Chapter 6
As I descended to the third floor, my phone predictably lost signal. Being in the undeveloped region of Gunma probably had a lot to do with it.
"There they are, the Chihuahuas."
They were slightly tougher and bigger compared to the second floor. Probably would grow even more on the next floor. Might even reach Shiba Inu size.
Thinking that, I muttered "Calibur" and snapped my fingers.
Once, twice, thrice──.
Crap. 'Finger Snap Lv2' with ATK 5 isn't making them flinch as they charge.
I kept backstepping while landing sparks.
Four, five, six, seven──.
Result: 14 snaps with 'Finger Snap Lv2' at minimum power (ATK 5).
5×14= HP 70
Are all the monsters on this floor like this?
They're getting noticeably tougher.
But still manageable.
Collected crystals from the burnt-out monsters and tossed them into my bag. A bit bulkier this time.
Dealt 14 HP in one hit, turning the monsters I encountered on this floor into charcoal.
The best part of 'Finger Snap Lv2' is that if you know the enemy's HP, you can deal precise one-hit KO damage. Handy.
"Ah, Chihuahua."
Poof, charcoal.
"Oh, Chihuahua."
More and more charcoal.
Let's keep turning Chihuahuas into charcoal for fun.
"Huh? Is this the stairs to the fourth floor?"
Surprisingly, I found the stairs to the next floor pretty easily.
Checked my phone—6 AM.
Must've been in the dungeon for nearly 20 hours.
The daily reset should be coming up soon.
──────────────────
★Daily Mission★
Keep at it day by day!
'Barry Botter'
Show off forehead scar 0/100 people
Consecutive days: Day 4
Steady Rank: Bronze (1.0x multiplier)
──────────────────
Another messed-up mission, huh?
Who the hell came up with this mission name? They deserve to get yelled at.
Besides, Barry wasn't even showing off his forehead scar, was he? Defamation. This mission makes no one happy.
"100 people... So I have to talk to at least 100 people and flash my forehead scar? Just to show it off?"
Absolutely deranged.
Anyway, can't complete this inside the dungeon, so I'll head back.
But first, let's peek at the fourth floor.
'Warning! Explorer rank insufficient!'
Seems like as an E-rank, I can't go down to the fourth floor.
At least now I know.
I turned back and left the dungeon.
"Ah, good morning! Akagi! Pulling an all-nighter in there?"
"Hmph, well, you could say that."
Brushed my bangs aside and answered at what I privately thought was a cool angle.
"Akagi!"
Shurado leaned in, cheeks puffed up. Adorable.
"Wh-what is it?"
"No overdoing it, got it? You're delicate, Akagi! No all-nighters allowed!"
"I *am* an explorer, you know."
"Sigh... You're hopeless."
Shurado gave up and slumped her shoulders.
─────────────────
Today's Appraisal
─────────────────
Small crystal ¥2,109
Small crystal ¥2,440
Small crystal ¥2,110
Small crystal ¥2,101
Small crystal ¥2,601
Small crystal ¥1,986
Small crystal ¥2,101
Small crystal ¥2,007
Small crystal ¥2,242
Small crystal ¥2,106
Small crystal ¥2,175
Small crystal ¥2,110
Small crystal ¥2,101
Small crystal ¥2,601
Small crystal ¥2,334
Crystal ¥4,869
────────────────
Total ¥37,993
Dungeon Bank account balance: ¥46,799
─────────────────
"Wow! Amazing haul! Even though E-rank explorers can only go down to the third floor, you got some pretty big crystals too! Lucky! You don't usually get this many even with all-nighters!"
Shurado was bouncing with joy. Adorable. I bounced too.
"As Mister said, Akagi, you're steadily improving through training! At this rate, applying for a rank-up should be fine!"
"Shurado can't decide that?"
"Sadly, no. Someone higher up does. But don't worry, in three days, you'll be a D-rank explorer!"
Hmm.
Well, until I rank up, I'll keep massacring third-floor Chihuahuas.
I snapped my fingers and gave myself a forehead scar.
"......Shurado, what do you think of this?"
"? Oh, you hurt yourself! Pain, pain, go away!"
"......Wow, it doesn't hurt anymore."
──────────────────
★Daily Mission★
Keep at it day by day!
'Barry Botter'
Show off forehead scar 1/100 people
Consecutive days: Day 4
Steady Rank: Bronze (1.0x multiplier)
──────────────────
What am I even doing?
After that, I went around the camp early in the morning, greeting explorers with "Good morning!" while showing off my forehead scar and asking, "What do you think of this?"—repeating this bizarre routine.
After flashing it to about 50 people, the camp started buzzing with things like, "That Akagi guy keeps showing off his forehead burn..." "Think he's trying to look cool with the scar?" "Yeah... he's still young, after all." The cringe was so bad I wanted to die.
Around that time, I realized it was enough if the other person just saw the scar on my forehead.
In other words, if I cleared my throat when passing by, drew their gaze, and swept my bangs aside, they'd sneak a peek, and the Daily would progress.
That said, it was all too little, too late.
The explorers' perception of me as "that cringy young guy who flaunts his 'honorable wound'" wasn't going away anytime soon.
──────────────────
★Daily Mission★
Keep at it day by day!
'Barry Botter'
Show off forehead scar 100/100 people
★Today's Daily Mission complete!★
Reward: Ancestral Wisdom C (10,000 EXP)
5,000 EXP
Consecutive days: Day 5
Steady Rank: Silver (2.5x multiplier)
──────────────────
The hell was over. Another Daily I never want to see again was added. Wait, no—this wasn't just a 'Daily' kind of thing. You can't treat this like a normal mission, seriously.
By the way, that Steady Rank thing went up.
2.5x? I'd been wondering about this—what exactly does it mean?
Anyway, I'll just use Ancestral Wisdom C for now.
Pikon pikon pikon!
Huh? 10,000 EXP shouldn't level me up this much, right?
"Ah... Could it be that the multiplier means I get 2.5x EXP?"
Since I still had energy, I went back into the dungeon and spent a few hours roasting Chihuahuas on the third floor. The results confirmed it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am now a Steady Rank: Silver member.
My EXP gain is now 2.5x.
And this is just Silver. I still have two more tiers to go—Gold (probably) and Platinum (probably). You know what this means, right?
──────────────────
Akagi Hideo
Level 36
HP 150/596
MP 20/120
Skills
'Finger Snap Lv2'
──────────────────
"Silver member stronk."
The level-ups won't stop.