NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: Blessing this NEET with a Dungeon Crawling Adventure!
Chapter 1: Blessing this NEET with a Dungeon Crawling Adventure!
Part 1
As a NEET, it was a rare occasion for me to leave my home.
I'd rather stay in the comfort of my home and play games than go outside.
The only reason I'd go outside is if there was some new game out, or if there was rare merchandise that I could only buy in person.
That day, there was a new game out called 'Myriad Swords 2'. The first fifty people who bought a copy of the game received exclusive merch.
I braved the terrors of the outside world, caught a train to the city and purchased the game.
In a good mood, I headed home while clutching the purchase close to my chest.
That was when I saw it.
A floating door in the middle of the street. It was hard to miss.
Yet, no one seemed to notice it.
I watched a woman walking straight towards the door. She walked through the door as if it wasn't there.
"..."
Curiosity got the better of me. I walked up to the door and held my hand out to it. Unlike what happened to the woman, my hand didn't go through the door. I felt it, solid wood against my hand, as well as the cold steel of the handle.
Giving the handle a turn, the door even opened. Peering inside, I saw a long corridor, one with stone walls and torches all along it. The sight wouldn't be amiss in some dungeon crawling RPG.
"Finally, my time has come…!"
Instead of panicking, I stepped into the door.
This is that kind of development, isn't it?
A scenario where an RPG dungeon appears in the real world… An inversion of those isekai where one gets hit by a truck and is sent to another world to fight a Demon King.
"Fufu… I knew I was special…"
If this is something like a dungeon that only I can access, then that means that I was some kind of 'chosen one', right?
That's how the plot of these things normally go.
With these thoughts in my head, I went inside the long corridor with my heart beating in my chest.
The door remained open, so I didn't have to worry about being locked in. With those worries out of my mind, I explored this secret dungeon…
"[Status]...! [Menu]...! [Order]...! Eh? That's weird… That usually works in those light novels…"
I tried saying aloud the cliched commands to bring up the status screen, but nothing happened.
After walking for a bit, the corridor led to another one to the right. I took a turn and kept my eyes peeled for any monsters or treasures.
As I kept walking, my legs started to get tired. Without regular exercise, my lack of endurance started to show itself. If I knew that I'd end up in this kind of amazing scenario, I would have spent more time exercising, instead of playing games all day.
Just when I was wondering if nothing was going to happen, I turned a corner and saw a stereotypical RPG mob in front of me. It was a goblin.
"Ohhh! There it is! Goblin-san, I'm such a huge fan…!"
Seeing one of the most iconic and common RPG monsters out there, I couldn't help the fanboy in me.
I almost wanted to ask it to sign an autograph for me.
However, the goblin seemed to have other things in mind. It drew a short sword from its belt and charged straight at me.
"Gobu…!"
With its short sword held out, it didn't hesitate trying to tear my guts out.
"What the hell?!"
I barely dodged to the side, my back hitting the wall.
"Huh?! Isn't this weird?! I'm already getting a monster encounter and I don't even have a weapon yet?! Isn't there supposed to be some beautiful goddess who gives me a cheat weapon or an ability?!"
My words went unheard, as the goblin charged at me again. I dodged away in time once more. This time, it was the goblin's turn to smack against the wall.
The goblin recovered and turned around. It opened its mouth, revealing its intimidating rows of sharp teeth.
"Gobuuu!"
It let out a shrill battle cry that almost made me wet my pants.
I looked around, looking for some kind of weapon to beat this goblin. My eyes settled on one of the torches on the wall. I took it out and in the same motion, smacked the goblin in the face with the torch.
"Gobu...?!"
It let out a pained yelp as the fiery torch hit it right on the face. While it was dealing with its burns, I kept smacking it on the head with the torch. The fire eventually went out, but the repeated smacks on the head made the goblin fall backwards.
I dropped the torch, slumping against the wall as I caught my breath. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Checking my phone, I saw an unfamiliar app I had no memories of installing.
When I examined the app, I saw that it was called 'Adventurer's Card'.
There was a dialogue box on the screen when I opened the app. It said,
You are now Level 1! You can now choose a class!
The weird app aside, the presence of levels and classes confirmed that there were RPG mechanics in this dungeon…
Even though they didn't give me any starting gear, this dungeon seemed to follow the classic RPG tropes.
Feeling emotional that this was happening to me, I got excited about choosing a class and customizing my own, real-life character build.
Since I've always dreamed of using magic, I wanted to choose a spellcaster class.
When I looked at the options available to me, however…
There are four classes available based on your stats, personality and potential! Available classes: Adventurer, Merchant, NEET, Pervert.
Why the hell is 'NEET' a class?!
Don't even get me started on 'Pervert'...!
As for the other classes… Merchant wasn't even a combat class, while Adventurer sounds like a generic class reserved for NPCs.
"...For now I guess I'll choose adventurer."
Maybe it's one of those things where you can unlock more advanced classes as you level up, I thought.
