Chapter 23, That’ll Be One Million and Five Thousand Yen

Translator: Lizz

  

Three days after the dungeon stream that gained way too many viewers.

 

I sit alone in my shabby apartment room, holding my phone to my ear and mumbling to myself.

 

“Uh, um… this is the management company, right? Uh, yes. This is Ryuga from Red Dragon Heights, room 307. Um, I’d like to talk about the rent…”

 

I let go of the phone and take a deep breath again. Before I know it, I’m sitting in formal seiza.

 

“Alright. The rehearsal’s fine. Time for the real deal.”

 

It’s May, and I can’t pay my rent anymore. So, right before making the call to beg for mercy over my overdue payment, I’m doing a little practice.

 

Deep breath, deep breath. After a few inhale-exhales, I finally make up my mind.

 

“Okay, here I go!”

 

<Explorer rarity upgrade is now available.>

 

“Whoa!? Wh-what the heck, that scared me.”

 

AI Miria’s voice suddenly echoes through the room, and I nearly fall over.

 

<Also, many login bonuses remain in your gift box. The gift retention period is within one month.>

 

“Oh, that! Yeah, I’ll take them. But I’ve got bigger problems right now. My life’s in crisis.”

 

<Your life is in crisis?>

 

Man, this headset really knows how to poke where it hurts. I reluctantly start explaining the situation.

 

I mean, I shouldn’t be exploring dungeons right now. I still haven’t found a job.

 

<I see. So you mean you don’t have enough money to pay the rent?>

 

“Yeah, that’s right. I know it’s my fault for going out drinking at a time like this.”

 

<In that case, you can easily cover the payment by selling the materials in your box.>

 

“No, that… huh?”

 

<Your box already contains many valuable materials and stones, Kagetora-sama. Just selling those should keep you afloat for a while.>

 

Wait, seriously? There’s stuff that valuable in my box?

 

“Really? Which ones should I sell?”

 

<Let’s sell the blue ore and the mirror stone.>

 

“These two?”

 

I take the stones out of the box and head to the nearby dungeon pawn shop.

 

Ever since dungeons started appearing around the world, more shops have popped up that buy items collected from them. This dungeon pawn shop is one of them.

 

Inside the shop is a small room with a lone counter. The clerk’s face is hidden, and the system works by placing items into a handover box.

 

I guess it’s a security measure against robbery or something. Thinking that, I go ahead and place the two items into the box.

 

“Here you go.”

 

“Please wait a moment.”

 

A young man’s voice responds, and the two stones I want to sell are pulled away.

 

I wonder how much they’ll go for. I wait nervously for the appraisal to finish.

 

I hear whispers—sounds like the clerks are discussing something.

 

“Manager… about these stones, they’re real.”

 

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

 

“They’re the real deal…! It’s the blue ore.”

 

“What!? Wh-what are you saying! That can’t be… whaa!?”

 

“Y-y-y-yikes!”

 

Huh? What’s going on?

 

This is kind of scary. Are they being attacked by some kind of psychic phenomenon?

 

Just as I start feeling uneasy, a chime rings, signaling that appraisal has finished.

 

“Th-this is the price. Is that alright?”

 

“Uh…”

 

Next to the box, there’s a digital display like the ones at supermarket checkouts. The price shows up there… huh?

 

There are way more zeroes than I expected. No, definitely many more.

 

No no no, isn’t this way too much!?

 

“That’ll be one million and five thousand yen.”

 

“Huh? Seriously? Wait, which stone is the million for?”

 

“This one, the blue ore…”

 

“Then I’ll cash it in!”

 

“Thank you very much. By the way, which dungeon did this come from?”

 

“Oh, it’s from that regular dungeon a train ride away from here… I forget the name.”

 

“I-I see…”

 

The clerk responds like all the strength has just drained out of him. I mean, seriously? I just sold two stones and made this much money?

 

I head home in a daze. As soon as I arrive, the voice from the goggles speaks up.

 

<Welcome back.>

 

“I’m home. And wow! I don’t have to worry about rent anymore. I can live normally for a while!”

 

<There are many valuable items lying in wait within dungeons.>

 

“You really saved me. Thanks! Oh, and the shop clerk was totally shocked. He said something like, ‘You really found a rare one.'”

 

<Due to the subscription bonus, your rare material acquisition rate is increased by 25%.>

 

“Wait, seriously?”

 

<Yes. By the way, I’ve posted the announcement for your upcoming chat stream on social media.>

 

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

 

A lot of viewers had asked me to do a casual chat stream, so I’ve decided to give it a try.

 

Still, I’m not that confident in my talking skills. As I’m thinking about that, Miria makes an intriguing suggestion.

 

<Kagetora-sama, would you like to upgrade your explorer rarity? The required materials are ready.>

 

“Oh, right. I can upgrade, can’t I?”

 

<You’ve already reached level 40, so you can’t get any stronger with your current rank. Therefore, it’s necessary to upgrade your explorer rarity soon.>

 

“I see. So I’ve already hit the cap.”

 

Still, can I really upgrade my explorer rarity? I did gather a ton of materials the other day, though.

 

“I don’t really get it, but can I ask you to go ahead?”

 

<Understood. Initiating explorer rarity upgrade.>

 

“Alrighty… huh? Uwaaaaah!”

 

In the next moment, I suddenly feel like I’m being hurled into the middle of space, and a strange and surreal experience begins.

 

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