The day after we successfully navigated the meeting with the Dungeon Association, the three of us headed to our usual dungeon—less for a change of pace and more just to stretch our legs. We planned to take it easy today and had no intention of pushing into new floors.
Well, more accurately, we simply couldn't dive very deep on a single-day trip.
"It feels like it's been forever since we could just move about so freely," I remarked.
"Yeah, I guess," Yuji agreed. "We dove a bit when we found that, but that didn't really feel like exploration."
"True. Between school festival prep and searching for training grounds, we've been swamped. It’s been, what, two weeks?" Hiiragi-san added.
We quickly descended to the floors where the crowds began to thin. Moving slightly away from the main path between floors, we engaged a few monsters. I say "engaged," but it was more a matter of swatting away whatever happened to cross our path.
Our only drop item so far was a single Core Crystal—a pretty measly haul.
"Two weeks... it feels like it's been over a month," I said.
"We've had a lot on our plates. Time feels warped when you're this busy. That said, September is almost over, and the festival is right on top of us."
"That’s right, the school festival is next week," Hiiragi-san sighed. "I feel like I've already had enough 'events' to last a lifetime..."
As she said, the festival was less than a week away. Preparation for our class exhibition was progressing smoothly, so there wasn't much to worry about there, but we were already exhausted before the event had even started.
Furthermore, with the festival so close, the rest of the student body was getting increasingly hyped. To be honest, in our current state of mind, we felt hopelessly out of sync with everyone else.
"The school festival, huh... Prep is basically done, but I’m just not feeling the motivation," I admitted.
"We might feel that way, but everyone else is genuinely excited," Yuji countered. "Putting aside our classmates, Mika-chan and the others are looking forward to their first high school festival, right? We have to push through without letting it show on our faces. We shouldn't ruin it for them."
"You're right. There's no need to dampen their spirits. It's only one more week, so let's get ourselves fired up," Hiiragi-san said.
We all let out a small collective sigh and lightly slapped our cheeks to psych ourselves up.
I had been passive about our class's specific exhibition, but I was actually looking forward to the school festival itself. Events where the whole school could cut loose were rare. Unlike the sports festival, which had been turbulent because of dungeon-related complications, this looked to be a much more peaceful affair. I was curious to see what kind of exhibitions would emerge in a world being reshaped by dungeons.
As we continued down the floors, defeating monsters along the way, the faces of the explorers we encountered began to change. In addition to the Association's mark, many now bore emblems representing specific organizations. Their equipment, while varying slightly, was almost entirely standardized.
"Once you get to these floors, the number of corporate-type explorers really starts to climb," Yuji noted.
"Diving this deep creates serious supply issues for small parties. If you want to make it a day trip without camping, the travel time becomes a bottleneck. Unless you're a high-level explorer with high mobility, it’s tough for small teams from here on."
"On the other hand, corporate-type explorer parties have the numbers," Hiiragi-san explained. "Even if they're mostly low-level explorers, they can establish a base and conduct steady exploration. As long as their supply lines are solid, they can stay down for long periods. It might be a struggle at first, but once they've trained their people, their results rival those of top-tier high-level explorer parties."
As we descended one more floor, we saw several tents and camp screens bearing corporate emblems set up in the staircase plaza. Parties returning from exploration and those serving as transport squads were busily working. They moved with practiced efficiency.
When we—a small, unaffiliated party—came down the stairs, the looks they gave us were striking: a cocktail of slight guilt and blatant annoyance.
"It feels a bit... unwelcoming," I murmured.
"Now that they're building permanent bases, they're developing a sense of territoriality," Yuji said. "It's fine for now, but we're going to need common rules regarding base establishment eventually."
"Exactly," Hiiragi-san agreed. "Since corporate profits depend on their hauls, someone will eventually try to monopolize this area simply because it's a prime spot for a base. There are no rules yet, so they’ll just claim 'finders keepers.'"
The larger an organization grew, the more they spent on labor and maintenance, necessitating significant results to stay in the black. Since high-value drop items like skill scrolls or magic items didn't fall every day, they had to rely on volume—like mass-harvesting monster meat—even if the appraisal price was low.
When a company's management got desperate, the next logical step was to reduce competition and monopolize hunting grounds. Fewer people on a floor meant more monster encounters and a higher chance for drops. If they could eliminate competitors entirely, they could efficiently corner the market. Without clear rules, any company backed into a financial corner would eventually resort to such tactics.
"I’d like to think regulations will come... but then the question is, who actually manages the rights to set up bases in a dungeon?" I asked. "Rights imply that someone is monitoring usage and enforcement."
"The Association could probably handle the upper floors, but once you get near the 20th floor, management becomes practically impossible for them," Yuji said. "At least, not with the strength of their current staff."
"The explorers belonging to the Association are mostly hired as a sort of safety net," Hiiragi-san noted. "Their main roles are tasks that don't require deep-floor strength—patrolling the shallow floors for newcomer explorers, guarding the surface, or acting as staff for events."
