After my decisive victory in the Cube Hunt Showdown, the three of us set out for another hunt.
She also observed my basic swordsmanship techniques.
While she praised my skills, I suspected that what truly intrigued her was my hidden trump card—the Hellfire, the one that defeated the Evil Ogre.
-0-
Exiting the dungeon, my attire remained unchanged, but Azuma-san now sported Uniqlo fashion, and Oshino-san wore casual clothes befitting a university student.
I briefly wondered what I would do if she came out with her ninja outfit, but her consideration put my mind at ease.
At Tenshiba Park, the food stall event was already winding down.
Time had slipped away—eight hours had passed since morning, and now evening enveloped the outside world.
Inside the dungeon, the passage of time is kind of strange.
Before the discovery of streaming crystals, there was no real-time contact with the outside. Scholars earnestly debated the discrepancy in time flow between dungeon and world, until real-time dungeon streaming corrected our understanding.
-0-
Next, Azuma-san, Oshino-san, and I discussed our future strategy.
Aware that we’d return home late, we each made phone calls to notify our households.
Finally, the three of us moved to a nearby hotel: the Oshino Resort Tennoji—a luxury establishment of the Oshino Group.
Along the way, conversation turned to the pocket watch.
「Are you sure about giving away this pocket watch? It’s quite valuable.」
「No problem. We have several of these at home.」
「Then I’ll gladly take it.」
I didn’t even have a wristwatch as I usually checked the time on my smartphone. But I must admit, there was a certain allure to pocket watches.
Being a dungeon product, this one could conveniently reside in my inventory and as soon as you take it outside, it even adjusted to the current time automatically.
Inside my inventory, time stood still, but the moment I stepped outside, the pocket watch adjusted automatically to the current time.
The elevator halted one floor below the topmost level.
Instead of a restaurant, we faced what appeared to be an ordinary guest room. Oshino-san opened one of the doors.
This room, too, resembled a suite—not just a bed, but also a table and chairs.
There is also luggage.
「I currently reside here. I’ve tidied up, but please don’t peek into the bedroom.」
She said so while leading us into the guest room.
It’s a suite alright.
「Why not dine in the restaurant?」
「Perhaps you’d rather avoid prying eyes? Feel free to order whatever you like through room service. While the menu is there, our chef can prepare almost anything.」
「In that case, I’ll have ramen.」
「Why ramen? Is it a favorite of yours?」
「Not exactly. I’m curious about how ramen tastes in a high-end hotel.」
As for the hotel’s gourmet cuisine, it was undoubtedly delicious, but comparing it to my own memories of food proved challenging.
If it were a familiar ramen, I could assess its flavor more accurately.
「Sounds good! Well then, I’ll have the same—」
「Okay. What about rice and gyoza?」
「Just gyoza for me. I still have leftover onigiri from lunch.」
「And for me… Could I have the gyoza without garlic?」
Oshino-san nodded with a smile and placed the order via phone: ‘Three bowls of ramen and three servings of gyoza, all without garlic. Also, one serving of rice.’
「By the way. Azuma, you’re quite the formidable mage. Few can wield magic as you do. You being included is the best bargain I’ve ever had.」
「Oh, it’s all thanks to Ichino-san.」
「Yes, I agree. I’ve figured out a little bit of Ichino’s strength. You have high luck stat, right?」
「What do you mean?」
「The number of treasure boxes you’ve obtained from the cubes—it’s abnormal. You should have met the minimum luck needed for Cubes drops. Although the cube’s base luck value is low at 30, having a luck stat of 30 at level 27 is incredibly rare.」
I was aware that the cube’s minimum luck was 30.
If your luck exceeded 30, the cube’s chance of dropping a treasure box became 100%.
「Well. I’ll share the exact numbers once we form an official party.」
「That works for me. Since this is a temporary arrangement—just a year—and considering we’re all students, let’s go with an hourly rate. How about $100 per hour? Of course, any rewards from dropped items or converted D-coins will be distributed fairly.」
「$100 per hour!? Um, in Japanese yen… Is it really okay to receive that much?」
「Absolutely. And as your level increases, we can discuss additional compensation during the formal contract.」
Compared to the earlier $10 million, this rate might be lower, but it was still substantial. Spending eight hours like today would earn me $800.
