Chapter 18
On my way back from the 7th floor to the first floor, I passed by several explorers.
"H-Hey, Finger Man, what are you holding...?"
"This? It's a crystal."
"Wha-?! That's ridiculous, it's as big as a watermelon!"
Everyone looks surprised.
"Could it be... did you find a Resource Boss?"
"Resource Boss? Oh, yeah, I did defeat a boss. That thing was definitely a boss, no doubt about it."
It was labeled 'Resource Boss: Guardian of Purity,' after all.
As I carried the crystal in my arms and headed for the surface, a bunch of explorers started following behind me.
It's like one of those music videos where someone walks through the streets singing, and before you know it, a whole crowd has joined them.
By the time I got back to the dungeon entrance, more than a dozen explorers were trailing behind me. They all seemed curious about the crystal I was holding and kept trying to peek at it.
"Akagi! Welcome ba—whoa! What's all this commotion?!"
"I defeated a Resource Boss."
"Wha-?! So, you all took it down together! That's amazing, Akagi! When challenging a raid boss, fighting as a team is incredibly important!"
"Huh?"
I glanced back at the explorers behind me.
They all had these blank, innocent looks on their faces.
Hey, come on, seriously?
"I hate liars."
I snapped my fingers, and a nearby trash can burst into flames.
At that, the explorers scattered back into the dungeon like spiders fleeing.
Geez, whether you call it cunning or shameless, these guys are something else. Can't let your guard down around them. Dirty adults, honestly.
"H-Huh? Could it be... Akagi, did you do this alone?"
Shurado's eyes widened into perfect circles, and she placed her slender fingers over her mouth with a soft "Oh my!" She's so cute. When she's surprised, her cuteness doubles.
"As expected of Finger Man! You're the rising star of the Dungeon Foundation!"
"Thank you."
"But I can't approve of you taking on a Resource Boss by yourself! Resource Bosses are extremely dangerous monsters. If you form a team and tackle them together, you can defeat them much more safely!"
"But I've got this."
I snapped my fingers.
Shurado gave a distant look, muttering, "Come to think of it, the numbers for Lv3 were completely absurd..." before nodding in understanding.
I submitted the 'Mugen High-Load ver2.0' and the crystal.
The scanner was large enough that even a watermelon-sized crystal fit inside with room to spare.
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Today's appraisal
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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 2,175 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 5,107 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
Large Crystal 10,725 yen
Large Crystal 10,210 yen
Large Crystal 13,079 yen
Large Crystal 16,906 yen
Large Crystal 14,076 yen
Large Crystal 11,909 yen
Specially Large Pure Crystal 6,100,359 yen
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Total 6,346,811 yen
Dungeon Bank Account Balance 6,728,838 yen
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There's a monster mixed in here.
What the heck is that last number?
"Oh my! Could this actually be a Pure Crystal?! At this size, it's no surprise it fetched a purchase price of over 6,000,000 yen!"
I'm starting to feel dizzy.
Did I finally do it? Did I strike it rich with a single haul?
Six million.
Six million yen.
Even if I can't fully grasp it, I can tell it's an unbelievably huge amount of money.
"Congratulations! Since Resource Bosses are typically tackled by teams, it's unheard of for a C-rank explorer to earn this kind of reward solo—unless they do something crazy like Akagi did!"
I didn't do anything crazy, okay?
Once the appraisal was done, two Foundation staff members carefully carried the crystal away together.
Wait, they're about to take my 'Adolphene's Holy Shroud' along with it!
That's not just a wrapping, you know!
It's a proper boss drop!
Because it's an anomalous substance with a cool name!
"'Adolphene's Holy Shroud,' huh! It's not in the database! This must be another undiscovered relic of the labyrinth!"
Shurado was thrilled to appraise it for me.
"It seems like equipment meant to be worn, but......"
"Ahaha, as it is now, it's like cosplaying a Tibetan monk."
Thanks for the candid opinion.
She totally gets everything I want to say.
"Would you like us to process it into equipment here?"
"You can do that?"
"Of course! The Dungeon Foundation has the know-how to process tricky anomalous substances and optimize them into dungeon equipment!"
Oh, wow.
Then, I think I'll ask for that.
I handed over 'Adolphene's Holy Shroud' and completed the payment through the Dungeon Bank app.
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Dungeon Bank Account Balance: 6,708,838 yen
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"Paying with a Dungeon Card or Dungeon Pay is more cost-effective! You get a constant 4% point cashback with linked accounts!"
The Dungeon Foundation, what incredible combat capability. Even their services are top-notch.
And isn't this point cashback rate high enough to mow down other card companies in one sweep?
