The student party, who had been struggling, finally finished off their kobolds, bringing the nighttime skirmish to a close. Well, I call it nighttime, but day and night don't really mean much inside a dungeon.
That said, we still had to handle the aftermath.
"Are you guys all right? Any injuries?"
"We're fine, sir. No one’s hurt."
Team Leader Sakuoka met us back at the camp base and checked us for wounds. Even a minor injury can become a major hindrance to future operations, after all.
"I see. That's good to hear. Now, did you manage to collect any drop items?"
"Unfortunately, we only got two Core Crystals. No rare drops this time."
"Is that so? Well, consider it a win that we repelled the ambush without taking a single scratch."
"True enough."
A reward worth maybe a few hundred yen for fighting off a pack of kobolds... It felt like a raw deal, but then again, we were just brushing off the sparks that happened to fly our way. Considering the worst-case scenario was walking away empty-handed, I decided to be satisfied with making enough for a drink.
Well, enough for one person's drink, anyway.
"All right, I'm lifting the alert. Proceed with the night watch as scheduled."
"Roger!"
Except for those assigned to the current watch, the team members filtered back to their beds. I was among them. I wondered for a moment if I’d actually be able to sleep so soon after a fight, but I found I was already used to it. If you let every little encounter get to you, you’d end up staggering through the dungeon from sleep deprivation.
Thinking back to my first overnight stay in a dungeon, I realized just how much my skin had thickened since then. Truly.
"Let’s see... since those guys are on watch now, I’m in the next rotation. Might as well get what sleep I can."
With that thought, I drifted back into a slumber on my simple bed.
I eventually felt someone shaking my shoulder. I started to find it annoying, but then a low voice whispered in my ear.
"Wake up, Suzuki. It's time for the rotation."
"Huh? Oh, is it that time already...?"
"Yeah. Go wash your face and wake yourself up."
"...Okay."
I sat up, stretched, and gave my head a light shake. I’d expected to struggle with sleep, but I must have been more exhausted than I realized, because I’d been out cold.
After splashing my face with water to clear the cobwebs, I headed out of the camp base with Sato to relieve our seniors.
"Good work, everyone. We’re here to take over."
"Oh, you look like you're finally awake."
"Yes, sir. Now, for the handover..."
We went through a brief briefing and officially took over the night watch.
Now, I just had to pray that the rest of the shift would pass without incident... though a small part of me thought it would be awfully boring if absolutely nothing happened.
"..." "..."
Sato and I sat in silence, staring down the corridor that led deeper into the dungeon. Ideally, I would have liked to kill the time with some conversation, but with people sleeping nearby, I felt hesitant to speak too loudly. Because of that, conversations during the night watch rarely gained any momentum, usually fading into a long silence. I had books and videos downloaded on my phone, but browsing them while I was supposed to be on high alert was practically an abandonment of duty. It was strictly prohibited by company policy, too.
It was a shameful wish, but I almost found myself hoping for a monster attack just to have something to do.
"..." "..."
The silence was agonizing. Sato and I kept glancing at each other, our mouths opening to speak only to snap shut again.
Still, it was impossible to survive the rest of the shift and stay awake without doing something. Steeling my resolve, I finally spoke up in a hushed tone.
"...Hey, Sato?"
"...What is it?"
"By the way, what are you going to do for the upcoming corporate briefing? Team Leader Sakuoka told us to think of some kind of 'explorer-style' stunt to show off at the booth, right?"
"Oh, right, that. To be honest, I haven't really thought of anything yet. And besides... an 'explorer-style' stunt?"
Sato tilted his head with a look of annoyance. Our team had been selected to represent the company’s explorers at an upcoming recruitment fair for students. It just so happened that our team was scheduled for internal duty during the week of the briefing.
To attract students to the Masai Foods booth, we were expected to put on some kind of performance. Apparently, Team Leader Sakuoka was handling the actual company presentation using a display board, so he didn't have to do a stunt himself... How sly.
"Doing a mock battle or anything rowdy is out of the question, right?"
"Yeah, apparently there isn’t enough space for anything high-intensity. If we accidentally caused an injury, the corporate image would dive straight into the dirt."
"So, maybe some kind of pseudo-magic trick?"
A magic trick, huh? Maybe I could try bending coins with brute strength? With my current grip strength, I could probably bend a 500-yen coin with just two fingers. Though, if I actually did that, I’d probably be hauled off by the police for defacing currency.
Or maybe... bending thin iron pipes into something like wire art? But I don’t have a single artistic bone in my body.
"Hey, Suzuki? What do you think about an escape act where I’m tied up in chains? I think it would draw a lot of attention if I spectacularly snapped them..."
"If the audience is middle schoolers who are seeing a real explorer for the first time, they might just be terrified and back away. Though, if they’re high schoolers or older and have explorers around them, they might find it entertaining because it’s flashy."
"Hmm."
Sato’s face crumpled back into a pained expression as he thought it over. His idea wasn't bad—it definitely showcased the physical capabilities of an explorer. In the end, it was just a matter of who we were trying to impress.
An R-15 rating for a corporate appeal... what kind of pitch would that even be?
"...Alright. My apologies to the first-timers, but I'll aim for the high schoolers and up. There’s no point in agonizing over it if I don’t have any better ideas."
"I see. Well, if you’re happy with that, then go for it..."
"What about you? What are you going to do?"
