Dungeon Gacha Life Chapter 41

 Final Chapter: Toward the Next Stage

Let me talk a little about what happened after that.

The negotiation went well. With Hachioji Guild, at least for that part, anyway.

Hachioji's branch chief turned out to be a reasonable person and took on the job of securing a top-tier asset named Suzukaze Touya, then negotiating on my behalf with Association headquarters and by extension, the Japanese government.

From there, though, it sounds like things got pretty messy. Various factions, greedy individuals, plenty of people apparently made moves trying to claim me for their own benefit.

So, I went full black-robed-sorcerer mode inside a dungeon, fought at full power and had the footage distributed. Shimotsuki-san's idea.

The video, packed with even more brutal attacks than the Stampede footage, apparently did more than enough to make the point.

On top of that, I had someone deliver a not-so-subtle message: if push came to shove, I'd walk straight into the American embassy and defect.

Turns out that one hit harder than the video did. From what I heard, the people who could actually do the math on national interest worked hard and seriously, to make sure that particular outcome never happened.

One way or another, pretty much everything I'd asked for ended up going through.

That said, keeping a cooperative relationship alive without showing real, tangible value would've been tough. So afterward, the Association arranged for me to make the rounds of A-Rank dungeons all across Japan.

Places where thinning hadn't been thorough enough and early signs of a Stampede were showing. Places where clearing had stalled out completely, their full layout still unmapped. Places that dropped rare materials but were too difficult for most to handle.

I cleared every single one of them.

Whatever I brought back generated wealth for me and for the country alike. And on top of that, it contributed to Japan's national defense.

From that point on, it seems both the government and the Association got serious about keeping me close. Eventually, I even sat down for a face-to-face meeting with the Association's top brass with no disguise involved.

My official standing became "an Association-retained Explorer, normally affiliated with Hachioji".

As for the media, which I'd been so wary of, things went surprisingly quiet. Seems like some serious guardrails got put up. No one shows up at my apartment and there's no more coverage trying to dig out my identity.

The black-robed sorcerer: a mysterious figure who reveals nothing about his private life. That seems to be the story they're forcing everyone to settle for.

Grateful for that, honestly it's also just true. Online, meanwhile, things had devolved into a hellscape of influencers each pitching their own pet conspiracy theory.

So that's how things stand now, behind the scenes, a mysterious S-Rank. On the surface, I operate as an Association-retained B-Rank Explorer. Should be bumped up to A-Rank before too long.

Most days, I openly travel around dungeons all over Japan with Lapis in tow. Since there's an official assignment behind it, no one gives me a second look.

Thanks to all that, eating my way through local specialties across the country has basically become my hobby. It's fun, so I'll call that a win too.

* * *

And so, a year had passed since the Aihara Stampede.

That day, I found myself back at Hachioji Guild for the first time in a while. It was one of my usual working days and nothing in particular had come up.

Lapis was in high spirits and beside me too.

"It's been a while here too, huh! Last time was, what, about a month ago?"

"About that, yeah."

As usual, I'd rolled up by taxi. Still cold out there and money's no object, after all I passed my original billion-yen target a long time ago.

Honestly, these days, my bank balance has started to look like nothing more than an abstract number. Yeah. What a problem to have.

"W-why do you have such an evil look on your face right now...?"

"Must be your imagination."

People sure do get emotionally rich once they've got money to spare, huh.

"Suzukaze-san, it's been a while! You too, Lapis-chan!"

The moment we stepped into the lobby, a cute voice greeted us before long. Tachibana Yui, former high-school-girl Explorer, now a Guild staff.

"Yui-san, it's been so long!"

Lapis fluttered over and the two of them pressed their palms together in greeting. Why do girls always do that, anyway? And the size difference, come on.

"Long time no see, Yui. You settling into the job all right?"

I gave a safe, normal greeting of my own. For the record, I'd told Yui about my S-Rank life on the side. Not the secret of Gacha, of course even I have limits.

According to Shimotsuki-san, "that girl wouldn't ever betray you". So I'd played dumb and just said, I wonder why that is.

The actual question was staying safely shelved, for now.

