arc1 · 005-ch5

Episode 5: First Job

After wrapping up the call with Hanazono, the tension suddenly ramped up. Since I planned to handle everything online, I was currently putting together a website.

Since I didn't want anyone digging into my Job, I'd obviously be using a fake name. I have zero naming sense, so I went with "SS" that Hanazono came up with. It's just the initials of my real name. Why didn't I think of that myself...

While I was at it with the website, I did a little research on the party Hanazono belongs to.

The party name is "Hyakka Ryouran"—A Hundred Flowers in Bloom. It's an all-female party of four, and the leader is Kaoru Toomi, age 24. Her Job is Spear Wielder.

The other party members are Rin Kurokage, whose Job is Thief, and Kureha Akatsuki, who has the rare magic-type Job of Fire Mage.

With all members at Rank D and the fact that it's an all-female party, they seem to be a group whose popularity is rapidly rising. Thank goodness it's all remote operation. If I had three unfamiliar women standing right in front of me, I'm confident I'd freeze up from the nerves.

After finishing the website and checking for mistakes, I got a call from Hanazono. She'd gotten permission from the party members, so my first job would be in three days.

The location would be the dungeon that appeared at Mount Fuji. It's close from here, which is a relief. I probably don't even need to bring the drone close—I can just fly it from this house with no problem. I went ahead and got the flight permit from Mount Takao to Mount Fuji now.

"Man, it got pretty late."

By the time I finished everything, it was already well past midnight. I ate the fried rice Umi had prepared for me, took a shower, and went straight to bed.

▽▽▽

Three days later, the big day had finally arrived. I'd been on edge since morning, and had gone to the bathroom at least three times since waking up. Umi was at elementary school, so I'd be fine for a while.

Meeting time was 9 AM. I'd woken up at 4:30. Ugh, the nerves.

I launched the drone from home so it'd arrive ten minutes before the meeting time. I'd come up with the idea at the last minute and tied a small bag to the drone's body, stuffing it with a low-grade potion that came as a bonus when I bought the drone. It was barely useful for stopping bleeding, but I figured it was better than nothing.

Over these three days, I'd practiced enough to handle even fine controls. I was confident it'd go well. But since it was my first time inside a dungeon, I couldn't afford to let my guard down. Especially when it comes to monsters.

With those thoughts running through my mind, I watched the two screens in front of me as I made my way toward the Mount Fuji dungeon. At 200 kilometers per hour, it was fast—really fast. I'd gotten pretty used to the dual screens too, so all that was left was to stay calm, stay sharp, and capture some great footage.

Crossing over the mountains, the dungeon entrance came into view. Some people had noticed my drone and were pointing at it. Among them, I spotted a woman waving both her arms enthusiastically. That must be Hanazono. True to form, she'd even spread out something like a cloth to mark a landing spot for me.

Well then, since she went to the trouble, let's land right on it—dead center.

I approached at full speed without slowing down and touched down right in the middle of the cloth with pinpoint precision. The drone's movement drew murmurs from the surrounding crowd.

Good, good—nailed the first impression. That kind of showmanship should spread through word of mouth. If I just moved like a rental drone, nobody would bother making a special request.

"Thank you for coming today, SS-san. Can you hear my voice?"

The leader, Toomi-san, stepped forward and spoke to the drone.

My skill lets me hear their voices through the drone, but for some reason, I can't transmit my own voice back.

So we'd decided on a set of signals beforehand to communicate.

I blinked the lights twice to let her know I could hear.

"Yep, looks like it's working. Alright, we're heading into the dungeon now, so follow us."

Following her words, I lifted the drone and trailed behind Hyakka Ryouran. Apparently they usually explore a different dungeon, but since my place is close by, they came all the way to this Mount Fuji dungeon for me.

Hanazono had said she'd been meaning to come here eventually, but the fact that they went out of their way to come here for my sake was something I really appreciated. I owe her one.

"Alright, I've confirmed your Explorer Card. Please be careful."

At the dungeon entrance, the members of Hyakka Ryouran presented their Explorer Cards and headed inside. Since I'd applied in advance, my drone had no trouble getting in either.

Seeing a real-time dungeon for the first time, I was a little moved. Inside the Mount Fuji dungeon was a massive cavern. Dungeons exist in a separate space—I'd known that from the start, and I'd seen it plenty of times in streamed videos. But actually seeing it in real time felt completely different.

That said, I was here to work today. To deliver results beyond expectations, this was no time to get carried away by something like this.

The members of Hyakka Ryouran were all Rank D powerhouses. This Mount Fuji dungeon is also Rank D, but the lower floors are mostly filled with Rank F and Rank E monsters.

So on the lower floors, they avoided combat as much as possible and headed for the stairs leading deeper down. Since there was barely any fighting during that stretch, I followed along while testing whether I could operate the drone without issues inside the dungeon.

Conclusion: I could control this high-performance drone without any problems. Even now, I was amazed at how useful this skill was.

Why hadn't I noticed the potential of this skill sooner? I'd been so fixated on my lack of combat ability that I'd been shutting down every other possibility myself.

But it wasn't too late. If I could pull off this job perfectly and build a track record, I might be able to make some serious money. No—I have to make money, for Mom's sake.

With strong resolve and a calm heart, my drone smoothly made its way deeper into the dungeon.