Michiyo sat down in her office, and looked at the photo on her desk.
It was her when she was younger, and her still healthy mother smiling. She had friends around her, people who had looked after her, and the person she loved the most. Her younger self was holding a baby, and all she had was hope for the future.
She was happy. There was no need to worry.
She had friends around her, kind people, strong people.
She never thought about saying goodbye. To her, they would always be together.
But only four remained. Some died simply because their time was up, but most had their lives taken by something specific.
“Not you…”
She remembered something that happened, put down the photo in front of her, and took a document from the drawer.
There was a photo of a fat man picking his nose, and his profile and stats.
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Haruto Tanaka (24)
Level: 24
Skills: Earth Magic, Trace, Healing Magic, Spatial Grasp, Toughness, Magic Energy Control, Physical Strengthening, Poison Resistance, Storage Space, See Through, Parallel Thinking, Sewing, Limit Break, Dismantling, Magic Energy Circulation, Consumption Reduction (Stamina), Wind Magic
Status: Yggdrasil’s Blessing
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Tanaka was not registered in the seeker association, he was an outsider.
That was not against the law, or really a problem, but the organization managing seekers liked to have information.
Even if the organization announced its perks, some would always be different.
And then they thought of the stats measuring device. With a price of a hundred yen per reading, it was something all seekers would surely use, so it was placed in the weapon shop.
Its owner checked the data periodically, and was supposed to send it to Michiyo when he found something interesting.
That item had been there for over ten years, and she never received any data about it until a few months before.
I found a weird one.
She thought this message was odd, but it was true.
He had an abnormal amount of skills, and the way it said fat in his status was so direct that it was abnormal.
It made her want to make contact, and then she understood.
He had eaten queen big ant honey.
Before this, she had received word of one being taken down on the eleventh floor. Its stomach was supposed to be packed with honey, but sadly, there was none.
He must have eaten it all, she thought.
She did not know for sure how much there was, but there was no sign that it had been sold.
This strange man must have eaten it.
She had no reason to complain. What was gained in the dungeon belonged to the seeker who got it.
That was fine, but if what the weapon shop owner said was true, this man was gaining skills abnormally fast.
Despite receiving the information, she could not believe it, but an opportunity to have him appraised presented itself when she received word that he was wearing a cursed item.
Yggdrasil’s Blessing.
He had a lot of skills, but seeing this made her dizzy.
He was like her. If so, it made sense for him to walk the same path she did. However, there was a clear difference. Michiyo had partners, and Tanaka was alone.
He tried to join a party, but multiple unfortunate events meant that did not come to pass.
He withdrew from the dungeon because of this trauma, and she thought he might retire, but it seemed he had come back and was well.
If he was going to continue to be a seeker, he would stand before it eventually.
Tanaka would surely encounter what killed Michiyo’s partners.
What would happen? Would they kill each other? Would he escape? It all depended on it.
But if she could wish for something…
“Please kill it.”
She whispered into the void.
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Michiyo Amatsu (65)
Level: 53
Skills: Storage Space, Cooking, Magic Energy Expansion, Mental Haste, Magic Energy Resistance, See Through, Status Condition Resistance
Status: Yggdrasil’s Blessing (Voided)
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