Chapter 12: Clear the Quest! Beginner Low-Tier Dungeon Conquest
"Hyaah!"
The sensation of span vibrated through my arm at the same time the anteater-type monster, the <Quill>, I’d just cut down, vanished in a burst of effects.
I checked the drop it left behind and pumped my fist.
"Yes! Finally got a <Quill Pelt>. That’s the end of this floor."
"Good work, Zephyrus-kun. Want to take a short break? I can get you something to drink."
"Ah, that’d help. I’ll take you up on that and rest for a bit…"
The moment the material we were after finally dropped, the fatigue hit me all at once, so I gladly accepted Hanna’s offer.
That afternoon, after picking up a quest from the <Wappen Seal Sticker>, I brought Hanna to one of the Beginner low-tier dungeons, the <Tropical Forest Dungeon>.
Like the <Beginner Dungeon>, it’s a field-type dungeon, but the landscape here is more of a dense jungle. No surprise people call it the <Jungle Dungeon>.
If you step even slightly off the path, you’ll find undergrowth over three meters high growing in thick clusters. Accidentally wandering in and getting back to the path would be… questionable at best. In the game, this area was blocked off, but in real life, you can just walk right in.
The paths themselves are neatly maintained, like mown grass, so moving around is no problem.
Every now and then, <Quills> or sloth-type monsters called <Namals> would attack from tree branches, but so far, my basic attacks with the <Sky Sword> have been enough to one-shot them without any trouble.
The <Tropical Forest Dungeon> is a good place for beginners—not only do monsters here drop a lot of quest materials, but they also tend to have low AGI.
I picked this dungeon since this was Hanna’s first try at a Shocker dungeon.
That said, this time Hanna’s role was as a porter.
She’s put her SUP (Status Upgrade Points) into DEX, MP, and RES, so her attack power depends almost entirely on her two-handed mace.
Her mace, named <Beginner’s Two-Handed Mace: ATK 12, MAG 8>, is—well, as the name suggests—at the very bottom tier for weapons.
Honestly, even against Shocker monsters, her attacks don’t do much since she hasn’t put even one point into STR.
That’s why she’s on porter duty.
I take down the monsters, and she stores their materials in our <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)>.
Maybe she felt bad about just carrying loot, because she’s been actively supporting me in other ways too.
Apparently, she really dislikes the idea of getting EXP just by relying on me.
But the thing is, she’s already guaranteed to become my guild’s first member, so I see this as an investment. I’m sure I’ll be asking her to do all sorts of things later, so she doesn’t need to worry about it now.
Even if she plans to help later, it’s not efficient for her to focus on production when she’s still in the early stages with no skills unlocked.
The right move is to train in Shocker dungeons until she hits Job Lv 20, when her second-tier skill tree unlocks.
The EXP from crafting early on is laughably low—it’s way more efficient once you’ve got a solid skill set.
For reference, my weapon is the <Sky Sword: ATK 85, MAG 51, Holy Attribute>.
Since it’s a weapon meant for Intermediate High-tier dungeons, Shocker monsters don’t stand a chance against it.
Thanks to that, I’m having a blast going full-on real-life musou mode.
"Alright, break’s about over. The first floor didn’t have enough monsters, so pelts were slow to collect, but starting from the next floor, they show up in groups of two or more. We’ll gather them a lot faster."
"Oh, I see. But hey, Zephyrus-kun, how do you know that? We haven’t even had classes on this yet, right?"
When I wrapped up the break and told her my plan, Hanna tilted her head and asked.
"This kind of stuff is easy to find out. If you go to the <Great Library of the Academy>, most of the dungeon info is there."
And that’s the truth.
The <Great Library of the Academy>—nicknamed the "mountain of setting materials"—stores an enormous collection of books. You can find everything from dungeon and monster info to hints about Job unlock conditions and their performance, all the way to weapon, armor, and item recipes.
Of course, it’s mostly basic info, but still.
Back when I first started playing <DanKatsu>, I studied like crazy at the <Great Library>.
Ah, nostalgia. Maybe I should check out the real one sometime. Even though I’ve covered everything in the game, there might be materials here I’ve never read before.
"Hmm? But Zephyrus-kun, weren’t you stuck inside until yesterday because of the recruitment wars? How could you have gone to the Great Library?"
"Anyway, enough talking. I want to be back by tonight, so let’s keep hunting."
"Ah! Wait, Zephyrus-kun!"
Hanna, who’s usually a bit slow, was unusually quick to notice this time, so before I could slip up, I cut the conversation short and moved on to the second floor.
For some reason, Hanna’s sharper and in better form when we’re in a dungeon.
Slash! Slice! Shutan!
We made it to the fifth floor today, but not a single monster managed to withstand a blow from the <Sky Sword>.
My level climbed steadily, and my Job reached Lv 11, letting me raise 『Appeal』 to Lv 5.
At Lv 5, 『Appeal』’s effective range expands a lot, making it useful for luring monsters.
So I’d use 『Appeal Lv 5』 to draw them in, cut them down, move to the next spot, use 『Appeal Lv 5』 again, cut them down—repeating that loop to efficiently gather materials.
We wrapped up before nightfall and headed back.
By that time, I was 【Hero Lv 12】 and Hanna was 【Alchemist Lv 14】.
Hanna’s level was higher because of the difference in job rank. 【Hero】 is stronger, so they need more EXP—that kind of deal.
"Mister, you work fast. Already been to the fifth floor of the <Tropical Forest>, huh? And not just that—you’ve got the exact number of materials needed. A perfect job. I’m impressed."
"Yeah. You can flatter me more if you want. I’m planning to clear the <Tropical Forest Dungeon> by the end of today."
The morning after Hanna’s first try at a Shocker dungeon, I was at <Wappen Seal Sticker>, where Marie-senpai works, to deliver materials for that quest.
