The entry line moved more smoothly than I’d expected, and our turn came sooner than I’d anticipated. A rookie party, likely part of the summer break debut group, was fumbling a bit at the front, but the five of us were well-versed in the procedures. We tapped our Explorer Cards against the reader in quick succession and passed through.
It was a sight that reminded me of a train station ticket gate during the morning rush. Perhaps that was just proof of how commonplace the existence of explorers had become.
"All right, we’re finally heading in. Everyone ready?"
"No problems here," Yuji said.
"I’m ready as well," Hiiragi-san added.
"I'm okay!" Mika chirped.
"I’m ready too!" Saori-chan followed.
Yuji and Hiiragi-san looked as relaxed as ever, their bodies free of any unnecessary tension. Mika and Saori-chan were clearly a bit stiff with nerves, but their movements seemed fine. I wondered if they were just feeling the pressure because they were diving with us.
With that, we shifted our mindsets into exploration mode and stepped into the dungeon.
"Well, the entrance is always like this."
"It’s the main thoroughfare for floor travel," Yuji noted. "Every party heading deeper wants to take the shortest route through the floors they don’t have business in, so it always bottlenecks."
"In a sense, it’s the safest place to be," Hiiragi-san remarked.
Immediately upon entry, we were swallowed by the customary traveling queue. There was a decent amount of space between the moving parties, but we were essentially sandwiched between the group in front and the one behind.
When I first started out, this sense of confinement used to grate on my nerves, but I was so used to it by now that I barely noticed.
"But honestly, this line is such a nuisance," Mika grumbled. "It takes so much extra time just to get to the lower floors."
"Well, that’s true. But this traveling queue isn't all bad," I said with a wry smile, offering a bit of perspective. Most mid-level explorers felt the same way Mika did, after all. "For a rookie party, it means there’s a guaranteed crowd they can call for help if they get swarmed by monsters. As long as they know their way back, they can ensure their safety before anyone gets killed or seriously injured—even if they do get a stern lecture afterward. While kill-stealing is a major breach of explorer etiquette, most parties strong enough to help will jump in if someone actually calls for aid."
Upper floors or not, having a safety net in an emergency was a massive advantage for newcomer explorers. For them, a little extra travel time was a small price to pay for insurance.
"I guess it’s a plus for rookies who don't know their own limits yet," Mika conceded. "But it doesn't really benefit experienced parties with higher levels, does it?"
"Actually, it does. Even for parties returning from the depths, blending into the queue provides a layer of safety on the trip back up. If you're exhausted or injured, it’s a huge relief to avoid unnecessary combat. If the explorers around you are going to kill the monsters anyway, there’s no reason to go out of your way to do it yourself. For a deep-floor party, the items dropped by monsters on the upper floors are just bulky, low-value junk—with the exception of rare drops like skill scrolls. Besides, on the way back, they’re usually carrying high-value loot from the depths, likely right up to the weight limit of what they can carry while still being able to fight."
"...I see. When you put it that way, I guess it does make sense for mid-level parties, too."
"Though you only really feel those benefits on the way out," I added. "On the way in, the traveling queue is just a traffic jam. You're wasting time moving toward your target floor without being able to fight."
If we could divert even half of that travel time—say, an hour—into actual combat, a mid-level party capable of reaching the 20th floor could probably earn nearly 100,000 yen. And if they were lucky enough to snag a rare drop like a skill scroll, that figure could jump over a million.
When you looked at it that way, the hourly rate for a mid-level explorer was easily in the tens of thousands of yen. If there were a way to pay for high-speed transit through the dungeon, like a bullet train or a flight, people would be lining up to use it. Even if it cost a bit of money, they’d make the investment back in no time.
"Hearing that just makes me think it’s a nuisance again," Mika said.
"Well, that’s just human nature. No matter how much logic you throw at someone, they’re going to complain until they feel the benefit for themselves."
I shrugged at Mika, who wore a complicated expression. She understood the reasoning intellectually, but she clearly wasn't happy about it.
"Don't get so caught up in the conversation that you fall behind, you two," Yuji warned. "If you leave too much of a gap, the people behind us will start shouting at you to move faster."
"Ah, sorry, Yuji. We'll watch it."
"We'll be careful!"
Mika and I hurried to close the gap. It hadn't been a huge distance, but in an environment like this, even the smallest oversight could spark a conflict. It was exactly like the psychology of a driver stuck in holiday traffic—everything is irritating, and you find yourself snapping at things you’d normally ignore.
We continued deeper into the dungeon, following the flow of the traveling queue.
Once we descended the stairs and passed the 5th floor, the density of the crowd began to thin, and our pace picked up. Newcomer explorers from the summer break debut group generally couldn't make it this far yet. Reaching the 5th floor was essentially the graduation exam for a rookie party.
"Mika, do you want to do a warm-up around here?" I asked.
"Hmm, maybe not yet. It’s thinned out, but based on the crowd, I think it’d take too long just to find a monster."