I noticed that there was another notification aside from the one requesting me to choose a class. I swiped down and selected the next notification.
You have unlocked the skill [Improvised Weapon] during combat!
[Improvised Weapon] Skill Rank: 1, Passive Skill
You are proficient in using improvised weapons. You gain 10% weapon accuracy when using weapons you haven't equipped from your inventory.
I read through the skill description. It mentioned things like equipping items and inventory… Did that mean that I had an inventory box to store items in?!
After reading through the notifications, I checked the app itself and saw that there were several categories to choose from, 'Skills', 'Stats', 'Inventory', 'Quests' and 'Bonds'.
I tapped on 'Inventory' first and a dialogue box popped out on the screen again.
You can store items you find in your adventure here! Based on your current 'Strength' stat, your inventory space is limited to four items!
It was basically telling me that I was a weakling.
The app told me that if I wanted to store an item in my inventory, I had to place the item above my phone and press the 'Store' button on the app. To test it out, I grabbed the short sword the dead goblin wielded and held it above my phone, then pressed 'Store'.
The short sword disappeared and one of the inventory slots now had a short sword icon in it. Tapping on the item revealed three options, 'Equip', 'Sell' and 'Drop'. I pressed 'Equip'. The short sword instantly appeared in my hand again.
I searched the goblin for more items, but it didn't have anything else. Once I got a closer look at it, I saw the horribly burned and disfigured face I gave it, courtesy of the torch. Since it looked like a human and was the size of a human child, I felt sick seeing the damage I caused.
There was also the fact that I technically killed it.
I felt a bit bad for it, but seeing that it was a monster that attacked me first, I didn't feel like mourning for it.
The other options in the app looked interesting, but I didn't want to just stand around in this dungeon reading the app, potentially opening myself for ambush while my attention was occupied.
I turned around and headed back to the entrance, choosing to familiarize myself with the 'Adventurer's Card' app before heading deeper into the dungeon.
There was also the matter of finding out what exactly the dungeon was before continuing to explore it.
Part 2
"Kazuma, you got back pretty late… Normally we always find you in your room, hunched over your computer when we get home…"
My father, Kazuya, said this when I arrived home after exploring the dungeon. When I closed the dungeon door, it remained fixated there in the middle of the road. I watched it for a while, but it didn't disappear. Cars and people phased through it, like it was just a projection.
It was rare for both of my parents to come home at a reasonable hour, since they were both corporate slaves. Reiko, my mother, as well as my brother, Kazuto, were all in the dining room, eating dinner.
"I brought your dinner to your room, since you always like to eat there… Would you like me to bring it down?"
My mother said, not realizing how painful her words were to me.
"...I can eat in my room, thanks."
I said, going up the stairs to my room, so I could play around with the app.
"...Do you think he went out to hang out with some friends? P-Perhaps even a girlfriend?"
I heard Kazuto scoff at that. He said,
"Don't delude yourself. Nii-san was probably out buying some game and lost track of time."
…Even if what he said is mostly true, that brat of a brother of mine still needs a smack to the face!
I left before I heard them start talking about how much of a loser NEET I was.
Shutting myself into my room, I changed out of my clothes and slid under the blankets of my bed, taking out my phone and launching the app.
I didn't notice before, but the loading screen of the app had a looping animation of a chibi girl with blue hair. The animated chibi danced while waving a couple of fans around.
When the app launched, I saw the categories from before, 'Skills', 'Stats', 'Inventory', 'Quests' and 'Bonds'.
I already knew what was in 'Skills' and 'Inventory', so I checked 'Stats'.
Your stats are divided into 'Physical', 'Mental' and 'Intangibles'!
I checked 'Physical' first. The stats were further divided into 'Strength', 'Stamina', 'Speed', 'Dexterity', 'Health' and 'Attractiveness'.
They were pretty self-explanatory, as confirmed by their descriptions. What was concerning was that I scored pretty low in all categories.
"...Why does it have to reflect my actual abilities?! At least give me the option to customize!"
With the point average of 40, all of my physical stats were described by the app as 'Below Average'.
Even 'Attractiveness' is below average, huh…?
Why is that stat even in there?!
Feeling depressed by my disappointing physical stats, I moved over to 'Mental'.
"...At least this seems a bit better."
The stats in 'Mental' were 'Intelligence', 'Intuition', 'Faith', 'Magic Power', 'Mana Capacity' and 'Creativity'.
My stats in 'Intelligence' 'Intuition' and 'Creativity' were all at 60, while 'Magic Power' and 'Mana Capacity' were all at 30. Faith was a low 10.
"I guess my dreams of becoming a magic user are over…"
I started sulking when I saw my low magic stats.
The last category, 'Intangibles' surprised me because of one stat in particular.
"Huh? My 'Luck' is this high? It doesn't feel like it, though?! Well, I do always win in rock, paper, scissors… And my RNG when it comes to getting rare loot in games is always godlike…"
After contemplating about why I'd have a high luck stat, I looked at the rest of the stats in the 'Intangibles' category.
