Chapter 3

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As I stood there, dumbfounded, inside the dungeon, light particles began to gather again at the spot where the slime had vanished.

"…What's that? A scroll?"

There, a black scroll bound with a golden string had appeared. Apart from the appearance of the scroll, nothing else had changed, but it was certainly something.

"Probably a drop item as a reward for defeating the monster? I want to pick it up, but it's too high… Ah, right, I remember that…"

I left the drawer open and rummaged through the closet. The item I was looking for was found almost immediately. It was fishing line, a paperweight, and some adhesive tape. I tied the fishing line to the paperweight and attached a loop of adhesive tape to the bottom of the paperweight. This makeshift scroll retrieval device was now complete.

"Alright, let's see if this works…"

I extended the fishing line toward the scroll. It was difficult to lower it straight down to the ground about 3 meters below, and it swayed from side to side, making it hard to aim. I stopped when it was about 10 cm above the scroll, but the paperweight was swaying wildly.

"1, 2, 3!"

I released the string all at once when the paperweight was directly above the scroll. Unfortunately, I missed, and the paperweight fell to the ground away from the scroll.

"This is quite tricky."

I reeled in the fishing line, retrieved the paperweight, and replaced the dirty adhesive tape with a new one. With the preparations complete, I tried again. Having learned from my previous failure, I smoothly lowered the paperweight toward the scroll. This time, the paperweight swayed less, and it was much easier to time it.

"This time… 1, 2, 3! Alright!"

This time, it worked. The adhesive tape stuck to the scroll perfectly, and it was reeled in by the fishing line to my hand. A few seconds later, the scroll was safely in my possession.

"Hmm…"

I examined the scroll, but it looked like a very ordinary one, with no particular unusual features. After a moment of hesitation, I decided to open it. The scroll was white with black ink, and instead of text, it was covered with patterns that looked like symbols.

"Whoa!"

As I tilted my head in confusion, the black ink began to glow. I tried to throw the scroll away, but it was too late, and it turned into particles of light that entered my body. I quickly took off my jacket and shirt, lifted my undershirt, and checked my chest where the light had entered, but there was no abnormality.

"What was that just now…?"

I shouldn't have touched something that came out of the dungeon so carelessly. As I regretted this, I touched the clothes I had taken off, and a light pop sound was heard. Something appeared in my field of vision.

Name: School Uniform (Jacket)

Condition: Good

Description: The jacket of the high school uniform

Name: Y- Shirt

Condition: Fair

Description: A mass-produced Y-shirt

"Huh?"

A semi-transparent game-like description box appeared overlapping the uniform and Y-shirt. After a moment of shock, I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, then looked again, but the description box was still there.

"…Could it be because of that scroll?"

The only thing that came to mind as the cause was the scroll that had turned into light particles and entered my body. I picked up the makeshift retrieval device from the floor, and a similar description box appeared.

So, that scroll must have been an item to learn an identification or analysis skill? This is getting more and more like a game.

"…Could it be?"

A suspicion came to mind, so I opened the closet door and stood in front of the full-length mirror. As expected, something appeared.

Name: Kujou Daiki

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Occupation: Student

Level: 1

Skill: Identification Analysis 1/10

HP: 15/15

EP: 6/10

"…There it is."

The description box displayed my information, which seemed to be my status. As expected, the "Skill" section now included "Identification Analysis." The cause of the floating description boxes in my field of vision was almost certainly this. The numbers next to the skill name probably represented proficiency, and when they reached their maximum, the skill would level up, right?

With the cause identified, I checked the other items in the description box.

"Level… Since I've never heard of levels existing in reality, it must mean I gained experience points (EXP) for defeating the slime earlier?"

I glanced at the open drawer and returned my gaze to the status in the mirror. The EP value had decreased.

"It was 6 just now, so it's now 5. That means using the Identification Analysis skill costs 1 EP…"

The EP value was now half of its maximum, meaning I had unknowingly used the skill 5 times. Since I hadn't consciously used it, it must have been a passive skill that was always active. However, if it can't be turned on or off, this skill is quite inconvenient to use.

To confirm, I tried to prevent the skill from working and peeked into the closet. The closet was cluttered with items, but no description boxes appeared. I took out a cushion from the closet and consciously tried to use the skill. This time, a description box immediately appeared.

