NOVEL NEXT Book 2: Chapter 44
Chapter 44.
"Uhm... Can I ask one more question?"
"Okay, I'll answer your questions, Rikka-chan.
To Rikka's thin voice, Fukuyama replied with a fresh, biting smile.
Kusatsu and Mizue didn't seem to think much of that and looked slightly annoyed.
"What's this thing about private dungeons?"
"Ah, as expected, the general public doesn't know about this. The private dungeons are slang for actual dungeons amongst explorers. It's like the different servers in a game, do you understand?"
Rikka answered immediately to Fukuyama's explanation, "Yes, I understand."
A private room dungeon is one way of classifying dungeons, where you can enter multiple sub-dungeons through a single gate.
In this case, Tenji predicts that each group will be assigned one sub-dungeon from the dungeon gate.
It's like getting multiple sub-dungeons by buying the rights to a single private dungeon.
The goal would be for one team to conquer one route.
"Do you have any other questions for me?... Yeah, it doesn't look like there are any. Let's go then."
As soon as Fukuyama had finished confirming his intentions with the participants, he quickly turned his body towards the gate and picked up a small buckler (shield) nearby.
Seeing this, the participants also got fired up and followed him.
At that moment, Fukuyama slowly turned around.
His eyes no longer had a flirtatious look they had earlier. He seemed to have a severe expression on his face as an explorer.
"It's unlikely that you'll be attacked by a monster as soon as you enter, just to be safe, I'll go in first. I'll see you on the other side of the gate."
Fukuyama showed a glimpse of his face as a professional explorer and dived through the white gate of the sub-dungeon with an imposing look.
Tenji and the others stared at the back of his figure and waited for the right moment.
"You can come in."
Then Godo urges the participants, who had stopped before the gate, to go ahead.
Rikka gripped her spear in a panic, followed by Kusatsu, who entered, grabbing the same iron sword as Tenji.
Next, Mizue entered, also holding a sword.
"Oh, yes. Godo-san?"
"What? What's wrong?"
Tenji stopped to enter the gate and turned back to Godo, who was nearby.
He then gestures to show the sword and inner suit he is wearing.
"Thanks to Godo-san, I was able to buy a sword and a suit. With this, I'll finally be able to walk the path of a true explorer. Thank you so much."
"Don't worry about it. I am waiting to see your extraordinary results."
"Yes!"
Godo smiled a little embarrassed, but he encouraged Tenji to thank him for exceptional results.
After all the trouble he had just gone through, Tenji, feeling lighter for being able to say thank you in person, went under the gate with soft footsteps, unlike the other participants.
After passing through the gate, they found themselves in a single-story sub-dungeon with pillars like those of an old Greek temple.
Although cobblestones were paved underneath, the path was uneven and cracked in places, and there were many places where one could be knocked off one's feet if one made a mistake in movements.
The path seemed to be about ten meters wide, wide enough for a group of five to stand around.
The top of the ceiling was also relatively high, more than 10 meters above the ground. Torch-like lamps were set up halfway between the ground and the sky, giving the dungeon a unique atmosphere accepting anyone who comes to it.
The three participants were seeing the dungeon's interior with their own eyes for the first time, and even from the outside, they couldn't hide their nervousness.
Among them only one person, Tenji. Seemed to be accustomed to this and was meticulously checking the battlefield around him.
"Alright, looks like we're all here. If we walk 50 meters from here, we'll soon run into a bunch of monsters. Well, since you all have your own weapons, I want you to be aware that it's a test and show me your strength and best skills."
Fukuyama said as he once again checked the participants' outfits and equipment.
There was Rikka Tachibana, a 19-year-old college sophomore.
She wore casual clothes that were somewhat fashionable but easy to move around in. She also has an inner suit inside, and like Tenji, she seems to be wearing a fourth-grade blue suit.
She is about 150s in height and carries a rugged fourth-grade spear weapon, the Seedlance, which is as tall as her.
Kusatsu Gouta is a 22-year-old college senior.
