The Adventurer’s Guild United Headquarters on the El Dorado Continent.
Inside the office, various people were gathered.
Each and every one of them was a branch manager of the Adventurer’s Guild from across the continent.
The sheer number of attendees was immense, as they included branch managers from the capitals and important cities of empires and kingdoms, as well as those from branches located in the countryside.
“The United Commander is entering.”
A gruff man with a face full of scars appeared.
It was Kyle, who led the Adventurer’s Guild, spread across many places, as a unified entity.
“I express my gratitude for you all making time despite your busy schedules.”
Everyone remained silent.
None of them had taken time out of their busy lives to listen to such pleasantries.
However, no one dared to speak up in front of Kyle.
Who was Kyle?
He was the United Commander who ruled all the Adventurer’s Guilds on the continent.
At the same time, although he had retired, he was an Adamantium-ranked adventurer.
Considering that the number of such adventurers on the continent could be counted on one’s fingers, one could truly grasp the immense presence Kyle commanded.
Kyle, sensing the silence, was not lacking in shrewdness.
“Well then, since everyone is busy, let’s get straight to the point.”
Kyle rapped on the desk, drawing everyone’s attention, and then spoke.
“The first matter concerns the White Church.”
From the very first agenda item, people began to show resistance.
“The White Church’s affairs have nothing to do with us, do they?”
Someone retorted to Kyle’s statement.
Several individuals nodded slightly in agreement.
It was a natural reaction, as the Adventurer’s Guild and the Church had different identities.
“It’s not that simple a matter. The White Church is currently maintaining silence, but based on my separate investigation, it appears that a sealing stone has been released.”
“……!”
Even those who had shown little interest widened their eyes and turned their heads towards Kyle.
“No… what does that mean….”
“Lord Kyle. Can you take responsibility for those words? This is not a matter to be spoken of based on mere speculation!”
“Even if that were the case, doesn’t the Church have nothing to say? I don’t think it’s too early to jump to conclusions.”
The news of a sealing stone being released was no trivial matter to them.
Within the sealing stones lay dormant monsters that had once shaken the El Dorado Continent.
This included not only powerful monsters but also high-ranking demons and Demon Lords.
Fortunately, the entire continent had joined forces to repel and seal them.
The resulting sealing stones were stored by the Church in deep basements and meticulously managed.
Yet, it was said that a sealing stone had been released.
If Kyle’s words were true, the Church would be held heavily responsible.
“However, since there has been no official announcement from the Church, I trust that everyone will exercise discretion and remain silent.”
To spread the word about this incident without an official Church announcement?
One might even be branded as a disbeliever of the Goddess.
If that happened, the Church’s Inquisitors would personally pay a visit.
The arrival of an Inquisitor was akin to the visit of the Grim Reaper.
They were rabid dogs loyal only to the Church, and once they bit, they never let go until their prey was dead.
Knowing this, Kyle trusted that everyone would exercise discretion.
“Next are the newly appeared dungeons. This month alone, 67 dungeons have appeared. Fortunately or unfortunately, there are no dungeons that stand out significantly.”
Adventurers explore dungeons and hunt monsters. The byproducts of hunting are sold or used as material for equipment.
Therefore, dungeons were akin to resources.
What Kyle meant by “standing out” was that there were no high-ranked dungeons.
” all 67 dungeons will be assigned Iron Rank.”
The rank of dungeons was primarily determined by the Adventurer’s Guild.
The ranking criteria were, of course, the same as the adventurer ranking system.
The very first adventurers started at Iron Rank.
Then they progressed through Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and finally Adamantium.
Dungeons were also ranked using the same criteria.
As Kyle had just stated, all 67 newly appeared dungeons were insignificant enough to be awarded Iron Rank.
“Lastly, in addition to the 67 dungeons, there is one more.”
“Then it’s 68, isn’t it? Is there any need to separate it out?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
They wondered if there was a need to single it out confusingly.
” this place was a bit ambiguous. It’s a dungeon discovered in the Sail Kingdom’s mountain range, and it was found by a hunter.”
Kyle added that the problem was that no energy could be measured from the dungeon.
“Could it be that the dungeon itself is just weak?”
Most people probably thought this, but Kyle was cautious.
“Therefore, I intend to temporarily assign this dungeon a Copper Rank.”
Kyle mulled over the hunter’s words once more.
‘Ten days ago, there was nothing here. I saw it with my own eyes.’
Perhaps he was overreacting based solely on the hunter’s words.
Still, Kyle was concerned about any potential future events.
It was never too much to prepare for safety.
“If no abnormalities are confirmed in the dungeon for a week, its rank will be downgraded to Iron Rank.”
* * *
Since obtaining the status window, I’ve been incredibly busy.
I underwent mana testing and then officially started working as a porter.
Fortunately, finding work as a porter was surprisingly easy. I never realized the difference the status window would make.
Another change I’ve noticed is that I’ve become addicted to the experience points I gain after the status window appeared.
I pushed myself relentlessly, and my body became exhausted.
“Still, tomorrow is a day off…”
I figured I’d be fine if I took today and tomorrow off.
I ran the game for the first time in a while.
Perhaps it was because I suddenly felt mentally at ease.
“Come to think of it, hasn’t it been a week?”
I suddenly remembered the dungeon stealth skill I used when I first started playing the game.
It was for a period of one week, and the time had already passed.
Looking back, I wondered if it had any real significance.
