It had been a while since my last dungeon dive—not since the middle of Golden Week, when we took down the ogre.
I had taken the train at my usual time, but the number of people heading toward the dungeon felt unusually high. It wasn't a long holiday, so I wondered if there was some kind of event going on.
"It’s incredibly crowded..."
"Yeah. It’s rare to see this train so packed lately," Yuji agreed.
"You're right. Ever since the schedule revision in March increased the number of cars, I thought there was usually enough room for everyone to get a seat," Hiiragi-san added.
The train we were currently on was at over a hundred percent capacity, feeling like a standard rush-hour commuter line. Before the dungeons appeared, this local line had run with only two cars and plenty of standing passengers. However, anticipating explorer demand, the March revision had bumped the trains up to four cars, which had—until now—guaranteed everyone a seat.
Why was there such a sudden surge in passengers on a weekend right after Golden Week?
"Looking at their gear and luggage, most of them seem to be explorers," Yuji observed.
"I agree. It doesn't look like a tour group heading to a festival or anything," said Hiiragi-san.
Just as Yuji said, the majority of the passengers were clearly explorers. It was too late in the year for any cherry blossom events, so there wasn't any other obvious explanation.
As the three of us idled away the time debating the reason for the congestion in low voices, the train finally arrived at the station nearest the dungeon.
"...Well, I expected as much."
Nearly every passenger carrying a large pack rushed off the train, making a beeline for the ticket gates. To avoid the crush, the three of us hung back at the edge of the platform to wait for the wave of people to subside.
"What a crowd. There must have been over two hundred people on that train alone," I remarked.
"Probably. And they’re all explorers heading for the dungeon, right?" Hiiragi-san asked.
Since the station was an old, rustic building, we had a clear view from the platform of the chaos at the gates and the congestion in the bus loop. The station staff were desperately trying to collect tickets from the flood of passengers. Out in the loop, a middle-aged man who looked like a hired security guard was waving a light-up baton, struggling to keep the people waiting for the bus from spilling over the curb.
I really didn't want to dive into that mess...
"Hey... can we wait here until it thins out a bit?"
"Agreed."
"Me too. I have no desire to join that swarm right now."
I felt a wave of relief at their agreement. Even if we rushed out now, we wouldn't make it onto the first bus anyway. There was no harm in waiting until the flow of people settled down.
"Still, there really are a lot more people now..."
"Yeah. It's not like there’s a specific surplus of kids, so it doesn't seem like a sudden influx of new high schoolers who just got their explorer licenses," Yuji noted.
"If anything, there are a lot of men in their late twenties and early thirties," Hiiragi-san observed.
As she pointed out, the demographic of the increasing explorer population seemed to be young working adults. The atmosphere radiating from the backs of those standing in line suggested they were all driven by a specific purpose.
After waiting on the platform for a while, several buses arrived in succession, and the crowd began to dwindle.
"Shall we head out then?"
"Sure. About half of them are gone now."
We passed through the gates and out to the bus loop, where the queue had shrunk significantly. We took our places at the end of the line and waited.
As we stood there, the conversation of the two men in front of us drifted back to us.
"Hey, did you hear? Apparently, an area boss was defeated in this dungeon recently."
"Huh, an area boss? Was it a team from the Self-Defense Forces or the police?"
"Nah, I heard it was civilian explorers. The police and SDF guys only dive into the dungeons they've already secured for themselves."
"Seriously?! Then those guys are incredible! Aside from the SDF and the police, you can count the number of area boss kills on your fingers!"
Defeating an area boss... they’re talking about us, aren't they?
"Word is they didn't do it with a raid team or a large party, either. It was a small group. I wonder how they pulled it off?"
"Hah?! That’s gotta be a load of crap. There’s no way a small party could take down an area boss!"
"Right? It’s impossible for civilian explorers to manage that with just a few people."
The two men laughed. I'm sorry, but that "load of crap" is actually true.
I cast an awkward glance at Yuji and Hiiragi-san, whispering just loud enough for the two of them to hear.
