Dungeon Gacha Life Chapter 4

 Chapter 4: Keep the Cover Story Natural

The moment I stepped out of the dungeon, I was greeted by a bunch of stares.

It was just before 4 p.m. I'd come out earlier than the busiest hours, but even so, this being the large-scale Hachioji Dungeon, there were still quite a fair number of Explorers in the lobby.

What their eyes were fixed on was Lapis, flying right around the level of my head. Long blonde hair, white traditional dress, and fairy wings. Telling her not to stand out would've been the harder task.

But this was modern-day Japan, after all.

Nobody came rushing over without any regard for manners. Mostly people just whispered to whoever was next to them, and a handful pulled out their phones to start filming. Wonder if I could charge a filming fee.

"Ooh, so this is the Guild. There sure are a lot of people!"

Everything seemed to be new to her, and Lapis kept looking around, exclaiming like that. From somewhere in the crowd I heard someone go, "It talked!" At this rate, I'd better hurry up and get this done before we got mobbed.

I took Lapis with me and headed for the counter at a brisk pace.

I got in line at the counter with the receptionist who'd helped me when I first registered. The capable-looking beauty was in the middle of talking with an Explorer, probably settling up a drop-item payout.

No one else was in line, so it looked like I wouldn't have to wait long.

Then, as if she'd noticed me, she looked up — and her gaze locked onto Lapis instantly. From the way her eyes had gone wide, she seemed pretty shocked.

Then again, for someone with such a cool look, her expressions were surprisingly easy to read.

Puzzled by her reaction, the Explorer being helped ahead of me also turned to look my way. And likewise froze at the sight of Lapis.

"Ah, don't mind me. Please, go on."

I urged the two of them to keep going. Best to act natural at times like this — people tend to convince themselves there's nothing strange going on.

"...My apologies."

The receptionist apologized to the customer for interrupting and resumed the procedure. But right before going back to work, she shot me a sharp look.

Don't you dare move from that spot — I got that message, loud and clear.

* * *

"There's a private room. Let's move there."

Having finished the earlier procedure, she stood up and said as much. The way she moved instantly, leaving no room for argument, made her seem genuinely capable at her job.

I had no objection, so we followed silently behind her.

Sent off by a crowd of stares, I climbed the stairs to the second floor. What she led us to was a room that looked like a small lounge.

We went in, closed the door, and I sat down in the chair in front of the table in the middle. She took a seat slowly across from me. Lapis perched herself on the table.

"...I'm sorry, I never gave you my name. I handle reception duties here at the Guild. I'm Shimotsuki Ryouka."

"Nice to formally meet you. I'm Suzukaze Touya."

We each gave a small bow.

Shimotsuki, huh. Suits that cool look of hers perfectly.

"I'm Lapis! I'm Touya-san's Support Fairy!!"

Lapis answered energetically and bowed.

Good girl, sticking to the cover story word for word. Maybe I'd buy her some Churu on the way home.

"A Support Fairy, is it. ...That would be a Unique Skill, correct?"

"That's right. When I opened my Status inside the dungeon, there was a Unique Skill listed. I activated it, and she came out."

It was something I'd decided on ahead of time — keep the lies to a minimum, and tell whatever I could. Having a Unique Skill was something I'd rather have kept under wraps too, if I could — but it's hard to deny hard evidence, especially when the "evidence" is alive and fluttering around in plain view.

"Understood. In that case... this is entirely optional, but would you mind if I asked about the details of your Skill? Of course, we'll handle the information with the utmost care."

Shimotsuki-san gave me a searching look, looking somewhat apologetic about it.

Well, I guess the Guild would want information on Unique Skills too. But...

"Is there any risk of it leaking to the people around us, or getting out online?"

At my words, Shimotsuki-san's face took on a look that said, "I figured as much."

Ten years ago now, someone inside a guild leaked an Explorer's personal information. The Explorer, furious, took it all the way to a lawsuit against the Dungeon Association.

Ever since, except in a handful of special cases, it had become impossible to force Explorers to disclose their information.

In other words, whether I disclosed anything here was entirely up to me. Same went for the Status board. If I didn't want to show it, I didn't have to.

Still, people can't help wanting to dig up whatever's being hidden from them. And I'd already drawn plenty of attention in the lobby as it was. There'd probably be people prying for every last detail from here on out. So—

"Well, I don't mind disclosing the information."

I told her as much.

"Are you sure?"

"Honestly, it doesn't seem like that impressive of an ability anyway. Hiding it and needlessly raising expectations would be the bigger risk for me."

I explained my reasoning to a surprised Shimotsuki-san.

Now then, time to tell the truth, thouhgh I will be leaving out the one part that actually mattered.

* * *

The ability I presented to Shimotsuki-san as "Support Fairy" boiled down to the following two points.

One: a companion to talk things over with during exploration. Taking advantage of her ability to communicate, she could provide emotional support during solo exploration and give an objective read on the current situation.

Two: a decoy that could flee into the air. By drawing a monster's aggro onto the airborne Lapis, I could finish it off from a safe distance.

Far from the "one-hit kill" or "all-powerful magic" people expected from the words "Unique Skill," it was an extremely plain, practical tool built around a cheese tactic.

In other words, hiding only the one thing that actually mattered — Gacha.

And Shimotsuki-san's reaction to hearing all this was...

"Are you some kind of demon?"

"Right!? Right!? It's awful, isn't it!?"

Lapis seized the chance to pile on and lay into me.

She's flying, so she's safe, isn't she? What's she even got to complain about. Guess the Churu's off the table.

For what it's worth, in response to the ability I'd presented, Shimotsuki-san laid out the Guild's official response in a businesslike tone.

First, the disclosed information would be kept under strict security in the Dungeon Association's database, and would never be released to the outside under any circumstances.

And, to keep chaos in the lobby to a minimum, within the Hachioji Guild the official line to be shared would be that "Lapis has no powerful attack or interference abilities, and is strictly a partner meant to assist during exploration."

They'd downgrade the "special" status of a Unique Skill into just a "convenient partner" and handle it as such.

For me, it was a landing point more perfect than I could have hoped for.

"That said, if that kind of tactic is viable, then..."

Once the explanations were all wrapped up and we'd both caught our breath, Shimotsuki-san's expression turned serious as she looked my way.

Was she testing me here? Checking whether I'd actually done my homework.

"Yeah. Large Rats on Floor 2, and Horned Rabbits up to Floor 3 — those I can hunt safely."

Large Rats and Horned Rabbits were non-aggressive, same as slimes. And they had the same habit of endlessly attacking whoever attacked them first.

My answer seemed to satisfy her. Shimotsuki-san's expression relaxed.

"I'm honestly relieved — it really does look like you won't push yourself too hard."

That was a pretty devastating smile.

There's just something great about a cool beauty's sudden, soft expression, isn't it?

In stark contrast to her, though, Lapis reeled at what she'd just heard. She seemed to have realized her ally from a moment ago had just switched sides.

"Wait!? Am I still on decoy duty!?"

Yes. Still on decoy duty.