Chapter 11
I invited Shurado, who was working even through her lunch break, to have lunch together.
She ordered the iron plate steak 300g set meal.
I had corn potage. I wanted steak.
"'Finger Snap Lv3'......I've never heard of that before! Who knew that underdog skill had such levels!"
As always, her biting remarks are oddly charming.
"How many levels can skills go up to?"
"That's hard to say for sure."
"Doesn't the Dungeon Foundation have any info on it?"
"They do! Tons! The foundation is an international organization, researching dungeons worldwide—monsters, crystals, anomalous substances (anomalies), and the explorers who've emerged in response, along with their skills and statuses. But even then, the limits of skill levels remain unknown. The latest research suggests levels up to Lv10 exist, according to overseas academic papers, but the truth is unclear."
"Hmm (So Lv3 is actually pretty normal... I thought it was kinda amazing, though)."
"Ah, but don't worry! Akagi is probably the only one who's gotten 'Finger Snap' to Lv3!"
Is she praising me?
She's totally praising me!
Heh, I feel kinda proud.
I guess I'm the only one who truly understands 'Finger Snap,' the skill everyone calls weak or trash.
Y'know, like in games, you don't wanna use whatever weapon's popular, right? Is it about being a hipster? Or refusing to just ride the crowd's hype? Heh, well, that's how it is. Huh? A contrarian tryhard otaku? Shut up!
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★Daily Mission★
Keep pushing forward every day!
'Imitation Soup'
Order only "soup" during lunch with a colleague 1/1
★Today's Daily Mission Complete!★
Reward: Ancestral Wisdom C (10,000 EXP)
Consecutive days: Day 11
Steady Rank: Silver 2.5x multiplier
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Another day, another daily cleared.
I'll put Ancestral Wisdom C to good use.
After parting ways with Shurado, I dove into the dungeon with renewed vigor.
Alright, time to work hard to make it as a C-rank explorer.
────Meanwhile, at the same time
Shurado was researching skill levels on the Countermeasures HQ computer.
She was curious about what Akagi Hideo had mentioned at lunch.
Scouring the database, she found that those who'd reached Lv3 in a skill were almost exclusively high-rank explorers.
Even the top explorers seemed to hit a wall at Lv5, with hardly anyone surpassing it.
"Akagi Hideo... Owned skills... 'Finger Snap Lv3.' Ah, as expected—he's the first human to achieve it. Congratulations, Akagi."
Shurado updated the database, listing 'Finger Snap Lv3'—still exclusive to Akagi—under 'Extremely Rare.'
"Aww, Shurado's checking Akagi's page again~"
Startled by her colleague's teasing, Shurado quickly closed the page.
"No! I was updating his records because he achieved a newly discovered skill!"
"New discovery? Wow~ As expected of Finger Man. He's entering territory where the foundation's scary agents might start snooping~"
The colleague muttered in awe while checking the database on her phone, "Whoa~ This is... an insane skill..."
"Finger Man's gonna be a big deal."
"Heh, of course! Akagi's amazing, after all♪"
Shurado snorted proudly.
────
──Akagi Hideo's Perspective
I've descended to the 6th floor.
Opening the 'Secret Map,' I confirmed the hunting grounds and headed straight there—oh, already found monsters. Yep, reduced to charred remains.
Particles of light seep into my body.
I brush off the ashes and pick up the crystal.
Stash it in my bag, hunt the next prey, burn it, and if my HP drops, I heal with 'Blue Blood.'
It's not a sauna routine—it's my hunting routine, repeated endlessly.
My phone rings.
Since the Daily Mission updates at 5 AM, I set a timer for it.
Another day already?
Time flies.
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★Daily Mission★
Keep pushing forward every day!
'Run, Melos ver.2.5'
Run 0/100km
Consecutive days: Day 11
Steady Rank: Silver 2.5x multiplier
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Simple hell awaits.
Ever since reaching Steady Rank: Silver, some missions feel unusually harsh.
Stuff that'd be downright dangerous for a normal human.
Sure, there are still easier ones like back in Bronze... Maybe the dailies scale with my growth?
Eventually, this'll be the new standard...
With a hint of dread, I started running on the 6th floor.
Well, 100km—no need to sprint, jogging's fine.
An hour of light jogging later, I'd looped through my hunting routine.
I learned one thing.
Running boosts encounter rates like crazy.
Efficiency skyrockets.
Well, duh—just realized it now.
In this hour, I might've cremated like 20 Chihuahuas.
My level's gone up too—nothing but wins.
So, how's the daily progress?
──────────────────
★Daily Mission★
Keep pushing forward every day!
'Run, Melos ver.2.5'
Run 0/100km
Consecutive days: Day 11
Steady Rank: Silver 2.5x multiplier
──────────────────
I rub my eyes.
──────────────────
★Daily Mission★
Keep pushing forward every day!
'Run, Melos ver.2.5'
Run 0/100km
Consecutive days: Day 11
Steady Rank: Silver 2.5x multiplier
──────────────────
Not a mistake.
Ah, I see (figured).
You got me, Daily-kun.
You activated a trap card, Silent Regulation, didn't you?
Just like with Excalibur, Daily-kun's 'running' seems to have a specific speed limit set.
If light jogs don't count, then I'll have to get serious too.
I start running at roughly 25 km/h.
──────────────────
★Daily Mission★
Let's keep pushing forward every day!
'Run, Melos ver.2.5'
Run 0.1/100km
Consecutive days: Day 11
Steady Rank: Silver 2.5x multiplier
──────────────────
Understood.
