Chapter 7: Tutorial: Conquering the <Beginner Dungeon>
The rumor that I had acquired the 【Hero】 job spread throughout the academy the very same day.
"Hey, Hero-kun, wanna join our party!?"
"Wait a second! We were just inviting him! Don’t cut in!"
"Now, now, let’s all calm down. He will, of course, join our <Blade of the Wolf> guild—gah!"
"Shut up already!"
"Hero-kun, Hero-kun! Come join our guild <Blossom Sparkle>! It's all girls, so you can totally have your own harem!"
"Hey! That’s dirty!"
"Wahahaha! Wanna join our <Muscles Are The Strongest> guild? We’ll show you the glory of muscle!"
"Ugh! That’s the leader of the Musclers! I can’t believe such a top guild came to recruit!"
The path was clogged with waves of parties and guild recruiters.
So much pampering.
So much excitement.
I didn’t even have time to politely turn people down.
…Though I’ll admit, the harem guild sounded a bit interesting.
Man, being famous is tough.
Still, I was feeling pretty good seeing everyone vying for me.
Also—wow, the girls are way more intense. The guys were either shoved aside or couldn’t even get close.
Guess women being strong in sales is a universal truth.
The only guy who managed to shove in was this huge dude bursting with muscle.
Wait—did he just say <Muscles Are the Strongest> guild? He’s the one who tried to recruit Hanna into the meathead cult!
Dammit, I’m surrounded by girls and can't move! Somebody, take him out!
The recruitment frenzy—or more accurately, the tug-of-war over me—finally ended when the academy security guards showed up.
Ahh… my glorious girl-surrounded moment came to an end.
I looked at the guards with deep regret, only for them to look away awkwardly.
Damn you all.
Of course, this didn’t stop the recruitment. Everyone just kept their distance, watching for a chance to make another move. So now a few guards had to escort me everywhere for protection.
Apparently, there’s even a risk of me getting kidnapped… and I couldn’t argue. I might have the 【Hero】 job, but I’m still level 0, with no stat boosts at all.
If an upperclassman jumped me, I wouldn’t stand a chance right now.
Looking around, all I saw were girls with glittering eyes staring at me.
…A tiny part of me did kinda wanna get kidnapped. But that’s a secret.
That night, I couldn’t stay in the dorm—it was deemed too dangerous. So I was moved into one of the noble housing units with heavy security.
Honestly, this recruitment war probably won’t die down soon, so I guess I’ll be living here for a while.
The school said they’d bring all my stuff over tomorrow. Not much else I can do for now… well, I guess the faculty’s busy too.
"I’ve got no plans to join any party or guild. Until I start my own, I guess this is how it’ll be."
I muttered that to myself as I sank into the fluffy, noble-grade bed provided in the dorm.
By the way, "party" here refers to a team that dives into dungeons together.
In <DanKatsu>, students team up in parties of five and take on dungeons together.
A "guild" is different—it’s more like a big team or club. Guilds can have anywhere from 5 to 50 members, and they also focus on dungeon exploration.
The academy has 80 dungeons in total, all maintained by the school to help students grow stronger.
This world is built around levels.
The higher your level, the better your stats. That’s common sense. But here, that also directly affects your day-to-day life.
Take job hunting, for example: who do you think gets hired, the Lv 2 applicant or the Lv 10 one?
Exactly. The Lv 10 guy.
Because they’re stronger, more capable.
Naturally, the higher your level, the better your chances at employment, status, pay, and lifestyle.
It’s a world where hard work truly pays off. But if you slack off, you’ll get left behind fast.
That’s why students are so obsessed with conquering dungeons while they’re still at school.
It’s all to build themselves up.
And if your party includes someone with a high-ranking job like 【Hero】, your progress through dungeons will skyrocket.
That means faster leveling for everyone involved.
It also boosts your visibility. In job hunting, having a 【Hero】 in your team might give you a solid edge.
That’s why I’m stuck in this ridiculous swarm of recruitment offers.
But still—I have no intention of joining anyone.
I want to build my own guild.
There are a few reasons, but the biggest one?
It sounds way more fun.
Sure, I could tag along with some high-ranking guild and power-level my way to Advanced-level dungeons. But where’s the excitement in that?
There’s no thrill, no sense of wonder.
<DanKatsu> is a game about growth.
You level up your jobs and conquer dungeons. There are 1,021 different jobs, and it’s impossible to raise them all. That’s why planning, choosing, and training your jobs is where all the fun is.
Plus, recruiting your own team from level 0 and taking on dungeons together feels more like a game, right? Exciting, right?
"There’s still a lot I need to do before I can form a guild. I’ll start working on that tomorrow. Oh, but in the game, once you chose a job, it skipped ahead a month… I guess in real life I have to wait?"
In the game, after picking your job, it would fast-forward to the official start date for first-years. That’s when the tutorial would begin—starting your guild, taking quests, raiding dungeons, recruiting members, and all that.
But in real life, I just realized I might not be able to enter a dungeon for a whole month.
"I should ask about that tomorrow."
I went over the things I needed to confirm while planning ahead—and thus, the day ended.
"To enter a dungeon, you first need to undergo basic combat training. Dungeons are unpredictable... And for your first hands-on class, you must be accompanied by a teacher. Once you pass, then you’re free to go solo or in parties."
That was the answer I got when I asked about leveling up in dungeons, now that I had finally acquired my job.
The person I spoke to was the same female teacher who managed my job assessment yesterday.
Her name’s Professor Phyllis.
She looks almost like a full-grown adult woman, but still has that youthful air, like she’s wearing the suit instead of it fitting her. A beautiful woman with a bit of innocence.
This morning, she even came by the nobles’ dorm to personally deliver my stuff from the regular dorm.
Very mature for someone who looks like she’s barely twenty.
Since she was already there, I took the chance to ask her all the questions I had piled up.
"But that training starts next month when classes begin, right? Is there no way to enter a dungeon now?"
All first-years are supposed to begin together once everyone has their jobs.
But honestly, I don’t want to wait that long.
"If you submit a request, it’s possible before that. Students who get their job early often have time to kill, so teachers will sometimes run extra training if they’re available."
Awesome news.
I immediately asked Professor Phyllis to help me submit a request.
She said there’s a teacher available this morning, so I got slotted in right away.
Man, things are moving fast. Lucky me.
Or so I thought.
Now I seriously regret it.
"Alright, 1 million laps around the perimeter! Leveling up comes naturally through training! Don’t worry, just follow me!"
...shouted Instructor Davidev, who apparently holds the rank of major in the royal army.
It’s not uncommon for military personnel to serve as temporary instructors at the academy, and Davidev just got assigned this year to the <Dungeon Exploration Department - Combat Division>.