Despite shelling out real money, I only logged in a few times before getting busy and completely neglecting it.
Still, I had set it so that all privileges would be transferred to my subordinate officer before it ended.
” I wonder if my subordinate officer is doing well?”
Touching the game screen, it displayed the dungeon.
My subordinate officer, wearing a maid outfit, was still wandering around the dungeon.
“She’s really working hard too.”
Even though it’s just a game, no one would dislike such a diligent person.
That wasn’t the problem.
I was clearly looking at my dungeon displayed on the screen.
Yes, it was definitely a dungeon.
“No, what is this?”
Did I misread something?
The dungeon’s appearance had changed significantly.
The long, straight corridors were now interrupted by vast open fields, like an anthill.
Anyone entering the dungeon would have no choice but to pass through narrow corridors and encounter wide open fields in between.
And there weren’t just one, but three such open fields. Pillars that offered cover were strategically placed across the wide, flat ground.
“Wow, they really put a lot of effort into this.”
Furthermore, in the area near the dungeon entrance, a large number of skeletons were deployed.
“It grows this much?”
I had just left it unattended…
Indeed, granting all permissions in the subordinate setup was the right decision.
But to do all this must have cost a lot of jewels.
Just drawing 10 monsters would require 5000 jewels.
Judging by the number of skeletons now, it was nearly 30, and even using all the remaining 5000 jewels wouldn’t have been enough.
My eyes immediately turned to the jewel inventory.
“Huh?”
Seeing the remaining number of jewels, I was utterly dumbfounded.
“There are still 4300 left?”
Was my eyesight failing me?
It cost me 5000 jewels to draw 10 skeletons. Yet, after neglecting the game, only 700 jewels had decreased.
Moreover, the number of monsters had surged, and the dungeon’s size had clearly changed.
“…….”
Should I be happy about this?
It felt like my efforts were being invalidated.
No, let’s think positively.
It was probably because I was here that it developed to this extent.
I touched the deployed skeletons.
Except for the 2-star skeleton I had synthesized last time, all of them were 1-star.
Thinking that synthesizing the remaining ones would further strengthen our forces, I touched the [Synthesize] tab.
– Monsters that are already deployed cannot be used as synthesis materials.
Ah.
For a moment, I had forgotten about the game developer’s personality. Come to think of it, this game had an unusual tendency to induce real-money purchases.
The fact that already deployed monsters couldn’t be used as synthesis materials meant this.
In other words, it was no different than saying to keep spending jewels on gacha draws.
It implied that monsters obtained that way were meant to be used as materials.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely bad.
In another sense, it made sense.
If it grew this easily even when left unattended, they couldn’t have made the difficulty much easier.
“Developer, I understand, brother.”
If the difficulty was too high, players would give up quickly, and conversely, if it was too low, there would be no reason to spend money.
Touching the screen again, a new alarm popped up this time.
– The Adventurer’s Guild has determined the rank of this dungeon.
– The rank of dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’ is Copper (銅).
“……?”
I take back what I just said.
This game was extremely difficult.
A Copper-rank dungeon, this is too much!
My subordinate officer is a 6-star monster.
And the number of skeletons alone is substantial.
“Just how strong are the things that are attacking the dungeon?”
I felt fear instead.
Surely this isn’t a scheme to make me spend money, is it?
Even so, with a 6-star monster, this is crossing the line.
Having been on the El Dorado Continent for two years, I am confident in my knowledge of adventurer ranks.
The ranks were determined in the order of Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Adamantium.
Copper Rank.
Second from the bottom.
Furthermore, 6-star existences were rare on the El Dorado Continent, and I had only learned about them in past records.
In reality, wouldn’t it be more normal for my dungeon to be set at least at Gold Rank?
It seems games are indeed different from reality.
“Sigh…”
My hand was naturally moving towards the item shop, not the exit game option.
At this point, there’s no other choice.
Since my dungeon is weak, I have to spend more jewels.
* * *
Today, the Adventurer’s Guild was bustling with people.
This was the Adventurer’s Guild in the Sail Kingdom.
Three adventurers, their equipment appearing rather crude, entered the noisy guild hall.
Anyone could tell they were newly made adventurers, Iron Rank.
They immediately went to the information desk and presented their adventurer identification cards.
“Um… we’d like to inquire about nearby dungeons. Are there any quests available?”
The attendant checked the identification cards they presented.
Iron Rank adventurers.
Given their rank, they could only go to Iron Rank dungeons.
However, the number of Iron Rank adventurers had recently surged.
All available Iron Rank dungeons were currently assigned quests.
“Um, by any chance, are there any remaining dungeons?”
These adventurers had to return empty-handed.
The attendant felt sympathy for them.
Then, she recalled what the branch manager had said.
“- This is a Copper Rank dungeon, but just consider it Iron Rank. It will be downgraded soon, so deal with it as you see fit.”
The dungeon was also located close to the Sail Kingdom’s mountain range.
Although it was Copper Rank, it was a dungeon that would soon be downgraded to Iron Rank.
‘It would be too cruel to just send them away when they are trying so hard…’
She thought it would be fine to entrust it to these novice adventurers rather than waiting.
She figured that three adventurers could probably conquer one Iron Rank dungeon.
“Ah, there’s just one dungeon left! It’s Iron Rank and located in the Royal Mountain Range, so it’s close by.”
When the attendant asked what they would do, the three adventurers smiled and readily agreed.
An Iron Rank dungeon remaining.
Today was a lucky day.
