Chapter 5: Conquering a Beginner Upper-tier Dungeon, and the Academy’s Research Institute Makes Its Move
"Finally feels like we made it this far."
The Dungeon Gate: First Transmission is a collection of Beginner-level dungeons, commonly known as ShouDan.
Looking up at it, I couldn’t help but murmur to myself.
"At last, a Beginner Upper-tier dungeon! I can’t wait!"
"I’m sorry we ended up delayed because of my gear, Lady Lana."
"It’s not Hanna’s fault, is it? I wanted to dive into a Beginner Upper-tier dungeon with you too, so I really don’t mind!"
"That’s right, Hanna. Don’t let it bother you. Besides, there was another reason we skipped our dungeon runs last Saturday and Sunday. Take a look around—notice anything?"
"Eh? …Now that you mention it, there do seem to be a lot of people?"
Though it was still morning, the gate of ShouDan—and the area inside—was bustling with a surprising number of people.
Hanna glanced around nervously, then muttered. Sierra, hearing her, nodded once.
"Yes, this is the fourth week of the month. At the Academy, they call this period <Dungeon Week>. All classes are suspended, and students spend the time focusing on dungeon-related self-study."
"To add on," Ester explained, "first-years still have regular classes. It’s said to be the final stretch before the end of the Job Awakening period."
"I see. That explains why there are so many people here…"
"By the way, that’s also why Marie-senpai was hanging around the guild on Monday morning."
"Oh! You’re right!"
Seems Hanna has only just realized.
Well, when every day feels like a day off, you lose track of the week pretty quickly.
"Huh? But aren’t there a lot of people with blue embroidery? Those are first-years, right?"
"What?"
Looking closer, I saw it too. A ton of students in the school-issued beginner gear with blue-stitched emblems. Probably close to half the crowd.
This is… odd.
"First-years should still have normal classes, right?"
"Yes, they should. But if they’re here… does that mean they’ve already Awakened their Jobs?"
"That doesn’t add up. From the looks of it, there are well over a hundred first-years here. If it were just a handful, or even a few dozen, I’d understand—but this number is abnormal."
There were still ten days left before the deadline for the Job measurement.
Normally, first-years wait until the very last moment before taking a Job, in the hopes of getting the best one possible. For this many to show up at ShouDan before the deadline… it didn’t make sense.
"Ah, someone’s coming."
"Wait—that person…"
Ester and Sierra turned their eyes toward the figure. An elderly man in a white lab coat, someone I’d seen before.
The man stepped forward, and the crowd of first-years immediately gathered around him.
So that’s what this was.
"Greetings, young people with bright futures! Thank you for coming! I am Miston, director of the Research Institute. Today, I’ve invited you here to participate in an experiment to help you Awaken into high-ranking Jobs! From here, you’ll be diving into the <Beginner Dungeon> in pairs with members of my staff! And of course—before you’ve taken a Job!"
Spreading his arms wide, Director Miston’s booming voice carried over the crowd.
At that very moment, his staff appeared from seemingly nowhere—bam, bam, bam!—lining up behind him in perfect formation. They’d clearly been drilled for this.
The first-years gasped and murmured in shock, filling the dungeon entrance with their noise.
Watching all this unfold, I was certain.
"Well, now it all makes sense."
"Eh? You already figured it out?"
Ester, who had been staring blankly until now, turned to ask.
Yeah. Because this whole scheme… probably came from that little leak I provided.
I listened in as Director Miston continued.
"According to information we’ve obtained, defeating monsters is the very first step toward Awakening high-ranking Jobs!"
See? Called it.
Most likely, this was their attempt to clear one of those common high-ranking Job requirements: <Defeat X monsters under Y condition>.
That condition had always been a sticking point. After all, getting attacked by a monster in person was dangerous. It made sense that it had taken them this long to find a way to minimize the risk.
But originally, that condition had a different purpose.
The devs probably intended players to first fight monsters as a low or mid-rank Job, then use Job Change to advance into a high-rank one.
But Job Change came with requirements: <Job level 15 or higher>, and a <Job Change Ticket>. Without those, you couldn’t do it.
And what happened? In the game, people complained: "There’s a time limit, no way we’ve got time for that!" and ended up creating the "Slime Pop Marathon" route as a shortcut to high-rank Jobs.
Meanwhile, in real-life <DanKatsu>, people were like, "Resetting my level? No way! That could ruin my whole life!" and so almost nobody attempted Job Change at all.
