Ren Komori became a second year university student this year.
He was an average university student.
He was born to a normal family, and his parents raised him with plenty of love. He had his rebellious phase, but was too busy playing videogames to rebel.
He knew too much rebelling would get his games taken from him, so he always said yes with an attitude of no.
And so, regardless of his exasperation, he got to continue playing his videogames without any particular reproach.
But once he started going to university, he wondered if this was really all right.
His grades were below average in high school, his stamina was nonexistent, and his communication skills were poor. His only friends were in the game world, he never had a girlfriend, and it seemed he only talked to his parents lately.
He took a good look at himself, and failed to find even a single positive.
In this flustered state, Komori went to a seeker circle.
Even he did not know why. If he had to guess, it would be because he wanted to train himself back into shape.
But the seeker circle was not as tough as he thought.
It was physically demanding, but he got used to that. He had trouble with hierarchical relationships and dealing with people in general, but it was a lot smoother than he expected. Of course, they would warn him if he messed around, but that was a necessary act to save lives.
It was like a team sport, but people did not push him too far, and gave him plenty of support, making this a comfortable environment. His seniors were all good people as well.
And when you added the fact that he made some money, there was no reason to complain.
◇ ◇ ◇
There was an event new seekers called skill gacha.
Upon beating the boss of the tenth floor, a ball the size of a ping-pong ball called a skill orb dropped.
It could only be obtained once per person, and to get more, one had to beat the bosses on the floors that were multiples of ten.
They were also obtainable by defeating powerful unique monsters, or in special events, but these were rare, and unique monsters were stronger than bosses.
Few people could beat them, and most were either beaten back, or lost their lives.
The boss of the tenth floor was seen as a rite of passage for new seekers.
The seeker association, known as the guild, was where seekers received guidance and support until they could get a skill on the tenth floor. But the registration fee was five thousand yen, so not an amount that could be easily spent by a student.
But since Komori joined a circle in his university and borrowed all of his equipment, he did not need to care about money.
It was all taken care of.
And what Komori got from his skill gacha was Fire Magic.
Fire Magic boasted high attack power, and it was seen as the best to take out monsters.
The moment this result was announced to his seeker circle, there was a stir in the air.
This confused Komori, and when he asked a friendly senior, he was told that magic skills were seen as a good get, and it had been five years since someone in that circle got Fire Magic.
This person was famous in the circle, and left behind a few legends.
For better or worse, getting the same skill drew attention.
◇ ◇ ◇
The seeker circle did more than just fight monsters, they picked materials and mined in the dungeon, including teaching what could be sold, and how to deal with the danger that came with this practice.
Komori did his best, even more so with the pressure from all the attention he got.
He had never worked harder in his life.
As a result, he rapidly became better at using magic, and rose to level fourteen in the span of a year.
The boy with no confidence grew in a year into a confident young man.
ーー
“That man is looking this way.”
Said his fellow seeker, Saki Hayami, who was around his age.
She was popular with guys, and seen as one of the more beautiful girls in the circle. Komori was also enamored with her, but was shot down after confessing it.
“He is. What is he doing?”
A man who appeared to be in his mid twenties was staring at them to the point of creeping them.
“I’ll go talk to him. Our juniors are scared.”
‘That’s dangerous, I’ll go’, was what he was about to say, but Hayami left before he could get the words out.
He decided to instead focus his magic energy, so he could be ready to cast a spell at any time.
Hayami spoke to the man for a bit, and returned as if nothing happened. However, the boy looked like he was feeling down.
“So?”
“He said he was curious about what we were doing.”
“We’re just mining…”
“Apparently he’s a beginner, even if it didn’t look like it.”
“Hm… He looked depressed. What did you say?”
“That his gaze was creepy and that he should go away.”
“…Harsh.”
He was not expecting her to be so blunt with a stranger.
After the man left, they went back to watching their juniors mining.
Now that he was a sophomore, he had juniors in the circle.
He was a newbie not too long ago, but was now in a position to guide others. It was overwhelming at first, but he copied the seniors who taught him, and gradually got used to it.
