Chapter 2: The Formation of Dungeon Busters, Inc.
Chapter 2: The Formation of Dungeon Busters, Inc.
[Tokyo — Ezoe Kazuhiko]
After I returned to Tokyo, I found myself swamped with requests from the media for news coverage, one-on-one interviews, and the like. Never had I so keenly felt the need for a PR manager in Dungeon Busters, Inc. There were far too many for me to consider them one by one, so I sent out a blanket “We are kindly turning down all media coverage until we develop our organization further.”
There was only a little more than two months left until construction on our headquarters would be done. I had until then to gather the number of staff I would need, with the following four departments being an absolute necessity: IT, general affairs, PR, and adventurer management.
Furthermore, I also received sponsorship offers from pharmaceutical companies asking for a steady supply of the various potions in return. They were willing to offer ¥100,000 for normal potions, ¥1,000,000 for High Potions, and ¥50,000,000 for Extra Potions. I would also need a legal department to handle such contracts. There was no way that I could deal with everything by myself.
“Your complexion doesn’t look too good. Are things pretty tough on your side too?”
On January 11, the week after we cleared Sapporo Dungeon, I was at the Ministry of Defense at Ichigaya, sharing a smoke with Director General Ishihara in one of the outdoor smoking areas. The current defense minister apparently loved his smokes, so he had set up roofs over these spaces out of consideration for all the staff who had to otherwise suffer the elements during their smoke breaks. Hey, it’s hardly the worst expenditure made on taxpayer money.
I blew out a cloud of smoke and nodded. “We’ve had far too many people knocking on our door. See, if they were licensed adventurers, then I’d be happy to receive them. If it were questions from the Ministry of Defense, then I’d also be ready to oblige. But the large majority are requests for media coverage from news outlets, support from general citizens, and objections. I wouldn’t have time for anything else if I were to address them all.”
“Objections? What kind?”
“Supposedly we at Dungeon Busters are committing unjust genocide of the weak, unprotected animals within the dungeons, blinded by our greed for their resources. Or supposedly we at Dungeon Busters are disseminating destructive delusions in an effort to undermine society. You know, the usual.”
“Ah, so you’ve got them too. Honestly, those people...”
“Same here at the MoD?”
“Pretty much. Of course, we get voices expressing support and endorsement too. But it’s quite split. We’re the first country to introduce a civilian adventurer initiative, and we’ve shown results for it. The Pentagon and the European Defense Agency have both reached out with official requests for cooperation. Within the past few days, the cabinet support rate has gone up by 5%. The ‘NO! Urabe’ faction probably doesn’t like where things are going.”
“I don’t want to be involved in any of the politics. I’m neither right- nor left-wing. I think that the Urabe administration’s policy and stance towards the dungeons is the most reasonable one out there. That is why I’m cooperating with your bureau. If the administration had issued a law prohibiting the clearing of the dungeons, I would have thrown my lot with the ‘NO! Urabe’ side.”
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about on that front. The prime minister is, as he calls himself, a realistic conservative. I expect him to announce dungeon clearing a basic policy within his policy speech at the start of the upcoming regular Diet session. Let’s get going. I believe everyone should have arrived by now.”
The two of us stubbed out our smokes and headed back indoors. There were twenty-nine adventurers not a part of Dungeon Busters who had to be made aware of what my party and I had experienced. I was going to meet them all.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Adventurer — Kusakabe Rinko]
I, Kusakabe Rinko, was the team captain of the naginata club at Seishin Jogakkan College and also an assistant instructor of the Kusakabe-style School of Ancient Martial Arts. The history of Kusakabe-style ancient arts stretched all the way back to the Sengoku period, a time when ways to actually kill using the sword, the spear, and bare-handed combat had been taught and practiced in earnest. However, killing had then been criminalized in the Edo period, so our school had shifted focus towards self-defense. Even today, Kusakabe-style operated a dojo and was involved with providing instruction to the police department. As police in Japan would only ever draw their guns in a major crisis, the bulk of their training was in bare-handed fighting against opponents wielding weapons such as knives and bats.
As a daughter of the very family passing down Kusakabe-style, I had been steeped in various martial arts training since I was young. Although I wasn’t as good as my older brother, Kusakabe Seiya—the genius who’d made full instructor at eighteen years old and had been confirmed as the official successor to the school—I wasn’t all that bad myself, being talented enough to be accepted as an assistant instructor at nineteen.
“Seiya-san, have you ever sparred with Shishido Akira from Shinmyoukan?”
“Ha ha ha...just once, when I was in elementary school. Phew, it was such a long time ago. I don’t remember how it ended.”
Even in my eyes, my brother was a genius. The students at the dojo were fully convinced that he was strong enough to rank among the top of the martial arts world right next to Shishido Akira. However, whenever they brought the topic up, my brother would simply laugh and remind them that we were not seeking strength to win matches.
“Our principle is self-protection, remember. Not to participate in one-on-one matches and ‘beat’ other people. The skills we learn are for protecting ourselves and those important to us. Listen carefully. Killing people is not difficult. What’s truly difficult is protecting those we need to protect without hurting our opponents unduly.”
At our dojo, our father was the head instructor, my brother was the sole full instructor, and there were a total of four assistant instructors, including me. The other assistant instructors were all older male relatives, but they were fully accepting of my brother becoming the next head instructor. “The difference in talent between us and him is just too stark,” they would say with a wry smile.
“Brother, have you heard the news about Shishido Akira becoming an adventurer?” I asked one day over dinner. Seeing him shrug his shoulders and shake his head, I asked our father for permission, then turned on the TV. Many people might associate a dojo family with being stiff and traditional, but ours wasn’t all that bad. Our parents were sticklers about etiquette somewhat, but we were otherwise a rather normal family.
<Let’s take a look at the ‘State of the Dungeon Bootcamp’ footage publicized by the Ministry of Defense.>
Even at the college I attended, the Dungeon Outbreak Phenomenon was all anyone talked about. Some of the girls in my naginata club had even mentioned wanting to become swordswomen. I shared a bit of what they were feeling; I too was curious just how effective all the martial arts that I had learned so far would be against monsters.
There were two men on the TV screen facing off against what looked like large rabbits. One of them, Shishido Akira—who I secretly thought of as my brother’s rival—unleashed an incredible punch. So strong. Could he actually be stronger than my brother?
My brother, however, simply picked up another mouthful of rice with his chopsticks and ate it, looking unperturbed. I returned my gaze to the TV just in time to see the other man fight. Unlike Shishido Akira, he was holding a weapon—a shovel. Can he really fight with something like that?
“What on—?! What was with that speed just now?!”
Belying my expectations, the man swung his shovel, and a rabbit practically exploded into nothing. The footage had been mosaicked, but I could tell. Whereas Shishido Akira’s punch had sent his opponent flying, this man’s shovel had moved so fast that his opponent’s body had burst apart before any momentum could take hold. He was unbelievably fast. What he had just displayed was not humanly possible.
“He’s...surpassed human limits,” my father murmured.
My brother nodded in agreement, his face colored with interest. “Mm, that man is no longer human.”
I could not believe it. Although my brother often acted easygoing, he hated losing with a passion. And yet here he was, taken aback by another man’s strength.
“Do you think you’d win if you fought them, brother?”
“Against Shishido Akira, it might be a close match. But not so against that man. Even if father, you, and I all rushed him at once, we might still lose. Look at him.”
My jaw dropped as I watched the man running ten meters along a wall. I almost thought I was watching a movie. His physical strength and explosive power were clearly far beyond what normal humans could achieve. In my eyes, it was the man, not the rabbits, who seemed more like a monster.
“And yet there are fiends that cannot be beaten even with such strength...”
My father closed his eyes for a short while, then resumed eating.
＊ ＊ ＊
After that dinner, I asked my father and my brother for permission, then took the dungeon adventurer exam. It wasn’t so much that I was seeking strength as I was just plain shocked by the way the man fought. My father told me that he wouldn’t pass the dojo down to me even if I got stronger than my brother through dungeon delving. He also reminded me to always be mindful of how easy it was for people to drown themselves in power beyond what they can handle.
After saying that, however, he still gave me and my fellow assistant instructors his blessings while seeing us off. I took that as an indication that even he was taking the threat of the dungeons seriously. Of course, I had no intention of drowning in my power, but what I did want was to demonstrate the worth of martial arts in a time like this. If we weren’t going to lend a hand in addressing the dungeons filled with monsters, then how could we expect anyone else to do so?
“The killing methods cultivated during the Sengoku period should prove useful when fighting against the monsters.”
I was in my room the day before joining the Dungeon Bootcamp, performing maintenance on my katana and mentally going over the hidden techniques passed down only within the successor family of Kusakabe-style.
Then I joined the Bootcamp. At first, we were made to simply walk around in the dimly lit space wearing weights. Perhaps due to the strange air within the place or the stink of the monsters, many of the participants tired extremely quickly. There was a former sumo wrestler who seemed to be injured somewhere, judging by the trouble he was having with the stairs at the entrance.
Whenever someone got too tired or found the muscle pain to be too much, they were given a potion that apparently took away all their exhaustion and restored their stamina. I wasn’t so soft as to complain about this level of exertion, so I turned down the potion and immediately went to sleep.
“Oh, wow. This is the first time we’ve had participants so proactive about fighting ever since Ezoe-san and Shishido-san.”
Two weeks later, we finally got into the actual adventurer training. We were all equipped with shortswords provisioned by Dungeon Busters and made to fight the rabbit-like monsters ourselves. Honestly speaking, I found the experience a slight disappointment. Although the monsters looked like yaksha demons, their fighting strength was almost nil. As long as I remained wary against their bites, killing them did not require much effort. I even found myself wondering if the footage on TV had been staged.
Regardless, I reminded myself that I was in a dungeon and kept my guard up. And soon enough, I did feel a marked improvement in the physical abilities of myself and the other participants. I see. So this is the effect of Enhancement Element.
＊ ＊ ＊
After our group of four from Kusakabe-style became officially licensed as adventurers, we delved into Yokohama Dungeon again by ourselves. However, we were soon bored of the mechanical repetition of monster killing and proceeded to set up training regimens for ourselves that involved things like adding more weights or purposely fighting bare-handed.
Even so, spending several days inside the dungeon proved to be quite agonizing. The other three all treated me like their little sister, but I was a twenty-something college girl. Being alone with a crowd of men required extra care, and not being able to bathe for several days on end was absolutely excruciating.
Just as I was worrying whether I could actually continue being an adventurer, I received a summons from the Ministry of Defense. To hear tell, there was going to be an information sharing session regarding the recent clearing of Sapporo Dungeon. All adventurers were being gathered. Naturally, that included the Dungeon Busters team.
“If I meet Ezoe Kazuhiko-shi, I might get an answer to my hesitation. And what’s more, I’m curious whether his strength is for real or not.”
I really looked forward to meeting the man who had left such a strong impression on me. But when I entered the meeting room at the Ministry of Defense that day, I felt my heart sinking a little at the distinct lack of a sense of emergency in the air. Only a tiny handful of the other adventurers were emitting an aura different from apathy and unconcern.
“Hey there, beautiful. You’re an adventurer too? Would you like to pair up with me?”
There was a guy who casually approached me. He looked extremely shallow. Now, if his had been a superficial shallowness used to cover up actual substance—something that both my brother and Shishido Akira did—I would not have turned him away so bluntly. However, I felt no such indication coming from him.
“Excuse me. I don’t have business with you, so can you not talk to me, please?”
I proceeded to ignore him completely and took a seat. The man’s complexion changed, and he seemed about to say something but then got spooked by the three assistant instructors following behind me and made himself scarce. I believed that a guy trying to hit on a girl ought to do it seriously. If the guy had tried to chat me up and actually meant it, I would have been much more civil, although I probably would still have turned him down.
Just as I was about to sigh, I felt a presence behind me that sent chills down my back. My fellow assistant instructors also turned around. A slight buzz went up as the other adventurers noticed in turn.
“There they all are. What a view.”
“Interesting... There are a few who seem quite strong in here.”
“Today’s the first time all the adventurers of Japan are meeting in one place. Maybe we should take a picture.”
A man who appeared to be in his thirties entered the room as part of a group of three. One of those behind him was unmistakably Shishido Akira. The other was Tanaka Mutsuo, the subject who had demonstrated the effectiveness of the Bootcamp for dieting on TV. And last but certainly not least, the man at the front was none other than the world’s strongest adventurer, Ezoe Kazuhiko. I could not help but smile a little when I laid eyes on him; the aura that he was emanating was worlds apart from that of anyone else’s. It was almost as if the air around him were roiling with flames. I was sure that if my father had been present, he would have made a comment about how similar he seemed to our deceased grandfather. This was the presence of someone who had walked the tightrope between life and death in countless fights and lived through them all.
He’s the real thing. There’s no doubt—he is the world’s strongest adventurer.
The meeting was about to begin, but there was still a bit of time. Unable to control myself, I stood up and walked forward like a moth drawn towards a flame.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Ministry of Defense — Ezoe Kazuhiko]
When I walked into the meeting room at the Ministry of Defense, I found the twenty-nine adventurers who had fully graduated from the Dungeon Bootcamp, a program launched in December last year for the purpose of training aspiring adventurers, waiting for us. These twenty-nine men and women were the only other existent civilian adventurers in this whole world at the moment. Naturally, as fellow adventurers, Akira, Mutsuo, and I had also been called.
Information control was strict at the Ministry of Defense, with there having been checkpoints both at the entrance to the building and the entrance to this room. Before entering, all of us had to hand over all electrical devices—phones included—and walk through a metal detector.
When the screening was finally over and the three of us walked into the room, all twenty-nine pairs of eyes turned towards us.
“There they all are. What a view.”
“Interesting... There are a few who seem quite strong in here.”
“Today’s the first time all the adventurers of Japan are meeting in one place. Maybe we should take a picture.”
Under the watchful eyes, I was just about to grab one of the available seats when a woman, together with three men in tow, suddenly approached us. The woman had long, black hair that was tied up at her back and was not wearing any makeup whatsoever. Her being here meant that she was at least a college student, but she had a dignified bearing that made her seem younger than twenty.
“Ezoe Kazuhiko-shi, I presume? I am Kusakabe Rinko, an assistant instructor of the Kusakabe-style School of Ancient Arts. I was licensed as an adventurer at the end of last year. Behind me are eminent practitioners at our dojo. It is an enormous honor to meet the world’s strongest adventurer.”
