Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #88
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Translator(s) note: The cats made a mess of the room and there was a blackout, so we are a bit late to update here. But we made it to the 4th volume!
Volume 4
Episode 88: Exclusive
Dungeon
“————After a staff
meeting, the establishment of the Adventurers' Club has been approved.”
Summer
vacation, the nineteenth day. Noon.
We, the
Adventurers' Club, had visited the principal's office after receiving a call
from the school.
In the room
where trophies and medals were displayed on the shelves, we found not only the
Principal and Vice Principal but also Hiyori-chan1 for some reason.
What in the
world was she doing there? We wondered at first, and then the Principal told us
what he had just said.
“Is, is that, actually
true?!"
We were
happy but puzzled, and the Principal nodded solemnly with both elbows on the
desk. The complicated expression on his face showed that he was not exactly
pleased about this.
Seeing this,
we also regained our composure. We felt that there might be some troublesome
backstory to this.
"But it's
conditional, you see."
"Conditional?"
“First of all, how much
do you know about the dungeon that has appeared in our school?”
When Anna
inclined her head, the Principal returned it with another question.
We looked at
each other and shook our heads.
“No, nothing in
particular. ...If I have to guess, I would say that it's probably a C-rank
dungeon or a secret dungeon since the investigation took so long."
"Oh, as expected of
an adventurer. You can figure that out even without being told anything. Yes,
as you guessed, what appeared at our school is a C-rank dungeon."
Hmm, so it's a C-rank
dungeon after all... I inwardly thought as I watched the exchange between Anna
and the Principal.
"But the troubling
thing is that the dungeon that appeared at our school is not just any C-rank
dungeon."
"What do you mean?”
"Was it called... a
secret dungeon?
Some dungeons are more
profitable than normal dungeons, so they are managed by the country, right? The
dungeon that appeared in our school seems to be similar to the secret dungeon.
However, it apparently
has some troublesome characteristics that made it unprofitable, so it was not
certified as a secret dungeon."
""""......!!!!”"""
The
Principal's words made our eyes change color and we looked at each other.
A semi-secret dungeon! So it's an open dungeon that just barely
missed out on being recognized as a secret dungeon!
Even though
the Self-Defense Forces had relinquished its monopoly, the benefits far
surpassed those of a normal dungeon. If the Adventurers' Club could monopolize
it, the benefits would be immeasurable.
Seeing us
like this, the Principal and Vice Principal sigh tiredly.
“The color of your eyes
has changed... so that kind of dungeon is valuable to adventurers after all.
That is what we are concerned about."
“...If word got out that
it is a semi-secret dungeon, many adventurers would come flooding in. As a
school, you don't want outsiders coming in and out of the school frequently.
... Is that what you're saying?”
"Exactly. If many
adventurers come and go, there will likely be some unwanted visitors among
them. To avoid that, we need to hire a dedicated team of adventurers, a
professional team at that, but that is expensive, and if it can be left to
those on campus, that would be most desirable."
The Principal
said this, mainly looking at my Teacher.
...It was
just as Tono-san said. He said that if it's a school, a space that doesn't like
outsiders coming in and out, they would likely ask us to manage it for them,
and that really turned out to be correct.
"So what are the
main conditions?"
“Well, there are only
two, and they're pretty obvious. First, show us that you can properly manage
the dungeon. In other words, you have to conquer the dungeon that appears in
our school during the summer vacation. That is the first condition."
We nodded
our heads in acknowledgment of the Principal's words.
Though it
was good that we accepted the job, if we couldn't manage it and caused
Angolmore... it wouldn't be a good thing anymore.
It had been
reported that in order not to cause Angolmore, it is necessary to conquer the
dungeon once every few months or to eliminate a certain number of monsters
every day.
Considering
that classes would resume after the summer vacation, it was a very natural
condition to ask the students to conquer the dungeon within the remaining 20
days of vacation. In fact, it could be said that it was too lenient.
Then, the
problem was the other condition.
After all,
they had been reluctant to accept the establishment of the Adventurers' Club
for so long. It would not be a half-baked condition.
"......What's the
other condition?”
Anna said
this with a serious look on her face, and the Principal and the other school
staff all looked stern...
"The other
condition is to consistently achieve above-average marks in your regular tests.
A student's duty is to study, after all. Do you understand, Jushichiya
(Kanou)-san?"
"...Yes. I'll do my
best..."
Anna, who
was given blank stares by everyone in the room, nodded as she said this in a
mosquito-like voice.
————Then,
you can hear the rest of the details from Tachibana-sensei, who will be your
advisor.