"I suppose so. But the monsters are going to get tougher as we go down. You sure you’ll be okay?"
"Yeah. I’ll make sure to fight at least once before we reach the goblins on the 7th floor."
I’d suggested a warm-up against something manageable before the real threats appeared, but Mika shook her head. She glanced at the density of the traveling queue and decided to wait until the next floor down.
It was true that the population density would likely drop even further on the next floor, but...
"Mika, if you’re waiting until the 6th floor... it might actually be more crowded there than it is here, you know?"
"You mean the goblin retirees?" she asked. "It’ll probably be fine. Parties that can go deeper avoid that floor because they hate the atmosphere, so the population density is actually surprisingly low."
"Is that right?"
"You and your group just treat these floors as a transit route, right, Onii-chan? Other mid-level parties do the same. As long as you stick to the shallower areas, the 6th floor is actually a bit of a hidden gem."
Was that what it was like these days? Back when we were active in this area, the 6th floor was constantly packed with explorers who had hit a wall with the goblins. Competition for monsters was so fierce that proper exploration was almost impossible.
Some of those explorers would glare at you with such resentment and murderous intent that it made the whole place feel toxic. If you had the strength to move past the goblins without being traumatized, there was no reason to subject yourself to that environment. I suppose that's exactly why it had become a "hidden gem," as Mika put it.
"I had no idea it had changed that much. Yuji, Hiiragi-san, have you two heard about this?"
"No, it's news to me, too," Yuji said. "I didn't realize the 6th floor was like that now."
"I’d heard a little from Mika-chan and Saori-chan," Hiiragi-san added. "But only that they’d fought there. I did wonder if it wouldn't be uncomfortable, but I didn't realize that was the reason..."
The three of us exchanged looks of genuine surprise. We’d been treating the upper floors as nothing more than a hallway for so long that we’d completely missed the shift in dynamics.
Mika and Saori-chan seemed equally surprised by our reaction.
"You really didn't know, Onii-chan? I thought you knew everything..."
"I always feel like there isn't anything you guys don't know," Saori-chan added.
"Haha, we're not omniscient. If it’s something happening outside our immediate circles, we won't know unless we actively look into it or hear it from someone else. In this case, we were so set in our ways and our old impressions of our 'commute' floors that we just stopped paying attention."
"He's right," Yuji agreed. "Even if they aren't our primary floors, we should probably start looking into the current state of things more often. The situation on any given floor can change drastically these days."
"Agreed," Hiiragi-san said. "The information we have on this area is nearly six months old. It’s only natural that things have evolved."
We’d been busy with one event after another lately, but we should have been more mindful of what was happening right under our feet. I resolved to put more effort into gathering info on general dungeon trends. If we were to give out outdated advice and someone got hurt because they trusted us, I’d never hear the end of it. If a little effort could prevent that, it was effort well spent.
"Well, we can talk more about this after we get out. For now, I don't see any reason to object. Once we hit the 6th floor, let's look for a warm-up fight. That sound good, Mika? Saori-chan?"
"Yep!"
"Yes, sir!"
With the plan decided, we continued our descent. After about an hour of travel, we reached the 6th floor. We veered off from the main traveling queue and headed into the deeper reaches of the floor to find a suitable warm-up target. Since this was just a quick detour, the goal was to find a monster fast and move on.
"Looking around now, that old, stifling atmosphere really is gone," I noted. "Like Mika said, if you're just scouting the outskirts, it doesn't seem like much of a mental strain at all."
"Yeah," Yuji said. "But I’ve heard the goblin retirees still cluster deeper in. I’m not looking to get glared at, so let’s make sure we don’t wander too far back."
"Right," Hiiragi-san agreed. "Our goal is just a quick warm-up. No need to make contact with them. Let’s find something, finish the fight, and get moving."
The three of us were still a little taken aback by the change in the 6th floor, but we started loosening up our muscles, rolling our shoulders and stretching.
"All right then... Mika, Saori-chan, you ready?"
"Ready when you are!"
"I'm all set!"
The girls replied with eager smiles and high spirits. They were clearly focused.
"Then let's move. Even if the crowds have thinned, finding a monster on the upper floors is still a chore. Let's not waste time standing around."
I watched Mika and Saori-chan maintain a healthy level of tension, keeping their bodies relaxed but ready to draw their weapons in an instant. The three of us shared a look of quiet admiration and relief at how much they’d grown. At this level, they weren't going to get themselves hurt easily.
Seeing them like this made the trip worth it already. I started walking deeper into the floor.
"Hold it," Yuji said suddenly. "I hear footsteps up ahead—definitely not human. From the sound... there's a group of them coming our way."
"Looks like we've got company," I said. "Everyone, ready for combat."
At the warning, Hiiragi-san and the girls leveled their weapons toward the corridor ahead. Mika and Saori-chan didn't overreact; their stances were natural and well-practiced.
Ten minutes into our search of the 6th floor, we came face-to-face with a pack of red boars.