arc3 · 188-ch188
Chapter 188: The Secret Base Is Complete, But...
"Morning!"
The day after I hit level 35, I got up in the morning just in time to catch Umi heading off to school.
"Must be nice, Onii-chan, getting to laze around all morning. I wanna be a university student too."
Hmm, no, Onii-chan is by no means lazing around. Today is packed with things to do as well. It's just that the lectures I'm taking happen to start a bit late.
So, having told Umi to take care on her way, I ate breakfast and got ready to head for the university. Today's lecture is Dungeon Fundamentals. Having dove this many dungeons, there's hardly anything new left for me to hear in a lecture.
Even so, I want to get the qualification properly, so I'm keeping up with university. Though it doubles as camouflage, in a way.
I hailed a taxi in front of the condo and headed for the university.
▽▽▽
Arriving at the university, I went straight to the lecture room. I took an inconspicuous seat toward the back and waited for the professor to arrive. Of course, all the while, Hayate was out gathering Mana Potions and Shiden was out leveling up. Shiden had just finished sweeping the Wonder Armors of Tokyo Mouse Park away when the professor finally appeared.
"Today's lecture covers status ailments inside dungeons."
Ooh, now that's a pretty interesting topic. After all, I only just got to the point where Gekkou can use the Poison Needle. Listening as a refresher might not be a bad idea.
"Among the monsters inside dungeons, there are some that inflict status ailments such as poison, paralysis, petrification, and curses. And depending on one's Job, some of you may be able to inflict similar status ailments on monsters yourselves."
Mm-hm, mm-hm. This is fairly common knowledge — something probably every explorer knows.
"However, these status ailments are caused by mutated mana. For instance, even if you administer a surface-world poison to a monster, it will not inflict the poisoned status. Conversely, poison created through the mutation of mana, when used on the surface, has been found to produce extremely powerful effects."
Scary!? I knew surface-world poisons don't work on monsters inside dungeons, but I didn't know that monsters' own poisons, or poison made via a Job, work on the surface too. Since the only time monsters ever come out to the surface is a Monster Flood, there isn't much information out there — no surprise, really. There aren't many Jobs that can inflict debuffs, either.
"Poisonous substances born of mana mutation cannot be treated by surface-world medicine. They're nasty things — nothing cures them without a status-recovery potion or treatment through a Job. One can only pray that Awakened individuals who carry such status ailments never turn to the dark side."
In other words, Gekkou's Poison Needle is dangerous on the surface. And considering the worst-case scenario, the ones that are hard to get in potion form — the Anti-Curse Needle and Anti-Petrification Needle — might actually be worth quite a bit.
After that, the professor went on to teach us the effects of each status ailment, which monsters inflict them, and how to get hold of the corresponding cure potions. For someone who'd just gotten Gekkou, it was some seriously valuable information. Thank you, Professor!
After the lecture, I was eating a chicken tatsuta bowl in the cafeteria when an email came in from Mita-san. He'd been keeping me posted on the progress bit by bit — and apparently the detached house was finally complete.
Though honestly, that was fast. Turns out securing a person with a Job made all the difference, huh. I emailed the news to Arihara-san just in case, and got a reply right away.
Dear SS-sama,
Thank you as always for your continued support.
First, congratulations on the completion of your new residence.
I surmise you would like to go see it immediately, but I must ask that you refrain from visiting for the time being.
In the near future, the people we have hired will dig a tunnel connecting to a nearby detached house. Accordingly, we must insist that all your comings and goings take place via that route. I expect this will take less than a week, and we should be able to hand the property over after your next filming session.
I apologize for asking you to be patient — but I hope you will understand this as a necessary measure to ensure your safety, SS-san.
Arihara Hiroshi Dungeon Safety Management Division, Dungeon Agency
That was close, that was close. I was about to head straight over there. It seems Mita-san will be contacted by Arihara-san, then. Whether to tell him the truth and win him over to our side, or to present it as the government having bought the house from me for a national policy — I'll leave that to them.
Furniture, video-editing equipment — everything will be bought through Arihara-san, so I made a list of whatever came to mind and sent it off. The drone landing pad, apparently, will be installed by President Yamamoto's company. I'll send the President a thank-you email later, too.
That house is to become SS's base. And yet no one will know who's coming and going. Security airtight, nothing traceable. That's the ideal state. Arihara-san and President Yamamoto have worked so hard for this — I can't be the one to let it go to waste.
From here on, I'll have to act more carefully than ever. With those thoughts in my head, I wolfed down the last of my meal and left the cafeteria behind.