CH 169

Episode 169 – Surrounded by Reporters

A few hours had passed since I started clearing the Dungeon. In regards to the number of battles, I had run into fewer monsters compared to when I had been traveling to Landaust. But because the space was narrow and had bad visibility, I had to constantly be on my toes, which was causing the fatigue to pile up. As time passed, the effects of being alone became even more pronounced.

After running into a party of adventurers for the umpteenth time, I finally found the staircase leading down to the 2nd layer. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I took a deep breath and went down the stairs.

The visibility on the 2nd layer was even worse than that of the 1st floor, and it had an even damper and gloomier atmosphere to it. This could be pretty difficult to clear solo… Today was my first time in a Dungeon, and I felt that it was harder to fight in a Dungeon than I had expected.

From the 10th layer onwards, the area was supposed to change to an overgrown wooded environment; even though the monsters would be stronger, the area would be comparatively brighter, which would improve visibility and make the fights easier… But after thinking of the sheer amount of fatigue accumulated only from finishing the 1st layer, I didn’t see how I was ever going to reach the 10th layer alone. I mopped the sweat from my brow as I came to terms with this fact.

……Phew.

Not to mention a treasure chest, I hadn’t even found any drops yet. After taking a quick look around the 2nd layer, I was planning to head home for the day. As the Beginner’s Course in the book said, it was important to carefully manage your strength in the Dungeon. I had read that many of those who died in the Dungeon did so during their attempts to make their way back. It also said that if one continued to clear the Dungeon until reaching the limit of their stamina, one could easily lose their life if they weren’t able to deal with any accidents that could occur on the way back.

I had fought 5 battles so far, with the fight with the Ogre being the hardest one out of them all, and I felt that I still had some strength to spare… But if I were to put my faith in the words of “The Dungeon of Landaust in One Book”, now was a good time to stop clearing the Dungeon for today.

There were pretty much no visible gains, but at least I was building up experience little by little. I momentarily thought of the treasure chest as avarice welled up within me, but I suppressed it with several harsh reminders and started to make my way out of the Dungeon.

After that, I ran into a Hobgoblin on the 2nd layer on my way back. I then killed several Goblins and a Wild Wolf on the 1st layer before arriving back at the Dungeon entrance in one piece. I didn’t end up finding anything on my way back, but I felt that I did pretty well for my first time in the Dungeon.

I was able to learn about the riskiness of solo-clearing and got a feel for the atmosphere of the Dungeon. If I repeated this strategy a few dozen more times with an emphasis on safety, I could probably get to the 7th layer solo.

The Boss Floor on the 7th layer was one of the biggest obstacles for beginner adventurers, so it might be too much for me to clear solo. In that case, it would be better to regroup with the [Azure Alliance] before clearing the Boss Floor. Therefore, I made it my current goal to solo-clear the first 6 layers before the [Azure Alliance] returned to the surface.

I heard that it was possible to form a party at the Adventurer’s Guild and to even pay to have a Guild employee form a temporary party with you up until the 10th layer, so I felt that it might be a good idea to form a party to get used to the mindset of being in one until the [Azure Alliance] returned… But now that I had experienced the dangers of the Dungeon, I didn’t want to half-heartedly form a party. I wasn’t really in the mood for it, and I knew that a half-baked adventurer party wouldn’t work well together.

While thinking about the matters related to a party, I walked out of the Dungeon entrance to the Adventurer’s Guild and saw someone that I recognized. It was the reporter who gave me information in the dining hall yesterday.

I didn’t know if he still remembered me, but from my point of view, he was something like a lifesaver to me. I quickly finished the procedures at the reception desk and was about to call out to him, when I suddenly found myself surrounded by several people who were probably waiting for me in front of the Dungeon.

“I am Rathbone of the Dungeon Pendant Company. I was watching your Dungeon attempt on the monitors earlier, and I was wondering if I could have a word with you?”

“My name is Harris, and I’m from the Daily Dungeon Company. I saw your fight with the Ogre and wanted to speak to you! Please allow me a moment of your time!”

“I’m Reed from the Dungeon Times. If you have a minute, I’d like to talk with you.”

From what I heard, all three of them were from different newspaper companies. It all happened so fast that I had no idea how to respond.

“Uhhh, errr… This is a bit too sudden so I don’t really get the meaning of this…” (Lewin)

As I was perplexed about how to deal with the three reporters who had come up to me so insistently, the reporter from the Laudungeon Company, who had been watching from a distance, seemed to have taken notice and approached me. He pushed his way in between the three of them with the same smile that he had worn when we had talked in the dining hall and spoke to me.

“Hehe. You’re the boy from the dining hall. Hey, do you remember me?”

“Of course! For that time, thank y—” (Lewin)

Casting a sideways glance at the three other people surrounding me, he pulled me by my hand mid-sentence and led me out of the Guild. I didn’t know what was going on, but though the other three reporters looked frustrated, they didn’t follow us as we walked away.