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Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, has a girlfriend.
Girlfriend: Suella Handelberg
Memoria Tris
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee)
Magic Aptitude: 8 (General Class)
Position: Warrior
“So, that’ll be 800 yen for 100 grams.”
“Did the price go up?”
“Yes. Items excavated from the Insect King’s dungeon are rare, and if they’re a delicacy, there’s demand. So, there’s always a market for them. In the worst case, I can consume them myself.”
“You have a sweet tooth?”
“To a certain extent.”
“You call this amount ‘to a certain extent’?”
The sight of honey lined up on the counter wouldn’t be described as “to a certain extent.” It was honey from a monster called Flegby, known for its pleasant aroma. Three full one-kilogram jars were brought in. This means 800 yen per 100 grams, so 8,000 yen per jar, and 24,000 yen for all three. That’s quite a considerable income for a single day. The only drawback is the fluctuating price, but since we’re the only ones currently entering that dungeon, there’s probably no need to worry too much. Still, why does an old cash register’s “ker-ching” sound make my heart race so much?
As I was finishing up the purchase at Memoria’s shop as usual, I noticed the price had increased since the last time I brought something in, and my heart leaped a little.
“Senpai, is your sweet talk about your girlfriend over? Just like honey. Oh, I just made a pun.”
“You didn’t.”
I thought it was strange for him to leave the purchasing to his senpai, but I wasn’t about to complain. It was a chance for me to talk to my lover legally during work hours. At most, I might swing a fist at Kaido, who said something uninspired, and force him to pay for it.
“Ouch! Hey, Senpai, that’s unfair!”
“Alright, we’re leaving. See you again, Memoria.”
“Yes, please come again.”
“Yeah.”
Shaking off Kaido’s complaints as he clutched his head in tears, I took the receipt and cash and left the shop.
“Senpai, what are you doing after this? If you don’t have any work, let’s go drinking!!”
“Idiot, reports first.”
“It’s fine! The dungeon this time was just about the placement of insects and wasn’t that complex.”
When you’re a salaryman nearing the end of your workday, the conversation usually revolves around work or post-work activities. Kaido seemed to want to talk about after work, but I wanted to get my work done first. Especially if there were points of concern.
“…Kaido, what did you think when you first entered the Insect King’s dungeon?”
“What did I think? Just that it was gross… and that there were too many of them, so I hated it.”
“Ah, I had a similar impression. It’s troublesome, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Making that troublesome even more troublesome. When I think about it that way, it becomes enjoyable.”
“You sometimes go into workaholic mode, Senpai, but I don’t get it. I’ve never found work enjoyable.”
“I’ve only recently started to feel that way too.”
I’ve conquered and improved three types of dungeons so far: the Machine King, the Oni King, and the Undead King. For the Machine King’s dungeon, the low number of patrolling monsters was difficult to improve due to production costs. So, I proposed new types of golems and trap improvements. For the Oni King’s dungeon, I assigned occupations to the goblins, divided their roles for efficiency, and proposed tactical improvements. For the Undead King’s dungeon, I suggested implementing new building designs for easier ambushes and tactics that utilized their patrol patterns and undead characteristics. And each of these has yielded some kind of result. Thinking about that makes me wonder what kind of improvements I’ll implement next.
“So, what are your thoughts, Senpai?”
“Hmm, well, considering the terrain and dungeon characteristics, traps probably won’t be usable.”
“It seems easy to set them up, but the insects might get caught.”
The Machine King and Oni King are pure labyrinth-type dungeons, while the Giant King and Tree King are pure field dungeons, or so I’ve heard. And the Insect King’s dungeon, which is the one we’re dealing with, is a half-dungeon type, like the Undead King’s dungeon, combining a forest setting with a labyrinth spreading beneath the ground like an ant nest. As for the Dragon King, I haven’t received any information on whether it’s a half, field, or labyrinth type. So, I’m leaving that aside for now, as it’s not relevant. I’d rather focus on the task at hand.
“There should be intelligent insects deeper in, but not currently. My impression from fighting the monsters in the dungeon is that they’re mainly driven by their appetite. It’s probably a design choice to make them more ferocious than intelligent. That means, sadly, we can only use simple tactics.”