Thus, we
took Hiyori-chan to our usual family restaurant.
"Well then, let's
celebrate the establishment of the Adventurer's Club! Chee~rs!!"
Hiyori-chan,
in unusually high spirits, opened the party with this cheer.
Her voice
was so loud that it echoed throughout the restaurant, causing the customers
around us to look back to see what was going on.
""C-Cheers.""
Although
bewildered by Hiyori-chan, we clinked our juice glasses against each other.
Out of the
corner of my eye, I could see Anna hurriedly activating her soundproofing magic
barrier.
“He~y, what's wrong? Everybody's so quie~t. Come on, Kitagawa-kun, make some
noise~!"
"No, haha ...you're
so excited huh, Hiyori-chan..."
Hiyori-chan's
excitement was obviously seemed to be fueled by alcohol, so I checked her cup
just to be sure.
Just oolong tea, right? Not oolong tea highball, right? It's a bar drink after all.......
Bam! Hiyori slammed the alleged oolong tea on the
table and bellowed,
"Of course! With this, I can legally refuse to be the
advisor of the volleyball club! I'm telling you, after the Adventurer's Club talk was dropped the first
time, I was told, “Tachibana-sensei seems to be very motivated, so I have high
expectations of you next year," and it was pretty much set that I'd be the
advisor for the volleyball club! You have no idea how anxious I was! Well, now the idea of me becoming an advisor
for the volleyball club has been completely swept away! I'm not sure if there's anything I can do for
the Adventurers' Club, even if I were to say I'd be an advisor! Being a decoration is the be~st!"
"“Oh.....”"
We
(especially Anna and I) nodded in understanding as to why Hiyori-chan was so
high-spirited.
Come to think of it, there was such a conversation.... If you don't want
to be forced to be the advisor of the volleyball club, just become the advisor
of the Adventurers' Club first! Anna had intimidated her into accepting the
position of advisor.
"Hua~ now I can
dive in the dungeon for the first time in a long time~"
Huh? Hiyori-chan
is an adventurer? I see, that's why Anna picked Hiyori-chan as the advisor.
I thought to myself.
"Uh? Is
Tachibana-sensei an adventurer?"
Bah, so you didn't know
either...
Hiyori-chan also looked at Anna in surprise.
"E~e? Didn't you
invite me because you knew?"
"No... the only
teachers who weren't advisors were the bossy Yamamoto-sensei and the new
Tachibana-sensei, so, well, it was by process of elimination..."
"That's awful! But, I guess
it's alright!"
Anna awkwardly scratched her cheek, and Hiyori-chan pouted in
displeasure.
"So Hiyori-chan is
an adventurer. That's surprising. What's your rank?"
“I joined an adventurer
club in college, you see~. I've only dived a few times in the E-rank dungeon.
I've got two D-rank cards and the rest are E-rank cards. ...But actually,
Kitagawa-kun, you've been talking to me casually this whole time. You don't
call a teacher with 'chan'!"
Hiyori-chan glared at me angrily, and I laughed lightly.
"What are you
saying after all this time? In our grade, everyone is basically talking in a
casual way to Hiyori-chan."
"Ugh... the
students are looking down on me."
"It's fine, it's
fine, Tachibana-sensei. It's better than being hated by the students, isn't
it?"
As Teacher
comforted the dejected Hiyori-chan, we returned the conversation to the main
topic.
“Now then, may we hear
more about the school's dungeon?"
"Ah, I'm sorry,
Jushichiya (Kanou)-san, but I don't know much about it.
Here, this is a copy of
the JSDF's information."
Saying that,
Hiyori-chan presented a bunch of papers to us and we all looked at them.
Since it was
difficult for some of us to read them from different angles, Anna read them on
behalf of all of us.
"Ehh, let's start
with the number of floors. The main route is 47 floors, and there's a branch
starting from the 30th floor that's 10 floors long. Uwah, multiple
corridors?"
Anna frowned
as if to say, “That's the worst."
Multiple
corridors. A dungeon type with multiple routes formed within it, and in most
cases, the road to the boss cannot be opened without defeating the guardian residing
at the end of the corridors.
Therefore,
to conquer one such dungeon, one must essentially complete multiple dungeons.
Of course,
the rewards of conquering were limited to the main route, and the sub-routes
were free labor, so adventurers basically shunned these kind of dungeons.
“Well, multiple
corridors aren't that rare for C-rank dungeons, and only an extra 10 floors are
still lucky, isn’t it? So what type of dungeon is it?”
“Mm, next, the dungeon’s
type is... a random environment on every floor, with the route changing daily,
which means....”