Today was my first day off since coming to the academy. Saturday.
For me, since I can skip classes, every day feels like a holiday, but Marie-senpai still has regular lessons. She’s usually not at the guild in the mornings, but on holidays she tends to hang out there from the start of the day—so I showed up early to hand in the quest.
The quest was only about one-sixth done, but I make it a point to deliver in small batches for progress reports. I could wait and hand everything in at once, but since my carrying capacity is limited, I prefer to drop things off after each dungeon run so my item bag stays as empty as possible.
"Man, the 【Hero】 job really is something… Normally, even in a Shocker dungeon, you’d form a party and spend about a week exploring before challenging the boss."
Well, that’s true if it’s a dungeon you’ve never explored before.
But I was known as the database guy when I played <DanKatsu>—I knew every inch of the game.
I know all the routes by heart, never get lost, and can take the most efficient path every time. I know every monster’s details inside and out, which is why my clear speed is so fast.
Of course, part of it is because the 【Hero】 job is excellent, and part of it is because the <Sky Series> gear is just ridiculously strong.
"What about the materials that aren’t for the quest?"
"There’s a lot we could use, so mind if I check with the guild members? I think there are people who’d want them for personal use too, not just for the guild."
"No problem. But I’ve got another meeting to get to. I’ll leave the materials here—just tell me the appraised total when I get back from the dungeon. Anything you don’t need, I’ll take back."
"Got it. Then I’ll work hard to get you a price that makes you want to bring in lots more materials, mister."
"Music to my ears. Make it as high as you can."
Once we had an agreement, I shook hands with Marie-senpai.
Having connections with other guilds makes this kind of negotiation way easier.
Since I don’t have a guild home yet, storage is a bottleneck. Being able to use another guild’s place as a temporary storage site is a huge help.
Some guilds will skim off your stuff while you’re away in a dungeon, but Marie-senpai is smart enough that I can trust her.
She knows that if the relationship breaks, she loses out too—probably more than I would—so she’ll even sweeten the deal a bit on price.
I met up with Hanna, and we headed for the <Dungeon Gate: First Transmission>, a.k.a. <Shoudan>.
At the entrance, there were a few scattered students.
"Oh, right… Today’s a rest day, isn’t it? I think this is the first time I’ve seen other students here."
Seems Hanna had forgotten it was a holiday too—she blinked in surprise at the sight.
I get it. When every day’s a holiday, you lose track of the days of the week.
The other groups looked like upperclassmen, their gear fairly decent.
Most of them seemed to be heading for a Beginner High-tier (Shokko) dungeon.
No one was going to a Shocker dungeon, so it looked like we’d have it all to ourselves again.
I was scanning the area when Hanna tugged on my sleeve.
"Hey, Zephyrus-kun."
"Hm?"
"Look over there."
I followed her pointing finger… and saw six very intense-looking sets of muscles.
"You are the chosen elite of muscle! Go forth and crush monsters with that muscle! Don’t worry—your instructor will be watching closely, so go test the limits of your muscles with confidence!"
"""""YES, INSTRUCTOR!"""""
I felt my cheek muscles freeze into an awkward grin.
Looked like one instructor and five students were about to challenge the <Beginner Dungeon>.
Must be that trial they do. The instructor was… motivating them?
And that instructor was Davidev, who’d trained me before.
The problem? For some reason, every single one of them—including the instructor—was shirtless.
And without exception, the five students were all musclebound. A full party of 【Muscle Warriors】, no doubt about it.
The heat radiating from them was unreal.
"You have been chosen as 【Muscle Warriors】! Congratulations—it’s a powerful job!"
That’s not congratulations-worthy!
I couldn’t help mentally snapping back.
If I kept watching that sweaty, overbearing group any longer, I had a feeling some other outrageous comment would fly out.
I grabbed Hanna’s hand and made a quick escape into the <Tropical Forest Dungeon>.
"That was… wow. I mean… in so many ways…"
"Yeah, I totally agree. I’m scared our classmates are gonna start turning into mini-Davidev instructors…"
Classmates like Davidev? …Yeah, no thanks.
Thinking about next month’s class presentation and lessons with that possibility in mind kind of killed my mood.
Once we were inside the dungeon, Hanna and I took a moment to catch our breath. Honestly, I was just relieved to be away from that group.
"Alright, change of plans for today."
"Huh? Okay… but why?"
Hanna tilted her head curiously at my words—still holding her two-handed mace. When she does that while armed, it’s… subtly intimidating. Anyway.
I’d told her earlier that today’s plan was the same as yesterday: gather materials from floors 6 to 9, beat the floor 10 boss, then head back.
But after seeing that muscle squad, I’d changed my mind.
"Up until now, the Shockers' dungeons have basically been ours alone, right? But I’m guessing that muscle squad we just saw will clear the <Beginner Dungeon> soon."
"Yeah… which means we’re about to have competition, huh?"
"Exactly. We’re still way faster overall, but we can’t afford to take it slow anymore."
Compared to the usual pace, our progress had been really fast… but honestly, I’d still been holding back to match Hanna’s speed.
I didn’t think we’d see any rivals this soon, but with a five-man party of 【Muscle Warriors】 showing up, our lead just got shaky.
Those guys are already level 5? What the hell kind of training did they do…? No doubt they’ve been completely indoctrinated by Davidev.
Now, 【Muscle Warrior】 is kind of a joke job in my mind—but in this world, it’s actually considered a top-tier job. And that’s not just a misconception—it’s genuinely strong.
…At least at the start. Which, of course, means that at the start, they’re ridiculously strong.
See, 【Muscle Warriors】 get 23 SUP (Stat Upgrade Points), which is actually higher than 【Hero】.
That’s the highest number among all the low-rank jobs.
