Beaming with joy, Mika and Saori-chan headed home, their minds already on the potential payout for the mountain of drop items they had gathered. The results of the battles in the trap room—which they had miraculously managed to trigger four times in a row—promised a significant haul.
Of course, they had collected plenty of items that didn't fetch much money, like Core Crystals, but more importantly, they had obtained various high-value exchange items.
"Man, what a haul! This is going to be amazing!"
"Yeah! I thought we’d be lucky just to get one practice session in the trap room today. I never imagined we'd walk away with this many drop items!"
While they remained alert for monster ambushes, Mika and Saori-chan practically floated toward the exit, their steps light and buoyant. I could understand their excitement, but the journey home was exactly when an explorer had to be careful, or they might end up suffering a major setback.
Therefore...
"Hey, Mika, Saori-chan. I know you’re on cloud nine, but your perimeter surveillance is slipping."
"He's right. If you're that distracted, you'll overlook a trap or be slow to react to an attack, and you'll be in for a world of hurt."
"It's fine to be happy, but it's precisely when you've achieved great results that you need to pay more attention to your surroundings than usual. You know how they say a field trip isn't over until you get home, right?"
Ah.
It pained me to rain on their parade, but the three of us cautioned them to settle them down. In terms of combat power, they would probably be fine against a minor surprise attack, but if they were this distracted while exploring lower floors, it could lead to a fatal wound at worst. It was best to correct them while we still could.
After being warned that their current state was dangerous, Mika and Saori-chan looked surprised for a moment, then dejectedly averted their eyes, looking awkward.
"I understand that you're happy to have gotten so many drop items, but save the celebration until we're out of the dungeon. Our first priority is getting home without a scratch."
Okaay...
They seemed a bit disappointed, but they appeared to understand their lapse in judgment, as they both replied obediently. Honestly, I really did understand how they felt, though.
"Alright, let's head back carefully."
Yes!
Mika and Saori-chan nodded quietly. Their previous flightiness vanished, and they began to move forward with deliberate steps, carefully scanning their surroundings.
Yeah, they’d be fine now.
Two hours after leaving the trap room, we managed to reach the surface. We hadn't taken any detours and followed the flow of traffic, so we made decent time. That said, the upper floors were so bottlenecked that it took a full two hours just to climb eight floors. It was better than during summer break, but I really wondered if anything could be done about the travel time...
"Phew... finally out."
"Even if there are fewer people now that summer break is over, it’s still like this... well, I guess it’s better than usual."
"Congestion on the upper floors is unavoidable," Hiiragi-san remarked. "Even if the inside is vast, there's ultimately only one entrance and exit. If everyone converges on one spot, this is the result."
As Hiiragi-san said, the single entrance and exit was the root of the problem. If there were multiple access points, people could enter and leave in a decentralized manner, which might alleviate the lines.
Then again, that would be dangerous in its own way, so perhaps one entrance per dungeon was for the best after all...
"We finally made it."
"It took forever."
Mika and Saori-chan grumbled and looked a bit tired, but the moment they stepped into the sunlight, their expressions brightened again. Since we were out of the dungeon, there was no longer any need to suppress their joy. They were free to celebrate as much as they liked.
"Now then, since we've made it out safely, let's get changed quickly. We still have things to do."
"Right. Since we got a huge haul today, the appraisal will probably take some time too."
"You're right. Let's finish changing so we can get to the fun part."
"Yeah!"
"Yes!"
Mika and Saori-chan wore radiant smiles, anticipating the value of their drop items.
Once we passed through the hygiene management area, we parted ways at the locker rooms to change. After Yuji and I finished first, we sat in the waiting area and discussed the day's events to kill time.
"Still, we were really lucky today. I never thought we'd be able to use the trap room several times in a row."
"Yeah. Well, thanks to that, it turned into good practice for Mika-chan and Saori-chan."
"True. They were anxious about multi-opponent combat, but today should have given them some confidence. Plus, they got some luxurious souvenirs out of it."
Luxurious souvenirs—the total appraisal value would probably exceed a million yen.
"Luxurious souvenirs, huh... I just hope they don't get a taste for it. Daiki, make sure you give them a proper warning, okay?"
"Of course. I intend to talk to them firmly. I don't want greed blinding them and leading to reckless exploration."
Winning big by chance and then chasing that high again... it was the classic gambling trap. In normal gambling, you wagered money, but for explorers, the stakes were their lives. The risk was far too high to let them get hooked on a single stroke of good fortune.
Mika and Saori should be fine since they’d earned decent money before, but I had to emphasize the point strictly once more.
"This time was a fluke. If they try to force a repeat, they’ll end up taking unnecessary risks and getting seriously injured."
"You're right. If you tried to fight as many monsters as we did today without a trap room, you'd have to find a dozen or more encounters. Given the current state of the upper floors, that's nearly impossible in one trip."
"It would take at least that many. The more fights you have, the higher the risk of injury. On top of that, many student explorers like us have a limit on how long we can stay inside. If you want to rack up that many battles, you have to cut down on rest and fight recklessly to save time."
"And if someone ends up like that because they got greedy... that would be the worst. Yeah, we have to give them a stern warning... Sigh."