"Ugh, a roguelike
dungeon..."
Even
Teacher, who had been cool when he heard about the multiple corridors, frowned
at this.
Roguelike
dungeon was a kind of dungeon in which the structure inside changes completely
from day to day.
Everything
changes daily, not only the map, but also the placement and types of traps, and
even the types of monsters that appear.
Naturally, there
would be no point in the guild selling the map, so adventurers would have to
conquer these dungeons on their own each time.
The only
thing that remained the same was the field environment: ocean if it is the
ocean field, mountain if it is the mountain field, and so on...
"And the
environment is random on every floor..."
However,
this was of little significance when the field was randomized on all floors.
In a random
environment-type dungeon, the field environment changed every few floors.
When all
floors were included, the field environment differed from one level to the
next, requiring adventurers to prepare their equipment and bodies to adapt to
every possible environment, from the sea in mid-summer to snowy mountains in
mid-winter, from midday to midnight, from heavy rain to sunshine.
The dungeon
would have a random environment where day and night change drastically from one
floor to the next, and the temperature and climate would be so chaotic that
even the strongest military personnel would be thrown off their game. ......We
were physically only ordinary people, so we needed the support of a variety of
magic items.
“......But, so be it.
What about the all-important main field effect?”
The fact
that the support of magic items was essential meant, conversely, that as long
as you had magic items, you could get by. As for the map, there would be no
problem with clairvoyant magic.
The problem is the field
effect of this dungeon.
From the
C-rank dungeon, the floor itself possessed a variety of effects.
The effects
range from auxiliary effects such as “buffing and debuffing specific
attributes” and “granting attributes and acquired skills to monsters on the
floor,” to ones such as "machine destruction" and "teleportation
nullification." that hinder our actions.
This field
effect was one of the reasons why the D-rank dungeon and the C-rank dungeon
were said to have a big wall between them.
When I
challenged a C-rank dungeon with my Teacher before, all the monsters on that
floor were given the ‘immortality’ characteristic, and we were forced to
retreat because the only effective countermeasure against the immortality was
the [Advanced attack magic] that Renge could perform after [Spiritual
recurrence].
From the
C-rank dungeon, adventurers are required to have not only simple combat skills
but also the ability to deal with all kinds of situations.
The field
effects include a main field effect common to all floors and a separate
sub-effect for each floor, and this main field effect determines the general
difficulty level of the dungeon.
Since the
JSDF considered the dungeon 'unprofitable', it must not be anything to scoff
about...
“........................-ion..."
“What? I didn't hear clearly."
“......Machinery
destruction at all floors.”
“Seriously......?”
My
unintentional mumblings represented all of us in the Adventurers' Club.
If it were
multiple corridors only, it would be no problem. It was indeed a pain in the
ass, but it was merely a pain in the ass and didn't affect the difficulty level
of the conquest itself that much.
A roguelike
dungeon with a random environment on all floors. Yes, troublesome, but this too
wouldn't be a problem by itself. With the Hamelin Flute, we can go home and
resume the dungeon attack from the middle of the following day, and with the
support of magic items, we can cope with changes in the environment.
Machinery
destruction at all floors was not as much of a threat as it used to be now that
we have mastered [Clairvoyance] magic and have Card Gear.
However, all three are
not good.
The
destruction of machines on all floors means that most artificial magic items
cannot be used. Without artificial magic items such as the Air Conditioner
Pendant, the difficulty level of capturing the dungeon in a random environment
at all floors would jump up.
You may
think that if artificial magic items are not an option, why not use genuine
magic items? Because genuine magic items are much more expensive than
artificial ones. It is financially difficult to prepare a wide variety of
genuine magic items for every possible situation.
As the level
of difficulty in capturing each floor increases, the sudden addition of 10 more
floors from the 31st, filled with C-rank monsters, is going to make things much
harder.
“Sh- shit game. This is
indeed too much of a shit game. ...Should we go to the Principal and tell him
that we can't do it?"
To put it
bluntly, this is not a case that we, as students, could handle.
It
undoubtedly is one of the most difficult in the C-rank dungeon. No wonder the
government had tossed it away, saying, “We don't need it.”
"No way! We'll all
be fine! Let's do our best!"
The woman
who was just trying to protect herself, who didn't want to be the advisor of
the volleyball club, was saying something, but I naturally ignored her.
“Uhm, I understand why
you'd want to do that... but it's hard to throw away the good parts
too..."
“Right, you haven't
mentioned anything about the reward. Is it actually that good?"
When I
asked, Anna nodded.
"Yes, quite a lot...
