arc3 · 034-ch34

Episode 34: Shopping

　After winning his death match against the area bosses of Floor 1 District 2, the Fresh Green Great Wolf and the Rabbit Demon Iron Skin, Suzuka decided to take a day off to rest.

　That said, taking a rest day didn't mean he'd sleep in past noon. He had things to do today too.

　Waking up later than usual, Suzuka quickly got ready to go out. Normally he'd go to the dungeon in his school-issued tracksuit, but today he was in casual clothes. Nothing special, just clothes from Uniq〇, but on Suzuka, whose appearance had been refined by the dungeon's influence, they somehow looked stylish.

　He looked at his reflection in the mirror by the entrance and took a good long look at how much cooler he'd become. Rather than handsome, it felt more like beautiful. His face was so well-formed that even looking at himself, if he stayed silent, he gave off a scary impression.

　He could still feel a hint of his original self, so he could accept that the person in the mirror was him, but there was a sense of unfamiliarity. It was like he'd become a game character.

"Princess."

　Yasu used to tease him with that nickname, and the Explorer High students he'd dealt with the other day had said something similar too. It felt a bit lacking in cuteness to be called a princess, but even Suzuka thought his face was passable enough to pass as female. Because of his androgynous face, if he were called a boyish girl in his current outfit, that's how he'd look.

"Well, being cool is good enough."

　Since his appearance had improved regardless, Suzuka left the house without thinking too deeply about it.

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　First, he opened a bank account. It was an account for depositing the ever-increasing buyout prices for dungeon items.

　If he linked it to the Explorer Association, he could receive deposits directly instead of cash handouts, so he'd get the paperwork done tomorrow when he went to the dungeon.

　After that, he had ramen for lunch. He thought about having Hachioji ramen for the first time in a while, but after wavering, he settled on Ichiran Ra〇en.

　Suzuka had loved their Mechatro Ramen, a ramen with mekabu and grated yam, since he was a kid. His favorite way to eat it was to douse it with plenty of table vinegar.

"Now, here's today's main destination."

　After finishing lunch, Suzuka arrived at a large commercial facility near Hachioji Dungeon. This was a store called Seekers Shop, which handled dungeon-related items and equipment.

　At first glance, it looked like a sports shop or a store handling camping equipment. Since it actually handled camping equipment usable inside dungeons, that wasn't wrong.

"Hope they've got some good armor~"

　With hope in his heart, he slipped through the automatic doors.

　What he needed to buy today was clothes for dungeon exploration. Because of the Fresh Green Great Wolf, his precious school-issued tracksuit had been shredded to pieces, so he urgently needed new clothes.

　Dungeon exploration armor clothes were expensive, so if his budget was tight, he intended to pick out a regular tracksuit.

"I looked it up yesterday and they do have tracksuits, so hope there's something affordable~"

　While this place was well-stocked with dungeon exploration tools, they only handled weapons and armor for third-class explorer level.

　This was because most of what they carried was developed by corporations. Once you reach second rank and above, dungeon-produced weapons and armor obtained at appropriate levels have higher performance, making corporation-manufactured weapons and armor unnecessary.

　Corporations were also conducting research and development day and night using dungeon-produced items, so the quality wasn't bad. Rather, they continued to make things with better performance than poorly made dungeon-produced items. In other words, for Suzuka's current level, it was more than sufficient performance.

　There was camping gear too, and he couldn't help but idly browse items before reaching his destination. Camping gear and survival gear had a mysterious appeal, and even knowing he didn't need them now, he couldn't help but look.

"With this fire desk, I could grill meat in the dungeon too. But then I'd need a specialized bag that could store it, and that's ridiculously expensive. And it gets in the way if you carry it on your back. Ugh~"

　On Floor 1, he didn't need it yet, but if he kept exploring the dungeon normally, he'd eventually need it. That said, most normal parties ate compact things like portable rations. Bags for storing large items were expensive, and even second-rank explorer guilds often didn't possess them.

　But camping gear was still attractive. Whether or not he'd take it to the dungeon was another matter, but wanting to buy a full set was probably a guy thing.

"After exams are done, I should invite Yasu and go camping in Yamanashi or somewhere."

　In his previous world too, he and Yasu went camping about once a year. Back then, he'd been attracted to camping gear too, but considering the hassle and cost, he'd rented everything instead of buying.

　Camping gear was expensive when it got cool, and there was a lot of necessary equipment, so he'd hesitated to buy. But now he was earning money in the dungeon, so buying a full set was an option.