In high school, he was a student studying a normal general field. However, in college, he chose to study dungeons, which led him to participate in the Chariot Entrance Test.
He is not taking it seriously like Rui and Asagiri, but more like a commemorative exam.
However, he is physically fit, having played rugby since junior high school. He was judged to be very suitable for the role of a shield with a huge physique, which Chariot seemed to want.
In his hand, he holds a fifth-grade weapon, the Iron Sword, which he bought with his savings, and there appears to be no inner suit inside his civilian clothes.
His clothes were probably rugby uniforms, giving him a rather sportsman-like appearance.
Katsunari Mizue is a 17-year-old high school senior.
He had failed the entrance examination of Japan Explorers High School. He hated students of Japan Explorers High School such as Tenji.
His parents are not explorers, but he aspires to be one because he is very athletic.
His clothes also revealed his seriousness, and he wore a third-grade green inner suit in his civilian clothes.
The sword he was carrying was also a fourth-grade 'Renkou Sword,' the most powerful sword in this group.
His occasional gesture of glaring at Tenji was simply a hostile stare.
Then Fukuyama saw Tenji's outfit.
"Are you sure you're Tenji-kun?..."
"Hah? Yes, I'm Tenji Amagi! I'm looking forward to working with you today!"
"Yeah, nice to meet you."
Tenji was dressed in the black, gray lines uniform of Japan Explorers High School, with a fourth-grade blue inner suit inside.
In his hand, he held the most ordinary of the five grade weapons, the (Iron) Tetsu Sword, which was somewhat poor equipment for a student of the Japan Explorers High School.
However, Fukuyama finally remembers that Tenji had a friendly conversation with Godo and that he had seen his face at funerals and other events.
"Oh, you! You're one of the wallet-eaters! I remember you! The one who made Godo-san's wallet empty!"
"What? What's a wallet-eater?"
"That's what we call you because you emptied Godou-san's wallet. Oh, so it's you! I knew I'd seen your face somewhere before, but I finally remembered. I see, you're the luggage carrier..."
Fukuyama remembered that the incident had been hushed up and immediately stopped speaking there.
Still, Tenji understood, so he nodded in silent affirmation.
Tenji had started working part-time as a luggage carrier six months ago but had never once worked with Chariot's A-team.
Even if they were paired up, for the most part, it was usually the B team people.
The Chariot has a team system.
The guild has 56 members, with nine first-grade explorers, 25 second-grade explorers, and 22 third-grade explorers.
First-grade explorers are not integrated into the team because they can work alone.
Second-grade explorers regularly work as the 'A-Team. The third-grade explorers work as the 'B Team'.
However, this was just a basic team; depending on the job, raids may be formed regardless of A-team, B-team, or first-grade explorers.
Among them, Tenji had only participated in the B team led by Godo, so he didn't know Fukuyama before him.
"Do you know him?..."
Rikka then asked the question timidly.
"I used to raid with the team led by Mr. Godo. I was not there as an assistant explorer, but as a luggage carrier."
"Yes, Tenji is just like that! I don't see it as favoritism, because today is the first time I'm involved with him myself. I mean, I don't know you, so I guess that's why I was assigned to be the examiner."
"Hahaha" Fukuyama said laughing.
Usually, he should be a little depressed, but for Tenji, who didn't want to pass the test, it was a little gratifying to hear.
However, one person did not think well of Tenji's existence.
"Tsk."
It was a fairly subdued tongue lashing, but he didn't miss Mizue's language lashing at Tenji.
Fukuyama could hear him, of course, but he dared to pretend not to.
"Oh, let's move on, since we're not going to have a long conversation here. I'll be in the back judging you guys, so the four of you can work as hard as you can."
Fukuyama said, pushing the participants' shoulders out hard and settling himself in the very back.
Pushed back, Rikka, Kusatsu, and Mizue quickly readied their weapons and turned their sharp gazes toward the end of the single path.
"Aren't you ready, Tenji?"
"Yes, it's too early."
"So..."
Fukuyama added inwardly, [As one would expect from a student of the Japan Explorers High School who has experienced dungeons many times.]
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