Apparently, one carbuncle appears on each floor. And that viville is a definite
guardian of the sub-routes."
""That's...""
At Anna's
words, we were all speechless.
"That's certainly
worth a challenge..."
“Don't tell me the carbuncles
reappear every day?”]
"Ah, no, it's not
to that extent... It seems to be the type that reappears every time someone
breaks through the dungeon."
"I see... mm, of
course it won't reappear every day... If it had been, it would have been
recognized as a secret dungeon without any problem. Even so, the profit per
turn is about 200 million. 50 million per person, huh..."
"Once we get used
to it and can split the responsibilities between the attack team and the Garnet
collection team, we may be able to increase our profits even further."
As Teacher
and Oribe were talking to each other, I couldn't stop my racing heart.
I never
thought I would have the opportunity to acquire Carbuncle Garnets and Viville
Diamonds so soon...
Considering
all that happened at the end of that race, there was no doubt that the
Carbuncle Garnet was a 'good luck replenishment' magic item. Perhaps its
superior counterpart, the Viville Diamond, will have similar effects.
After the
race, I tried to think of a way to obtain Carbuncle Garnet and Viville Diamond
consistently, but I couldn't come up with a good way.
There was no
way I could just buy them in the stores or through online auctions. If I, an
ordinary person, continued to buy Carbuncle Garnet in large quantities and
regularly, I would surely be noticed and the country might be aware of Renge's
ability.
If the
country had secured a special card like Renge, they would definitely be casting
a net.
However, if
the Adventurers' Club could monopolize this dungeon, it would be possible to
obtain Carbuncle Garnet and Viville Diamonds stably without anyone suspecting
anything.
As for my
share, if I said that I wanted to receive the gems as they were to avoid taxes,
no one would be suspicious of me.
If that goes well, I
could make an even greater profit than simply receiving my share in monetary
terms... I could aim to obtain B-rank cards as drops or in packs.
No, on the contrary, if
I could confide in everyone about Renge's abilities and have them give me all
the gems... no, no, no, no, no, no, that's too early to say.
It's not
that I don't trust everyone, but I should be as cautious as possible about
this, given the mind-reading magic items and all.
At any rate,
the benefits of obtaining Carbuncle Garnet and Viville Diamond steadily are
endless.
It is true that the
dungeon is very difficult, but once we establish a method for conquering it, we
will eventually be able to do so in a consistent way.
My blood
boiled with motivation.
Licking my
dry lips, I said,
"I think, we should
try, even if it's a long shot."
".......Yeah. At
least it means we'll have the semi-secret dungeon all to ourselves during this
summer vacation."
'Mm. It would be
unthinkable for an adventurer to give up without even trying once."
After
hearing our opinions, Anna summed up,
"It's decided. The
overseas expedition we had planned will be completely canceled, and we will
focus on this dungeon for the second half of the summer vacation.
...As for the equipment,
I will prepare them to some extent as the leader, but I would like everyone to
prepare their own items as well."
"Understood. Well
then, tomorrow... we'll probably have some preparations to do, so we'll discuss
the strategy the day after tomorrow."
When Teacher
said so with an unusually distracted look, Anna paused, looking a little
awkward.
"Um, actually, I
have two more days of tutoring. So could we start the strategy on the next day
after the day after tomorrow? I've got some stuff to do too."
""“........................”""
Therefore,
it was decided that everyone would spend the next two days preparing.
Honestly
speaking, this was a big help to me.
The day
after tomorrow, there will be an awards ceremony and a prize exchange.
I also need
to buy a lot of things, so I'll make sure everything is ready in the next two
days.
“Hei, hei~..., is this
dungeon really that profitable? N- need any help from sensei? Huh? Are you all listening? Hey, don't just
leave me here without saying anything!"
Ignoring Hiyori-chan who
was saying something, we immediately started preparing.
[Tips] Semi-secret
Dungeons
Many of the
semi-secret dungeons are dungeons that just barely failed to be designated as
secret dungeons due to a variety of reasons.
Many
semi-secret dungeons are already owned by a professional team, either because
of a contract with the owner or because the entire land has been purchased, and
are therefore basically inaccessible to ordinary adventurers, so ordinary
adventurers are generally not allowed to enter.
The few
semi-secret dungeons that remain undisturbed by anyone have become as
unappealing as ordinary dungeons because of the flood of adventurers.
The profits
from successfully monopolizing a semi-secret dungeon are enormous, and it is
the key that separates the top professionals from the rest of the pack.
***
Notes:
1 If you forget, she was the teacher they wanted to have as their club advisor↩
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