[Adventurer, Anastasia - 07]
[Adventurer, Anastasia - 07]
"From now on, I will participate in the conquest of the newly discovered dungeon."
"If I say 'no,' what will change?"
I heard it's a pretty big dungeon.
At a minimum, it was B-rank, and depending on the situation, there was a possibility it could be A-rank.
S-rank dungeons are conspicuous, so it probably hadn't reached that level, but even an A-rank would take days of struggle inside, and depending on the gimmicks or traps, even skilled people could die.
"As of now, it is considered a B-rank dungeon, and accordingly, we are only recruiting people who are at least C-rank adventurers."
"You're only recommending C-rank or higher; you didn't say anything below that was forbidden, right? In other words, it's not impossible for me either. I heard the Black Wolf is a monster suited for D-rank, so since I easily took that guy down, doesn't that mean I can be evaluated as at least D-rank or higher?"
"......Do you want to go to the dungeon that badly? There's nothing good about going there."
"I'm hoping for a kind of track record of having conquered a dungeon, but they say that big dungeons are quite dangerous if left alone from the moment they're discovered. Casualties might occur, but if I'm there? An absurd feat like a zero-casualty dungeon conquest is possible."
Ah, is that so.
She has the face of a child who just wants to see what a dungeon is like, but her excuses are so Saintess-like that it's truly hard to say anything.
Actually, even if it were an A-rank dungeon, it wouldn't be a big problem for the current Saintess-nim.
I don't know about an S-rank dungeon, but an A-rank dungeon was something I could handle alone, even if it took time.
Of course, in my case, it could be dangerous depending on the situation, but Saintess-nim didn't have that worry. The biggest problem, mana exhaustion, which is common during long battles, was almost non-existent for Saintess-nim.
"Understood. It seems pointless to refuse anyway, so I'll go with you."
"Yes, let's clear the dungeon for everyone's sake."
"Then, let me briefly explain the dungeon."
"Of course."
She probably knows that information about dungeons is generated naturally and that the difficulty skyrockets according to the rank.
It was information easily accessible in daily life.
"Inside a dungeon, a surreal space often unfolds. From the outside, it looks like a simple cave. S-rank dungeons are a bit different, though."
S-rank dungeons aren't just obviously caves; you feel, 'Ah, this is a dungeon of a different caliber.'
The famous S-rank dungeon, the Tower of the Sky, was exactly that example.
Because it was in the shape of a tower.
"What do you mean by surreal?"
"It looks like a cave, but once you go inside, there might be a meadow, a swamp, a place where a volcano is erupting, or even cases where you can just see the sky. That's why some scholars have the opinion that dungeons are another small world."
"Hmm......."
"There are various devices commonly called gimmicks or traps. There are many traps, such as magic circles that forcibly move you, things that spew poison, or fog that hinders mana perception."
"That's meaningless to me, right?"
"Yes, it would be meaningful for a few seconds."
If it were a magic circle that forcibly moves you, it might be a bit dangerous, but the rest, like poison, fog that hinders mana perception, or traps like curses in some cases, Saintess-nim could tear them all apart with the feeling of 'Huh? Did a mosquito bite me?', so it wasn't a big problem.
Especially with poison and curses, it was questionable if they would even work on Saintess-nim.
Even if it weren't usually the case, she is currently always surrounding herself with light magic due to the Path of Light.
It felt similar to wearing a gas mask.
I can't say for sure unless I test it myself.
"And if you go deep inside, there is the dungeon's core. If you destroy this, the dungeon will collapse and disappear. Even if you kill all the monsters inside the dungeon and disarm the traps, if the core is alive, it will eventually come back to life."
The monsters too.
The traps too.
Everything comes back to life and returns to its original form.
Not only that, if left alone for a long time, the dungeon undergoes a kind of evolution and changes into an even more difficult form.
This was only in the realm of hypothesis, but there was an evaluation that a dungeon that rose from D-rank to S-rank was more difficult than a dungeon born as an S-rank dungeon from the start.
Of course, they try to find and conquer it somehow without giving it that much time, but sometimes dungeons occur in completely unexpected directions, and there were plenty of cases where things went strangely because it took a long time to find them.
That's why while the people conquering the dungeon were important, the people finding them were equally important.
There were even jobs that specialized in finding dungeons.
Anyway, since the reason the Adventurer's Guild was established and its belief was primarily in dungeon conquest, there were many people who became adventurers for the purpose of dungeon conquest.
