Episode 149: Six "Players"
"Everyone, cheer up! We've got a new companion!"
As soon as they arrived at the "Adventure Guild Inn" on the first basement level, Ryouma shouted joyfully.
There were five men and women present.
It seemed they had all been in the middle of eating.
"Ah, my, my!""...Hello...""Nice to meet you!""Uh...""Oh, a newbie, huh?"
Quickly summarizing their physical appearances:
A middle-aged woman (natural curls),
A brooding middle school boy,
a gyaru (blonde),
a gyaru (brown-haired),
a gyaru (black-haired, long straight hair).
...Is the gyaru ratio too high?
There aren't many distinguishing features besides hair color, which is a bit confusing.
All three of them are dressed almost identically.
Well, that's probably common in close-knit girl groups...
"Excuse me, may I perform a Skill Assessment on all of you?"
After asking, the five of them exchanged glances, then
"Wow, you actually got a niche skill like that?"
said the gal (blonde).
"Niche?...《Skill Assessment》?"
"Yeah. There's no one else in our group who has that skill."
It's hard to say which skill is better—it varies from person to person...
"It's actually quite useful. You can gauge the difference in strength between yourself and your opponent."
"Is that so?"
The girl (blonde) is nodding thoughtfully, deep in contemplation.
She might have something on her mind.
So, taking her approval—
"Ah, well, no problem. We're all teammates, after all, so no need to hide anything."
With the Osaka-accented middle-aged woman's permission, I proceed to check the skills.
………………Conclusion.
I'm amazed at how far everyone has come.
The Osaka woman and the middle school boy are barely above level 30, but the girls are still not even at level 20—something like level 13 or 14, really.
I’ve already learned through experience that level doesn’t directly equate to a “player’s” strength… but this level of weakness is frankly surprising.
I’m at a loss for how to comment when—
“You guys are weak as hell, seriously.”
A toast to "Gambling Master" for their straightforward personality.
"Haha~. We were mostly just clinging to Ryoma-kun and Ichii all along, you know~"
It seemed "Ichii" referred to a brooding middle school boy.
When his name was mentioned, Ichii-kun flashed a smug smile.
"Well, …you know. (Ha ha, gotcha.)"
Hmm.
An air of confidence utterly unlike a middle school boy.
Perhaps this is the kind of confidence unique to those who have someone they must protect.
"By the way, sis, how much gold do you have right now?"
"Gold?"
She tilted her head, confused as to why she should need to tell them something like that.
"Slow down. From now on, since your livelihood will increase, you'll need to hunt even more than before. The 'Slime with Feathers' on the first basement level gives more gold per unit, but it's also much harder to hunt."
"Yeah, I get it."
Currently, about five hundred thousand gold... I was about to say.
But the "Gambler" gently placed a hand on my shoulder.
"No need to worry. We'll earn the gold we need ourselves."
And quietly, to me,
Avoid getting too familiar with these people here.
And mutters to themselves.
Now that we've heard about the "King" incident, we're obligated to hurry ahead.
Despite saying they're partial to one horse or another, they seem to be staying remarkably calm.
Well, that's to be expected.
The "Gambler" seems to have given up on normal romance ever since drinking the "Hobbit's Drink."
"We'll clear the basement level our own way. So you guys just stay out of our business."
For a brief moment, the expression of the three girls flickered with boredom, but Ryoma quickly brightened the mood with a wide smile.
"Of course, we respect your methods. But this floor... it's quite troublesome."
"Troublesome, you mean?"
"Here, the chance of encountering common monsters is unusually low. Even if you hunt all day, after covering food and lodging costs, you barely make a few gold in profit."
Ah.
That's the situation.
"So, in other words... you're barely scraping by to cover your daily expenses?"
"To be honest, yes."
"In that case, why not go on an expedition and hunt 'Gold Slimes' instead?"
"Gold Slimes? Really?"
Ryoma widened his eyes,
"I've only seen those a few times since we got here."
