After leaving the conference room, we went to the first-floor reception to update our Explorer Cards. It seemed there were very few explorers performing rank updates, because the process finished in a flash, and we were officially promoted to C-rank. My updated Explorer Card was now engraved with a particularly prominent letter 'C'.
Had I... answered too quickly?
"Hmm. We moved up, but... I don't feel even a spark of joy."
"Well, it was forced on us," Yuji replied. "Feeling like it's nothing to be happy about is a perfectly natural reaction."
I grumbled about the unwanted promotion while staring listlessly at the 'C' on my card. Yuji tried to chime in with a comforting—maybe?—retort, but his face was clearly marked by mental exhaustion.
To be honest, this promotion offered no benefits whatsoever.
"You two, there's no use whining about what's already done," Hiiragi-san noted, looking annoyed. "Discussing what to do next would be far more constructive."
" "…Yeah, you're right." "
Faced with her blunt assessment, Yuji and I both looked awkward. Just as she said, agonizing over the past was a waste of time; we were better off talking about the future. I tucked my Explorer Card away and slapped my cheeks with both hands to snap myself out of it.
"Alright, first... let's take a break and grab a drink. We can't exactly charge into the dungeon right after that ordeal."
"Agreed," Yuji said. "We need to cool our heads. Too much happened before the dungeon attack even started."
"To challenge the dungeon safely, we should wait until we regain our composure," Hiiragi-san added.
And so, we unanimously decided to take a break.
Between the sudden summons and the rank-up talk, we were dealing with a different kind of fatigue than fighting monsters; it was a mentally draining experience. We needed a moment to recover.
As I cooled my head in the rest area with a juice in hand, my blunders during the negotiation started surfacing one after another. The biggest failure was accepting the rank-up on the spot. I could have said I'd take the proposal home to consider it... but I’d let myself be swept up in the atmosphere.
Since I hadn't mentally prepared for a negotiation, I lacked both a plan and composure. I suppose if you don't have enough experience with these things, your flaws show immediately.
"I thought a break would calm me down, but now that I've settled, I have time to think, and I'm just getting depressed over how sloppy I was..."
"I wish I could just brush it off," Yuji sighed. "But it's impossible."
"'I'll take this proposal home and let you know after I've considered it'... It’s a phrase you hear all the time, but now I realize how effective it is as a response when someone springs a negotiation on you," Hiiragi-san mused. "I used to think it was just a non-committal, indecisive answer, but it's actually the best way to avoid a disadvantage without being rude. Even if the answer eventually ends up being 'no'."
"Yeah, I knew that, but the words wouldn't come out in the moment," I said. "I guess the only way to have that kind of mental leeway is to rack up experience with actual negotiations."
The review meeting turned into a session where all three of us looked gloomy and depressed. When I really thought about it, there had been no actual need to accept the rank-up request. For both us and the Association, the rank itself didn't hold much meaning. Externally, an explorer’s rank was merely a benchmark for their income. While it might serve as a guide for companies when issuing item collection requests, the existence of high-value drops like skill scrolls and magic items meant there was a heavy element of luck involved. It wasn't a pure measure of skill.
Therefore, it started to seem like this rank-up request might have had a hidden purpose.
"They might think we're easy to handle," I muttered.
"Like a preliminary test before the real negotiation?" Hiiragi-san asked. "To see what kind of people we are?"
"Makabe-san said we’re elite explorers, but if we’re the type who can be easily manipulated, it wouldn't be strange for the Association to try and turn us into their personal pawns."
We hadn't suffered any major losses yet, but the fact remained that we were high school explorers who had folded without a fight. The Association might now categorize us as talented but naive targets who were easily swayed. If we had been able to smooth-talk our way around the core issue and refuse, they would have seen us as difficult and unpredictable, likely leading them to avoid over-interfering in the future. But we had said "yes." Interference from the Association would likely increase from now on.
And since Makabe-san had read out our achievements, it was safe to assume they had conducted an investigation. I had a good idea of what they found—the sports festival, the nicknames like "The Clunky Trio"... yeah, they knew.
"Sigh. Regardless, we should be prepared for the Association to bother us more often from now on."
"True," Yuji said. "Being prepared for it makes a huge difference."
"Today was the result of being caught off guard," Hiiragi-san added.
At the feeling that a single failure in negotiation would lead to a mountain of trouble, the three of us sighed in unison. I hoped I was just overthinking it, but if my assumptions were right, my head was already hurting.
Summons from the Association are nothing but trouble.
Once we’d cooled down, we began our preparations, even though we were already far behind schedule. We changed in the dressing rooms, which felt cramped due to the sheer number of users, performed warm-up exercises in the common area while being careful not to bump into anyone, and finally joined the long queue for entry.
Dealing with this before the dungeon attack even starts... it makes my heart want to give out. This was exactly why I wanted to enter early, but the summons completely derailed our plans.
"This is going to take a while," I said, looking at the line.