In the end, no one followed the path the devs had originally intended.
Well… sometimes that’s just how it goes.
By the way, <Basic Job Change Tickets> are rare drops from <Silver Chests>.
Since high-rank Jobs are both strong and valuable, the dev team went and made the <Basic Job Change Ticket> a rare drop… which only ended up raising the barrier for Job Change unnecessarily.
So, to skip that whole process and shoot straight into high-rank Jobs from the start, the Research Institute staff came up with this system: pairing first-years with researchers to dive into the <Beginner’s Dungeon> in two-man cells.
Basically, power-leveling courtesy of the research staff. Something like that.
Well, their levels won’t go up, but still.
There’s no way the Academy could have enough of those rare-drop <Basic Job Change Tickets> for every single student. And since a Job Change is a pain once you’ve already taken a Job, they must have decided to figure out a way to secure high-ranking Jobs beforehand.
For the record, the Slime Pop Marathon is still monopolized by our guild, <Eden>. No way I’m sharing that yet. It’s not that I want to keep it secret, but if I spoon-feed everyone everything, nobody in this world will ever bother figuring things out for themselves. And if you strip away the passion for exploration from <DanKatsu>, there’s nothing left. That’s my philosophy. Spread out, search everything, and then come up with the most efficient way on your own!
Well, the infamous 『Alchemy』 Disaster (the "Dessert Fumble") is already common knowledge. Someone sharp will figure it out sooner or later.
Anyway, I was wondering how they’d deal with the monster problem… and it looks like they just brute-forced it. Which means they still haven’t discovered the Slime Pop Marathon route.
"Alright, looks like the next wave of students is coming along just fine. Time for us to move on."
"You don’t want to stay and watch?"
"Nah, it’s fine. Let’s go grind levels in the dungeon."
If the next generation’s going to reach high-ranking Jobs and catch up to us, then we’ll just keep leveling to stay ahead!
Now then—how many of those first-years will actually grow into high-ranking jobholders, I wonder?
Can’t wait to find out.
Future classmates who might one day help carry our guild to greater heights—climb up here with all you’ve got.
We’ll be ahead, waiting for you.
With a "good luck" and a thumbs-up in my heart, I passed through the gates of the Beginner Upper-tier dungeon.
After all that, we’d finally made it here.
"At last! The Beginner Upper-tier dungeon!"
Lana shouted energetically. I understood the feeling well.
Every time I entered a new stage, I couldn’t help but feel excited too.
Maybe I should yell something too?
"Waaah… it’s beautiful…"
"A dungeon filled with flower fields? How lovely."
Hanna gazed out at the sight in awe, and Sierra agreed softly.
This was the <Flower Field Dungeon of the Isolated Island>.
Set on a small island surrounded by sea, most of it was blanketed in vivid flower fields—a slightly unusual dungeon.
"Feels like it’d be a waste to trample all over it."
"Hey, can’t we just harvest everything here?"
"…You planning on shaving it bald?"
Ester shuffled awkwardly, having nowhere clear to step, and Lana looked around curiously before turning to me with that outrageous suggestion.
But if you harvested everything, it’d just turn into a plain <Isolated Island Dungeon>. Don’t do that, please.
Well, I suppose it would probably all grow back in a few days anyway.
"C’mon, let’s move! There are monsters we haven’t seen yet waiting for us!"
…Was that some kind of tagline?
Too bad—I already know every single monster in here.
Jokes aside, I had Lana wait a moment. I wanted to explain a little about Beginner Upper-tier dungeons.
"Hold up. The monsters here are pretty tricky. Let me go over the differences between the Beginner Mid-tier, Beginner Upper-tier dungeons. You all good with that?"
"Of course. Instruction from Sir Zephyrus is always valuable."
"I’d love to hear."
"Another Zephyrus-kun lecture, huh? I’m kinda getting used to this."
Everyone nodded, even Lana, so I began.
"The biggest difference from Beginner Mid-tier dungeons is the introduction of damage-floor traps. Basically, slip-damage terrain. Step on them, and your HP gets shredded, so you’ll want to avoid them if you can."
Damage floors—the kind of trap you see in every dungeon RPG. Naturally, <DanKatsu> has them too. But its damage floors are a little unique.
They aren’t just an annoyance. In <DanKatsu>, you can <Gather> materials near damage floors.
That lets you collect resources infused with the properties of the trap—or if you’re a student from the <Trap-Removal Department>, you can even take the entire damage floor back with you. It’s an important source of income for them.
