“My name is Ibara Natsume, and I will be serving as the Dungeon Supervisor today.”
The woman in the suit spoke and bowed her head.
As she did, her straight-cut black hair swayed.
A Dungeon Supervisor is responsible for managing the entrance of a Dungeon and overseeing the entry and exit of Adventurers.
Inside Dungeons, some Adventurers die without even leaving a corpse behind.
Since the Dungeon disappears upon being cleared, there often isn’t any item left behind to confirm a death.
That is why Dungeon Supervisors are necessary.
By keeping track of every Adventurer entering and leaving, they can ensure that those who don’t return—the dead Adventurers—are not overlooked.
Incidentally, Dungeon Supervisors are also known as the Dungeon Police.
Because they also need to prevent and resolve illegal activities related to Dungeons, it’s a prerequisite for supervisors to have previously been active as Adventurers.
Surely the woman before him—Ibara Natsume—must have once explored Dungeons as an Adventurer herself.
“Is this the correct Dungeon for this occasion?”
Keiichiro gestured forward with his finger.
The empty space rippled with blue waves.
This elliptically distorted space was a gate.
It was the boundary connecting this world and the Dungeon.
The gate’s color was blue.
It was what’s called a Normal Gate, the type with the fewest uncertain elements.
“Yes. The rights to this Dungeon have been transferred from Lady Reizei to Kageura-sama.”
Natsume said this and took a step back.
(I can’t believe they even have their own dedicated supervisor.)
Keiichiro inwardly marveled at the power of the Reizei Family.
Ibara Natsume was a supervisor exclusively contracted to the Reizei Family.
Normally, supervisors belong to the Association and receive work through them.
When a Dungeon appears, the Association selects a supervisor to be in charge.
On the other hand, when exclusive exploration rights are obtained through auction, the Adventurer needs to hire a supervisor through the Association.
Cases like the Reizei Family, where they contract directly with an individual supervisor without going through the Association, are extremely rare.
“Since I will be monitoring the gate, I generally cannot come to your rescue.”
“Yes. I understand.”
The supervisor’s job is strictly to prevent Adventurers without exploration rights from entering and to keep uninformed civilians from getting too close.
The life or death of the Adventurers who enter is irrelevant to their duties.
Once inside a Dungeon, whether one lives or dies is their own responsibility.
She would cooperate to ensure Keiichiro’s exploration rights weren’t infringed upon, but whether he succeeded in his exploration was up to him.
“Well then, I wish you good luck.”
With Natsume seeing him off, Keiichiro stepped into the Dungeon.
☆
A D-Rank Dungeon is the lowest difficulty level.
As a general rule, the rank of the Monsters that appear matches the rank of the Dungeon.
Therefore, only up to D-Rank Monsters should appear here.
As an exception, the Dungeon Boss alone may sometimes be a Monster one rank higher than the Dungeon itself.
Normal Monsters are D-Rank.
Even the Boss is C-Rank at most.
For Keiichiro, who had defeated a C+ Rank Ogre, there wouldn’t be many Monsters he would struggle against.
So why did he choose a D-Rank Dungeon as his first?
The reason was simple.
“Trap Set.”
Keiichiro swung his left hand, deploying an Arrow behind him without even looking.
“Gigaah…!”
A Goblin’s scream echoed from behind him.
It seemed to have been blown away by the Arrow and slammed into the wall.
The inhabitants nesting in this Dungeon were Goblins.
They could be considered orthodox Monsters for a Cave-type Dungeon.
There were five Goblins.
Using the narrow passage, they had attempted to pincer Keiichiro.
—This was the true threat of Dungeons.
Each Dungeon possesses vastly different characteristics.
Caves, plains. Sometimes there are bodies of water or poison swamps.
Since the environment changes with each dive, it becomes harder to exert one’s full strength compared to outside the Dungeon.
This time—it was a slightly narrow Cave.
This made it impossible to swing large weapons.
Even with Party members, it would be difficult to form a proper formation.
Since Keiichiro was exploring solo, the impact was minimal, but a Party of rookie Adventurers would likely be bewildered.
Adventurers are, ultimately, intruders.
Dungeons do not welcome them.