"No no no, that’s impossible! There’s no way anyone could physically or time-wise do that!"
"Gwahahaha! Nothing is impossible for humans! Level up through training! Now run with me, brother!"
As you might’ve guessed, Instructor Davidev is a textbook 【Muscle Warrior】.
Tanned skin, shiny body, bulging muscles.
Pure muscle.
This guy seriously believes muscles are the ultimate power.
...Yeah, this is bad.
Really bad.
He’s 100% planning to turn me into Muscle Bro 2.0.
Should I run?
No—I can’t. He went out of his way to make time for me. I can’t just bail now.
Looks like I have no choice but to go through this training today.
...Wait, seriously?
And so, my hellish training session was set in stone.
...
......
..........
In the end, I gave up after 10 laps.
Seriously, no way. This academy is massive.
I spent the whole day training and only gained 1 level.
Screw this kind of training!
Forget combat drills—I’m just gonna level up on my own!
Really, think about it.
The whole reason I’m even doing combat training (well, not that we actually fought) is to level up in the first place!
Even in online games, you sometimes gain experience points as quest rewards—and the combat training in <DanKatsu> works pretty much the same way.
Instead of leveling up by fighting monsters in dungeons, combat jobs could gain a small amount of experience through training, and production jobs could level up slightly by crafting things. That was how the system worked.
In <DanKatsu>, once you choose your job, time skips ahead to May, and your level automatically rises to 5. From there, the tutorial dungeon becomes available—you get your first skills, assign your stat points, and begin tackling actual dungeon content.
After clearing the tutorial dungeon a few times, your level reaches 10.
And since the entry requirement for the next dungeon, a Beginner-level one, is level 10, the game naturally progresses in that way.
And here’s the thing: the level requirement to enter the tutorial dungeon is 5.
I never imagined they were having us go through all that ridiculous training just to reach level 5. Back in the game, it jumped you to level 5 automatically once May rolled around. You even started at level 5!
Which means that whole insane training session was just to get me to level 5—and if I’d hit level 5 first, I wouldn’t have needed to do it at all.
I want to punch my past self for not realizing that sooner.
Ugh, muscle pain tomorrow is guaranteed…
Anyway, time to level up!
I’m gonna reach level 5 without dungeon diving or combat training.
Can that even be done? Yes—yes, it can, and the method is right in front of me!
And so…
"So that’s why you called me?"
"Exactly. We’re gonna start a Slime Respawn Marathon. I need your help."
"…Well, okay, I guess."
I summoned Hanna for this.
The goal—obviously—is to use 『Alchemy』 and grind levels through endlessly respawning slimes.
I’d sold off most of the slime jelly in the town we passed on the way to the academy, but since I kept doing slime respawns in the carriage after that, I still had tons left. All I had was free time anyway.
Slimes are extremely low-tier monsters and only give tiny amounts of experience, but it should be enough to get us to level 5.
In <DanKatsu>, the greater the level gap between you and the enemy, the less experience you get for defeating them.
Since slimes are level 1, once your own level hits 6 or higher, you stop getting XP from them. But since our goal is only level 5, they’re perfect.
Hanna had seemed uncomfortable being summoned to the noble dorms at first, but since she was already hooked on the Slime Respawn method, she got into it right away.
Well, I mean, for her, it probably feels like a money-generating magic spell. No wonder she’s into it.
We headed out to get the other required material: muddy water.
"Wait, you’re already level 6!? That’s incredible!"
The next day, when Hanna and I reported to Professor Phyllis, she stared at us, eyes wide in shock.
I mean, yeah—normally you wouldn’t level up that fast. Just yesterday, I only gained one level after all that (combat training).
But the Slime Respawn Marathon was incredibly effective.
In just thirty minutes, both Hanna and I hit level 6.
Next up: hands-on training.
But first—let’s check our status.
Status Screen
Name: Zephyrus
Race (Category): "Protagonist"
Class (Job): 【Hero】 Lv. 6
SUP (Status Up Points): 22 points total earned
Restrictions: None
HP: 30/30
MP: 20/20
STR: 10
VIT: 10
INT: 10
RES: 10
AGI: 10
DEX: 10
Remaining SUP: 0 -132P
SP (Skill Points): 0 -11P
Skills: None
Magic: None
Unique Skill: Not acquired
It looks something like this.
Starting from the top:
【Name】 — No explanation needed. It shows who the stats belong to.
【Race (Category)】 — I touched on this briefly before. It refers to that person’s innate trait or classification.
For example:
I’m labeled as "Protagonist." Hanna is "Villager." Sierra would be "Count."
This mostly comes into play when acquiring jobs, but I’ll explain it in more detail another time. It’s a long topic.
Next is 【Job】.
In my case, it says 【Hero】. For Hanna, it’s 【Alchemist】. The "Lv" next to it refers to Job Level.
Thanks to all that Slime Respawn grinding, I’m now Job Lv 6.
Next up is 【SUP (Status Up Points)】, which gives a total of 22 points.
These are the points you get every time your job levels up. They’re called SUPs.
The reason it says "Total" is because certain jobs automatically allocate some of your SUPs during level-up. That’s why this label is there.
For example, if you gain 22 points, but 10 of them are automatically distributed, you’re left with only 12 that you can manually assign. Even though you only get 12 to use freely, your total stat growth is still 22.
Then there’s 【Restrictions】, which explains that.
For the 【Hero】 job, there are no restrictions. But for a job like 【Muscle Warrior】, the restriction would be shown as:
【STR +10, VIT +10】 out of 23 points
In that case, 20 points are auto-assigned, so you only get 3 points to manually assign. That’s barely anything!
Whether you see this as a hassle or a convenience—because you don’t have to assign them yourself—depends on the player.
Personally, I doubt many would choose the latter.
Now, let’s look at the status build.
The current values are the same as the ones at Lv 0, with no SUP points spent yet.
This base stat setup at Lv 0 is the same for everyone, regardless of job.
Now, explaining each stat:
【HP】: Think of it like a barrier that absorbs monster attacks.
As long as you still have HP, most damage is significantly reduced, and you won’t suffer major injuries.
If HP hits zero, the barrier vanishes, and you become incapacitated.
Taking hits in this state usually results in serious injuries or worse. So never fight without HP.
Example:
【HP 27/30】 — Max HP is 30, and if you take damage, your HP is reduced like this.
【MP】: Consumed when using skills or magic.
Example:
【MP 11/20】 — Max MP is 20, and using skills or magic reduces it.
Additionally, HP and MP both have a conversion rate of 3 points per SUP.
In other words, 1 SUP point = +3 to max HP or MP.
Now, for the six core stats:
【STR】: Strength. Increases attack power. Also important for production jobs like blacksmiths.
