kscans

Chapter 16 - Chapter 16

"To think you'd beat the clear time predicted by our company's AI by over thirty minutes. And without a scratch... It seems I was right to rely on you."

"It's thanks to the funds you provided, Shinonome-san. And having you put the materials on the Market was a huge help too."

After clearing the Ash Dungeon, I was resting in a hotel near the Spring Dungeon, provided by the Shinonome Group.

Physically, I still had plenty of energy, and my equipment was at a level where I could fight in a Grade 3 dungeon. So I was thinking of continuing the clear, but Rena's father, Shinonome Nobutaka-san, stopped me and I came to this hotel.

"Currently, the unit I have prepared is gathering materials in the Ash Dungeon. I would like you, Hayate-kun, to rest for a bit until a certain amount of materials has been collected."

I was lying face down, with only my head turned forward, listening to Shinonome-san speak via video chat.

Several beautiful women were massaging my arms, back, and legs. These women weren't just cute, they were seriously good. It felt amazing.

Despite being in the middle of a conversation, a large yawn escaped me.

"You look sleepy."

"It's because these people you arranged for, Shinonome-san, are so good at what they do."

"I have gathered them by carefully selecting those with particularly excellent skills from the high-end massage parlors our group operates nationwide. Let yourself be fully healed. I will tell them to wake you in about three hours."

"Thank you very much."

My sleepiness had reached its limit.

The excitement of being able to use the four-sword style and being able to enhance my weapons however I wanted without worrying about funds must have caused fatigue to build up without me realizing it.

Even taking the shortest route, each floor of the Black Dungeon was about 1 kilometer long. And there were 10 floors. The Ash Dungeon I just cleared was a little larger. At a low estimate, I had run over 10 kilometers last night and over 10 kilometers this morning, all while fighting monsters.

Thinking about it calmly, it would be strange if I wasn't tired.

I should probably sleep now, so I can go rescue Rena in perfect condition.

I let go of my consciousness while recalling the layout of the Spring Dungeon, the monsters that appeared there, and information about the mid-boss and boss.

──＊＊＊──

"And now, I will begin the clear of the Grade 3 Spring Dungeon!"

My body felt so light. I was in a refreshing mood.

"Here in the Spring Dungeon, as the name suggests, the monsters that appear are of the water attribute. The strongest weapon I have is the Wind Magic Sword (Modified +30). It's not a direct counter, but it can still deal normal damage, so I'll proceed with this."

I had gotten into the habit of explaining my clear as I went. And apparently, my clear of the Ash Dungeon was also broadcast to the whole world.

Thinking that would probably be the case this time too, I decided to go with this style.

But unlike in FWO, it was a little boring not being able to see the reactions of the people watching. Encouraging comments give me a lot of strength. I also want to thank the people who send Super Tips.

Then again, since my life is on the line for real, maybe it's a good thing I don't have to get distracted by abusive comments in the chat. Even if I try not to mind them, if they catch my eye, they'll bother me.

Well, for now, I should focus on the clear rather than things like that.

"There are rare monsters that are immune to magic, so I'd like to make one strong physical-type weapon."

A magic sword is a sword that primarily uses magic, but it can also be used for normal physical attacks in close combat. So it wasn't absolutely necessary, but since I had plenty of funds, and predicting there might be different settings from the FWO game, I decided to make a new weapon.

"First, I'll look for materials on the Market. ...Whoa! Materials from the Grade 2 dungeon are already starting to circulate."

I knew that Shinonome-san had arranged for this, so I guess this makes it look a bit staged.

By the way, in FWO, when someone clears the most difficult dungeon available at the time, anyone, not just the one who cleared it, can challenge the next dungeon that is unlocked. However, you cannot challenge the boss of the newly unlocked dungeon without defeating the boss of the previous grade dungeon. That was the mechanic.

In other words, the private army dispatched by Shinonome-san was gathering materials on the lower floors of the Ash Dungeon, ignoring the difficult boss of the Black Dungeon. It was easier to get better quality items that way than by gathering them in the Black Dungeon.

"For the base of the physical sword I'm enhancing, I'll use the modified Stone Sword that was a rare drop from the Black Dungeon's mid-boss. I've gotten several physical swords in the Ash Dungeon, but the final attack value of the modified Stone Sword will be higher than those."

In FWO game terms, 'drop' is the word. A 'rare drop' is, well, a rare drop, and weapons that are very rarely dropped by mid-bosses or bosses are overwhelmingly superior in performance to the weapons dropped by common mobs.

It was common practice to farm a boss over and over in search of a rare drop.

Getting a rare drop from the mid-boss right away was truly lucky.

"Alright, this time too, I'm going to start enhancing, aiming for +30!"