To put it in perspective, a 【Swordsman】 only gets 12 SUP.
So, every time a 【Muscle Warrior】 and a 【Swordsman】 level up, their stats gap widens by nearly double. You get what that means, right…?
Even on the low end, that’s overwhelming.
Sure, 【Muscle Warrior】 is kind of a joke job—but in the early game, it’s a seriously overpowered job.
They didn’t just snag two ranking titles for nothing. One of them’s unofficial, but still.
Of course, the trade-offs are that they can’t learn any skills except their unique ones, and they’re stronger without armor—so they’re basically committed to the shirtless barbarian lifestyle. Which… yeah, looks just as overbearing as it sounds.
But that’s not the point. What I’m saying is:
"We’re gonna grind levels so we don’t lose to the muscle squad."
"Wait… but isn’t that what we’ve been doing already?"
Not at all.
Up until now, the focus has been on collecting materials and getting Hanna used to dungeon crawling.
Where we’re going next is a hunting ground. And not for weaklings.
"Our goal is floor 10. The boss's room."
That’s what I told Hanna.
Boss monsters are tough.
They’ve got high stats, lots of HP, and if you let your guard down, they’ll wipe out your whole party in one go.
But the rewards for beating them are worth it.
In <DanKatsu>, there’s a special system: you get boss drops, regular dungeon mob drops, and a treasure chest reward for defeating the boss—all together, that’s usually 10–20 items per run.
Plus, a ton of EXP.
For the record, the goblins at the end of the <Beginner Dungeon> don’t count as boss monsters, even though they’re in the final room. Their drops are the same as regular mobs.
Boss farming is actually the officially recommended basic strategy in <DanKatsu>. That’s why I suggested we start doing it.
"Hey, Zephyrus-kun… can we even beat the boss at our current level?"
Hanna asked nervously. If it were just her, absolutely not.
She hasn’t put any points into combat stats—she’d be more of a liability in a boss fight.
But me? I’m confident I can take it solo if I have to.
That’s why I’ve been dumping all my stat points in a way that’s totally skewed for boss fights. All for this moment.
-------------------------------
[Name] Zephyrus
[Race (Category)] "Protagonist"
[Job] 【Hero】 LV6
[SUP (Stat Upgrade Points)] Total: 22P
[Restriction] None
[HP] 62/62 → 162/162
[MP] 140/140 → 170/170
[STR] 50 → 70
[VIT] 50 → 70
[INT] 10
[RES] 20
[AGI] 30 → 50
[DEX] 12 → 14
[SUP] 132P → 0P
[SP] 6P → 0P
[Skills]
『Body Strengthening LV6』 『Intuition LV5』 『Appeal LV5』 『Abnormal Status Resistance LV3』
[Magic]
None
[Unique Skill]
『Brave Slash LV1』
-------------------------------
This time, I put most of my points into HP and VIT—in other words, durability.
Unlike regular mobs, you can’t take down a boss in one hit. Boss fights drag on.
Which means, if you haven’t built up your durability, there’s a high chance you’ll get wiped out fast.
Since I haven’t leveled any healing skills, my only option is to crank up my defense and cut incoming damage as much as possible. Low-grade healing potions aren’t free, after all.
Honestly, Hanna’s worries are completely unnecessary. I’m pretty sure the fight will be over without much trouble.
Why? Because the <Sky Series> gear I’m wearing is absurdly overpowered.
──────────
<Sky Sword – ATK 85, MAG 51, Holy element>
<Sky Shield – DEF 31, MDEF 20, +50% Holy resistance>
<Sky Armor – DEF 45, MDEF 32, +20% Light resistance>
<Set Bonus – 『Abnormal Status Resistance LV3』>
──────────
The <Sky Series> is ridiculously good.
First off, its attack and defense are higher than my own stats.
On top of that, its traits cut incoming damage from certain elements.
And if you equip three or more pieces from the same set, you get a special bonus. For the <Sky Series>, wearing all three automatically grants 『Abnormal Status Resistance LV3』.
These are weapons and armor meant for Intermediate High-tier dungeons.
For a Beginner low-tier boss? It’s going to be a joke.
After drilling this into Hanna’s head until she finally accepted it, we headed for the floor 10 boss room using the shortest route.
Naturally, we took down every monster along the way, and I let Hanna handle the drops.
Following the route I remembered… oh yeah, there’s a dead end up ahead that often spawns a random treasure chest. Let’s check it out.
"Oh yeah, jackpot! Found a chest!"
"A <Wooden Chest>! Hey, Zephyrus-kun, can I open it this time?"
"Sure. Go for it."
"Yay!"
『Intuition』 isn’t giving me any warning, so there’s no trap. Not that Beginner low-tier dungeons even have traps, anyway.
Still, treasure chests are exciting. Hanna was practically bouncing just from the chance to open it.
Her mood did nosedive the moment she saw what was inside, but thanks to our quick pace, we reached floor 10 by lunchtime.
For the record, the chest contained an <Iron Sword>.
Straight to the sell pile! Hanna let out a rare, pitiful "Fueeeeh…" in the dungeon.
Unlike the <Beginner Dungeon>, the boss room in the <Tropical Forest Dungeon> is outdoors.
It’s more like a boss field—a rectangular space surrounded by vines, with the boss waiting at the far end.
"That’s the <Tropical Forest Dungeon> boss. The <Bear Anteater>."
"Bear… anteater? Is it a bear? Or an anteater?"
"…It’s an anteater."
At least, officially.
The <Bear Anteater> is basically the boss version of the <Quill> monsters we saw earlier, but its behavior is way more bear-like. It stands on two legs, swings its powerful arms to attack, then drops to all fours to move quickly. And it never uses its tongue.
Honestly, calling it a bear-shaped anteater feels more accurate.