【VIT】: Vitality. Increases defense and body durability. Stronger against slashes, strikes, pierces, and physical skills. Also, 20% of VIT contributes to max HP.
【INT】: Intelligence. Boosts magic attack and magical energy. 20% also contributes to max MP.
【RES】: Resistance. Magic defense. Enhances resistance to various magical effects.
【AGI】: Agility. Increases movement speed, skill speed, and magic casting speed.
【DEX】: Dexterity. Precision and finesse. Essential for production jobs. Also affects damage for some ranged jobs like Archers.
For these six stats, the SUP conversion rate is 1:1.
In other words, 1 SUP point = +1 stat point.
【SUP】: The number of unused points you currently have. You can assign these however you like.
【SP (Skill Points)】: In <DanKatsu>, <Skills> and <Magic> could be "acquired and enhanced" using SP (Skill Points).
The <Skill> and <Magic> you can choose from vary depending on your Job. Things like scrolls and orbs—basically, add-on systems—don’t exist in <DanKatsu(though there are exceptions).
Well, if you could acquire anything freely, it’d make the whole job system meaningless. So yeah, it’s understandable.
Acquiring or enhancing <Skill> or <Magic> consumes 1 SP each. That was a fixed rule.
1 point to acquire, and another 1 point to enhance. Enhancements can go up to 9 levels. So you can put a total of 10 points into a single <Skillor <Magic>.
Every time you level up, you get 1 SP regardless of job, and when you acquire a new job, you receive a celebratory bonus of 5 SP. That’s why my current total is 11 SP.
Finally, regarding 【Skills / Magic / Unique Skills】—basic <Skills> are usually physical, and <Magic> is, well, magic.
There are so many types and exceptions that it's hard to give a single explanation.
Each Job always comes with one Unique Skill, and also includes several skills or magic spells (except for the 【Muscle Warrior】 job—that’s a special case).
You spend SP to acquire whichever ones you like and use them in combat, production, and everything else.
You could go broad and pick a little bit of everything, or specialize and enhance a few to the max. Build your character your way! That’s one of <DanKatsu>’s main appeals.
One last note—SP allocation was a really important element in <DanKatsu>. Since SP is limited, you’d often spend a good hour staring at your skills trying to decide where to allocate your points, or plan ahead with a schedule to allocate them in a specific order.
SP allocation was one of the main highlights of <DanKatsu>, after all.
On the online forums, debates about the best combination never stopped. Everyone insisted their build was the strongest and wouldn’t back down. Even the debates were part of the whole skill point (SP) allocation process—it was fun.
The only way to reset SP was through a level reset from changing jobs, so you really couldn’t afford to mess up. It was serious business.
Someone please give me a 'Back' button.
Anyway, the reason I just checked my status is because we’re finally going into a dungeon.
Amazingly, Professor Phyllis volunteered to be in charge of Hanna’s and my field training, so we’re heading into the dungeon today.
Super grateful for that.
So, I figured I’d finally allocate the status points I’d been holding onto.
"Zephyrus-kun, got a minute?"
"What’s up?"
While I was killing time waiting for Professor Phyllis to finish getting ready, after going back to grab my gear for the dungeon, Hanna showed up at my room.
I was bored too, so it worked out.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you about how to allocate my stats. You seem kinda knowledgeable, Zephyrus-kun."
"Oh yeah, that’s totally fine. In fact, let me give you some advice!"
"Huh? Oh, um... sure?"
Apparently, Hanna had also been stressing about her stat build and came to consult me. Perfect.
I invited her into the room. She looked a little confused about why I was so eager.
Hanna’s job is 【Alchemist】, which is considered essential for forming a guild.
If she messes up her stat build, I’m the one who’ll be in trouble, so I’ll give her my full support.
Time to share my Ultimate Build Theory™ with her!
"You done?"
"Y-Yeah. I followed what you said, but... are you sure I don’t need to learn any combat skills?"
"Nah, totally unnecessary. 【Alchemist】 is a production job, not a combat one. If you want to do both, you should switch to the 【Battle Alchemist】 job, but then you’ll just end up being mediocre at both. SP isn’t unlimited, so it’s better to put everything into production skills and specialize."
I had Hanna assign her stat points first.
Fortunately, she hadn’t assigned any SP (Skill Points) or SUP (Status Upgrade Points) yet.
I explained my Ultimate Build Theory and taught her how to develop an 【Alchemist】.
But I didn’t force anything.
This is an important life decision—it’s ultimately up to her.
I can give advice, but I’d never ask her to throw her life away for my convenience.
And yet, Hanna decided to follow my Ultimate Build Theory.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah. I want to be helpful to you, Zephyrus-kun."
Damn, what a sweet thing to say. I almost fell for her on the spot.
But that thought vanished the moment I remembered what she looks like (loli).
"That’s not the only reason, though."
When I asked, Hanna told me that originally, she had no intention of entering dungeons.
From her perspective, my production-only build that could make a living without fighting was ideal.
So when I asked why she was trying to learn combat skills,
"C-Can you figure that out yourself?"
She said, pouting.
I already got my answer earlier, but I decided to keep it to myself.
And here’s the result of the stat allocation.
---
Name: Hanna
Race (Category): "Villager"
Job: 【Alchemist】 LV6
SUP (Stat Upgrade Points): Total: 14P
Restrictions: (DEX +5)
[HP] 30/30
[MP] 20/20 → 80/80
[STR] 10
[VIT] 10
[INT] 10
[RES] 10 → 19
[AGI] 10
[DEX] 10 → 65
[SUP] 54P → 0P
[SP] 11P → 0P
[Skills]
- Alchemy LV10
- Mixing LV1
[Magic] None
[Unique Skill] None
---
The 【Alchemist】 job gets 14 SUP (Status Up Points), and 5 of those are automatically allocated to 【DEX】, leaving you with 9 points to assign manually.
At level 6, Hanna had accumulated 54 points.
I prioritized those points into DEX and MP, and then RES after that.
As for skills, the first thing to do is put 10 SP into 『Alchemy』. That’s the standard approach.
With a low skill level, the chances of failure go up. Plus, the rarity of materials restricts what you can use, and the number of items you can craft with 『Alchemy』 is also limited. That’s why it’s best to max it out as early as possible.
Intermediate materials and such can also be made with 『Mixing』, so going forward, the plan is to raise and eventually max that out too.
For now, that should do it.
Technically, there are some combat skills like Hanna mentioned, but…
<『Kettle Smite』: Smash someone with your alchemy pot>
Yeah, no thanks.
Rejected. Straight up. Don’t underestimate STR.
The 【Alchemist】 job should clearly be production-focused.
By the way, you can check other people’s statuses by touching the <Crystal Dragon Statue>.