Honestly, as a complete amateur to the world of martial arts, I have no idea what’s different about ancient ones and modern ones. Akira’s just smiling amusedly, and Mutsuo...is muttering something to himself?
“Here comes another staple of the isekai genre, a proud female knight archetype! She’s definitely going to be captured by orcs and go, ‘Kuh! Kill me already!’...”
All right, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. I directed my attention back to the woman before me.
“Yes, I am Ezoe Kazuhiko of Dungeon Busters. These are my members: Shishido Akira and Tanaka Mutsuo. It is our pleasure having the opportunity to meet other adventurers. However, allow me to make one correction. I am not ‘the world’s strongest adventurer.’ Akira here surpassed me during our clearing of Sapporo Dungeon. I am but a normal middle-aged man who has lived a life entirely unrelated to martial arts.”
“Surely you are jesting...or maybe not, but even if that is the case, you are still far more powerful than any of us. I myself am only Rank E at the moment...”
“That is merely a difference in experience. It will not be long until you reach Rank D and, soon after, Rank C.”
“I can only hope so. Ah, thank you for your time.”
Seeing Director General Ishihara and several of her subordinates enter the room, Kusakabe returned to her own seat. My group also sat down.
Ishihara looked around the room, then bowed. “Thank you for gathering so soon at the start of this year, everyone. I am Director General Ishihara Yukie of the Ministry of Defense’s Dungeon Adventurer Administrative Bureau. It is my pleasure seeing all of you gathered together here today.”
“Allow me to get right down to business,” she continued. “There are two reasons for today’s summons. There is newfound information about the dungeons that we need to share with you all, and I have a request to pose to all of you. Unfortunately, the nature of the information is far too sensitive to be conveyed through email or phone. We will reimburse all transportation costs incurred at a later date.”
Ishihara began by introducing the men she’d brought, who turned out to be the directors of the various divisions within her bureau. The Dungeon Adventurer Administrative Bureau was apparently split into the following five divisions: Dungeon Policy Division, International Policy Division, Personnel Affairs Division, Operational Coordination Division, and Research Policy Division.
The Dungeon Policy Division was in charge of coming up with policies for dealing with the dungeons and for overseeing and developing the civilian adventurer initiative. This division had the authority to, through the defense minister, raise suggestions directly to the Cabinet.
The International Policy Division managed the sharing of information with other countries and the dispatching of personnel to the preparatory committee of the United Nations’ International Dungeon Adventurer Organization.
The Personnel Affairs Division served as the reception for the Dungeon Bootcamp and were in charge of managing the civilian adventurers themselves.
The Operational Coordination Division was the largest division within the bureau, tasked with working with the internal department of the Ministry of Defense to manage the dungeons through constructing monitoring facilities and dispatching JSDF personnel. Supposedly, many of the staff within this division had been transferred over from the Bureau of Defense Buildup Planning and the Bureau of Local Cooperation.
The Research Policy Division planned out the research program for things obtained from the dungeons, such as magic stones, monster cards, and cards gained through the Gacha. The actual research, however, was being carried out by the newly established Dungeon Technology Research Center under the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, a lower branch of the Ministry of Defense.
“Now, I believe that everyone present is already aware, but...”
After introducing the various directors, Ishihara switched gears with the above preface, paused to make sure she had everyone’s attention, then continued in a decisive tone, “At this rate, the human race is doomed to annihilation in the near future. The only people who can prevent that are you, the dungeon adventurers.”
The air inside the meeting room froze with tension.
＊ ＊ ＊
I, Samejima Kensuke, was an employee at Dainippon Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Co., Ltd. I used to be a medical representative in the sales department but not anymore. I had become a dungeon adventurer and was currently sitting inside a meeting room at the Ministry of Defense.
Why was a medical representative here at the Ministry of Defense as a dungeon adventurer? That was because my sales figures had been bad. No matter what I did, I still couldn’t close deals. For some reason, I was the only one who couldn’t sell anything. People like me did exist. Despite having a fancy job title like “medical representative,” I was nothing more than a mere salesperson struggling to meet quotas. The longer I couldn’t produce results, the more out of place I felt within the company. On a certain day at the end of last year, those at the bottom of the barrel like me were all gathered together and ordered by our higher-ups to become dungeon adventurers and bring them potions.
My job now was to enter Yokohama Dungeon, kill the monsters within, then gacha for potions using the monster cards I picked up. The payment for the magic stones we also picked up would first be transferred to our company. We were evaluated based on the number of potions we brought back and then paid from the pool of magic stone money—after depreciation, income tax, and whatever else it was that had their go at the money—plus a little more as a bonus. Because our evaluation and payment system was fundamentally different from the other employees, we were all transferred to a new company that had been set up at the end of last year. After participating in the Dungeon Bootcamp, we then got to work as a five-person adventurer party under the name Team DPM.
On January 4, we had a trial first day. Surprisingly, the job duty was extremely easy. The five of us simply ganged up on the rabbits of Floor 1 of Yokohama to clobber them to death, then picked up pebbles weighing three grams. After doing this for eight hours, we returned above ground, reported through our in-company messaging platform, then were allowed to clock out. In about an hour, we’d killed 30 rabbits, which made it 240 rabbits in eight hours. That gave us seven cards each day, give or take, and about 720 grams of magic stones worth ¥72,000. That worked out to ¥14,400 (before tax) for each of us. Seven cards each day meant having enough to roll the Gacha twice every three days. A daily salary of ¥14,400 might sound low, but the eight hours inside the dungeon only amounted to several minutes above ground. Once we were done turning in the magic stones and whatnot, we were free for the rest of the day. All we had to do was enter Yokohama Dungeon at the reserved time, move about a bit within the dungeon, then come back out. After that, we could go back home to game or go drinking or do whatever we wanted. I honestly couldn’t imagine an easier job.
“At this rate, the human race is doomed to annihilation in the near future.”
Even after hearing Director General Ishihara’s explanation, we still didn’t really get it. Don’t get me wrong. We understood what she was saying. We knew about Ezoe Kazuhiko of Dungeon Busters, Inc. bringing up his Monster Stampede theory at the end of last year and that he had found actual evidence supporting this theory during the dungeon clear the other day. However, it didn’t feel real to us. We were simple salarymen who were only entering the dungeons because our company told us to. Clearing dungeons and saving the world wasn’t the job of mere salarymen. Our job was to gather potions through the Gacha using monster cards.
That was why I inadvertently blurted, “Uh, is that our job, though?”
The thirty-something director general turned and looked at me with a sharp gaze. Why’re you glaring at me, lady? Clearing the dungeons is your business, right? As a salaryman, I’m fine with just living easy and enjoying my day-to-day. I’m sure someone else will do the clearing.
“This...is a request and is by no means compulsory. I’m sure there are those of you who only wish to involve themselves with earning money by gathering what the dungeons have to offer. However, if we do nothing, all of humanity will be wiped out by the impending Monster Stampede.”
“How do you know that for sure, though? When’s the Stampede going to be? On what scale? If the monsters are coming out above ground, can’t the JSDF take care of them?”
See? There are other people who agree with me. Don’t come to us with your “the world is ending” doom and gloom. That’s what the JSDF and Dungeon Busters are for. If the Stampede really occurs, I’ll be the first to run away. But until then, I’m going to live carefreely, earning as much as I can.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Ministry of Defense — Meeting Room — Ishihara Yukie]
It was the higher-ups’ decision to keep the fact of the ten-year time limit a secret from the general populace. The Urabe administration decided that we would eventually reveal this through a joint global announcement in coordination with the UN. That left me with the task of instilling a sense of urgency within those in the room without actually specifying how much time we had remaining. After wracking my brain for a long time, I had gone to ask Ezoe for advice on how best to present the problem of the Stampede.
To my surprise, he’d told me that he expected some people to not come on board even if they knew the truth. “I can’t imagine the world ending.” “We can just leave it to people who know what they’re doing.” “Someone else will take care of it.” “There’s nothing I can do that can make a difference.”
In fact, he’d claimed that half of all Japanese thought this way. When I’d objected in disbelief, he’d told me to think of our country’s voter turnout. “They’re not at fault,” he had said. “This is a normal reaction.”
“Uh, is that our job, though?”
When I heard that question, I couldn’t help but get a little emotional. If I hadn’t been warned of this sentiment beforehand, I just might have raised my voice. “I don’t care about what happens in the future”? “What more do I need than to just enjoy each day as it comes”? That was no better than mere cats or dogs. Dialogue with such people was simply a waste of time. Just as I was about to ignore the man and move on, Ezoe raised his hand.
“We have no way of telling when it would be. However, this isn’t something we can simply ignore, not when there was an actual field labeled ‘Monster Stampede’ on the Dungeon Core screen. At least, that’s what I personally think, but I’m sure there are those who don’t necessarily share my perspective. ‘Surely someone else will clear the dungeons. I don’t want to work that hard. I just want to rake in several grand in a few hours and then enjoy my life.’ That is a way of life, and it comes with a certain amount of satisfaction. Director General, what do you think about separating us civilian adventurers into two categories? We can have a ‘miners’ group that focuses on gathering resources—or as the internet calls it, ‘mining’—and a ‘busters’ group that focuses on researching and clearing the dungeons?”
A ripple of buzzing spread among the other adventurers. The man who had just asked “is that our job?” looked slightly uncomfortable. This was out of the blue, but a rather interesting suggestion nonetheless. I decided to lend Ezoe the floor a little while longer.
“Tell us more about this idea. Out of everyone in this room, you’ve spent the longest in the dungeons and killed the largest number of monsters by far. Both your achievements and contributions merit you the right to speak on matters of dungeon adventurer policy.”
“Thank you. The way I see it, the Dungeon Adventurer Administrative Bureau’s aim is two-fold: to procure magic stones, potions, and whatever other items or technology that the dungeons have to offer; and to clear dungeons both within and outside of our national borders and to manage the administrative rights thereof. With there being two aims, I believe it would be a good idea to split us adventurers into two categories. For example, for the first group, the miners, you could perhaps arrange a monthly ranking system based on the quantity of magic stones and cards delivered and offer payment bonuses to those at the top of the leaderboards. As the duty of those within this group is not to clear the dungeons, there is no need to evaluate them based on strength.”
“I see. You’re suggesting that because there are two aims, we can apply different management policies to each side. What are you thinking for the other group?”
“Clearing dungeons requires a lot more time and is vastly more dangerous than mining. As such, the busters would need their own incentive system.”
“What specifically do you have in mind?”
“After clearing a dungeon, busters with a lowercase ‘b’ become Busters with a capital ‘B’ and gain administrative rights over the newly cleared dungeon. They should still hand over the ownership to the state, but how about allowing them to keep their vested rights? This way, any mining done within dungeons will be subjected to a usage charge of, say, 10% of revenue from magic stones, payable to the individual or party who cleared the dungeon and will still maintain administrative rights over the place. How does that sound?”
As the other adventurers exchanged glances, I spotted Shishido Akira fiddling on his phone and Tanaka Mutsuo drawing something. The two of them had most likely already heard this idea from Ezoe Kazuhiko ahead of time.
“That is an extremely interesting suggestion. The bureau will give it due consideration. Moving on...”
“Hold on a moment! You can’t just do that!” exclaimed the man from just now.
From the looks of things, he was disgruntled about the 10% usage charge. I could hardly believe his gall. Does he truly believe that he, as someone who plans on merely watching, has the right to debate matters with the same authority as someone who is fighting for humanity’s sake with his own life on the line? What nonsense.
“I only said we would consider it, and it’s not as if we are lowering our purchase prices. We’re merely talking about allowing Busters to charge 10% for using a dungeon they have already cleared. If you don’t like it, you can always quit being an adventurer or join the busters side yourself. You want to take it easy? Fine. You want to wait for someone else to bail you out? Fine. But now you also want to assert your rights? On what grounds, may I ask?”
The man fell silent, scowling darkly. This was fine. It wasn’t my intention to make light of miners; their contribution would be valuable too. However, as long as I was in power, I would not allow them to hold the busters back. If they made a conscious decision to become a mindless ant, then they should just silently do their work and be happy with their lot. They were the ones who had chosen this lifestyle for themselves, after all.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Ministry of Defense — Meeting Room — Various Adventurers]
As the times moved on from the Sengoku period to the Edo period, Kusakabe-style shifted from being a means of killing to being a means of self-defense. Even today, it was taught to practitioners and police officers as a way to “protect yourself and those valuable to you.” The reason why I had become an adventurer was because there was now a very real and pressing threat in the form of the monsters. A police officer had died at their hands in Osaka. I had joined the Dungeon Bootcamp and became an adventurer to learn how to fight against monsters.
Right now, I was watching the video of the Dungeon Busters party achieving the world’s first ever dungeon clear. I had no words beyond “incredible” for the fight itself, but that was hardly the only shocking revelation in the footage. The relief on the ceiling of the lowest floor. The existence of the characters from Legend Rare cards. The suggestive words on the Dungeon Core screen. Every last one of these things vied for my attention.
The Japanese kanji for martial arts, 武, is written with the radicals for stopping (止) a weapon (戈). This is the very time when we need to fully demonstrate the power of martial arts. For the world’s sake.
If my sword can help contribute towards stopping the impending Stampede, then I will gladly lend it. But realistically speaking, what can I do? Unfortunately, my current self is nowhere strong enough to participate in dungeon clear runs. Even if I were accompanied by all the strongest practitioners at my dojo, we would still fail long before reaching the lowest floor. That leaves me no other choice but to get strong. And I know how to do that. It’s right there on the screen I’m staring at. A paragon of strength who is finishing off the gigantic blue beast even after having lost an arm.
＊ ＊ ＊
I, Sumida Masayoshi, was a former sumo wrestler who had climbed all the way up to juuryou, the second highest division of the professional scene. At 193 cm tall and weighing 150 kg, I was genetically very blessed for the profession. However, the damage to my knees and lower back built up to the point where I could no longer perform in the ring, and I had no choice but to retire in October last year. A retired sumo wrestler was nothing more than a fat guy with an insatiable appetite. Just as I was troubled about how I was to make a living, my coach recommended that I become a so-called dungeon adventurer. If it could heal someone’s myopia, then maybe it could do something for my knees and lower back too. As they said, there was no knowing without trying, so I joined a session of the Dungeon Bootcamp close to the end of the year.
