Chapter 10

This work is fiction.

It has no relation to any real persons, organizations, or events.

Fujimoto Kogyo is an excellent company headquartered in Shinjuku 5-chome.

Their main businesses include civil engineering, construction, and real estate.

One of their most distinctive features is that many of their employees are explorers.

They smoothly carry out a wide range of tasks by fully utilizing the increased stats they gain from dungeon exploration.

They are registered with the guild as the Explorer Clan Ryuuseikai and have achieved a decent track record.

As a result, they are a well-known organization both as a construction company and as a group of explorers.

To be honest, before the dungeons appeared, they were engaged in freelance jobs associated with the "Yakuza." However, when the dungeons were generally opened, the then leader of the group, excitedly shouting, "It's time to make money!" rushed into the dungeon, which marked the beginning of the Clan Ryuuseikai.

Incidentally, when the dungeons were discovered fifty years ago, the people who rejoiced the most and rushed into them the fastest were the so-called "OTAKU" of Japan.

They apparently charged in without regard for the government's warnings.

However, sadly, they lacked combat skills.

They were killed before their levels could rise, or even if they did rise, they were killed after exposing a fatal weakness from a minor injury.

At first, they were mocked with terms like "extreme suicide" and "feeding the dungeon," but their sacrifices did not stop.

The final number of victims is said to be in the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

Of course, this number is likely exaggerated, but the fact that the government, known for its sluggishness, immediately restricted entry into the dungeons indicates that a significant number of casualties occurred.

Afterward, the police and the Self-Defense Forces, who were the state's instruments of violence, took on the dungeons, learning from the noble sacrifices of those who came before them.

As a result of their efforts, a template for dungeon exploration was established.

Subsequently, legal frameworks and other measures were implemented, and a few years later, the dungeons were opened to the public.

At this time, the initial enthusiasm had waned. The OTAKU, who had been deterred by the high number of casualties and the brutal reality of combat, were overtaken by the freelance professionals associated with the "Yakuza," who were experts in violence.

Having been accustomed to both inflicting and receiving violence, they naturally adapted to the dungeons and achieved a certain level of success.

As the resources they brought back from the dungeons began to benefit the country and corporations, they, who had previously been labeled as "antisocial forces" and shunned, gained the status of "explorers who delve into dungeons for the country."

This allowed those who had previously felt that their only strength was violence or that they were doing something shady to satisfy their self-esteem and desire for recognition in a legitimate manner.

With this, the story moved quickly. The employees of Fujimoto Kogyo, who had initially been skeptical of the leader's actions, began to dive into the dungeons enthusiastically.

Diving into the dungeons, fighting monsters, leveling up, becoming stronger, selling drop items to earn money, receiving praise from others, and diving into the dungeons again in high spirits... the cycle continued.

Thanks to their high stats, civil engineering and construction work progressed smoothly.

Regarding real estate, while there were some complications related to the dungeons, they were not at a loss.

There was no need to use firearms and shed blood, deal in illegal drugs to make a quick buck, prey on ignorant children or the elderly, or extort protection money forcefully.

For them, this was the spring of their era.

However, spring is a short and fleeting season.

Their spring would last only about ten years.

There were several reasons for this, but the main one was the increase in the number of explorers.

Indeed, the country and corporations, realizing they could not rely on the former antisocial forces forever, took action.

They established schools for explorers, created policies to favor explorers, set guidelines to minimize injuries, and had the police and Self-Defense Forces train new explorers.

As a result, the number of explorers increased, and the supply of dungeon resources, which had been almost exclusively controlled by them, began to decline.

However, this alone would not have led to their decline.

There was plenty of demand, and they could have earned enough by simply continuing to operate as explorers. Many of them thought so.

However, their optimistic expectations would be greatly disappointed.

The issue of explorer aptitude hit them hard.

Most of them were experts in violence.

People who were familiar with both inflicting and receiving violence—whether they liked it or not—tended to follow the same path.

For them, violence was a means to an end, not the end itself.

Ultimately, once they reached a certain level of power, they would decide, "This is enough."

Because they were familiar with violence, they became more cautious about taking risks.

In other words, low risk, low return.

This is not necessarily bad.

Rather than risking their lives or sustaining unnecessary injuries, they sought safe and steady earnings.

This is also a valid way to be an explorer.

However, this meant they could only obtain materials of a certain quality.

And with materials of a certain quality, their status and income could not rise above a certain level.

This was a natural consequence.

On the other hand, the explorers who started exploring the dungeons later were different.

They rejoiced in stat increases and praised those with higher levels.

Those who brought back rarer materials were treated like heroes.

Not everyone, but many explorers who received such education in schools, society, and corporations, sometimes disregarded the dangers and ventured into the dungeons.

In other words, high risk, high return.

Driven by their self-esteem, sense of adventure, desire for recognition, and greed, the latecomer explorers quickly overtook the explorers who focused on safety and conducted cautious explorations in the middle layers.

The explorers who had previously operated as freelance professionals associated with the "Yakuza" had to downsize as they were overtaken by the latecomers.

Of course, there were still many who wanted the materials from the middle layers.

But how long would that last?

The more latecomer explorers there were, the more materials from the middle layers would flood the market.

Moreover, if the materials from the lower and deeper layers increased, the value of the materials from the middle layers would inevitably plummet.

In such a situation, what value could explorers who could not take risks have?

In the near future, they would likely be pushed aside again.

This sense of unease was not limited to the explorers of the Ryuuseikai.

Most explorers in similar circumstances shared the same anxiety.

"Ultimately, there was nothing we could do."

The woman who said this with a wistful smile was the second woman I favored after the one who told me about the "free ticket" in the future.

She and the employees who cared for her tried hard to turn things around but failed.

Perhaps because they pushed too hard, the main members did not return from the dungeon.

The clan, which lost its main members and many explorers, collapsed, and the company, which lost many employees, also went bankrupt.

The future was not bright for the woman who was left behind.

She even considered suicide but decided to put her body on the line to ensure that at least some money would reach the children of the employees.

Whether this story was true or not, I couldn't say.

It might have been a lie to elicit sympathy.

But even if it was a lie, that was fine.

At least there was no pitiful girl.

At the same time, I thought this:

Indeed, their situation is not good.

In the future, it is undoubtedly a sinking ship.

In banking terms, it's a ship that would have its loans cut off.

However, to put it another way, this ship has not sunk yet.

It hasn't sunk, and the crew understands that their ship is sinking and is trying various methods to prolong its life.

To put it bluntly, this is:

"Profitable, isn't it?"

Mainly in the sense that they seem likely to fall for easy bait.

Of course, they are not fools.

Being sensitive to malice, they would immediately see through any attempt to deceive them by someone like me.

(Whether I could do it or not is another matter) They would also retaliate.

However, I have no intention of deceiving them, so there is no problem.

Because what I seek is coexistence and mutual prosperity.

A wonderful relationship where we use each other to our mutual benefit.

Thank you for reading.

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