Chapter 18: Advancing into the Beginner Mid-Tier Dungeon. The Threat of a Rare Boss.
The Beginner mid-tier dungeon: <Wild Grass Plains Dungeon>.
It’s a classic field-type dungeon—a vast grassy plain as far as the eye can see.
The reason I picked this dungeon first is pretty simple: monsters are less likely to ambush you, there are almost no traps, and the difficulty level is on the lower side.
But the real reason is this: starting from Beginner mid-tier dungeons, you can gather <Mana Grass>. And in fact, this dungeon is the only one at this tier where it can be found.
From <Mana Grass>, you can use skills like 『Alchemy』 or 『Potion Brewing』 to make <Mana Potions (MP Potions)>.
Finally, I can get my hands on MP Potions! They’re essential for repeated boss fights, so this is a must-have item.
Of course, I could’ve just bought them at shops before, but even just regular farming would max me out in Beginner low-tier dungeons, so I never really needed them.
But in Beginner mid-tier dungeons, the level cap goes up to 35.
And once you pass level 20, leveling suddenly slows to a crawl. From here on out, MP Potions are necessary to boost our grinding.
I’ll need Hanna to step up big time here.
"This is… the Beginner mid-tier Dungeon? It kinda looks like the <Beginner Dungeon>."
Hanna said, blinking as she looked around at the scenery.
"Yeah, sorta. But don’t let it fool you—the monsters here are nastier, and while there aren’t many traps, they do start showing up. It might look the same, but the difficulty is on a completely different level. Stay sharp, Hanna. You didn’t put many stat points into combat, remember?"
"Mm, I’ll be careful. But I’ve got this now, thanks to you, Zephyrus-kun—so even if I get hit, I should be okay, right?"
Hanna spun around, showing off her <Early Queen Black> outfit.
The long skirt fluttered gracefully, and my eyes couldn’t help but follow.
It was a masterpiece—crafted with both combat practicality and style in mind—thanks to Marie-senpai’s guild, <Wappen Seal Sticker>, who, for some reason, went all out on making it.
And it suits Hanna perfectly. Especially around the chest area… yeah, that’s… pretty impressive.
"Ahem. Right. Well, yeah—even if your VIT stat is low, good armor can cover for it to some extent. What’s your total defense right now?"
"Um, <Early Queen Black> gives me 20. Plus shoes, a necklace, and a bracelet… about 26 in total?"
"…That’s super low."
"But equipment is sooo expensive!"
Don’t "sooo expensive" me.
Hanna already has weak defenses—if she doesn’t gear up properly, one stray hit could knock her out of the fight instantly. It’s a waste to have 20 defense from her dress if the rest of her gear drags it down.
"Well, I’ve got spare Miru. If it’s just a bit, I can cover you. We’ll go see Marie-senpai again."
"Okay. Thanks, Zephyrus-kun. I’ll count on you!"
Heh. Doesn’t feel bad to be relied on, honestly.
Alright, let’s start clearing this Beginner mid-tier Dungeon.
Slash, slash!
"Guh…"
The goblin I cut down turned into light and vanished, leaving behind a <Goblin’s Small Horn>.
This dungeon, <Wild Grass Plains>, is home to goblin-type monsters.
Same kind as the boss from the <Beginner Dungeon>, probably recruited from here. But their levels are higher here, of course.
The Beginner mid-tier dungeons go down 15 floors.
Here, regular goblins appear on the upper floors, and the deeper you go, the more of them carry weapons.
But the unarmed ones at the top are just small fry.
Still, they’re nimble—pretty quick on their feet.
Which actually makes them perfect practice targets for magic and ranged attacks.
"Hanna. Hit that goblin over there."
"『Fireball』!"
A fireball shot out from her <Flame Rod> staff toward the goblin, but the angle was off.
It whizzed right past the goblin without even grazing it, sailing far off into the distance.
"Aww, I missed again."
Hanna’s in top form inside the dungeon, but her accuracy still needs work. Hitting moving enemies is tough for her right now.
Still, considering that just yesterday she couldn’t even hit stationary targets, she’s definitely got talent.
"『Appeal』!"
