Kiritani-san and Yuta-san sat in stunned silence, eventually taking slow, deep breaths and sipping their tea to steady their nerves. I couldn't blame them for being shaken. Even if it required specialized skills, hearing that a large number of explorers were capable of such feats was enough to upend anyone's worldview.
The sight of a mob armed with shovels, tearing through mountains at a breakneck pace... it was enough to make one imagine the entire landscape riddled with holes.
"Explorers really do shatter every bit of common sense we have, don't they?" Kiritani-san murmured.
"It’s not so much the explorers as it is the dungeons themselves—bestowing power upon anyone who can defeat a monster. The only thing that truly separates an explorer from an ordinary person is whether they’ve spent time in a dungeon or not."
"Defeating monsters turns anyone into a superhuman... Two years ago, I couldn't have even conceived of such a world."
"True. But now that it’s changed, all we can do is adapt, bit by bit. If we spend all our time lamenting the past, we'll just get left behind."
Not much time had passed since the appearance of the dungeons, but the world was undeniably shifting to revolve around them. The rare items explorers hauled back were so valuable that society was willing to restructure its entire foundation to accommodate them. A massive market had already formed, and it showed every sign of continuing its rapid growth.
Once a trend like this began, it was incredibly hard to stop. These movements tended to accelerate rather than slow down, only losing momentum when the end was finally in sight.
"I suppose you're right," Kiritani-san said. "It’s easy to grumble about how things don't make sense anymore, but I run a company. I have employees to support. If the world is changing—and if the change isn't inherently evil—then I must learn to live with it."
"It’s still early days," I added. "For now, just keeping a mental note that 'explorers are like this' is enough. If you rush the adaptation process, you might end up internalizing some very strange ideas."
"Haha, fair point. Stubbornness is a vice, but haste can lead to ruin. Until now, this all felt like something happening on the other side of a television screen. Now that it’s directly linked to my business, I have no choice but to start learning."
Kiritani-san let out a soft sigh and looked up at the ceiling with a weary, pensive expression. Rebuilding one's sense of reality was no small feat; I could already see the weight of the coming hardships reflected in his eyes.
For someone in his position, the pressure must have been immense. A single failure to catch the wave of change could sink his company and leave his employees on the street.
"We can't do much from our side other than cheer you on," I said, "but if you ever have questions about explorer-related matters, please feel free to ask. We’ll help however we can."
"Thank you. I'll be sure to reach out when the time comes."
If you’re lost in a specialized field, the fastest way to find your bearings is to ask a professional. Kiritani-san and his team might have felt a bit awkward relying on minors like us for business advice, but I truly hoped they would call on us when they needed a consultation.
Steering the review meeting in a slightly different direction, we decided to explain the various skills explorers possessed. Although we had conducted today's verification session without using magic due to permits and location constraints, things would be different if explorers were officially hired for civil engineering projects.
Just having a basic grasp of the available skills would completely change how they approached hiring explorers for land development.
"The Dungeon Association’s official website has basic explanations for the skills currently found in dungeons, so you should check there for the finer details," I began. "What we’re going to cover now are the skills we felt would be particularly useful based on today’s tests. We don't know every skill the Association has listed, so we’ll just be speaking from our own experience."
"That works for us," Yuta-san replied. "We’ll do our own research later. For now, hearing your personal perspectives is exactly what we need."
"Thanks."
With the ground rules established, Yuji took over to explain the skills that seemed most applicable to development work.
"Proficiency makes a big difference, but the primary skills for logistics and transport would be physical enhancement, Weight Reduction, and Psychokinesis."
"I can guess the effects based on the names, but... what are they like in practice?" Kiritani-san asked.
"Physical enhancement does exactly what it says," Yuji explained. "The user can perform at a level far beyond their actual base stats, which makes it incredibly versatile. Even a beginner using it could probably move like someone four or five levels higher. For example... imagine a 100-kilogram bench press suddenly becoming 130 or 140 kilograms."
"That’s... quite a significant boost. A simple increase in raw power is much easier to manage than skills with more complex conditions."
Increased physical capability translated directly into higher productivity. In mountainous areas where heavy machinery couldn't reach, a worker with superhuman strength was worth their weight in gold. Kiritani-san leaned in, clearly intrigued by the idea that even a novice explorer could become a vital asset.
"Exactly. Next is Weight Reduction. This skill lowers the weight of whatever the user is touching—though it doesn't make it zero. Usually, it's about a thirty-percent reduction."
"A thirty-percent drop is plenty. That would mean the heavier the object, the more effective the skill, right?"
"Ah, not quite," Yuji corrected. "There's a catch. While the weight drops by thirty percent, the energy the explorer consumes is proportional to the object’s actual weight. The skill uses the explorer's own body weight as a baseline. If the target is significantly heavier than the user, the energy drain spikes, making it impossible to maintain for long. It’s useful for short bursts—like lifting a massive crate onto a truck bed in a few seconds—but not for carrying it for miles."
"I see. So it's not quite a miracle cure. Still, depending on how it's used, the applications seem vast."