It’s different from the <Dragon Statue> used during job assessment—it’s a specialized item for viewing status info.
It’s probably pretty expensive, but the noble dorms had one in every room like it was nothing.
For your own status, you don’t even need an item—you can just will it into view and freely allocate your points.
You can do that anywhere.
Anyway, Hanna’s done, so now it’s my turn.
The 【Hero】 job can learn a total of 26 <Skills and Magic>, plus 2 unique skills.
Of those, you can choose 10 regular Skills and Magic, and 1 unique skill at the start.
Here’s the list:
──────────
『Body Strengthening』 – Passive: Increases all stats except HP and MP proportionally.
『Danger Sense』 – Passive: Detects imminent danger. In-game, it used to warn you with sound and color.
『Intuition』 – Passive: Reacts to dangerous things. Also responds to other stuff too.....
『Slash』 – Active: A single slashing strike when equipped with a sword.
『Rush』 – Active: A triple strike with a weapon.
『Lightning』 – Active: Magic. Lightning-element. Basic-level magic. Straight-line attack.
『Clean』 – Active: Magic. Removes dirt, restraints, etc. Single-target.
『Recovery」 – Active: Magic. Cures status ailments. Single-target.
『Healing』 – Active: Basic-level magic. Recovers HP. Single-target.
『Appeal』 – Active: Taunt. Slightly increases aggro. AoE.
『Brave Slash』 – Unique: Active. A very powerful single strike. Lowers enemy defense.
──────────
Skills follow a tree system. For example, if you raise 『Body Strengthening』 to LV 3, it unlocks the next-tier skills 『Power Boost』 and 『Speed Boost』.
That said, if you just wait until level 20, the second-tier skill tree unlocks automatically, so you don’t have to force your way there. There’s a third-tier too, which unlocks at level 40, letting you pick from every skill available—so in the end, the skill tree kind of doesn’t matter much.
It’s more for people who want to use high-tier skills at low levels, probably.
As you can see, the 【Hero】 job is an all-rounder.
Self-buffs, magic, healing, attacks, aggro skills—it has it all.
You could spread your skills out or specialize in one area. It’s a tough call…
But I’ve known what I want to do for a long time.
And that’s how I’ll allocate my points.
[Name] Zephyrus
[Race (Category)] "Protagonist"
[Job] 【Hero】 LV6
[SUP (Stat Upgrade Points)] Total: 22P
[Restriction] None
[HP] 30/30 → 62/62
[MP] 20/20 → 140/140
[STR] 10 → 50
[VIT] 10 → 20
[INT] 10
[RES] 10 → 20
[AGI] 10 → 30
[DEX] 10 → 12
[SUP] 132P → 0P
[SP] 11P → 0P
[Skills]
- Body Strengthening LV5
- Intuition LV4
- Appeal LV1
[Magic] None
[Unique Skill]
- Brave Slash LV1
I’ve said it before, but the strength of the 【Hero】 job lies in its well-rounded versatility with no weaknesses.
To raise it without killing that strength, it’s generally better to distribute stat points evenly.
For example, I only put 10 SUP (Status Up Points) into HP, but since 20% of the points allocated to VIT also apply to HP, my max HP still increased to 62.
On the other hand, I didn’t allocate any points to INT, so MP didn’t increase at all.
Also, the 【Hero】 job has the passive skill 『Body Strengthening』.
When you level it up to Lv 10, it gives a 1.6x boost to all stats except HP and MP—an absolutely busted skill.
In other words, it’s almost the same as your SUPs being multiplied by 1.6.
Even at Lv 5, you get a 1.3x boost, meaning my STR is effectively 65.
So, rather than specializing in one stat, spreading everything out evenly lets 『Body Strengthening』 shine.
That said, having higher attack power early on is usually beneficial, so for now, I’m leaning into STR.
Still, anything beyond this would just be overkill against the monsters in the tutorial dungeon, so I capped STR at 50.
I’ll spread the remaining points more evenly.
Since I’m not using magic for now, I’ll leave INT alone until later.
Eventually, though, I’ll raise everything to about the same level—including INT.
Next, about skills.
『Intuition』 is a great skill for countering ambushes, spotting traps, and finding hidden doors, so it’s definitely one to grab.
There’s a certain reason it’s better to raise early, so I plan to level it up to Lv 5.
『Appeal』 is a taunt skill. Since Hanna is coming with me this time, I’ll play the tank role and learn it.
Looking ahead, it’d be convenient if I could serve as an off-tank, so this investment won’t go to waste.
With Hanna’s attack power, I doubt she’ll pull aggro even if 『Appeal』 is just Lv 1, so I won’t go any higher right now.
Still, I plan to gradually raise 『Appeal』 in the future.
Now, for the main event.
The 【Hero】’s unique skill, 『Brave Slash』.
<The 『Brave Slash』 shall cleave through all evil>
<Non-elemental, physical slashing, debuff, single-target: Deals 300% of your attack power as damage. Also lowers the target’s defense.>
It’s simple but extremely powerful.
At Lv 10, the damage jumps to 600%, but it eats up MP like crazy, so I’ll stop at Lv 1 for now.
Even at this level, it consumes 15 MP, so I can’t spam it.
The main reason I raised my MP to 140 despite not knowing any magic yet was pretty much just for 『Brave Slash』.
As for the rest of the skills—they’re mostly stuff I won’t use later on, so I don’t plan to learn them.
Until I hit Job Lv 20, I’ll be sticking with these four skills.
Now that I’ve allocated all my stats and finished prepping, I checked the clock—it’s just about time.
"Hanna, let’s get going."
"Okay! Thanks for your help, Zephyrus-kun. I’ll do my best in the dungeon!"
"No need to be too tense, alright?"
Hanna seems pumped, but I’ll be doing most of the heavy lifting anyway, so she’ll probably be a bit underwhelmed.
Well, can’t blame her.
It’s her first dungeon—I get why she’s excited.
I grabbed the sword and shield I got from the weapon and armor shop in the <Nameless Starting Village>, and just then, someone knocked on the door.
Looks like the escort’s here.
It took a while to get this far, but dungeon crawling finally begins.
When I opened the door, Professor Phyllis was there.
She came to personally escort us to avoid the recruitment scramble from other departments. I seriously appreciate that.
This time, she wasn’t wearing her usual professional suit.
Instead, she was in a light blue hakama, a rare drop from an Intermediate Upper-tier dungeon called the <Samurai Maiden> series.
Its VIT stat boost isn’t particularly high, but the series trait—<Boost to STR and AGI while using a katana>—makes it a really solid piece of gear.
If you complete the whole set, you get a powerful set bonus, but Professor Phyllis wasn’t wearing the gauntlets or the tabi (footgear), so I guess those didn’t drop.