As I explained this, I noticed Sierra had already pulled out her usual flower-patterned notebook and was scribbling notes down at lightning speed. As expected of her.
"Next, the biggest change is that monsters will start using a wider variety of attacks. On top of <AoE> and <Area Attacks>, we’ll also start seeing <Elemental Attacks> and <Status Ailment Attacks>. Because of that, there’ll be more chances to take unexpected damage, so Lana, you especially need to be careful."
"Got it. You’ll explain the specifics later too, right?"
"Of course."
Previously, both the <Ghosts> and the <Emperor Goblins> used 『Fireball』. That was also an elemental attack. In the Beginner Mid-tier Dungeons, only fire attacks appeared, but from the Beginner Upper-tier Dungeons onward, monsters start using ice and lightning as well.
As for status ailment attacks, it’s mostly just <Poison>. But poison can eat away at your HP fast, so it’s best to use a status recovery spell quickly. My 『Recovery』 or Lana’s 『Prayer of Purification』 works well for that.
If you’ve got resistance skills like Sierra’s 『Status Ailment Resistance』, it’s important to level those up too.
There are also a few monsters that use support magic or debuffs, so we’ll need to start preparing countermeasures little by little.
Oh, and another thing: from this tier onward, we’ll run into monsters that can call allies. In other games, they’d be great for farming EXP, but in <DanKatsu> there’s the whole <Official Cheat Tactic: Boss Farming>. That means they’re nothing but a hassle here.
The best option is to take them out before they call reinforcements.
That about covers the monsters.
"Any questions up to this point?"
"How many floors do the Beginner Upper-tier Dungeons have?"
Hanna shot out a sharp question.
Ah, crap. I got so caught up in explaining all the dangers that I forgot the most important part.
"The Beginner Upper-tier Dungeons are all standardized at twenty floors. Also, the job level cap rises to 50 here."
Incidentally, the entry requirement is level 25.
So far, the entry levels were: <Beginner Dungeon> at Lv 5, Beginner Low-tier Dungeon at Lv 10, Beginner Mid-tier Dungeon at Lv 15—each time increasing by five levels. But here, it suddenly jumps by ten all at once. That’s how tough the Beginner Upper-tier Dungeons are considered.
Whether you can break past the Beginner-Level or not depends on this dungeon.
Anyway, back to the explanation.
And this one is the most important: starting from the Beginner Upper-tier, hidden doors make their first appearance.
Yeah, hidden doors. It’s important enough to say twice. The one in the <Beginner Dungeon> was a special case, so don’t count that.
As you can see from my <Sky Series> gear, hidden doors are where you find extremely rare and powerful items or equipment.
The locations of hidden doors are fixed—not random. However, since they’re literally hidden, you’re supposed to need skills or items to find them.
But for us <DanKatsu> players, that’s no obstacle. If the locations are fixed, then you don’t need skills at all.
All the info on hidden doors has been compiled by volunteers into the <Complete Hidden Door Guide: Every Dungeon Exposed>. It’s a strategy site that lists every hidden door’s location.
Sure, that made some skills practically useless, but in exchange, all hidden doors are now mapped out. Truly the crystallization of human wisdom! (…Let’s just ignore those useless skills) Ugh, my right eye throbs.
Ahem. And naturally, since I’m known as the walking <DanKatsu> database, I’ve memorized every single location, position, and loot. Of course, we’ll be stopping by them in today’s run.
Looks like Lana’s long-forgotten <Universal Hidden Door Key (Iron)>—a.k.a. the <Iron Door Key>—will finally get its chance to shine.
…This time, we won’t be smashing doors open. Yeah. We’ll do it the proper way.
"Hidden doors… treasure chests…"
"Yup. Find one and you’ll be swimming in loot."
"Can’t wait!"
Since I already know the locations, we’ll stop by them later. Look forward to it.
Anyway, today’s destination is one of the Beginner Upper-tier Dungeons: the <Flower Field Dungeon of the Isolated Island>
The main reason I picked this one first is that it has tons of gathering points.
My <Gentle Shovel> is practically itching to get to work.
But more importantly, it’s also for collecting materials for Hanna’s alchemy items.
The resources found here are useful in all kinds of alchemy, so naturally, this is the best dungeon to visit first.
So this time, we’ll focus mainly on gathering.
…That said, before long, we came across something that wasn’t a gathering point.
"Ah, there are other people here."