It was a chance to make a name for oneself, gain honor, and it was no different from a request that allowed for rapid promotion.
It was a place where many people died, but unfortunately, the danger of the dungeon was too great to stop it for such reasons.
"Are there cases where you leave them on purpose?"
"In the past, D-rank dungeons were sometimes left for beginners. It was for education and practical experience, to say, 'This is what a dungeon is.'"
"But not now?"
"As results came out showing that even if you deal with the monsters and traps inside, the dungeon grows over time, eventually, all such dungeons were discarded. As of now, except for cases where they haven't been found or have low priority, dungeons are prioritized for cleanup."
For example, there are too many problems, but a D-rank dungeon is not an immediate danger.
Even a C-rank dungeon could be handled somehow.
Even if it grows quickly, it's safe to say there are no cases where it suddenly becomes A-rank or S-rank while you're not looking.
Therefore, in the case of a low-priority D-rank dungeon, there are cases where other work takes precedence, but in any case, the fact that it must be dealt with has not changed.
"In the past, it was called the curse of the world, and it seems they suffered quite a bit in various ways, but since high-purity magic stones are often found inside dungeons, there are surprisingly many people who profit from them."
Especially with an A-rank dungeon, there were quite a few high-purity magic stones, so there's no shortage of people who aren't skilled enough but enter anyway just to get the magic stones and end up dying.
Originally, magic stones are supposed to be inside a monster's body, but in a dungeon, there are cases where they appear just by digging into the wall, not inside a monster.
Should I say it's like a kind of mineral?
"I see, since magic stones are an essential element in current life, it's hard to get rid of them... For example, even if there were a way to prevent the production of dungeons, it means we can't completely get rid of dungeons, right?"
"I don't know if autonomous production of magic stones becomes possible, but as of now, that's the case."
However, the fact that the production of dungeons can be prevented means, in other words, that it would also be possible to produce dungeons.
With both becoming possible, humanity could truly be called to have conquered dungeons.
As of now, it was a place that had various benefits, but also caused the loss of life.
"Was the light magic stone that emitted light that I saw before also inside the dungeon?"
"To be precise, it is a processed version of that magic stone. Magic stone cars are also magic stones, and the lamps that allow you to be bright at night without the flames we see these days are also magic stones... Magic stones are indispensable in current life."
If I were to compare it to my original world, should I say it feels like electricity or oil?
It could be said that it's something you need first no matter what you try to do.
That's why there were cases where they deliberately left D-rank dungeons alone for the sake of high-purity dungeons.
S-rank dungeons were truly dangerous and could leave countless scars on humanity, but up to A-rank dungeons, if humanity prepares thoroughly, they can win while minimizing damage.
That's why I can't say there are no people who deliberately leave them alone.
"If I bring back a large amount of magic stones, will everyone be grateful to me?"
"You'd be able to sell them at a high price."
"What if I sell them cheaply?"
"They'd treat you like a pushover, right?"
"But it's a good deed?"
"It would be better to donate them for free, wouldn't it?"
"People don't really know how to be grateful if you do things for free. Even when I heal these days, I'm taking money. Come to think of it, it seemed better to take money and return it to welfare."
Realizing that for myself was a truly good thing.
People are unexpectedly cunning, so there are quite a few fools who think it's their right if you say it's free.
I didn't interfere with that work, but one day, I suddenly asserted that I would be receiving money for healing from now on.
All the money received like that goes back to the people's welfare.
"Anyway, they are recruiting, and the dungeon conquest is in a week. First, let's go back and report to the Pope-nim."
"You'll take my side, right?"
"If I don't, what can I do?"
"I really don't like your attitude lately, as if you've half-given up on me. Please hold me back a little more."
"Then you'll find it annoying."
"Do it anyway."
What a troublesome woman.
"Let's go back now."
"Ah, are we going back?"
"Eris, where have you been until now......."
"Nom nom."
She was eating the cheese corn sold at the cafeteria in the Adventurer's Guild.
I've tried it too, and it was quite delicious, and it was especially good as a snack with alcohol.
"Are we going to the dungeon?"
"Stop eating, you pig."
"I'm a wolf, Saintess-nim."
Why doesn't she gain weight when she eats like that?
She usually exercises quite a bit, but she still eats more than that?
In the first place, how does that physically fit inside?
Is there a black hole inside?
If it were my original world, I feel like Eris would have made a lot of money with something like a mukbang.