From the safety zone at the very back, Hanna and I ate the lunch she’d made while watching the boss.
"You know, it’s weird. We can see it just fine from here, but we can’t touch it, go in, or get any reaction from it…"
When Hanna reached toward the boss's room from the safety zone, something like an invisible barrier stopped her hand.
That’s how field-type dungeon bosses work—you can’t enter unless you go through the official gate. No matter what skill you use, you can’t damage the boss from outside.
"Yeah… Oh! This rice ball’s got omelet and yakitori in it!?"
"Ehehe, tasty, right?"
"Yeah, this is great."
Seriously, that’s a surprisingly good combo.
Hanna said she made this lunch using drops from the <Beginner Dungeon>. She was clearly fishing for praise with that smug look, so I made sure to give her plenty.
"Alright, let’s see what’s in this one… Hey, Hanna, this rice ball’s just plain rice inside."
"Oh, I tried making one with nothing but rice inside this time."
"…That’s just a salted rice ball!"
So it was a misunderstanding. But hey, the salt’s on point, so it’s still good.
First off, this is a rice ball made by a cute girl—Hanna—shaped with her own hands. How could I possibly complain? There’s no way I would.
In my previous life, I never had a girl make rice balls for me, after all.
Feeling just a little sentimental, I kept eating Hanna’s cooking. The saltiness felt stronger than before.
"Well then, shall we? Hanna, just like we planned—fall back and keep some healing potions ready."
"Mm-hm. Got it. You be careful too, Zephyrus-kun."
"Yeah, yeah. This is my first boss monster too, so I’ll be careful… but come on, it’s just a Beginner low-tier boss. If we get stuck here, that’d be pathetic."
I kept my tone light to put her at ease.
In <DanKatsu>, the <Bear Anteater> had all kinds of attack and movement patterns, making it a tricky monster to deal with. But at the end of the day, it’s just a Beginner low-tier boss. Sad as it sounds, you can brute-force your way through it.
It’s designed so that even players who’ve just finished the tutorial can beat it.
That’s the fate of a first boss monster—it can’t help being weak.
I readied my <Sky Series> gear and stepped through the gate. Hanna followed right after.
The <Bear Anteater>’s red eyes turned toward us. The boss, who had been standing perfectly still until now, began to move.
Oh-ho… in person, it’s pretty impressive. Bigger than me, radiating that boss-level intimidation.
"Alright, here we go. 『Appeal』!"
I moved forward, striking a sharp, flashy pose before it could target Hanna, pulling all the hate onto myself.
"Grrruuurrrr!"
Those red eyes locked onto me, sharp enough to pierce.
Even knowing it’s just a game, that’s still pretty intimidating. Way different from goblins.
"Gaaah!"
"Opening move—『Brave Slash』!"
If you keep some distance, the <Bear Anteater> has a habit of charging straight at you.
I took advantage of that, readying 『Brave Slash』 and waiting.
At just the right moment, I swung upward in a powerful arc.
"Gah!"
"Whoa!"
The slash landed square on its face, but even flinching, it kept coming. I was just a little late dodging the charge—failed to knock it back.
Its body clipped my leg, shaving off 4 HP and leaving a small scratch.
"Whoops. Huh… so this is what taking damage feels like in real life, huh?"
"You okay, Zephyrus-kun!?"
"Yeah, just grazed me! Doesn’t even hurt, no problem!"
I called back to reassure Hanna. Honestly, it barely hurt at all.
In real-life <DanKatsu>, your HP absorbs most of the damage and dulls the pain, so it’s nothing serious.
Still, hearing about it and actually experiencing it are two very different things. Not enough to shake me, though.
I raised my shield and charged in.
The <Bear Anteater> wasn’t far. I closed the distance, shield-first.
"Gaaah!"
It reared up, swinging its powerful arms down in a slashing motion.
I knew this attack pattern, so I decided to block it.
BAM! BAM!
The shield rang out with heavy impacts, but despite the noise, the shock through my arm was minimal.
So that’s all it’s got? With my STR and VIT both over 70, plus my <Sky Series> armor, it was laughably weak.
Alright—this is doable.
My 『Brave Slash』 had just come off cooldown.
I dodged another heavy swing, slipped into its guard, and unleashed a bright blue arc of light.
"Haaah!"
"Gah! G-Grrrr…"
Oho, critical hit.
The <Bear Anteater> froze in place from the massive damage. It was down!
Now’s my chance!
With 『Brave Slash』 on cooldown, I went in with basic attacks, slashing away.
"Graaaaahhhh—!"
Its HP hit zero, and the <Bear Anteater> dissolved into a brilliant shower of effects.
Two 『Brave Slash』 strikes with the <Sky Sword> and a few normal attacks, huh? It felt almost exactly the same as fighting a <Bear Anteater> back in the game days.
And just like that, my very first battle against a boss monster came to an end.
What it left behind was a huge pile of drops.
My first boss takedown went better than I expected.
In that fight, I got to experience so many things I could never feel when fighting weak mobs that went down too easily.
"Zephyrus-kun, you did it! Congratulations!"
Still holding my stance—more out of lingering focus than any real need—I was suddenly tackled by Hanna.
That’s when I finally felt my shoulders relax.
I guess I’d been way more tense than I thought. That’s the realism for you.
"Yeah. Hell yeah, Hanna! Did you see that? Piece of cake, right?"
I forced my tone back to my usual upbeat self and gave her a light high five.
Only then did it really sink in.
While Hanna and I were celebrating clearing the dungeon, a sudden announcement rang out.
<First clear of the Tropical Forest Dungeon confirmed. First-clear rewards will be granted.>
<Congratulations on clearing the dungeon.>
Ah, I know this one—it’s the system message you get when you beat a dungeon for the first time and earn a premium item.