The goblin she attacked turned its attention toward her, so I pulled aggro to myself with 『Appeal』.
"Well, you won’t be landing every hit right away. Just gotta keep practicing steadily. How’s your MP?"
"I’ve got plenty left! 『Fireball Lv2』 only uses 3 MP anyway."
Since Hanna put most of her points into MP and DEX, her maximum MP is actually pretty high—higher than mine, in fact.
"Gyaah!?"
"Yes! I hit it!"
Oh, nice—this time her fireball actually landed.
Hanna’s 『Fireball』 didn’t finish it off in one hit, but when she followed up with another blast on the downed goblin, it turned into light and vanished.
"Congrats on your first kill with magic, Hanna."
"Thanks, Zephyrus-kun! But… it still feels a little unsatisfying, you know?"
Hanna twirled her <Flame Rod> as she mumbled.
Huh? Was she talking about the lack of impact? Like… she didn’t get to smash enough?
"If you try close combat here in a Beginner mid-tier dungeon, you’ll get wiped out instantly."
"Yeah, I know. It’s fine though—I’ll just do some Slime Pop later to make up for it."
…Not sure that’s what "make up for it" usually means.
I muttered a quick "rest in peace" for the poor slimes and went off to look for the next target.
"Ah, Zephyrus-kun! Isn’t that another gathering spot over there?"
"Oh, nice. This place is a goldmine—tons of gathering nodes left untouched."
We were on the 8th floor of the <Wild Grass Plains Dungeon>, busy with harvesting today.
The plan was to focus on gathering for the day. Sure, the main goal was to take down the boss and found our guild, but there was no need to rush—we’d clear it today anyway. So why not stock up while we can?
This dungeon is known for being harvestable, and since you can collect <Mana Grass> here (a key ingredient for MP potions), it’s super popular.
We hadn’t had much luck on earlier floors, but we must’ve stumbled on a jackpot here—gathering points everywhere.
My <Gentle Shovel>, which I bought from Marie-senpai for a whopping million miru, was putting in serious work.
"Ahhh~, the 『Double Yield』 enchant is so worth it. This thing is amazing."
Normally, you only get one material per gathering, but thanks to the shovel’s effect, I was pulling in two each time. On top of that, its 『Quality Boost (Large) Lv.4』 was letting me harvest piles of "High-Quality" <Mana Grass>. Jackpot!
Seriously, I owe Marie-senpai big time—perfect timing, perfect tool.
Better quality recovery potions heal more, so the higher the quality, the better.
After clearing all the gathering points, we ended up with 84 <Mana Grass>.
We also picked up a mountain of other materials.
Hanna was grinning at the haul, probably already picturing herself using them for 『Alchemy』.
She’d been training as an 【Alchemist】 since she was a kid, but because of money problems, she’d never had enough materials to work with. Lately, she’d been making up for lost time, happily cranking out <Magic Stone (Small) and <Healing Potions> non-stop.
Well, she can go wild with 『Alchemy』 all she wants—but priority goes to MP potions.
In the deeper floors, weapon-wielding goblins started showing up, but with my <Sky Series> gear, they didn’t stand a chance. I mowed them down and kept moving.
From the 13th floor onward, up to four goblins could ambush us at once, but I wiped them out with my new spell, 『Shine Lightning』, and pushed forward.
Since it’s a wide-area attack spell, I didn’t need to worry much about aiming—very convenient.
Stopping at gathering points along the way slowed us down, but by 3 p.m., we made it safely to the Safe Zone on the bottom floor.
By then, I was 【Hero Lv.21】 and Hanna was 【Alchemist Lv.22】.
And our <Mana Grass> stash? A whopping 368. Sounds like a lot, but honestly, I still wanted more.
With so many other materials piled up too, even my <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)> was nearly full, so we reluctantly called it there.
"Alright, Hanna. You’re up."
"Got it. Leave it to me."
At the Safe Zone, I handed her an important task: brewing MP potions.
She pulled out her <Alchemy Kit>, the <MP Potion Recipe>, and the materials—<Mana Grass>, <Slime Jelly>, and <Magic Stone (Small)>—from the <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)> and lined them up.
