Chapter 13: The Story of the Muscle Warriors
A "Muscle Party" has been formed.
That rumor was suddenly stirring up the whole academy.
And my reaction to that was basically, "So what?"
◇ ◇ ◇
"Ohh, so it’s true then? The rumor that five first-years who became 【Muscle Warriors】 formed a party. This year’s batch sure is promising—what with you being a 【Hero】 and all."
"But according to Zephyrus-kun, 【Muscle Warrior】 isn’t actually a good job. He said anyone who seriously wants to become one must be out of their mind."
"Ho oh? Now I’m curious. Hanna-han, mind telling me more?"
The morning after we first cleared the <Tropical Jungle Dungeon>, Hanna had been brought—just as planned—to the <Wappen Seal Sticker> guild.
When she met Marie there, they hit it off instantly, probably because they were both similarly petite.
At the moment, the two of them were chatting while Marie took Hanna’s measurements.
Zephyrus, meanwhile, had gone off to network with other guilds, so it was just the two of them here.
The topic was the sight they’d seen yesterday: the five 【Muscle Warriors】 that Zephyrus had squinted at and muttered "Too much macho…" under his breath.
Apparently, during the job-measuring ceremony at the entrance ceremony, five students had gotten the 【Muscle Warrior】 job. They had since formed a party and officially registered it with the academy—making them the talk of the school.
If Zephyrus were there, he’d probably say something like, "You’re all going 【Muscle Warrior】? Are you insane!?"
But to the residents of this world, that’s not strange at all.
If anything, people would be staring at them in admiration—thinking, "Could this be the strongest party ever?"
Even if someone appeared with the 【Hero】 job, 【Muscle Warrior】 still held a stubborn popularity.
In fact, many top-ranking guilds had at least one 【Muscle Warrior】 among their members.
"Zephyrus-kun says there’s only one advanced job route from it: 【Steel Muscle Warrior】. And while that’s technically a straight upgrade from 【Muscle Warrior】, apparently, its compatibility with late-game dungeons is terrible. He called it ‘a useless joke job.’"
"Hoho… Interesting. Well, mister sure is a well-read one. I’ve never heard of that before, but I doubt he’s just jealous of them."
Marie’s first thought, on hearing this, had been that it was a rivalry between two good jobs—jealousy from the 【Hero】 toward the 【Muscle Warrior】.
But after a few days of interacting with Zephyrus, she quickly tossed that theory out. "No, that’s not possible."
"It’s hard to believe, though… that 【Muscle Warrior】 would be considered a joke."
In reality, 【Muscle Warrior】 is very strong—at the beginning, at least.
But in this world, late-game dungeons were barely explored, so no one had truly tested the limits of the 【Muscle Warrior】.
As a result, its dominant performance in the early-to-mid game made it look like a top-tier, highly appealing job.
Another point in its favor was its easy acquisition requirements—unlike jobs like 【Great Swordmaster】.
To become a 【Great Swordmaster】, you need to:
1. Deepen your understanding of swords.
2. Fulfill the requirements for all six sword-related jobs (【Swordsman】, 【Swordmaster】, 【Dual Swordsman】, 【Great Swordman】, 【Rapier Swordsman】, 【Fencer】).
3. Defeat 100 monsters with a sword.
It’s a huge hassle—and in this world, meeting the requirements for all six sword jobs is extremely difficult.
After all, someone who uses a one-handed sword will probably stick with it for life; a greatsword user won’t pick up dual blades; and rapier-style fencing is practically the polar opposite of greatsword combat.
The odds of someone switching between them are almost zero.
Because of that, and because no one even knows the exact requirements, 【Great Swordmaster】 is considered practically impossible to get—reserved only for the "chosen ones."
By contrast, the condition for 【Muscle Warrior】 is just one:
<Be muscular.>
That’s it.
Basically, just train your body. It’s simple, everyone knows the requirement, and so a lot of people aim for 【Muscle Warrior】.
The only catch is whether you can bulk up enough by the age of 16 (counted in traditional age).
"So basically, don’t overvalue them too much, huh?"
"Pretty much. Zephyrus-kun says he’s going to tackle Advanced dungeons, so the mask will come off sooner or later."
"Ahh, yeah, that’s bad. If they’ve been all high-and-mighty until now, a sudden downfall could make them unpredictable. If someone from a top guild got kicked out, they might try to force themselves into a mid-rank guild like ours. Alright then—I’ll make preparations. Tell Mister thanks."
"Okay~"
Overvaluing someone can make them lean on you when things go bad.
There had been cases in the past where people used their past relationships as leverage to barge into a guild and take it over.
Marie took this as advice: Don’t get too involved—keep them at arm’s length.
Normally, telling someone to distance themselves from top guilds—especially your best clients—would be absurd. But even though she was half-skeptical, Marie felt like she could trust Zephyrus’s words enough to prepare, especially since the people in question were basically nudists.
For the <Wappen Seal Sticker> guild, their influence was minimal anyway, so it was doable.
And besides… another problem had just surfaced.
"…Measurements are done. You can relax now."
"Phew. Holding the same pose for so long is surprisingly tiring."
"…But, Hanna-han, I thought you were about the same build as me, but you’re actually pretty big…"
"Fueh?"
"You’re younger than me, the same height and waist size… so how come your chest and hips are so different?"
Marie’s voice trembled as she stared at the note with Hanna’s measurements.
Marie had the full-on childlike loli figure.
Hanna, on the other hand, turned out to be the type who looks slimmer than she really is when dressed.
