Exactly as Aoi had predicted, the Job Change Quest for the Third Class was a breeze. It was just a simple matter of speaking to a sequence of designated NPCs, and before I knew it, the process was complete.
I had successfully advanced to the Third Class.
With that out of the way, we proceeded as planned toward the limited-time Pair Dungeon for the Bridal Event.
"By the way, what exactly is the Pair Dungeon like?" I asked.
"I haven't actually been inside yet, so I'm just going off info from the forums, but it's a dungeon with 50 Floors."
"Fifty?! That sounds like it’s going to be a real marathon..."
"Oh, no, it's not like that. Even though it's called a dungeon, the format is more like a Monster House. A bunch of monsters spawn within a relatively small map, and once you wipe them all out, you move on to the next floor. It's a very simple loop. According to the internet, the monsters are weak up to about the 30th floor. A Fourth Job player with halfway decent equipment can supposedly blast through those in about fifteen minutes. The difficulty spikes significantly after that, though. Floors 40 and above are tuned to the same level as the latest end-game dungeons. Once you hit floor 45, they say it’s brutal unless you’re a Fourth Job decked out in top-tier gear and both players perfectly understand their roles."
"I see. So beginners and intermediate players can get a decent way in, but you need to be seriously high-level to actually clear the whole thing."
Since I had literally just reached my Third Class, reaching those final floors was out of the question. I figured reaching the 30th floor would be a solid goal for us.
"Even so, the rewards are apparently so good that a ton of people are running it. There are two main perks. The first is the bonus experience points you get for clearing each floor. For someone like you, Kaito-san, who just started their Third Class, I bet you’d gain ten or twenty levels just by reaching the 30th floor."
"That much? If we keep running this dungeon, would I be able to hit my Fourth Job right away?"
"Unfortunately, no. This Pair Dungeon is restricted to one entry per character per day, so you can't farm it on the same character. Though since the limit is per character, the hardcore addicts apparently run it dozens of times a day by using alt characters or setting up multiple game accounts."
"...I take it that means the second reward is incredibly lucrative?"
In this game, you could create up to ten characters per account. Having multiple accounts wasn't against the rules either, so I could certainly see the top-tier players managing dozens of characters. However, since the game required a monthly subscription fee per account, running multiple accounts meant spending a significant amount of real money. There had to be a reward worth that much effort and investment.
"Exactly. For the top players, that second reward is the real draw. Every time you clear a floor in this dungeon, both members of the pair receive an Event-limited Box. Naturally, the higher the floor, the more boxes you get."
"An Event-limited Box?"
"Right. To put it in terms you’d recognize, Kaito-san, it’s basically like an Old Treasure Chest."
"Ah, I get it. A gacha-style item that gives you something random."
Old Treasure Chests were rare drops from various monsters. When used, they granted a random item. Most of the time, they contained vendor trash or cheap consumables, but they were popular for the gamble—there was always a slim chance of getting powerful equipment or high-value items that could be traded for a fortune.
"Pretty much everything you get from the Bridal Event quests comes in the form of those Event-limited Boxes. You can get them from Daily Quests and other things too, but this dungeon is the most efficient way to stockpile them."
"And these boxes drop something amazing?"
"Yes. Usually, it’s just exchange items for pocket change or decent consumables, with Event-limited gear or Costume Equipment appearing at low rates. But at an astronomically low probability—we're talking one-in-a-million or even one-in-ten-million—you can get an incredibly powerful piece of Accessory Equipment. It’s a masterpiece with the kind of stats that would make the top-tier players' eyes turn bloodshot with greed."
"I see. So that's why the pros are farming it like crazy. But since it’s all down to luck, even beginners who can only clear the low floors still have a shot at it."
"Exactly. Plus, the Event-limited Boxes themselves can be traded, so you also have the option of selling them on the player market for a steady profit."
So, depending on one's luck, it was an event where beginners could make reliable money or aim for a jackpot, while advanced players could hunt for god-tier equipment.
"Well, don't worry too much about the meta. Just enjoy your first bit of combat in a while, Kaito-san. I'm actually pretty strong, so I can easily solo most of the monsters for a good while."
"Got it. I've been away for a long time, so I'll just focus on getting my hands back in the game."
Exchanging smiles, Aoi and I stepped into the event-limited dungeon.
Serious-senpai: "Uh-oh. Throwing a probability-based event at a guy whose luck value is completely bugged out... If that isn't a massive flag, I don't know what is."