"What should we do? It seems the news about the area boss being defeated has spread further than I thought."
"Yeah. Luckily, it doesn't seem like our names have leaked, but where did the info come from?" Yuji asked.
"Who knows? But the only ones who knew we defeated the area boss were the people at the Association where we submitted the drop items for exchange. If the information leaked from there, then their personal information protection is non-existent," Hiiragi-san said.
She was right; if it really leaked from the Association, their information management was appalling. Most likely, a staff member who heard the news had gossiped, and it had spiraled from there. It was a common enough occurrence, I suppose.
"For now, as long as we haven't been identified, let's keep our mouths shut."
"Good idea. There's no point in going out of our way to announce it," Yuji agreed.
"I agree. I’d rather not attract unnecessary attention and have people making a fuss," Hiiragi-san added.
Usually, when this kind of thing gets out, you end up getting harassed by weirdos—that's just how it goes. We didn't want to expose ourselves and invite more trouble.
We continued to wait, listening to the rumors, until the next bus arrived. We boarded and headed for the dungeon.
When we arrived, the crowd was even larger than I had anticipated. Since everyone was in their explorer gear, the sight of so many people gathered at once gave off an incredibly intense, almost militaristic vibe.
We avoided the center of the throng and hurried toward the changing rooms, but the indoor facilities were already full. We were redirected to a temporary changing area—a simple setup consisting of a large tent with blue tarps on the ground and rows of lockers.
"I can't believe it's so crowded they had to set up outdoor tents..."
"Well, it looks like we're the ones responsible for this surge," Yuji said.
As Yuji and I changed, we talked about how we were the cause of the population explosion. Apparently, when the story about a small party defeating an area boss spread, it was accompanied by a groundless rumor that the difficulty level of this dungeon was exceptionally low. As a result, a hoard of people looking to strike it rich had converged on the place.
"Well, if you're someone making a living out of dungeon exploration, you're naturally going to avoid high-difficulty areas where the risk of injury is high," I noted.
"True. Alright, I'm done. Ready to head out?"
"Yeah."
Having finished changing quickly, Yuji and I grabbed our weapons and waited outside for Hiiragi-san. She emerged a few minutes later, and we moved toward the dungeon entrance gate together.
There, a sight that made my heart sink greeted us.
"That is one hell of a line..."
"It really is..."
"It looks like it's going to take a long time just to get inside..."
Even though we had expected it after seeing the changing rooms, actually facing the massive queue at the gate made us slump our shoulders. There had to be at least a hundred people lined up.
Looking at the queue, I remembered a bit of trivia.
"...Come to think of it, I saw something on a TV news program about a rule to estimate wait times for a line."
"Never heard of it..."
"Oh, I know that one. I think it’s called something-or-other's law. You use the number of people in front of you and the number of people who join behind you after one minute to calculate the wait, right?"
"That's the one."
I had forgotten the name of the law, but I knew the math. You take the current number of people in the queue, including yourself, and divide it by the number of people who join the line behind you within a minute.
I checked my watch and started counting the newcomers.
"...Seven people."
"So, that's a hundred and twenty people divided by seven..."
Yuji did the math using his estimate of the crowd.
"Approximately seventeen minutes. So, in other words, if we wait another twenty minutes, we'll be inside. Theoretically, anyway."
"It's better than waiting with no idea how long it'll take. It makes the wait feel a little less tedious."
"Does that actually work?" Yuji asked skeptically.
"In the TV segment, it was pretty much spot on."
Yuji looked at his watch with a doubtful expression. I couldn't blame him; I’d been skeptical when I first saw the segment too.
"Well, they tested it at a popular restaurant, so I don't know if it applies to a dungeon entrance."
"That’s pretty half-baked..."
"It's just trivia to kill time, man."
When I told him it was a toss-up, Yuji gave me a look of mild exasperation.
As for the result...
"...It was actually pretty close."