By the way, the recipe was something Hanna copied down from the Academy’s Grand Library.
With her high 『Alchemy』, 『Mixing』, and DEX stats, there was no way she’d fail using basic materials.
She picked up the kit and started working.
"Okay, first, steep the <Mana Grass>, then add a water-type material. <Slime Jelly> counts as water-element, so mix that in and… 『Mixing』!"
Hanna followed the recipe carefully, combining ingredients until a green liquid appeared.
Pro tip: using <Slime Jelly> as the water base tends to improve quality more than just plain water.
The end result was still the same MP potion, but hey—it’s all about the numbers. Game logic, right?
"Next, I toss in a <Small> or higher-grade <Magic Stone>, mix it up, and then—『Alchemy』!"
Hanna swirled the little cauldron like a pot and activated her skill. In a flash of light, the liquid inside disappeared, and somehow a tiny vial had appeared in the cauldron.
"Yay! It worked, I really made an item!"
"Hell yeah! Congrats, Hanna!"
She was practically bouncing with joy, so I high-fived her.
That small vial sitting in the cauldron—that was an MP Potion.
Exactly like in the game.
Back then too, when you did 『Alchemy』, the ingredients would just transform straight into a finished item. Weapons, boomerangs, even monsters—like, where the hell did you come from? That kind of game-logic weirdness.
Never thought I’d see it happen in reality. And Hanna didn’t even question it.
This is straight-up fantasy.
Moments like this remind me all over again—I really am living inside the world of <DanKatsu>.
"Alright Hanna, keep it up—make as many MP Potions as you can."
"Leave it to me!"
She cheerfully took the MP Potion and dove back into her 『Alchemy』 work.
"Oh, this one came out high-quality! Nice!"
I popped open the first potion she made and downed it in one gulp. My MP recovered by 30.
A normal MP Potion restores 20, so yeah, this was definitely high-quality.
Whether or not it turns out high-quality depends entirely on the crafter’s skill. Figures Hanna would nail it.
Hanna got used to it fast, cranking out potion after potion.
In just 30 minutes, she had made 57 high-quality MP Potions and 22 normal ones. I had to hand it to her—seriously impressive.
There was no way we’d use them all today, so she packed away the <Alchemy Kit> for now.
I downed a few more until my MP was almost full, so I could head into the boss fight without waiting on natural regen. Very convenient.
Honestly, MP Potions are going to be essential from now on. Natural recovery is way too slow.
Since this was the first boss fight of the dungeon, Hanna stayed behind in the safe zone, while I went in solo.
I pressed my hand against the gate of vines, and they slid away, opening the path to the boss room.
"Alright, I’m heading in!"
"Good luck, Zephyrus-kun!"
Not a trace of worry in her voice—only trust. For her, and for the guild I’m aiming to found, there’s no way I’m gonna lose to a measly Beginner mid-tier boss. I marched in full of confidence.
"…Ah."
And the moment I stepped inside, I understood.
Yeah. This is gonna be trouble. No doubt about it.
Normally, the boss would already be spawned, waiting for challengers. But the room was empty.
And since the teleport circle wasn’t lit, that left only one explanation.
The boss of the <Wild Grass Plains Dungeon> is supposed to be a <Knight Goblin>—a goblin riding a giant wolf, armed to the teeth, with two Sword Goblins and two regular ones as its entourage.
But none of them were here.
Which could only mean one thing—
Yep, I’d rolled a Rare Boss.
Starting from Beginner mid-tier dungeons, new mechanics appear that weren’t present in the lower ones.
For example, the boss's room becomes hidden from outside view. Which is why I hadn’t noticed until I was already inside.
Beginner Low-tier dungeons are basically extended tutorials—no traps, bosses you can observe beforehand, and the monsters are weak enough for a solo at the same level.
But from mid-tier onward, the most important new factor is rare boss spawns.
Normally, rare bosses have to be summoned with special items, since the natural spawn rate is abysmally low.
But this time, I’d just hit that tiny chance completely by accident.
Usually, that’d be awesome. But right now? Not so simple.
Because I’m solo.
