[Miyakonojo Dungeon — Shinohara Hisato]
The team I led was composed of members ranging from eighteen years old to twenty-five years old. There were more than nine hundred thousand patients with incurable illnesses in Japan. Among them, some had genetic diseases, which meant that even an Extra Potion—which could only cure acquired diseases—could not heal them. Still, we could still help thousands of people.
I had only managed to acquire a thousand Extra Potions in the past six months. Some of the people I had saved using their power had already reached out to me, however, saying they wanted to help. On top of that, the knowledge that Extra Potions did not work on some diseases was already a step forward for researchers. After all, it was impossible to tell whether an ailment was genetic or not in many cases.
“Damn!”
The girl spinning a war hammer around was Yamamura Naomi. We were the same age. She had developed juvenile idiopathic arthritis when she was in her teens and suffered from the side effects of steroids for years. She had made a full recovery, thanks to an Extra Potion, and decided to become an adventurer.
“We’ve saved up tons of C-Rank Cards! B-Rank dungeons are amazing!” Osada Youichirou said, laughing as he unleashed a blast of magic.
He used to have primary nephrotic syndrome and had been admitted to the same hospital as my sister before eventually becoming my first teammate. The two of them had been very lucky. As fate had had it, I, someone who had found Extra Potions, knew them. Things were a bit different now, as the Ministry of Dungeons acted as an intermediary, providing Extra Potions to the most critically ill patients first. They also bought potions from other adventurers, which meant that Potions were incredibly expensive.
Well, if medicine that could cure any illness was to circulate at a very cheap price, most pharmaceutical companies would go bankrupt in the blink of an eye. Kazu-san had explained that to me, and I understood, but I wanted the potions that my team acquired to be given away for free, at the very least. We had negotiated with the Ministry of Dungeons, and they’d agreed to distribute these for free to low-income families.
Some doctors remained cautious, of course, and expressed their concerns. They thought that Extra Potions shouldn’t be used since no one knew what side effects dungeon items could cause in the long run. But incurable diseases were referred to in that way because our current understanding of medicine couldn’t do anything to treat them in the first place. Patients who were suffering, and their families, clutched at straws. If I had a chance to help these people, I’d take it, no matter what.
“Let’s bring down ten more monsters and take a break!”
We were almost done with Floor 6. I expected Rank B monsters to show up on the next floor. After our break, we’d check out Floor 7 before heading back up for a while. Kazu-san and Akira-san were sure to have a turn after us. I can’t lose to them!
“All right. My turn!”
I took out my sword from the scabbard at my hip and infused it with fire. I’ll show you the power of a mystical swordsman!
✦ ✦ ✦
[Miyakonojo Dungeon — Ezoe Kazuhiko]
Useless trivia: Miyakonojo City was home to one hundred sixty-five thousand people. That was roughly the same as the population of Urayasu City, Chiba Prefecture. However, there were over eighty ramen places here, more than twice as many as in Urayasu. Miyakonojo was a true battleground for ramen shops.
“That’s...great and all, but why are we having ramen, again?” Hisato complained.
The dungeon exploration was going well, and our members had managed to reach Floor 7 by noon in above-ground time. It was finally time for B-Rank monsters to show up.
Hisato didn’t seem to appreciate my goodwill. And here I am trying to cheer everyone up with some nice ramen before we head into battle.
“We mostly eat stews and meat-based dishes inside the dungeons, right? Having some ramen before heading in will make everyone want to survive another day just so they can have such divine food again. To put it shortly, it’s good for morale,” I answered casually.
I wanted to point out that I checked out rankings of the best ramen restaurants in Miyakonojo online, and the highest-ranked establishment wasn’t actually situated in the city center. It was a place called Ganko that served Nagahama ramen, located just a few minutes away from the Miyakonojo Local Product Promotion Center. When the time for lunch came around, many people gathered at this restaurant. A reservation book had been installed by the door, and it was not uncommon to wait for half an hour inside your car before being able to get a spot.
The restaurant had regular tables and private tatami rooms, so we could technically have sat together. I felt that would be too much of a bother to other customers, though, so we entered in smaller groups. The other customers were still fazed by our appearance. Well, we do tend to impress people.
“I’ll have a large roasted pork ramen and gyoza.”
The food was great, but this place wasn’t only renowned for its dishes. The service was high quality too. I had written that we didn’t mind us being split up and given counter seats in the reservation book, but they prepared tables and private rooms so we could stay together in groups.
“So good!”
We all dug in. Even Hisato, who had been complaining a few minutes ago, was happily slurping his noodles. The ramen was pretty oily at first, but after adding in some mustard greens and pickles, it felt rather light and easier to eat. There was also a plate full of soft-boiled eggs that we were free to eat.
“I’ll have another bowl! Give me twenty packs of mustard greens to-go as well,” Akira said.
What a ridiculous order. I guess he wants to add it to his meals after we enter the dungeon.
In the end, everyone went for a second helping and even had a few onigiri on the side. Not putting on weight in spite of this lifestyle was one of the perks of being a dungeon adventurer.
“If everyone’s good, should we go?”
We turned right after exiting the restaurant and found a small smoking area. After having a smoke, we headed back to the Local Product Promotion Center on foot.
＊ ＊ ＊
On Floor 7 of Miyakonojo Dungeon, we came face-to-face with ogres, Rank B monsters. Masayoshi, Rinko, and Hisato had all reached Rank B, but their teams were composed of Rank C and Rank D members. Getting all of their teammates to rank up was our hidden goal this time.
“There’s only one monster ahead. If you all attack together, you should be able to defeat it, even if some of you are still Rank D. If you care about your life... Keep moving!” Shifu Liu said.
He watched everyone’s movements carefully and gave detailed instructions. While getting from Rank D to Rank C wasn’t all that tedious, ranking up further was hard. We had set camps in the Safety Zones of Floor 6 and Floor 7, but the mental burden of fighting your way to the next rank could become too much to bear. I had the three teams fight for four hours at a time in a relay system.
Akira and I also joined in on the fighting, but we’d always apply debuffs to ourselves before doing so. Since we had both earned the title of Rank B Dungeon Buster, we had been fighting with debuffs applied, but we still hadn’t managed to reach Rank A. According to Shifu Liu, though, we were getting stronger a little bit at a time.
“Training will never betray you. Why do you think martial arts are still being practiced after thousands of years? The answer is simple. When it comes to martial arts, hard work always pays off more than talent,” Shifu Liu explained.
In the end, several of our members reached Rank C, but no one managed to get to Rank B. More than thirty days—in dungeon time—had passed, and after seeing how everyone was doing, I made the decision to go back to the surface.
“With more of us here, it was bound to become more stressful for everyone. We did split up and use the Safety Zones of two floors, but involving so many people in such a large-scale clearing initiative comes with invisible issues.”
I continued.
“We’ll be taking a break. Today, we’ll be heading out to Mutacho together. There’s a yakiniku place that specializes in Miyazaki beef there, you know. After partying and eating to our hearts’ content, we’ll all take tomorrow off and resume in two days.”
Everyone looked relieved. It was tiring enough for more than ten people to share a small room of around ten square meters, but adding the stress of fighting monsters nonstop while being around the same twenty or so people for a whole month led to an unimaginable amount of stress building up.
I did feel a bit anxious about all the time we were wasting, but I didn’t let my feelings show. We’d have been long done if I had selected a few B-Rankers to enter the dungeon with me. However, that wouldn’t have helped nurture the rest of the group. I had to remind myself to think of this as an investment for the future.