There was 'Charisma', 'Willpower', 'Potential', 'Cunning', 'Bravery' and 'Luck'.
'Luck' had an outstanding '90' rating, while 'Cunning' was also pretty high at '70', making it my second highest stat. However, everything else in the category was pretty low. 'Charisma', 'Willpower' and 'Bravery' were at 20 each, while Potential was a 10.
"...No wonder I only had those useless classes available to me."
I said, while looking over at my stats, which were suited towards a Merchant class rather than an actual combat class.
Since my top stats were in 'Luck', 'Cunning', 'Intelligence', 'Intuition' and 'Creativity', I would have made quite a good Merchant.
…Rather, if there's such a thing as a Merchant class, does that mean that there were NPCs or even other players I could sell to in the future?
If this ended up being a solo-player dungeon, then the Merchant class is truly worthless.
After checking the 'Stats' category, I checked the 'Quest' category next, only to see that it was empty. The only one left was 'Bonds'. I checked it and saw that 'Satou family' was listed as a bond. Furthermore, it was listed as 'Rank 1'.
Bonds
Satou Family, Rank: 1
At Rank 1, your family will barely tolerate your social status as a 'NEET'. If you disgrace the family, they will immediately disown you and wipe your name from the family register. Your brother is ashamed of you and pretends that he is an only child at school. If you mention wanting a non-blood related step sister again, your parents might beat you to death.
…That was easily the most depressing thing I've ever read.
I closed the app after checking out all the features. After that, I went online and searched for any similar stories of people finding floating doors that lead to dungeons.
After sifting through some very generic web novels and obvious trolls, I came upon a post on a message board, one that claimed they experienced the same thing.
Clicking on the post and reading through it convinced me that this person came upon the same dungeon, or at least a similar one to the one I saw.
…The only problem was that there was one thing that made me think that the author was making it all up.
After discovering the hidden door and exploring the dungeon, I, Megumin, found another hidden door next to my school! The door led to a dark room and inside it, there was a beautiful dark goddess named Wolbach… This Wolbach offered to teach me the most powerful attack magic of all… Explosion magic! Since I unlocked the prestigious Arch-Wizard class, I was able to learn this skill, using up all the abundant amount of skill points I started with…!
The post was filled with random chuunibyou ramblings, making it hard to believe.
Although there were the similarities of a hidden door that led to a dungeon, this person with the weird username 'Megumin' also talked about a dark goddess named Wolbach.
Not only did I not encounter any such beautiful goddesses, I had to learn skills on my own. Not to mention, I didn't even have any starter equipment…!
Even though I thought that this 'Megumin' was some brat who was uploading their cringey fanfiction online, I sent them a friend request anyway. If they were actually someone who encountered the same dungeon I did, I wanted to have a way to stay in contact with them.
After doing some more research, I took a shower then went to bed. Just before sleeping, I thought about all the adventures I'd have in the future.
Life was boring until I discovered the hidden dungeon. Playing games all day was fun and all, but it was hardly fulfilling. Now, I had something to spend my time on.
Part 3
"Huh?! Kazuma, why are you up so early?! Could it be… Are you going to school?!"
"No way."
When my parents saw me waking up early in the morning and going down for breakfast, they couldn't believe their eyes.
Kazuto stared at me while sipping his miso soup.
"...Don't get your hopes up. I bet nii-san just wants to watch an early morning, mahou shoujo anime aimed at little girls."
"If I wanted to watch the newest episode of 'Lolicure', I'd just record it the night before…!"
This brat Kazuto had been mouthing off to me lately. I should teach him a lesson one of these days…
I left the house before they could start asking me any more questions. Since my bond with my family was only listed at 'Rank 1', I figured that I'd also try to join them for breakfast and increase that rank a little, but they already pissed me off before I could do that.
As for the reason why I wanted to increase the bond rank, I figured that I'd get something in the way of EXP or a rare reward if I did…
Maybe at max bond rank, they'd all become my willing slaves and let me live a relaxing life without calling me rude nicknames, like 'NEET-zuma' and the 'family guard dog'.
Wearing the usual tracksuit, I decided to go on a jog to the train station. I didn't do this because I wanted the exercise, or any stupid reason like that. The only reason why I went on a jog was due to the new notifications I received under the 'Quest' tab.
New Quests Available!
Go on a thirty minute jog! Quest rewards: 30 exp, +1 speed, +1 stamina
Go to school! Quest rewards: 30 exp, +1 knowledge, +1 Bravery
Kill 3 monsters in the dungeon! Quest rewards: Random loot box
Going to school was out of the question, but the jogging one and the dungeon one was something I could do.
Although I said that…
"Hah… Hah…!"
I started to get tired of jogging halfway in.
I guess this is what a lack of exercise gets you.
Furthermore, when I arrived at the train, I received a lot of annoyed looks, since I arrived all sweaty and stinky.
…And I didn't even get any rewards for my efforts since I started walking after fifteen minutes.
