arc4 · 061-ch61

Episode 61: Sugō's Preparation

The first Saturday of October. Suzuka and his older brother Sugō were visiting the Hachioji Branch of the Explorer Association.

"It's been a while."

"Huh? Has Sugō been here before?"

"Of course. I came here when I was 15 to receive the dungeon blessing."

Even as he said "it's been a while," Sugō was looking around restlessly. If it was when he was 15, that was 3 years ago. If he hadn't visited since then, it must seem novel.

Suzuka, with practiced movements, operated his terminal and proceeded with the paperwork.

"Sugō, lend me your license card."

"Okay, okay."

After completing the applications for both of them, passing through the security gate meant they immediately set foot into the Hachioji Dungeon. The pleasant sunlight as always welcomed Suzuka and the others.

They say that in other districts, there are areas where the weather changes, but on Floor 1, the climate is always pleasantly warm and easy to spend time in.

"Hey hey, Suzuka. Weren't you going to lend me some equipment?"

Sugō called out to Suzuka, who was walking ahead. Since Suzuka was walking briskly, Sugō followed behind, but Sugō didn't have armor, much less a weapon. The only thing in his hand was the shovel Suzuka had handed him. Being in such an unarmed state in the dungeon seemed to scare him.

Naturally, since he's Level 1.

"I know, I know. We'll prepare a little away from the entrance. Even if something appears, I'm here, so it's fine."

With Suzuka as he is now, even if dozens of Boss Foxes attacked, he probably wouldn't get injured.

Whether from the dignity of being an older brother or not, Sugō didn't cling to him, but he followed closely behind from a mental distance. After moving away from the entrance and confirming no one was around, Suzuka handed over the equipment.

"Having said that, there's not that much to give. Here. Put these on both hands."

What Suzuka took out from storage were two "Proof of Devotion" bracelets. Items dropped from Curtain Frogs in District 3 of Floor 1, their effect is to increase Stamina and Defense by 25 each. If equipped on both arms, that's a 50 increase each, so in District 1 of Floor 1, no matter what attack you take, it probably won't be fatal.

"Whoa! This looks cool!"

"Hah, seriously? Isn't that kind of weak?"

"It looks cool! If so, give it to me!"

Proof of Devotion is a somewhat chunky silver accessory, not Suzuka's taste. The effect is also modest so he doesn't use it, but he can't give it away that easily.

"No. That's a dungeon item, so if you wear it, explorers might bother you, so better stop."

Especially for Explorer High students, Proof of Devotion is a useful item, and since the drop rate is low too, it's probably an item they'd definitely want. If Sugō, who isn't even an explorer, wore it while walking around, there's a possibility he could get mugged.

Sugō seemed to have heard about the bad reputation of explorers too, because he immediately gave up when he heard that.

"Then I guess it can't be helped. Anything else?"

"That's it for accessories."

"Eh, just that?"

"Yeah. Accessories don't really drop that often."

There are accessories among items dropped by monsters, but the drop rate is stingy. There are also area boss accessories, but those won't be given. The reason is that there's not much meaning.

While Proof of Devotion increases by a fixed value of 25, for example, Protection of Water Blade Weasel increases Stamina by 5% and Agility by 20% as a percentage-based enhancement. For an explorer like Suzuka whose stats are high, percentage-based increases offer great benefits and are attractive items.

On the other hand, Sugō's level is 1. His stats are still in the single digits. Even with percentage-based enhancement on that, there's almost no meaning. Therefore, among the accessories Suzuka has, Proof of Devotion is about the only useful item.

"For real? Is it okay with just that?"

"That item increases Stamina and Defense, so it's much safer than weird equipment."

"But, like, isn't there something like an all stats +100 item? Something amazing that would instantly raise you to Level 10?"

"Don't get spoiled. That bracelet has good performance too. When I first explored the dungeon, there wasn't anything like that."

Suzuka doesn't intend to spoil Sugō. If he spoils him, even though he came to the dungeon to raise his stats, he'll only end up with half-baked stats.

In that sense, Proof of Devotion might also be excessive, but that's something that has to be compromised in terms of risk balance. Sugō isn't aiming to become an explorer; he just needs to raise his stats for entrance exams. There's no need to be particular about stats to the point of risking serious injury.

The goal is stats on par with Explorer High students, whose stat growth is higher than training centers with an average of 2. Aim for an average of 5. That alone would make it possible to become an explorer, and it would be good enough.

"Well, if you say that, I guess it can't be helped. Hmm? Speaking of which, I don't think you even have a weapon like that. Could you rent a gun or something?"

"No, I fought with a metal bat from elementary school."

"Hah? Are you crazy or what?"

I didn't expect my older brother to so obviously be creeped out. A metal bat is a deadly weapon enough. Like Yasu, he'll be fighting with a shovel.

"Eh, wait a sec. You're not telling me to fight with a metal bat too, are you!?"

"That might be good too."

"Don't mess around! Hurry up and lend me a weapon!"

Sugō was somewhat genuinely panicking. Knowing that his younger brother is a lunatic who goes to fight in the dungeon with just a single metal bat, he was trembling in fear that he might get dragged into it too.

"Got it. There are several weapons, so you can choose."

So saying, Suzuka took out 5 weapons from storage.

Suzuka's beloved magic iron pipe, the metal club ripped from Boss Fox, and a one-handed sword and shield set, a spear, and a longsword.

