arc3 · 041-ch41

Episode 41: Parks

At Explorer High, when exploring dungeons, parties of six are recommended. Of course there are some flexibility, but parties with a minimum of four and maximum of eight are mandatory.

Before dungeon exploration, you must submit a party application to the school. Naturally, there's no problem even if you disband or add more members later, but exploring as a party is considered absolute.

This isn't simply because dungeons are dangerous and few people means more danger. The essential aim is a measure to cultivate cooperation as explorers.

You can never fight alone in a dungeon. If there's a tank role to attract enemies and take attacks, combat becomes safer. If there's a ranger to find enemies quickly, you won't receive surprise attacks. If there are many people, even powerful enemies can be attacked continuously by switching between allies, and if you can use magic, you can damage many enemies at once.

Even if an individual is outstanding, they can't shine without support from those around them. Conversely, if you can coordinate with those around you, even ordinary abilities can contend with powerful monsters.

This teaching is something everyone who attends Explorer High has heard enough times to have it coming out of their ears.

Ryonan, a third-year at Hachioji Explorer High, had also formed a six-member party called "Parks," as usual. They were heading toward District 3, Floor 1.

"We're entering District 3."

"District 3 is still tense, huh. The terrain just undulates a bit, so I wonder if it's really this harsh."

After Ryonan's words, Fujimori continued. They had already explored District 3 and had directly felt the impact of the terrain changes.

"Yeah. Monsters are hard to find, too."

"That time when there was a Beginning Frog right nearby when we climbed a hill, we were seriously panicked."

Komiya and Naganuma also agreed. Now they only explore as much as possible on flat or gentle terrain, but in the beginning they sought good visibility and climbed hills, and had been caught in spontaneous combat.

"It's a good thing that wasn't a Madness Serpent Mimic."

"Really. Madness Serpent Mimics are still hard for me..."

Tobuki and Kamiyuzuki made unpleasant expressions as if imagining a Madness Serpent Mimic. The frenzied behavior that disregards pain enough to be called inhuman causes the combatant's spirit to wear away.

Parks had already defeated Madness Serpent Mimics and was able to defeat all monsters that appear in District 3 except area bosses. At Explorer High, it's well known that One-Horned Rabbits and Gale Rabbits should be avoided in District 2, but in District 3, the monsters that should be avoided are only area bosses.

Even in District 3, there are powerful monsters like Madness Serpent Mimics and Rock Earth Dragons covered in hard outer skin that use earth magic extensively, but if you take sufficient countermeasures, they can be defeated. They had already overcome that wall and were leveling up and collecting items in District 3 aiming to reach Floor 2 by summer break.

Like District 2, District 3 also has monsters that drop armor. Many explorers, when advancing to the next area, decide based on whether they meet two conditions: (1) whether they've reached the level cap they can reach in that area, or (2) whether they've completed the armor series or obtained items they wanted in that area.

In particular, whether condition (2) items are obtained becomes extremely important. This is because there's a specification in the dungeon where if there's a level difference, the drop rate when defeating monsters becomes overwhelmingly poor.

Therefore, if you advance to the next area, your level will also rise, so it becomes difficult to say "I wanted that after all." The background for Suzuka exchanging Green-Yellow Wolf armor from Kirin was also this.

Parks is a party that produces excellent results among Explorer High third-years. If they can finish District 3 exploration by summer break, job hunting for the Explorer Guild in the fall will be secure.

"There aren't any near the boundary. Let's proceed along our usual route while scouting."

Ryonan, the leader, gives instructions as they go. Parks is a party composed of six men, but all members are good-natured individuals.

At Explorer High, there's a certain layer of people who become belligerent due to the benefits of status increases. The ones Suzuka previously subdued are typical examples, but to some extent there were those who looked down on lower-level people or mocked those with slow exploration.

You could say that's what high schoolers are like, but they've obtained power beyond their station, which makes them particularly nasty. At Explorer High, with the aim of cultivating character like Parks' members, they constantly review the curriculum and focus on thorough moral education.

"Come to think of it, Rikuzen-senpai's younger sister is hunting Gale Rabbits. Heard?"

"Heard, heard. It's that 'zoo' party, right?"

"Wow, their family really is amazing."

Kirin Rikuzen, the leader of zoo, has an older sister named Karin. Karin graduated from Hachioji Explorer High last year and is an extraordinarily famous person at Hachioji Explorer High.

Since she's one year above them as a senior, they were more familiar with her sister Karin than with Kirin.

"They were all worked up about whether she's going to challenge the District 2 area boss too, you know."

"That Fresh Green Great Wolf uses area attacks like crazy, right? She's really challenging it."

There are Rabbit Demon Iron Skins in District 2 too, but it never crossed their minds that someone would fight Rabbit Demon Iron Skins, which even Karin avoided fighting.

"She's amazing, but she's not the kind of explorer we should aim to be."

At Ryonan's words, the other members exchanged glances and laughed.

"That's true. We'll do our own exploration."