From Beginner mid-tier dungeons on, bosses are designed to be party fights. And a rare boss in this dungeon is about as strong as a Beginner upper-tier boss.
The only reason I even thought I could solo this dungeon was because I was brute-forcing it with my <Sky Series>.
Honestly, fighting an upper-tier boss solo at Level 21 is… reckless.
"…Well, I do have the <Sky Gear>. Maybe I can swing it?"
Sure, it’s reckless. But when I think about my stats, my skills, my equipment, and the items I’ve stocked up on… it doesn’t seem impossible.
Guess I’ll just have to find out the hard way.
As I finished firming up my resolve, the back of the room suddenly began to glow.
The rare boss spawn effect.
The one that appeared was the <Emperor Goblin>.
A shining crown, a red cape, and the rest half-naked—yet with muscles even more ridiculously over-the-top than a 【Muscle Warrior】.
In its left hand, a rod. In its right, a sword.
It could use both magic and melee combat. A troublesome opponent.
Alright, let’s make the first move.
"『Shine Lightning』!"
The magic shot from the tip of the <Sky Sword> struck the freshly appeared <Emperor Goblin>.
Since it was a wide fan-shaped area attack, the power wasn’t that high, but magic worked better against the <Emperor Goblin>.
It wasn’t my specialty, but thanks to the magical power of the <Sky Sword>, it should’ve dealt decent damage.
"Ggyyaaaaahh!!"
But the <Emperor Goblin> charged at me anyway, unfazed.
Whoa, no knockback? Even with a direct hit, it doesn’t feel like it worked at all!
"『Sonic Sword』!"
A swift movement followed by a slash.
I used it as an evasive move.
Shifting sharply to the side, I dodged the strike that landed exactly where I’d been standing a second earlier.
"Whoa, that was close!"
Thrilling as hell.
"Guaaahh!"
This time it’s magic!
From its rod, a 『Fireball』 shot out.
That one was easy to dodge. Honestly, it didn’t look much different from Hanna’s, so no big deal.
"Alright, now it’s my turn! 『Brave Slash』!"
Blue effects burst out as I unleashed a brutal strike at the <Emperor Goblin>.
"GUAAAAHHH!!"
It crossed its sword and rod to block, but a strike from the <Sky Sword>’s 『Brave Slash』 broke through its guard. The <Emperor Goblin> staggered back.
As expected, the power was more than enough. Even through its guard, I could tell it had taken serious damage.
On top of that, a debuff icon appeared over it—『Brave Slash』 also lowers defense.
I wanted to follow up, but my attack skills were on cooldown. Too bad.
I had no choice but to keep swinging with normal attacks.
Still, with the <Sky Sword>’s attack power, even basic slashes hit harder than most skill attacks.
"Grrraaaahhh!"
The <Emperor Goblin> retaliated, swinging both sword and rod.
I blocked the sword with my shield, but the rod smashed into my <Sky Armor>.
"Argh! Damn it!"
It hurt less than I thought—just startled me more than anything.
My armor and HP barrier were doing their job well.
Still, pain is pain, even if it’s small.
My anger meter went up.
"GUAAAHHH!!"
Its rage meter was climbing too.
"Damn those oversized muscles! In <DanKatsu>, muscles are just a joke!"
I landed a blow on its chest, venting all my pent-up frustration.
"GWOOAAAHHH!!"
But it countered right back, slamming me with its rod.
"Gahh! You bastard!!"
And so began an exchange of relentless blows, neither of us giving an inch.
My <Sky Sword> slashed arms, waist, chest, stomach, neck, and head.
Its sword strikes, I managed to block with my shield, but that damn rod in its left hand kept smacking me every time I attacked.
My HP wasn’t exactly high.
Tch. A battle of attrition against a boss? No way. Bosses have way too much HP for that crap!
…And I was the one who started this endurance match!
With no choice, I pulled back to recover.
"『Aura Heal』!"
The medium heal restored about half of my max HP.
But in that brief moment, the <Emperor Goblin> was already raising its sword overhead.
Red effects began glowing—that’s the motion for a Unique Skill!
In my mind, I recalled its old game-era behavior.