Everything. Daily-kun, so you're that kind of guy, huh?
4 hours later
──────────────────
★Daily Mission★
Let's keep pushing forward every day!
'Run, Melos ver.2.5'
Run 100km/100km
★Today's Daily Mission Complete!★
Reward: Wisdom of the Ancients B (50,000 EXP)
Skill Nutrient C (10,000 Skill EXP)
Consecutive days: Day 12
Steady Rank: Silver 2.5x multiplier
──────────────────
Drenched in sweat, breathing heavily.
Even with high physical specs, my body isn't used to running, so I'm completely exhausted.
Heh heh, after all this effort, I won't even be happy about Wisdom of the Ancients B, ehehe, hurry up and let me level up already......
Pikon pikon pikon!
Since I got an energy drink for the first time in a while, I chug it. Feels goooood!
"Still not 'Finger Snap Lv4' yet, huh?"
What exactly the term 'Skill EXP' from the energy drink's effects refers to is unclear.
I assume it converts skill unlock condition progress into a different number called EXP.
"Haa, haa, haa..."
It was a tough Daily, but I made progress.
Running at high speed while scouting the hunting grounds let me defeat monsters at over twice the usual efficiency, collecting EXP and crystals.
With the right approach, you can boost efficiency however you want.
By the way, a few explorers gave me weird looks like "Why's Finger Man running... Huh!? No way!?" Wonder what that was about.
"Haa, haa, haa... status."
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Akagi Hideo
Level 62
HP 602/1,650
MP 205/320
Skills
'Finger Snap Lv3'
Equipment
'Blue Blood'
'Proof of the Chosen One'
'Secret Map'
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Leveling up is going great.
"Alright, time to keep going......"
Armed with a new weapon—a running hunting routine—I began wandering the 6th floor at a light jog.
That evening.
I returned to the surface.
"Ah, welcome back, Akagi! Thought you'd pull another two-day all-nighter, but you're earlier than expected... Ugh, seriously, stuffing it this full again! You're impossible!"
Another pleasant moment arrived.
Shurado dumped the crystals from my bag into a box with a clatter.
The high-performance scanning machine, which I always rely on, whirred to life again.
This machine irradiates light, analyzes mass, density, and crystal purity from the spectrum, compares it to real-time market prices, and calculates the current selling price—or so Shurado says. I don't understand a millimeter of it, so I just get excited at the numbers flashing on the screen, going "Whoaa!"
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Today's Appraisal
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Small Crystal 2,093 yen
Small Crystal 2,215 yen
Small Crystal 2,109 yen
Small Crystal 2,440 yen
Small Crystal 2,110 yen
Small Crystal 2,101 yen
Small Crystal 2,601 yen
Small Crystal 1,986 yen
Small Crystal 2,101 yen
Small Crystal 2,007 yen
Small Crystal 2,242 yen
Small Crystal 1,536 yen
Small Crystal 1,972 yen
Small Crystal 2,106 yen
Small Crystal 2,175 yen
Small Crystal 2,110 yen
Small Crystal 2,101 yen
Small Crystal 2,601 yen
Small Crystal 2,334 yen
Small Crystal 2,096 yen
Small Crystal 2,609 yen
Small Crystal 2,000 yen
Small Crystal 2,101 yen
Small Crystal 1,109 yen
Small Crystal 1,941 yen
Small Crystal 2,187 yen
Small Crystal 2,101 yen
Small Crystal 2,093 yen
Small Crystal 2,215 yen
Crystal 4,869 yen
Crystal 4,963 yen
Crystal 5,200 yen
Crystal 5,193 yen
Crystal 5,471 yen
Crystal 6,120 yen
Crystal 5,005 yen
Crystal 5,369 yen
Crystal 5,078 yen
Crystal 5,107 yen
Crystal 5,963 yen
Crystal 5,100 yen
Crystal 5,177 yen
Crystal 5,639 yen
Crystal 5,712 yen
Crystal 7,296 yen
Crystal 5,001 yen
Crystal 5,963 yen
Crystal 5,209 yen
Crystal 5,396 yen
Large Crystal 10,960 yen
Large Crystal 10,440 yen
Large Crystal 12,096 yen
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Total 203,719 yen
Dungeon Bank Account Balance 356,069 yen
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"Wow! This is amazing! As expected of a monk-type explorer! A veteran's haul!"
Shurado bounced around happily, so I bounced too. She's seriously adorable.
Foundation staff were glancing at us from the back. Seems not many people bring in this much.
13 days since starting as an explorer.
Total earnings: 350,000 yen.
Diving every day, pulling all-nighters like it's nothing.
Thinking about it, it feels a bit... but well, this venture has potential, so it's not tough at all.
That's because this time, I had plenty of HP and MP to spare, and even stamina left when I returned.
The reason's simple. My bag was stuffed.
Crystals just wouldn't fit.
So next time, I'll try bringing a mountaineering backpack.
"With this, can I become a C-rank explorer?"
"Now for some unfortunate news, Akagi!"
"Huh?"
"The promotion requirements for C-rank explorers mandate at least one month of experience!"
"......"
"Don't look so down! I'll still submit the application! They might approve an exception!"
By the time Shurado said that, a crowd of staff and nosy explorers had gathered around.
"Whoa, a monk-type..."
"That's the rumored Finger Man..."
"This guy's gonna be big..."
"Better cozy up to him now..."
Maybe they're expecting something from me?
Can't help but feel a little happy about it.
Hoping to reach C-rank, I headed home.