The monster corpses vanished, leaving behind only drop items. As I stared at them with a dazed expression, a calm voice suddenly echoed through the passage.
"It’s understandable for your first monster battle, but staying paralyzed in a dungeon is dangerous. Take a deep breath and calm down."
She spoke with a voice that was both kind and stern, addressing us as we reeled from the reality of the kill. She was right; I couldn't afford to stand around in a stupor forever.
Holding that thought, I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths, despite the sour smell lingering in the air.
"...Yeah, you look like you'll be okay for now."
"Ah, yeah, sorry. I showed you a pathetic side of myself."
"Don't worry about it. It’s common for rookies on their first dungeon dive. However..."
The girl—the one called Mika—gave a wry smile. Once she saw I had regained some composure, she pointed toward our feet.
"If you have any paper or bags, you should probably clean that up. If you leave it, people will think you're the type who can't follow manners, and you'll get the cold shoulder. It’ll make it a lot harder to come back here."
"Eh?! A-Ah, y-yeah, you're right. Thanks for the warning."
Flushing red as I realized the mess I’d made in my panic, I hurried to clean it up. Fortunately, it wasn't much, so the task was finished quickly. The smell remained, but I decided to ignore it for the time being.
Once we finished cleaning up and collecting the drop items, we moved back to the staircase plaza on the 4th floor to properly introduce ourselves to our rescuers.
"Sorry for the delay, but thank you so much for saving us. I'm Haruki, and these are my party members..."
"I'm Tatsuji. Thanks for rushing over when we were in trouble."
"My name is Eishun. You really saved us."
"I'm Fujino. Thank you for helping us out of that spot."
"Tadao. I appreciate the rescue."
We all bowed slightly, expressing our sincere gratitude. If they hadn't come running when they heard my cry for help, at least one of us would have been seriously injured. Thinking back to the three hound dogs we had faced, I didn't believe for a second that we could have emerged unscathed on our own.
It was pure luck that they arrived before the encounter turned into a bloodbath. If they had been even a few seconds later...
"Don't worry about it. We just didn't like the idea of ignoring a cry for help, so we decided to stick our noses in. Right, Saori-chan?"
"Yeah. Honestly, if we’d heard it on a much lower floor, we might have had to ignore it because it would be beyond our capabilities—even if we felt bad. But rookie explorers are the main ones active on these floors. Ignoring a request for help that we can actually handle would leave a bad taste in our mouths. Besides, it really did look like you were in a pinch."
The girls accepted our gratitude with a light, nonchalant air. I see... To them, an encounter like that was trivial. The massive gap between us as explorers hit me hard. I wondered if we could ever continue long enough to reach a point where fighting monsters felt as natural as it did for them.
"Oh, come to think of it, we haven't introduced ourselves properly. I'm Mika."
"I'm Saori."
"We've been explorers since before the summer started, so I guess we're technically your seniors."
"Before summer..."
That meant they had only been at it for two or three months. Could someone really become that capable in such a short time?
I recalled the method they used to pin the hound dogs. After the bodies vanished, I noticed long metal spikes on the ground—bo-shuriken. They had thrown them past our backs and hit the leaping monsters with pinpoint precision. That felt like the work of a master, not someone with only a few months of experience.
"Oh, right. Just a bit of advice from a senior explorer, but was this your first time in the dungeon?"
"A-Ah, yeah. We all finally got our Armed Exploration Permits for Special Underground Structures recently, so today was our debut."
"I see. Then, even if it's unwanted advice: you should probably take the Beginner Workshop before you go back in. They'll teach you basic conduct, preparation, and the mental fortitude you need for monster hunting."
"Right now, there's a flood of rookies like you making their summer vacation debuts," Saori added, her expression turning serious. "The population density on the surface floors is excessive, and the monster encounter rate is terrible. It's actually the perfect time to focus on building your basic skills away from the crowds."
Earlier that day, when a senior party at the bus stop had given us advice, I’d thought they were just being busybodies. But after surviving a real battle, I understood they had been sincerely concerned for our safety.
If these girls, who had actually seen us in a crisis, were going out of their way to warn us, then there had to be weight to their words.
"That's..."
"Well, you probably won't be convinced just hearing it once, so talk it over with your friends after you've calmed down," Mika said. "Just... make sure you don't do something you'll regret later."
"We've been through it too, so we understand the impatience. But as they say, 'haste makes waste.' Think it over carefully."
"......Yeah."
We could only nod, our faces clouded with hesitation.
Once they were satisfied that we had regained our composure, the girls prepared to move on with their exploration. We had no energy left to continue, so we offered weak replies and prepared to head back—until I remembered something important.
"W-Wait a minute! We haven't given you a reward for saving us!"
"Hmm? We already got your thanks, didn't we?"
"No, I mean this."
I pulled out the glass bottle I had collected after the fight and offered it to them. It was a drop item from the hound dogs. I hadn't had it appraised yet, but it was likely a recovery potion. It would probably fetch a decent price at the exchange counter. It felt like a small price to pay for our lives, though a part of me did feel a pang at giving away our only loot.