The 『Goblin-Style: Deadly Crushing Sword』!
"GGWAAAAAAHHH!!"
With a roar that said this ends now, the <Emperor Goblin> brought its blade down.
Like hell I’m letting that hit me!
"『Sonic Sword』!"
Using 『Sonic Sword』 for an emergency dodge, I slipped behind it and slashed.
"Guaaaahh!?"
My strike landed as a critical hit, exploiting the moment of skill-lock.
I successfully knocked the <Emperor Goblin> down for several seconds.
"Alright, wide open! 『Brave Slaaash』!!"
My strongest strike landed squarely on the <Emperor Goblin> as if drawn into it.
"Grrruuuuhhhhhh……!"
Its HP dropped straight to zero, and it dissolved into a sea of effects before vanishing.
Somehow, even though I ended up battered and bruised, I managed to defeat the <Emperor Goblin>.
"Ahhh~ what is this? This feels ridiculously good."
Lying flat on the boss room floor, staring up at a sky that—despite being inside a dungeon—was dyed orange like sunset, I let myself drown in the intoxicating sense of fulfillment spreading through my whole body.
That brutal slugfest with the <Emperor Goblin>.
Dodging that 『Goblin-Style: Deadly Crushing Sword』 with 『Sonic Sword』, and then the flowing combo that ended in my finishing move, 『Brave Slash』.
What the heck was that? That felt insanely good.
That was insanely fun! (shouting in my heart).
There’s so much I couldn’t do back in the game days of <DanKatsu>, so much I couldn’t even feel. My brain can’t keep up with processing it all.
I just want to savor this more and more.
This feeling is… moving.
Right now, I’m honestly overwhelmed.
Leveling up, equipping stronger gear, and beating monsters.
It’s not about that kind of "game-like" stuff. It’s more like a skill—a real technique.
This sense of actually playing the game through real action, something that didn’t exist back then, only now am I truly feeling it.
And this fight in particular…
This is what people mean when they say it was "godlike."
Just remembering that final sequence has me grinning ear to ear.
Before I knew it, I was holding up the proof of clearing the <Wild Grass Plains Dungeon>—a glittering badge that caught the light as I held it up toward the sky, basking in my delight.
"Man, this real-life <DanKatsu> is way too fun~"
"What are you doing, Zephyrus-kun?"
"Eh?"
Looking up, I saw Hanna tilting her head as she peered down at me. At some point, she’d ended up right beside me.
I hadn’t noticed at all. Guess I was so high on adrenaline I’d lost all awareness.
By the way, yeah, she was wearing a long skirt, so—nope, nothing was showing. Just to be clear.
"You beat the boss. Congrats, Zephyrus-kun."
"Yeah. Thanks, Hanna."
"But wow… you’re all torn up. Your HP’s only half left, too."
Yeah, my HP had actually dipped into the red zone for a while there.
Seriously, with my high VIT plus the full <Sky Series> equipped, to get whittled down this far… that rare boss was no joke.
"The boss turned out to be a rare one. Honestly, it was… fun—no, rough."
"Rare!?"
Hanna’s surprised voice echoed through the boss's room.
"You actually beat a rare boss!?"
"Yeah. It definitely wasn’t easy—in fact, this was the first real struggle I’ve had."
She came rushing up to me, and I gave a solemn, serious nod to match the mood.
…But then, as the memories of the <Emperor Goblin> fight replayed in my head, I couldn’t help breaking into another goofy grin.
"? Still, as expected of you, Zephyrus-kun. I’ve heard rare bosses are insanely strong, but you actually took one down solo."
Her admiring gaze felt damn good.
Still lying down didn’t look cool, so I reluctantly got to my feet.
"If I remember right, rare bosses drop crazy loot to make up for how tough they are, right?"
"Exactly. And those babies over there should be packed full of treasure."
Both Hanna and I turned our eyes to the two massive golden treasure chests sitting grandly in the room.
The real deal—<Gold Chests>. Rare loot guaranteed.
"Alright, Hanna. As usual, you gather up the boss drops while I crack these open."
"Eh!? No way, Zephyrus-kun, I wanna see you open the treasure too!"