“Yeah, it felt like they’d just attack if they found prey.”
“Perhaps because they’re Soul, sustained by magic, they don’t need food. Because of that, there are no battles between monsters over food, which would normally occur. This can be said to be good for production costs, but on the other hand, it’s unusual for performance to be this poor in terms of maintenance costs. Relying on sheer numbers is too reckless.”
What I felt fighting the Insect King’s dungeon was a relentless human wave tactic using sheer numbers. The constant onslaught of enemies is probably due to insects having a greater breeding capacity than goblins. While their strategy of relying on numbers can be said to be simple yet powerful, it also seems to be overly dispersed due to covering with numbers. Simply put, there’s almost no width in tactics or strategy. They breed, multiply, and attack. That’s how that dungeon operates. Despite individual variations, there’s no word of cooperation. Various insects simply attack their prey. It’s rare to find a dungeon that embodies the principle of “might makes right” through sheer numbers so perfectly. The problem is that even that brute force can be somewhat avoided by moving quickly, as we did. Do they think it’s not a problem because the number of enemies increases the deeper you go? I find myself pondering the unique nature of this dungeon, so different from others.
“Simply creating terrain that’s advantageous to individual insects might be an option… Hmm.”
“What if we just prepared giant insects? You know, like kaiju.”
“That’s an idea, but if one individual is the strongest, you need adaptability. In that case, we’d have to consider what kind of kaiju to create.”
In a sense, it’s complete; no, “concluded” would be more accurate. This dungeon itself is so complete that it’s difficult to make changes. If you alter one part, a problem arises in another. The more I think about it, the harder it is to find the right balance.
“It’s difficult, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it seems there isn’t enough information from just the shallow layers. We might need to go a bit deeper… if we do, our perspective will change, and improvement ideas should emerge. Kaido, it’s going to be bug hell for a while longer.”
“Ugh, please spare me!”
“Just bear with it for a while. Tomorrow, Katsu will join us, and it’ll be easier than today.”
“That’s the least we can ask for. Haa, I’m jealous of Min-chan and the others.”
“When it comes to this, guys have it tough.”
“What happened to gender equality?”
“It vanished into a dream.”
“It’s unfair! I demand the application of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law for Men and Women!”
In the end, it all comes down to a lack of information. Therefore, today’s conclusion is the same as before: pointing out minor details and maintaining the status quo. It feels like scratching an itch that’s just out of reach.
“Hmm, wait! How about making an insect repellent spray for insect countermeasures? If they don’t come near, we can explore the dungeon faster!”
“It might be faster to form a special unit with insecticide and attack in a horizontal formation.”
“Oh!”
“But whether it’ll be effective is unknown.”
And if dungeon improvement isn’t working, the conversation shifts to how to conquer it. This conversation has been repeated countless times. It’s understandable, as it’s a common topic in our work. The ideas range from serious to playful, but this time it seems to be leaning towards the latter. Like Kaido’s idea of keeping them away, my thought involves imagining a unit in protective gear with gas tanks on their backs, marching through the forest while spewing white smoke. However, I can’t bring myself to execute that plan when I envision a scene like in a Hollywood movie, where they encounter an ineffective opponent and ultimately get their heads gnawed off, which is, well, part of the charm.
“I’m home!”
“Isn’t there something wrong with that?”
“Really? I say that every time because when I return to this room, it feels like I’m actually home.”
“Is that so? For me, even after taking off my armor, I feel like the real work is just beginning.”
While we engage in such inconclusive conversation, we return to the Party Room. I unlock the door and enter first, followed by Kaido. He heads to the equipment room first, puts away his armor and weapons in their designated spots, lightens his load, and then sits at the table in the living area. We both open our PCs without a word. Mind you, it’s just a matter of inputting today’s content into a pre-defined format, which only takes about thirty minutes of quiet work. It’s not an unspoken agreement, but our experience has taught us that accumulating work leads to no good, so we don’t interrupt the silence with conversation.
“Phew, that’s done.”
“Hmm, yeah. It’s really done this time! Senpai, we’re going drinking, right?!”
I smoke a cigarette, and Kaido stretches his back, signaling the end of our day’s work.