"W-Whatever. The dungeon is where I'll do most of my leveling anyway…"
I didn't even know why two of the three available quests involved real life activities. What did going to school have to do with dungeon crawling?
When I got off the train, I headed to the street where I last saw the floating door. Just like before, I was the only one who could see it.
I walked up to the middle of the street and opened the door, stepping inside the long corridor.
"Yosh… Let's grind!"
The gamer in me couldn't wait to raise my levels and collect rare loot.
I didn't know what was the endgame to all of this, why this dungeon suddenly appeared in front of me that day, but unraveling that mystery was fun in its own way.
At the very least, it would splash some color into my boring life.
I took out my phone and launched the 'Adventurer's Card' app. I watched the animation of the blue haired girl play on the loading screen before the main screen popped out.
After tapping the 'Items' tab, I equipped the short sword I collected from the goblin. The sword appeared in my dominant hand.
Crude Iron Sword (Common)
Dropped by a goblin. Hey, it's better than nothing.
Durability: 10/10
Weapon accuracy: Dexterity Modifier (40% chance of hitting)
Weapon Damage: 1 slashing damage + Strength modifier (+4)
Sells for: 1,000 yen
What was with that lazy item description?
There's even a hint of condescension in it.
Also, I figured that the items would be converted to gold coins or some other RPG equivalent.
Yet, it was a straight up yen conversion.
Furthermore, the value for it was low, at 1,000 yen. I could probably get more for it if I sold it on Amazon or some pawn shop.
Perhaps the 'sell item' option in the inventory was for useless crap you couldn't be bothered to sell in real life, or for rare items that wouldn't have a proper value in modern society, something like a magic weapon.
With the shortsword equipped, I traversed deeper into the dungeon.
The goblin's corpse wasn't there anymore, although there was still a bit of its blood staining the ground.
I passed through the blood stained ground and explored deeper than I did the other day, the shortsword held out in front of me.
Since I played a lot of dungeon crawlers in my life, even playing those old 'Wizardry' games, I knew more or less what to expect.
Furthermore, since my 'Intuition' stat was pretty high at '60', I had a good sense of when an enemy might show up…
"Going by stereotypical game design, a monster will surely appear around this corner…"
"Skreee!"
Just like I predicted, when I turned a corner, a giant bat flew out and tried to ambush me.
Since I was ready for it, it was a simple matter to cut the bat down. It helped that the bat flew straight into the trajectory of the sword.
"Ohh! This is even more fun than playing games…!"
It was different from a game, actually feeling the weight of a sword in your hands, the cathartic surge of accomplishment that comes after victory, the rush of adrenaline as you face a potentially life-threatening encounter…
I checked the app and saw two new notifications.
You gained the [One-handed Sword] skill during combat!
[One-handed Sword] Skill Rank: 1, Passive Skill
You are proficient in using swords that require one hand to wield. You gain +10% weapon accuracy with attacks using one-handed swords.
You gained the [Enemy Detection] skill during combat!
[Enemy Detection] Skill Rank: 1, Passive Skill
You can focus your senses to detect enemies within a 15 foot radius around you. Your Intuition score (60) will go up against the enemy creature's 'Cunning' score when determining if the enemy creature is detected by you.
Aside from the new skills, I also gained 5 exp from killing the giant bat.
Considering that it takes 50 exp to reach level 2, I had quite a bit more grinding to do.
As for dropped materials, I looked at the mangled corpse of the bat.
I didn't really want to touch a monster's corpse too much. After seeing that it didn't have any items or anything, I left it alone.
As my sword had limited durability, I didn't want to potentially lower it by trying to harvest materials from the bat. I also thought that the idea of skinning a monster bat was gross.
Going past the dead bat, I headed deeper into the dungeon.
As I headed deeper in, I sensed a monster with my new skill.
Knowing it was there, I crept low and made my approach as silent as possible.
Then I turned the corner and slashed at the presence I felt, before it could do anything.
"Gack…!"
It was another goblin. The slash cut across its torso, killing it on the spot. It fell back with blood pooling around it, not even having a chance to fight for its life.
You have unlocked the [Lurk] skill during combat!
[Lurk] Skill Rank: 1, Active Skill (5 mp cost)
You can hide your presence from enemies. Your 'Cunning' score (70) will compete against the enemy's 'Intuition' score to determine if the enemy creature detects you.
Another useful skill.
…All of these skills I was unlocking were starting to lead me down the stealth-based route.
Not that I minded at all, since such builds are often useful in dungeon crawling games.
When I looked at the loot the goblin dropped, it had a short bow and a quiver with ten arrows that it never got to use.
Crude Shortbow (Common)
Dropped by a goblin. Hey, it's better than nothing.
Ammo: 10/10 (Stone-tipped arrows)
Bow Accuracy: Dexterity modifier (40% chance of hitting)
Damage formula: 1 piercing damage + strength modifier (+4)
Sells for: 500 yen
…Why is the item description the same as the sword?!