Up until now, I've been all about the easy life with Easy Bank, Easy Card, and Easy Pay, but with this, switching to the Dungeon faction seems inevitable.
Guided kindly by Shurado, with our hands occasionally brushing against each other and my heart racing, I completed the registration in about 10 minutes.
Before I knew it, my smartphone was completely filled with Dungeon Foundation-related apps. Shurado, what a strategist...... I bet she'd be competent in any other job too.
──3 hours later
I was cornered by that Dr. in a corner of the beer garden.
"'Mugen High-Load ver2.0,' how is it?"
"It's great. No malfunctions so far. Oh, and that item evolution function, it's amazing."
"Evolution function, you say?!"
Why are you the one surprised?
"Tell me more about it."
"The evolution function works like this and that......"
"What?! To think my invention had such a function!"
Just quit being an inventor already.
"I want to examine 'Mugen High-Load ver2.0.' Give it back for a bit."
"Fine, I guess. Huh?"
When I glanced at 'Mugen High-Load ver2.0,' I noticed it was emitting black smoke.
I've got a bad feeling about this.
"Here, take it back."
"Uh, n-no, you don't have to return it right now!"
"No, no, don't hold back."
"Stop it! That's clearly a sign it's about to explode!"
As we kept pushing it back and forth, 'Mugen High-Load ver2.0' soon exploded.
The charred Dr. coughed while gathering the shattered pieces of his creation.
'Mugen High-Load ver2.0'
It was dungeon equipment meant to evolve anomalous substances...... but for some reason, it could only evolve 'Blue Blood.' I tried with 'Secret Map' and 'Proof of the Chosen One' too (even putting 'Blue Blood' in a second time), but there was no special reaction.
"It was equipment with potential. Please keep at it, Dr."
I turned my back on the Dr. and started walking away.
"Take this with you!"
A duralumin case was hurled at me.
"......Um, what's this?"
"'Mugen High-Load ver3.0.' As usual, test it out and gather field data for me."
I can't tell if this old man is efficient or incompetent.
"Does this one have the evolution function too?"
"I don't know!"
"......Yeah, I figured as much."
Whatever effect it has, getting a dungeon bag for free means I'll use it this time too. Thank you, Dr.
Thinking it was about time for the processing to be done, I returned to Shurado.
"'Adolphene's Holy Shroud' has been remade into a splendid coat!"
Shurado handed it to me with a "Here you go!"
What was just rough fabric earlier had now become a fine dark brown long coat.
"It's warm, and so fluffy!"
"How good is a 20% physical damage reduction?"
"I think it would be classified as Grade 3 'Top Quality' by the Dungeon Foundation! For a C-rank explorer, that's quite a luxurious piece of equipment!"
Grade 6: Divine Artifact Level
Grade 5: Holy Relic Level
Grade 4: Legendary Level
─────Technical Limit of Artificial Equipment─────
Grade 3: Top Quality
Grade 2: High Quality
Grade 1: Good Quality
This is the grading system for dungeon equipment that Shurado taught me.
This grading applies to both artificial equipment made by the foundation and anomalous substances.
Artificial equipment, simply put, is an imitation of anomalous substances.
The magic swords that are the main gear for many explorers are also artificial dungeon equipment.
"By the way, what grade is this 'Mugen High-Load ver3.0'?"
"That's...... frustrating to admit, but with its incredible technical prowess, I think it's at least Grade 4."
The Dr. is amazing.
I don't dislike this style of easily surpassing the technical limits of artificial equipment.
Apparently, by changing the settings, the status display can show equipment grades, so I had Shurado teach me how to adjust it.
By the way, your own status can't be seen by others without permission.
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Akagi Hideo
Level 80
HP 3,903/3,903
MP 100/780
Skills
'Finger Snap Lv3'
'Phobia Syndrome'
'One Strike'
Equipment
'Blue Blood Lv2' G3
'Proof of the Chosen One' G3
'Secret Map' G3
'Adolphene's Holy Shroud' G3
'Mugen High-Load ver3.0' G4
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"As expected of Akagi, the average C-rank explorer is considered luxurious if they have even one G3 piece of equipment...... You're a bourgeois explorer!"
That's not proper Japanese.
Stop using such sloppy language.
I realized that my equipment is actually high-quality and heavily reinforced.
Seeing this kind of thing makes me want to raise the grade of all my equipment......
Driven by a new desire to collect equipment, I returned to the First Hotel in Gunma Prefecture late at night.
By the way, Shurado is always at the camp, right? I wonder if she's getting proper sleep. I got really curious. Maru.