Chapter 7

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"Here I am!"

With a beaming smile, the red-haired shop clerk, Yuzuki Yuzuki, saw off the adventurer who left the store with tears in his eyes.

He was such an easy mark.

Just a little bit of charm from Yuzuki, and he splurged.

She even pushed the unsold mystery item on him along with the armor.

The mystery item—probably a magic tool, a shaman-like mask.

Just holding it seemed to invite misfortune.

It looked cursed, and she couldn't even analyze it by wearing it.

Mechanical tests showed it had normal performance.

It was produced from a dungeon and auctioned off for the lowest price in history.

Thinking it might sell, she bought it for 500 yen, but even after lowering the price, no one bought it.

That's no surprise.

It looked like a cursed mask.

It was too creepy.

Given that it was an item produced from a dungeon, anyone would think,

—Is this really cursed?

She had it on display for 500 yen, but no one had touched it.

She sold it as a bonus with the armor for 500 yen!

Despite the item not selling at all, she sold it without cutting the purchase price.

Oh, what a wonderful skill.

"Of course, it's me!"

Praising herself, Yuzuki let out a "muhuhu" breath.

This would surely improve the store's evaluation for this quarter.

Yuzuki, in her early twenties, was appointed as the branch manager of the Sapporo Weaponry Store.

Any store she managed saw increased sales.

A 150% increase over the previous year was easy.

One store even saw a 300% increase.

Just now, like the dejected adventurer who left the store, Yuzuki took money from customers—no, she sold them products carefully.

Of course, she didn't do anything fraudulent.

Everything she sold was of good quality, and she only provided what suited the customer.

At first, the adventurers were disappointed at being squeezed, but they would soon realize her choices were right in the dungeon.

Those who realized it became repeat customers and spent more money.

Yuzuki called this "sowing seeds."

The harvest season was delightful.

Hehehe.

Of course, Yuzuki didn't rely on intuition for customer service.

First, she read the "Become an Adventurer" blog thoroughly to understand the current needs of adventurers.

She also explored the dungeon herself to experience firsthand where and what kind of weapons were needed.

Because of her efforts behind the scenes, Yuzuki was able to improve the store's performance.

To satisfy adventurers, how did Yuzuki choose the weapons?

There were two criteria.

One was how much equipment the adventurer could wear.

Weapons made from monster materials were a good gauge of an adventurer's ability.

Just by looking at the equipment, one could almost tell their strength.

The second was the adventurer's IC card.

No matter how strong an adventurer was, it was impossible to sell expensive items to someone with a tight budget.

Providing weapons within their price range was professional.

The IC card was the basis for this judgment.

It changed color from bronze to silver, gold, platinum, and black based on annual income, from lowest to highest.

The government originally wanted it to be an indicator of an adventurer's ability, but it didn't work out as smoothly as a driver's license.

The card the man just showed was bronze.

The color for beginners with an annual income of less than 2 million yen.

So, Yuzuki recommended the barely affordable armor made of leather and crust.

Ideally, she wanted to provide a higher-level equipment.

"Why is he bronze...?"

The short sword he held was made from the fangs of a Silver Wolf, which appeared between the 6th and 8th floors of "Chikaho."

Silver Wolf fangs were relatively easy to obtain.

When processed well, they became high-quality weapons that were effective up to the mid-lower floors.

They were a symbol of high cost-performance.

However, they were not at a level where a bronze adventurer could use them.

It should be impossible unless they could defeat a Silver Wolf.

But once they reached that level, their income would inevitably be at least silver.

Had his level risen since he received the bronze card?

It had been about two months since the start of the year.

If he had started as an adventurer this year, it would be an impossible growth rate.

So he was probably an adventurer in his second year or later, close to silver.

"Whatever."

She would put his evaluation on hold.

If he continued to operate in the testing grounds, he would inevitably come to this store.

There was time.

She could take her time to assess what kind of person he was.

"Alright! Met today's quota by noon! Oh, it's so hard. It's so hard being this talented!"

After one more task, she would visit the Ichibishi Material Buyback Store in the chain.

Then she would show them the store's sales and laugh at the regretful look on Branch Manager Ooi's face.

What a wonderful day!

Yuzuki looked at the amount on the register screen and smiled lazily.

*

Well, of course.

She never had any intention from the start!

Haseki, who had been lured by the red-haired woman, ended up buying a monster leather protector for 50,000 yen.

He was also sold a mysterious mask for an additional 500 yen.

The moment the "ching" sound rang when he swiped his IC card, the woman's previously gentle demeanor dried up like a clear autumn sky.

Her tone was light, and his wallet was empty.

