Chapter 2: Item Conversion

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter — LNCrawler · All chapters

Chapter 2:
Item Conversion

I HEADED TO THE DUNGEON first to slay a few golden slimes. By now, it was easy for me to deftly dodge and counter their corrosive sputum with my blade. When they were dead, I ate some of the sweet jelly—absolutely delicious—and stored the rest in my Pocket Dimension. Good thing all the monsters here respawned regularly!

“I wonder if I could sell these?” I said. “Hm. Probably not.”

Still, figuring out a way to covertly hawk the jelly could make me a significant profit.

I made my way down to the second floor, and entered my master’s room to find her mumbling to herself.

“I know you can’t move, but I have to ask: did you hit your head?”

“Is there some other explanation for this nonsense?” I asked.

“Top 500? Master, I know you’re bored, but this is too much.”

Still, I hadn’t been to the dungeon in a while—I’d been busy with the exam, prep for the exam, more prep for the exam, etc. She was probably lonely.

In any case, I changed the subject to something less grumble-worthy.

“So, there’s lots I wanna get done over the summer—earn a bunch of money, get stronger, and start something new, stuff like that.”

“Remind me?”

<Oh, you forgot the sage advice of the great Olivia? LP conversion skills! Like items and materials and stuff.>

Now that she mentioned it, I did remember. I’d even been saving up. I already had well over 2,500 LP, even though the Item LP Conversion skill she described would cost me well over 800 alone. To be fair, it would give me a whole new way to make LP. And the more valuable the item I converted, the more LP it generated. I tried it out with an old sword I didn’t need anymore, and the iron blade vanished in the blink of an eye. It was an odd sight, but it did earn me 100 LP.

“Master, do you think I’d benefit from the Material Conversion skill, too?”

“Well, that sucks…”

“You know, I was just thinking about starting to sell things.”

<It’s a good idea. You could even hire someone to sell them for you.>

“Huh. I never thought about that. I have plenty of money saved up, though. Thanks for the advice. I’ll see you later.”

<What? Leaving already? Not going to explore?>

“I’ll be back in a day or two.”

<Ugh, well at least give li’l old Olivia some love before you go.>

She could be so childish, but I indulged her. I stroked her head and cheeks, much to her delight, then I went back out into town.

I checked for empty shops along the way, but, shocker, there were no vacancies on the main street. Even in the back alleys, there was no space for new construction. Of course, the land obviously belonged to someone. The nobles owned most of it, so you had to rent it from them first. My father had a head for this sort of thing, so I decided to consult him about it later.

It was still light when I finished looking, so I headed for the temple where Luna worked. There was a line out the door waiting for her ever-popular attentions. I couldn’t help but worry for her.

“I see, so you’ve felt your stamina decreasing? Let’s see if we can do something about that.”

One by one, Luna listened to the complaints of the ill and infirm, and restored them to good health. There was just one itty bitty little problem: she’d pass out if she used too much magic. A while ago, I’d surreptitiously asked someone at the temple about it, and they’d said that she could collapse four or five times a day when it was busy.

Eventually, the line died down. Luna took a break, and I brought her a drink.

“Working hard, huh?”

“Sir Noir, I’m so glad to see you.”

“You know you’re overworking yourself, right? If there’s no way to cure your fainting, maybe I could boost your magic somehow.”

“Won’t that cost you LP?”

“I’ve got plenty, thanks to you. Please, let me repay you.”

“Fine. But let me give you your daily dose first.”

Once we were sure no one was watching, Luna wrapped her arms around me.

“I’m sorry…” she said. “I might be a bit sweaty…”

“Don’t worry, you’re not. You smell wonderful. Like heaven!”

Did that…make me sound perverted? Sometimes, I thought that there was something wrong with me, but Luna just giggled happily, so I guess it didn’t matter.

The hug earned me another 100 LP, bringing my total up to 1,900. Now I just had to Get Creative and decide which grade of Increased Magic Capacity to give her. C-Grade would cost me 400 LP and B-Grade was 800. Either way, it would cost another 500 to Bestow it on her.

“Here you go.”

Bigger was always better, right? So I gave her B-Grade Increased Magic Capacity. Theoretically, it would mean she wouldn’t pass out so often.

“My body feels so much lighter,” she said. “You must’ve used a lot of LP.”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.”

“You always do this, Noir—smile when you’re struggling inside. I want to do what I can to pay you back. As your friend—no—as a woman! Come with me!”

“Uh, what?”

Luna grabbed my hand and dragged me into a private room in the temple. The second we got inside, she locked the door.

“Think of me as your personal LP-replenisher.”

“Personal LP-replenisher?”

“Yes!” she said. “I’ll do anything, Sir Noir. Anything!”

Luna was adorable when she was overexcited like this. And, if she was going to these lengths, then how could I refuse? Because she was half elf, her ears were a little pointed. I nibbled on the tip of one of them.

“A-ahh, what’s this?”

She seemed a little shaken, but not like she disliked it. I guess she really had meant she was up for anything. I teased her ears for a little while longer, massaging her earlobes. She looked determined to stick with it through to the end.

“Oh…oh no…what is this sensation…?”

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“No, not at all—eep?!”

“You like that, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure…what’s gonna happen to me…if you keep doing that…”

I felt strange too, so I stopped. If we carried on like this, I might turn into an absolute monster—especially if I got any closer to Luna’s bashful expression.

“Heh, I see what you want now, Sir Noir.”

“Ha ha…well, this is a little embarrassing.”

It didn’t quite make up for the 1,300 LP I’d spent on that skill, but I couldn’t complain about a healthy 700. We left the temple together and I stopped by a weapon shop on my way home.

“Thinking about upgrading your sword?” Luna asked.

“Nah, I just got this skill that can convert weapons into LP.”

Would I earn more LP from converting weapons, or would it make more sense to convert the money directly? I needed to find out.

“You should come by my house then,” Luna said. “I have a bunch of old practice weapons.”

“That’s lucky! Thanks, Luna.”

I took her up on the offer and we dropped by her house. She had three swords, a spear, and an axe. My money conversion skill had a consistent ratio, but I had no idea how much I’d get from these with my new skill—even something that looked valuable to me might be total garbage LP-wise.

As soon as I activated the skill, the weapons vanished. The swords got me 50, 60, and 70 respectively. The spear was only worth 40, and the axe got me 60. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but then, nothing in this hoard was particularly rare.

“Actually,” Luna said. “What about the spears we used on that dragon?”

“I forgot about those! We don’t need them anymore, so I guess I’ll try.”

I pulled the three dragon-killing spears out of my Pocket Dimension. If we ended up needing one again, I could always make more. For now, I was more interested in how their varying quality impacted the conversion rate of my skill.

Although the spears were identical in construction, they varied from usable to utterly broken. It turned out that did matter, because the worst one only got me 500, the middle one 1,200, and the one in the best condition netted me 1,500. I smiled to myself, excited about how much I’d just earned.

“Can you imagine how much LP I could get from a really rare weapon?”

“If I hear about anything like that,” Luna said. “I’ll let you know right away.”

“Thanks. Well, you should get some rest, Luna. Good night.”

I was overjoyed as I made my way home. The item conversion skill had proven more useful than I could have possibly hoped.