They fight Monsters on hostile ground.
That’s precisely why one cannot let their guard down in a Dungeon.
He had fought Goblins the other day, but that was outside a Dungeon.
On level ground, he could wipe out a horde of Goblins.
But Goblins benefiting from the terrain of a Dungeon were incomparably more troublesome than the Goblins from yesterday.
That’s why he wanted to get accustomed to it in a Dungeon where he had a comfortable power margin.
“Trap Set—[Arrow] + [Bind]!”
The sound of clapping echoed through the Cave.
A rope of light extended from Keiichiro’s palm.
It snaked through the air, targeting the Goblins, and bound them up.
It captured the two Goblins in the rear.
The 1-vs-5 situation turned into 1-vs-3.
“[Arrow].”
Keiichiro stepped onto the Arrow at his feet.
The effect duration of the [Bind] Trap was only a few seconds.
He would decide the battle’s outcome within that time.
“Hah!”
His body, propelled by the Arrow, accelerated—becoming a black wind.
He slipped through the gaps between the Goblins.
—Slashing them with his dagger as he passed.
The three slain Goblins collapsed.
“Looks like close combat isn’t an issue with just one [Arrow].”
Keiichiro’s proficiency with his new Skill wasn’t high enough yet.
That’s why he wanted to get used to using the Skill in this Dungeon, where he had given himself a large safety margin.
As a result, he had become capable of engaging in close combat without issue while accelerated by a single [Arrow] Trap.
However, if he stacked the effect multiple times, his body still couldn’t keep up.
“Time for the finish.”
Keiichiro threw his Dual Swords.
Simultaneously, the Goblins in the rear were released from their bindings.
But it was too late for them to escape.
As if according to plan, the daggers embedded themselves in the Goblins’ foreheads.
“I’ve gotten quite used to using my Unique Skill.”
Keiichiro looked down at the five corpses.
There hadn’t been any moments where he felt particularly endangered.
In fact, towards the end, he even felt it was somewhat lacking.
“Looks like a C-Rank Dungeon wouldn’t be a problem next.”
It seemed fine to raise the difficulty by another level.
Keiichiro continued deeper into the Dungeon while pondering this.
“…A Raid might be good too.”
A Raid.
It’s a Boss subjugation carried out cooperatively by multiple Parties.
Since the opponents often require 10 or more people to fight, the Bosses are usually powerful.
However, most Adventurers rarely seek cooperation from others to avoid diluting the profits.
Even if they do ask for help, they use personal connections.
That’s why Raids are rare events that only happen a few times a year.
—Even if he asked Akino, it probably wouldn’t be easy to find one right away.
Keiichiro was currently a C-Rank Adventurer, but his combat power was already beginning to reach the B-Rank level.
In a Raid with many participants, he could even fight A-Rank Boss Monsters.
Considering the potential returns, it might be worth asking anyway.
“Oops. While I was lost in thought—”
Keiichiro stopped walking.
He was at the end point of the Cave.
Beyond the widened passage lay—a giant door.
“—The Boss Room makes its appearance.”
Every Dungeon has at least one Boss.
The Boss is the strongest entity within the Dungeon, the being that rules over it.
By defeating that Boss, the Dungeon is considered cleared—and it subsequently disappears.
Clearing a Dungeon yields a large amount of experience and Item Drops.
For Adventurers aiming to grow stronger, clearing numerous Dungeons is the shortest path.
“My first Boss battle fighting alone…”
Keiichiro looked up at the door.
A massive, imposing door.
Faced with it, Keiichiro—didn’t flinch.
Instead, he took a step forward.
“Kurenai. Kikuri. Yukko. I’m going to get stronger starting now.”
Keiichiro pushed the door with both hands.
“—I won’t tell you to wait for me.”
The door creaked as it began to move.
“Keep getting stronger. All of you are still my inspiration.”
Beyond the opening door, a single Monster was seated.
Its form was that of a Goblin.
But its size was different.
That was probably an evolved species of Goblin.
—A Goblin General.
“I’ll catch up to you all—soon.”
So, he wanted them not to wait.
Not until Keiichiro could grasp the backs he admired.
This marks Keiichiro’s first Dungeon clear since his awakening.