"Upperclassmen, I see. Now that you mention it, this is the first time we’ve run into others inside a dungeon, isn’t it?"
"Zephyrus-kun, should we go greet them too?"
"Better not. They’re in the middle of their own exploration—we might just get in their way."
"Oh, right."
Hanna asked, glancing at the upperclassmen hunting monsters in the distance, but I gently steered her away from getting involved.
There are several reasons, but honestly, there’s rarely any benefit to interacting with others here. Most of the time, it just wastes time and cuts into your boss's farming schedule.
Sometimes you might trigger a side quest that gives rewards like full party MP restoration, but that’s almost unheard of in the Beginner-Level Dungeon. So yeah—better to ignore them.
Incidentally, running into other people inside dungeons is actually pretty common.
Up until now, we never did, simply because we’d been blazing so far ahead of the other first-years. But unlike online games, dungeons here aren’t split into servers or instances.
That’s why, in case of a total wipe, you can send out a <Distress Report>, and the Academy’s <Rescue Committee> will come rescue you.
"Alright, let’s move ahead while avoiding those upperclassmen and gathering along the way. The monsters here are noticeably tougher than before. They’ll be using tricky moves too, so Lana—keep an eye on everyone, got it?"
"I know! Leave it to me!"
I’d already explained this earlier, so Lana puffed her chest out confidently and nodded. I’m counting on you.
Hesitating a little as they stepped through the flower fields, <Eden>’s members pressed forward.
"Ah, I found a gathering spot!"
"Oh, finally."
As we slowly descended through the floors, we searched for more, but gathering spots were few and far between. As expected, the upperclassmen must have already harvested most of them.
Fortunately, when I followed the gathering point locations I remembered from the game, we managed to secure a few spots at least.
"How’d it go this time?"
"Perfect! I got the material we needed!"
"Good. Let’s keep up the pace."
The materials Hanna was gathering right now were crucial—necessary for crafting an important item that would let her fight alongside us as an attacker.
We’d have her put it together later at the <Safe Zone>, and then she’d debut it in the boss battle. Something to look forward to.
"Monster spotted! Everyone, let’s hunt it down!"
While gathering, Lana—whom I’d asked to keep watch—shouted out an energetic report.
She really looked like a player completely hooked on <DanKatsu> now.
Nice. Hanna and I quickly prepped ourselves and rushed over.
"This time it’s five <Tsurū>! I’ll back you up, so Sierra—go for it!"
"Leave it to me. 『Provoke』!"
By the time Hanna and I arrived, the fight had already started. Geez, couldn’t they wait a bit? They’re like impatient kids. …Though I totally get that feeling.
"Joining in! 『Sonic Sword』!"
"『Flame Lance』!"
The monsters in the <Isolated Island Flower Garden Dungeon> are mostly plant-type.
This time, we ran into a monster with vines growing from a fir tree—aptly named <Tsuru>.
For some reason, its roots stuck out above ground, letting it move around freely.
Well, then again, most of the monsters in this dungeon can move. The first time I saw that, I was floored.
Plant monsters are generally weak to slashing and fire attacks.
That means Hanna, Ester, and I all have the advantage here. Another reason I chose the <Isolated Island Flower Garden Dungeon> first.
"Ow! That hurt."
"Ester, don’t get too close to the tank! You’ll get caught up in the attacks!"
The <Tsuru>’s whip-like vines count as small AoE attacks. Stay too close to the tank and you’ll get hit along with them. Ester, careless as she was, got caught in one. She still needs more practice.
That said, with our high stats and solid equipment, they were no real threat. The fight ended in mere seconds. Still, the number of hits taken is starting to pile up.
"Ester, you okay?"
"Yes. Lady Lana already healed me, so I’m back to full."
"You’re getting hit more often now. But thanks to your stats and armor, it doesn’t look too bad?"
After all, Ester’s VIT stat was at 110 just for this. Considering Sierra is 170, you can tell how much we invested in her. Frontliners always take more hits. Even if the tank draws most of the aggro, some splash damage is inevitable, so they need to be tough enough to withstand it.
Thanks to that, Ester only took scratch damage.
AoE attacks are weak to begin with, so for now, it’s nothing serious.
"For the moment, I’m fine."
"Good. But from here on out, there’ll be more cases like that. Learn which spots are safe and which aren’t while you can."
"Thank you for the advice."
Ester bowed formally.
Well, that goes for me too. I’m still learning the ropes when it comes to real-life <DanKatsu> player skills.