The experience was excruciating. Things were fine down in the dungeon itself, but climbing up and down the stairs to the dungeon was hell. Even so, I gritted my teeth and kept at it. Then the strangest thing happened. I didn’t know whether it was due to the Enhancement Element or to the potions, but my pain gradually receded, slowly but surely. At around the two-week mark in the dungeon, my weight had gone down to 100 kg, and the pain was completely gone from my knees and lower back.
My parents had come all the way from Suzushi, Ishikawa Prefecture to cheer on a washout like me, and messages of encouragement from fans even reached my room. The only way I had of repaying the debt of my parents rearing the glutton that I was and the support of the fans who had been with me since the start of my career was to become a fine dungeon adventurer and make it big. It was this thought that had motivated me to become an adventurer.
The moment I saw the words “Monster Stampede” on the Dungeon Core screen, the first thing that came to my mind was the faces of my parents, my younger brother, and my younger sister. Then rose the faces of my coach and his wife, followed by those of the juniors who had helped me out as my attendants during the short time we had been together. And last but not least were my fans, the ones who had cheered for me at Ryogoku Sumo Hall with flags and banners in hand. I did not want to see even a single one of those faces twisted in grief and anguish. My one and only asset was my big body. However, this could be just what everyone needed at the moment. For the sake of ensuring that everyone I was indebted to could live safely and freely, I was more than willing to fight against the monsters!
＊ ＊ ＊
I, Mukai Junpei, was almost nearing my forty-fifth birthday. Until recently, I had been a banker. For the sake of my beloved wife and two daughters, I’d endured unreasonable orders and suffered through lonely job transfers in far-flung cities, dedicating twenty-two years of my life at a major city bank. Last year, however, my bank had seen major lay-offs. Because they’d introduced so-called “Robotic Process Automation” on a large scale, I’d lost my job. What I had been doing would be automatically processed going forward, they’d said. I’d felt like I was being told that bankers who could only perform manual work were no longer needed.
I laughed. There was nothing to do but laugh. When I first joined the bank more than twenty years ago, it had been in a terrible state. During the nineties, nobody would give the time of day to the banks that had been teetering on the verge of insolvency—even after all the injections of public funds—due to all the bad debt they had previously accrued. Merger upon merger had happened as we’d entered the new millennium, and just when the banks had seemed about to get back on their feet, the subprime mortgage bubble had burst, direct banks had risen to prominence, and the competition had only got increasingly cutthroat from that point on.
Even so, the state of the banks never truly changed. There was a drama depicting the internal issues of banks, Baegaeshi, that had been quite popular a while ago. Honestly speaking, it had hit pretty close to the mark. Wasting time and effort on brown-nosing incompetent superiors. Pointless colluding preventing meaningful decision-making. Faction wars based on which branch everyone started out in. Superiors pushing blame for their failures onto subordinates. When the HR department had come to me with so-called “career counseling to help you live the life you want,” I’d thrown my resignation letter in their faces. I was sick and tired of the place.
However, I still had a family to support. University exams were coming up soon for my older daughter, and my younger daughter was just about to enter middle school. As the sole breadwinner for the family, I had to secure a source of income somehow. It was right then that I saw the presentation given by Ezoe Kazuhiko, someone in my age group. I thought, “This is it!” I would become a dungeon adventurer, become filthy rich, build a large mansion, drive around in luxury cars, and fund my daughters’ overseas educations. That would show the assholes who had been laughing at my back watching me leave. This thought was the reason why I decided to participate in the Dungeon Bootcamp.
When I learned of the possibility of the Monster Stampede, I cursed the heavens. It showed me a dream of the future, then closed the door to that future almost immediately afterwards. How much tribulation did the heavens intend on putting me through?! I couldn’t afford to die; the livelihood of my entire family depended on me. Fighting with my life on the line to clear dungeons was the last thing I should be doing. But if the dungeons were left alone, it was only a matter of time before my family and I came under threat. Just what should I do...?
＊ ＊ ＊
Akira, Mutsuo, and I were all sitting at the back of the meeting room because we were curious how the other adventurers would react to all the talk about the Monster Stampede. The result was almost as I had expected. In short, I saw the Pareto principle in effect.
The Pareto principle was a social rule of thumb proposed by an Italian economist based on statistical analysis. It stated that the richest 20% of the population owned 80% of the overall wealth and that the remaining 20% of the wealth was spread out among the other 80% of the population. This principle—also referred to as the 80/20 rule—could be observed in multiple facets of society. For example, 20% of the employees at companies generated 80% of the added value of the company’s services. Similarly, 80% of the code of a program could be completed within 20% of the overall development time. This phenomenon could sound quite unbelievable, but it had certainly been observed in many different fields.
One derivative of this principle was the Worker Ant Principle, also known as the 2:6:2 rule. Given a certain number of worker ants, only 20% of them would work hard, 60% of them would work moderately hard and rest half the time, and 20% would just slack and do nothing. Strangely enough, if you gathered a group of only superworker ants, 20% of them would start slacking off. I personally thought this an interesting study. Some of the ants even died from overwork just to support the livelihood of the freeloaders.
In an organization, these freeloaders were actively harmful and needed to be removed without impunity. The reason was because freeloaders were “infectious.” There were studies where the number of freeloaders had ballooned so high that the nest could no longer maintain itself and fell apart. On the other hand, aiming to raise everyone to the level of those within the top 20% was a fool’s errand, as it would mean the collapse of the entire system should even one person fall. The key to increasing an organization’s overall productivity was to constantly refresh the workforce while carefully pruning away the freeloaders. The name for this method of thinking was human resources management.
Dungeon Busters, Inc. needed to be an organization filled with working ants. In other words, of those currently in the room, only the “top 20%” and the “60% that would work” were potential candidates as new members. The empty-headed guy who’d just spoken up was part of the bottom 20% of the social barrel that existed in every society. No matter the situation, these people simply “can’t get serious.” Even if they changed jobs, were left to their own devices, or were given notice that the Monster Stampede was almost upon them, they would not be able to put in the effort right up until the very moment they died. We did not need such “slacker ants” in our company.
“I am Ezoe Kazuhiko of Dungeon Busters, Inc. As fellow adventurers, being able to exchange information would always be my honor. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
When we entered a break, I went around approaching those who had caught my eye during my observations from the back, handing them my business card. It was my hope that some of them might express an interest in joining Dungeon Busters. And not long after, I did have people getting back to me.
“My name is Sumida Masayoshi. I’m a former sumo wrestler. I wish to clear dungeons together with you, Ezoe-san.”
“Same here. As someone from a family with a martial arts legacy, I cannot overlook the threat of the dungeons.”
The former sumo wrestler named Sumida Masayoshi was even larger than Akira in size. Despite that, all his muscles were properly tucked in and tightened. He could be an immediately effective asset. The young woman named Kusakabe who had approached us before the meeting had Akira’s stamp of approval. The three men following her also seemed to be quite strong. Both Sumida and Kusakabe had come up to me with a serious light in their eyes, and both of their expressions shone with the distinctive zeal of someone who was acting for someone else’s sake.
“We are currently still in the middle of constructing our headquarters. However, I can see that you two wish to start as soon as possible. Let’s set a later date where we can get to know each other better and I can give you a more detailed introduction to Dungeon Busters.”
We exchanged contact info, and I promised to set up an appointment as soon as possible. Aside from these two, I also got to know a few others who I had approached earlier. As luck would have it, there was a former banker who just might have the necessary skill set to handle our accounting and general affairs. When I brought it up, his face practically radiated enthusiasm. Apparently he wasn’t all that particular about being an adventurer.
What about the unmotivated bunch from before, you ask? No idea. They had already been erased from my memory.
◇ ◇ ◇
[The Kantei — Chief Cabinet Secretary Kasuga]
On January 11 at 18:30, Chief Cabinet Secretary Kasuga held a press conference at the Kantei to release further information regarding the dungeons. When he announced the existence of the Legend Rare cards with actual personalities, all the reporters in attendance naturally hoped to meet and interview one of these personalities in person. However, they then learned that the only way for these characters to appear above ground was to be materialized by a Buster and that Ezoe Kazuhiko was currently the only Buster in existence. They grew despondent, as all of them were quite familiar with Ezoe’s blanket refusal of all media coverage.
“Unfortunately, we have no way of understanding what this ‘DE’ is referring to at the moment. The Monster Stampede field has of course been turned to OFF for Sapporo Dungeon. The JSDF will be dispatching a research team to Floor 7 two weeks from now to perform further detailed study of the Dungeon Core.”
When it came time for Q&A, almost every single reporter raised their hand. Questions including the keywords of “LR card,” “Card Materialization,” and “Stampede” came one after another in quick succession.
“Has the old man who appeared in the video been questioned? Furthermore, will the government acknowledge ownership of the cards despite the clear presence of self-will?”
“We are currently requesting the cooperation of Dungeon Busters, Inc. in the analysis of the LR cards and the arranging of an interview with the old man.”
“Being able to use cards above ground means being able to summon monsters above ground. Would this not be dangerous?”
“Currently, the only individual who possesses the Card Materialization ability is Ezoe Kazuhiko-shi. If a monster appears above ground, he would immediately be the lead suspect. Under such circumstances, it seems highly unlikely for him to adopt this method even if he intended to sow chaos within society.”
“If the Monster Stampede now seems so sure to happen, many countries would certainly focus on bolstering their own militaries. Will the JSDF also be seeing an increase of budget?”
“The strengthening of the JSDF is something that we have already been working towards without direct relation to the Monster Stampede. As the large majority of Gamerican forces continue their withdrawal, the onus for national security now falls on our own shoulders. We believe that the citizens understand the necessity for this change.”
I sighed as I watched Chief Cabinet Secretary Kasuga tenaciously answer each question one by one. Even though I had issued a blanket statement that I was refusing all media coverage, the requests were still coming in nonstop. At this rate, it might do more harm than good to continue insisting on waiting until the end of March. I suppose I should go ahead and get the organization set up first ahead of time. After all, administrative tasks can still be performed from rental office space.
I picked up my smartphone to call up a real estate agent I knew.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Edogawa City — Rank A Dungeon “Abyss”]
We’re turning the clock back a little to some time before the meeting with the other adventurers at the Ministry of Defense.
Two days after clearing Sapporo Dungeon, we members of Dungeon Busters, Inc. were gathered within Abyss, the Rank A dungeon located in Shishibone, Edogawa City. That meant me, Kinouchi Mari, Shishido Akira, Tanaka Mutsuo, as well as the LR cards Akane, Emily, and Liu Fengguang. Mari had also brought out Myu, her rabbit-like monster pet, and Purin, her Japanese dwarf flying squirrel-like monster pet. This was the full roster of the entire company as of the moment.
“Ho ho ho! What a cute lass we have here,” the huge old man said while patting Mari’s head.
Whereas I’d expected Mari to be afraid of him, she instead looked back up at him with a smile. “You can call me Mari if you want! Do you want me to pour you more tea, Grandpa Liu?”
“What a delightful offer! Honestly, the men have no idea how to be considerate,” Liu Fengguang rumbled as he sat down on a chair that creaked in protest, despite having a maximum load of 150 kg, and sipped from the cup that Mari had made him before.
I had asked Akane and Emily about the old man, but they told me that they did not recall anything about the rest of the 108 Stars of Destiny, likely due to the information having been erased from their minds.
“Old teacher Liu, please honor me with a spar!” Akira asked right off the bat.
However, Liu merely turned towards him with a scowl and snorted. “‘Old teacher’? I am only 103 years old! Call me ‘Shifu’!”
Uh, he looked really happy when Mari called him “Grandpa Liu” just now, didn’t he? And even in Japan, a country famous for its aging population, 103 years old is still quite... No, let’s drop it.
I walked forward to stand in front of Liu Fengguang. “Shifu Liu, you mentioned being willing to lend us your aid the other day when we first met you in the dungeon we’d just cleared. There is indeed something that we need help with, and I believe you’re our best bet.”
“And what is that something?” Liu asked, stroking the snow-white mustache trailing down from around his mouth and smiling with amusement.
“I unfortunately have no proper training in fighting. All this time, I’ve been relying on the advantage of rank superiority, but Floor 4 of this Rank A dungeon made me realize the limits of this strategy. If even monsters use proper fighting techniques, I cannot possibly make progress in Rank B or Rank A dungeons without them. Would you please teach me how to fight?”
“Interesting... The large majority of First Contacters so far have simply used the dungeons for self-gain before meeting their demise together with their world. Looks like that’s not the case for this world. I don’t mind teaching you, but before that, I want to know what is in your heart.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Why do you fight? A world dungeons appear in is doomed. The Dungeon System has been activated in many a world before, and every last one of them has perished. Clearing the dungeons in an effort to thwart this fate is akin to shaking your fist at the heavens. Almost all First Contacters despaired in the face of such adversity and chose instead to enjoy the remaining ten years of their lives to their fullest.”
“Ah, yes, I’ve heard that before. Almost all of them end up that way, right?”
Akane had been the one who’d told me. Supposedly, the Dungeon System had appeared in numerous worlds before ours and wiped them all out. There should have been as many First Contacters as there were such worlds, but only a tiny percentage of them had attempted taking the System on.
“What is it that motivates you? A sense of responsibility from being First Contacter? Desire for the riches sleeping within the dungeons? Craving for fame and the acknowledgment of others?”
“Hmm...”
I thought about it a little. Why am I delving into the dungeons? It’s true that I do feel some responsibility. If I had been more cautious, we might have delayed the activation of the Dungeon System. As a direct result of my carelessness, casualties have occurred. I do feel responsible for that. However, that is not the only thing compelling me.
“I...have several motivations. I do have friends and relatives. It’d be a different matter altogether if I were the only one dying, but if the entire world is at risk, then I cannot remain an idle spectator. However, responsibility and altruism are not the only things I feel. Within me exists a separate urge that is equally undeniable.”
“If you are to put a name to that urge?”
“Curiosity. I...want to know. What kind of existence is the Dungeon System’s designer? What were they thinking when designing the System? Why did they introduce the System to so many worlds, and what do they feel when they look at all of them lying in ruins? What is the meaning of the relief on Floor 7 of Sapporo Dungeon? What would become of the dungeons after we clear them all? Would Akane and Emily be freed from the System and allowed to live on in our world as normal human beings? I have a whole mountain of questions. The biggest of all, though...”
I felt my mouth curling into a smile as intense pleasure flooded through me from the thought alone.
“When everything is over, I want to meet the designer of the Dungeon System. And I want to ask them this: Now that we’ve beat you at your own game... Are you mad, bro??”
“You know the ‘u mad, bro’ meme!” Mutsuo chortled in delight.
