In recent times, a lot of people had been joining seeker circles.
It could be bewildering to see so many people who never had any intention of joining before, but that couldn’t be helped.
It was the amendments to seeker laws. Or seeker welcoming laws.
Laws regarding seekers had been revised, meaning people who earned more than a certain amount got preferential treatment. Special penalties for seekers had been abolished. Seekers had been prohibited from taking part in sporting events, but that was also abolished, meaning seekers could now take part in various sports.
This along with other changes were clearly the country encouraging people to become seekers.
This would have an effect on existing industries, and a lot of people were scared that Japan would become too dependent on dungeons.
They would hemorrhage people, and the market could collapse.
Even if it didn’t come to that, it would have an impact. And there were fears that people would stay away from companies that couldn’t adapt.
But that was all about the corporate world. Things were different on a personal level.
It would take some time for the laws to come into effect, but it was pretty much done. Because of that, there had been a rush of people to the guild, trying to take advantage of those benefits.
◇ ◇ ◇
Ren Komori had been guiding people of his year in the dungeon. A one-way trip was five or six hours, and doing it on consecutive days meant he was sick of it.
Normally, the guild would assign instructors, people would beat the boss of the tenth floor, and get a skill. But the guild was overwhelmed, so they asked Komori to be an instructor.
He was not the only one, other members of his circle who passed the twentieth floor were on the same boat.
“Good job Hayami. Are you coming back?”
“Yes, I’m done for now.”
When he left the dungeon, he met his fellow party member Hayami.
Since these instruction requests had been forced on them recently, their own exploration had stagnated.
It couldn’t be helped, but it still annoyed them.
“Do you want to go have a drink?”
“Hayami, you’re not twenty…”
She invited Komori while mimicking drinking from a beer mug.
Hayami had a strong heart, but she was friendly to people she trusted, so they became close naturally.
Komori used to have a thing for her, but during the year they spent exploring the dungeon together, feelings of love disappeared and were replaced with trust from the heart.
“It’s okay, I won’t drink. I heard Mio and the others are done too, and they’re in a bar nearby. Do you want to come?”
“Mio? You mean Hazuki? Are you sure I can go?”
Mio Hazuki was a girl the same age as Ren, and a different type of beauty from Hayami.
She was refined and had a calm demeanor, with a strong personality that charmed people. Of course, this meant she was popular in school, and someone a dour person like Ren was reluctant to approach.
“It’s okay, there are other people there. Come on, let’s go.”
Komori could not argue with Hayami, so she took his hand and dragged him to the bar.
He was reliable in the dungeon, but the moment he got to the surface, he was an awkward guy. Hayami thought this gap was nice.
◇ ◇ ◇
Upon getting there, they saw four boys and girls eating.
One seemed to have had quite a lot of beer already, and had a red race, while the others were sober.
“You drink beer, Mio?”
“Ah, Saki… I can’t get on without it…”
The one who was already drunk was the refined beautiful girl Mio Hazuki.
Hayami turned to the other three as if asking what happened, and they looked troubled.
“Something happened in the dungeon.”
Said the black-haired handsome man Yamato Mitsuru. He had slender eyes and a straight nose, and not only was his face like that of a model, but that combined with his height charmed people.
“Our instructor was pretty harsh. And he had a lot to say.”
Said the blonde handsome man Shou Amateru. He had a cheerful personality and was sensitive to subtleties in other people’s hearts, so he was popular with both men and women.
He had no experience with love, but he exuded normie so much that him being unable to find a girlfriend was pretty much a joke.
“He was younger than us too, but he was merciless.”
Said a girl with a bright smile. She seemed to be the youngest among them, and gave off a friendly air.
Mayuri Hanasaka, this girl with a bob cut, continued.
“Calm down, Mio. Saki is here.”
She put her hand on Hazuki’s head, and stopped her as she got dead drunk.
“…Can’t. He said it was okay because it was a monster, but how can you take something down when it looks that scared? And who’s Daiko!?”
“Ah, that was harsh. He called me Muco too.”
As they drank, they thought back to the two goblins who had lost their will to fight. They lost their weapons and any means to resist, and had fallen to the ground.