Not to mention that it was even cheaper than the sword…
My attacks had been hitting so far, but I didn't like how my weapon accuracy for the sword and the bow was this low.
After all, the one who lands the first attack has a significant advantage in battle.
Even with a successful use of [Lurk], combined with the [One-Handed Sword] passive skill, my weapon accuracy with a short sword maxes out at 60%.
From up close, it was too dangerous to miss the first strike…
I equipped the shortbow, deciding to focus on unlocking bow skills. It was safer to shoot from afar, and I didn't want to risk opening myself up to counter attacks if my melee attack missed.
With an arrow notched into the bow, I advanced forward, looking for my third kill of the day.
Part 4
It took a bit longer to find my next target.
This time, I had a visual of it since it wasn't just around the corner. It stood at the end of the corridor.
I peeked my head from the corner and watched a dog-like creature standing on two legs, equipped with a sling. It was probably a kobold, from the looks of it.
Drawing the bowstring back, I took careful aim on the kobold while keeping [Lurk] active.
Since I had never fired a bow before outside of some mandatory kyudo practices during PE class, it took a while for me to feel confident enough to release the arrow.
I watched the arrow fly as I released the bowstring. Luck was on my side as it flew straight and hit the kobold at the back of its head.
It didn't take long for it to slump down to its knees and fall backwards, dropping dead.
You gained the [Bow] skill during combat!
[Bow] Skill Rank: 1, Passive Skill
You are proficient in using bows! You gain 10% weapon accuracy when using bows.
You gained the [Snipe] skill during combat!
[Snipe] Skill Rank: 1, Active skill (5 mp cost)
Add your Luck modifier (90%) to Weapon Accuracy calculations involving bow-type weapons (Max total: 100%).
…Huh?
Isn't [Snipe] the perfect skill for me?!
Even though I was worried about Weapon Accuracy before, this luck-based skill came out of nowhere that would basically ensure that all my attacks with a bow landed!
Granted, there was still the mana cost I had to worry about, but this was still an insane skill!
Quest Completed! You have killed 3 monsters in the dungeon!
Reward: Random loot box
While I was still celebrating from gaining a skill that seemed custom made for me, I got even more good news.
I tapped the notification and a gift box appeared in my inventory. Not wanting to open it in the middle of the dungeon, I decided to leave. The sling that the kobold dropped seemed worthless to me, but I still kept it just in case.
Once I left the dungeon, I let out a satisfied sigh. Even though I didn't level up, I felt like I accomplished a lot.
Time passed by normally in the real world while I was inside the dungeon. I found this out by setting a timer on my phone and synchronizing it with the clock in the train station.
On the way back home, I got even more glares, since I was covered in sweat from fighting monsters in the dungeon. I ignored the stares and concentrated on my own good mood.
No one was home when I got there, since Kazuto was at school and my parents were working. After a quick shower, I went to my room to open the random loot box I was given.
When I took it out of my inventory, a blue gift box tied with pink ribbons came out. There was a tag on it.
To: The HikiNEET
Enjoy my wonderful gift! You're doing good so far, but make sure to do all the quests my cute app-chan assigned to you! Go to school tomorrow, got it?!
From: The beautiful goddess of water, Aqua-sama
Who the hell is this bitch?!
I found it strange that I haven't met any goddesses yet who have given me some kind of cheat weapon or ability…
Finally, I got something from a goddess, but why is this goddess calling me a HikiNEET?!
Ripping up the tag with the rude message, I opened the box and looked at the contents.
"...Oh?!"
Due to your high Luck stat, you have received a rare drop!
Book of Magic Potential Awakening (Super Rare)
Awakens the latent magical talent in you. Will give you magic spells according to your talent for magic.
There it is! I can finally use magic!
I imagined myself throwing fireballs at goblins and striking them down with lightning…
Opening the book, I peered inside the pages.
The book started to glow, making me close my eyes. When I opened them again, the book disappeared from my hands.
You gained the skill [Elementary Magic] from reading the 'Book of Magic Potential Awakening'!
Since your potential for magic isn't very high, you only gained the ability to use the beginner magic spells [Tinder], [Create Earth], [Wind Breath], [Create Water] and [Freeze]!
Where's fireball? Where's the lightning spells?
Even though it's an SR drop, it gave me such weak sounding spells?!
Since my mana recovered a little bit after I left the dungeon, I went to the backyard to try them out.
"...[Tinder]!"
A small flame shot out from my pointer finger. The intensity of the fire was similar to the one found from a lit match.
"T-That goddess gave me some kind of defective item! There's no way my magical potential is this bad!"
I thought about that story I saw on a forum, the one from someone with the username 'Megumin'.
Apparently this Megumin learned the strongest attack spell, [Explosion] from a dark goddess named Wolbach…
I didn't know who this goddess of water Aqua was, but she gave me some kind of shitty magic…!
"Damnit, what a waste…!"
Even though I was previously in a good mood, I spent the rest of the day sulking in bed.