"Me? I think I’ll... try that wire art imitation with the iron pipes..."
In the end, since I couldn’t think of anything better either, I decided to stick with the wire art idea. I’d have to practice making things that actually looked like something. I’d buy some pipes at a home center as soon as we got back to the surface.
With that conversation as a spark, Sato and I kept talking. It wasn't exactly a thrilling chat, but it was enough to keep the drowsiness at bay. However, halfway through our shift, our boring routine was suddenly interrupted.
"...Hey, Sato. Look at that."
"That?...Wait, why are they coming out of their base in full combat gear?"
"Look, it's them. The party that sounded the warning so quickly during the last attack."
"! Hey, wait a second. If guys like that are coming out fully armed when they aren't even starting an exploration, that means..."
"There might be another monster attack coming."
"..." "..."
Reaching the same conclusion, Sato and I exchanged a silent look before he hurriedly went back into the camp base to report the situation to the team leader. It was a flimsy reason to sound an alarm, but given the circumstances, it was worth being cautious. Since those students already had a track record of early detection, we couldn't afford to ignore it.
After a short wait, Sato returned with Team Leader Sakuoka.
"Suzuki, what’s the status?"
"Ah, Team Leader Sakuoka. No change so far, sir. They’re still standing by in their gear and haven’t shown any sign of going back inside. If there are monsters nearby, I don't think they've reached us yet. Either that, or they're slow and it'll take a bit longer for them to arrive."
"I see. I understand. For now, let’s alert the night watch and have them stand by inside the base. It’s still too early to wake everyone else; we can’t risk a false alarm."
Roger!
While Sato and the team leader took over the watch, I hurried around to wake the other members of the night watch shift and explain the situation. A few of them looked skeptical and annoyed, but they armed themselves and stood by as ordered. This was going to be a huge headache later if it turned out to be a bust.
However, those worries were silenced almost immediately.
"Everyone, wake up! Monsters confirmed! Prepare for interception!"
"The enemies are kobolds! Estimated count: fifteen!"
As if to prove the students right, monsters emerged from the depths of the passage and entered the plaza. The moment we spotted them, we pulled our night watch team out of the base, woke the rest of the crew, and began preparing for combat.
But before we could even finish our preparations, the situation was over. It happened in an instant.
"Wait! Stop, you idiots! Don’t do anything reckless!"
"Charging fifteen kobolds with only three people is suicide!"
"Hey, stop! Get back here!"
The three-person student party that hadn't fought in the previous skirmish suddenly charged the kobold pack. It was a suicidal move against kobolds, who were notorious for their group tactics and numerical advantage. We and the other parties shouted warnings for them to stop, but it was too late. They closed the gap in a flash and engaged the enemy. I reflexively grimaced, fully expecting to see them get swarmed and torn apart.
But the reality was... different.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
"What? Wait... what!?"
"T-That’s incredible..."
The moment they reached the pack, they swung their weapons. It was a display that could only be described as effortlessly sweeping them aside. As they ran through the group of kobolds, headless corpses lopped off at the neck collapsed into a growing sea of blood.
The entire event took less than ten seconds.
"..." "..." "..."
While we stood there, frozen in shock, the students began collecting their drop items while engaging in some kind of casual banter. They mentioned something about a magic item dropping, but after seeing that battle, I honestly didn't care. Normally, I would have felt a sting of envy or jealousy, but this time, no such emotions came. There was only pure amazement, paired with a faint, chilling fear of what would happen if that power were ever directed at us.
Ignoring the stunned silence of the camp, they withdrew back to their base, leaving only a single person on watch. Their casual departure made it clear that no more monsters were coming.
After witnessing that shocking display of combat, we retreated back to our base, our hearts still pounding. The ripples of unrest wouldn't settle; we couldn't help but cast wide-eyed, uneasy glances at the student who remained on watch. Looking back now that I've calmed down, I realize just how rude and disrespectful we must have looked.
If I get the chance, I’ll have to apologize for those stares...
"Morning."
"Yeah, morning."
Sato looked like he hadn't slept at all. He was haggard and in a foul mood. When I asked him what was wrong, he said he’d been shaken by the battle yesterday. He’d been spiraling, wondering if he could ever reach that level as an explorer, or if he was even cut out for deeper floors if that was the standard.
It sounded like he’d been doing a lot of heavy thinking.
"Look, yesterday was definitely a shock, but you don't need to stress about reaching that level right away. Fortunately, we’re employed explorers. As long as we hit the minimum quotas the company sets, we don't need to race into the deep floors. We can take our time and move at our own pace with a solid safety margin."
"...You think so?"
"I do. The company doesn't want to rack up casualties for no reason, either."
A company where the quotas are so lethal that people are dying left and right... that’s a textbook "black company." If word got out, clients would cut ties and no one would apply for jobs. They'd go bankrupt in no time.
Even if they care about profit first, they wouldn't want that kind of reputation.
"I guess you're right. We should just move at our own pace."
"Exactly. Now that your crisis is over, let’s get some breakfast. I can smell it from here, and I’m starving."
I led the slightly more energized Sato toward the food.
But just as we finished eating and were getting ready for our item collection rotation, a loud, angry shouting match erupted in the staircase plaza. What on earth is going on this early in the morning!?
It’s only natural for a little fear to take root after seeing a horde of monsters decimated as if they were nothing more than dust, isn't it?