I let out an involuntary sigh, thinking about how difficult it would be to lecture them even as I imagined them dancing for joy after the appraisal. Still, it might be a good idea to mention it lightly before the numbers were final.
After waiting and chatting with Yuji for a while, I saw Hiiragi-san and the girls emerge from the locker room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. It took a while."
"We haven't been waiting that long. Now that everyone's here, shall we head to the appraisal counter?"
"Yeah!"
"Yes!"
When Yuji and I stood up and mentioned the plan, Mika and Saori-chan replied energetically, their eyes sparkling.
This excursion had yielded a rarely seen massive haul; it was only natural for them to be excited.
As we walked toward the building with the exchange reception, I brought up what I had been discussing with Yuji. I needed to warn them before they saw the numbers so they wouldn't get carried away.
"Oh, right. There's something I need to tell you two before the appraisal... is that okay?"
"Something you have to tell us?"
"What is it?"
"Ahem. Today's exploration was a great success. We achieved our goals and secured some incredible loot."
I started by praising them. Upon hearing my words, Mika and Saori-chan looked surprised for a moment, but soon wore happy smiles.
"However, the biggest challenge of this exploration still remains. Do you know what it is?"
"A challenge? Hmm, what could it be?"
"A challenge... At this point, the only thing left is the appraisal, right?"
"Exactly. That’s the right answer. The final challenge is the appraisal and the payout."
??
Mika and Saori-chan looked confused, tilting their heads while looking at Yuji and Hiiragi-san for clarification.
I cleared my throat to pull their attention back to me.
"The reason I called it a challenge is because of how much we actually got. We won't know the specifics until the final appraisal, but I suspect today's drop items are worth several million yen. Even if you split it, you'll probably walk away with over a million each."
A million!?
Hearing my estimate, their eyes widened in sheer shock. I suppose going from earning a few hundred thousand at best to suddenly having over a million yen would make anyone freeze up.
But considering what we had gathered, a million shouldn't be difficult to reach.
"That's exactly why it's a challenge. You have to accept that today was just a stroke of luck. If you can't wrap your heads around that, you'll be haunted by the desire for high-value drops every time you go back inside. Do you two understand how dangerous that mindset is?"
"...It means we'll start being greedy and doing reckless things?"
"Does it mean we'll start exploring beyond our abilities just because we want to make money?"
"Correct."
After thinking for a moment, Mika and Saori-chan answered while watching me tentatively.
Hearing their answers, I felt a wave of relief, though I kept it off my face. They had been so excited that I was worried, but it seemed they were listening.
"There's nothing wrong with being happy that your hard work resulted in a big payout. It's the legitimate reward for your work as explorers; you should be proud of it. However, being proud is not the same as getting greedy. If you start taking risks for the sake of money... you understand, right?"
"Yeah."
"Yes."
After my warning, the buoyant atmosphere vanished, and they both looked a bit sheepish. It made my heart ache to see them like that, but it was a necessary lesson.
To encourage them, I switched to a more positive tone.
"In short, self-control is vital. After today, you're going to have more money than you've ever had. But I want you to realize that how you handle it will determine whether or not you have a future as explorers."
"Okay."
"We understand."
As we finished talking, we arrived at the exchange reception.
Now then, I was curious to see just how much this haul was worth.
We took a waiting number and found we were third in line. The number of reception windows had increased recently, so we didn't have to wait long. We stood by the wall and waited for our number to be called.
"It's surprisingly quiet in here today."
"Yeah. We also pulled back a bit early... really, everything about today was just lucky."
"Haha, when things go this well, I start waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"Well, what will be, will be."
As we chatted, our turn came in less than five minutes.
Please.
"Of course. Please present your cards and the items for appraisal."
Since Mika and Saori-chan were the focus, they stepped forward nervously and lined up the drop items on the counter. Five skill scrolls, four magic items, fifteen recovery potions, and a heap of monster meat and Core Crystals.
The receptionist’s eyes widened slightly as the items kept coming.
"This is everything."
"I'll take them. We will begin the appraisal now. Please wait a moment."
We stepped away from the window. Since many of the items required a specialized appraisal skill from the back office, we didn't expect a final total immediately.
My prediction was right; we were called back shortly for the initial results.
"This is the appraisal result for the standard items. For the items requiring specialized identification, like the scrolls, you will receive a notification in a few days. Please complete the procedures then."
"Understood."
"Here is the payout for the items we could value immediately. If this is acceptable, please sign here."
Looking at the statement, the immediate total was 13,000 yen. For the miscellaneous items, that was a fair amount.
Mika and Saori agreed with a quick glance, and Mika signed as their representative.
"Thank you. The funds will be split and deposited into your accounts. You should receive the notification for the pending items within two to three days. Thank you for your service."
Thank you!
With the initial appraisal done, the final results were now a few days away. But with skill scrolls and magic items in the mix, each of which would fetch at least a hundred thousand, the total was guaranteed to be massive. Once the functions of the magic items were identified, the price could climb even higher.
Seriously, this excursion was a stroke of incredible luck.
But when you come into a large sum of money, self-control is vital.