59. There Are No Poor Dungeons in the World (1)
59. There Are No Poor Dungeons in the World (1)
There was no such thing as an easy way to earn money in this world.
Anyone who claimed there was easy money was nine times out of ten a swindler you should avoid entirely. If one approached, you shouted, "No! I don't want it! Stay away!" and ran like hell. Anyone offering to introduce you to a job deserved suspicion from the start.
And if you did meet someone like that, well, giving people a V-line jaw was all the rage these days, so why not be a good neighbor and give their head a V-line too, making them a trendsetter? There was nothing that warmed the heart quite like a neighbor's kindness—
"...What? A dungeon?"
"Yeah. A dungeon. If we raid one and use the loot to raise the money—"
"Do you think a dungeon is some kind of neighborhood dog? If they were that easy to clear, every dungeon in the world would have been cleaned out and turned into a troll den by now."
"A dungeon? No!"
Don't look so dumbfounded. I knew your argument was perfectly reasonable. Millia's expression darkened at the word 'dungeon,' so I placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. It seemed to have brought back unpleasant memories.
...Though she wasn't wrong. There were plenty of dungeons in this world, but not many had actually been discovered. In the game, there were about 200 or so, but I doubted even half had been found in reality. The developers, pretending it was an open-world game, had stuffed dungeon entrances into the weirdest places.
...They had apparently forgotten it was their first attempt at making an open-world game.
In the early days after release, it was a total mess. Some dungeons couldn't be reached without exploiting bugs that let you go where you weren't supposed to, some had empty treasure chests, and in others, quests vanished mid-way, blocking all progress. Those memories were so exquisitely awful that even ten years later, I hadn't forgotten them.
I seemed to remember writing a two-thousand-character rant in the reviews, calling it a fucking trash game.
...Surely that wasn't the reason I got transmigrated, was it?
No way. Nobody would be that petty... or so I'd say, if that company's community manager hadn't been someone who got caught picking fights with the players.
"Yohan?"
"...Ah. What is it?"
I'd drifted too far into my thoughts. I looked at Reni, who had called me. She stared back with an expression that plainly asked whether I was serious, then spoke.
"Let's be realistic. Finding a dungeon is a problem, but clearing one is also a problem. You haven't forgotten what happened on that uninhabited island, have you? Besides, I'm busy handling work for Karina, so I can't go, and Millia's not fit for combat, so we can't take her. You'd have to explore the dungeon alone. Can you do that? You can't, right?"
"I can."
"How, specifically?"
"I've a plan."
The dungeon Millia had been in was the unusual one. Most dungeons were just about clearing obstacles or monsters and opening the treasure chest at the very bottom.
In other words, dungeons with bizarre themes like Millia's were extremely rare. There were probably barely more than ten in the entire world. Reni's concern was therefore unfounded.
...The problem was I had no proof, which made it hard to convince her.
"What plan?"
"Find a dungeon. Then loot the treasure chest and get out as quickly as possible."
"The process is the problem, the process. How are you going to find a dungeon? You're not planning on hitting famous ones, are you—"
"Finding one won't be an issue. I can use my ability."
That was a lie, of course. My ability could not find anything. I was merely trusting my hazy game knowledge and guessing at likely locations. If I dug around long enough, I was bound to hit a dungeon eventually.
"What could you possibly do with your abil—"
Reni seemed to understand what I meant. She shut her mouth and frowned, perhaps considering whether it might work. Like it or not, however, looting a dungeon's treasure chest was the only way to earn a large sum at once.
"...If you're going, don't die. It's a bit awkward to say this, but if something happens to you, Karina will be heartbroken... and so will I."
What did she say at the end there?
I stared at Reni as she trailed off. She turned aside to avoid my gaze, and a faint blush showed through her brown hair. What had she said to make her act like that? I asked Millia whether she had heard, but she only tilted her head and said she had not.
What had she said? Now I was curious.
But as if she had no intention of repeating it, Reni immediately spoke up the moment I tried to say something.
"Anyway, if you're going, at least get properly equipped first. You're not planning on going in that state, are you?"
"...Is that a problem?"
I had a fair amount of confidence in my combat ability. At the very least, I was confident I wouldn't die in an ordinary dungeon.
"Is a dungeon child's play? If you're going, prepare properly. Do you have any money left? I'll cover a little if you're short, so make sure you have everything you need."
"Thank you."
"So come back with all four limbs intact. Don't show up missing one just because you think you're some veteran warrior."
"You're really going into a dungeon?! Don't go!"
"It's not a dangerous place, so don't worry too much."
I did my best to soothe the tearful Millia. Her reaction was intense, probably because every memory she had of dungeons was terrible. I would have my hands full calming her until I entered the dungeon.