"I've been tricked..."

More accurately, he had been taken in.

Thinking that the woman noticing him, someone usually ignored unless he spoke up, might be a special encounter, was his downfall.

Ah, how he hated his past self.

"But what is this mask?"

"I think you need something to protect your face.

So, how about this item!

If you buy this armor, it's a huge discount!

For just 500 yen, you can get a dungeon-produced magic tool!!"

Haseki recognized the need for face protection.

But this...

"Is it not cursed?"

Well, everyone must have touched it, so it should be fine.

Maybe he would equip it when the time was right.

While thinking about these things, Haseki watched the adventurers heading to "Chikaho."

"Wow, he's wearing the Kawamae series!! Amazing..."

"Someone with Banmatsu equipment, that's rare."

He admired those with high-end equipment.

But when he saw adventurers with the same entry-level equipment, a mysterious sense of camaraderie sprouted.

"Let's work hard together!"

Beginner adventurers were always short on money. They didn't have dungeon equipment.

Having entry-level weapons and armor was quite rare.

When weapons reached the mid-level, more people could finally afford a full set of entry-level armor.

"Maybe I stand out a bit with both my weapon and armor being entry-level?!"

Is this my chance to stand out?!

He headed for the turnstile with this hope in his heart.

To stand out a bit more, he tried to cut through the air with his shoulders.

But,

"..."

Of course, no one paid any attention to Haseki.

I knew it.

I knew it!

---

Haseki passed through the "Chikaho" turnstile with tears streaming down his face.

"Chikaho" is currently at the 30th floor.

Of course, the lower floors like the 30th are the domain of advanced adventurers, but the upper floors like the 1st and 2nd are easily conquerable by beginners.

As evidence, today, the number of adventurers who had gathered in the basement 1st floor was so numerous that counting them was a hassle.

When a monster appeared, adventurers swarmed it like amateur soccer players, beating it to death.

The monster was dead within a minute of appearing.

It was important not to try to fight here seriously.

The key was how quickly one could spot a monster and hit it as many times as possible.

(That's why few beginners equipped specialized armor.)

Furthermore, in the upper floors of "Chikaho,"

"Basement 2nd floor. Go straight 100m ↑"

"Grand Hall. Turn right after 50m →"

"Three-way intersection. Turn left after 90m ←"

Signs were installed on the ceiling.

It looked like a tourist attraction, but the dungeon was not such an easy place... or so it should be.

If just a sign was installed, it would eventually be absorbed by the dungeon.

But without signs, adventurers might get lost!

A city hall employee, thinking this, made the signs from monster materials that wouldn't be absorbed by the dungeon.

When Haseki first visited "Chikaho," he was bewildered.

Is this really a dungeon?

Now, he was used to the signs and the sight of adventurers swarming like ants to honey.

In any case, this was the place.

On the floors where beginners gathered, it was impossible to test anything.

Ignoring the adventurers who ganged up on a single monster, Haseki pushed forward.

Recently, points were added to Haseki's magic tool—his Skill Board.

The cause was probably descending to the 2nd floor.

It could also be because he had harvested—no, hunted—nearly 100 onion monsters.

But until that day, he had hunted nearly 200 Gezigezi without gaining any points.

The possibility of points being granted upon leveling up could be ruled out.

He went back and forth between the 1st and 2nd floors multiple times, but his Skill Points didn't increase.

From this, Haseki deduced that the condition for gaining Skill Points was "reaching a new highest floor in the dungeon."

This led to another question.

Would he get a point for reaching a new highest floor in any dungeon?

If so, he could secure a large number of Skill Points by just reaching the 2nd floor in all 200+ dungeons in Japan.

That would be over 200 points.

If he had 200 points, he could max out all the skills on his board.

With 200 points, what skill would he max out first?

Just imagining it made his dreams expand.

Feeling excited, Haseki lightly touched the hilt of his newly purchased short sword.

He also wanted to test its performance soon.

Today, he would go as far as he could for the test.

After descending to the 2nd floor, Haseki took out his Skill Board in a place where no one could see him.

He was worried it might not work in other dungeons, but he was able to take it out without any resistance.

It seemed to function without issues anywhere in the dungeon.

Haseki had conducted various tests with the Skill Board in the garage dungeon.

But the results were not very promising.

The only new discovery was that the Skill Board automatically returned to Haseki's chest if it was 10 meters away from him.

It was reassuring that the valuable magic tool couldn't be lost.

However, this meant it couldn't be transferred to anyone else.

Even if he no longer needed it, he couldn't discard it.

If the existence of the Skill Board was discovered, the risk of being targeted by malicious people would increase.