Akira gave me a thumbs up, whereas Mari nodded in agreement while continuing to stroke Myu’s head. Akane and Emily puffed out their chests in a seeming show of pride.
Most importantly, though, the old man before my eyes burst into laughter.
“HO HO HO HO HO! Interesting! Interesting indeed! I don’t believe there’s ever been another First Contacter who’s stood up to the Dungeon System with such a clear will. Even if the chance of success is but one in a million, that’s still better than the guarantee of failure from giving up. Your answer has been more than satisfactory. Let’s do this,” Shifu Liu said before rising to his feet. With a sharp glint in his eyes, he continued, “I suppose I’ll start with a bit of warming up on Floor 1. I do need to raise my own rank, after all. The rest of you, come along. I wish to see how familiar each of you are with using your body.”
All of us leaped to make our preparations.
＊ ＊ ＊
“This is strange,” I murmured. “There are far more monsters than usual.”
Mutsuo nodded. “And is it just me, or are they rushing towards us?”
Floor 1 of Abyss, the Rank A dungeon in Shishibone, was occupied by goblins. These were one-meter-tall monsters not equipped with any weapons, so it wasn’t as if they were a threat to us. However, there were a lot more of them than usual today. So much so that we were seeing several of them rushing us at the same time.
“Ho ho ho! Watch carefully.”
Shifu Liu dispatched the goblins one after another in quick succession using palm strikes and knifehand strikes that seemed extremely reminiscent of Sinese kung fu. Akira watched his movements closely. As a fellow martial artist, there must be a lot to learn from his example, I imagine.
“When facing multiple opponents, you need to deal with each of them using only a single hand like this. Though I suppose these goblins are going down too quickly to see much.”
The old man’s movements were not fast at all. Rarity aside, he was still only Rank F. Despite that, I still could not help but be drawn in at the sight of him fighting. There was a certain beauty about it.
“Do you see it? The way he moves his head, the footwork he uses...everything is at the very pinnacle of refinement. He makes no unnecessary movement at all. It’s as if space itself has been held captive so as to frame each instant like a painting.”
It seemed as if Akira could go on and on with his commentary, but I did not understand half of what he was saying. What was more interesting to me, rather, was the reason why the monsters were gathering.
Akane offered, “Master, it might be the effect of the Disciple Cultivation skill that Liu Fengguang possesses. The more monsters there are, the more Enhancement Element there is. Which in turn should lead to faster ranking up.”
A large part of fostering subordinates was in allowing them to experience things firsthand. In order for that to happen, they needed to be assigned tasks where they could accrue that experience. Delegating tasks to subordinates was exactly the job of someone in a managerial position. The skill must be drawing in these “experiences” to foster growth.
“Shifu Liu, may I have a go?”
Unable to merely remain on the sidelines any longer, Akira stepped forward to take on the goblins rushing towards us. He brandished both hands in imitation of what he had just seen, making progress through the mob with movements like flowing water.
“Ho! You grasped the essence of it by simply watching! The crux of this technique is not in the wrist but the shifting of your center of gravity. You can last much longer in battle just by improving the way you hold your head, the positioning of your waist, and the placement of your foot.”
“Hmm, I should give it a try.”
I assumed Akira’s place and tried doing the same thing he was doing. However, Shifu Liu shook his head and pulled me back by my collar.
“I suppose there’s no helping it, but you truly do appear to lack the talent for battle. There is no point perfunctorily going through the movements alone. It seems as if you will be needing quite a bit of practice.”
Oh, please. I am a former management consultant. I fought using words, not fists. Don’t lump me together with you muscleheads.
My personal opinion aside, I now understood the helpfulness of Liu Fengguang, our newest Legend Rare card. His training would be helpful not only to us, but to all future members as well. That power to draw monsters over was a huge boon to efficiency. Specifically, we killed eight hundred goblins within a single hour. This was the highest record we had achieved within the entire past six months. If I bring him to Yokohama Dungeon, the pace of gathering magic stones should also be improved greatly.
◇ ◇ ◇
[The United States of Gamerica — The Pentagon — January 4 (EST)]
The United States of Gamerica’s combined command over the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marine Corps was located in the Department of Defense’s headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. The building was called the Pentagon because of its shape, with the name often being used as a metonym for the entire Department of Defense.
All military commands of the US were separated into distinct unified combatant commands composed of units from the four branches listed above. The aim of this was to provide a unified command structure overseeing the theaters in each part of the world. Aside from the unified combatant commands based on geography, there were also ones based on function, such as Cyber Command and Strategic Command. As of October of last year, the functional unified combatant commands saw a new addition in US Dungeon Command (USDUNCOM, or USDC for short), which was responsible for military operations against the dungeons that had emerged throughout the country.
“Command Chief, here are the documents on the information released by Japan,” a beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes announced while walking into the office of the Command Chief of USDC inside the Pentagon.
The other person in the room, a silver-haired young man wearing a white coat, glared at her. “Rebecca, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me ‘Command Chief’? Call me ‘Guildmaster.’”
Normally, the highest authority in an unified combatant command would be a general or admiral. However, this was not the case for USDC. The defense secretary had personally scouted this civilian, Isaac Roland, in the capacity of a dungeon expert to take up this position.
Isaac was a prodigy. He’d gotten into Princeton University at eleven years old and had obtained a medical license at fourteen. Then his interest had shifted from the human body to the world of physics. At fifteen, he’d entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and graduated at eighteen with a doctorate in physics. Rumor was that his IQ was over 200, but he couldn’t care less about that. When he did find something that interested him, however, he would pursue it with his full faculties...then simply move on once he became bored. The day after he’d published a groundbreaking thesis on quantum mechanics, he’d gotten hooked onto Oriental astrology. That was the kind of man he was. In fact, he had probably forgotten the fact that he held a doctor’s license.
It was the pronouncement at last year’s G7 that had sparked this whimsical genius’s interest in the dungeons. Everything about the phrase “pocket spaces where time flows 144 times faster” sounded intentionally selected to tickle his fancy. He had proceeded to dedicate two weeks to mastering Japanese, then had finished reading through all published light novel works in the dungeon genre. Three days later, he’d published a thesis related to what he called “Dungeon Energy Theory.” He posited that if the dungeons were truly other-dimensional spaces, they must be constantly supplied with energy in order to maintain their connection to Earth’s dimension and generate monsters. His published hypothesis included mathematical proof for the involvement of imaginary space and zero-point energy.
The first one who’d shown an interest in that thesis was not the academic scientific world, who were not familiar with even the word “dungeon” as of yet, but the Department of Defense. The world’s greatest genius had taken an interest in the dungeons. Eager to take full advantage of this, the secretary of defense had visited Isaac to solicit him in person. He couldn’t go so far as to make Isaac army commander over a dungeon force, so instead he’d appointed Isaac command chief and entrusted him with the studying of the dungeons and the formulation of policies regarding them.
Right now, Isaac was in the middle of going over the information on the world’s first dungeon clear that had been announced in Japan earlier that day. One wall of the office had been converted into a giant whiteboard and there were sheets of paper lying all over the floor. Part of Rebecca’s job duties as his secretary was to clean up the messes he made and return documents back to their respective storage folders. As was common among geniuses, Isaac was absolutely hopeless when it came to organization. And he wasn’t much of a stickler for manners either, judging by how he was sitting cross-legged on top of his fancy, imposing desk.
“This Ezoe character... Something seems off about him,” Isaac murmured. “His actions don’t make sense.”
“What is it that you find ‘off’ about him exactly?” Rebecca replied.
As it turned out, listening was also another one of Rebecca’s important duties. Isaac gestured for the file marked “Ezoe, Kazuhiko,” so she handed it to him. He opened it without giving her even a word of thanks, then stared intently at Ezoe’s profile page while fiddling with his earlobe.
“Think about it. One day, a forty-something-year-old management consultant suddenly ups and becomes an adventurer. Why? Someone who’d been dealing with desk work and giving seminar lectures drops all that out of the blue to go kill monsters and collect magic stones in the newly appeared dungeons? That’s like a chess player suddenly taking up pro wrestling.”
“Can’t it be because of the really good pay? Or because he felt a sense of crisis from the Dungeon Outbreak Phenomenon?”
“The ¥100 per gram thing? How could he determine how much he could earn at a time when there was no way for him to know how many grams he could gather in a day? And the possibility that he was concerned about the Monster Stampede seems unlikely too.”
“Why is that?”
“It’d be a different matter altogether if he was an otaku deep into light novels, but he was a management consultant. In other words, he’s capable of logical thought. Back when Japan held its first ever civilian adventurer exam in October, nobody knew anything about the dungeons. Certainly there wasn’t enough information out in the public to deduce the Stampede. It would have made more sense if he had been an otaku with inflated delusions of grandeur towards becoming a dungeon adventurer.”
“Who’s to say he’s not an otaku who was making a living being a consultant? I mean, he is a citizen of the country of anime...”
“Fair point. But...Rebecca, have you watched the interview he did at the end of last year?”
“Ah, yes, I did watch the translated clip yesterday.”
“That’s no good. Japanese is a language where nuance is important. Once it’s translated into English, you lose the meaning between the lines. How about you learn Japanese too, Rebecca? It shouldn’t take more than a month.”
“Unlike you, I am a normal person. Even a year wouldn’t be enough, I imagine. So then, what was it about that interview?”
As was also common among geniuses, Isaac had trouble understanding why other people could not do what he could. In turn, Rebecca had gone beyond respecting him for speaking ten languages without ever having left the country to simply giving up trying to understand how his brain worked.
Oblivious to Rebecca’s emotions, Isaac continued, “I more or less now understand what kind of person Ezoe is through that interview. He is an extremely intelligent person and is certainly not someone who’d do anything on delusion alone. But there was something else in him, something other than intelligence. He’s deadly serious about clearing the dungeons. His resolve was there, plain to see, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to destroy the dungeons, even if it means putting his own life on the line. So the question is where this resolve is coming from. Just what it is that’s motivating him?”
Rebecca thought back to the video, then nodded. “It’s true that his tone was quite emphatic. He sounded so vehement when insisting on the need for clearing the dungeons that it almost seemed as if he felt personally responsible for doing so.”
“Personally responsible?” Isaac froze, then his shaking fingers reached for his earlobe once again. “That can’t... But it would explain everything. And the probability is quite high...”
“Com— Guildmaster?”
Isaac muttered to himself furiously, his ears no longer registering Rebecca’s voice. “Thirty-six days before July 30 would be June 24 or June 25. What does he know? What did he see in that first dungeon?”
After a short while, Isaac finally lifted his face back up. “Rebecca, we’re going to Japan. And schedule me an appointment with Kazuhiko Ezoe.”
Slight panic assaulted Rebecca as she saw her superior stand up. If left alone, this genius would book an economy class ticket and fly to Japan by himself, official channels be damned. Oh wait, he can’t. Phew.
“In that case, you’re going to need to apply for a passport,” Rebecca said with a smile.
Isaac sighed and hung his head.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Ministry of Defense — Ezoe Kazuhiko]
The existence of the character cards whipped up a storm of debate that involved not only the Dungeon Adventurer Administrative Bureau, but also the Japanese government and the courts. The crux of the debate was simply, “Are character cards human? And if so, are they Japanese citizens?” The trigger that had sparked all the clamor was a certain opposition member of the Diet famous for being noisy about human rights telling the press corp that “This violation of human rights must be stopped!” When I was trying to enter the Ministry of Defense building, I found myself mobbed by reporters asking about human rights violations and monster genocide, so I voiced my refutation in no uncertain terms.
“I do not consider the character cards humans. To anyone who says that they are human, I tell them: bring me someone you know who can turn into a card. If a normal Japanese citizen who can Cardify themselves exists, then I will admit that I am in the wrong.”
Protests from citizens’ groups and animal rights advocate groups were practically flooding Dungeon Busters’s mailbox. If this hubbub kept up, I just might be called into the upcoming regular Diet session for questioning as a material witness. However, I actually wanted that to happen. I didn’t care if I was facing the left wing, the right wing, religious groups, or whoever else; to borrow the language used on the internet, I was ready to “completely destroy” anyone who proved to be an obstacle to the clearing of the dungeons. Fighting with words was my field of expertise.
“And as for the monsters, are they really animals? In my forty years of life, never once had I seen an animal that would disappear into smoke after dying. I consider the monsters as organic robots generated by the dungeons. In other words, they are not animals, and therefore do not fall under the purview of animal protection. If you insist that the monsters require protecting, then first go ‘protect’ all the robots being sold commercially. Isn’t the focus of these animal welfare groups supposed to be on spreading awareness and preventing the abuse and abandonment of pets in the first place? Funabashi Dungeon is filled with monsters that look like insects. If they’re calling for a ban on killing those monsters, then shouldn’t they also be calling for a ban of all insecticides?”
There probably are well-informed activists who speak and act with actual conviction, but in my experience, they’re in the minority. The large majority are just asserting themselves by loudly protesting something and have no interest in actually doing anything to help realize what they’re fighting for. Do they honestly think that their “ideal world” will just happen by itself if they simply repeat a bunch of phrases through a loudspeaker and do a strip tease in front of the National Diet?
Within a democratic society, the way to realize one’s own political ideals was to gather enough of those who shared the same sentiments to form the majority and make the changes they wanted with legislative power. That, or plot an armed uprising to destroy the existing power structure. All activists not actively working towards either of those things were shams. At the very least, that was how I saw it.
“In Australis, there have been demonstrations staged by pro-environment groups to protest the exploitation of—”
“That’s for Australis’s government to handle. This is Japan.”
“However, with so many people objecting...”
“Specifically, how many people are objecting? What percentage of the population are we talking about? Anyone who’s against the clearing of the dungeons can start their own political party. If support for their assertions is indeed in the majority, they’ll win the elections. Then they can set whatever law they want to set. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not denying anyone their beliefs or their opinions. However, in turn, I ask that people do not deny me my beliefs or opinions. Freedom of thought and freedom of speech are basic human rights.”
After saying what I wanted to say, I ducked inside the Ministry of Defense’s building. Answering so many questions had been more tiring than I’d expected. A sigh escaped from my lips.
To the extent of my knowledge, the modern countries who curtailed freedom of speech after World War II had been all the socialist countries. Nothing has changed since the time of the Franzian revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre and his Reign of Terror. Idealists will do whatever it takes to eliminate those who oppose their ideals. The so-called government budget screening process in Japan ten years ago had borne the same hallmarks; once again, history appears to be repeating itself in the so-called “eradicate deep-rooted evils” movement that’s happening in Woori right now.
