[ENG] Hitchū no danjon tansaku ~ hitchūnanode anzen-ken kara pechipechi ya o utte reberuappu ~ Volume 1 Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Prologue

It’s been twenty years since dungeons, like something out of a game, started appearing in this world.

When the world first turned out like this, it was chaos upon chaos. Apparently, all sorts of global organizations were in complete disarray.

But humans are adaptable creatures, capable of making things work if they try hard enough. About nineteen years ago, when I was born, things started to settle. Within roughly a year, the Global Dungeon Treaty was signed between nations, and laws were established in Japan, where I live.

Then, when ordinary people gained access to statuses and skills and could enter dungeons, a social phenomenon reminiscent of the old “Gold Rush” erupted. A single small magic stone was worth over a million yen at the time, so countless people flocked to the dungeons, dreaming of striking it rich.

However, that frenzy calmed down as more and more people lost their lives inside the dungeons.

Still, every year, tens of thousands of new explorers venture into the dungeons, and including veteran explorers, people keep dying here and there. Yet, the number of explorers diving into dungeons never decreases.

That’s the state of dungeons today.

That’s the world we live in now.

＊＊＊

“……”

While focusing roughly twenty meters ahead, I aim for the head of an orc and knock a transparent arrow onto my bow.

“Hmph!”

I release the transparent arrow from the bow.

The arrow shoots forward with incredible speed, piercing the orc’s head from a distance. The orc collapses to its knees, bodily fluids spilling as it falls.

『Level increased by 1』

“...Phew.”

After confirming the system notification in my mind signaling a level-up, I let out a breath and lower my bow.

The number of monsters I’ve defeated finally reached thirty with that last one.

Guess I’ve met today’s target quota, right?

“Status.”

Before collecting the magic stone from the defeated orc, I open my status to check the stats that should have increased with the level-up.

――――――

Kaede Amamiya

Level: 78

HP: 780/800 MP: 125/410

Attack: 150 (+52)

Defense: 100 (+12)

Agility: 150 (+57)

Dexterity: 250 (+147)

Mental Strength: 200 (+117)

Luck: 50

BP: 5

SP: 50

Skills: 【Magic Arrow Lv.9】【Archery Lv.5】【Hawk Eye Lv.2】【Item Box Lv.1】

――――――

Alright, my stats have properly increased.

Generally, for every level-up, HP increases by about 10, MP by about 5, and each stat except Luck rises by 1 or 2.

The increase is subtle, but for explorers like us who dive into dungeons, it’s pretty significant.

…Still, though.

“It’s getting harder to level up… A whole year and I’m only at 78…”

It’s been a year since I started diving into dungeons.

On my eighteenth birthday, when I could finally check my status, I saw a strange skill called 【Magic Arrow】. No matter how much I researched, there was no information on it—a so-called “Unique Skill.”

Excited by this, I took a two-month training course while still in high school, got my explorer’s license, and immediately entered a dungeon.

As someone with a Unique Skill, there were huge expectations for me, and I thought I could reach the top-tier levels, surpassing ten thousand… but it’s not that easy.

For now, my Unique Skill 【Magic Arrow】 is like this:

【Magic Arrow Lv.9】

・MP Cost: 20

・Consumes magical power to create a magical arrow.

・The arrow’s strength and attack power are Mental Strength stat × 0.5.

As the description says, my 【Magic Arrow】 is a skill that just creates a magical arrow by consuming MP.

…That’s it. That’s all it does…

It doesn’t automatically fly toward monsters or anything.

So, its use is pretty ordinary. I knock the transparent arrow created by 【Magic Arrow】 onto my bow and shoot.

That’s no different from a regular bow and arrow.

To increase the arrow’s range, I need the Attack stat, and to hit the target, I need the 【Archery】 skill and the Dexterity stat.

In that case, it’d be stronger and faster to kill monsters by getting a permit through the Explorer’s Association to use a shotgun at close range.

Plus, unlike others who can focus their BP (Bonus Points) on Attack and Agility to become damage dealers or on Defense and Dexterity to become tanks, I can’t specialize.

To increase range, I need Attack. To hit targets, I need Dexterity. To boost the strength and power of 【Magic Arrow】, I need Mental Strength.

Because I have to spread my points across multiple stats, I’ve ended up as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

Still, since 【Magic Arrow】 itself has attack power, it’s slightly stronger than a regular bow.

Well, a regular bow isn’t even worth using compared to guns, so I’ve never seen anyone else use a bow.

“Still, it’s not like I can just switch now…”

But at this rate, the gap between me and my peers from when I got my license will only widen…

The moment everyone realized my 【Magic Arrow】 wasn’t that great, they all left me. Because of my jack-of-all-trades stats, I couldn’t keep up with the party I joined with my peers and got kicked out.

Back then, I was so frustrated, so sad—I cried so much I soaked my pillow. But now, I don’t care anymore.

Maybe because I cried so much and let it all out, I was able to dive back into the dungeon the next day without dwelling on it.

Still, parties are more efficient in many ways, so I joined a few newly formed explorer parties after that.

But with my half-baked BP allocation, I could only keep up with parties up to D-rank in among the F-to-S explorer ranks. Since then, I’ve been soloing in E-rank dungeons.

After a while, I realized soloing in E-rank dungeons was more efficient than joining newly formed parties.

Still, I’d occasionally run into or temporarily team up with beginner parties in F-rank dungeons, teaching them basic dungeon precautions…

“And that’s how I got the nickname ‘Guide’…? …Not funny…”

It’s really not funny.

Because of this nickname, even after my level increased and my stats became strong enough to take on D-rank dungeon bosses, I’m still solo. I can’t find a party to join to challenge a boss.

Well, the people at the Explorer’s Association trust me, so that’s something, I guess?

“Whatever! I’ll keep getting stronger my own way!!”

To get stronger, I have no choice but to keep diving into dungeons.

Since I started dungeon diving right after high school instead of entering the workforce, any company I could join would pay less than I make now. And even the higher-paying ones I looked into turned out to be straight-up black companies!

“Alright! Since I’ve saved up this much SP, let’s raise the skill level of 【Magic Arrow】!!”

I pull myself together and allocate SP to 【Magic Arrow】 in my status to level it up.

『Magic Arrow skill level increased』

Alright… That used up all the SP I’d saved for ten levels, but 【Magic Arrow】 is now level 10.

In past level-ups, the number of arrows I could create at once increased, MP cost decreased, or the arrow’s strength and attack power multiplier went up. But this time, it should be different.

Unique Skills often gain new effects at skill levels 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and so on—multiples of 10.

Since 【Magic Arrow】 just hit level 10, there should be a new effect.

“…Alright… Let’s see what’s changed…”

The result of this will determine my future.

Will dungeon diving become easier, or—sorry to say—will it be some useless effect?

It’d be great if the new effect blew away all my past struggles.

If I’ve worked this hard and got nothing, I’d cry.

A grown man, one step shy of adulthood, would cry without shame or hesitation, okay?

I cautiously check the description of 【Magic Arrow】.

“…Oh! A new effect… Huh?”

――――――

【Magic Arrow Lv.10】