Mika looked surprised, then shook her head, holding up a hand to decline.
"We don't need it. You guys are the ones who finished those monsters, so that's the loot you earned. Your words of thanks are enough."
"She’s right," Saori added with a gentle smile. "We wouldn't feel right taking away the very first drop item you worked so hard for, even as a gift."
I stared at them, stunned by their refusal.
"Eh, but..."
"Judging by the bottle, it's likely a recovery potion. You can get a decent amount for it. Use the money for yourselves—pay for your transit, or buy some equipment you realized you were missing today."
"Rookies always struggle with funds at first. Just consider yourselves lucky this time."
"......"
As we stood there dazed, they let out small, wry chuckles and offered a compromise.
"If you really want to thank us, just lend us a hand if we're ever in trouble."
"I don't think we could ever be of much help to you guys..."
"It doesn't have to be as explorers. Outside the dungeon, we're just ordinary high school students."
"Having someone to turn to when you're in a bind is a big deal....Is that okay?"
As explorers, we were nowhere near their level. But outside, they were right—they were just individuals. In that world, maybe we could offer them some kind of support.
The importance of having someone to call on for help had been carved into my soul today.
"...Alright. If anything happens, don't hesitate to ask. We'll do whatever we can. Right, guys?"
The others all nodded in agreement.
"Then we'll count on you if the time comes."
"Though it’s probably better if it doesn’t," Saori joked.
"True enough."
After sharing a small laugh, we watched the two girls vanish further into the dungeon. Then, we joined the general flow of explorers heading back toward the surface.
With so many people around, including several high-level explorer parties who easily swatted aside anything that appeared, we made it back without any more trouble.
The sense of relief upon exiting was overwhelming. The tension that had been wound tight since the battle finally snapped. We slumped against a nearby wall and let out a collective sigh.
"We're finally out."
"Yeah... we made it."
"Phew... I'm so tired."
Veteran parties passed by with nostalgic smiles, while other rookie parties looked at us with bitter expressions. They were likely seeing their past selves in our exhausted state.
Eventually, we realized we were blocking the way and forced ourselves to move. After passing through the hygiene management area and taking a shower, the water felt like a godsend. Honestly, I would have traded everything for a proper bathhouse right then.
"Sorry to keep you waiting..." Fujino said as she met up with us.
"It's fine, we just got out too."
We gathered our things and headed to the exchange counter to cash in our loot. If the girls were right, the bottle would at least cover our train fare.
"Ugh, look at the line..."
"Most of the people leaving the dungeon are heading here. It was bound to be packed."
The waiting area was crammed with parties. We took a ticket from the machine and joined the queue. There were over fifty people ahead of us.
After waiting for more than thirty minutes, our number was finally called. The process was efficient and followed a set manual; including the appraisal, we were done in fifteen minutes.
"Ten thousand five hundred yen, huh..."
"We would’ve been in the red if we hadn't gotten that recovery potion."
The bottle was indeed a recovery potion, and it fetched a respectable price. The block meat we’d found also added a bit over a thousand yen to the total. It was enough to cover our travel expenses for today and the next trip. But...
"Are we... going to keep doing this?"
"......"
No one answered. Before today, the answer would have been an easy 'yes.' But after experiencing the reality of the dungeon, I wasn't so sure.
"For now, let's just go home and rest."
"Yeah."
"I'm beat."
"Let's talk about this tomorrow or later," Fujino suggested.
"It's not a choice we should rush into while we're this exhausted," Tadao added.
We were all mentally drained. Trying to make a life-altering decision now would only lead to a poor conclusion. We needed time to settle down and think rationally.
Exhausted in both body and mind, we began the long walk home, our first day as explorers finally at an end.
Saori-chan and I walked through the dungeon, discussing the rookie party we had just left behind while venting a bit about the orders we’d been given.
"Phew, we barely made it in time for that one."
"Yeah. It's much easier to help people when they actually ask for it."
"Most people have too much pride once they've fought a few times," I replied. "If we step in without being asked, they think we're kill-stealing, even if they were about to die."
"It's a hassle, but avoiding casualties is worth it."
"I guess. But Onii-chan really gives us the most annoying assignments. 'Spend the start of summer vacation on the surface floors helping out struggling rookies—for free.'"
I sighed as I repeated the instructions.
"He says it's to build our reputation as 'kind seniors' for the circle."
"And to have some leverage in case Goto-kun's group tries to make a comeback after the break, right?" Saori added.
"That's what he said. Haa... but I'm getting so bored. I want to dive deeper."
"Me too. The monsters around here don't even put up a fight anymore."
"...Right. I'm going to ask Onii-chan to let us go deeper! You have to help me convince him, Saori-chan!"
"Okay. It's worth a shot, at least."
Having decided to ask for a change in our orders, Saori and I turned and ran toward the sound of a new cry for help echoing from a nearby passage.