Before we knew it, both Hanna and I were holding a small badge in our hands. I had no idea when it had been given to us.
"Whoa, what’s this?"
"It’s the dungeon-clear bonus. Kinda like a medal."
In other words, it’s proof you cleared the dungeon—an important item.
Little touches like this are one of the things that made <DanKatsu> so fun. Really fires up that collector’s spirit.
You could equip a bunch of these badges across your chest like a general to show off your prestige, or stitch them onto the inside of your jacket so you could flash them when you flipped your blazer open.
They even had a special pose feature for that.
There was even a video of someone trying to see if the same could be done with a girl’s skirt.
That one ended with a loli holding a placard that read, "That function does not exist. Onii-san, you’re a pervert!"
Ah, that was a good one.
Now that it’s real, I could probably do it for real if I wanted to… but yeah, I won’t.
I was grinning to myself, lost in those memories while staring at the badge, when Hanna tugged at my sleeve.
Her gaze was fixed on the pile of drops scattered across the ground.
"That’s amazing, Zephyrus-kun. Look at all those boss drops."
"Oh, right, we do have that. Alright, Hanna—go ahead and gather them all up."
"Got it!"
This time we got a total of 14 drops—five "boss drops," eight "dungeon monster drops," and one treasure chest.
The "dungeon monster drops" were a random mix from all the mobs we’d fought on earlier floors.
This time’s chest was a <Silver Chest>.
"Silver chest!"
Hanna practically shouted in excitement when she spotted the shining silver box in the middle of the loot pile.
"Ooh, starting off with silver, that’s a good sign. Hanna, you can open it."
"Really?!"
Well, she’s that happy, and I did stick her with the annoying job of porter, so we’ll make an exception.
Plus, I still owe her for that disappointment with the <Wooden Chest> earlier.
Hanna opened the <Silver Chest> with a mix of excitement and nervousness—and inside was a <High Potion>.
"A High Potion!"
"Nice one, Hanna!"
For a Beginner low-tier reward, that’s actually a pretty good pull—in other words, a jackpot.
In normal RPGs, it’s so common that it doesn’t feel like much, but in <DanKatsu>, it restores 500 HP, which means a full heal during a Beginner low-tier dungeon run.
Almost no one at this stage has more than 500 max HP.
If an item can instantly bring you back from the brink, it’s definitely worth calling it a jackpot, right?
Hanna spun around in circles, overjoyed at her first boss drop reward.
I spun around with her, and we finished with a high five.
Spinning is fun!
Man, thinking back—the real-life boss fight had some crazy intensity.
Now that I’m letting it sink in, I’m getting hyped up too.
After about 30 minutes of noisy celebration, we finally calmed down and stashed all the drops into Hanna’s <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)>.
"All packed! So, Zephyrus-kun, what now? Heading back right away?"
"No…"
Hanna glanced at the pink-glowing teleportation circle as she asked.
But I ignored the teleport circle and chose to head back to the safety zone instead.
"Hanna, come here. And what’s about to happen—don’t tell anyone. Can you promise that?"
"Huh? What’s with you all of a sudden?"
"We’re about to do a super secret activity no one can know about."
"S-secret activity?!"
I exaggerated the wording a little, and sure enough, Hanna took the bait.
I knew she liked hearing phrases like that.
"Promise me you won’t tell anyone, okay?"
"Uh… well, I guess so? B-but what are we going to do?"
"Well, as they say, seeing is believing. Watch."
I stepped to the safety-zone side and then used a skill to slash toward the boss room’s gate.
"『Brave Slash』!"
"Hyaaa?!"
With a loud boom and Hanna’s startled yelp, something strange happened.
"Huh? Wait—the teleport circle’s gone? And the <Bear Anteater>… it respawned?!"
Nice reaction, Hanna.
Yup—just like she said, the boss room’s <Bear Anteater>, which we had just defeated, had respawned.
That was my real goal for today.
Hanna suddenly looked at me and said, "No way!"
She’s a respawn-farming addict, so she probably figured out immediately what I was planning.
"Z-Zephyrus-kun, wait—are you seriously planning to do a Slime Pop Marathon… against a boss!?"
"That’s the idea. But since this isn’t a slime, it’s not a Slime Pop Marathon. If anything, it’s a Boss Pop Marathon."
"That’s… not the important part here!"
Oh? She dares to throw a snappy retort at me, huh?
Well, as you can see, that’s exactly what I’m doing.
Normally, a boss respawns only when the challenger leaves using the teleport circle.
But if you exit the boss room without using the teleport circle—like I just did—the boss won’t respawn at all.
Because of that, the academy teaches everyone: after you defeat a boss, always use the teleport circle to return, so the next challenger isn’t inconvenienced.
But… there’s a trick.
Even without using the teleport circle, you can make the boss respawn—by hitting the gate from outside with a strong enough impact.
So if you finish a boss fight, return to the safe zone, and use a powerful skill to blast the gate, you can make the boss come back without leaving the dungeon entirely.
This way, you skip the hassle of going back to the entrance and climbing down to the lowest floor again. It’s glorious.
And by the way—this method is officially approved by the devs.
Since <DanKatsu> was designed for you to spend three years in the academy, there was a time limit.
If you wasted those years doing nothing, you could actually hit a game over.
But there were certain bottlenecks to clearing the game.
For example—the <Advanced Job Change Ticket>. If it never dropped for you, you were stuck.
Advanced dungeons required an advanced job to clear, so if the ticket never dropped, you’d be trapped in an unwinnable situation.
<DanKatsu> had quite a few of those nasty trap mechanics. You can see it in this world too—people say muscle is the strongest build. How pitiful.
So to avoid those unwinnable traps, the devs reluctantly allowed boss farming.
The official name? Official Cheat Technique: Boss Farming.