We reached the entrance gate approximately nineteen minutes after I had started counting. It was slightly off from the calculation, but the wait was roughly what we had predicted. Although there were over a hundred people in line, most were in parties, so the queue moved surprisingly fast.
"That law is surprisingly accurate."
"Seems like it. That was my first time actually putting it to the test, though..."
While we were marveling at the accuracy of the trivia, our turn finally came. We finished the entry procedures as usual and stepped back into the dungeon for the first time in a while.
Our goal for this trip was to practice clearing the dungeon without relying on skills. I refrained from using my usual Appraisal Analysis, instead moving forward while keeping a sharp eye on the floor and walls. Hiiragi-san was also keeping her Presence Detection deactivated, busily scanning the area by shifting her eyes and head to maintain a manual lookout.
"This is exhausting..."
"That just shows how much you were relying on your skills. We're only on the first floor, you know?"
"I know... sigh."
As Yuji pointed out, I had clearly become over-reliant on my high-tier skills. Just walking through the first floor had generated enough mental fatigue that I could feel my focus slipping. Hiiragi-san seemed to be in the same state, as I saw her shake her head several times as if to clear the cobwebs.
"Are you okay, Hiiragi-san?"
"...Yes, more or less. But it seems I’ve been leaning on my skills far too much as well. Even though we’ve only walked this far, my concentration is already starting to flag."
"I see. By the way, Yuji, are you okay? You're under the same restrictions."
"Unlike you two, I don't have any detection-type skills to begin with. I always rely on my own senses to get through the dungeon, so I'm used to it."
"Right..."
Apparently, Hiiragi-san and I were the only ones who needed to retrain our fundamental awareness.
"Still... I wish a monster would show up soon so we could practice our coordination."
"I'd actually prefer it if nothing showed up yet..."
"Me too. I want a bit more time to adjust to this."
Yuji wanted to test our teamwork against an enemy, but honestly, Hiiragi-san and I weren't ready. Exploring without skills was much more mentally taxing than I had anticipated. I felt that unless we could reach a point where we were searching the surroundings almost unconsciously, diving into the lower floors would be far too dangerous.
"Well... it looks like the other side isn't going to wait."
"Eh?"
As Yuji spoke, he pointed toward a corner in the passage. Following his gesture, I saw a horn rabbit peek out from around the bend.
Crap. I didn't notice it at all.
"...Hiiragi-san?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't catch it either."
I looked at Hiiragi-san, who was scouting beside me; she looked like she’d just swallowed a lemon, her face contorted with frustration. It seemed she hadn't noticed the horn rabbit hidden around the corner, either. Given that Yuji had spotted it, it was a clear failure on her part, even if her concentration had been wavering due to mental fatigue.
"Both of you, stop moping. That guy looks like he’s ready for a scrap."
"...Right."
"...You're right."
Hiiragi-san and I took a breath, shifted our mindsets, and faced the horn rabbit. I drew Shiranui and held it in a forward guard, while Hiiragi-san leveled the tip of her spear at the creature.
"So, what’s the play?"
"I’ll charge in as the vanguard to break its posture. Daiki, you stay back and guard Hiiragi-san while she preps a long-range attack. Hiiragi-san, once I knock it off-balance, you finish it with magic. Let's start with that for our first combo."
"Got it."
"Understood. I'll take care of the finishing blow."
"Then here I go!"
Yuji drew Shigure and started walking toward the wary horn rabbit. The monster evidently took this as a hostile act; it lowered its horn toward Yuji and launched a jumping charge. Yuji sidestepped the incoming rabbit, swinging the spine of Shigure's blade to hook its front leg. The added force mid-leap sent the horn rabbit into a violent vertical spin.
"Hiiragi-san!"
"Right! Air Cutter!"
Hiiragi-san unleashed an Air Cutter at the rabbit as it tumbled through the air, but her aim was off, and the spell missed. In the end, the horn rabbit slammed into the floor while still spinning at high speed. It bloomed into a spray of blood and died instantly, dissolving into particles of light without even a twitch.
"..." "..." "..."
That was a complete failure in coordination...