“I need a change of pace. If I remember correctly, the smoking area is outside...”
The meeting room where the civilian adventurers were meeting was in Building D, so I headed for the smoking area right beside it. I sympathized with the poor government workers who had to smoke outside in the cold January air even as I ducked underneath the roof of the place. And there, I found a woman in a black suit and high heels with a thin cigar between her fingers.
＊ ＊ ＊
After the gathering of the other civilian adventurers at the Ministry of Defense, the Kantei officially acknowledged the possibility of the Monster Stampede. This was sure to prompt other developed countries and the UN to take action, but personally speaking, I felt like we had only just gotten to the starting line. That said, we do still have more than ten years left, so maybe this can be considered a good pace.
“So then, about the higher-ups’ decision on the handling of the character cards...”
At the moment, I was drinking with Director General Ishihara at a cocktail lounge named Kira located between Ichigaya and Kojimachi. Despite being so small as to only have room for four seats, the place had a surprisingly large selection of drinks. I had ordered a domestic whisky on the rocks, whereas the director general had ordered a cocktail named Balalaika. Her preferred way of drinking it was with a bit more vodka than normal for that slightly drier taste.
“Our bureau will be leaving character cards with those who gain them. The fuss being raised by the human rights groups seems to be dying down.”
There was a talk and variety show yesterday that had hosted a lawyer who had made a case for the safeguarding of the character cards alongside a light novel author who had countered with “If we see the appearance of elves, dwarves, beastkin, and maybe even demons and vampires in the future, will we be safeguarding them as well?” The lawyer was at a loss for an answer. If he said yes, he would have had to deal with the question about national security. If he said no, it would become racial discrimination.
“That author is the one who wrote that series about the JSDF fighting in another world, right? He used to be a JSDF member himself, if I recall correctly.”
“He’s knowledgeable about our country’s national security policies and about the JSDF, and he’s based his career thinking about the interaction between our world and other fictional ones. He was the perfect candidate to represent our point of view.”
“I see, so you had a hand in it. But thanks, I needed that. The LR cards are an absolute necessity for dungeon clearing. The way I currently am, even Yokohama Dungeon is beyond me.”
I took a swig of my drink. The burning sensation that flowed down my throat seemed to help dull the sense of impatience tickling my insides. The director general had apparently switched to drinking a glass of gin-based White Lady.
“I don’t plan on ordering one with a rum base. At least, not within the next ten years...”
A drink made in the same way as a Balalaika but with rum in place of vodka was called an XYZ and meant “there’s nothing after this,” which some interpreted as “eternal love.” Whereas Balalaika meant “love is to be taken slowly and with patience,” White Lady meant “genuine,” as in, “I will act as my heart dictates.”
Deciding to respond with a cocktail of my own, I asked the bartender for rum, lime juice, and syrup to be shaken together and served in a short glass. I lifted my Daiquiri—the drink of “hope”—and downed it all in one gulp.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Rank A Dungeon “Abyss”]
At the moment, we were nowhere near strong enough to clear even Yokohama Dungeon. Therefore, Akira and I were focusing on fighting inside Abyss under Shifu Liu’s guidance. Akane and Emily were with us, but not Mari, because we had forbidden her from going down any further than Floor 3. She was likely going to become a dungeon adventurer in the future, but at the moment, she was only a part-timer. Therefore, I had tasked her with gathering money in my stead, and assigned Akane and Emily to take shifts accompanying and protecting her.
Name: Purin-chan
Title: Kinouchi Mari’s Pet
Rank: D
Rarity: Uncommon
Skills: Flame Magic (Lvl. 4), Flight (Lvl. 1), ______
Upon reaching Rank D, Mari’s pet Japanese dwarf squirrel-like monster had gained the Flight skill, which enabled it to actually fly instead of merely gliding. Now, Purin could unleash fireballs from up high à la carpet-bombing, with any monster managing to make it through to the other side finding a Myu-chan Punch waiting for it. This battle strategy was almost cheating. Never had I imagined that using monsters to fight could prove to be this effective.
“Ho ho ho! Mari-chan, you just fight at the pace you feel most comfortable with, all right? Young maidens shouldn’t need to get all sweaty and dirty with fighting.”
“What?! I’m the same age as her! Why aren’t you saying the same thing to me?!”
“You’re a member of the 108 Stars of Destiny! That fact in itself means that you’re probably several thousand years old in actual years!”
Uh-oh. Nothing good ever comes out of bringing up a woman’s age. I cleared my throat loudly to change the subject. “Ahem! So, our goal now is for Akira and me to reach Rank B. At the same time, I will also need to arrange a meet up with the others who I spoke with at the gathering the other day. Dungeon Busters is going to grow a lot larger very suddenly. It will be necessary to properly think about how to initiate them and train them up.”
“I think the Safety Zone here at Abyss is getting a bit too crowded to also serve as the base for the new members’ training. Wouldn’t it be better to do it in Yokohama Dungeon?”
I nodded in response to Mutsuo’s suggestion. Our headquarters, which would include company housing for employees, was slated to be completed at the end of March. There was no other choice but to delve into Yokohama Dungeon with them for the time being.
“I plan on talking with each of the candidates one by one within this week. The end vision is to gather all of them here in Edogawa City, but that would be after March. Dungeon Busters is a clan. The way we treat each party will become important.”
“Are you talking about charging a registration fee through their magic stone revenue?”
Unlike Akira, Mutsuo seemed quite interested in this kind of topic, possibly because it tickled his gaming senses somewhat. I didn’t mind answering, but he and I weren’t thinking about the same things. Earning money was very low on my list of priorities.
“No, we will not be charging any registration fee. Neither will we be charging rent from those who will be living in the company housing currently under construction. In fact, we will not even be charging for the company meals that we’ll be providing. The operational costs for all those things will come from somewhere else.”
“F-From where? Are you sure we’d be able to maintain such unbelievably cushy benefits?”
“We will. In the end, I expect Japan to have eleven or twelve dungeons in total. And we will be clearing all of them. You were there when I suggested the 10% usage charge to the director general the other day, right? If we gain the rights to all the dungeons within the country, Dungeon Busters will have an annual income of over ¥450 trillion without lifting a finger. Assuming that we have 150 employees, that would still be ¥3 trillion per head. There’s no way we’d be able to use it all. Everything left over after operational costs will be poured into cultivating new adventurers.”
“You’re already thinking that far ahead, Aniki?”
“Naturally. I’m not sure about anyone else, but I can say with certainty that Director General Ishihara has caught on. I mean, we do have a really significant head start on the other adventurers. So, because dungeons appear in places with high population density, it is almost guaranteed that there will be dungeons in Nagoya, Hiroshima, and Hakata, and chances are that most of them would be Rank B or Rank C. Our road map for the near future is to train up the new members in Yokohama Dungeon as well as to train ourselves up while steadily clearing Yokohama, Funabashi, and Sendai one by one. Once we have multiple Rank A adventurers within the clan, we will finish clearing Abyss by the end of June!”
Akane spoke up. “Kazuhiko-sama, the other dungeons are one thing, but I believe that the one in the place called Osaka is a Rank S dungeon. What will you be doing about it?”
“We will need to investigate and eventually clear it, but it wouldn’t be for quite a while ahead. In fact, I don’t even know for sure how long it’d take us to reach Rank A; all I’m working off of at the moment are estimations based on all our experiences so far. I can’t imagine what Rank S would be like, but I expect to encounter Ultra Rank monsters, the kind which are probably based off of cultural mythologies. We won’t be able to deal with them until we ourselves grow much stronger.”
“So we’re talking monsters like true vampires, ancient dragons, and maybe even Fenrir, right?! I so can’t wait to draw them!”
“How effective would a straight punch be against a dragon, you think?”
“Fenrir is a fluffy dog, right? If we get it to join us, make sure to play nice with him, all right, Myu-chan?”
“Myuu!”
Mari dear, are you gathering monsters to make a zoo here? In the first place, Fenrir is not a dog but a wolf. I mean, they’re similar enough, so it’s fine, I guess. It’s reassuring to see how unworried you are about Rank S monsters, though.
“With there being more than five months to the System’s full activation, you have already cleared a dungeon and broadcast it to the entire world. I do believe you’re the first First Contacter who’s been able to make such progress so quickly. Who knows? Maybe we do have a fighting chance here,” Shifu Liu murmured as he sipped from his cup of tea and stared up into midair.
However, there was a faint “but” at the end of his words that only Akane—as a fellow LR card—and I had managed to pick up on. I saw her face cloud over a little.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Yokohama City — Ezoe Kazuhiko]
On January 12, the three of us full members of Dungeon Busters, Inc. met up with five other civilian adventurers in a rented conference room close to Yokohama Dungeon.
“I suppose I’ll go first. I am Kusakabe Rinko, an assistant instructor of the Kusakabe-style School of Ancient Martial Arts. I can’t wait to get started.”
“I’m Sumida Masayoshi! I’m a former juuryou sumo wrestler. It’s an enormous honor getting to join Dungeon Busters!”
“My name is Satou Souta. I was a sophomore at college, but I dropped out to become an adventurer. The reason why I’m joining Dungeon Busters is because I want to clear the dungeon in Osaka.”
“Kirihara Amane. Looks like I’m the oldest in this group. I’m twenty-seven. Former police superintendent. I served as the deputy commissioner at Kanagawa Police Station.”
“I’m Shinohara Hisato. I’m nineteen years old. I’m entering Dungeon Busters because I want potions.”
After all five of them finished their self-introductions, I found myself marveling once again at how variety we had in the group. I turned to Satou Souta first.
“You also mentioned Osaka Dungeon when we first met. Why that one specifically?”
“My old man was Satou Kouji, a sergeant at Sonezaki Police Station.”
“Ah...”
The reason why I had approached Satou Souta after the meeting at the Ministry of Defense was his eyes. Despite being so young, he had been entirely focused on what the director general was saying, not distracted by his phone or anything else. There was even anger burning within his eyes. I was sure that he had a story; that was why I talked to him.
At the time, the only thing he said to me was that he wanted to clear Osaka Dungeon. Now it all made sense. There was no way I could forget the name Satou Kouji. He was most likely the second human to come into contact with the dungeons, with the encounter having cost him his life. If I had activated the Dungeon System just one day later, he might not have died. That was why I had resolved to go visit his grave after clearing Osaka Dungeon one day.
“I see. I’m sorry about your father.”
On July 30 last year, two police officers had entered the dungeon that had appeared in an underground parking lot in Umeda, Osaka to investigate it, but only one had made it back out alive. The one who hadn’t was Satou Kouji. And his son was currently sitting right before me.
Akira leaned in towards me and murmured, “Aniki,” in a small voice, in response to which I nodded slightly. I had to find time and talk to this young man one-on-one. I had to tell him that I was the one who had triggered the events that led to his father’s death.
＊ ＊ ＊
“So, Kirihara-san. Seeing as how you made deputy commissioner at such a young age, would I be correct to assume that you were in the career track in the force?”
“That’s right. I entered the National Police Agency right after graduating from a national university. My first job as a deputy commissioner was to set up the Yokohama Shindo Detour Route to get around the dungeon that had appeared inside Kanagawa Ward. When I was done with that, I quit to become a dungeon adventurer. Public servants aren’t allowed to have side jobs.”
“The reason being...?”
I closely observed the woman while waiting for her reply. Kirihara Amane seemed reminiscent of Director General Ishihara in some way. They were both ambitious, could identify what they needed to do to climb higher, and possessed the drive to realize those plans. Kirihara was overflowing with confidence. I had no doubt that she had been extremely effective in her position of deputy commissioner. In fact, I did remember being astonished at how fast Yokohama Shindo Detour Road had been completed. Why would she still quit, then?
“My eyes are on what will happen thr—no, one year from now. I predict that within the year, the police department will find itself facing criminals that it cannot handle. By that, I mean former dungeon adventurers, of course. There will be a need for a specialist organization for dealing with things like card trading on the black market and arresting criminals with supernatural abilities, such as magic. After a year or two, the National Police Agency is definitely going to establish a Counter Criminal Adventurers Unit. My strength will be needed when that happens.”
“I see. So we’re a stepping stone.”
“Hey, I’m all onboard for clearing dungeons. Those things are harmful to humanity just by existing. However, it’s the humans who gain power from the dungeons who are the bigger destabilizing factor. I was sure you’d get it.”
I had no choice but to smile wryly and nod in agreement. Honestly, there really wasn’t any other way to react when told “I’ll be using you” straight to my face. That said, this isn’t a bad deal for us either. The issue simply hasn’t come up yet due to how few adventurers there are at the moment, but criminals using magic and items gained through the Gacha are sure to appear. And in response, we will definitely see boneheads clamoring for the dungeons to be closed and for all adventurers to be put under surveillance. What she’s aiming for should help address such concerns, which by extension would help protect our interests. Letting her use us sounds like a win-win.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Lastly, Shinohara-san. You mentioned wanting potions.”
“I have a younger sister who is suffering from something called pulmonary hypertension. The only treatment is to get a lung transplant, which would cost hundreds of millions of yen. She’s sixteen, but instead of going to school, she’s stuck in the hospital with tubes in her nose. I heard on the news about the woman from the adventurer exam who got her nose back thanks to a potion. I want to get a potion that can heal my younger sister.”
I nodded, then retrieved a card from my bag and materialized it. One of the rewards from the System for being a Buster was the ability to materialize cards even above ground.
“This is what’s called an Extra Potion. Its rarity is Rare. I believe we are probably the only people in the entire world at the moment who possess this card. This potion is capable of healing lost limbs and incurable diseases. I will sell it to you.”
Shinohara Hisato’s eyes were nailed to the potion sitting on the table. “How much?” he asked, apprehensive.
“Ten years. I will sell it to you in exchange for the coming ten years of your life. Within those ten years, you will join us in clearing dungeons all around the world. I even have a contract drawn up.”
“There’s no need for it. If this can save my younger sister, you can even have twenty years of my life let alone ten!”
“All I need is ten years. Looks like we have a deal.”
“Hold on a moment! If you have it, then why not just give it to him?!” Satou Souta exclaimed angrily. “Why do you have to add the condition of the ten years?!”
What a hot-blooded young man. I don’t hate guys like this. But he’s not thinking things through.
“We’re not running a charity here. We do not help people for nothing in return. True, we can get our hands on Extra Potions much easier than other people can. Do you want us to pass it out for free to every last one of the millions of people all over the world currently suffering from incurable diseases? We’ll be completely swamped with requests.”
