Having finished exposing my secret, I felt a weight lift from my chest. I sipped my tea and waited for the other two to settle down. They remained slumped over the low table, seemingly trying to process the information.
I felt bad for dropping such a bombshell on them, but they had to find a way to come to terms with it.
"Well, I’m sure you have a lot you want to say, but if we’re going to be exploring dungeons together, there’s something I want you to do first..."
Seeing that they had finally reached a point of acceptance, I made the proposal I’d been considering since the day of the Permit Exam.
"Before we head into a real dungeon, why don't we level up here?"
Eh?
Dungeon exploration was a life-or-death business. It was only logical to level up beforehand to secure a safety margin. By using this dungeon, we could gain levels in total safety.
"Fortunately or unfortunately, every monster that appears in this dungeon is a slime. As you saw earlier, slimes can be defeated with salt without any real effort. If you just put in the reps, you can definitely raise your level. In fact, I’ve raised mine quite a bit just by exterminating slimes."
The two of them shot me looks filled with deep suspicion. Hey, there's no need for that much skepticism...
"Daiki, is that really true? It’s a bit hard to believe..."
"I agree," Hiiragi-san added.
"Even in the training sessions, they said dungeons are inhabited by a wide variety of monsters."
"A dungeon where only a single species appears..."
"Well, I can see why you'd think that."
But seriously, only slimes ever came out of this thing. Aside from the normal ones, there were variant types with different sizes or attributes, but I had never seen a non-slime species in this dungeon once.
"I’ve observed it every single day for six months. It really is nothing but slimes."
I looked them both in the eye, showing them I was dead serious.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The silence was painful. I knew I was telling the truth, but I also understood how unbelievable it sounded. However, we couldn't move forward until they believed me.
"...It seems you're telling the truth."
"...Yes."
Phew. It looked like they finally believed me. I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed my shoulders.
"I’m glad we got that settled. Well then, let’s get started."
We stood up from the low table. I grabbed several small bags, a measuring cup, and a spoon from the cardboard box of salt and moved over to the desk.
"This time, I’m going to have you two do it. The system seems to award EXP only to the person who actually kills the monster, so you’ll need to defeat them directly. Oh, don’t worry. It’s simple work—you just pour salt on them. Perfectly simple..."
Thinking about it made me feel a bit depressed. I’d been doing this every day for six months, but acknowledging the nature of the task again was... sobering.
I used to think of the "Natural Enemy of the Slimes" title as a convenient benefit, but now it felt more like a brand marking me for mass murder.
The two of them wore unreadable expressions as I suddenly fell into a slump mid-explanation.
"...Well, let’s just give it a try. Daiki, give me the salt."
"Ah, right."
I opened the drawer and checked the slime sitting inside the dungeon. It appeared to be a normal type.
"For that type, a single spoonful should be enough. Here."
I heaped salt onto a measuring spoon and handed it to Yuji. He took the spoon but looked at the meager amount of salt with an uneasy face.
"...Hey. Is this tiny bit really enough?"
"It’s fine, it’s fine. After six months of gathering data, I can tell you that’s plenty for that type. I’ve even included a safety margin; that’s the optimal amount."
"...I see."
"Go on, hurry up."
I gave Yuji's back a light nudge to push him toward the drawer, as he still looked unconvinced.
Yuji finally resolved himself. He held the measuring spoon over the drawer and tilted it, dumping the salt onto the slime all at once. The moment the salt touched its body, the effect was immediate. The slime began to writhe in agony, expanding and contracting as its volume rapidly shrank. Once its mass dropped below half its original size, the black sphere in its center shattered into light particles, and the slime vanished.
"See? Simple, right?"
"Ah, yeah, I guess. But this is..."
"...It’s too easy, isn't it?"
"..."
Yuji swallowed hard and nodded silently in response to my question. I nudged him aside as he continued to stare blankly at the drawer, closed it, and then pulled it open again.
When Yuji noticed that a new slime had already appeared to replace the one he just killed, his eyes widened and he went speechless. Ignoring his shock, I peered inside to identify the new arrival.
"Ugh... a greater type."
The new monster was about five times larger than a normal slime—roughly the size of a bead cushion. Its indigo body undulated and stretched, shifting its shape freely.
I gestured for Hiiragi-san to come closer and showed her the greater slime inside the drawer.
"...What is that? It's significantly larger than the one from before."
"A greater slime. It’s a higher type of the normal one Yuji just defeated. It doesn’t have an elemental attribute, but it has much higher physical resistance. It’s a greater type that doesn’t show up very often."
"Greater slime..."
Hiiragi-san whispered the name as if tasting it while she stared at the creature. Meanwhile, I measured out the amount of salt needed for a kill and poured it into a cup.
"Here, Hiiragi-san."
"...This much? The amount is completely different from what Hirose-kun used."
Accepting the cup full of salt, Hiiragi-san looked at me with confusion, double-checking if I had the right amount. Well, yeah... if you want a guaranteed kill, that’s what it takes.
"Salt is a lethal substance for slimes, but the fatal dose varies by species. For a greater type, you need at least this much."
"I see."
Having heard my explanation, Hiiragi-san didn't hesitate. She tipped the cup and dumped the contents onto the greater slime in one go. Hit by the mass of salt, the greater slime shuddered for an instant before it began the agonizing process of shrinking. Once it had lost about half its volume, it shattered and disappeared.
Then, sitting on the floor of the dungeon where the monster had been, was a fist-sized Core Crystal.