Exactly. Even if they drafted rules, those rules would be meaningless if the enforcers lacked the power to back them up. If a company occupied a floor the Association couldn't even reach, the Association couldn't even issue a removal order because they couldn't verify the facts on the ground. If a company lied and said they’d vacated a base, the Association wouldn't have anyone strong enough to check.
If that happened repeatedly, people would realize the Association was toothless. Eventually, the organization would be seen as a puppet with no real ability to manage explorer behavior. That was almost certainly why Miyashita-san had been so eager to scout student explorers like us.
"Can't they pull personnel from the Self-Defense Forces' exploration teams?" I asked. "The Association is a government agency, after all."
"That would be difficult," Yuji replied. "Managing every public dungeon would require a massive number of people. Even within the SDF, personnel capable of reaching the 30th floor are limited, and those elites are likely focused on backing up the front-line conquest teams. I doubt the military would lend them out for long-term administrative duties."
"I don't think they would either," Hiiragi-san said. "The SDF wants to keep pushing dungeon conquest for international standing. They won't release their support personnel for an indefinite management project."
As long as explorers were diving, the Association had to keep managing. That job would never end as long as the dungeons existed. Providing that many people permanently would be a crushing burden. It seemed the Association would eventually have no choice but to build its own dedicated management unit.
And it would need to be an organization with both numbers and significant individual strength.
"Even if they grow their own talent alongside the people they scout, it'll take a long time to build that kind of structure," Yuji mused. "Plus, if they can't foster a sense of loyalty, people will just quit and go independent once they’re strong enough."
"Still, it's a necessary evil. They’ll just have to build it piece by piece," I said.
"I suppose scouting people like us was the first step," Hiiragi-san concluded.
I felt a sudden surge of respect for Miyashita-san and the others. They were rushing around trying to patch a sinking ship. If they did nothing, things would deteriorate; if they acted, the results took so long to manifest that people assumed they weren't doing anything at all.
It was a thankless, trial-and-error kind of job.
"I suppose so," I agreed.
We left the staircase plaza and its corporate bases behind, heading deeper into the dungeon.
As we wandered through the corridors, that delicious fellow finally appeared.
"Bumoooo!"
With bloodshot eyes fixed on us, four minotaurs let out thunderous roars and charged. Since they were coming at us in a line, Yuji and I took the front while Hiiragi-san watched our backs. Yuji and I split to the left and right of the passage, giving ourselves enough room to swing as we prepared for the collision.
"Yuji, I'll take the right!"
"Then I've got the left!"
"I've got your backs!"
In perfect sync, Yuji and I drew our blades and lunged. Waiting for them to come to us was an option, but in multi-opponent combat, it was always better to dictate the flow.
We targeted the two on the outside first.
"Hah!"
"Seiya!"
"Bumo!?"
Yuji and I both took their heads in a single stroke. The two minotaurs lost their footing and collapsed mid-charge, their momentum carrying them forward and tripping the remaining two. They scrambled to get back up, but they were nothing but openings. Yuji and I didn't miss the chance to decapitate the final pair.
Once I confirmed the fallen minotaurs had begun to dissolve into particles, we finally relaxed.
"Phew, that went smoothly."
"Yeah. Now, let's see what the loot looks like..."
"We'll be lucky if even one piece of meat dropped," Hiiragi-san said.
We didn't want any more complicated magic items today, so I was actually hoping for simple meat. A normal party would be praying for a skill scroll or a magic item, but since we were already 'full' from our recent dealings, a drop item that covered our travel expenses was plenty.
Getting another rare item worth millions would just be a headache to process.
"Alright, let's see... Wait, is this!?"
In the spot where the four minotaurs had perished, only one drop item remained. At first, I thought it was standard mino meat, but a closer look proved me wrong.
What had dropped was...
"Marbled minotaur meat!"
It was a rare delicacy that even we rarely encountered. I had just said I didn't want rare items, but I welcomed this with open arms.
I quickly retrieved the meat and held it out for the others to see. After a very brief discussion, we reached a unanimous verdict.
"Alright, we’re done for the day. Let's go home and eat this!"
"I’m pretty sure there was a BBQ area in the town at the base of the mountain! I saw a sign for it at the station. Let's head there!" Yuji shouted.
"There's a supermarket nearby too, so we can get the side dishes and drinks immediately!" Hiiragi-san added.
Our spirits, which had been in the gutter when we arrived, were instantly revitalized by the incredible morale boost of marbled minotaur meat. When you're feeling down, truly, nothing beats eating something delicious.
With our eyes sparkling in anticipation of a feast, we dashed back up through the dungeon at a speed that wouldn't seem suspicious for high-level explorers. We cleared the dungeon so quickly that it ended up being a late lunch rather than an early dinner.
"Let's hurry through the appraisal so we can go eat."
"You got it. I'll take the travel time into account and put in a reservation for an hour from now!"
After quickly changing and finishing the paperwork, we grabbed some extra ingredients and headed to the BBQ area. I had hoped that some light exercise would give us a change of pace, but this unexpected surprise had truly restored our energy. Now, I felt like I could actually survive until the school festival!
P.S. No matter how many times I eat it, marbled minotaur meat is the absolute best!