Chapter 27
A Quick Study Session
Even after thinking about this and that, in the end, I completely lack
basic knowledge. I admit it. But I have one of my roughly fifty strong points:
my straightforward honesty. I'll put that on display and ask away here.
The receptionist Onee-san has too much free time on her hands
anyway. I'll ask her question after question. The price of always dozing off
and slacking in school is catching up to me. I'll make up for it now.
「By the way,
how many monsters does a normal Hunter defeat in a single exploration?」
「It's hard to
say because it depends on the Dungeon and the floor. Probably, as a
benchmark for a single Party, the subjugation count is around 30 to 50
at most, I think. There aren't many Parties that hunt continuously for
long hours, and safety comes first, after all. Meaning that exploring Dungeons
with room to spare is recommended.」
Me, who nonchalantly makes a bloodbath out of over 100 monsters, was
abnormal after all. Or rather, 『Ultra Hard Mode』, where monsters spawn like crazy,
is abnormal. On top of that, because I have 『Solo Dungeon』, there's no
fighting over monsters with other guys. Factoring in those reasons too, it
seems my subjugation count is higher than others.
「Well, your
life is the most precious thing you have, so you shouldn't overdo it. Come to
think of it, how deep do veteran Hunters usually go? Around the fiftieth
floor for their hunting grounds?」
「That also
depends on the Dungeon, but veterans often set their base of operations
in the lower layers, from the Thirty-First to the Thirty-Fifth Floor.
From then on, it seems the danger level goes up again.」
Whether that's amazing or not, the current me doesn't know. I guess it's
not something a rookie Hunter needs to worry about either.
「Oho, by the
way, how far down have the most amazing guys gone?」
「You can
check that kind of information on the publicly available Hunter Rankings.
Domestically, the highest point reached was the Forty-Eighth Floor, I
think.」
They haven't gone as far as I thought. They haven't even reached the
fiftieth floor at the highest.
「How far down
do Dungeon floors go? Like, the hundredth floor?」
「Who knows?
No one knows that. To begin with, the lowest floor differs for each Dungeon.
There are a fair number of Dungeons that have been cleared down to their
lowest floor, but as an extreme example, there are even Dungeons with
only a First Floor. It might be a long time from now before humanity
knows how deep the deepest Dungeon goes.」
I don't intend to go to such dangerous-looking floors, so it doesn't
matter to me.
「Ah, come to
think of it, the story was that your level being around the floor number is
suitable, right. Then, even veteran Hunters are only around Level 30 or
so?」
「You can
understand that kind of thing by looking at the Hunter Rankings too, but
it's mostly just as you thought, Aoi-chan. Level 30, which reaches the
lower layers of a Dungeon, is quite something. If you don't have skills
usable for combat, breaking through the middle layers is considerably tough.」
Quite something, huh~. Well, it's a story that still has nothing to do
with me.
「Heh, come to
think of it, you were saying upper layers and middle layers, but how are those
divisions set again?」
「Up to the Tenth
Floor is the upper layers, and from there to the Thirtieth Floor is
the middle layers. From the Thirty-First onwards are called the lower
layers. Beyond that is called the Secret Depths, but you don't need to
worry about that far.」
For now, my goal is probably around the middle of the middle layers. In
terms of the balance between danger and reward, that area seems just right.
「Hmm, so it's
tough even if you form a Party. By the way, are there people doing it
solo besides me? How far do those people go?」
This right here is the information I wanted to know.
「You're a
special case, you see, Aoi-chan. In reality, there are almost no solo
people, and as far as I know, their exploration range is the Third Floor
at most. Because in a Dungeon, the danger of not just injury but losing
your life inevitably follows you around. As a basic way of thinking, being solo
makes it look like it's built on the premise of needing to be saved by other Parties,
so being on deep floors is frowned upon. It would be different if they were a
truly exceptionally capable person, but people around them wouldn't leave
someone like that alone anyway. It's safer to cooperate, and the efficiency is
better too, so it's only natural.」
That's certainly true.
「So that's
where Parties and Clans come in, huh~. I'm fine being solo for
now, but I wonder if I'll want to team up with someone eventually.」
「You have 『Solo Dungeon』, after all,
Aoi-chan. If you aim for deep floors you have to team up with someone,
but you're cute, Aoi-chan, so won't someone invite you? There are few
people here, but didn't anyone call out to you at the other Dungeons?」
「Ah~, there
was a pick-up artist guy.」
Conversely, in the sense of avoiding that kind of thing, forming a Party
might be a viable option.
「I knew it.
If boys think you're operating solo, of course there will be boys who think of
recruiting you. There are some guys with bad intentions too, so be careful.」
Onee-san spoke in a joking tone, but her eyes were serious. I
don't really know myself, but the power of the Blessing of Benzaiten
seems to be huge.
「Well, I'll
be careful. Also, I wanted to know about Classes. Since I'm getting
close to Level 10 too.」
「You're Level
7, Aoi-chan, so I guess you could say it's close. Though from there it's
quite tough. What do you want to know?」
「To begin
with, what is a Class?」
Fundamentally, that is.
「Umm, let's
see. It might be easiest to understand if I call it a person's aptitude in Dungeon
exploration. It's said to be something you acquire when the aptitude a person
has shown through their actions up to Level 10 blooms. If you've been fighting
monsters head-on, you'll get a warrior-type Class, and if you've devoted
yourself to support, you'll get a support-type Class, that kind of
feeling. Though those actions are likely heavily influenced by your initial
skills.」
I hear that the skills everyone learns from the start have an infinite
variety. Mine was 『Ultra Hard Mode』, but there are many skills out there that are called
trash. This alone is an innate aptitude and luck. It must be tough to make it
as a Hunter for those with bad skill luck.
「Setting
aside initial skills, if there's a trend in the Classes you can get
based on your actions, does that mean if you work hard you can get the Class
you want?」
「Only within
the broad categories, but it seems you can control it to some extent.」
I feel like I just heard something good.
「By
categories, you mean like warriors and magicians?」
「That's
right. If it's a warrior type, things like Swordsman, Spearman, or
Shield-bearer. There are also ones like Soldier, Knight, Samurai, or Valkyrie.
There are various others, too. Like that, there are magic types, rogue types,
cultural types, and production types, and various Classes exist within
those categories.」
Sounds complicated. I don't really get it just from a quick explanation.
「Heeh~. By
the way, what about you, Onee-san?」
「That is a
maiden's secret. I wonder what kind of Class you'll become, Aoi-chan~.」
A secret, huh. I wonder if she'll tell me if we become better friends.
「I'm beating
monsters to death left and right, so I'll probably be a warrior type. It'd be
nice if I could become something interesting, though.」
Since I'm working so hard in an 『Ultra Hard Mode』 Dungeon, it'd be
boring to be the same as any random guy out there. I'd like to aim for some
amazing Class.
Well then, I guess that's about it for question time. It's about time I diligently apply myself to labor. Today's goal is the Fifth Floor. I'm going to make a killing again!