Name: Cushion

Condition: Fair

Description: A cushion made of low-rebound material

Since the description box appeared after I consciously used the skill, it must be an active skill that I can turn on and off at will. I looked at myself in the mirror again.

Name: Kujou Daiki

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Occupation: Student

Level: 1

Skill: Identification Analysis [A] 1/10

HP: 15/15

EP: 4/10

The letter "A" had been added after the skill name, probably indicating an active skill. This means the content of the Identification Analysis skill changes based on the user's knowledge or recognition. The game-like status display is likely a user-friendly way to present information based on my knowledge or recognition.

Ah, the EP value has also decreased, confirming that using the skill costs 1 EP per use.

"To effectively use this skill, I need to increase my knowledge beyond what I have now…"

The student's primary duty is to study… I need to put this into practice. Fortunately or unfortunately, in this era, there are online encyclopedias and specialized knowledge pages on the internet, so increasing my knowledge is not impossible if I want to. It's a bit depressing, but it's better than doing nothing.

When I consciously closed the status, the description box in my field of vision disappeared. I had a rough idea of how to use this skill.

"Phew."

I'm tired. I thought the slime problem was solved, but now I have another issue with the skill. However, since the direct threat of the slime is gone, the skill is less mentally taxing.

I closed the drawer leading to the dungeon, sat in the chair, and closed the drawer.

"I hope the dungeon disappears now that I've defeated what seems to be the boss slime in this one-room dungeon…"

The existence of a dungeon in my room is the worst possible situation in terms of security and mental health. I hope it disappears soon.

With a hopeful outlook, I opened the drawer and checked inside. I froze when I saw the slime that I had just defeated, alive and well.

"…Could it be an infinite spawn?"

I was in a daze for a while, but I couldn't stay that way forever. After some slow thinking, I concluded that it might be an infinite spawn. The slime kept respawning every time I opened and closed the drawer. To confirm, I used the identification skill on the slime, but it didn't work. I took the bag of salt from the desk and poured it into the dungeon, just like before. The slime writhed in pain and gradually shrank until it disappeared.

"This one can also be defeated with salt…"

The results of the previous battle hadn't been applied. Although there were few samples, it was a significant finding that slimes without salt resistance had appeared.

However, I was concerned that the identification skill didn't work on the slime.

"…No item drop this time?"

I waited for about 5 minutes, but no items dropped, unlike after the previous slime battle. It seems that not all monsters drop items when defeated.

Feeling a bit disappointed, I closed and reopened the drawer to check if the slime would respawn. As expected, the slime was there in the dungeon, which should have been empty.

"Infinite spawn… It seems the respawn is triggered by opening and closing the drawer."

I sighed and closed the drawer.

"Well then…"

I stood up and moved to the full-length mirror in the closet. I used the identification skill on myself again.

Name: Kujou Daiki

Age: 15

Gender: Male

Occupation: Student

Level: 2

Skill: Identification Analysis [A] 2/10

HP: 25/25

EP: 11/15

As expected, I had gained EXP from defeating the slime, and my level had increased, raising the maximum HP and EP. However, the EP hadn't fully recovered, so it seems that full recovery doesn't happen upon leveling up. Recovery is currently only possible through natural means. Perhaps an EP recovery potion or a skill to promote EP recovery will appear later.

Also, the proficiency of the identification analysis skill had increased. Why didn't it work on the slime earlier?

"…Could it be?"

I took out the cushion I had identified earlier and used the skill again. The result was the same as before. Then, I let go of the cushion and tried to use the skill. As expected, nothing appeared. I turned my back to the mirror and used the skill on myself. Again, nothing appeared.

In other words…

"To use the identification analysis skill, I need to be in contact with and able to see the object I'm identifying."

This is a rather strict restriction. Not being able to use it on enemies is a bit of a letdown… However, even without long-distance identification, there are ways to use it.

And…

"Will the skill level up if I increase my proficiency?"

If it evolves into something like Identification Analysis II, it might allow long-distance identification. Of course, this is just a convenient guess, and it might not happen. For now, I'll try to max out the proficiency of the identification analysis skill.

To do that…

"I should go buy more salt now."

I need to replenish my equipment. It seems this dungeon will become a bonus dungeon once I figure out how to handle it. Since it's relatively safe to level up, I should take advantage of it while I can.

I put my uniform on a hanger, changed into casual clothes, took my wallet, and headed to the supermarket.

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I'll work hard to reach the conclusion!