Parks are excellent explorers. They have enough ability to vie for the top of their grade. Such excellent Parks have agonized over their excellence.

What every explorer aims for is becoming a first-grade explorer. For students who enter Explorer High, special-grade is far above and stays in "if I could that'd be nice" territory, but first-grade is a rank where they dream that perhaps they themselves can become.

But in most cases, that dream is quickly crushed too. That's when they actually enter the dungeon and fight monsters, or when they compare themselves to other classmates. In any case, the dungeon and the visualization by status ruthlessly present the level they should aim for.

Once your level rises to a certain extent, you can predict how much more you can raise your level and at what point your growth limit will arrive.

This is because from your current level and status, you can calculate the average of stats added each time you level up. If you do that, you can naturally calculate that at level X, your stats will be like this. And from the data of explorers up to now, the stats required for each area also become known.

If that's the case, then if you continue exploration like this, you can know up to which area you can explore, and that you'll meet your growth limit at level X. That is extremely cruel and ruthlessly presents reality to them who are still exploring District 3 of Floor 1, which is still early areas.

Perhaps you could become a first-grade explorer. The dungeon doesn't even let them see such a dream that young people hold. And the dungeon is also a place where, if you can't accept that reality and try to make up for it by pushing yourself, you'll immediately die.

This is because stats fluctuate with each level up, and to max out your stats by requesting the maximum value each time you level up, you need to take corresponding risks.

Once might succeed. With good luck, you might succeed a few times. But whether you can continue that until level 100, I have to say it's impossible.

Especially since dungeon exploration is done by forming parties, you have to force that risk on your allies too, making it difficult to even make that choice.

But Parks was different. They seriously aimed to become first-grade explorers and were able to defeat Boss Fox in a desperate struggle. Their stat growth was good, and they had stats that could aim for first-grade explorer.

However, they took too much risk. Without sufficient leveling in District 2, they ended up fighting a pack of Green-Yellow Wolves.

Since Green-Yellow Wolves have high defense and are quick, combat took time, and they ended up merging with another pack. If they had fled here, they would have caused a monster train and lost their lives, but they were taught the danger of monster trains at Explorer High, so they decided not to flee and fight with monsters nearly double their number.

As a result, Parks fought a total of ten Green-Yellow Wolves and was able to return alive after a fierce battle.

Naturally, they weren't unharmed. Their bodies were covered in wounds and bleeding was severe, in a state where they could have died and it wouldn't have been strange. It was only because a party of third-grade explorers who could use recovery magic happened to pass by that they barely kept their lives.

The recovery magic connected their lives, but they didn't fully recover. After more than a month of treatment, what Parks faced upon entering the dungeon was a battle against fear.

Even if physical wounds heal, psychological wounds don't heal easily. Because of that, exploration didn't go well either, and there was a lot of conflict within the party.

This was also significantly because their stats were still at a level where they could aim for first-grade explorer. If they changed their policy to raising levels safely, they would certainly become strong but wouldn't reach first-grade explorer. On the other hand, if they continued exploring while taking risks again, next time they would certainly die.

Everyone agonized, conflicted, got irritated, and fought. After each person poured out their thoughts as much as they could, in a situation where they knew absolutely that no matter what choice they made they would regret it, they chose the path of giving up on first-grade explorer.

Since they were originally excellent, once the policy was decided, the rest was quick. They properly raised their levels against goblins and ogres, and even achieved a rematch with Fresh Green Wolves. Now they maintain the ability that rivals one or two in the grade. That was entirely the fruit of their efforts.

"Explorers are those who come back alive, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I respect the Rikuzen sisters and all, but like Ryonan said, we're us!"

By giving up on first-grade explorer, they changed to a steady policy. The more you advance in the dungeon, the stronger monsters become. They minimize risk as much as possible and certainly come back alive until their growth limit.

That is the exploration policy they currently uphold.

Actually, for the guild, such personnel are hard to come by. Since explorers dying is the greatest loss for the guild, explorers who can properly judge their own power and properly pull back are valued.

"Ah! Ryonan! There are monsters!"

Looking in the direction Naganuma pointed, there were a Sphere Moon Snake and a Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk.

The Sphere Moon Snake is a gray giant snake, a monster that curls its body into a ball-like shape.

It's not as big as a Madness Serpent Mimic, but still its curled form is one or two sizes larger than a balance ball.

The other monster, the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk, is a somewhat small monster about the size of a capybara. Its fluffy body and large tail are adorable, but as a District 3 monster, it has a ferocious personality incomparable to wild animals.

"Me, Fujimori, and Tobuki will take the Sphere Moon Snake. Komiya, Naganuma, and Kamiyuzuki, handle the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk."

Before Ryonan gave instructions, the five had already formed their formation. These are enemies they've faced many times. Even without Ryonan's instructions, each person can judge the optimal solution.

Ryonan and Fujimori are tanks with large shields and long swords. Komiya and Naganuma have maneuverable-sized shields and one-handed swords. Tobuki and Kamiyuzuki are equipped with spears.