It was rare, but sometimes, magic ore could be mined on the eleventh floor, in addition to the regular iron ore.
Said iron ore also had a higher concentration of iron compared to what could be mined on the surface, so it fetched a nice price.
Magic ore was ore with magic energy, and it was used in equipment for mid level adventurers and beyond. It was also valuable, going for a hundred thousand yen a kilo.
That day, they found no magic ore, only iron, but it was still good as an experience.
But then, a loud sound echoed.
At first, no one knew what was happening.
A wall crumbled, which was fine, but beyond it was a large group of big ants marching forward.
One of the new girls screamed with fear, but that alone was not an issue. That would not be enough to draw the big ants.
The problem was that one of the new guys was spurred by the scream to pick up a weapon and attack the big ants.
Komori turned pale.
Oh no! What should we do!? Abandon them? No, that was not an option. Then there was only one thing to do.
He thought.
He focused his magic energy, and cast a fire spell.
But just as he was about to fire, the other instructor slashed a big ant with her sword.
…What is she doing?
Komori was not happy with what Hayami did.
That was his job. She was supposed to save the newbies.
“Everyone run!!”
Yelled Hayami to the newbies. Actually, that also included Komori.
The big ants targeted those that harmed them. And it would not just be one or two, the ten thousand big ants would not stop until they killed their target.
And once their target was dead, they would move on to another.
The one who harmed them the most was Hayami, followed by the new guy.
Hayami was strong enough to overpower Komori one on one, and would not lose to big ants either. That was, if she was fighting five or less.
Unfortunately, her Quick Foot skill was weak against groups.
Maybe she could take ten, but any more would be certain death.
Hayami had to hold on until the newbies got away.
Komori activated Fire Bullet, as well as the skill he got after defeating the boss of the twentieth floor, that allowed him to spread and use several Fire Bullets at once.
Several big ants were shot and killed, changing their sights to Komori.
“Hey! Do you know what’s going on!?”
“You should cool your head, Hayami. And you guys get away from here right now. Can you go ask the guild to send reinforcements?”
The newbies were completely thrown off by this situation, but nodded.
“Thanks. Go! We’ll stop them!”
Komori saw the big fire ants change direction, and used his Fire Bullet spell again. The big ants cared little for the damage, and stepped over their fallen comrades as they advanced towards Komori.
He fired again, and again, but they were not slowing down.
He looked back, and while the newbies were running, they were still pretty close. He needed to buy more time.
Komori pictured a giant thick wall, flames that would let no one through.
“Fire Wall.”
He used a good chunk of his magic energy to create this wall, that stopped the big ants’ advance. In actuality they were still jumping into the flames, but the difference was slight.
But the Fire Wall would reach its limit soon enough, in face of these overwhelming numbers.
Some made it through by jumping right after others and using them as shields. When one portion collapsed, the rest disappeared, meaning the Fire Wall lasted one minute.
Komori saw this and looked back, and he saw none of the newbies.
He cast Fire Wall again, even though he knew they would get over it soon. He just needed time to drink a magic potion.
With his hands shaking from the lack of magic energy, he took out a small portable potion. All he had to do was open it and drink it, but the overuse of magic rendered him unable to muster up the strength.
As he tried, the magic potion escaped from his hands and fell on the ground. The thick glass prevented it from breaking and spilling, but as he tried to pick it up, he tripped.
Komori was immobile.
He was out of magic energy, and regretted his failure.
He was supposed to have a good grasp of the times he used magic, but forgot that he used magic once while he was keeping guard.
“Dammit!”
He yelled, still reaching towards the mana potion despite the situation not getting any better.
He could not reach it. It was right there, but he could not.
That small gap seemed so far away.
Someone…
A slender girl picked up the bottle and handed it to Komori.
“Drink and get up! Let’s get out of here!”
Komori drank the potion and recovered his magic energy.
Why did she come back? What about the others?
There was a lot he wanted to say, but…
“Thanks.”
He said as he took her hand and got up.
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