‘Next, the news. Yesterday, the seeker association held a press conference about its personal data leak. Please watch.’
As I watch the morning news, I see an old woman I kind of recognize.
Apparently she’s the president of the seeker association. She’s really important.
I was taken to a fancy room before, so I figured she had a high position in the seeker association, and apparently I was right.
I’m glad I didn’t say anything to antagonize her.
…I didn’t, did I?
My memory is fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t.
Oh well, if I did, I’ll take the offensive and say more. She might appreciate it.
I eat my bee honey, and feel like that yellow bear Winnie. It falls short compared to ant queen honey, but it’s still first rate stuff. However, it only satisfies my tongue.
I need to find some ant queen honey. My body yearns for the best honey.
Leaving that aside, personal data leak… I’m glad I’m not registered.
If I was, I’d probably be getting a lot of e-mail trying to get me to sign up to porn sites. And then my fingers would tap them on their own, and I’d get viruses or get sent a big bill.
It’s scary just thinking about it. Let’s not register in the guild.
◇ ◇ ◇
Eh? I can’t rent.
I’m here in the guild to discuss renting an apartment, but I’m told they can’t rent me anything.
Apparently the stuff maintained by the guild is geared towards pro seekers and people who have made contributions to the guild for many years. I’ve been exploring the dungeon for less than a year and I’m not even registered in the guild, so who’s gonna rent to you, idiot, is what I’m told.
The hell did you say? Wanna go!?
The employee is snorting at me..
I glare, but he looks at me like he’s asking ‘what are you gonna do, hit me? I’ll call security’
I wanna hit him. I wanna pummel that face.
His arrogant attitude reminds me of my former boss.
His nameplate says Hikosaka, and he looks like a middle-manager in his forties.
Kuh! Are people like this everywhere?
The kind of person that does his job, but naturally treats others like idiots.
I don’t feel like talking any more, so I leave the guild.
I whisper I hope you’re unhappy, baldy, but it looks like he heard it, because he fixes his hair that’s more like a hat.
He really is… Let’s leave it there.
Picking faults like that is wrong. It’s like lowering my own value as a person. Not to mention that hurting others is really low. It’s definitely an act worthy of criticism, so I should apologize.
And so, I do a 180, and tap him on the shoulder.
Sorry for saying something weird. It’s okay, you can’t tell at a glance. Live on as a bald man.
As I say that, I give him a cute little wink.
His shoulders are shaking, and I’m glad I cheered him up.
His worries are gone, and I feel better. Is that not a win-win? Surely there would be no more wars if this attitude spread to the whole world.
I leave the guild as I hear the sound of paper being torn behind me.
◇ ◇ ◇
Now what?
If I can’t even find a place to rent through the guild, my options are really limited. I’ve cleared the thirtieth floor, so I could register with the guild and become a pro seeker, but I really don’t feel like it after the data leak.
I guess I can either find a job to build credit, or buy a house.
Find a job… I should start working again soon, but if I did, I wouldn’t be able to go to the dungeon.
And I don’t have money to buy a house. I don’t even have all the equipment I need. Even if I wanted a loan, I can’t imagine a bank would deal with me if even a realtor wouldn’t.
And on a personal level, I don’t want to buy a house while single. Some people do, but I’d rather do it after discussing it with a partner.
Not that I’m really planning to.
Municipal housing has an yearly earnings cap, and regardless of everything, I did make money, so I don’t think they’d accept me either.
I feel like I don’t have any options.
I was planning on going to other realtors, but if that doesn’t work out either, I think I’m done.
Anyway, I’m getting nowhere without money, so let’s go to the dungeon to make some.
◇ ◇ ◇
The thirty-first floor.
…Here I am. I whisper to no one.
Up until this floor the dungeon was a forest area, but from here on, it’s a grassy field.
I say that, but there are trees up ahead, and a river. There’s a path too, that leads to a building.
Yes, a building. It’s clearly man-made, something built by intelligent creatures. It’s old and looks like it could collapse at any moment, but there’s something like a gate.
There’s no door, and the walls have collapsed, but that is definitely a gate.
I let out a sound like I’m impressed, as I picture their faces and say I’m here again.
This is the building Toufu talked about. Apparently there are many of these from this point on, and even towns and castles.
I take a photo with my smartphone, and touch the gate. There’s no real reason for it, I’m just checking what it’s like.
After snorting, I nod. There’s no meaning to that either.
I’m just emotional. I think about how it starts again now, and steel myself.
I pass through the gate, and begin my exploration.
◇ ◇ ◇
I advance through the path completely straight. I turn right every time there’s a fork in the path, so I won’t make a wrong turn on the way back.
This exploration is all about getting a feel for what kind of place this is. I’m not looking for the staircase.
I keep walking until it’s half past four, and after using a bridge to cross the river, I come across my first monster on this floor.
It’s a hobgoblin.
It’s the same type of monster as the adult goblin, and the warrior and mage I fought on the tenth floor.
I only have my greatsword of fortitude and divine bird boots. As for defensive equipment, all I have is these thick and durable clothes. The silent condors poked holes in it, so I had to fix them using Sewing.
I’m facing two hobgoblins holding longswords, and one holding a staff. Their bodies are covered in rags, so we’re not that different. If anything, I’m better equipped.
They take position in a very clear way, two in front, one behind. They do this to coordinate.
One of the sword-wielding hobgoblins moves out. It drops its center of gravity like it knows how to handle a sword, and approaches quickly to swing horizontally at me.
I dodge with a big jump back, and an invisible blade of wind draws an arc. The hobgoblin in front dodges it, and it comes at me.
It’s invisible, but I can detect it with Spatial Grasp, so I swing my greatsword at it, and it disperses.
The other hobgoblin attacks from the side with a sharp thrust. But I use the momentum after destroying the magic to swing, deflecting the thrust.
The hobgoblin’s posture breaks, and I’m about to swing again to cut it down, but the other hobgoblin cuts at me to prevent it.
I have to deal with that one, which unleashes some pretty heavy swings.
Still, nothing hits me, and as we cross swords, I punch it in the face with my left fist.
It looks like I completely caught it off guard, like it never expected a punch, leaving it open for an attack.
I swing my greatsword again, but this time, multiple wind blades come at me.
I take a big jump to dodge them, thinking it’s annoying, and a blade comes at me where I land. I realize I was led here, and I’m impressed.
This goes on for a few more minutes, until I use Physical Strengthening and slaughter them.
Hm, that was pretty tense, and a nice workout.
I collect their weapons, and go back to exploring.
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