Huh?
I tilt my head slightly.
The encounter rate with "Gold Slimes" was really that low?
...I've already gotten so used to hunting them that they're just another routine target—my senses have gone numb.
The "Gambling Master" whispers softly.
"I've got Lucky V on my side, so the regular encounter rate with 'Gold Slimes' must be quite different from the others."
Ah, right.
Come to think of it, we've been making our way through the dungeon pretty easily.
We casually toss aside gold dropped by common slimes just because it's a burden to carry.
Good thing my partner's a gambler.
"For now, I'll just take your feelings into account... Is that not acceptable?"
After that, the two of them hesitated slightly, but quickly agreed. Seems they're fairly reasonable people. That's a relief.
With that settled,
we decided to keep our activities as separate as possible, without interfering with each other.
▼
"Yep, that's the right answer♪"
In the two-person room of the "Bamboo Course."
Haruna, contacting via radio, clearly says:
"Those guys—well, Ryo and Ichitaka (Ichi-chan's real name) aren't bad, but the others are just terrible, you know~☆"
"...Yeah. Honestly, including those guys as allies would be way too risky."
But isn't it all about numbers, sis?
"That's true, basically, but this time, what we're counting on you for is assassination, you know~♪"
"I think it's smarter not to bring in too many allies."
"Especially since that trio of girls tends to talk too much~♪ If our connection gets exposed to the 'King,' we'll have to completely rethink the whole plan♪"
Hmm...
Now that you mention it, that does make sense.
I'd really like us all to happily hold hands and cross the finish line together... (a classic 'yutori' generation mindset).
"Then, that's all for today's report."
"Yeah... oh, right, that's it☆"
"What is it?"
"You two should probably start thinking about what comes after clearing this, don't you think?"
"After clearing... what do you mean?"
"Those who clear 'Master Dungeon' are said to receive quite a hefty amount of experience points, so make sure to go over the skills you plan to learn in preparation for your battle with the 'King'☆"
That's definitely something worth thinking about now.
From what Yuzuriha said, it seems we won't have much time to wander around once we step outside and head toward the 'King'.
"And also... about the clear rewards?"
"Clear rewards?"
"Wasn't that mentioned in the 'information' we obtained? Clearing the 'Master Dungeon' also counts toward unlocking a powerful 'achievement' ☆"
"Was there something like that?"
I flip through the "information" notebook written by the "Gambler."
Then... there it was, indeed.
"Information #96"... Clearing the "Master Dungeon" fulfills the condition for unlocking a certain "achievement."
"……Ah. But if we don't know what the 'special achievement' actually is, we can't decide anything."
"Wait a minute? It doesn't say anything about the reward for the 'achievement'?"
"Nope, it doesn't."
"Oh my. …Then maybe the details have changed since the time I was around ☆ 'Information' can be freely revised depending on the 'King's' mood, you know~"
Huh.
"There are times when the 'information' varies slightly depending on the 'player,' you know~. Some even include messages that sound like they're from the 'King,' I've heard~."
"Well, let's skip the finer details for now. —Tell me about the clear rewards instead."
...Wait, aren't you sounding a bit excited, 'Gambling Master'?
"The achievement name is... um, I think it was 'Master Dungeon Master'... something like that~."
▼
[Haruna-chan's Secret Information] Um... around twenty? (I lost count because she gave me the info in a careless way)
The reward item for the "Master Dungeon Master" achievement is:
"The Ring of Fire"……When equipped, grants strong fire resistance. Additionally, when hit by fire-element magic attacks, damage is converted into "attack power."
"Ring of Water"……When equipped, enables underwater breathing. Additionally, when hit by water-element magic attacks, damage is converted into "defense power."
"Ring of Thunder"……When equipped, causes lightning to surround the wearer, automatically attacking nearby enemies. Additionally, when hit by lightning-element magic attacks, damage is converted into "agility."
Choose one from among these.