“But you did give one away for free during the exam, didn’t you?”
“That was done as a favor to the JSDF. Doing that made our dealings with them afterwards that much smoother. The mission statement of Dungeon Busters, Inc. is to clear every last dungeon on Earth. In order to realize that goal, I’m willing to make any deals and trade anything.”
“You dirty asshole...!” Satou Souta growled as he rose to his feet.
Akira immediately stood before him. “You’re misunderstanding Aniki’s intentions. He’s not doing any of this for personal gain. This ‘trade’ is more for Hisato-kun’s sake than anything. Pharmaceutical companies around the world are all willing to pay astronomical sums just for this one bottle. If Aniki just gives it to Hisato-kun with no strings attached, he’s going to be eaten alive. And this equivalent exchange also grants him a goal for the near future, a goal that he can be proud of.”
“But...”
“Please stop!” Shinohara Hisato shouted, drawing Satou Souta’s attention. “I understand that it has to be this way, and I’m fine with it. This is my choice to make, not yours, Satou-san. Ezoe-san, thank you for the offer. I’m buying.”
After saying those words, Shinohara Hisato picked up the potion. Satou Souta clenched his fists, his head hanging, and his back turned to us.
“What will you do?” I asked. “Will you leave us? It’s not too late. You can still be an adventurer without entering Dungeon Busters. But if you stay any longer, you will hear things that’s going to make it difficult for me to let you leave. If you don’t like the way I do things, I would recommend that you step right through that door.”
“You... Who do you think you are? You actually think you’re in the right here?!”
“But of course I do. There are as many ‘rights’ as there are people. Someone might have an opinion that’s the exact opposite of mine, and we’d both think we are in the right. It is with this understanding that everyone chooses what they think is right and forges ahead. When we realize that we were in the wrong, then we change our ways and take responsibility for what has happened. That’s what it means to be an adult.”
Satou Souta walked out without another word, his head still bowed. I could not help but continue staring at the door for a little while longer after it closed after him.
“Ezoe-shi, wasn’t that a bit too harsh? He’s twenty, right? He’s still just a child,” Mutsuo murmured quietly.
“Perhaps. But we don’t have time to nurture his character back into shape. We only have ten years left.”
I had no problem at all with people having their own will. I didn’t mind our company being used as a stepping stone either. However, the one thing that I required was for members to subscribe to the “justice” of prioritizing the clearing of the dungeons above all else. Anyone who could not do so would only harm the organization.
I finally turned back around to face the other members. “I will be clear. Here at Dungeon Busters, we prioritize the clearing of the dungeons above anything else. I mean it. By this, I am talking about the roughly three hundred places that should have appeared so far, as well as any others that will be appearing in the future. And we will be doing this within the next ten years. For the sake of this goal, I will not hesitate to negotiate, bargain, and compromise. I might even resort to lying or deception. Pretending to not see something is on the table, as is abandoning things or people, should there be a need to. Everything I do, I do in order to eradicate the dungeons. If anyone objects to this policy, then I invite you to also leave this room right now.”
Everyone’s faces were filled with nervousness.
Kusakabe Rinko cleared her throat. “I’m here because I’m in support of clearing the dungeons, so no objections from me. But there is something I want to know. Why are you so obsessed with dungeon clearing? It’s not just because of the possibility of the Monster Stampede. What I sense from you is certainty. You’re certain that the Monster Stampede will occur. There’s no other way to explain the resolve I see in you.”
“I agree with her,” Sumida Masayoshi chimed in. “Your resolve even seems grim, somehow. I feel like I’m looking at the back of a grand champion stepping up to the ring for a deciding match.”
The others also nodded. I suppose it makes sense for those who aren’t fully informed to see things that way.
I took a deep breath, then exhaled it slowly. “Sorry about that. And I didn’t mean to exude grimness. Maybe I took that a bit too personally. Just as all of you said, I do feel a conviction to clear the dungeons. I will show you where it comes from. But I warn you, when you see this, there is no turning back. Are you all sure you have the resolve for this?”
“Hmph. If we weren’t resolved, we wouldn’t be in this room,” Kirihara Amane declared.
So I had everyone stand up and gather together in a circle. Then I used Teleportation to bring all of them to Abyss, the Rank A dungeon in Shishibone, Edogawa City.
＊ ＊ ＊
“This is the true form of Dungeon Busters, Inc.”
The four members of my audience looked stunned and somewhat confused.
The oldest one, Kirihara, stared closely at the door, then turned towards me. “That’s a dungeon door, isn’t it? In other words, we’re now in a dungeon? This...is a dungeon?” she asked, gesturing to everything in the room.
“Yes it is. This is the Safety Zone on Floor 1 of the dungeon in Shishibone, Edogawa City. I installed the floorboards and brought in the bunk beds myself.”
“Edogawa...” Kirihara repeated, still in a daze. “Wh-Who else knows about this?”
“Director General Ishihara. The head and two other members of the Yokohama Dungeon Engineer Brigade. One high school girl and her mother. And us. However, I suspect there are others who might be catching on.”
“So, it was you. And that’s why you’re so frantic...”
“Kirihara-san, what is happening? What is this room?”
The other three seemed to have only just recovered from the shock of the teleportation.
Kirihara explained, “The reason why Ezoe-san is so bent on clearing the dungeons is because he is the one who set off the Dungeon Outbreak Phenomenon! This is surely the world’s first ever dungeon, the one that he found!”
“That is right. This is Abyss, a Rank A dungeon located in Shishibone, Edogawa City. Thirty-six days, twelve hours, and fifteen minutes before the emergence of Osaka Dungeon on July 30 last year, I discovered this dungeon and touched its doors. As a result, the Dungeon System became activated.”
Shinohara Hisato came to a start as if he had just thought of something. “Wait, in that case, then Satou-san’s father’s death...”
“Is on me, yes. Because I carelessly went down the mysterious stairs that suddenly appeared in my yard, his father, Satou Kouji-shi ended up dead. I bear the responsibility for it.”
“Then why did you chase him away?”
“I said it, didn’t I? Clearing dungeons is the utmost priority for us here at Dungeon Busters. I can’t very well allow a destabilizing factor into the company just to allay my own feelings of guilt. We only have ten years left!”
I took out my three LR cards from a drawer and summoned Akane, Emily, and Liu Fengguang. I invited the four new members—who were astonished yet again—to take a seat and proceeded to explain everything that had happened so far.
＊ ＊ ＊
“There will be a total of 666 dungeons throughout the world, and the world is ending ten years from now by Monster Stampede...” Kirihara Amane muttered before covering her eyes with one hand and laughing in despair. A trickle of tears streamed down her face. “HA HA HA... Ha ha... We’re so screwed. There are 666 of these? And we only have ten years? I shouldn’t have asked. If I didn’t know, I could have just focused on my career without being any the wiser.”
“We need to announce this right now! The world needs to know the truth! Then—”
“Hah!” Kirihara scoffed, interrupting Shinohara. She looked at him like she was looking at a child. “You try doing that, the entire world will panic, and next thing you know, riots would be breaking out in every country and governments would be collapsing one after the other. Then how’re we supposed to know where the new dungeons are? The planes being grounded would be the least of our worries.”
“Why?! The UN can serve as the center of command and dispatch adventurers to clear dungeons in a systematic way—”
“What you’re describing is a dream. An ideal. That’s why Ezoe-san was keeping this a secret. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right.” I nodded in response to Kirihara’s question, then I elaborated on why I chose to not go public with what I knew. “What do you think people will do when they learn that the world will be ending in ten years? Do you think they’ll band together and cooperate to prevent it from happening?”
“That’s...but we’ll die if we don’t. There’s no other choice but to band together and—”
I raised a hand to cut Kusakabe Rinko off. “It’s the other way round. There are people who would actually welcome the world ending in ten years. We wish to save the world because we think we will still have a life ten years from now. But don’t forget. More than half of the world’s seven billion people are so poor that they struggle to find food each day. Among the nearly two hundred countries in the world, how many of them are affluent enough where citizens can take showers everyday, everyone owns a mobile phone, and the streets are lined with convenience stores and fast food restaurants? The dungeons appear in the Middle East, in South America, and in Africa all the same. They appear in countries with hyperinflation where twelve-year-old girls have to sell their bodies for seven measly dollars. Don’t doubt that there are people in those countries who would think, ‘Suck it! We have nothing to lose. The only people with anything to lose are the rich. It’d be the people in Gamerica, in Japan, and in the EU!’”
Everyone fell silent.
I continued, “Dungeon Busters’s greatest enemy is not the dungeons. No, our archenemy will be the nihilists who will stop at nothing to make sure that we don’t finish clearing all the dungeons in time. Our greatest adversary will be humans.”
A heavy silence filled the Safety Zone room.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Kanagawa General Hospital — Shinohara Hisato]
After graduating from high school last year in March, I had been left with no other choice but to join the part-time workforce. I had wanted to attend college, or at least go to a technical school, but had given up in light of my family’s circumstances. Specifically, my younger sister had fallen ill with pulmonary arterial hypertension. In a minor case, the patient could live a largely normal life as long as they refrained from intense exercise. But my sister’s case was severe. There was no cure for it, and complications could develop the longer it lasted. A lung transplant might save her, but the cost of the operation was several hundred million yen. Because my parents had to tend to her almost 24/7, I had to take on part-time jobs just to earn my own living.
I did not resent my sister for this. Rather, I felt sorry for her. Ever since she was young, she had always been bad with playing outside and would run out of breath with the slightest exertion. And yet, I still forced her to play outside with me, again and again. Every time I thought back to it, I wanted to punch myself. She had likely already been sick at the time.
＊ ＊ ＊
Down inside the dungeon supposedly in Shishibone, Edogawa City, the four of us newest members of Dungeon Busters signed contracts on what looked like parchment, worked out the days we’d be delving together, then were dismissed. I didn’t even properly read through what I’d signed. All I could think about was bringing the extra potion to my sister as quickly as I could.
I immediately rushed into Kanagawa General Hospital, where my sister was hospitalized.
“Rie! This is medicine! You’re saved!”
My sister was lying on her back, the usual tubes protruding from her nose. A nurse just happened to be in the room, changing out her IV bag. When she saw me rushing in, she became alarmed and tried to stop me. When I thought about it later, I could see why—I wasn’t holding fruits or snacks, but a bottle of unidentified liquid that was supposedly “medicine.” As a nurse, it only made sense for her to stop me.
“Hold on there! What is that? What are you making her drink?!”
“Don’t get in my way! This is a potion. I got it from Dungeon Busters. It can heal any disease! Rie, drink it!”
The extra potion was a small glass bottle filled with about two mouthfuls of a pink liquid. The nurse pushed the call button in a fluster before trying to hold me down. Aren’t hospitals places for making people better?! Why is she getting in the way of me giving Rie her cure?!
“Let GO of me! Rie! Believe me!”
I held out the hand holding the bottle. Rie hesitated a little, then accepted it.
“Don’t drink it, Rie-chan! The doctor needs to check it first!”
Seeing the nurse try to take it back caused me to erupt into a rage. “DON’T YOU DARE!” I bellowed as I pushed her aside. But then more nurses arrived and pinned me down. I shouted desperately, “DRINK IT! HURRY!”
“Stop her!” the nurse I pushed aside cried out. “She’s holding something weird that he gave her to drink!”
Another nurse snatched the potion back out of Rie’s hands in a fluster. I roared at the top of my lungs in despair.
＊ ＊ ＊
“How is he?”
“He’s still in an excited state. We’ve already contacted his parents and the police.”
Shinohara Rie’s attending physician nodded, then lifted the little bottle on his desk.
“Did you find out what this is?”
“That’s... According to the brother, that’s a potion from one of those dungeons that were on TV. He claims that it can heal any disease and that it’s extremely expensive.”
“How did he get his hands on something like that?”
“He said that he joined Dungeon Busters and they gave it to him. As for whether this really is a potion or not...”
“The rep for Dungeon Busters would be the man named Ezoe, I believe? In any case, confirming with Shinohara Rie’s parents comes first. If this really is the real thing, and it really can heal any disease, then its worth would be a number neither you nor I could ever even dream of.”
The nurse nodded with a pale face, looking intently at the bottle in the doctor’s hand. Two hours later, Shinohara Rie’s parents arrived. They, together with the attending physician and a police officer, went to where Shinohara Hisato was being held to listen to his account.
“Dad! Mom! You’ve got to believe me!”
His parents were at a loss for how to respond to this desperate plea from their son. On the police officer’s suggestion, they went through Hisato’s phone and called the number registered under the name “Ezoe Kazuhiko.” The call was picked up almost immediately.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Kanagawa General Hospital — Ezoe Kazuhiko]
“I’m terribly sorry for the ruckus caused by our employee,” I apologized as I lowered my head towards Hisato’s parents, his sister’s attending physician, the nurses, and the police officer who had arrived on scene. Hisato himself had been—with his parents’ permission—put to sleep with tranquilizers. Thankfully, the medical staff that he had an altercation with had not been injured.
Couldn’t he have passed the potion quietly? No, this is on me. He cares about his sister so much that he became an adventurer. I should have seen this coming when I just handed him the potion.
I could not help but sigh in disappointment at my own lapse in judgment.
Hisato’s parents shook their heads and apologized in turn. “No, no, we’re the ones who are sorry about the commotion caused by our son. He did tell us that he was going to become an adventurer, but never did we imagine he would become a part of the famous Dungeon Busters...”
“He is a good kid who loves his sister very much, and that love is what will make him a good adventurer. That’s why I hired him. I am at fault for handing him this potion. I heard that your daughter is in a severe condition and thought it might be best to let him bring it to her as soon as possible, but what I should have done instead is properly give you my greetings and hand it over to you in person.”
The doctor interrupted excitedly, “So this is the real thing?!”
“Yes it is. If you doubt it, feel free to contact Major General Katsuragi at Yokohama Dungeon or Director General Ishihara of the Dungeon Adventurer Administrative Bureau. This bottle is medicine that can heal any disease.”
“This is a medicine... How many of these can you get?! If you can get a lot of them—”
“Before anything else, I would like to ask you to return that potion. It is something that an employee of our company obtained in literal exchange for his life. You being the patient’s attending doctor does not give you the right to hold onto it.”
The doctor hesitantly handed me the bottle. I returned it to card form, then turned towards Hisato’s parents.
