arc01 · 035-ep35
Episode 35: 'Cause I've Got Room to Spare
The small room between Floors 9 and 10 that serves as a rest stop had no small number of people in it, even in the middle of the day.
Makes sense—some people sleep on shifted schedules, same as me. Inside the dungeon it's dim around the clock, whatever time it is on the surface. Not that it matters much, I suppose.
Small room or not, it's decently spacious—several parties could bed down here and there'd still be open space to spare.
I avoid the crowded section and claim an open corner to pitch my tent. It's a one-touch pop-up type, so setup didn't take long. No wind, hard ground—I gave up on pounding in pegs to anchor it and just weighed the corners down with whatever rocks were lying around.
No weather, no scenery changes—honestly, the camping vibe is zero. Even the food is trail rations. The so-called calorie bars, basically candy bars. Bland.
Munch-munching away on those trail rations, I laze about inside the tent.
Inside the dungeon, my phone's out of range and nothing but a clock. At most you could enjoy locally saved music or videos. Not that I've saved any. In other words, I seriously have nothing to do.
Might as well just sleep.
I climb into the sleeping bag and, until sleep takes me, think about the other adventurers I saw today.
"…………They're all way too weak, honestly."
That's right. Compared to me, the gap is just too wide.
I knew there was a gap in stat growth from the start, so I figured it would only widen as levels climbed.
But I never expected it to stretch this far by only Floor 10.
"Why is it only my stats that grow like this, anyway?"
Stat growth per level varies a lot from person to person. Growth tendencies, what activities make them rise easier—people theorize plenty, but the actual truth is unknown.
In practice, though, most people end up with similar growth rates, so not many dwell on it these days.
Everyone's focus goes to earning safely, not that.
And dungeons really do pay—there's even a phrase for it, the dungeon dream. Make B-rank or above and you're treated as rich, plain and simple. You can buy a mansion outright.
I'm a pretty special case, so leave me out—but even fresh C-ranks can earn an ordinary salaryman's yearly income just by dedicating themselves to gathering around Floors 10 and 11. The higher your level, the easier the money gets. Whether you go on to take risks, get stronger, and earn even more is up to the individual… though most who make C-rank apparently retire without ever reaching B.
And—my thoughts drifted there, but that's the trend of the times: safety first, secure materials, nobody gets hurt. In this modern age where everyone has smartphones and the net, anyone can play it safe, so people with the will to get stronger even at real risk are genuinely rare.
I suspect this, too, plays into how stats grow.
Personally, I think the dungeon rewards effort and hard work. Or rather, if you slack, it's built to checkmate you. Poor stat growth, and no matter what you do, the deeper you go the harder it gets. It makes sense that B-, A-, and S-ranks are so few.
This dungeon scene already has plenty of people who give up at Floor 1. Can't it get a bit more hype somehow? It's genuinely sad how unpopular dungeons are.
◇
I wake from sleep and drink some water.
First time sleeping inside the dungeon—nothing in particular happened, and I woke up safe and sound.
The sleeping bag itself wasn't bad, but the dungeon as an environment is far too unfit for sleeping. The bed, frankly, was awful.
I stretch to loosen up, then pack the tent away.
One thing the expedition taught me: I'm not built for expeditions. Honestly, moving nonstop is easier on me. If I'm sleeping, I want to sleep in a comfortable room. I doubt I'll expedition again unless it's really necessary…
Somehow sleeping left me stressed out, so I get straight to hunting monsters.
Rabbits, centipedes, bats, turtles, spiders, wolves, slimes, goblins.
I clear out every monster I come across, one after another.
Floor 10's variety is nice. Though they're all enemies I've fought before, so zero freshness. One slight difference, though: each of them has more skills to throw around. Monsters, apparently, gain skills with levels just like people.
The turtle's barrier skill and the slime's regeneration skill both struck me as good enough to want to plunder. No open slot, though, so nothing to be done. If I hit level 30 and nothing good's on the list, maybe I'll come back for them.
With breaks mixed in, about half a day later my level hit 25.
【Name】 Kobayakawa Takeru
【Level】 25
【Status】
・HP: 580 / 580
・MP: 68 / 68
・STR: 116
・VIT: 112
・AGI: 183
・DEX: 113
・INT: 107
・LUK: 4
【Held Skills】
・Plunder
・Martial Arts (Lv. 3)
・Movement Arts (Lv. 2)
【SP】 12
I raised my level to 25, in principle so the boss's weapon plunder wouldn't fail… but honestly, it might be overkill. A level-25 boss it may be, but it's just the one enemy. It's said a well-balanced party over level 20 can take it down with proper weapons and armor and solid teamwork.
The C-rank promotion requirements were absolutely written with parties in mind, huh…
Anyway, that's why I can challenge it without a care in the world, and here I am in front of the boss room… there's a line of a few people, huh.
Can't just barge past the queue, so I take my place at the very back of the line waiting in front of the boss room. Inside, I can see one party already fighting.
The perception interference and presence concealment mean nobody's noticed me, so I speak up to make myself known.
"Um, is this the line for the boss subjugation?"
"Uwaaaaah!!? Wh-wha——!? Wait, what!? How long have you been standing there!?"
"Eh? No, just this second, actually. Sorry—I didn't mean to startle you."
"A-ah… you scared me… So, um, what was it again?"
"Is this the line for the boss?"
"Yeah, that's right. Two parties waiting right now, ours included. The one in there's been at it a while, so they should wrap up soon."
"Got it, thanks. I'll line up here too, then."
"Hm? Where's your party?"
"Ah, no—I'm solo."
"S-solo? Isn't that dangerous? Huh? C-can you even manage that?"
"Um, I think I'll probably be fine."
"You look young… are you secretly C-rank already?"
"No, D-rank. I'm here to promote to C."
"S-seriously? Well, if you got this far solo without a scratch, maybe you'll be fine. Should I be stopping this?"
"No, no—it's on me. Feel free to leave me be."
"I-is that so…"
With that, the man I'd been talking to went off to talk with his party members.
Judging by their chatter, they think I'm some kid taking a reckless swing at it. Well, I suppose that's how it looks.
At least they're leaving me to it—so I waited behind them, excited for my very first boss fight.