Part 5
"Up in the morning again…? You'll go to school this time, right?"
"No way."
The scene from the last morning repeated itself again.
I attempted to try the jogging quest again, running from my home to the train station.
Although I managed to get a bit farther than the last time, I still couldn't finish the challenge yet.
Once again, I annoyed the other passengers in the train because I was all sweaty from my jogging.
Aside from the school quest, which I resolved to never do, the jogging quest was the only one available that would give me a lot of exp all at once.
I expected another quest to replace the one that asked me to kill 3 monsters in the dungeon, but I didn't find any new quests when I woke up the next day.
…If it's something like the quest list won't refresh until I finish all the quests, that would mean that I'd have to go to school eventually.
Putting those depressing thoughts aside, I entered the dungeon for the third time.
I equipped both the shortbow and the short sword. The shortsword was still sheathed at my waist, held there by a belt and a strap, while I had the shortbow in hand.
My goals for the day were to explore more of the dungeon, grind EXP and to look for loot that I could sell.
Since the items could be sold for money, that would mean that I could buy all kinds of things in the real world.
…There was also the possibility that if I encountered some rare loot, I could sell it for a lot of money.
With all that money, I wouldn't even have to go to school or worry about money anymore. I could even move out of my house and buy a mansion.
This dungeon could give me a life of luxury…!
Although the range of [Enemy Detection] at Rank 1 wasn't that far, it was still useful in alerting me whenever there was a monster around the corner.
In this way, I ended up finding another monster…
"Eh…?"
I looked at the monster ahead… It looked like some kind of flying cabbage?
Even though the goblin, the giant bat and the kobold I saw before fit the category of typical RPG monsters, this cabbage with leafy wings flapping around suddenly appeared…
After using [Lurk] to hide my presence, I aimed with my shortbow…
"[Snipe]!"
When I shot down that kobold before, I had to use every ounce of my concentration to aim the shot.
Using the [Snipe] skill, it felt like I had aim-bot on. It almost felt like cheating
The cabbage fell down, the arrow sticking out of it.
I walked up and retrieved the arrow, placing it back into its quiver.
Picking up the cabbage that fell down, I held it in front of the app and placed it in my inventory.
Cabbage - Food (Rare)
Fresh and nutritious. Delicious when stir-fried or put into a soup. Can be eaten raw, too. I recommend eating it as a salad! Gain 15 exp when consumed. Might receive bonus stat boosts if cooked/prepared before it's eaten.
…This dungeon gives food ingredients as monster drops?
Even though it was from a monster, it looked like any ordinary cabbage.
I was tempted to eat it just to raise my EXP, but I wanted to see what the bonuses were if I cooked or prepared it into a meal.
After putting the cabbage away, I kept going ahead.
Occasionally, I would stop and take out a notepad from my pocket, drawing a sketch of the explored areas of the dungeon as I went along.
When I found another flying cabbage, I used my best combo of [Lurk] and [Snipe] to swiftly take it down.
Just when I was putting the cabbage in my inventory…
Lettuce - Food (Common)
Kind of like the cabbage, but doesn't give as much experience. Make it into a salad, stir-fry it, use it for garnish, the choice is yours! Gain 5 exp when consumed.
My inventory was already full. I decided to just scrap the sling that the kobold dropped, selling it for a measly 300 yen, which freed up an inventory slot. Having only 4 available slots was a pain, but there wasn't much I could do about it with my below average 'Strength' stat.
Since my inventory was full, and I was only 20 exp away from leveling up, which I could accomplish by eating the cabbage and lettuce I got, I decided to leave the dungeon early.
I tried jogging back after getting off the train, but I still couldn't finish that damn quest.
Part 6
I got back home around lunchtime, which was perfect, since I wanted to cook those ingredients.
Since I was someone who stayed home all day, I was used to cooking a few dishes here and there.
As for what I'd make them into, I went with a simple stir-fry.
Creating this meal allowed you to learn the [Cooking] skill!
[Cooking] Skill Rank: 1, Passive Skill
Cooking food ingredients dropped by monsters will give a slight increase to the bonus benefits gained when eating them.
I wasn't expecting to earn a cooking skill out of nowhere, but I wasn't complaining about the useful effect of the skill.
Congratulations! You have created the item 'Cabbage and Lettuce Stir-fry'!
The meal is a 'Decent' quality!
Eating this meal will raise your 'Health' stat by 1!
I hurriedly ate the meal, wanting to raise my maximum hit points from 40 to 41.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 2!
You have gained 1 skill point upon leveling up!
…Only 1 skill point, huh?
While munching on the stir-fry I made, I looked through my skills and considered what I should spend my skill point on.
I thought about raising my bow related skills, since that was my main weapon.
However, with my high Luck stat combined with [Snipe], there wasn't really any reason to raise it any more.
Instead, I decided to rank up my [Enemy Detection] skill.
Since it was a passive skill, it meant that it was active at all times and didn't consume mana to activate.