Even if it wasn't the perfect solution, Kiritani-san's mind was clearly racing with possibilities. While it wasn't suited for long-term use on heavy objects, it could be maintained for quite a while on objects below the user's weight threshold, depending on their EP reserves.
Of course, since we had Spatial Storage, we never actually had a reason to use it.
"It all comes down to the application," Yuji continued. "The next one is similar: Psychokinesis. This lets the user move objects with their mind from a distance. The range is usually about five meters."
"Moving things without touching them... the classic superpower. Are there limits on this one too?"
"Yes. Just like the previous skill, the user's body weight is the standard. Furthermore, the maximum weight you can lift drops as the distance increases. At the very edge of the range, you can usually only lift about one-tenth of your standard weight. If the user weighs 50 kilograms, they can only move a 5-kilogram object at the five-meter mark."
"Even with those limits, it’s incredibly convenient for grabbing things just out of reach," Kiritani-san noted. "Especially for vertical movement—getting things onto a roof or up a cliff face."
I nodded in agreement. I owed a lot to that skill; it was a lifesaver in any situation involving verticality. If I hadn't had it, I’d probably still be trying to collect items in the Drawer Dungeon using telescopic poles and rolls of adhesive tape.
"Yes. Considering the steep terrain we saw today, a skill that simplifies vertical transport would be invaluable."
"Physical enhancement, Weight Reduction, and Psychokinesis... as you say, they all seem perfect for development work," Kiritani-san said. "Even if an explorer's level is low, a useful skill could bridge the gap."
"In combat, a small level gap is a life-or-death difference," I added. "But for labor, skills can easily make up for a lack of levels. Work doesn't usually require the same split-second reflexes or life-threatening decisions as fighting monsters."
"I can't say for certain, not being an explorer myself, but if you veterans believe so, I'll take your word for it. We'll make sure to study skills as thoroughly as we do physical stats."
Satisfied with the potential of these abilities, Kiritani-san instructed Yuta-san to look up more details from the Association's database. It was only natural that his curiosity was piqued—if the skills we knew were this useful, he had to be wondering what else was out there.
After a quick drink of tea to clear his throat, Yuji moved on to the next set of skills—the ones that would likely catch the businessmen's interest the most.
"Next, I’ll talk about skills for cliffs and tunnel excavation. Specifically: Earth Magic, Wind Magic, and the Cleansing skill."
"Magic?!" Kiritani-san's eyes lit up. "Now that is a word that captures the imagination."
"I figured you’d be interested," Yuji said with a wry smile. "It's the most famous type of skill, after all. Explorers and ordinary people alike are fascinated by it."
"Of course we are. When people think of explorers, the first thing they think of is magic. There was a time when any explorer who could use magic was a regular fixture on every variety show on TV."
Magic was flashy and easy to understand, making it the perfect way to showcase the "miracles" of the dungeon. Back when dungeons were first opened to the public, magic users were rare, though in hindsight, their magic was pretty underwhelming because their levels and proficiency were so low.
Yet, even those measly spells had a massive impact. Seeing fire appear from nowhere or water gushing out of thin air convinced the public that the world they had only seen in fiction was now a reality. I’m sure plenty of people became explorers for the sole purpose of wanting to cast spells.
"Since you already have the background, Earth Magic is easy to explain," Yuji said. "It allows the user to manipulate soil and stone. For civil engineering, it’s practically essential."
"Manipulating the earth... like the report said about being able to create a tunnel in an instant?"
"Yes. Depending on the user's strength, you could dig a tunnel with magic alone. However, magic is very taxing on energy. It’s much more efficient to have other explorers do the heavy digging and then use Earth Magic to reinforce the walls or shape the interior. For beginners or low-ranking mid-level explorers, direct excavation with magic is usually too much."
"I see. So for that level of personnel, it’s better to use them in a support role."
Even as 'support,' reinforcing and shaping the walls was a vital job. The tunnel we had dug earlier was completely unreinforced, making its safety highly questionable. With Earth Magic, the walls could have been compressed into a sturdy arch shape, providing significant structural integrity.
That said, an explorer capable of excavating a tunnel entirely through magic would have to be among the top tier of civilian hunters currently in the industry. Maybe in a few years it would be different, but for the average explorer today, their EP would likely hit zero after only a few meters. Reinforcing the walls, however, might be sustainable for ten or twenty meters.
"I don't know how the industry will look in a few years, but for now, that’s the best way to utilize them," Yuji said.
"Then it seems we need to keep a very close eye on the trends of the explorer industry to know when to make our move," Kiritani-san mused.
"It’s a bit blunt to say," I added, "but explorers only level up if they're in the dungeons killing monsters. If someone quits the life to take a desk job at a general company, they won't get any stronger unless they have incredible personal drive."
"That’s a fair point. Being late to secure talent would be painful, but we have to be cautious with our hiring."
Alternatively, they could set up an in-house program to train their own explorers.
Whether to move now and risk the uncertainty or wait and risk being left behind—it was time for Kiritani-san to show his mettle as a business leader.