The devs clearly had no intention of changing the job system or the absurdly bloated drop tables.
So—boss farming got the green light.
We gamers were delighted, farming bosses to our heart’s content. And we’ll keep doing it.
Alright… let’s get this boss farming started!
"Grrrroaaaarrr!"
With a heavy thud, the <Bear Anteater> collapsed to the ground.
Its HP hit zero, it was swallowed up in a huge special-effects glow, and vanished.
That makes twelve runs today.
"Good work, Zephyrus-kun! Wasn’t that the fastest one yet?"
"Yeah, thanks. I think I’ve finally gotten used to both the real <Bear Anteater> and the physical movements needed to fight it."
Hanna brought me a towel and a drink, and I gratefully accepted them with thanks.
Right now, we are grinding the boss in the <Tropical Forest Dungeon>.
That <Bear Anteater> was our twelfth clear. It had been three hours since our first boss fight.
By now, after twelve runs, my body was used to it—I could avoid every single attack, and I didn’t even need to use 『Brave Slash』 to finish it off. Pure basic attacks were enough.
I even had enough breathing room to let Hanna attack while I held the boss’s aggro.
She got more experience by joining the fight instead of just standing around, so once she got the hang of it, I had her actively join in.
And Hanna—you’ve got talent. Charging at a boss without hesitation? That’s a gift.
I hadn’t thought much of it before seeing a real boss in person, but… they’re actually pretty scary.
"I’ll grab the drops. You’re planning to keep going after this, right?"
"Nope. My MP’s bone-dry. Time to pull out of the Boss Pop Marathon."
See, to respawn the boss by blasting the gate, I have to hit it with 『Brave Slash Lv.1』. But my MP regen from natural recovery alone can’t keep up—especially now that we’re killing the boss faster each run.
To restore 15 MP with no support skills takes about thirty minutes.
In our first fight, I used 『Brave Slash』 twice, but after that, I stuck to basic attacks to save MP. Still, 『Appeal Lv.5』, which I use every fight, costs 5 MP each time—and that’s drained me completely.
"Then… we’re heading back?"
Hanna glanced at the teleport circle, but I shook my head and pointed in the opposite direction.
"No, we’re heading that way."
"You mean back up a floor? But the boss won’t respawn, and isn’t that against etiquette?"
"We’ve got the <Tropical Forest Dungeon> all to ourselves right now—no one’s coming. Besides, we will use the teleport circle on the way back, so it’s fine."
"U-uh… I guess that’s okay, then?"
"Here’s the plan: We farm the boss until my MP runs out, then go up a floor, hunt trash mobs for materials while waiting for my MP to recover, and once it’s full, we start boss farming again. That’s the basic loop."
I explained as we walked, but… Hanna had a point.
This isn’t a single-player game anymore. It’s a real world with lots of other players using it. I’ll have to start being mindful of etiquette from now on.
I decided that from now on, I’d let the boss respawn before heading back up a floor.
"Hey, Zephyrus-kun, what do you think this bracelet is?"
"Hm?"
Hanna, who had been storing the loot in her <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)>, walked over holding a bracelet she’d pulled from the <Silver Chest>, the boss's defeat reward.
Wait a sec—this is…!
"Oohhhh! That’s the <Bracelet of 『Guest』>! For a Beginner low-tier, this is hands-down one of the top rare drops!"
"Eh? No way—yaaay!!"
As soon as I declared it a rare drop, Hanna’s eyes lit up like a treasure hunter who’d just hit the jackpot.
This bracelet she was holding was infamous among players—people often wondered, Why is something like this in a silver chest?—because it had an insanely powerful effect.
In fact, because of this very item, people used to say for Beginner low-tier: "Forget the <Gold Chest>, the <Silver Chest> is the real prize."
I’d always hoped to get one someday, but I never expected it to drop this early.
In <DanKatsu>, you couldn’t just pick up new skills regardless of your job via Skill Orbs or Skill Scrolls. That simply wasn’t allowed by the game’s mechanics.
However, you could temporarily use certain skills by equipping specific gear.
For example, the bonus on my <Sky Series> set, 『Abnormal Status Resistance Lv. 3』, works that way.
And the most well-known type of equipment that could grant temporary skills was the <Bracelets of 『○○』> series.
Hanna’s <Bracelet of 『Alchemy Lv. 1』> is one such example.
Most of these are only used to meet the conditions to unlock a new job, so they usually just grant a Lv. 1 skill.
With only Lv. 1 ability, they’re no match for the real job specialists. Once someone meets the unlock conditions, they quickly sell them off, so they’re dirt cheap.
Back in the day, on the road to the academy, I sold slime jelly in a nearby town and spent it all buying bracelets to fulfill as many unlock conditions as possible while riding the carriage. That… ended up burning through all my prep funds for the academy. Painful memory. If I’d had a smartphone back then, I could’ve killed time without spending everything. But nope—I blew my entire fortune just to keep myself entertained!
Anyway, among those <Bracelets of 『○○』>, a few special ones exist with absolutely ridiculous value.
One of them is this <Bracelet of 『Guest』>. It grants the wearer the 『Guest』 status. No defensive boost at all.
The 『Guest』 effect is absurd—it lets someone join a party in addition to the regular party member slots.
In <DanKatsu>, a party can normally have a maximum of five members. But with 『Guest』, you can add one more person beyond that limit. That’s why this bracelet is considered an ultra-rare drop.
There’s a catch, though—if the wearer participates in combat or attacks a monster, the bracelet breaks. So it can’t be used in battle. Still, it’s insanely valuable.
『Guest』 is mainly used for porters or referees, so the academy buys them at a high price and rents them to students for a fee. (If you break it, you pay a fine.)
Those six overly-muscular guys we saw earlier? They were able to take on the <Beginner Dungeon> as a six-person party because Instructor Davidev was wearing one of these. Teachers get them for free.
