Chapter 7
2.5x EXP.
I'm a Silver member, you see.
I dove into the dungeon's third floor to test the Silver member's power and—once again—got my hands on an anomalous substance.
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'Proof of the Chosen One'
You have been acknowledged by the world.
Maybe good things will happen if you cherish it.
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It's an anomalous substance shaped like a brooch.
Kinda looks like the explorer brooch the Foundation gave me.
Glossy black with golden edges—oh, pretty.
But it's super old, moldy, and scratched up. Overall, a solid -100/10. Aww, too bad.
Well, the item name's cool, and apparently good things happen if you treasure it, so I'll equip it. Not bad as an antique, I guess.
Since pulling an all-nighter and diving into the dungeon again isn't something a sane living being should do, I decided to return to the hotel.
"Oh, Finger Man! Heard you pulled an all-nighter! Gutsy!"
"Show me! 'Finger Snap'! Ahaha!"
"You're one gutsy rookie!"
That's how they greeted me, so I gave a polite smile and slipped past them like, "Uh-huh, sure."
Wait, what's with "Finger Man"? So damn lame. Is it catching on? Gotta fix this before it's too late.
Back at the hotel.
Washed the dirty black brooch with hot water, wiped it with a towel, and placed it on the side table.
Looks shinier now. It was lying in the dungeon's rock crevices like trash, so, yeah, it was filthy, but still.
"You were treated like garbage, but at least your name's cool."
After clearing dailies (gacha-style), I got bored and opened the Dungeon Foundation's official app. Scrolled through the timeline.
This app's like an SNS where explorers freely share info, trade anomalous substances, post art, comics, etc. Since even non-explorers can use it, there's a lot of unrelated stuff too.
The main dungeon-related posts are, without a doubt, map shares.
Map shares are a system where veterans who clear dungeons first share their maps with those who follow.
There's a big dream here.
If your post gets 'shared' or 'liked' and deemed useful by many explorers, you get incentives in return.
For example, Mister's post shows he's already reached the 10th floor and shared stair locations. Shares: 9,000. Likes: 10,000.
Dungeon heroes must be people like him.
Nice. I wanna go viral too.
──Next day
Took it easy for a day, and morning came.
First, check the Daily Mission.
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★Daily Mission★
Keep pushing forward every day!
'Imitation Soup'
Order *only* "soup" during lunch with a colleague 0/1
Consecutive days: Day 5
Steady Rank: Silver (2.5x multiplier)
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So specific.
What even is this daily?
"Well, can't do it right now."
First, I need a colleague.
Then, we have to eat together.
It has to be lunch.
Only soup is allowed.
Wait. Hold up. This is way too hard.
Probably got Silver member status from keeping up the Steady Rank daily.
The window had a 'Consecutive days' field too.
If I fail today's 'Imitation Soup,' all my effort goes down the drain.
Can't lose to this daily.
Arrived at the dungeon camp.
8 AM. Way too early for lunch.
But I, blessed with brilliant intellect, began laying the groundwork.
"Morning, Shurado."
"Good morning, Akagi! Let's do our best today! Oh, or should I call you Finger Man?"
Shurado flashed a bright smile. So cute. But please, no Finger Man. (Deadpan)
I really wanna invite her to lunch.
Not sure if she counts as a "colleague," but I'll trust the judgment. Who even decides that? Please, just count her as one. Colleague, colleague.
"Akagi, you look troubled. Wanna talk about it?"
Crap.
I hesitated too much on inviting her and gave the wrong impression. Did my face look that tense?
"Hey, wanna have lunch together?"
"Huh? Eh?"
"The Foundation rarely selects people close to your age, so I thought... maybe we could be friends."
Shurado blushed slightly, glancing at me shyly.
"J-just kidding! Ahaha, sorry, that was weird, asking you to lunch out of nowhere."
""Shurado, let me treat you." (Firm)"
Successfully secured the promise.
Good things happening this fast... Wait, is this the black brooch's doing? Good job, buddy. I'll cherish you till I die.
Until noon, I wandered the first floor kicking Chihuahuas around, then returned to camp and headed to the eatery with Shurado.
