arc2 · 111-ch111

Chapter 111: Just a Little More

So, I went to the university to check my physical abilities, and it seems my stats had gone up even more than I'd thought—I managed to put up numbers at the world's highest level, excluding explorers. Well, compared to higher-ranked explorers, I'm still just a fledgling though.

Even so, my physical abilities had risen pretty dramatically for me, so after getting home, I decided to move my body a bit to get used to it sooner. I tried dashing around on the rooftop as it was starting to get dark, and did some push-ups and sit-ups inside the house too. As expected, my strength had gone up quite a bit, so it seemed like I'd need to live a little more carefully to avoid breaking things around the house.

Once that was done, I brought Hayate back here and decided to check what was inside Storage. There were quite a few magic stones in there too, so once I pass the explorer exam, I might use them toward the required submissions. And the crystal ball-like thing the Phantom dropped was in there too. The one I'm planning to bring as a souvenir for President Yamamoto. I hope he'll be happy with it.

After checking Storage's contents, Umi called me, so the three of us ate dinner together. Mom's cooking is as amazing as ever. After going back for multiple helpings and making sure I got plenty of nutrition, I returned to my room and sat down at the computer. To edit the Hyakka Ryouran video.

I have plans tomorrow too, so I can't exactly pull an all-nighter, which means finishing it today would be tough. With those thoughts running through my head, I got started on editing the Hyakka Ryouran video.

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The next morning, despite going to bed a little late, I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed. Come to think of it, I've been having a lot of mornings where I wake up feeling great lately. I was a little moved to realize that the benefits of leveling up extended even to something like this.

Now then, today is patrol day. After eating a solid breakfast, I launched Asahi from the Dungeon Agency rooftop and sent it heading toward Yatsugatake Dungeon. The patrol route is set, so I want to make sure I stick to the schedule.

Once Asahi arrived at Yatsugatake Dungeon, I summoned Hayate and sent it toward the first floor. Asahi used a Transfer Stone to jump to the thirtieth floor and observed for any signs of Dungeon Modification.

Meanwhile, Hayate moved by the shortest route to the stairs leading down to the second floor. I'm supposed to be selling potions at the stairs going down to each floor, after all.

There were no customers at the stairs to the second floor, as expected, but I sold low-grade potions to one party at the stairs to the third floor and two parties at the stairs to the fourth floor. Sure enough, lower-ranked explorers don't have that much breathing room, so it seems like a lot of parties only carry the bare minimum of backup potions.

Maybe that's why—there was even a party that told me, "We time our visits to match your patrol route, and only buy from you when we've been unlucky enough to use up our potions." Something about them making good use of the system makes me really grateful.

That said, even with a map and moving while avoiding combat, the third floor is the limit when I'm patrolling at the same time. Any deeper than that and I wouldn't be able to finish my rounds in the morning.

So when Hayate reached the stairs to the fourth floor, its patrol and sales were done. Asahi had just arrived at the Ghost Forest Dungeon, after all. Everything was going according to plan so far, so as scheduled, I gave up on the fourth floor and beyond, resummoned Hayate here, and sent it toward the second floor of the Ghost Forest Dungeon.

Repeating the same process in order, I patrolled the Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon, Tokyo Mouse Park Dungeon, Yokohama Blue Brick Warehouse Dungeon, and Inubosaki Tower Dungeon, spending the entire morning and managing to complete the route exactly as planned.

Thanks to Arihara-san's suggestion, there were also plenty of parties waiting at the stairs wanting to buy potions. As a result, I managed to sell sixteen low-grade potions. There's almost no profit, but I'm satisfied knowing I got them to the people who needed them.

Still, I'd like to reach the people on deeper floors too, so I'm really hoping the next skill unlock increases the number of drones I can summon.

After finishing my patrol, I ate lunch while sending Asahi toward the Tokyo Mouse Park Dungeon. That's because I'm planning to grind for EXP at a steady pace in the afternoon. Tomorrow I'll be diving with everyone from Sato Fisheries Co., Ltd., so to be safe, I plan to keep Asahi on standby in a secure location and only fight with Hayate. That's why I went with this Wraith-type dungeon where I've got good compatibility.

I finished my lunch of soy sauce ramen, grabbed two plastic bottles of water, and headed back to my room. Factoring in that I'd get thirsty after eating something salty.

Then, just like yesterday, I transferred Asahi to the tenth floor and summoned Hayate to head toward the eleventh floor. I targeted Phantoms moving around alone or in pairs and sent Hayate on kamikaze charges. As always, taking down a single one costs me two or three drones, but this is the lowest-risk method, so it can't be helped.

During that time, I exchanged messages with Ounabara-san, the leader of Sato Fisheries Co., Ltd., to confirm the details for tomorrow. We're meeting at the Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon at eight. Starting from the eleventh floor, the objective is to take down the twentieth floor boss.

Scouting, combat support, luggage transport, and filming. That's the full-option package right there. By the way, the twentieth floor boss of the Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon is an Attribute Wolf. It's a somewhat unusual type of boss where you don't know what attribute it has until you actually enter the boss room.

Ounabara-san from Sato Fisheries is a Water Mage, so a fire-attribute Flame Wolf would be ideal. A lightning-attribute Lightning Wolf, on the other hand, would be pretty rough. Apparently, if that happens, calling it quits is also on the table.

Well, obviously. Unlike my Hayate, they can't just be resummoned right after being taken down. Once they die, that's it—there's no coming back. Of course they're going to be cautious.

…Though I suppose the same could be said about my Asahi. As things stand, I know that if Asahi's power runs out, I can't summon Hayate.

So what happens if Asahi becomes irreparably damaged? Could I make a different drone the mother drone in its place? And even if I could, would the Hayate summoned from that drone be the same enhanced Hayate I have now? I don't have the courage to test it, and more than anything, I really like Asahi. That's exactly why I need to take better care of it… Something to reflect on.

Since I was messaging Ounabara-san at the same time, my Hayate operation got a little sloppy and my efficiency dropped, but I still managed to grind EXP over a long period and leveled up once to 18. Just two more levels and I'll hit 20.

Suppressing my impatient excitement, I decided to wrap up early today to get ready for tomorrow.