Looks like this is her go-to dungeon battle outfit.
To my surprise, I found out Professor Phyllis is actually a graduate of the <Main Campus of the Dungeon Academy>, and even more shocking—she majored in the <Dungeon Exploration Department - Combat Division>, just like me.
Her job? An Advanced job called 【High Samurai】, which evolves from the 【Bushido】 job.
Whoa—Professor Phyllis is my upperclassman. Small world, huh?
We chatted a bit as we headed to the dungeon.
The academy has 80 dungeons, but among them is one with the lowest difficulty and dungeon rank—a practice dungeon made specifically for first-time students to challenge.
Its name is <Beginner Dungeon>, also known as: <Tutorial Dungeon>.
Located near the center of the academy, it's even said that the school was built here specifically because of this dungeon.
After walking a few minutes, we saw a facility that looked almost like a domed stadium.
Inside that building is the dungeon entrance—what’s known as the <Dungeon Gate>.
Its formal name is <Dungeon Gate: First Transmission>, but we just called it <Shodan> for short.
Once inside the Shodan, we looked up to see a retractable roof, currently open to reveal the blue sky. Sunlight streamed in, giving the place a bright and welcoming atmosphere—not something you’d normally associate with a dungeon. It was visually impressive—one of the main stages in the game. The artwork for this area was on another level.
Deeper inside were ten gates. These were the actual entrances to the dungeons.
There were no doors, just dimensional portals standing proudly, almost as if challenging anyone who dared to enter.
The moment you pass through one of those gates, you're instantly transported into the dungeon.
You could say it's like a gateway to another dimension.
Basically, it’s a video game.
Without hesitation, Professor Phyllis walked straight toward the front-left gate.
"This is the entrance to the <Beginner Dungeon>. Are you ready?"
"Anytime."
"Yes, I'm good."
She stopped in front of the gate, turned to us, and did a final check.
We both nodded with no issues.
Hanna seemed to have done some research beforehand, so she was confident.
Professor Phyllis stepped aside, allowing me to touch the surface of the dimensional gate.
She probably wanted us to get used to the feeling.
But I’ve passed through this gate hundreds, if not thousands of times in the game. Even if this is real now, I’m not fazed.
It’s been a while since I last saw this gate.
Until just two weeks ago, I was looking at this exact portal on my screen every day.
Touching it now, it felt cool—sent a chill up my spine.
When I pushed lightly, my finger slid in effortlessly.
In my heart, I shouted:
Dungeon, I’M BACK!!
Before I knew it, we were inside the dungeon.
"Whoa. The scenery really does change in an instant, huh…"
Hanna, who was behind me, looked around in surprise at the sudden change of scenery.
"Fufu, yeah. I thought the same thing my first time."
Professor Phyllis said, giggling.
It seemed we’d all entered the dungeon together successfully.
"……"
"Huh? Zephyrus-kun? Something wrong?"
Hanna approached, probably worried since I had gone quiet.
But give me a second.
I’m busy soaking in this overwhelming wave of emotion right now.
"Suu… Haa…"
I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, fully satisfied.
This… is dungeon air.
This is insane. I'm overwhelmed.
A real dungeon I’ve dreamed of visiting—come to life.
I stood there, practically trembling with joy, doing my best to not break out into a dance.
Someone should seriously praise me for that restraint.
"Fooo! —!――!"
Ah crap. Some of that slipped out.
"Hey, Zephyrus-kun. Don’t just space out! This is a lesson, you know—you have to listen properly!"
"Hnya?"
As she pulled my shoulder, I turned around to see Hanna making a cute little angry face.
That alone made my emotions go soft and mushy.
In short, I got pulled back to reality.
"Hanna… Hey, Hanna…"
"W-What?"
Slumped over. I wanted just a bit more time to savor that feeling…
"Oh, come on. Professor Phyllis went out of her way to do this for us. Get it together, Zephyrus-kun!"
Are you my mom?
Nope—just my childhood friend.
"Got it, got it. My bad. —Sorry, Professor Phyllis. Shall we begin?"
"Hehe. It’s fine. Everyone reacts differently their first time in a dungeon. Letting you take it in is part of the lesson too."
As expected of Professor Phyllis—so understanding.
I thanked her and got ready to start our hands-on dungeon training.
Since I already knew most of this part (the lines were almost the same as in <DanKatsu>), I’ll skip over it—but basically, it’s just, "Monsters will appear, so be careful."
After that, we jumped into the actual exploration.
I took the lead, with Hanna right behind me, and Professor Phyllis bringing up the rear as we entered the <Beginner Dungeon>.
As it’s meant to be a tutorial, the <Beginner Dungeon> was just a straight, empty path. No treasure chests, no twists and turns to get lost in, and no traps either.
"Professor Phyllis, I’ve spotted a monster. May I slash it?"
Our first monster encounter in the dungeon was a <Mochikko>.
A rice cake-shaped monster—pure white and slightly puffed up all over. Naturally, it had almost no attack power.
It’s one of those monsters people always say, "Hey, this thing’s just a slime with a different look!" But for some reason, it gives three times the experience of a slime. That’s dungeon monsters for you.
Like—what the heck!? What’s a slime supposed to do now!?
Don’t worry. There’s Slime Pop to keep them relevant.
Whew. Slimes's position is safe.
While I was thinking such dumb stuff, I got permission to engage, so I dashed forward and took it down with a slash of my shortsword.
There was a momentary squish that reverberated through my hand, but it went down in one hit with no issues. First battle (sort of): victory.
It dropped glutinous rice.
A few minutes after our first battle (sort of)...
Slash, slice, kill!
Squish.
Squish.
Squish.
This is bad. This real-life dungeon thing... It’s way too fun.
I was already hooked on real-life <DanKatsu>.
The moment I spotted a <Mochikko>, I rushed in, closed the distance before it could flee, and took it out in one swing.
Now that I’d gotten the hang of real combat, I just had to keep trying it.
The feel in my hands, the rush of battle—and yet it’s still <DanKatsu>.
Everything about it was just so new and exciting.
Let me say it again—this is crazy fun!
Squish.
"Alright, time to switch. Zephyrus-kun, come back and swap out with Hanna-san."
But fun times always go by in the blink of an eye.
When Professor Phyllis announced the rotation, I reluctantly switched positions with Hanna.
Well, might as well check out the loot while I’ve got downtime.
Hmm. Rice, glutinous rice, corn, paddy rice, wheat, barley... yep, all grass family crops!
"I’ll do my best!"
"Just don’t overexert yourself, okay?"
Next to me, Professor Phyllis was giving Hanna some advice.
Hanna’s job is 【Alchemist】. She has no combat skills. Like, none at all.