However—
「I have no objections regarding reward distribution, but I won’t accept an upfront contract fee. After all, I’m not being hired by you, Oshino-san.」
「In that case, I—that」
「Instead, I’d like you to help me sell a few items. Of course, we’ll split the proceeds evenly among the three of us. These items might attract attention if I sell them individually.」
「Oh? What kind of items?」
「This.」
「Potion? What kind of potion is that?」
「Experience potions. I currently have ten.」
I’ve taken experience potions made from experience mushrooms out of my inventory.
Items made by simple concoctions, even if they are not made inside the dungeon, can be stored in the inventory.
「Drinking one grants the experience equivalent to defeating 1,000 slimes.」
「Quite convenient.」
Azuma-san holds a bottle of experience potion in her hand and mutters that.
「In Japan, they’re apparently sold for around 5 million yen each.」
「5 million!? Wait, you mean 50 million yen for just ten potions!?」
「That’s the purchase price. The selling price might be lower. To sell these, we’d need them appraised at the appraisal office. But carrying this quantity there would draw too much attention, and I don’t have connections to wealthy buyers. Oshino-san, you could handle that, right?」
「Seems like I’m getting quite the task. So, how many of these can you provide?」
Azuma-san looked at her strangely.
Understandably so—I had just declared that I had ten potions.
However, Oshino-san seemed to grasp what I was about to say.
「Every week, I’ll prepare the same quantity. And there’s also the matter of the red Slime Sake. I’m genuinely at a loss with those. I have about fifty bottles at home.」
「―What!? That’s beyond imagination. Your luck stat is starting to scare me.」
Azuma-san still looked confused.
「Azuma, listen. A single bottle of red Slime Sake is around 2 million yen. And he has fifty of them. In the short time since Taira started diving into the dungeon—less than a month—he’s already earned 150 million yen just from the red Slime Sake and experience potions. Over a year, that’s 1.8 billion yen.」
「―!?」
「Impressive, isn’t it? That’s how high his luck stat is. If this became public knowledge, who knows who might target you. But for now, let’s assume you trust us, right?」
「I do. Besides, if we form a party together, it’ll eventually become obvious.」
「I’m honored.」
Oshino-san then looked at Azuma-san and continued.
「Dungeon items work like this: The deeper you delve, the more valuable items you find. Imagine the income he’d generate if he were there during those moments. Suddenly, our $100-per-hour rate becomes negligible. And one-third of those rewards would belong to Azuma.」
「―Wait! I don’t want to be indebted to Oshino-san that much.」
「You just need to be strong. Support Ichino by his side. You have talent. Of course, I do too.」
It seems Azuma-san and Oshino-san are getting along better now.
Considering we’ll be in the same party, that’s probably for the best.
And just as I thought that, room service arrived with the ramen… Wait, what’s this!?
I scrutinize the ramen carefully.
In an exquisite lacquered bowl, the tonkotsu ramen lay—its portion modest yet elegantly simple.
But it wasn’t just the ramen that caught my attention.
It was the accompanying box.
Within that box, neatly divided like a festive bento, lay over ten different toppings. It felt as though I’d been handed a challenge: ‘Create your own perfect ramen flavor.’
So, here I stood—a challenger before the hotel’s ramen offering.
On top of the toppings box sat vegetable-based dim sum, something that should be very healthy which would make anyone not feel guilty even if you order it around midnight.
Before taking a single bite, I knew I was defeated.
「Ichino-san, look at this. I just checked the room service menu. The price for this…」
「Price? Well, it’s hotel ramen, so I expected it to be steep… But ¥8,000 for a single bowl!?」
What in the world!?
I was utterly astonished.
With ¥8,000, how many bowls of ramen could one devour?
「Even though you’ve earned 150 million yen, you’re still concerned about that?」
Even if they called me a 1.8-billion-yen player, my heart remained that of a commoner.
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