"Yeah... not just the entry, but getting through the crowded upper floors is going to be a nightmare."
"We should probably give up on diving deep today," Hiiragi-san suggested. "We should just bivouac somewhere we know."
Yuji and I nodded silently. A place we knew... in other words, she was suggesting we stop before the 30th floor. It was a shame, but given the time constraints, it would be safer to focus on surveying the floors we had already opened up rather than pushing into new territory.
In this situation, it would likely take several times longer than usual just to clear the upper floors. Even at normal times, it took several hours to reach the 30th floor if we aimed for the early morning. Getting down there today might be impossible. Of course, if we ran without caring about being seen, we could probably get there in a few hours, but we couldn't risk that.
"Hah, the drawbacks of the promotion are showing up already..."
"It’s just a coincidence, though it's a very clear and obvious disadvantage," Yuji noted.
"Seriously, it's just one thing after another today."
A troublesome summons that was hard to refuse, and now our long-awaited exploration was ruined... it was a cursed day.
"When luck isn't on your side, it really pours," Hiiragi-san said with a distant, enlightened look in her eyes. "In times like these... acceptance is key."
" "…Hiiragi-san." "
Yuji and I instinctively worried that something had happened to her. She noticed our gazes and immediately waved her hand dismissively to cover it up. Seriously, what was that about?
After about an hour of waiting—well, a little less, maybe—it was finally our turn.
"Thank you for waiting, please go ahead," the staff member said.
"Thank you."
We swiped our Explorer Cards through the gate machine. For a moment, while his expression didn't change, an air of shock leaked from Staff-san. It seemed he had noticed that we—a group of mere "youths"—were C-rank holders.
I see, the prestige of the C-rank has already taken effect. If it's like this with a C, I was definitely right to refuse A or B-rank.
" " "…" " "
Feeling Staff-san’s shocked gaze on our backs, we passed through the Entrance Gate and stepped into the dungeon.
As expected, the upper floors were overflowing with people. Every time we turned a corner, we saw the backs of other explorer parties. In a situation where eyes were everywhere, there was no way we could sprint down to the lower floors.
It was going to take an eternity to reach the floors where the crowds thinned out.
" " "…" " "
"As I thought... this is taking forever."
"Yeah. But if we rush, we'll stand out like crazy," Yuji said.
"You're right," Hiiragi-san added. "The last time we did that, it wasn't our usual dungeon and we were in disguise. We can't use that trick here without our identities being leaked immediately."
"True. Even with a disguise, someone who comes here regularly might figure us out based on our movements. If they start poking around based on a hunch, they’ll realize it’s us in no time."
Even if it was frustrating, the most we could do was a fast walk. On top of that, if we closed the gap with another party, they might think we were about to launch an ambush, leading to unnecessary tension. While we could have asked to pass, that wouldn't work on the crowded upper floors. To the explorers who used these floors as their hunting grounds, our attempt to move faster could be interpreted as an attempt to steal their kills.
The population density had increased due to the influx of new student explorers for the summer holidays, causing monster encounter rates to drop. Any monster that respawned was killed instantly. The same vicious cycle from the end of last year was happening again. People were spread out enough that entry restrictions hadn't been triggered, but movement was agonizingly slow.
"I guess we just have to walk slowly and wait for the crowds to thin," I said.
"Yeah, slow and steady," Yuji replied. "We just have to pray that the people ahead of us don't get stuck in combat."
"A party of advanced explorers would finish quickly, but a party at the appropriate level would take time and hold us up. Honestly, a small time difference makes the travel time either heaven or hell."
" "Exactly." "
Complaints kept leaking from our mouths. Just starting a little late had cost us hours. Our original goals were already impossible, and at this rate, I wasn't even sure about the new ones. If it wasn't the summer holidays, a small delay wouldn't have mattered this much.
Caught in the flow of the crowd, we slowly made our way deeper into the dungeon.
Eight hours after starting, we finally arrived at the staircase plaza of the 29th floor. Ahead of us loomed the door leading to the hall where the ogre waited, and fortunately, there were no signs of other parties.
We would bivouac here today and begin investigating the floors we opened up last time starting tomorrow.
"We finally made it... How many times longer did that take than usual?"
"Probably double," Yuji said. "It's fine now since we're staying overnight, but if this happens once school starts, we'll have to turn back halfway."
"It would definitely be difficult to make a day trip if a one-way journey takes nearly eight hours," Hiiragi-san noted.
Getting home in the middle of the night and going to school the next morning? My parents would definitely stop me. If I'm late, am I supposed to say I overslept because I was in the dungeon?
Yeah, that would be way too pathetic.
"Yeah. But this was only because our start time was shifted. As long as we start at the usual time next time, we should be fine. Probably."
"...Yeah," Yuji agreed. "When we came last time, it was crowded, but not this bad. It’ll probably be fine. Probably."
"True, it should be fine if we enter at the usual time. Probably."
" " "…" " "
Every single one of us looked at each other with hesitant, uncertain expressions.