Chapter 7

The next day.

When I went to the Dream Dungeon, I noticed there were more adventurers than usual.

"Oh, right. It's Saturday today."

Probably, they are people who work as adventurers as a side job.

They likely came to make some extra money on their day off.

For those who only come to the dungeon once or twice a week, the one-week reset period isn't much of a hindrance, and many of them focus on dungeon clearing.

The Dream Dungeon offers low experience points and materials from the monsters along the way, but the reward for clearing it is decent, so there is demand from such people.

Right then, a party of five passed through the gate.

"…Huh? Five people?"

I had some thoughts about that number, but I decided not to worry about it.

Getting involved unnecessarily could lead to misunderstandings, and besides, I don't have the luxury to bother with others.

I used the dungeon teleport a bit later than the other adventurers.

While in the dungeon, I made sure to avoid other adventurers as much as possible, and I quickly completed three laps.

At this pace, I might even be able to aim for ten laps.

Just as I was thinking that,

On the fourth lap, I reached the boss room, but the large door was firmly closed.

Another party must have challenged the boss during my absence.

The door won't open until the boss is defeated or the party members are all wiped out.

This waiting time is quite troublesome.

"Um…"

"Whoa!"

Suddenly, I heard a voice other than my own and instinctively recoiled.

The girl who called out to me—a cute girl with long, bright hair—trembled slightly at the sight of my reaction.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, it's fine, I wasn't really startled."

"Really? But you just jumped back and shouted—"

"Let's focus on something more constructive. Why are you here alone?"

I deftly dodged her questioning and asked my own.

Usually, adventurers tackle dungeons in parties, but she was standing there alone.

For a moment, I thought she might be an exception like me, attempting a solo run, but she didn't seem to be carrying any weapons.

If she was a magic user, the difficulty of a solo run would be several times higher compared to melee combat.

There must be some other reason.

"Actually…"

Despite her confusion, the girl began to explain the situation.