"...This is no good."
"...Because it's too easy?"
"Yes. I see now why you started thinking you could handle this dungeon on your own, Kokonoe-kun."
Hiiragi-san looked at me with a very serious expression.
"Kokonoe-kun. I will accept your proposal to use this dungeon to raise our levels and create a safety margin. However, once we finish a minimum amount of training, we are going to stop using this place."
"...Hiiragi-san?"
"In a sense, this is a tutorial dungeon. I don't know why it appeared in your room, but it's better if we don't rely on it too much."
"...I agree, Daiki."
"Hiiragi-san, Yuji..."
I was confused by their stance. I figured that raising our levels as much as possible here would maximize our safety, so I didn't understand why they were against it.
"Certainly, we can gain safety by leveling up here, but our common sense will start to warp. How long do you think it normally takes a rookie explorer to reach the point where they can kill a monster of that level? Two or three months wouldn't even come close."
"...Daiki. During the practical training, was your ability to bypass all those traps a result of using this dungeon?"
"A-Ah, yeah."
When I stammered out an answer to Yuji's question, he let out a massive, theatrical sigh.
"...Man, your perception is already skewed. That trap exercise isn't at a difficulty level where a trainee is even expected to clear it within the time limit."
"Eh?"
"Don't 'Eh' me! How is an ordinary person with zero training supposed to break through a nest of compound traps like that?! Even with high physical ability, it's impossible! You can't clear that without specialized training and knowledge of traps!"
Judging by Yuji's reaction, it seemed Hiiragi-san was right.
Now that they mentioned it and I looked back on the exam, my actions really could only be described as "off." Because I had used my Analysis and Appraisal skill to see through every trap, I had been able to clear it within the time limit by brute-forcing it with the physical stats I'd gained from leveling... I had overdone it.
Yeah, this is bad. At the time, I thought I’d just stood out a little, but it was worse than that. I might have looked like a seasoned pro, or worse, I might have landed on the Association's radar.
As I turned pale, Hiiragi-san pressed the point.
"...Don't you agree that continuing to use this is dangerous?"
"...Yeah, I guess so."
I had to admit she was right.
If I went into a real dungeon with my current mindset, there was a chance I would stand out even more than I did during training. One of the reasons I hadn't pushed back when Yuji and Hiiragi-san invited me to the Permit Exam was that I simply didn't view monsters as a threat.
Losing the ability to recognize danger for what it is—that's nothing but pure arrogance.
"Once we've done the bare minimum of leveling, we go to a normal dungeon, alright?"
"Ah, yes."
I surrendered to Hiiragi-san's smile, which carried a terrifying "don't talk back" energy.
I mean, she was genuinely scary. Even Yuji was backing away behind her, clearly overwhelmed by the vibe she was giving off.
"That's fine with you too, Hirose-kun?"
"Ah, yeah, no problem. I was planning on going to a real dungeon from the start anyway."
"Good. I’m glad to hear it."
Cowed by her sharp gaze, Yuji stammered his agreement.
Once she had Yuji's consent, Hiiragi-san turned back to me and placed her hands on my shoulders.
"Kokonoe-kun... if you're hiding anything else related to dungeons, you'd better spit it all out right now."
"...Yes, ma'am."
After that, Hiiragi-san systematically squeezed every bit of dungeon-related information out of me. Hey, Yuji! Don't just stand there, help me! What, you can't? Yeah, I figured.
...Girls are scary.
From that day on, the two of them started coming over to my house every day after school to participate in my daily routine of slime crushing. For several hours each day, we engaged in the "work" of opening and closing the drawer and sprinkling salt—a process better described as a massacre. Since I had already gathered the data, their power-leveling was incredibly efficient.
We used the salt I’d ordered in bulk online to dispatch the appearing slimes one after another with the exact lethal doses. There was no need for the trial and error I’d gone through, so the exterminations went quickly. I used the Telekinesis and Spatial Storage skills—which Hiiragi-san had also forced me to reveal—to collect the drop items. Eventually, the sheer volume of drops pushed my Spatial Storage to its absolute limit. I had no idea how to get rid of all this stuff. Sigh...
Once their levels had reached a decent point, I took out the skill scrolls I had saved in my storage and let them choose what they wanted.
Name: Yuji Hirose Age: 16 Gender: Male Job: Student Level: 25 Skills: Physical Ability Enhancement [P] 7/10, Sharpened Senses [P] 4/10, High-speed Thought [P] 3/10, Repulsion Armor [A] 1/10 HP: 255/255 EP: 10/130
Name: Yukino Hiiragi Age: 16 Gender: Female Job: Student Level: 27 Skills: Physical Ability Enhancement [P] 4/10, Presence Detection [A] 2/10, Presence Concealment [A] 2/10, Wind Magic [A] 1/10 HP: 255/275 EP: 100/140
We naturally settled into a formation: Yuji as the front guard, Hiiragi-san in the middle, and me as the rear guard.
Being able to see the details of the skill scrolls with my Analysis and Appraisal helped us avoid wasting EP on a messy build. Even though the rules of this world were starting to be understood, there were no manuals like in a game; choosing skills was a massive gamble that would dictate one's entire future as an explorer.
Anyway, through those hectic, busy days, we gradually gathered our gear and finally finished all our preparations to enter a real dungeon.
Our destination was a dungeon that had formed at the foot of a mountain not far from the city. It was currently the most popular spot in the region, swarming with explorers from the surrounding urban areas.