"Millia, don't worry too much. When it comes to surviving, I'm more confident than anyone in this world. Think back to the journey we've had so far. Have I ever gotten hurt?"
"...You haven't, have you?"
I looked away from Millia, whose eyes had widened with agreement, and turned my gaze toward the now-closed door.
-------------------
The preparations for entering a dungeon were simple.
That was to be expected. The dungeons I was aiming for weren't all that difficult. To return as safely as possible, I planned to visit the early-game leveling dungeons from Survival Academy that had surfaced in my memory. I could test my combat ability and get some treasures while I was at it.
The difficulty wasn't that high.
And there was something else I wanted to test out.
"Yohan, Yohan, do you have to go? I don't need to attend the academy—"
"Don't worry so much. I'll be back soon—"
I gently pried Millia's hands from my sleeve as she looked up at me with a face full of worry and turned around. As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot. I was planning to go raid the dungeon right away.
If I was going, I needed to raid the place and leave as quickly as possible. This world was already openly trying to screw me over. If I wasted time making exhaustive preparations, someone else might discover the dungeon and clean it out first. Even now, I had no guarantee the dungeons remained untouched. There was also that thieving bitch—no, heroine—who frequently appeared in dungeons.
"...But when did she make her first appearance?"
I remembered that if you failed to meet her at a particular point, you would never see her for the rest of the game. Come on, brain. Dig up a little more from ten years ago. You'd done your share of studying, hadn't you?
I tried hard to recall, but in the end, I couldn't remember when I was supposed to meet that heroine.
Maybe hearing her name would jog my memory, as it had with Elina... Then again, I only remembered Elina because I always advanced her route far enough to steal her weapon. Otherwise, even her name might have sounded only vaguely familiar before I dismissed it.
"Hey, are you listening to me?"
"...Sorry. What did you say?"
"If it gets dangerous, forget the treasure and run immediately. I know you can take care of yourself, but... don't be reckless."
"It's fine. I'm a brave coward."
"A brave coward? What's that supposed to mean?"
At my reply, Reni let out a short laugh and tapped my shoulder.
"Take care."
"Got it."
"See you!"
I waved a hand to Millia, who was waving her arms wildly in farewell, and slipped out of the academy.
My first destination was a dungeon inside the forest east of Kalon Academy.
If my memory served, you were supposed to enter a twisted, ancient tree somewhere in the forest. I recalled that nobody had found it because at a glance, it just looked like a big old tree.
"It had better be exactly like the game."
I walked along the academy's outer wall, gauging the approximate location. With my memory as faint as it was, pinpointing the exact spot wasn't exactly easy. I was navigating using fragments of scattered recollections as clues.
Once I reached roughly the eastern perimeter, I advanced toward the outskirts of the city. Within Kalon Academy, there was only a tutorial-level dungeon for newbies to practice in, so if I wanted to go to any other dungeon, I had to leave the academy grounds. With the identification document I'd received from Reni tucked in my chest, I arrived at the gate leading out of the city.
Perhaps because it was early, the gate was quiet. I showed my identification to the yawning guards and passed through. The forest greeted me on the other side. Since this was the opposite direction from the route by which I'd arrived, the surroundings looked completely different. It made me realize anew just how vast the city behind me was.
"...From here on, I'd better mark my route as I go."
Craft.
A pillar of dirt rose before my eyes. It was nothing special, just a location marker. In game terms, it was like placing a marker to keep track of my position.
I continued advancing, using the Skill to erect pillars as I went.
Exploring the forest was more tedious than I'd expected. I hadn't run into any monsters for nearly thirty minutes. Back in the game, even if they were weak, goblins used to pop out at this point. Were the goblins scared of me?
Nah. There was no way those bastards were afraid of me.
It was just a coincidence.
As I wandered on with that thought, I spotted a conspicuously withered and twisted old tree.
"Is this it?"
I found it faster than I'd expected.
I circled the old tree in search of an opening. Fortunately, it didn't take long to find a small, inconspicuous hole in the trunk.
"Hm."
I grabbed the shovel strapped to my back. Since I couldn't squeeze through a hole that even a small child would struggle to enter, I planned to dig the wood out to make an opening I could fit through.
"...Craft."
Before I started digging, I put up walls around me. It would stand out a bit, but it was a precaution against any potential ambush. Once I'd confirmed it was safe, I immediately got to shoveling.
Once, twice, three times...
After fewer than ten swings of my shovel, I broke through and discovered a gaping hole in the floor inside the old tree.
Nine times out of ten, this was the entrance. I dismantled the walls I'd erected and gathered up a pile of dirt to cover the entrance so it wouldn't be easily noticeable. It was a precaution in case anyone else came in and got in the way.
"...Time to head in."
One, two, three.
I jumped down into the hole.