[Edogawa City, Tokyo — Dungeon Busters Headquarters]
Now that the Tokyo Olympics were over, it was time for the Tokyo gubernatorial election. The debates were centered around three main issues. Many people were currently anxious about Japan’s economy and its potential decline. Thus, the first question was how Tokyo City would position itself in that context. The second point concerned the treatment of the fantastic beings that were dungeon adventurers and the dungeons as a whole. Finally, how would the city treat foreigners, now that the world was split in two because of Joker, especially those from the Middle East, Africa, and South Gamerica?
<If I am elected this time, I promise to enforce a “three zeroes” policy. I have dubbed my program the “Tokyo Renaissance.” First, zero corruption. I will make use of dungeon items and have every civil servant here in Tokyo City swear that they will not accept or offer bribes. Second, zero water bills. As you know, Tokyo City has several water treatment plants. The red magic stones that have been found in Sapporo Dungeon can be mixed with sewage water to produce heavy oil. The benefits we obtain from selling that oil will be used to ensure smooth water distribution and maintain the infrastructures we currently have. We will not need the citizens to pay water bills any longer to sustain this. Third, zero incurable patients. Extra Potions, a type of item found inside the dungeons, have the ability to cure any disease. This medicine is currently being sold at a high price. However, the city will offer subsidies, so patients who live in Tokyo can have preferential access to this treatment.>
Mukai seemed skeptical as he listened to the current governor’s speech on TV. Last time, that very same politician had promised to enforce a seven zeros policy, but where were the results?
<Isn’t it obvious that dungeons should not be kept in our city? Joker, who is currently wreaking havoc in South Gamerica, is attacking countries that have dungeons. This means that if we just get rid of the dungeons, Japan will remain safe. I believe every dungeon on Japanese soil ought to be destroyed. Tokyo should lead the way and erase the two dungeons located within the city first. We shall then convince Kanagawa Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture to follow suit so that we can get rid of every dungeon in the Kanto area. There is no need to rely on dungeon items and magic stones. We need to make use of renewable energy sources. Solar energy, in particular, is key. We also ought to tackle the hate issues foreigners are increasingly facing. Woorian schools will receive grants, and hate speech targeting foreigners will be strictly prohibited.>
This candidate, a former lawyer, was calling for the full destruction of every dungeon. However, dungeons were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Dungeons and were a national issue. It was not a matter on which the city of Tokyo alone had any power. Regular people couldn’t get to the last floor of Shinjuku Dungeon, which was a C-Rank dungeon, in the first place, let alone the Rank A Shishibone Dungeon. How did he intend to go through with his plan?
<Strange entities like the dungeons must be handled at the national level. A local government body should focus on local issues. What are these local issues, you ask? Well, first of all, we have to deal with these outliers who dared to join hands with Joker! That country still has a close relationship with Venisuela and will even send skilled workers there! And still, millions of these lowlifes come to Japan every year. How can we be sure the underlings of that self-proclaimed Demon King aren’t hiding among them? I believe we should deport every Woorian from Tokyo. We will also have every foreigner who enters the city pledge that they will not carry out any criminal activity while in Japan. This can be done. We just need to prepare Jointly Sealed Covenants at every airport.>
Mukai let out a strained laugh as he heard the speech of the former activist who was now a fervent nationalist. He somewhat understood where that politician was coming from, but his views were way too extreme. Taking measures against Joker was important, and it was true that wariness toward foreigners was at an all-time high, but carrying out this kind of plan out of the blue would prompt the whole world to criticize Japan.
“Mukai-san, we got a request from a candidate asking for Dungeon Busters to endorse them...”
“Again? We keep telling them that we will not make any political statement...”
Mukai turned off the TV, tired of listening to them.
✦ ✦ ✦
[Miyakonojo Dungeon — Ezoe Kazuhiko]
I believed that the biggest difference between Rank C and Rank B and above monsters was intellect. Up to Rank C, monsters were pretty much badly programmed robots. They did not learn, exchange information with other monsters, or try to devise new strategies through trial and error. Put simply, their behavior followed a predetermined pattern.
However, monsters of Rank B and above were different. They’d try to gather information on intruders. They’d send out one of their own to fight the enemy and ascertain their strength. Then, they’d make sure to pass on the information they had acquired to the rest of the monsters on the floor and plan out the best way to take down the enemy. Fighting against them meant fighting a true war.
If monsters were merely simple-minded beings like they were in light novels, whoever had the strongest physical or magical abilities would just win each time. Ah... That would be so much easier.
A truly dangerous opponent was one who learned and evolved after each battle.
“Fuck! It attacked from my blind spot!”
Hisato ran to his teammate, an Extra Potion in hand. The enemy wasn’t all that strong, a mere goblin. Taken on separately, a goblin was barely as strong as a Rank C monster. However, several would team up to fight in an organized fashion. Hisato’s team was well balanced, but all of the members were young. They tended to be rash, as most youngsters were. The monsters had taken advantage of an opportunity, and one of the team had been stabbed by a goblin.
“Don’t panic! He won’t die from that! If you run to him without thinking and break formation, they’ll take advantage of that, and your whole team will go down!”
They could handle fighting a single B-Rank monster, but going up against a whole team was something else. In these situations, teamwork was key. Hisato and his party usually communicated with each other using basketball terms such as “assist” or “screen.”
“I’m sorry. The order I gave them was misguided,” Hisato apologized.
“No, the monsters just advanced faster than you had imagined,” I told him. “I don’t think your 2-1-3 interception formation is bad, per se. The strategy that the goblins used, however, letting the three monsters in front die so the one behind can deal a blow, can only be used by monsters.”
Hisato seemed to be reflecting on his actions, but all of his team members had already reached Rank C. His party should be able to handle Rank C dungeons alone. Naturally, the way ahead of them was still long. Neither Akira nor I had managed to get to Rank A yet, after all.
“Akira and I will handle the next ones. We’re reaching Rank A in this dungeon. Akira, are you good to go?” I asked.
“Of course,” Akira answered. “Shifu, if you please.”
“Ho ho! I’ll start with twenty percent, then.”
Shifu Liu applied debuffs to us after we stepped forward. The oxygen we could take in was reduced by twenty percent, and the gravitational pull increased by the same amount. In this state, we could still more or less take on monsters. Tomorrow, we’d move onto thirty percent, then forty on the following day. In three days, we’d finally have to face a fifty percent debuff. We’d only be able to breathe half as much oxygen while the gravitational pull would become fifty percent stronger. The reason we hadn’t directly moved on to that last step was to avoid contracting altitude sickness.
“So it’s like we’re two thousand meters above sea level, huh? All right, let’s go!”
The two of us took on the monsters a party of six B- and C-Rank adventurers had previously been fighting. That was only possible thanks to the Legend Rare characters that supported us.