Plus, physically speaking, Hanna’s clearly not cut out for battle.
She’s probably just barely over 140 cm tall, and she looks two or three years younger than me.
To put it bluntly—Hanna is a total loli.
No wonder the professor’s worried.
"Still want to try without combat skills?"
"Hmm... No, I’ll give it a shot as I am. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll rethink it. Besides, even Zephyrus-kun didn’t use any combat skills earlier."
She had seen me fight, and the enemy was just a <Mochikko>. She’d be fine.
Professor Phyllis, there’s no need to worry. I know Hanna better than anyone.
Just relax and watch.
"Alright, here I go! Teyaaaah!"
With a cute shout, Hanna pumped herself up.
She raised her two-handed mace—her weapon—and closed in on a nearby <Mochikko>, then took a swing at it like a golf shot.
There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation. A perfect swing.
"Wha?"
A dumbfounded noise escaped Professor Phyllis,
And then fwup—a soft, air-releasing sound echoed as the <Mochikko> went flying in a perfect arc,
Before vanishing with a drop of rice.
"Nice shot!!"
"I did it!"
I shouted without thinking, and Hanna cheered right along with me.
Hanna’s First Battle(?) Ends in Victory
When she returned, we shared a high-five.
"Wait a second! That was not a nice shot! What the heck just happened!?"
Professor Phyllis somehow managed to recover, but she still looked like she couldn’t believe what she’d just seen.
Well, can’t really blame her.
I mean, Hanna looks like a total combat-averse loli.
No one would expect her to beat a monster to death on her very first encounter without even hesitating.
A normal little girl—heck, even a normal girl—would probably flinch at the idea of killing a monster.
But see, this girl? She’s already killed way more monsters than me.
Yeah, sure, they’re just slimes.
But still—Hanna has basically become a slime killer.
She owns a <『Alchemy Lv1』 Bracelet>, so she can use 『Alchemy』 wherever she wants.
And she’s been steadily, obsessively spawning slimes and farming them solo.
She’s a full-blown Slime Pop addict.
Some people can’t stop when the gold keeps flowing, but Hanna? She’s on a whole other level.
I just asked her a bit ago, and she casually dropped. I stopped counting after I passed 150,000 tiny magic stones.
I get that she wants to hoard materials because magic stones are commonly used in alchemy, but at this rate, her dorm room’s gonna be buried in them.
Honestly, maybe it already is.
So yeah, to someone like Hanna, a Mochikko that looks kind of like a slime was basically no threat. She didn’t even hesitate.
She even had room to play around.
That scared little girl who froze up when we first met in that forest and got attacked by slimes? She’s gone.
What the hell happened?
Maybe I shouldn’t have taught Slime Pop to someone like her…
I was starting to regret it a little, but on the other hand, having a massive stock of magic stones is a good thing, so whatever.
When I make my own guild, I’ll just put that addictive drive to work and have her mass-produce stuff. Positive thinking!
In the end, I just brushed it off with, "Hanna’s surprisingly athletic, you know," and Professor Phyllis let it slide.
Can’t really explain Slime Pop Marathons, though.
Especially not when Hanna gave me that terrifying death glare.
Yikes.
Didn’t know she had that kind of look in her. And we’re childhood friends! …Even if it’s only been two weeks.
After that, Hanna happily took the lead, shooting down more <Mochikko> without hesitation.
Professor Phyllis quickly got used to it. She must’ve just decided, "Guess that’s just how it is."
And so, we cleared the first floor.
The tutorial-tier tutorial monster, <Mochikko>, had served its purpose.
"We collected 23 drops in total. Wanna eat them together when we get back?"
"Yeah!"
The first floor of the <Beginner Dungeon> only has <Mochikko> monsters.
Their drops were mostly grains—basically all kinds of cereal crops. So, cooking ingredients.
As expected from a world where dungeons supply everything—<DanKatsu>.
Even staple foods come from monster drops like it’s nothing.
Back when this was still a game, we didn’t have hunger or fullness stats, so we just sold this stuff.
But here in the real world of <DanKatsu>, you get hungry.
Which means food has value now.
Maybe I need to rethink my whole value system from the game days.
Stuff I once wrote off as junk might turn out to be super useful…
Fuhaha… I’m kind of looking forward to how this plays out.
Now, we’ve reached the second floor.
This dungeon’s what they call a "field-type," where each floor has its own biome. The first was a grassy plain with a straight path running through it.
The second floor is a forest area. The trees are… not exactly dense, more like scattered here and there.
You can see pretty far, and the path is still straight.
As long as you stick to the road, you won’t get lost. No branches or forks either.
Classic tutorial design. Totally beginner-friendly.
"Alright, we’ve reached the second floor. The monsters change from here on, so be careful."
Said Professor Phyllis gently as she warned us.
But since I already know what kind of monsters appear on this floor, I honestly have no idea what we’re supposed to be careful about.
"What shows up here?"
Hanna asked. I decided to stay quiet.
"The monsters on the second floor are hornless <Horn Rabbits>."
...Isn’t that just a normal rabbit?
Just because it’s the tutorial doesn’t mean you should nerf their attack power into the ground!
I wanted to make a comment, but I felt like if I did, I’d lose.
I absolutely won’t say anything.
"Aren’t those just regular rabbits?"
"Pfft!"
Hanna said it!?
I was trying so hard to hold it in, but she made me burst out laughing!
"That’s right. You can think of them as regular rabbits. They drop meat,"
Professor Phyllis admitted.
So they really are just regular rabbits!
Though for some reason, the way Professor Phyllis said "regular" felt a bit different... but I’m sure I’m just imagining things.
Still, setting that aside, free meat is awesome!
"Alright. Hanna, let’s collect a bunch."
"Yeah!"
Hanna nodded confidently. She wasn’t nervous anymore.
We both started walking while searching for meat... when suddenly, my 『Intuition』 whispered to me.
Something feels... dangerous!?
"There!?"
An ambush from the side.
Seeing the rabbit leaping at me, I blocked it with the buckler on my left arm.
Thunk! A dull thud echoed from the shield.
It sounded like someone getting punched in the head.
"Kyu..."
The rabbit flopped to the ground and stopped moving.
It was twitching slightly.
Maybe it hit its head and passed out. It’s completely wide open.
Wait—can I even cut it like this? It feels kinda wrong?
"Professor Phyllis! A rabbit just jumped at me! Is it okay if I cut it!?"
I mean, we are in the middle of class. If I attack on my own, there might be some consequences. Better to ask the teacher first.
Not that I was hesitating or anything.
"Sure. I recommend turning them into stew."
Professor Phyllis replied.
Whoa. In her mind, it was already part of the dinner menu.