"You’ve got a habit of trying to rush treasure chests whenever I take my eyes off you. This time it was a solo clear, so both chests are rightfully mine."
"That’s true, but pleeease! Just let me open one! I’ve never opened a <Gold Chest> before, and if I don’t now, I’ll probably never get the chance in my whole life."
Hanna pressed her palms together and begged.
Honestly, it’s about time I had her focus entirely on crafting. The fact that someone not even in a combat job like hers had stuck with me all the way to Beginner mid-tier was already unusual.
Normally, once a production job hits level 20 and unlocks the second-tier skill trees, they devote themselves to crafting full-time.
And yeah, that means way fewer chances to open chests. Missing out on <Gold Chests> altogether wouldn’t be strange at all.
Hmm. Thinking about it that way… maybe it would be a little sad for her.
"…Fine. Just one."
"Yes! Thanks, Zephyrus-kun! As thanks, I’ll make you something super delicious later—I cooked a ton yesterday!"
With that, Hanna happily patted her <Item Bag (Capacity: Large)>.
Somehow, I might be a little too soft on Hanna. (You could also say she’s got me by the stomach.)
Well, there’ll be plenty more chances to open <Gold Chests> in the future anyway. No problem.
But just so we’re clear—I’m also excited about opening them, so don’t expect this every time, okay? Okay!? (…not too confident there.)
Standing in front of one of the <Gold chests>, I let Hanna open it first. Now, what’s inside…?
"Waaah. Cute~! It’s a white cat plushie~!"
"…You’re kidding me!?"
Her words nearly made me choke.
I blinked hard at the thing Hanna pulled out of the chest.
"Wh-what’s with that ridiculous face, Zephyrus-kun?"
"What’s with it!? That’s <Lucky Cat-sama>! Don’t you realize!?"
"Lucky Cat-sama?"
The plushie Hanna was hugging—like a super-kawaii, girl-friendly, mascot-style Maneki-neko—was the legendary cat that brings fortune, affectionately known to us <DanKatsu> players as <Lucky Cat-sama>.
Its effect: only one. It grants 『Luck』.
But that single effect is ridiculously powerful.
Higher rare-drop rates, higher chances of running into rare monsters, sometimes extra drops, boosted gathering yield, items breaking less often—in short, nothing but good things.
<DanKatsu> players revere <Lucky Cat-sama> like a god, putting it on their altars and even making offerings to it.
Having one or not makes a massive difference in clearing speed. It’s a god-tier item.
Sure, it’s supposed to start dropping from Beginner mid-tier rare bosses, but getting it in one shot like this!?
Crap, this feels like I just burned through more luck than winning first prize in the lottery!
This stroke of fortune is so huge it’s actually terrifying—I feel like I’ve emptied my luck reserves already.
"Oh, <Lucky Cat-sama>, please, grant me your luck!"
On impulse, I grabbed the paw of the plushie still in Hanna’s arms.
I could swear <Lucky Cat-sama> nodded deeply at me. (※It didn’t.)
Now, it’s my turn. I open the <Gold Chest>, and inside is…
"The <Rare Monster Flute (Boss)>…!?"
<Rare Monster Flute (Boss): A flute that awakens a rare boss. If it’s in a bad mood, it’ll attack you instead.>
Basically, if you blow it in a safe zone, it increases the chance of a rare boss spawning in the boss room.
Another jackpot.
To me, it felt like a loud, sweaty sign from <Emperor Goblin> himself, saying he wanted a rematch.
All right then, bring it on!
"Zephyrus-kun, did you get something good?"
"Hell yeah! This is another massive hit! There’s no other item that can semi-permanently make rare bosses pop. Sure, it breaks after five uses, but if you stop at four and repair it, you get another five blows. This is an amazing start."
It can’t guarantee a 100% spawn, but items like this are normally one-time use. Having something like the <Rare Monster Flute (Boss)>, usable up to five times, makes it a once-in-a-lifetime jackpot.
The problem is, I don’t currently know anyone who can repair it, so for now it’s unusable.
Guess I’ll have to look around in C-Street for a skilled craftsman.