“The efficacy of extra potions has been confirmed. It healed the nose of the woman from the adventurer licensing exam incident at Yokohama Dungeon. I myself used one when I lost my entire arm, and as you can see, I am fully healed. This is the most potent potion that can be obtained from the dungeons, capable of healing all incurable diseases and restoring lost limbs. Currently, less than ten of these exist in the world. In exchange for this one bottle, your son joined Dungeon Busters and promised to join us in our efforts to clear the dungeons. This potion here is his life. That said, the decision to administer it or not ultimately lies with you, the legal guardians of the patient. What do you think? Will you believe your son and give this potion a chance?”
Hisato’s parents looked at each other, then nodded.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Kanagawa General Hospital — Shinohara Hisato]
I could only faintly make out someone walking towards me through my foggy consciousness.
“It was rash of me to hand you the potion directly. I’m sorry. Would a potion work against tranquilizers? Oh, wait, an antidote potion would probably be better. Hold on a second. It’s your role to hand your sister the extra potion.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t make out what the person was saying. Then something was poured into my mouth. The next instant, my consciousness suddenly came back to me as if a switch had been flicked. A weight seemed lifted from my body. I leaped up.
“RIE!”
However, I found myself immediately pressed back down into my seat. I tried struggling but to no avail.
“Calm down. The Extra Potion is in safe hands. Your parents are also here.”
“E-...Ezoe...-san?”
“Call me Kazuhiko. Or Kazu-san, if you like. In Dungeon Busters, we call each other by our first names. I’ll also call you Hisato. So, have you calmed down? Let’s go, then. Give your sister her health back with your own hands.”
When I heard those words, tears sprang unbidden from my eyes. I wiped them away with my sleeve, then nodded.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Kanagawa General Hospital — Attending Physician]
“I can hardly believe it. This...this is our world now...?”
I was at a complete loss for words. Right before my eyes, a patient who had been struggling just to breathe mere moments before had gotten up, taken deep breaths, and started laughing loudly. In fact, she seemed ready to run outside right this moment. We had yet to do any tests, but my intuition as a doctor told me without a doubt that this girl had made a complete recovery. And whereas someone who had been in bed as long as she had been would need rehabilitation to regain their motor skills, she was having no trouble standing up. If all of her tests came back green, she could literally walk out of the hospital as soon as tomorrow afternoon.
“How can we ever repay you...?!”
The patient’s parents were repeatedly bowing towards a certain man, tears streaming from their eyes. Of course they were. Their daughter, who had been afflicted with a terrible condition treatable only through organ transplant, had just been restored to full health with a single bottle of medicine. If this medicine hit the markets, the entire healthcare profession would be rendered obsolete. All of humanity would be freed from the shackles of disease. I would be out of a job, but I still thought this an incredibly amazing thing.
The parents also thanked me, but I could only shake my head. I hadn’t been able to do anything for their daughter at all.
“Doctor, the world is not going to move on beyond the healthcare industry because of Extra Potions. These bottles are incredibly valuable. And what’s more, those of us at Dungeon Busters are aiming to clear the dungeons. Worst case, there might not be potions available anymore after we’re done.”
It seemed like Ezoe was trying to reassure me. What he said made sense. Even so, I could not help but pray. I prayed for a world where this medicine could liberate so many more people from their pain and suffering.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Aoba Ward, Kanagawa Prefecture — Shinohara Hisato]
I shuddered to imagine what would have happened if Kazu-san hadn’t come for me. After my sister got all better, I apologized to him. He didn’t get angry at me. Instead, he simply nodded and told me to think about how I should have handled it instead.
When my head finally cooled down, I realized that I had been far too impatient. Rie’s condition was severe, but it wasn’t as if she were teetering on the verge of life and death. I should have told dad and mom about everything, gone to the attending physician together with them, and then given her the potion. Then it wouldn’t have blown up into such a big thing.
“You’re always like that, big brother. You just run ahead without looking and end up causing trouble for everyone around you. You’re going to become an adventurer now, right? Make sure you don’t cause trouble for Ezoe-san and your other colleagues, all right?”
“Look at you, mouthing off at me already.”
The next afternoon, Rie had practically skipped out of the hospital. The doctor had said, “Her recovery is nothing short of miraculous. There is no reason whatsoever for keeping her hospitalized any longer. Rie-chan, go and make up for all the time you’ve lost. Enjoy your life to the fullest!”
“Big brother, I want a parfait! Treat me!”
“Mom said we’re having hot pot tonight. Well, I mean, I guess one parfait wouldn’t hurt.”
We were having a big party tonight to celebrate Rie’s discharge. We even got cake. It had been ages since I’d last seen mom laugh so brightly. This morning, dad swore that if needed, he would shove all his work onto his subordinate to clock out on the dot and come straight home. Both of my parents were so happy that they were practically bouncing around. And without all the medical costs, our family’s finances were back to having leeway. Last night, dad asked me if I wanted to go to college. But I shook my head.
I would become an adventurer. Then I would get strong and get my hands on a lot of Extra Potions. I would save as many people suffering from incurable diseases as I could. I would eliminate incurable diseases from this world. This was my new dream. As a member of Dungeon Busters, Inc., I would be going around the world clearing dungeons for the next ten years. A dream this big is just the right size for an adventure that big, isn’t it?
“Big brother, hurryyyy!” Rie shouted while running towards a cafe close to Azamino Station.
I laughed loudly as I chased her back.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Shishibone Dungeon — Kinouchi Mari]
Back when I first joined Dungeon Busters, there was Kazu-san, Akane-san, Emily-chan, and Myu-chan. They took me walking through Floors 1 to 3 in the dungeon and fought the monsters until I got used to the environment. At the time, Kazu-san and Akane-san were already too highly ranked to gain any more growth from fighting orcs and skeletons, which meant that they were doing so just for my sake. I understood that I could not monopolize their attention and time forever, especially not with how big the company was growing. That was why I was trying to become strong enough to enter the dungeons by myself.
“But it’d be so much more fun if I could do this with my friends from school...”
“Myuu?”
“Kyuu?”
As I continued petting Myu-chan from its place on my lap, Purin-chan clambered up my shoulder to rub itself against my cheek. It was thanks to these two that I didn’t feel lonely in the dungeons. And though she wasn’t human, I did have a friend here with me too.
“What do you think, Mari?”
“Oh my gosh, you’re so cute!”
Emily-chan came out wearing my school’s uniform, which had a navy-blue blazer, plaid pleated skirt, and a ribbon at the chest. Because she had really pretty features, she looked good in everything. I couldn’t help but clap in appreciation.
“I don’t think I’ve ever worn something like this before,” Emily commented pensively. “Because I’m always just wearing my mage outfit, I’ve been wanting to try something like this for the longest time ever.”
“I’ve brought magazines too! There are so many different kinds of fashion above ground like you wouldn’t believe! Once you are able to appear outside, let’s visit Harajuku together!”
Kazu-san and Akira-san were busy training the newest members of Dungeon Busters in Yokohama Dungeon. Every once in a while, he’d drop by to check in on us. He had to take showers above ground, but because my Holy Magic allowed me to use Cleaning, I could remain hygienic the whole time. Nothing beats the comfort of taking an actual shower, though.
“I guess that’d be a while yet. You can’t become an adventurer until you’re eighteen, right?”
“Kazu-san is pushing what he’s calling an ‘apprentice initiative,’ but apparently there are a lot of people who are against it. They’re saying that there’s no telling how Enhancement Element might affect those of us who are still growing.”
Emily-chan narrowed her eyes. “Your boobies are already this big. How much more growing do you plan on doing?!”
I shrieked a little in surprise as she suddenly circled around me and started kneading my chest. It was true that they had grown a little bigger after I joined Dungeon Busters; the new bras that I had bought were already starting to feel tight. Lately, I was growing a bit conscious of all the looks that I was getting from guys. I guess they really do like them bigger?
My friend laughed loudly, then ducked behind the curtain to change back into her own clothes. After we did another four-hour block, we could call it a day and have dinner. As it turned out, Purin-chan’s Fire Magic was really effective against skeleton knights. We were collecting so much money even though I wasn’t doing anything. Thanks to this, mom had cut down on the number of hours she worked part-time to focus on improving her cooking skills. Once the company building was done at the end of March, she would be hired to take care of all the cooking. Her food is really delicious. I’m sure Kazu-san will love it!
As I continued waiting for Emily, I looked at the item in my hand. “This really is useful. I’ve got to tell Kazu-san about it next time I see him.”
Name: Monster-Calling Bell
Rarity: Rare
Description: Attracts monsters on the same floor when rung. Requires caution—might cause the user to become encircled depending on positioning.
Purin-chan was capable of firing fireballs in all directions, so we would be fine no matter where enemies came at us from. Just to be safe, however, I only ever used the bell on straight paths. Thanks to its effects, we were killing around five hundred skeleton knights each hour. The money we picked up would go towards the capital investment for Dungeon Busters, and of the twelve or thirteen cards dropped, I’d get to keep half.
“Mari, I’m done.”
“Okay. Let’s go, then.”
“Myuu!”
“Kyuu!”
Our group headed out into the dungeon area once again.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Shishido Akira]
All the new members had gone through the Dungeon Bootcamp. However, there were two of them who were still Rank F. This was through no fault of their own, of course—it would be unreasonable to expect normal people to start off at the same level as a practicing martial artist and a former sumo wrestler. Our short-term goal was to get all of them to Rank D.
Name: Kusakabe Rinko
Title: None
Rank: E
Possession Limit: 0 / 26
Skills: Card Gacha, Staff Mastery (Lvl. 1), ______
Name: Sumida Masayoshi
Title: None
Rank: E
Possession Limit: 0 / 22
Skills: Card Gacha, Shield Bash (Lvl. 1), ______
Name: Kirihara Amane
Title: None
Rank: F
Possession Limit: 0 / 29
Skills: Card Gacha, ______, ______
Name: Shinohara Hisato
Title: None
Rank: F
Possession Limit: 0 / 27
Skills: Card Gacha, ______, ______
“Amane-chan and Hisato-kun, let’s focus on getting you two to Rank E for now. Rinko-chan and Yosshii, you’ll be heading to Floor 2 together with Shifu Liu. Hmm? What’s wrong?” Why’re they looking at me with their mouths hanging open? Did I say something weird?
The oldest, Amane-san, spoke up as if on behalf of the others. “Shishido-san, you are our senpai, so we understand you calling us by our first names. But having ‘-chan’ suffixed to our names is a bit troubling. Seniority-wise, you wouldn’t need to use ‘-kun’ either, and ‘Yosshii’ is just...”
“Really? I’m just using whatever feels most natural to me. Don’t worry about it so much. Feel free to call me Akira back!”
Amane-san seemed like she wanted to say something but swallowed it down. After a brief pause, she managed, “Allow me to call you ‘Akira-san.’ In turn, please just call me by my name, with no suffix. As for the CEO, Ezoe-san...”
“Oh, if it’s Aniki, you can call him ‘Aniki’ too. Or Kazu-san, if you prefer that. I don’t think he’d mind Kazucchi either!”
“Then ‘Kazu-san’ it will be. It appears that the company culture of Dungeon Busters isn’t all that strict on the way employees refer to each other.”
“It’s best to just go with whatever feels most natural. After all, we’ll be fighting together as a team. We don’t want to be wasting time being correct with ‘CEO, sir!’ or ‘Kirihara-san!’ in situations when every split second counts.”
After a bit more discussion, it was settled that everyone would call Aniki “Kazu-san” and me “Akira-san.” In turn, I would be calling them “Amane,” “Hisato,” “Rinko,” and “Yosshii.” Honestly, “Amane-chan” and “Rinko-chan” came more naturally to my tongue, but they seemed rather vehemently opposed to it, so that was that.
“All right, before we begin, Aniki’s prepared welcoming presents for all of you. That’s what I’m passing out now. Everyone gets a hundred Rank D monster cards to gacha with for Rare weapons. Oh, Yosshii, you might want to go for the Equipment Gacha instead. I imagine you’d need a shield to use ‘Shield Bash,’ right?”
“I don’t actually know how to use a shield. What kind of fighting style would require Shield Bash?”
“I’ll answer that,” Shifu Liu spoke up. The wealth of knowledge about fighting that he possessed never ceased to amaze me. “When adventurers fight together, one important position is that of the ‘tank.’ Their job is to stop all the incoming monsters and make split-second decisions about which monster to divert to which party member. Shield Bash is the tank’s own method of attack. If I am to describe it with terms from your ‘sumo,’ stopping attacks would be ‘tachiai,’ and Shield Bash would be ‘kachiage.’ Well, it might be easier to understand if you actually try it.”
Aniki had handed me five hundred cards ahead of time. The remaining one hundred were for me to roll on Shifu Liu’s behalf. Now then, what are we going to get this time?
◇ ◇ ◇
[Sumida Masayoshi]
I was told that my large body made me a good candidate for serving as a so-called “tank,” whose job was to “stop all the incoming monsters and make split-second decisions about which monster to divert to which party member.” To do so, I would need a shield, which Akira-san said should come from the Equipment Gacha. So I did as he said and rolled it six times first, intending on rolling something else for the remaining five if I got a good shield early on. According to Akira-san, the chance of getting what we actually needed was proportionate to how many rolls we did. I kept my fingers crossed as I tried using this ability for the first time in my life.
Name: Mithril Greatshield
Rarity: Rare
Description: A greatshield made of mithril. Possesses high magic resistance. Comes with a peephole for observing the enemy while bracing.
Name: Steel Chestplate
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: A chestplate made of tempered steel. Sturdy, but heavy. Size automatically adjusts to the wearer.
Name: Steel Helmet
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: A helmet made of tempered steel. Sturdy, but heavy. Size automatically adjusts to the wearer.
Name: Durable Shirt
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: A shirt resistant to slashes and fire. Washable.
Name: Steel Shinguards
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: A pair of shinguards made of tempered steel. Sturdy, but heavy. Size automatically adjusts to the wearer.
Name: Leather Wraps
Rarity: Common
Description: Wraps made of tanned leather. Provides slight protection against slash and bite attacks when wrapped around the arms or shins.
“Whoa, looks like you’re a pretty lucky guy, Yosshii! You got a Rare card from only six pulls, and the rest all seem usable as well. How about using your remaining pulls on another gacha?”
“Th-Thank you. I’ll do that.”
Just as Akira-san recommended, I went with the Item Gacha for my remaining rolls. To my surprise, I got another Rare. Looks like today really is my lucky day.