Getting a <Bracelet of 『Guest』> this early is pure luck.
They’re rarely sold, though the academy will buy them.
We really struck gold here—this is a good omen.
After that, we returned to the 6th floor and hunted regular monsters to gather resources and materials.
Since I couldn’t use 『Appeal Lv. 5』 to save MP, I just made up for it with legwork.
I used my game-era memories to pick out the best hunting spots where monsters tended to gather.
Once I’d gathered enough drops, we moved to the 7th floor for resource farming, then kept going until the 9th floor. By the time we finished, two hours had passed, and my MP had recovered by about 60, so I resumed boss farming.
This time, we managed five boss runs in 30 minutes. By then, my MP was spent, and it was getting late, so we decided to call it a day.
"Nice work~. <Silver Chest> again for the last one—get anything good?"
"Zephyrus-kun, you’ve been asking that every single time since the <Bracelet of 『Guest』> dropped. Weren’t you the one who said ultra-rares don’t just pop out like that?"
Hanna chuckled as she teased me.
She wasn’t wrong—rare drops are rare because they hardly ever appear.
Plus, since Beginner low-tier loot is generally low-grade, even a rare drop might turn out to be mediocre.
Still… if something like the <Bracelet of 『Guest』> can drop, there’s no way I’m giving up boss farming.
So far, I’d done 16 boss runs and gotten two rare drop types—one of them an ultra-rare.
It’s been five runs since that ultra-rare, so I feel like we’re about due for another rare drop. Seriously.
"Err, let’s collect the materials first… then the boss loot. Wait—huh? Isn’t this boss's drop a first for us?"
"Hm? Oh, the <Giant Bear Anteater’s Large Pelt>. Yeah, that’s actually the rarest of this boss’s drops. Wait, you mean this is our first time getting it in 17 runs?"
It’s not that low of a drop rate, but apparently Hanna had never seen it before.
Dang. It’s a valuable material for light armor—especially body armor—so it fetches a high price. Among this boss’s drops, it’s the most valuable. Unfortunately, it looks like we only got one this time.
Seventeen runs, eighty-five boss drops total… and only one of these? What a shame.
"So, about what’s in the treasure chest—what do you think? Rare?"
"Oohh! Yeah, it’s rare! A <Flame Rod> with 『Fireball Lv.2』 embedded in it! That’s a jackpot!"
"Eh! Really? We actually got one? Amazing!"
<Flame Rod: Attack Power 2. Magic Power 11. 『Fireball Lv.2』.> If I remember right, that’s about what its stats were.
It’s a type of staff weapon that can cast elemental fire magic even if the wielder hasn’t learned any fire spells themselves. Early on, it’s extremely handy.
It’s especially useful for production jobs like 【Alchemist】, letting them level relatively safely, and it even works on spirit-type monsters like ghosts.
That said, 『Fireball Lv.2』 is only really effective up to Beginner low-tier dungeons, or maybe Beginner Mid-tier ones at best—so it quickly gets replaced. But still, getting one as a drop from your first Beginner low-tier dungeon is a good deal. It still has some use.
"Hanna, you should equip this. You don’t need to rely on that beginner’s weapon (the two-handed mace) anymore."
"Eh? But I really like this one…"
"Don’t like a beginner’s weapon!?"
Is this… a bludgeon fetish thing? Has she gotten hooked on the ‘bonk until it dies’ playstyle?
So that’s why she hasn’t been upgrading her gear.
Using my overflowing STR stat, I snatched Hanna’s two-handed mace away from her.
"Ah! My Mei-chan!"
…She even named it!?
Nope. Can’t let her get attached—gotta stash it away before that happens.
Weapons are meant to be replaced. If you get too attached, upgrading becomes painful.
While giving Hanna that bit of advice, I handed her the <Flame Rod>.
"Here, from now on you’re joining fights with magic. Aiming spells is apparently harder than you’d think, so you’d better get some practice in."
"Hmm… okay, but… this doesn’t look very sturdy. Won’t it snap if I hit something?"
"Don’t hit with it—cast magic."
It’s a staff, not a mace.
Please don’t break it, okay? For the next month or so, it’ll still sell for a pretty high price. (To my classmates, anyway.)
Well, this is Hanna—if I tell her it’s valuable, she probably won’t smash it.
…Though that’s a weird kind of trust.
Once we checked over our haul, we wrapped things up.
"As for the requested items, we’ve got the full quota. We also gathered a good amount of other resources and materials."
"Yep. It feels like we got way more drops than I expected."
"If you’re surprised by this much, you’re in for a rough time later."
In total, we had close to 500 items. Without the <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)>, there’s no way we could carry it all.
Today was our first boss clear, and I was still a bit rusty, so this was all we managed—but once we get MP recovery items or equipment, we’ll be able to do more runs. If we can push through the dungeon efficiently to the bottom floor, we can fit in more boss kills. And as my stats and base ability go up, the boss fights themselves will take less time.
The real time-attack challenge is still ahead.
Thanks to the boss farming, I reached 【Hero Lv.15】 and Hanna reached 【Alchemist Lv.18】—pretty good progress.
Levels climb much more slowly now than they did up to the tutorial cap at Lv.10.
We’ll keep farming bosses for the big EXP gains.
A Beginner Low-tier dungeons can get us up to Lv.20, so that’s the immediate goal.
Since Hanna surpassed my minimum goal of Lv 16 and hit Lv.18, I asked her, "Want to take a break from dungeon runs and focus on production?" But she shook her head hard—apparently, coming along to dungeons with me is a given in her mind.
"Alright, let’s head back."
"Yeah. And let’s go again tomorrow—together."
When I stood up, Hanna stood too.
…That sounded kind of embarrassing. Her cheeks were a little red, too.
