Dungeon Gacha Life Chapter 8

 Chapter 8: 700 Yen an Hour, and a Million-Yen SR

It had been almost a month since I became an Explorer. I'd stubbornly kept up my full three-day weekend, living a comfortable life as an Explorer.

My hunting ground was still Floor 3, same as ever. Even so, I'd already done about five ten-pulls in total.

Having used up my stat orbs, my Status had grown accordingly, and now looked like this.

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[Lv] 1

[HP] 65/65

[MP] 53/53

[STR] 10+15

[VIT] 8+12

[AGI] 10+12

[DEX] 8+12

[INT] 11+15

[MND] 12+15

――――――――――――――――――

Out of 50 gacha pulls, I'd actually gotten a full 27 stat orbs. They'd spread out nicely across each stat, so my current stats had grown to roughly the strength of Lv 8.

Next, Skills.

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[SP] 1

[Skills Possessed]

　・Appraisal　・Detection Lv5　・Physical Enhancement Lv5

　・Fortitude Lv5　・Slash Lv1

　〇Fatigue Reduction　〇Swordsmanship Lv2　〇Poison Resistance Lv1

――――――――――――――――――

The newly acquired Skill was "Fortitude." I picked it up because it lowered damage taken across the board and made my body itself sturdier. I'd leveled it up to Lv5.

For what it's worth, a slime's attack barely even chips off 1 point now. Long live safety.

And "Fatigue Reduction," "Swordsmanship," and "Poison Resistance" were Skills I'd gotten through Skill Orbs.

A Skill Orb was a consumable item that let you acquire a specific target Skill. I'd gotten them from the SR slot, gacha's guaranteed minimum.

Normally, there were restrictions on which Skills you could acquire.

Skills like Appraisal, Detection, and Physical Enhancement were available to pick up from the start, but Skills like "Swordsmanship" or "Poison Resistance" wouldn't even show up on the list of acquirable Skills unless you met certain conditions.

For Swordsmanship, that meant landing a certain number of sword attacks. For Poison Resistance, it wouldn't appear on the list unless you'd actually been poisoned a few times.

What let you get around those prerequisites entirely was the Skill Orb. These Skill Orbs, which dropped from monsters at an extremely low rate, were mainly bought and sold through Guild-run auctions.

Even the cheap ones went for at least a million yen — a high-ticket item. The first time I pulled one from an SR slot myself, that price tag left me seeing stars.

But these basically weren't something you could get on the Upper Levels I was currently on, so putting one up for sale would raise questions about where it came from. Since the three I'd gotten happened to be highly useful Skills anyway, I decided to just use them myself.

So, one way and another, my Skill have increased and my combat strength had risen acccordingly.

Though Physical Enhancement is seriously handy. I wonder if athletes go through life feeling like this all the time.

* * *

"Touya-san, this round of gacha was another huge success!!"

Lapis, the fairy of Gacha, was flitting around happily, all worked up. Clutched carefully in her hands was a "Fairy Snack Set."

This thing shows up every single time, huh. This made five ten-pulls now. And five Fairy Snack Sets to match.

It was costing me my own Level, and yet it was a dud that gave me absolutely no benefit whatsoever.

If there was some kind of hidden "affection level" with Lapis, and raising it eventually led to something good, that'd be nice. But I wouldn't get my hopes up — I'd just wait and see.

Well, the R slot had plenty of duds anyway, like Magic stones.

If this had come up as an SR, though, I'm pretty sure I'd have lost it.

For what it's worth, so far SR had only ever come up through the guaranteed minimum slot. I'm starting to doubt that 4.5% SR rate is even real, you know?

Out of my five SRs, one was Lapis's bag, and three were Skill Orbs. And the last one...

[Fairy Bedtime Bed] (Furniture)

　A fairy's bed made with the finest silk and cotton

　Bringing comfortable sleep and a luxurious lifestyle to you

—Was this.