The Sphere Moon Snake has low speed but in exchange has high attack power and defense, so Ryonan and Fujimori suppress it. Conversely, the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk escapes quickly, so Komiya and Naganuma with good handling take it.

While maintaining their formation, they slowly close the distance. District 3 has many hills, but there aren't obstacles to hide behind and ambush. There's no avoiding a head-on collision.

"We'll scatter after the Sphere Moon Snake moves."

"Got it, Ryonan. We'll take down the squirrel right away and then back you up."

Komiya replies in a light tone. They've fought these enemies many times, but since even one mistake leads to an accident in the dungeon, even though he knows, Ryonan deliberately says it. That's his duty as a leader. The other members don't find it annoying, and rather because Ryonan has a serious personality, they can follow instructions with peace of mind.

Parks adjusted their positioning and approached the monsters. It was a position with the Sphere Moon Snake in front and the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk in the back.

Parks locked eyes with the Sphere Moon Snake, which was raising its head in threat. When Ryonan took a step forward, the Sphere Moon Snake pushed its protruding head into its body as if to store it and became a perfect ball.

"Here it comes!"

Ryonan and Fujimori readied their kite shields and lowered their hips. Immediately after, by what principle it's accelerating is unclear, but the Sphere Moon Snake increased its speed and rolled toward Parks.

"Ngh!!"

The Sphere Moon Snake is apparently quite heavy, making the two who received the collision step back. However, their shields weren't repelled.

Toward the Sphere Moon Snake whose movement had stopped, Tobuki immediately thrust his spear between the two of them. It was a perfectly executed attack, but the surface scales interfered and only inflicted a scratch.

Ryonan and Fujimori also tried to attack, but since its head would pop out from gaps in its ball-like body and deliver bite attacks, or its tail would be swung down from overhead, they were fighting with defense-first tactics. The two completely shutting out the Sphere Moon Snake's attacks, and from its shadow dealing certain damage with spears, is their combat method.

Meanwhile, as the three began combat, Komiya and the others also dashed toward the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk. Unlike the Sphere Moon Snake, the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk is a monster that frequently uses long-range attacks.

True to its name Seed Cannon, it attacks by spitting out mysterious giant seeds from its mouth like cannon fire. The seed is about the size of a baseball, and the speed it's spat out at is over 150 kilometers per hour, comparable to professional baseball players. The Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk is a monster that unleashes such seed cannons while scurrying around.

However, Komiya and the others, whose stats have increased, headed toward the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk without fear. As if to shield Kamiyuzuki who holds a spear, Komiya and Naganuma ran at the front.

The Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk was trying to provide supporting fire for the Sphere Moon Snake, but it discovered Komiya and the others running toward it and started rapid-firing seed cannons in their direction. However, the two deflected all of them using shields.

A seed exceeding 150 kilometers is a threat, but for the two whose stats have risen and dynamic visual acuity has also improved, just defending with shields isn't that difficult. However, the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk, when the two's distance closes, separates at a speed that rivals One-Horned Rabbits, and upon confirming the distance has opened, shoots seed cannons again.

For Parks members who are losing in speed, to finish off the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk, they need to gradually and gradually encircle and corner it, so it's a monster with low danger but takes time.

After who knows how many rounds of chase, Kamiyuzuki jumped out from behind Naganuma and was finally able to inflict a wound on the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk with his long-reaching spear. If that happens, then it's just a matter of enclosing and striking it down. If Komiya cuts down its final desperate bite attack, the Nut Bombarrel Chipmunk turns into smoke and is absorbed into Parks' members.

"How about Ryonan and the others?"

"Looks like they're about done over there too."

Just as Kamiyuzuki said, when Komiya looked toward Ryonan and the others, there were Ryonan and the others safely defending against the wounded Sphere Moon Snake's attacks. When Fujimori's deeply striking sword slashed into the Sphere Moon Snake, the Sphere Moon Snake also couldn't endure it and changed form into smoke.

"Good work~. Hasn't the Sphere Moon Snake defeat speed gone up?"

"You guys worked too. Nut Bombarrel Chipmunks still look annoying to take down, huh."

While each offered words of thanks, they checked on hydration and drop items. Since drop items appear in each person's storage, daily sales revenue creates differences depending on the individual.

For parties with established trust relationships, items are declared and revenue is split evenly. Since Parks has been a party for a long time and overcame their District 2 setback, they are bound by deep bonds, so they decided to manage items as a party. By doing so, they can use it for party activity funds, and necessary tools are procured from here.

"Earlier Kamiyuzuki was complaining, so let's explore until we hunt a Madness Serpent Mimic today."

"Hey! I just said I'm not good with them!"

"If you're not good with them, you have to overcome it. Well, let's go soon."

"Wait a minute!"

From explorers who risked their lives to explore unknown territories, to explorers as a profession who certainly survive and bring back items. They dreamed of the former, and as a bitter decision chose the latter.

But, their faces were bright, and you could even feel a sense of fulfillment.