This sword and spear are items dropped from a treasure chest in District 4 of Floor 1. Even though they were dropped from a treasure chest, they're not much of weapons—items from a treasure chest of only Floor 1 District 4 level.

From Floor 1 District 4 and Floor 2, treasure chests occasionally drop, or treasure chests appear when monsters are defeated. When you open a treasure chest, smoke flies out, and one item drops randomly from 6 types: weapons, armor, accessory items, potions, magic items, and food ingredients. Furthermore, it's said that you can rarely get rare items—truly a box containing treasure.

Explorers exploring Floor 2 say they encounter treasure chests at a frequency of about once every 5 expeditions. But Suzuka finds a treasure chest every expedition, and on days with many finds, he finds up to 3.

That's natural, because the number of explorers active in that area is overwhelmingly different. There are many explorers exploring Floor 2. Naturally. Explorer High graduates are exploring Floor 2, and since many explorers reach their growth limit around Floors 3 and 4, they stay in those areas, making them very crowded. The treasure chests that those explorers can find once every 5 expeditions.

So, what about District 4, where the number of explorers is less than 1/5th of Floor 2—no, where only Suzuka is exploring? You could say it's in a state where treasure chests are saturated. In such an environment, Suzuka was able to get a total of 16 treasure chests so far.

The breakdown of items is this.

Weapons × 3

Armor Head × 2, Legs × 1

HP Potion × 1

Food Ingredients Meat × 2, Fish × 3, Vegetables × 3, Fruit × 1

Food ingredients seem to have a high appearance rate and are treated as dud items. Eating them doesn't give buffs; they're just delicious ingredients. But, this was exactly what Suzuka had been looking for.

Treasure chest items can be put into storage. Since items aren't inside the treasure chest—you absorb the smoke that comes out and put it in storage—it's natural.

In other words, you can get food ingredients that can be stored in storage. For Suzuka, who was considering staying overnight in the dungeon from now on, being able to store bulky food ingredients is huge.

With Sekitori's Paulownia Trunk, you can put Calorie Mate-like non-bulky food in it, but if you're going to go camping, you want to eat something delicious, right.

And, the fact that an HP Potion dropped from a treasure chest was big. The HP Potion had been used once and there was no stock, and having experienced its usefulness firsthand, having just one gives a different sense of security.

Besides that, 3 weapons and 3 armor pieces dropped. While these aren't much of equipment, he hadn't sold them. The reason is naturally that they look cool.

The weapons Sugō is currently holding and examining are normal weapons with slight decoration. In game terms, weapons you'd only use in the early stages. In terms of rarity, the lowest rank of ★1. Common weapons. However, seeing such weapons in reality is rare.

Of course, if you go to Seekers Shop, they have weapons, but there's something different about things you got yourself. Since storage also has increased capacity thanks to leveling up, he's keeping them without selling.

"What is the weapon Suzuka usually uses? Surely it's not a metal bat anymore, right?"

If answering Sugō's question honestly, it's Calm Short Sword. But, that's an item where an area boss's drop item was enhanced by the Snatch skill, so he can't really show it to people.

Since Sugō is family, it might be fine, but if that gets him involved in something, it would be troublesome, so it's better not to show it. Therefore, Suzuka picked up the magic iron pipe that Sugō wouldn't even look at and showed it.

"I use this."

"Iron pipe!? That's the worst one, right?"

Sugō is right. The magic iron pipe looks like just an iron bar at first glance, and among these, it probably looks like it has the lowest lethality.

But, the weapons here, especially the sword and such, are weapons he only recently obtained. If he had them from the start, even Suzuka would have wielded a sword.

"The sword is a weapon I got recently, so I couldn't use it. That said, this is made of magic iron, so mana flows easily, and it's actually easy to use."

So saying, when he flows mana, the magic iron pipe glows faintly.

"Hah, feels like an explorer."

"Well, I am an explorer."

To be precise, you need a 4th rank license to be called an explorer. Explorer High students like 5th rank explorers and Suzuka are, shall we say, explorer apprentices.

The qualification for a 4th rank explorer is being able to defeat Floor 2 District 1 monsters, and with Suzuka as he is now, he could probably be promoted without issue. But, a middle schooler becoming a 4th rank explorer would stand out, and there's no immediate benefit to becoming a 4th rank explorer now, so he plans to take the promotion exam after finishing Floor 1.

"Well, I'll take this one. It seems safe."

So saying, Sugō picked up the one-handed sword and round shield. Seeing that, Suzuka worried a little.

"I'm letting you choose, but can you swing that?"

"Hmm, this is pretty heavy."

A double-edged one-handed sword has blade width and is quite heavy. Swinging that with one hand would require familiarity and strength.

"Might be a bit difficult."

"Right. If you accidentally hit your leg or something, you'd get seriously injured, so I'll pass."

So saying, Suzuka took back the weapon and handed Sugō a two-handed sword.

"Let's go with this one."

"This one seems more dangerous, doesn't it? It's heavy."

Since it's a two-handed sword, it's naturally heavier than the one-handed sword from earlier. But, this is fine.

"The first monster you fight is enough with this. You just need to swing down with all your might from above, so let's go with this. When your stats go up, maybe a one-handed sword."

The first enemy is the Drunken Sheep, whose capture method was taught by Yasu. Since they fall into pitfalls and become defenseless, this is enough.

And so, Sugō's preparation was complete.