ch1-ch20 · 016-ch16
Episode 16: The Everyday Life of an Ordinary Person
Back on the surface, leaving the Adventurer's Association branch and heading home.
"My body feels heavy... Am I tired or something?"
It was almost 10 PM, and I'd been walking a bit faster to get home sooner.
I'd been at training since morning—maybe I'd pushed myself too hard?
My speed wasn't increasing at all.
"...Ah. Speed. My stats."
Stats don't apply outside the dungeon.
No matter how much you level up or how high your stats get, the moment you step outside the dungeon, you're back to being a normal person.
If you keep expecting dungeon sensations, everything feels slow out here.
Same goes for skills.
They don't work outside.
"[Gate]."
I try extending my right hand forward, but there's no response whatsoever.
I give up and walk home slowly.
I got home and went straight for the bath.
Apparently there's a shower at the surface branch of the Association, but it costs money, so I'd held out until I got home.
The dungeon-side facilities don't have one.
Because you can't get water inside the dungeon.
When it's daytime outside, it's daytime in the dungeon.
When it's night outside, it's night in the dungeon—but even if it's raining outside, it doesn't rain inside.
By the way, some dungeons other than Chiba Dungeon do have water.
There are ocean dungeons and dungeons with hot springs.
I heard they solved water shortages with dungeon lakes in the Shikoku area or something.
Internationally, they've become destinations for refugees and workplaces for underprivileged children like orphans.
Population growth, food shortages—problems like those are being solved... or so the TV says.
"Here. This is for you."
A cake is offered from the side.
It's my mother.
"You remembered?"
"Of course I remembered. I'm the one who gave birth to you. You're the one who can't remember being born."
That'd be terrifying if I could remember.
"Want me to turn off the lights and sing? I got candles too."
"I'm good."
It was just past 11 PM.
Barely made it.
Happy 18th birthday to me.
"You were out pretty late. Did your friends throw you a party? Could it be... a girlfriend?"
"...No."
(Congratulations, Kasugano Haruki.)
For a moment, I thought of Hayashi-san, but she's not my girlfriend.
"Well, if you had a girlfriend, you probably wouldn't come home at all. Ahahaha."
What is this old lady even saying? I thought, but I didn't say it out loud.
Because my mother was holding a kitchen knife to cut the cake.
After finishing the cake and heading back to my room.
"Mom."
"What is it?"
"...Good night."
"?? Good night."
I didn't tell her.
That I'd skipped school today to get my adventurer's license.
That I was thinking of making a living as an adventurer.
That I'd spent the whole day killing goblins.
Dad's on a solo assignment out of town.
Since he's not home, I obviously haven't consulted him either.
I'm planning to go to college, so he's probably not worried about my future path yet.
"I'm tired. Time to sleep."
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School.
I woke up and it was morning.
I thought I might dream about goblins, but I didn't.
"Maybe I'm cut out to be an adventurer after all."
My high school is one station away from home.
It's close enough that I could walk, but today I took my bike. Actually, I'll probably be biking from now on.
There are trains from the station nearest school to the station nearest home, and from the station nearest school to the station nearest the Association branch.
But the station nearest home and the station nearest the Association branch aren't connected.
Even though the Association is closer to home than school is.
I'd decided to do dungeon activities after school like a club activity, so I switched to biking to make the trip home easier.
"What'll I do if it rains?"
If it rains, I take a break from the dungeon. Just like a club activity.
"They said the rainy season starts next week. Until then, no rain, and it's supposed to go over 30 degrees."
Soushi Natsukawa speaks up from the seat behind me.
"Huh? Seriously? Man, it's basically summer already."
"Yeah. Anyway, how'd it go yesterday?"
I'd told him I was going to get my adventurer's license.
Actually, this Soushi Natsukawa had promised to become an adventurer with me—he's basically my comrade.
"Wait a sec. People are watching. We'll talk somewhere private during break."
"Right. Don't want the goddess hearing about this either. Let's eat outside at lunch."
Rumor has it the goddess hates adventurers.
I quietly glance toward the area near the classroom entrance—our goddess's seat.
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"So? What skill did you get? Come on, tell me already."
We're on our way back from the ramen shop now.
It was too crowded to talk at the ramen shop, so we'd decided to talk on the way home.
"I told you, it's a secret. Once you get your license and find out your special skill, then I'll tell you."
"That's not fair. Ah, I get it—it was a 'trash skill,' wasn't it? Don't tell me it's something like [Gender Change]?"
[Gender Change] is a shocking skill even among the wild transformation-type skills.
Normally, skills only work inside the dungeon, but once your gender is changed, it stays changed until you use the skill again.
Even after leaving the dungeon.
There was a celebrity who got famous overnight thanks to this.
"It's a movement-type skill, movement-type. Ah, I haven't tested if it works on other people yet, so once you get your license, let me experiment on you."
"Scary. Don't turn me into a human cannon or something. Wait? But if you level up enough, you won't die or something like that?"
"Well, that's something to look forward to until you get your license. When's your birthday again?"
"July 27th."
"That's almost two months away. So I'm on my own until then?"
"What's with that? Just the other day you were all fired up about leaving me in the dust. Anyway, tell me more about the receptionists. So it was Hayashi-san and Watanabe-san, huh? Make sure you properly learn that gyaru's name next time."
He didn't say anything cool like "Don't overdo it until your birthday."
Instead, he told me to go to the dungeon and learn the receptionist's name...