was terribly confused by his conflicting emotions.

"Ah, a beginner. Your armor is quite damaged, so you must be pushing yourself..."

The clerk slightly lowered her head, her eyelashes trembling with concern.

...Huh? Could it be that this person...

"Is it strange to worry about you not getting killed...?"

Here comes the killer glance.

Seiki couldn't resist.

"N-no, it's not strange!"

"Then, could you please equip better armor? Otherwise, I—"

"I'll buy it! For you!!"

The clerk's eyes glinted suspiciously at Seiki's response.