Also, Professor Phyllis seems oddly into this. Is she seeing these rabbits as stew ingredients already?
Welp, I got permission.
Sorry, rabbit—become our dinner.
With the green light, I slashed the twitching rabbit with my shortsword.
Particles of light scattered, and meat dropped. It was rabbit meat—somehow already packaged.
"Meat, get!!"
I grabbed the dropped meat and raised it high with a triumphant shout.
No real reason. I just got excited!
But hey, getting hyped is important!
Then Hanna came over, looking a little jealous.
"Lucky you, Zephyrus-kun."
"Don’t worry, Hanna. You’ll find one soon. But hey, they’re still monsters, so watch out when they attack, alright?"
"Hmmm… I think I’ll be fine, though."
Yeah, I figured you'd say that.
Hornless Horn Rabbits. About 20 cm in size.
They’re so tiny that they aren’t even threatening. Even if they hit you, they wouldn’t do any damage.
I get where Hanna’s coming from.
"But think of this as practice. It’s training, so you’ll know how to handle real situations."
"You’re right. Thanks, Zephyrus-kun."
I gave Hanna some advice since she seemed a bit too relaxed about the danger.
I just had this feeling she might get hurt if she got too comfortable around monsters. But—
When I saw the rabbit that attacked her go flying like it was nothing... maybe I was worried for nothing.
The second floor is slightly longer than the first.
There were more monsters, too, and in the end, we ended up with 28 pieces of meat.
That’s quite a haul. I’m feeling pretty pleased.
We even leveled up.
Both Hanna and I reached Level 7, and with the skill points we earned (SP), I upgraded my 『Intuition to Lv. 5』, and Hanna upgraded 『Mixing to Lv. 2』.
With that, our party smoothly progressed to the third and fourth floors.
The <Beginner’s Dungeon> is a field-type dungeon with a total of five floors.
1st Floor: Mochi-type monsters called <Mochikko> (basically like slimes).
2nd Floor: Rabbit-type monsters called <Horn Rabbits> (note: they have no horns).
3rd Floor: Tree-type monsters called <Wood> (note: they can’t move from their spot).
4th Floor: Bird-type monsters called <Kokekko> (note: they’re chicks).
These monsters appear on each respective floor, supposedly offering "trials" to the players.
Anyone who fails these trials doesn’t pass the test. Without a teacher accompanying them, they won’t be allowed to challenge dungeons, nor will they qualify to take on the next Beginner-level Dungeon.
Honestly, failing this is harder than passing.
Under Professor Phyllis’s guidance, we made it to the final floor with zero difficulty and were now about to enter the boss room.
"So this is the boss's room door?"
"Yes. Like here, every dungeon’s bottom floor always has a boss—no exceptions. And there’s always a door before the boss's room. If you don’t open the door, the boss won’t appear, and no other monsters will spawn either. So the area in front of the door is the final safe zone."
Hanna was listening intently to Professor Phyllis’s explanation.
What’s common sense to me is all new to Hanna.
She’s so serious—trying to absorb as much as she can.
"Zephyrus-kun, do you have any questions for the teacher?"
"Hmm... Professor Phyllis, do you have a boyfriend?"
"…No, I meant questions about the dungeon, not that. But it seems like you’ve prepared well, so perhaps you don’t have any dungeon-related questions?"
I answered seriously and got a tired look in return.
But come on—before we came here, I found out Professor Phyllis is a new hire, fresh out of school. That means she’s 19 years old!
A 19-year-old beautiful teacher!
Any normal teenage boy would definitely want to know if she has a boyfriend, right? I bet 99 out of 100 people would agree with me.
Hmm. Seems like Professor Phyllis underestimates how curious guys can be.
Guess I’ll have to thoroughly explain it to her, step-by-step.
Just as I was thinking that, my 『Intuition』 suddenly kicked in.
"Zephyrus-kun?"
"! H-Hanna? What’s up?"
Why am I getting this nervous just from her calling my name?
Felt like something cold ran down my back. Probably my imagination... hopefully.
Anyway, I’ve got nothing to hide, so I looked straight at Hanna confidently.
"That was rude to the teacher, wasn’t it?"
"Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry."
Total defeat. I bowed my head before Hanna’s overwhelming presence.
Hanna... could you not look at me with those emotionless, dead eyes? That’s terrifying.
Ever since she became a slime killer, her aura’s been intense...
"A-anyway! Enough joking around—time to fight the boss!"
"That was a joke?"
"Haha, thanks to that, you’re not nervous anymore, right?"
"Eh? Hmm... maybe?"
Honestly, I don’t think either of us felt nervous since the <Mochikko> fight, but I played it off as a joke and forcefully shifted focus to the boss battle.
Hanna was surprisingly easy to steer.
Bit of a brute-force tactic, but since the light returned to her eyes, I’d say mission accomplished.
With no time to spare, we jumped into a quick strategy meeting.
"Alright, the final boss is just a regular goblin. Only one appears."
The last boss of the <Beginner’s Dungeon> is an unarmed goblin.
Among us <DanKatsu> players, we referred to it as a <Plain Goblin>.
If you just said "goblin," people would ask, "Archer? Swordsman?"—so to clarify, it was just a generic one, we politely called it the <Tada Goblin> (lit. Plain Goblin).
In the game’s story, this marks the end of the exam: once you’ve gotten used to fighting monsters and defeated a humanoid one, you complete the trial.
That’s the basic flow.
Honestly, even if you’re not a combat job and haven’t put a single point into STR, you can still beat a goblin. That’s how easy this is. So yeah, it’s no match for me, a 【Hero】.
I mean, if you’ve got a short sword and the equivalent of 65 STR, you can one-shot it with a basic attack. It’s that weak.
Let’s be real—just because it’s in the boss room doesn’t mean it’s an actual boss monster.
It's just a plain ol’ goblin.
It’s basically a recruit straight from the first floor of a Beginner mid-tier dungeon.
Hanna should be able to beat it, but if she goes solo, she’ll probably take a decent amount of damage.
So for the first time, I suggested using 『Appeal』.
The idea was that I’d tank the goblin while Hanna meets the minimum requirements for passing, and then I’d finish it off.
"The real test starts with the Beginner low-tier dungeons. If you’re flustered by just one goblin, you won’t pass."
"Okay. I’ll do my best."
"Hanna-san has already met most of the passing criteria with the dungeon so far. All that’s left is for her to attack the goblin without hesitation."
"Ooh, you hear that, Hanna?"
"Yeah, sounds like this’ll be easy."
Refocused and fired up, Hanna hoisted her trusty two-handed mace over her shoulder.
Once I saw that she was ready, I slowly opened the boss room door.
Unlike the field-style layout from before, this one led indoors.
It was, literally, the boss's room.