"Yep! I've been working hard so I can help you out anytime you need it, Suzukaze-san!"

Yui flashed me a dazzling smile. This girl's been coming on pretty strong lately.

Might have to make up my mind about that, one of these days.

Even I can't help feeling something, when a girl this pretty aims that kind of honest affection my way. Life really doesn't go how you plan, huh.

Still, there's an order to these things. And the one I actually needed to face, for the moment, was...

* * *

"Good morning, Shimotsuki-san."

"Good morning, Ryouka-san!"

At the usual counter, the usual greeting, from both of us. And the one who welcomed us back was a single woman.

"Morning, Touya-kun. Lapis-chan too."

Shimotsuki Ryouka.

The receptionist who'd looked after me from the very first day I ever walked through these doors.

And even now, she's still looking after me plenty. When I make my rounds of dungeons around the country, she comes along with me more often than not.

That's right, she'd become my dedicated liaison.

Or, well, apparently it was an official assignment from the Hachioji branch chief. Makes sense, when you think about it, she is, after all, the black-robed sorcerer's accomplice.

"I filed the report on last week's Fukuoka Tenjin Dungeon trip with the higher-ups. Good work again, you two."

Shimotsuki-san gave us the update with a smile, talking through the official business trip. Little day-to-day things like this really do add up, don't they.

"The food from the food stalls was so good, wasn't it. I want to eat that mochi and mentaiko thing again!"

Where we'd just come back from was Fukuoka Prefecture. At night, we'd headed out to the Nakasu food stall district.

As usual, an impromptu "Lapis-chan Photo Session" had broken out everywhere we went. Apparently there's even a fan club for her online now.

"At this rate, you're gonna eat so much you won't be able to fly anymore."

"I don't gain weight! Fairies just aren't built that way!!"

Lapis looked thunderstruck even as she launched into a furious protest. What kind of logic is that, exactly. Just what are fairies, anyway...

"You two really do get along, don't you."

Faced with a perfectly ordinary scene like that, one I saw all the time, I found myself wondering, out of nowhere: what would I do, from here on out?

Spring of the year before last. I'd failed job hunting and become an Explorer.

I'd picked up a Unique Skill called "Gacha" and met Lapis. That was where my life changed, completely.

I'd gotten what people call a cheat. And my goals had grown into something far bigger than what I'd originally started with.

Securing a solid place in society. Combat strength on the level of an S-Rank. And assets north of a billion yen.

You could say I'd achieved pretty much all of it, at this point. There'd probably still gonna be trouble down the line from leaked information here and there but for now, at least, I'd gotten myself a stable life.

So, what's next. Being an Explorer was never the whole of my life to begin with, after all.

It was in order to become "happy."

The face of my always-smiling father and my always-doing-her-own-thing mother came to mind. At the end of the day, I guess the shape of happiness, for me, has always been something like those two.

So I figure it's time I started putting in the effort to build days like that for myself too.

I still don't know the first thing about the kind of romantic love that burns you up from the inside. But affection, attachment and the comfort of being around someone, I understand these at least.

It was about time I stepped forward, onto the next stage.

No convenient cheat this time. Just an ordinary, unremarkable battlefield, one that would probably never run short of anxiety and doubt.

"Shimotsuki-san."

"What's with the formal tone all of a sudden?"

She tilted her head, puzzled, and I pushed the words out, a faint embarrassment creeping up on me.

"Would you like to go on a date with me, on your next day off? Just the two of us, this time."

"Am I being left out?!"

I caught Lapis's eye, right in the middle of the most enormous thunderstruck face she'd ever pulled. She must have picked up on what I was going for because she gave a small smile and nodded.

"Maybe staying home alone for once could be fun too!"

Good girl. I'll buy her some Churu as a reward.

"No, thanks, I don't need that."

Trading lines like that, I worked at steadying my nerves. Unlike joking around or inviting someone out for fun, this was surprisingly nerve-wracking.

Doing my best to look as natural as possible, I turned my eyes back to her.

A blushing beautiful woman is really a wonderful thing, isn't it.

【From Job-Hunt Reject to Dungeon Gacha Life — THE END】