“Well, an occasional break is fine.”
“Alright! If that’s settled, let’s go quickly!”
“At least let me take a shower.”
Since I have no plans to meet Suella or Memoria tonight, and my work is done, I agree to go drinking with Kaido. It’s past 5 PM. A bit early, but I guess that’s okay once in a while.
“Okay, let’s meet at the underground mall entrance in an hour!”
“Roger!”
As I watch Kaido energetically head to his room, I decide to stay in the Party Room for a bit longer to finish my cigarette. Feeling a bit restless, I open my tablet to check my status, but before I can, I notice an email.
“Hmm? Is this work-related?”
I check, thinking it wasn’t there before we entered the dungeon. The subject is about rare monsters. Coincidentally, it’s something Kaido mentioned just before we entered the dungeon. Intrigued, I decide to open the email.
“…This is unusual.”
After all, information about dungeons has never been publicized before. For that reason, I read the sent message silently, as if reading an important document.
“It’s a warning, I suppose.”
The content itself isn’t particularly noteworthy. It’s just a notice to be careful because some parties are overly focused on hunting rare monsters, disrupting the workflow. Our primary job is dungeon testing; earning money by defeating monsters is merely a secondary income. To us, it’s something we shouldn’t even need to be told. However, a supplemental line at the end caught my attention.
“…”
“‘Reports of combat between parties within the dungeon during rare monster hunts have been received. Please refrain from conflict between testers.'”
The notification from the General Affairs Department caused my brow to furrow. PvP. I’ve heard of this in games, but has it appeared in reality too? This line doesn’t specify which parties fought which. Perhaps the details weren’t that important, or maybe they omitted them to avoid discord among testers. Regardless, the fact that a warning has been issued suggests that we may need to be cautious about future explorations. Our party generally avoids overlapping with other parties during explorations, so the risk is reduced. But it’s not absolute. I quietly turn off my tablet, praying that we won’t have to consider player-versus-player combat.
“…Am I overthinking this?”
I myself have experienced trouble with other testers in the past. I was provoked incessantly and retaliated indirectly in various ways. At the time, I wondered if it was a repercussion, but since there was no damage to us, it might have been a separate incident. Also, even if they were manipulated back then, the company must have realized that fighting other testers directly and engaging in conflict among testers is pointless. If the damage increases in the future, the company should implement some countermeasures. More importantly, I can’t imagine the supervisor doing nothing. Praying that nothing happens, I should probably head back to my room soon. If I keep staring at this text, I’ll keep Kaido waiting. And then, a shared bill might turn into me picking up the tab. I must avoid that at all costs. I press the ash into the ashtray, confirming the embers have completely died out, and leave the room.
“What shall we drink today?”
‘Kekekeke, I recommend the spirit wine, you know.’
“Hahaha! Men drink Oni Sake, silently!!”
“…By coincidence, Instructor?”
‘Kekeke, you think it’s a coincidence?’
“There’s no way, is there?”
And as I turn the corner, I’m swiftly caught in the grasp of two powerful individuals.
“Hey Jiro, you smell like cheap booze! Why didn’t you invite us drinking?!”
‘Indeed, indeed. You got a fiancée, and we held back out of consideration, but it should be about time now. Therefore, it’s only natural for you to invite us.’
At that moment, I understood. Tomorrow, I would definitely have a hangover. Even with my grown stats, I still couldn’t match these two. All I could do was…
“Is it okay if Kaido comes along?”
“You bet!”
‘He’s also someone we trained, so it doesn’t matter.’
The best I could do was to spread the damage to myself. Sorry, Kaido, but as a small consolation, I’m sure this Ogre Yakuza and Skull Gentleman will treat us. Whether it was good timing or bad, the slight unease I felt just moments ago completely vanished, replaced by the realization of the coming hangover. And somehow, I don’t dislike drinking with these two, so I’ll narrow down our choices for a place to drink.
Jiro Tanaka, 28 years old, has a girlfriend.
Girlfriend: Suella Handelberg
Memoria Tris
Occupation: Dungeon Tester (Full-time Employee)
Magic Aptitude: 8 (General Class)
Position: Warrior
Today’s Quote:
Trouble is brewing.
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