Read Novel Full Chapter 304
Chapter 304
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Chapter 304 – 30th Floor Underground
For the past few days, I’ve been teleporting directly into the dungeon.
I bought a broom and dustpan, caught any appearing creatures in a cage, explored to my heart’s content, and then teleported back out. I repeated this routine.
But today is the long-awaited “day before.”
I rarely showed my face in the plaza that could be called the dungeon lobby when a familiar voice called out to me.
“Hmm, you came after all.”
“Tomorrow’s the auction, right? I was wondering if the catalog was ready yet.”
I had also confirmed the auction date with the appraisal shop owner.
Auctions run by the Hunter Guild happen once every 30 days, and the items for each session are finalized the day before.
I’d heard that the items go public the day before, so I was eager to find out what was up for grabs this time.
As a first-timer who was excited to participate, I couldn’t stop wondering.
“Alan, show him.”
At that command, the man handling the registration of auction items handed over four wooden boards.
“Huh. You’re a rare kid to be remembered by Magnark-san. Here you go; this is tomorrow’s catalog.”
“Thank you. This is not organized by type, but by the order in which the items were registered, right?”
“That’s right. People started complaining that time manipulation gave them an unfair advantage, so now bidding starts strictly in the order items were registered. We’ll hang it up in front of the venue by midday today, so you can check it anytime after that.”
“I see.”
Looking over it again, I see that each wooden board lists about 30 items—nearly 120 items in total, all lined up.
(Hmm… fewer target items than I expected, maybe…)
There were six “Seeds of Skill” — something I’d definitely bid on if they were available.
There were also nearly 20 pale blue ‘Skill Books,’ but only three pale yellow ones were available, and the thicker ones weren’t listed.
There was no special-enchanted gear either.
Turning around, I saw that the lobby was more than half full again today. It’s been bustling like a festival since morning.
Even though I frequently bump into people in the shallow day-trip level, is this still all there is after a month?
“By the way, is the number of items listed always around this much?”
“Pretty much. The listing requirement is an estimated market value of 10 million or more, except for a few exceptions. Sometimes it gets a bit busier depending on external listings, but even then, rare items aren’t exactly plentiful.”
Speaking of external listings, judging by the name, is this magic tool or the “Immortal Elixir” some kind of medicine?”
Glancing at the list, it’s clear that some items are not dungeon-sourced.
Even one of those “Books” I love collecting is listed. I’d like to win that one, too, if possible.
“That’s how it is. Ah, but the medicine is probably dungeon-sourced, right? It seems to come out of ‘Treasure Chests’ rarely.”
Alan-san said this and turned his gaze to the appraisal shop owner, Magnark-san, who nodded in response.
“Even in this beginner dungeon, items like the ‘Special Grade Potion,’ which is effective against deep wounds, and the ‘Elixir,’ which is said to cure various ailments, come from the Gift Box. The ones mixed in with this auction are from there, too.”
“The Gift Box… I’ve only seen it twice, but it’s the box at the end of the dungeon, right?”
“That’s right. It’s a mysterious box that seems to appear out of nowhere. Experienced adventurers hunt near likely spots, but rumor has it that if you focus on it, it won’t appear.”
Hmmm.
The theory that it won’t appear if you focus on it is similar to the monster respawn theory.
Maybe rare items of corresponding value will appear instead.
Maybe the “Gift Box” just has a really long respawn time.
I also confirmed the detailed auction rules with Alan-san and Magnark-san.
Realizing that the system was far more flexible than I’d imagined, I entered the dungeon and continued from where I left off yesterday, jumping straight to the 28th underground floor.
▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽
It’s like Japanese people heading to their nearest station for their daily commute to work or school.
Drop hunters, for whom dungeons are their main battlefield, head toward the underground stairs with practiced ease.
It’s the shortest route, and they routinely descend to around the 10th floor based on years of experience and memory. Then, they return the same day carrying their spoils.
However, the 10th floor seems to be a turning point. Below it, the number of people roaming the floors decreases noticeably.
Floors 11 to 20 were primarily active with drop hunters who were still in the lighter category and considered one or two nights’ stay acceptable.
Monsters are relatively weak here, so you can see families with children and solo hunters managing to survive up to this point.
Besides being less crowded than the shallower hunting grounds, these levels have another advantage: creatures dropped here can be sold for higher prices than those from deeper, more serious groups.
Beyond the 20th floor, people become scarce.
While you can still manage with the portable food you brought, critical issues of “food” and “water” — matters directly tied to survival — start to emerge, plunging you into a rapidly depopulated zone.
There’s also a fairly credible rumor that rarer items drop the deeper you go. You’ll find a fair number of people camping out at the ends of corridors, waiting stubbornly.
Even so, outside of the stairwell rooms, it became rare to encounter people. Most rooms you entered were filled with monsters.
Incidentally, stairwell rooms almost always had people in them.
You could see groups resting, buying creatures, or selling water. Therefore, securing someone with Water Magic seems like the bare minimum requirement for venturing deeper.
Given that, it’s only natural that someone like me would stand out.
(The stares are getting pretty intense…)
Gradually, I started receiving suspicious looks and encountered groups that radiated a murderous intent.
If they didn’t do anything, I wouldn’t either.
I pushed straight on to the 30th underground floor.
Today, I finally grasped the true meaning behind the increasingly tense atmosphere I’d been sensing.
“Oh, there was a door here?”
The slightly larger boss area exists every ten floors.
No matter if it’s the 10th or 20th floor, you pass through this boss area and descend the only staircase beyond it to reach the next floor.
Up until now, I had passed through empty rooms after the hunt. But this time, there was a door at the entrance to the boss’s room for the first time. About ten hunters were gathered before it, their expressions filled with murderous intent.
I didn’t need to ask why. The situation was obvious.
I hadn’t expected the door to be there, but the floor boss must be about to spawn, or perhaps it had already spawned inside.
“Never seen your faces before.”
“What the hell are you doing here at this time?”
“You’re not seriously trying to barge in, are you?”
It was just a coincidence of timing, yet they immediately took a confrontational stance.
This made me wonder—is the boss drop really that good? My curiosity was piqued.
“Whoa, whoa. Hold up. You haven’t even heard me out, and you’re already acting aggressively? What’s that about?”
But then, as if to calm things down, one man spoke up.
“Sorry about that. We’re about to fight the boss, so everyone’s a bit on edge. You seem to be alone. What brings you here?”
“I’m passing through to go deeper. To avoid any misunderstanding, I’m here purely by coincidence. I have no intention of interfering with the boss fight or anything like that.”
“Yeah, right. With a broom and dustpan as weapons, you could only fight field mice.”
The remark drew a chuckle, but it was true, so there was nothing that could be done about it.
When traveling with Zink-kun and the others, I always wore leather armor to avoid trouble. Now, however, it just hinders my movement, so I’m wearing these ragged peasant clothes.
In other words, I’m in full-on bait mode, ready to reel in any scoundrels who show up.
The guy who seemed like the leader kept glancing behind me, probably ruling out the theory that I was some kind of scout or errand boy.
He let out a light chuckle.
“It’ll only take about five minutes. During that time, you won’t enter the boss room. Can you keep that promise?”
“No problem. Oh, would it be okay if I just observed?”
“Hmmm, well, I guess that’s fine.”
With that, the man who seemed to be the leader placed his hand on the door to the boss’s room.
His face still seemed to hold some lingering hesitation.
Apparently, he wasn’t the kind of “crook” who’d take the bait on my little setup.
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