In theory, if I could spot enemies first and shoot them down with [Snipe], I could go through this dungeon with an unstoppable stealth archer build.
Congratulations! [Enemy Detection] has reached Rank 2!
Detection radius improves to 20 feet.
It was a small upgrade, but with future rank ups, I felt like investing points in that skill would serve me well.
After eating lunch and allocating my only skill point, I thought about playing some video games.
I still haven't played 'Myriad Swords 2' since I bought it.
However, when I thought about it…
"...What's the point?"
After exploring a real dungeon, playing an RPG didn't feel exciting anymore.
Besides, why would I grind EXP in the game if I could do it in real life?
I tried doing other things to entertain myself, but I felt restless.
"Damnit, why does the dungeon have to be so far away…?!"
I said, once I finally caved into my desire to explore the dungeon. Leaving the house a second time, I headed over to the train station.
My boarding pass was starting to run out of train fare. I didn't have much in it to begin with, since I only rode the train whenever I needed to buy something in the city.
In terms of money, since I spent the month's allowance buying 'Myriad Swords 2', I only had the 300 yen I got for selling the sling as my savings.
…I didn't like the thought of it, but I might have to start harvesting materials from monsters to sell for parts.
I entered the dungeon with that resolve in mind.
…
...
Up until now, I hadn't seen any turns or different routes that split off from one path in the dungeon.
However, as I passed the areas I explored previously, two different corridors opened in front of me.
"...Is this one of those developments where one route leads to a nasty trap?"
I advanced with slow, careful steps when choosing one of the paths to go to, as well as making sure to update the map in my notebook, so I wouldn't get lost.
For good measure, I also marked the left side of the wall with the shortsword. Since I wasn't using the shortsword for combat anymore, I wasn't concerned about its durability going down.
As I explored the new path, [Enemy Detection] warned me of any enemy up ahead.
Using [Lurk] to sneak up on the enemy, I peered around the corner… Only to see that there were two other figures along with the monster I sensed.
There was what looked like a slime monster, but what surprised me was the presence of people.
There were two girls fighting the slime, the first time I had seen people in this dungeon.
"W-What kind of gross monster is this… Kyaa?!"
A silver haired girl yelled out, as the slime attacked her. The slime didn't seem to be harming her body, but her clothes were melting as the slime made contact with it.
Aside from the silver haired girl, there was a tall blonde girl who also suffered from having her clothes melt from the slime. Unlike the first girl, however…
"...T-This slime is only targeting our clothes?! W-What a splendid creature! This is the best monster we've encountered so far! Kuh!"
That girl gave me dangerous vibes.
As for what I did…
"...N-Nooo! My panties are melting! This is so embarrassing…!"
I went with the 'wait and see' approach.
Eventually, the silver haired girl managed to free her arm. She had a dagger and stabbed the slime repeatedly with it. After a few strikes, the slime began to dissolve around her.
She covered her chest with one hand and proceeded to stab the slime engulfing the blonde girl, eventually defeating it as well.
"Hah… Hah… That was close… We were almost naked…"
What a shame.
I slipped out from my hiding place, which made the other two girls look at me in surprise.
"...Is that some kind of orc variant?"
"No, I think it's a boy… Wait… Eek?!"
The silver-haired girl went down on her knees and covered herself up.
Part 7
As a favor to the girls, I accepted their money and stepped out of the dungeon to buy some spare clothes from a nearby store.
Since the dungeon entrance was in the middle of the city, there were many stores around.
When I came back, I handed over the clothes to the girls and they changed into them.
"I-I feel like you picked these clothes out with malicious intent…"
The silver-haired girl said, looking at the green active top I bought for her. It exposed much of her midriff and the short shorts that went along with it didn't do much to hide her thighs and legs.
I respectfully admired her slim tummy and firm thighs.
As for the blonde girl…
She didn't complain about the outfit even if it was even more revealing than the silver-haired girl's.
In fact, she looked oddly grateful for it…
"So, what are your names? I'm Satou Kazuma."
I said, introducing myself.
"Um… You can just call me Chris…"
"...You can call me Darkness."
It felt like they both gave me fake names.
I didn't question it, since we were still strangers. They probably didn't want to give away their names to a guy they didn't know.
Especially a guy who bought those revealing outfits for them. Maybe I shouldn't have done that.
"So, Satou-san… It seems that you've been exploring this dungeon like us. Do you have the 'Adventurer's Card' app as well?"
Chris held up her phone, showing me the same app I had.
I nodded and showed her mine. I said,
"The app suddenly appeared on my phone a couple days ago, at the same time I came across a floating door in the middle of the city."
Darkness nodded and said,
"Y-Yeah… The same thing happened to me. Shortly afterwards, when I went to school, I saw another door there. When I entered it, I met a goddess named Eris, a goddess who governs over 'Luck'."
"Huh? You met a goddess? How come that never happened to me?!"
Come to think of it, that message board poster named 'Megumin' also talked about encountering a goddess called Wolbach…
Suddenly, I remembered the message I got that came with the random loot.