Name: Unmovable Leather Boots
Rarity: Rare
Description: Shoes that help blunt the shock received from attacks. Helpful when battling on the edge of cliffs and on slippery surfaces.
Name: Monster Sachet
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: A sachet that draws attacks from monsters. The scent will dissipate in three months’ time.
Name: High Potion
Rarity: Uncommon
Description: A highly potent potion that is effective even against bone-deep wounds and brain damage.
Name: Potion
Rarity: Common
Description: A common tasteless and odorless potion. Can be drunk to heal colds or applied as a salve.
Name: Antidote
Rarity: Common
Description: Effective against snake bites and poisonous mushrooms. Does not work for all poisons.
Of the five pulls I made, two turned out to be Common. Supposedly Ezo— Kazu-san had rolled the gacha using Rank D cards a staggering number of times and empirically determined that the rates were 10% Rare, 70% Uncommon, and 20% Common. Having received two Rares and only three Commons with my eleven pulls meant that I had gotten pretty lucky this time. That was pretty fun. I’d like to try it again someday.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Kusakabe Rinko]
To my surprise, the first skill that the dungeon gave me was Staff Mastery. Not that I had a problem with it, of course—the staff was held in quite high esteem within the Kusakabe-style School of Ancient Martial Arts. Another school that specialized in the staff, Shinto Mugen-style Staff Arts, even had a famous poem about this weapon:
“A spear when thrust,
naginata when swept,
and tachi when struck,
many forms the staff takes;
To discipline and to correct,
Yet inflict no injury or wound;
What else could do the same?”
The Kusakabe-style school had incorporated staff arts into the school during the Edo period. Unlike the Sengoku period, this was a time of peace when emphasis was placed on not killing people. Kusakabe-style evolved accordingly by classifying lethal techniques as “arcane techniques” and non-lethal techniques for apprehending as “open techniques.” As all female descendents of the family were compelled to learn the naginata, this art had also been passed down through the generations, ultimately ending in the form of modern-day competitive naginata.
Name: Ruyi Bang
Rarity: Rare
Description: A staff that can shrink and grow on command. Made of magic wood blessed by spirits. Very difficult to snap.
“The name ‘Ruyi Bang’ is a direct reference to the weapon used by Sun Wukong in Journey to the West, isn’t it? Let me try a few swings with it.”
There was no standard staff length for practicing staff arts with, but I personally found ones around my height the easiest to handle. So I adjusted this Ruyi Bang to be 168 cm long and adopted the middle stance from Kusakabe-style’s open techniques.
“Hmm, I like the feel of it. Its weight and thickness seem just right. Hah!”
I unleashed a few thrusts and sweeps in quick succession against an imaginary opponent. Seeing that, the character card Liu Fengguang materialized a steel spear and stood in front of me. He held his weapon behind his back, with the butt end directed towards me. I did a double take. There is no opening in his stance whatsoever!
“This is called gùn art, or as others call it, rod art. It looks quite similar to the staff art you use, don’t you think?”
I nodded, shifted to a tachi stance, then rushed at him. Liu-sensei spun around, slamming his spear against my staff repeatedly with loud clacks. With a smooth, flowing motion, he thrust the butt of his spear at my throat. I changed the hand I was gripping my staff with in order to redirect the attack, then leveraged the reach of my weapon and my footwork to attempt a sweep of my opponent’s legs. But then he threw his weapon to his other hand and stopped my staff while returning his spear to his back. We were now standing where the other had been at the start of the match.
After a brief moment of studying each other, Liu-sensei showed me the palms of his hands to indicate that he was done. He’s so strong! It’s as if he’s the living embodiment of martial arts. He can definitely make me much stronger if I learn under him.
“You’ve been trained quite well in spite of your youth, and you’ve got a pretty good sense for battle. It will not be long before you exceed Ezoe. That man has almost no talent whatsoever.”
“Surely not. Kazu-san is extremely strong, isn’t he?”
Though it had been a video, I had seen him moving with inhuman speed. Even now, the sight was seared onto my retinas.
Liu-sensei laughed and shook his head. “Physical prowess is something that you will obtain automatically just by fighting within the dungeon. Conversely, talent for fighting is a gift from the heavens. It is not something that can be compensated for with Enhancement Element. That said, do not misunderstand: Ezoe is strong. He is terrifyingly strong but in a different way from you. The strength of a human is not necessarily only how well they can fight. You would do well to remember that.”
There was no other way to respond but to nod. It was indeed true that I could not do what Kazu-san did. He had challenged the dungeons by himself, killing monsters day in and day out until his kill count had reached the hundreds of thousands. Not only that, he’d even gone so far as to make detailed notes about how much time he’d spent and how many he’d killed in order to derive laws about the place. I had shuddered when I’d been shown a part of Ezoe’s records and imagined the sheer amount of time and effort that had gone into accumulating so much data. My heart and my mind would have snapped long, long ago if I had been in his shoes.
“Anyone who fights enough battles can become strong enough to become the leader of a team. However, it takes an entirely different kind of strength to bring multiple teams together into a group. Young lady, I recommend that you aim towards becoming the leader of a team first.”
He’s right. My three fellow assistant instructors, the ones who became adventurers together with me, are not here. We will meet back up eventually, and at that time, it will be my duty to lead them. We are going to form Team Kusakabe underneath the umbrella of Dungeon Busters to clear dungeons together. In order to stop the coming Monster Stampede, we need to demonstrate the power of martial arts. That is what I am striving towards. We must do the name of the Kusakabe-style School of Ancient Martial Arts proud!
◇ ◇ ◇
[Kirihara Amane]
I thought I’d felt the veins in my temple bulge briefly when I heard myself being called “Amane-chan.” As a woman on the career track within the male-dominated police force, I was in a position where I had to issue orders to regular officers who were men older than me at times. I knew that quite a few of them who were less than pleased with being subordinate to a woman secretly called me “Amanee-chan” behind my back; as if splicing my name with “nee-chan,” like how they would talk down to a girl serving tables at a pub, was the only way they could assuage their hurt pride. I much rather prefer being called by my first name without the honorific altogether, thank you very much.
“Well then, off to Floor 1 we go. It’s just beating monsters up with a club, so take it easy, yeah?”
I hated frivolous guys, and Shishido Akira spoke like a frivolous guy. However, his strength was unmistakable. Ezoe-san (I will call him “Kazu-san” only after I receive express permission from the man himself!) had confirmed Shishido as being the strongest adventurer on Earth, which meant that he was very likely quite serious at heart. No martial arts world was so pathetic as to allow someone who didn’t take things seriously—even if he was a prodigy—to walk home with the global championship six years consecutively.
“Once again, the aim is to reach Rank E. No gacha-ing until then, all right? It’s much more effective to first see your new skills and determine the direction of your growth before rolling for weapons and equipment.”
Shinohara Hisato—a fellow new member who, at nineteen years old, was younger than me—and I were still Rank F. That was why we were still only wearing equipment brought from above ground—cut-resistant outerwear, safety boots, and helmets—and armed only with clubs. Our first order of business was to raise our physical prowess far enough to become Rank E. I might not have looked the part, but I actually had quite a bit of confidence in my stamina, due to having kept up swimming ever since middle school. I still do so at a sports gym at least twice a week, and I even run too. I might be twenty-seven, but I’m not going to be outdone by a nineteen-year-old kid.
Or so I’d thought until I found myself completely out of breath one measly hour after starting, in spite of my experience at the Dungeon Bootcamp. The reason was clearly all the weights I was wearing. Right out of the gate, I was given a 20 kg weighted vest, 3 kg weights for each leg, and 2 kg weights for each arm for a total of 30 kg. It was almost as if I were undertaking training from a certain hermit in a popular shonen manga! The only consolation was that the nineteen-year-old Hisato was also as out of breath as I was. In other words, it’s got nothing to do with our relative age!
“Hmm, looks like the JSDF really are taking it easy with the Bootcamp,” Shishido said with an easy smile. “I guess they kind of have to, considering how they’re accepting applications from such a wide age range, but it’ll be a problem if graduates from the adventurer course are getting tired from something of this level. Making that last push just when you’re feeling tired is key, so let’s rest after the two of you both kill fifty more rabbits each.”
He looked as if he were merely taking a stroll through the park, despite wearing 7 kg on each foot, 3 kg on each hand, a 30 kg vest, 20 kg diving ballast weights on his waist, and shouldering a rucksack containing water and rations for all three of us. He wasn’t even sweating. He’s the true monster. Is he even human anymore?
“Here comes a rabbit. How about you take the first one, Amanee-chan?”
“Argh...”
I SAID not to call me “Amanee-chan”! I poured all my anger into my club as I brought it down on the head of the rabbit monster.
◇ ◇ ◇
[Ezoe Kazuhiko]
Located roughly ten minutes away from Tokyo Station was Otemachi Twin Towers, an office building with rentable units managed by a foreign capital company, Regal Office Service. With the neighborhood being what it was, an office on the fourth floor of the East Tower was priced at ¥100,000 per tsubo, or $250 USD per square foot. It’s only a short-term lease, and it’s a necessary expense. Yep.
“Daaamn! What an amazing office! How much do these high-backed chairs even cost?!”
“About ¥90,000, give or take? But that aside, let’s get started. Everyone, thank you for choosing to work for us.”
The back office staff of Dungeon Busters, Inc. was starting off with a total of six employees. The former banker that I had met at the adventurer gathering, Mukai Junpei, was going to serve as the manager of general affairs and accounting. I had assigned him two assistants: Yamashita Ayumi, who had previously been employed at Lounge ROCO at Mizue; and Kashiwagi Reina, the woman to whom I had entrusted my watch when I’d first entered Yokohama Dungeon and then remained in contact with ever since. With Mukai’s supervision, Yamashita was going to handle the accounting and Kashiwagi the admin work.
“Dungeon Busters, Inc. is a newly established organization. Mukai-san, I understand finance and legal to be the crux of a company’s defense. If you ever have any advice or suggestions, feel free to come find me.”
“Thank you very much. When I quit the bank, I never imagined that I would go on to become entrusted with such a great honor. I will serve with everything I have.”
Our IT department, which would be responsible for all matters of information transmission, was headed by Tanaka Mutsuo, as expected. He was joined by two others who had been part of his doujin circle. He had explained to me that one would be focusing on creating content as the other focused on maintaining our website, but honestly, I didn’t understand most of the technical mumbo-jumbo he said. I trusted him enough to give him free rein, and that was that. He was apparently even thinking about developing an app or some such. The scale of our operations grows larger and larger.
After the standard greetings, General Manager Mukai (that was the title on his business card) immediately came over to work out our general direction for the near future. Right off the bat, he started by asking, “Ezoe-san, do you plan on moving this office eventually?”
It’s true that this office is wonderful, but ¥100,000 per tsubo really is quite pricey. “Yes, most likely. Considering the inconvenience of Edogawa—especially Shishibone—there’s no need to go to the trouble of gathering the back office staff at the new headquarters. I was thinking of looking for some other place in Otemachi or Akasaka when things are a bit more settled.”
“If I may, I would actually recommend having all of us together at the headquarters in Edogawa.”
“The reason being?”
“Each and every dungeon adventurer possesses power beyond that of the common person. This is something that will likely cause a certain amount of unease among the general public. The best way to get ahead of this would be to make ourselves seem as relatable as possible. Part of it will involve remaining transparent about our operations, but physically locating ourselves among the ‘ordinary folk’ will also go a long way.”
“I see. So you’re saying that we would be giving off the impression that we are ‘raking it in’ by keeping our office in this kind of neighborhood?”
“When I was working at the Hiroshima branch of my previous place of employment, part of my duties included managing a community-based supermarket. That supermarket poured all its money back into the store and almost nothing towards the office building itself. As human capital is going to be our greatest asset at Dungeon Busters, we can’t very well be that extreme, but I fear that we might garner a certain amount of ill will once it becomes publicly known that we are based in a fancy office in Otemachi.”
I rubbed my chin and nodded. It might be difficult to have our office in Edogawa at the moment, but it might be a good idea to develop ourselves as a community-based enterprise once the company housing is complete and the staff move in. In fact, we probably should do so. We need to build rapport with the local community in order to soften the impact when we reveal Abyss’s existence. We need them to think, “Rank A dungeon? The folks over at Dungeon Busters can handle it just fine.”
“Very well, I will definitely take that into consideration. For now, please finish our final income tax return and balance sheet by the end of March. The company building should be completed by then. I’ll start making arrangements now so that the back office staff will be able to start working from the new building starting in April. I know an assemblyman of Edogawa; I’ll work out any necessary political groundwork with him.”
We were going to need a legal team and a dedicated HR department later on down the road. Seeking out former salarymen over sixty years old with a wealth of managing experience and making them go through the Bootcamp could be a pretty brilliant idea—this would resolve our labor shortage and keep medical fees low, both issues that Japan at large was also struggling with. Naturally, doing so would require a lot of planning and strategizing beforehand.
After Mukai and I finished our talk, Mutsuo came over next. To be honest, part of the reason why I had positioned Mutsuo so high up was in hopes that his carefree personality could serve as a good counter to the grimness that could easily pervade the atmosphere in a company dealing with something so tied to death and the end of the world.
“Ezoe-shi! We’re supposed to meet the prime minister tomorrow, right? Do you know what I’m supposed to wear? Should I go in a tuxedo? Or would a crested kimono and hakama be more appropriate?!”
Uh, we’re not visiting the Imperial Palace—a tuxedo would probably be overkill for the Kantei. And what’s with the crested kimono? You plan on attending a coming of age ceremony afterwards?
“A normal suit and tie would suffice, I believe,” I replied.
Mutsuo looked crestfallen. “I don’t have one. Not one that fits me after my 20 kg loss, that is.”
I sighed heavily. Come on, man. Having a suit as part of your formal wear that’s ready to be used anytime is one of the basics of being a working man. Oh, wait. No, Mutsuo came from an exploitative IT company. He probably wasn’t blessed with any decent mentors or superiors to teach him these things. Since it’s the prime minister that we’ll be meeting, I can’t very well let him embarrass himself in a cheap suit. There’s no time to get one tailored, but this is Otemachi. Marunouchi Naka-Dori Avenue, the street nicknamed “Brand Street” for all the brand-name stores that line its length, is only a few minutes’ walk from here.
“Then let’s go visit Marunouchi and Ginza. But just saying, you’ll be paying for everything yourself, all right?”
After saying goodbye to everyone else, I headed out with Mutsuo.