　But while he did have a bit over 400,000 yen earned in District 2, he still didn't know how much armor would cost. Somehow tearing himself away from the camping gear, he moved on.

　Next was the dungeon drone section.

"Come to think of it, Yasu said drones were essential a while back. I forgot about that."

　The Explorer High students active in District 2 were all flying drones too. That must mean recorded footage from drones is important for explorers.

"But they're expensive!"

　Even the cheapest, shabbiest ones cost over 500,000 yen. And the resolution was so rough they probably weren't very usable. The standard-looking ones were in the 1 million yen class.

"Well, makes sense. Drones are cutting-edge items after all."

　Since there's demand for dungeon use, development is probably far more advanced than in 2009 of his previous world, but expensive things are still expensive. In his previous world too, aerial photography drones cost several hundred thousand yen. Being expensive is only natural.

"Heh, so instead of electricity they run on magic stones, so even if you run out of energy in the dungeon, you can recharge immediately."

　Magic stones are items dropped by defeating monsters. Not needing to prepare spare batteries and being able to replenish energy immediately was appealing.

"But too expensive. Still a long way off."

　Floor 1 District 3 is an area where Explorer High students conduct exploration, and it's said to be a safe area. At least there doesn't seem to be any immediate need to buy one.

　After casually checking performance and market prices for future reference, he arrived at the floor where weapons were displayed.

　Since he liked the magic iron pipe he was currently using, he had no plans to buy, but looking was free.

　There were many varieties, but greatswords and massive battle axes were impressively imposing. Weapons that might appear in a game about hunting certain monsters were displayed as proper weapons, not cosplay props. He couldn't help but be moved.

"I'm a one-handed sword type, huh. Eventually I'd like to switch to a one-handed sword. I have swordsmanship skills too."

　Right now it's a magic iron pipe, but he needs to update his weapon level to match his enemies. Since he doesn't intend to keep using the magic iron pipe forever, it wouldn't hurt to think about what weapon he'll choose in the future.

"Battle axes are nice too. I like the shape, and high one-shot firepower is appealing too."

　Suzuka went back and forth between the battle axe and one-handed sword display windows. They all sparkled, and Suzuka's excitement skyrocketed.

"They say dungeon-produced weapons are excellent, you know. The 'Underling Fox's Pride' I'm using now is Rare grade too, so I'll use whichever of one-handed sword or battle axe drops as Rare grade or above, I guess."

　Since both weapons had their appeal, Suzuka decided to leave it to the fortune of drops.

　Having decided his future policy, next was finally armor. He'd spent more time than expected getting distracted by other items, but since he had plenty of time, it should be fine.

　He didn't have any particular plans after buying armor today. If anything, he might want to stop by a cafe where he could eat delicious sweets.

　The armor section had fully equipped suits of armor and such, but there was also gear specializing in mobility like what Suzuka was looking for. Armor for archers and mages, light equipment for scouts, items that strike a good balance between mobility like a swordsman's and defense, heavy equipment for tank classes, and so on.

　As expected, plate armor caught his eye. There were Western-style ones, suits of armor like generals wore, and modern stylish armor as well. Since it looked hard to move in, he didn't intend to buy it, but the design was cool.

　It looked heavy, but since stats also went up, it probably wouldn't be as sluggish as it looked. He'd eliminated plate armor as an option from the start, but it might not be so bad after all.

　Naturally, plate armor came with a correspondingly high price tag, so it was out of reach for the current Suzuka. He was just browsing for reference, thinking maybe such things might be in his future.

"Oh? Could that be the Iron Pipe Princess over there?"

　Iron Pipe Princess. I've heard that somewhere before... Oh right. That's what the Explorer High idiots called me.

　Suzuka remembered this and, though unfamiliar with being called "Iron Pipe Princess," understood that someone was calling out to him, so he turned around.

　There was a flashy, intimidating woman.

　Her pure white long hair was vividly accented with pink mesh, drawing attention from everyone around. Her well-formed features, which didn't lose out to that flashy hair color, gave off a belligerent impression, perhaps due to her slightly upturned eyes.

　Her ears were pierced more than enough to be excessive, and bracelets and other accessories were conspicuous on her arms.

　It was difficult to estimate her age from her appearance, but she probably wasn't that different from Suzuka. Given the phrase "Iron Pipe Princess" too, she was likely an Explorer High student.

　Although colorful hair colors could be seen around town due to the dungeon's influence, white hair with pink mesh was still eye-catching. That was Suzuka's first impression of her.