Felt kinda like youth, so I just replied with, "Yeah."
We grabbed our loot, stepped into the pink-glowing magic circle, and ended today’s dungeon run.
"Whoa there, mister—what trick did you pull?"
After getting back from the dungeon, I stopped by <Wappen Seal Sticker> to show Marie-senpai our haul—minus the rare drops—and that was her reaction.
"Well, that’s a trade secret. So, can you buy these?"
"No way I can take all of it. I’ll take the stuff I requested, and I want all the boss mats. The rest—you’ll have to ask our guild members."
"Got it. Oh, except I’m keeping the <Giant Bear Anteater Large Pelt>."
"Aw, that’s the one I wanted most! You do know our coordination team’s been looking for fur materials, right? Can’t you sell it to me?"
"I’m selling you all the other mats, so just put up with that. You’ve got plenty of quantity there, right?"
"Yeah, but patchwork lowers the defense value, y’know? A single piece of fabric has better quality, better durability, and looks nicer. C’mon, mister, sell it to me?"
"…How about this—use it to make body armor for my party members. How’s that sound?"
"That works! That way, our Job EXP goes up too. Deal!"
Man, Marie-senpai really knows how to negotiate.
The deal wrapped up in no time.
After some negotiations, we decided to leave all of Hanna’s equipment crafting to Marie-senpai’s guild.
Apparently, <Wappen Seal Sticker> also has a 【Tailor】, so they can take completely custom-made orders from scratch.
If I’d known that earlier, I shouldn’t have parted ways with Hanna so soon.
I’ve gotta make dinner, so I’ll bring it over later, she’d said before heading back to the dorm.
We agreed to bring Hanna in tomorrow morning to take her measurements and decide on the design, so I’ll tell her about it when I see her later.
After that, I deposited all the materials I’d gathered today with them for now.
Marie-senpai said they could have them appraised by tomorrow, so I left it to her.
And then, I got the appraisal results for the materials I’d dropped off this morning.
"This here’s the price list. I priced ‘em as high as I could for you. And this one’s the list of what we couldn’t take."
Marie-senpai said, handing me two sheets of paper.
"I see… That’s more than I expected they’d take."
I’d figured they’d buy maybe thirty percent after subtracting the items from the original request, but it said they’d take over eighty percent, which surprised me.
"Word’s been going around in our little network. Not sure who started it, but apparently, other guilds heard that the 【Hero】 is wholesaling materials to our guild. We’ve already had about three other guilds reach out."
Ah, so that’s why nearly all the cooking ingredients and smithing materials had buyers lined up.
"<Wappen Seal Sticker> handled the brokering?"
"Yep. Think of it as a little token of friendship—no charge."
"That’s much appreciated."
"If you keep using our service in the future, we can handle the brokering then too. Though next time, it won’t be free."
A welcome offer.
When I asked how much, it turned out to be just a token handling fee, so I agreed right away.
Selling to other places would take more time, and here in the real world—unlike in the game—time management matters a lot more. Saving time was going to be a big priority.
At that price, I could make it back in one dungeon run, so no problem there.
"Alright, here’s your total. This time it’s 120,000 Miru. I’ve already deducted the down payment for that custom-made gear order."
The amount seemed fair, so I agreed, and Marie-senpai transferred the funds immediately.
By the way, I probably should’ve mentioned earlier: in the academy, Miru transactions are cashless, like electronic money. Outside, it’s regular coins, but since this is a dungeon city and transactions here can get huge, you can settle payments using your <Student Handbook>.
The <Student Handbook> comes issued along with your uniform and such. It’s basically a digitized handbook—in other words, a smartphone. People even just call it a "smartphone" as a nickname.
Here in the Dungeon Academy, most Miru transactions are done through this handbook.
Bit of a tangent, but the <Student Handbook (Smartphone)> has a lot of handy functions.
Sure, it has the usual info and rules like a normal student handbook, but the main draw is elsewhere—cashless Miru transactions, academy announcements, school news, class schedules, and so on. It’s more of an information terminal than anything.
It even has a chat section where students in-game talk, kind of like a help board with casual Q&A. I rarely check it, though.
There’s also a subquest board where you can accept requests.
This <Student Handbook (Smartphone)> is actually made using one of the academy’s ancient artifact techniques. It only works inside the Dungeon Academy, though.
The academy uses ancient artifact tech for all sorts of things—dungeons included. I’ll explain that some other time.
Anyway, back to the story.
"This here’s what we couldn’t buy."
"Ouh, thanks."
"Alright, much obliged. See you tomorrow."
I put the leftover materials into Hanna’s <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)>, which I was holding onto for her, and headed home as Marie-senpai saw me off.
Back at the dorm, I took a shower, then started sorting the leftover materials when Hanna dropped by. We ended up having dinner together.
Somehow, her hanging around here all the time had started to feel normal.
Dinner was great as always.
"Here—yesterday’s earnings were 120,000 Miru, so your share’s 60,000."
"Is it really okay for me to take that much? You did most of the fighting, Zephyrus-kun…"
"What, you don’t want it? In that case, I’ll—"
"Eh? N-no, I do! I do, so… thanks, Zephyrus-kun!"
After dinner, when we split the reward, she started saying she was getting too much, so I jokingly tried to take it back. She immediately whipped out her <Student Handbook> in a panic. See? You do want it.
Why’d she hesitate at first, though? Oh, right—wasn’t there some old-fashioned etiquette thing where you’re supposed to refuse once before accepting? Well, whatever.
I tapped my handbook against hers, and with a pirolin♪ sound, the transfer was complete.
Gotta say, this student handbook is pretty high-tech. No wonder—it’s an ancient artifact, after all.
I told Hanna I’d take her to Marie-senpai’s shop tomorrow, and we called it a night.
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