Inside stood a plain goblin, with murky green skin, about waist height to me.
The moment we entered, it bared its teeth at us in a clear display of aggression.
"Alright then—just like we planned: 『Appeal』!"
I used 『Appeal』, struck a dramatic pose with one finger pointed high, and a faint blue dome-shaped effect spread out from me.
The moment the part of the effect touched the goblin, its gaze locked onto me.
"Gobuu!"
"Alright, come get me, tough guy."
I stepped forward with my buckler up, and the goblin lunged at me, enraged.
Crap! That’s a Lu○nda Dive!
It was kinda gross, so I sidestepped immediately, and the goblin splattered to the ground.
It landed right in front of Hanna.
"Wide open!"
Hanna swung her mace down from over her shoulder in a heavy arc.
Whoa—perfect timing. Nailed it.
Splat. A dull thud echoed.
The goblin, smacked square on the head, started twitching violently.
Yeah… hard to watch.
Somebody please put a censor blur on this.
I’m kidding—it’s just knocked down.
Since Hanna should’ve now met the clear conditions, I followed up with a slash of my own.
Slash! A solid hit. Not as good as Hanna’s, though.
Seriously, Hanna—how are you so good at swinging that thing?
"G-Gobuuh…"
After some last spasms, its HP hit zero, and the goblin disappeared in a puff of particle effects.
And just like that, the boss fight was over.
Oh wait—I didn’t even use 『Brave Slash』!
"Congratulations, Zephyrus-kun, Hanna-san. You’ve both passed the dungeon trial. From now on, you can challenge the dungeon without a supervisor."
""Thank you very much!""
We returned to the <Dungeon Gate – First Transmission>, the entrance of the <Beginner Dungeon>, having cleared it without a scratch.
There, Professor Phyllis gave us our final evaluation—and we officially passed.
"I rarely see students perform this well. Very impressive," she said.
Heck yeah.
Hanna and I high-fived in celebration.
"I’ll be heading back to the faculty office. What about you two? Want to come with me?"
"I appreciate it, but I’d like to stay a bit longer and get some more practice."
"Oh? That’s very dedicated of you. What about you, Hanna-san?"
"I’ll follow Zephyrus0kun."
Professor Phyllis was still trying to recruit us to come with her, but I wasn’t done enjoying the real dungeon just yet.
That last run didn’t quite scratch the itch—probably because it was still technically part of a class.
What I really wanted was to explore the dungeon freely, doing it my own way.
Professor Phyllis gave a satisfied nod.
"Do your best. I’m cheering for you."
We waved goodbye as she left.
Man… she’s kind, understanding, gorgeous… What a great teacher.
And she’s only 19. A 19-year-old beautiful teacher.
Let me say that again: a 19-year-old beautiful teacher.
Only in a game world could you get a setup this good.
If someone like her were teaching me in real life, you bet I’d be super motivated to study.
I kept waving until she disappeared from sight.
Honestly, I was this close to chasing after her and saying, "Let’s go back together after all,"—but I held back with my iron willpower.
Hanna was staring at me from the side. She was just watching—but very intently. Her gaze was intense.
I turned to Hanna with a nonchalant expression.
"Alright, I'm thinking of challenging the dungeon again. You coming too, Hanna?"
"That's why I stayed. Of course I'm coming."
Looks like she’s definitely coming along.
Well, that works out for me.
Considering the future, I wanted to get Hanna to level 16 anyway.
The skill 『Material Return』, which unlocks after leveling 『Alchemy』 and 『Mixing』, is one I definitely want her to learn.
Right now, both Hanna and I are Job Level 8.
The Beginner low-tier dungeon has an entry restriction—you need to be at least Level 10 to enter.
So we need to grind two more levels in the <Beginner Dungeon> first.
The plan is to do that today.
We're leveling up today!
"I'm planning to hit Level 10 today, so we should be good after two runs or so."
"Okay. I’ll leave it to you, Zephyrus-kun."
"Alrighty! Then let’s start our runs."
And so, Hanna and I stepped through the gate of the <Beginner Dungeon> again and were teleported inside.
Squish
Squish
We slashed the squishy <Mochikko> monsters again.
Thud.
Thud.
Hanna beat the hornless <Horn Rabbits> to death.
Crack.
Whack!
Together, we snapped and chopped up the <Wood> monsters.
Bonk.
Bonk.
We gently smacked the <Kokekko>.
Once again, we reached the boss room on the bottom floor.
"This is fun, but it’s a little too easy."
"Can’t help it. It’s made for beginners, and the whole point is to pass the trial, right?"
"Yeah, true. But this boss room’s got a little treat in store."
"...?"
On the second run, the journey there was starting to feel a bit bland.
But I was looking forward to the boss's room.
"Gobb!"
When the door opened, the same plain goblin appeared.
The fight was over in an instant.
"You didn’t get this last time—take my 『Brave Slash Lv1』!!"
"Gobu—!?"
My short sword glowed with a blue effect as I swung it down from above.
WHAM! A flash of impact—the air sparkled with effects.
The goblin’s HP hit zero in a flash, and it vanished in a burst of light particles.
From the outside, it must’ve looked super cool.
"Whoaa!! That felt amazing!"
Damn, special moves are awesome.
This is ridiculously fun!
Are there any more goblins!?
Unfortunately, the boss room only ever has one goblin. Lame.
I picked up the dropped <Lesser Demon Horn> and went back to Hanna, who, for some reason, was blushing and fidgeting.
"Zephyrus-kun, what was that just now!?"
Looks like she really liked 『Brave Slash』.
Good taste!
"That was 『Brave Slash』, a unique skill and finishing move of the 【Hero】 job."
"That was so cool!"
"I know, right!"
Man, I’m glad Hanna gets how awesome that move was.
That makes me happy, too.
Ugh... why didn’t I bust out 『Brave Slash』 earlier in front of Professor Phyllis? I wanted to see her excited reaction.
Regret is hitting me hard.
After Hanna and I had our little excited chat about the finishing move, I started walking toward the real reason I was here.
"The ‘fun thing’ you mentioned earlier—wasn’t that 『Brave Slash』?"
"Oh, that? Well, yeah, that was the first time I used it here, too. I didn’t think it’d be that cool, honestly…"
"Here?"
"Ah—don’t worry about it. Different topic. The ‘fun thing’ I was talking about is something else. Just follow me."
Where I’m headed is the back of the boss's room.
There’s a glowing magic circle, giving off a faint pink light.
This part’s the same as in the game. In <DanKatsu>, this pink magic circle was a teleport gate.
Stepping on it lets you instantly return to the dungeon entrance.
I used it on the first run, too. Felt kind of emotional going back like that.
But this time, I don’t need it.
What I’m after is even farther in.
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