'Go to school, got it?!'
It was also signed by a so-called goddess of water named Aqua.
"...Did that Eris give you anything or tell you something important, Darkness?"
"She gave me the mission of retrieving magic artifacts. She said that other humans like me might have some powerful artifacts in their possession. Ah, do you have anything like that, Satou-kun?"
Along with Darkness, Chris also began inspecting me. Having such beautiful girls looking at me intently wasn't bad. Should I strike a pose for them?
Before I could do anything that might get me arrested for sexual harassment, Chris sighed and said,
"It doesn't look like he has anything on him. My [Detect Treasure] skill is saying that he's basically penniless…"
"That's something that you shouldn't say out loud."
Even if it was true, I still had my dignity. I said,
"...So you girls are looking for artifacts?"
Chris turned to Darkness, who continued on with the explanation,
"Eris-sama told me that a goddess of water named Aqua has given out powerful artifacts to those who can access the dungeon. The reason why Eris-sama wants us to take these artifacts back is because she believes that it will cause chaos in our world if they ever fall in the wrong hands…"
Wait, this goddess of water Aqua… Isn't that the same one who's been messaging me?"
I decided not to mention Aqua and said,
"Well, as you can see, I don't have any such artifacts on me…"
"That seems to be the case! I know, why don't we exchange contact info? That way we can keep in touch and figure out this whole dungeon situation. Three heads are better than one, right?"
Chris said, taking her phone out again.
Having the contact info of two beautiful girls…
Has my popular period arrived…?
I easily agreed to the offer. That said… Even though I now had the contact info of two beautiful girls, the names 'Chris' and 'Darkness' just made them seem like fellow otaku buddies I met at some convention.
It wasn't something I could show off to my family. They'd just laugh at me before feeling pity for my shitty social life.
We split off in different ways, since they used a different entrance to access the dungeon.
I didn't want to leave the dungeon just yet, since I barely gained any exp and loot, but I also had a lot to think about.
Based on the story Chris and Darkness told me, this Aqua was giving away artifacts to people.
However, if I wanted in on that action, I'd probably have to go to school.
…I didn't know why goddesses chose schools as the gateways to their realms, but there was nothing I could do about that.
At the same time, I could also just go to school, check to see if any doors appeared there, then leave once my business was over.
…
…
When I got home, I went to my room and turned on my PC. I noticed that 'Megumin' accepted my friend request.
I decided to message them.
RNGod: Hello?
Megumin is typing…
I waited for them to respond. Based on the amount of time they spent typing, I thought I'd get a long message, but…
Megumin: Who dis?
Just that?!
I shook my head and typed back,
RNGod: I saw your forum post the other day, about the dungeon…
Megumin: Oh! Don't tell me… Are you also one of Wolbach-sama's chosen ones?! Are you one who wields the ultimate destruction magic of Explosion?!
The chuunibyou is strong in this one…
I decided to play along, since I wanted to get information out of her.
RNGod: Ah, yeah… Something like that. You said that you met Wolbach-sama in your school, right?
Megumin: Indeed! The day after I discovered the dungeon and unlocked the 'Arch-Wizard' class, I went to school like normal… That was when… Behold! A door leading into Wolbach-sama's domain appeared at the school gates!
Chris and Darkness didn't mention anything about a Wolbach, but it was still the same story as Aqua. With the exception of Eris, the goddess of luck, there were other goddesses out there giving out cheat items and powers.
I didn't know why the goddesses had different methods and didn't agree with each other, but if I had a chance to pick up a cheat item or powerful ability, there was no way I'd miss it.
RNGod: I see… Well, I hope we can meet up someday. After all, we are both one of the chosen ones who can enter dungeons…
Megumin: …Not so fast! What if you're some creepy guy who wants to kidnap me? You need to provide proof that you're one of the chosen! Send a screencap of the app!
Even though this 'Megumin' is chuuni as hell, they seemed to have a good head on their shoulders. They even intentionally didn't say the name of the app, leaving the onus on me to prove myself.
I took several screencaps of the 'Adventurer's Card' app, showing everything except my personal information and specific information about my stats and skills.
I didn't know if there was a PVP element to this dungeon system, or if players were allowed to kill other players, but I didn't want to risk giving away my information to someone I didn't know well.
However, even just the main menu and the interface was enough to show that I had the app as well. After all, there was no other app like it.
Megumin: Fuuu… You have convinced me. Where do you want to meet up?
RNGod: I also found some people who can enter the dungeon and I'm planning on meeting up with them eventually. I'll set up a meeting with them and invite you along.
Megumin: Very well… But you better not forget to invite me! I am looking forward to our fateful meeting!
I felt exhausted once the conversation was finally over. Dealing with those chuuni types certainly takes a lot out of you.
As I laid in bed, I thought about everything that happened the last few days.
Not only did I discover that dungeon, but I was even planning to meet up with other people. Not to mention that I might even have to go to school again.