Feeling betrayed, Marie complained in a pitiful tone:
"C’mon, isn’t this weird? I’m already 17, and yet… my figure and height haven’t changed at all since five years ago!"
"Uh… um…"
Hanna floundered, not knowing how to respond.
Meanwhile, completely oblivious to this whole exchange, Zephyrus was leisurely shopping.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Oh! A <True Soul Necklace> with 『MP Auto-Recovery Lv1』! Hey, shopkeeper! I’ll take it—how about knocking it down to 130,000 Miru for me?"
"Get out."
Oof. Brutal.
From the red-embroidered white blazer and navy slacks, the shopkeeper looked like a third-year senior. Judging from how quickly he shut me down, he was clearly used to this kind of thing.
Well, I guess if someone suddenly asked me to sell a 300,000-miru item for 130,000, I’d say the same thing.
"C’mon now, hear me out, Mr. Jeweler. Got enough Beginner low-tier materials? I’ve got a few right now, and if you want more, I can go gather them."
"…Fine."
Oh, knew it.
People like this will negotiate if you dangle profit in front of them.
It’s the season right after the first year's enrollment, so Beginner low-tier materials are in short supply everywhere. Any guild would want them.
I’d checked earlier, and even the school store’s stock of Beginner low-tier materials was running low, so I could use that to my advantage.
If you claim "this stuff’s sold out everywhere," the value goes up.
Luckily, the materials used for 【Jeweler】-type crafting hadn’t all been taken by Marie-senpai, so I had some leverage to work with.
Following the quiet senior, I stepped into the guild’s workspace.
In the end, there was no way Beginner low-tier monster drops could cover 300,000 miru’ worth, so we settled on a quest arrangement.
I paid 100,000 miru up front for the <True Soul Necklace>, and the rest would be covered by delivering materials later.
『You've accepted the Sub-Quest: <Deliver the Requested Materials>』
* Deliver the specified amount of Beginner low-tier materials the quiet senior wants.
* Reward: <True Soul Necklace – Defense +2, 『MP Auto-Recovery Lv1』>
The announcement in my head confirmed that the quest was officially accepted.
"Alright, I should be able to gather them today. I’ll be back this evening."
"Yeah."
Amazing how that counts as a full conversation.
This senior really wasn’t cut out for sales—he had the temperament of a craftsman. I thought about that as I left the shop.
I wondered if Hanna’s order was done by now.
While I’d been shopping, I’d also picked up a quest, so maybe I’d taken too long.
I quickened my pace.
When I stepped into the <Wappen Seal Sticker> shop, the atmosphere felt… off.
"Oh, welcome back, Zephyrus-kun."
"Mister… reality’s cruel."
"Uh, what happened to Marie-senpai?"
Her eyes were completely glazed over—like in manga, where the upper half of the face is shaded and looks gloomy.
What could’ve happened during a simple fitting?
I glanced over at Hanna for answers.
"Uh, well. Ahaha…"
She brushed it off with a wry smile. Which meant… it was something she didn’t want to say.
I decided it was best not to bring up anything with Marie-senpai for now.
"I’m heading to a dungeon after this. You wanna come too, Hanna? I mean, I could solo it to catch up in levels…"
"I—I’ll go! Right now!"
When I tried to change the subject and invited her to the dungeon, Hanna jumped at it like she’d been waiting for the chance.
It felt like she just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible… but maybe that was just my imagination?
After a quick word to the oddly deflated Marie-senpai, we left the place.
I arrived at Shoudan with Hanna.
"Hanna, did you manage to place your order earlier?"
"Y-yeah, that went fine."
"Well, as long as that’s done."
I didn’t press for details—just asked what I needed to know and ended the conversation there.
Today’s Sunday, so it’s a day off. Like yesterday, there were lots of students in the Shoudan.
The days of the week are the same as in Japan.
The academy’s closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
One unique thing here is that the fourth week of every month has no regular classes at all.
It’s part of the Dungeon Academy’s philosophy: the entire fourth week is dedicated to dungeon exploration.
Very game-like, and frankly, wonderful.
Well, to be fair, without a nine-day stretch like that, there’d be no way to make serious progress in a dungeon with close to 100 floors.
The fourth week is even nicknamed "Dungeon Week."
For the record, today’s the Sunday of the second week.
"Oh yeah, Zephyrus-kun, where are we diving today? Back to the <Tropical Forest Dungeon>?"
"Nah, I’ve got a job to do. We’re heading somewhere else."
The Shoudan area has one <Beginner Dungeon> and nine <Beginner-Level Dungeons>.
Of those, three are classified as "Beginner Low-Level" (Shocker).
They are:
<Tropical Forest Dungeon> – Animal-type enemies, "Foraging" & "Logging" resources
<Stone Bridge Abandoned Mine Dungeon> – Golem-type enemies, "Excavation" resources
<Stillwater Underground Dungeon> – Reptile-type enemies, "Fishing" resources
Listed in the order: Name, Monster type, Gathering skill.
Since my client is a jeweler from the Production Guild, today we’re going to the <Stone Bridge Abandoned Mine Dungeon>.
Marie-senpai also asked me to grab some resources from there, so I’ll be collecting those too.
And this time, I’ll be doing some mining.
The jeweler lent me two pickaxes with 『Excavation Lv. 1』 skill.
He handed them over without a word—clear enough he wanted me to dig.
Previous Chapter - TOC - Next Chapter
Comments
Post a Comment