Let’s keep leveling up together.
While exploring the 5th floor, I suddenly stopped in front of a wall.
"? Zephyrus-kun? What’s wrong?"
Hanna tilted her head and looked up at me, puzzled by my abrupt stop.
…Damn, that gesture is cute.
But no—this is that spot.
I put my hand on the wall, and as expected, my 『Intuition』 whispered that something was here.
Of course, I already knew what was hidden behind such an ordinary-looking wall.
"『Intuition』 reacted. There’s a hidden door here."
"Eh!"
"Treasure!?"
"Super jackpot!"
Lana and Hanna’s reactions were so funny, I couldn’t help but play along.
Anyway, I carefully examined the wall while giving instructions.
"Lana, give me that key."
"Eh? What key again?"
Hey. Don’t forget, Princess.
Its full name is the <Universal Key of Hidden Doors (Iron)>, nickname: <Iron Door Key>.
It’s the crucial key needed to open this hidden door.
Well, in real life, I could just smash the wall down, but since we went through the trouble of getting the key, might as well use it. Not using it would be a waste!
I clearly remember Lana was the one who found it—so why is she the one forgetting?
Just as I was thinking that, Ester quietly stepped forward and whispered into Lana’s ear.
"Lady Lana, ── whisper whisper whisper."
"Eep, that tickles! But I remember now! That’s the key from the <Gold Chest>! It’s not like I forgot, okay?"
Lies. Ester just fed you the answer. And didn’t you just say you "remembered"?
Still, no one was petty enough to call her out on it. Instead, Lana just got warm, indulgent looks from everyone.
That’s our princess. Honestly, I love Lana’s character.
She pulled the <Iron Door Key> from her <Item Bag (Capacity: Small)>. I reached out to take it, but for some reason, she pulled it back. Huh?
"Let me open it! I’ve always wanted to try a hidden door!"
"Steal!"
"Wha—!?"
Relying on my overflowing STR stat, I snatched the key from her without mercy.
"Hey, that’s my key!?"
Lana protested, but I ignored her. For the record, it’s not her key—it’s the key she found. Same difference, maybe.
But this is our very first hidden door! And I was the one who found it! Which means the guildmaster—that’s me—gets the honor of opening it. Sorry, Lana. You can have the next one, so don’t hold it against me.
I stuck the key into the slot I’d found earlier, and with a heavy rumbling sound, the door slid open sideways.
"Whoa! Amazing!"
"As expected of Sir Zephyrus."
"It really is a hidden door. I heard they start appearing in Beginner Upper-tier dungeons, but this is a promising start."
Well, I already know all their locations, after all. Does that still count as "lucky"?
"Fine, I’ll let you have it this time! But I’m opening the next one!"
Lana’s willingness to compromise is one of her good points.
Honestly, I also wanted to open one properly since the last hidden door we just busted down instead.
Anyway, there are still three more hidden doors left in this dungeon. I’m sure Lana will get her chance soon.
But man, the moment when a hidden door opens really gets the heart racing! That heavy rumbling sound is just pure adventure vibes!
Now then, time to see what’s inside.
"A <Silver Chest>!"
Of course, Hanna was the first to react. Classic.
Since I already know what’s inside, I’ll let the others do the honors.
"Hmm, who was next again?"
"Last time Sierra didn’t get to open one, so perhaps this time should be hers."
"Me?"
"Yes. I think that’s fair."
Because during the whole <Beauti-Four Phenomenon> incident, Sierra didn’t get a turn, so it was decided she’d open this one.
"Alright then, I’ll open it."
Without hesitation, with a look of resolve, Sierra knelt in front of the chest and lifted the lid.
"This is… a loupe?"
"Yeah. It’s the item <Medra>, with 『Appraisal Lv.5』 attached. Same type as the <Know-It-All> that Marie-senpai used. With this, you can appraise items up through Intermediate-level dungeons. Pretty handy."
For the record, Marie-senpai’s <Know-It-All> only had 『Appraisal Lv.4』, so this <Medra> is even better. Fuhaha.
Up until now, I’ve been doing all the appraising manually with my own judgment, but now we’ve finally got the actual 『Appraisal』 skill.
From here on, the girls will be able to identify items without me.
Well, for now it’ll probably just sit in the <Item Bag>. Or maybe I’ll let Kalua and the others carry it.
Anyway, now that we’ve scored a nice item, let’s keep the momentum going and conquer every hidden door in this dungeon!
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