They knew they had to beat them to continue, but even if they were monsters, it hurt them to beat the two goblins on the verge of death.
“Are you talking about goblins? It’s because they’re humanoid. I felt sick at first too. Ah, I’ll have oolong tea. What about you, Komori?”
“I’ll have a bee… Oolong tea.”
Komori turned twenty the previous month, and was quite the drinker when he drank with his seniors from the circle.
He was about to order a beer, but settled with oolong tea after feeling pressure from the person who would not be drinking.
“I used to make fun of seekers, but this changed my mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, Yamato and I practiced martial arts since we were kids, so I thought the dungeon would be a breeze. But I couldn’t do anything in front of those boss monsters. If the instructor wasn’t there, we wouldn’t be here.”
“Yes, but that’s what the instructors are for, so don’t mind it too much. They get paid too.”
“That’s not it. I just think that’s incredible, and I respect him.”
“Hm, really?”
Komori failed to see what was so worthy of respect.
The boss of the tenth floor could be tricky, but someone with martial arts training could get through it easily, if they just watched out for magic.
Komori did it, so he thought these four could do it without an instructor.
“Ah? Did you get that bracelet from a treasure chest?”
Mitsurugi grabbed his cup, and his hand had a watch and something else. Faint magic energy could be felt from it, so that seemed to be the case.
“Yes, we were lucky. Apparently treasure chests are rare. Getting four on the tenth floor is like a miracle.”
“Four?”
A treasure chest appearing upon beating the boss of the tenth floor was a rare thing. It happened only twice in the time Komori spent as an instructor.
Their contents were usually weapons for beginners, not equipment. And four appearing was unheard of.
“Is that true, Mitsurugi?”
Asked Hayami.
She was a seeker, so she knew how unusual it was for four treasure chests to appear at once.
“It’s true, we also have them.”
Said Hanasaka while showing her necklace.
The other two also showed off their spoils.
“Ahh, so that really happened. We’ve never gotten equipment from a treasure chest.”
“Yes. Some people have all the luck. Did you get the effects checked?”
“No, ten thousand is way too much.”
“True.”
As they talked, the drinks were brought to them, so they toasted and got more worked up.
The topic moved from the dungeon, but Komori continued to speak normally.
He thought he would feel awkward in this group of beautiful people, but was surprised by how well he could speak with them.
His communication skills had gotten better because of his dungeon adventures, but also because being part of a circle meant he had more opportunities to speak with other people.
◇ ◇ ◇
“By the way, what about the footage from the dungeon?”
Asked Amataru casually as they were about to call it for the night.
“We’re going to check it in the circle. Most data will be deleted, but the part with the four treasure chests should stay as a reference material.”
“I see. Can I have it?”
“Sure. Our seniors will be checking it, so I’ll tell them.”
“Thanks!”
Seeing Amataru with a big smile told them it was a pretty nice experience.
They were told not to upload it to video streaming sites, but they could say that when they handed the footage.
And since Hazuki was dead drunk, it was time to end it.
◇ ◇ ◇
Later, they were called by the seniors checking the footage, and there was a big uproar. And there was further turmoil when they revealed their skills, but that was a different story.
ーーー
Yamato Mitsurugi (20) (simple hunk)
Level: 3
Skills: Item Box
Equipment: Vitality bracelet, usurper sword
ーーー
ーーー
Shou Amataru (19) (gold hunk)
Level: 3
Skills: Agility
Equipment: Skanda bracelet
ーーー
ーーー
Mio Hazuki (20) (Daiko)
Level: 3
Skills: Healing Magic
Equipment: Magic enhancement ring
ーーー
ーーー
Mayuri Hanasaka (19) (Muco)
Level: 3
Skills: Wood Magic
Equipment: Watchtower necklace, echo staff
ーーー
If Komori had been the instructor.
Daiko and Muco would have died to the magic of the tenth floor boss.
Komori and the sorcerer would have killed each other.
The gold hunk would have blocked an attack by the warrior in a desperate attempt, and as he held him, the simple hunk would have cut its head.
The simple hunk would have been the sole survivor.
Two rare skill orbs would have fallen by his feet, and a true main character would have suddenly appeared.
In this scenario, Kuroitsu would have been the final boss.
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Thanks for the treat.