After we finished collecting all the boss drops—yep, rare boss loot really lives up to its name.
Even the regular drops were solid, and I even scored a valuable alchemy material, the <Emperor Goblin’s Crown>. That one’s going straight to Hanna.
She looked really happy about it.
This time, we didn’t farm the boss.
Even though the days are longer now, it was already past 4 PM.
I’ve got that appointment with Ester and the others, plus the guild foundation to deal with.
So, reluctantly, we decided to head back.
"Sorry, Hanna—you didn’t get the dungeon clear badge this time."
"No, it’s okay, really."
Dungeon clear badges are only given to those who defeat the boss. If you get knocked out along the way or didn’t actually participate in the fight, even as a party member, you don’t get one.
So even though Hanna made it all the way to clearing Beginner mid-tier, she didn’t get the badge.
Normally, that’d sting, but she didn’t seem too bothered, saying she’d just been carried along on my back anyway.
Well, since I’m planning to come back here again, I’ll make sure to bring her along then.
Since Hanna didn’t seem too bothered, I pinned the <Badge of Clear> for the Beginner mid-tier dungeon, <Wild Grass Plains Dungeon>, onto the chest of my <Sky Armor>.
That made four badges in total.
Three from Beginner low-tier dungeons, and now one from a Beginner mid-tier dungeon.
Four shining badges on my chest—looks pretty damn good, doesn’t it?
"Mm, it looks cool, Zephyrus-kun."
"Thanks."
Even Hanna approved.
I straightened myself up a bit and topped off my HP with an 『Aura Heal』.
"Phew. Good work today."
"Good work~."
We exchanged words of thanks before stepping onto the pink-glowing teleport circle.
A brief floating sensation—and then, the scenery shifted. We were back at ShouDan.
Murmur—
"Eh? What’s going on?"
The moment we returned, the upperclassmen nearby began murmuring, and suddenly all eyes were on us.
Caught off guard, Hanna shrank down and immediately hid behind my back.
"Ah, yeah, that’s the reason."
I pointed to the <Wild Grass Piains Dungeon> badge on my chest so she could see.
The whispers around us grew louder.
"Oi, that guy—"
"Didn’t he just come out of <Piains>? Wait, isn’t he a first-year?"
"Look at his chest—he’s got the badge on him!?"
"No way, you’re serious!?"
"It took me three months to clear <Piains>…"
"Most of us stuck in ShouDan are still at that level, right?"
"Damn it, even the underclassmen are leaving us behind!"
"Wait, wait! That girl behind the 【Hero】 doesn’t have the badge!"
"Eh, so that means the 【Hero】 soloed the boss!?"
"Is the 【Hero】 really that strong!?"
I could clearly hear all their chatter.
If we stayed here, things would just get messy.
"Hanna, let’s go. Stop trembling, hold your head up high, and walk with confidence."
"Eeh, but…"
"What happened to that gutsy Hanna from inside the dungeon?"
"I-I’m not gutsy. I’m delicate."
Well, her actual stats are delicate, but…
If I pointed that out now, things would just get more troublesome, so I dropped it.
I puffed out my chest and strode forward confidently, and while the stares stayed on us, nobody tried talking to me.
Hanna trailed behind, lightly touching my armor, following nervously.
"Uuugh, it was so scary, with all those upperclass guys staring…"
The moment we stepped out of ShouDan, Hanna let out a sigh.
By the way, upperclassmen still wandering around ShouDan are basically the washouts. Background mob failures. And, of course, in this kind of game, they’re always guys. Naturally, if there were any girls, they’d end up as heroines instead. Unfortunately, I didn’t spot any.
Still, being suddenly the center of attention in a crowd of older guys must’ve been pretty terrifying for a little loli like Hanna.
I gave her head a gentle pat to comfort her. …Huh, her hair’s thicker than I thought. Soft and poofy.
"Uh, th-thanks."
"O-oh, sure."
Hanna looked up at me with slightly flushed cheeks, big eyes gazing upward—enough to shake me a little.
And when I pulled my hand away, she let out a faint, lonely "Ah," which stabbed me right in the chest.
Hanna… when did you learn that kind of move?
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