However, it was unclear if it would be expelled from his body upon death.

There was even the possibility of being drugged and kept alive solely for the Skill Board.

It was a real headache.

He might have taken on a bigger problem than he imagined...

Haseki sighed inwardly and looked at the Skill Board.

Skill Points: 1

"...It didn't increase, huh."

Unfortunately, the Skill Points remained at 1.

He had reached a new highest floor in "Chikaho," but the points didn't increase.

If so, there were two possibilities for gaining points.

1. All dungeons share the same highest floor.

2. Only the highest floor of the home dungeon reacts.

It was one of these.

"Or, maybe it's when the highest floor reached by humans in this dungeon is updated..."

If so, "Chikaho" was currently at the 29th floor. So, he would need to reach the 30th floor here to gain Skill Points.

That would be too strict as a requirement.

"Hmm. I need to investigate more."

For now, Haseki decided to go further.

There were still many beginner adventurers wandering around, looking for monsters to gang up on.

He would need to go down one more floor to hunt properly.

"Let's test one more thing while I'm at it."

Was this Skill Board for developing only Haseki's abilities?

To resolve this question, Haseki quietly approached a group of adventurers who were ganging up on a monster.

Thanks to his low presence, no one noticed him.

He secretly took out and activated the Skill Board behind them.

However, only Haseki's Skill Tree was displayed on the screen.

"Hmm. Is there a gesture to switch?"

Swiping his finger in various directions, the Skill Tree changed like the home screen of a smartphone.

Shigezo Takenaka (87) Gender: Male

Skill Points: 4

Evaluation: Old Hammerman

+ Vitality

+ Strength

+ Agility

+ Technique

+ Intuition

+ Special

"Wow."

Indeed, this magic tool could identify not only his own skills but also others'.

...Wait, what? Is there really an 87-year-old here!?

Looking around, he saw an elderly man in his 80s smashing a monster's head.

He was wearing a tank top, and his body looked nothing like an old man's.

He might even be stronger than Haseki, with his muscles rippling.

Is this person really 87 years old?

Judging by his appearance, it was doubtful, but his shining head, deep wrinkles, and the fact that he was using a gateball club strongly affirmed his age.

No doubt. He was Shigezo Takenaka, 87 years old.

(An 87-year-old is an adventurer...)

Reflecting on this, Haseki opened the Skill Tree.

- Vitality

Stamina 0

Natural Recovery 0

Immunity 1

- Strength

Strength 0

- Agility

Burst 0

Dexterity 0

- Technique

- Weapon Training

Blunt 1

Light Armor 0

Tool Proficiency 1

- Intuition

Detection 0

- Special

Lifespan 0

Indeed, each Skill Tree had its own unique characteristics.

The skills Haseki had were missing, and some he didn't have were present, which was probably due to individual aptitude.

Or, perhaps skills were unlocked after a certain number of uses...

Immunity, for example, was a possibility.

If raised in a sterile environment, a small cold could be fatal, but if raised in a harsh environment, one wouldn't catch a cold even if viruses entered the body.

"Resistance is built up" is indeed a truth.

And this Immunity. It had 1 point!

Blunt and Tool Proficiency were also at 1.

Maybe there were other people with Skill Boards?

It was possible.

But perhaps, skills increased when experience or proficiency reached a certain level?

If so, the small number of Skill Points available made sense.

If he had allocated Skill Points, Shigezo would have originally had 7 points.

The points for reaching the 5th floor in the dungeon.

But Shigezo didn't look like someone who could reach the 5th floor.

After all, he was an elderly man...

So, the answer was simple.

Skill levels increased naturally with experience.

And this growth was independent of the Skill Points from the magic tool.

And since Shigezo, who was on the 2nd floor, had 4 points, the possibility of "reaching a new highest floor for humans in this dungeon" was eliminated.

"I'm starting to see it."

Haseki muttered to himself.

Understanding the conditions for skill acquisition and natural growth would greatly change how he allocated his skills.

It was very important information.

Next, "Can I allocate other people's Skill Points?"...

If his body suddenly changed after a successful allocation, it might be creepy.

He might face various troublesome situations.

After some thought, Haseki tapped the screen repeatedly.

Without any lock, he was able to easily increase the skill.

There was no change in the old man's condition.

It was unclear if the skill had been successfully increased, but for now, the current questions were resolved.

Looking at the old man, Haseki thought,

You'll live a long life, old man...

Shigezo Takenaka (87) Gender: Male

Skill Points: 4 → 0

Evaluation: Old Hammerman → Long-lived Old Hammerman

- Special

Lifespan 0 → 4