About thirty centimeters in size — an extra-large bed, by Lapis standards. It even had a canopy on it, of all things.

This one, unlike the bag, wasn't something even Lapis could carry around. It literally said "Furniture" on it, after all.

"What a garbage SR..."

"You're looking at it like it killed your parents!?"

Lapis, thoroughly shocked, raised her voice in protest.

"I-isn't it fine, though!? I do my part as a decoy too, you know! It's not like I'd get punished for a reward this small!?"

"Though how often you're actually needed as a decoy has gone down, hasn't it."

"Guh...!"

With my stats boosted the way they were now, more and more situations came up where I could take down a Horned Rabbit with a single Slash. In those cases, I didn't even bother luring it out with a pebble — I'd just walk up and finish it off with the Skill.

Well, given how MP worked, the decoy tactic was still necessary.

"But, but, even if you keep this, Touya-san, you've got no use for it, right? If I used it instead, this little one here would be happier too."

That was true enough.

But that's not the point, Lapis.

"It's just that carrying it home sounds like a hassle."

"You said that in the most 'ugh, so much effort' voice ever!!"

This thing was way too big to just stuff in a bag and play it off, though. How was I even supposed to explain this one.

* * *

Today's hunt done, I made my way back to the Guild. My Level had ticked right on up to 4. Good, good.

Stepping into the lobby, a woman Explorer nearby called out to Lapis.

"Welcome back, Lapis-chan~" "I'm home!" — that kind of thing. They've become quite close lately.

Thanks to Shimotsuki-san's information sharing, word had spread that Lapis was the product of a Unique Skill. Officially, she was strictly an assist role during exploration, with no excessive special abilities of any kind.

Even so, she still drew every eye in the room, and with how sociable she was herself, she'd basically become the Hachioji Guild's mascot by now.

For what it's worth, apparently my own nickname is "Fairy's Friend." Damn it.

Pretending it had nothing to do with me, I headed for the counter.

Maybe this attitude of mine wasn't exactly a good look. But come on, chatting away casually with people you barely know — isn't that a pretty high bar to clear?

Thinking that over, I headed for the counter with Shimotsuki-san again today.

"I'm back."

"Yes, welcome back. It's a relief to see you safe and sound again today."

Ever since that first time, I'd made a point of always having Shimotsuki-san handle my check-in on days she was working. She'd been the one who handled my Unique Skill disclosure too, so by now it had turned into something like a dedicated arrangement.

Her work was precise, and she backed up my safety-first approach too. A lovely, cool-headed woman.

"Today... looks like something happened, doesn't it?"

Sharp-eyed as ever, she noticed the unnatural bulge in my bag. Well, it was obviously different from usual. Of course she'd notice.

"Yeah, actually, it's Lapis-related."

I pulled the bed in question out of my bag. Shimotsuki-san's eyes went round.

"This is, well, quite cute, isn't it. ...May I appraise it?"

"Go ahead."

Apparently, having the "Appraisal" Skill was one of the hiring requirements for counter staff, so of course Shimotsuki-san could use it too. It could only appraise dungeon-related items, but it was probably an essential skill for a Guild receptionist.

"...It's furniture, alright. Doesn't look like it has any special effects."

She must have finished appraising it. Shimotsuki-san said so with an expression that was hard to put into words.

"I guess it's some kind of reward for Lapis, apparently."

"Your Unique Skill really is unique, in the truest sense."

The two of us both ended up with a wry smile.

Well, it didn't look like this one item alone was going to cause any kind of stir, so — good enough.

After that, as usual, I had today's haul cashed in. Today's income: 4,200 yen.

Better than before, sure. Still only about 700 yen an hour, though.

And this was with me hunting about as efficiently as it gets. Making a living as a full-time Explorer on Floor 3 alone would be rough, no question.

Maybe it was because I'd been thinking along those lines. But out of nowhere, Shimotsuki-san said something unexpected.

"Suzukaze-san, why don't you think about moving on to Floor 4 soon?"