Said I'd treat her, but she hates owing people, so we paid separately.
She got a set meal. I got onion soup.
True to her roots as the daughter of Gunma's infamous savage tribe chief—honorable, never in debt. Respect.
"Mister's post is trending again!"
"I wanna go viral too."
"Post as Finger Man, and you'll be a hit with Gunma explorers in no time!"
Ugh, it's spreading? Too late to stop it now.
Shurado munched on her crispy cutlet, while I spooned delicious soup, and the topic shifted to map shares.
"Rumors say you're skilled, Akagi. Heard you mastered 'Finger Snap'! No one's ever bothered mastering such a weak skill before!"
Weak skill... Yeah, Shurado's kinda... savage. Savage...
"Since you haven't gone deep yet, sharing speedrun info like Mister might be tough."
"Guess I need to rank up more."
"You could specialize in the shallow floors! There's gotta be info only you can share!"
Shurado said, happily devouring her cutlet. I wanted cutlet too. Sigh.
Afternoon arrived.
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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 Cleared!★
Reward: Ancestral Wisdom C (10,000 EXP)
Consecutive days: Day 6
Steady Rank: Silver (2.5x multiplier)
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Successfully cleared.
Personally, I think it was pretty tough, so they could've given me like three Ancestral Wisdom C items, but oh well.
I'll go ahead and use the Ancestral Wisdom C right away.
Hehe, hurry, hurry, level up... Hehehe, this is the moment I live for, hehehe♪
'Use it? Yes No'
'Yes'
Pikon!
With today's daily done, I'll dive into the dungeon.
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Akagi Hideo
Level 37
HP 620/620
MP 124/124
Skills
'Finger Snap Lv2'
Equipment
'Blue Blood'
'Proof of the Chosen One'
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My condition's perfect.
With this much HP, I can roast a whole Chihuahua no problem. Heh.
──*Snap*
Destroying the Chihuahua.
I'm in top form today too.
Going back and forth between the first and third floors, I occasionally pick up the crystals that drop and, once again, stumbled upon an anomalous substance.
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'Secret Map'
Nothing is more important in an adventure than avoiding danger.
It shows areas where monsters frequently appear.
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Could something like this really be found in anomalous substances?
Or does the fact that it was so easy to find mean it's just low rarity and not very useful?
I'll ask Shurado about it later.
"Nothing is more important in an adventure than avoiding danger, huh?"
It's an old, worn-out paper map.
It's so tattered that it looks like it could tear at any moment, but the map drawn on it is incredibly detailed, and you can even zoom in with your fingers like a Google Map. Pretty handy.
Its effect seems to be showing monster spawning areas—in other words, danger zones.
But for some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that this map was actually showing me 'hunting grounds.'
That's when it hit me.
This dungeon is Class 3.
According to the summary site that compiles the foundation's annual reports, the first floor is roughly 500 meters by 500 meters—25,000 square meters in total.
Just looking at the map, it seems about that size.
Because it's so vast, fully clearing the entire first floor rarely happens.
Encountering monsters and fighting them mostly comes down to luck.
So, I decided to share a few danger zones—or rather, 'hunting grounds'—where monsters frequently appear. Since this is still the first floor, the signal reaches just fine.
"If I'm gonna post this, maybe I should use an explorer name. Hmm, Mr. Finger? The Finger Snap? Finger Snap Hero? Or just Hero (HERO)? But it's not like this is some huge industry, and it'd mostly just be seen by people I know... So embarrassing..."
Being the cautious type, I ended up not going too wild and settled on 'Finger Man.' Not that I'm admitting to being Finger Man or anything, but Shurado said it'd trend, so...
──Later, I'd learn that the term 'Finger Man' exploded in popularity due to its catchy sound and as a nickname for a freak who mastered the trash skill 'Finger Snap.' Who's a freak?!
"Oh, 3 likes! That's nice. Feels good."
After finishing today's dungeon dive and returning to the hotel, I checked my post and felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
That said, the road to monetization is still long.
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Today's Appraisal
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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
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Total 11,646 yen
Dungeon Bank Account Balance 58,445 yen
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