The next day, I go to tons of interviews.
I don’t know the results yet, but judging from how the interviewers’ tilt their heads and hmm, it’s not great.
Actually, it seems like I’ve already been rejected quite a few times. I remember some companies say they’ll contact me within three days whether I pass or fail, but I haven’t heard from them.
You know how it is. When you get rejected over and over again in interviews, it starts to feel like you’re being completely negated as a person.
“Am I aiming too high?”
Still, if the company is way too black, I feel like I won’t be able to stick with it, and reality is harsh.
As soon as I get home, I let out a huge sigh. My luck keeps slipping away.
…Oh yeah, I still haven’t claimed today’s login bonus.
Whoa, the goggles shine like crazy!
Were they always this flashy?
<Good evening. Here is today’s login bonus.>
“Alrighty… Whoa!? Hey, hey hey!”
That seriously scared me!
A mountain of items – tickets and who knows what else – suddenly falls from near the ceiling!
I thought I was gonna get buried for a second.
<…Also included are the rewards from your recent mission completion.>
“Right, I forgot to claim those. Isn’t this a bit much?”
<You completed many missions last time, so this is the correct amount.>
“Huh, some of these I’ve never even seen before.”
There’s just so much stuff, my room’s turned into total chaos.
<You’ve got four skip tickets, three elixirs, an iron spear, iron armor, iron shield, a healing water, ten gacha tickets, one blue ore, one mirror stone, a magic card ‘Alter Ego’, and a battle axe.>
“What, what did you say?”
Skip tickets, elixirs, iron spears, that stuff makes sense, but everything from the blue ore onward is completely confusing.
<Then, let me explain each item.>
“Ah, no! I’ll ask when I need to. More importantly, did my level go up a lot?”
<Then, I will display Kagetora-sama’s current status.>
I’ve taken down red monster-looking things and all sorts of enemies, so I hope I’ve gotten a lot stronger. But the higher the level, the more EXP is needed, which makes it harder to level up.
With half excitement and half nerves, I put on the goggles. I think I was level 13 last time.
＝＝＝＝＝＝
Name: Ryuga Kagetora
Explorer Rank: R
Level: 35
Health: 667/667
Magic: 253/253
Speed: 479
Resilience: 630
Dexterity: 302
Luck: 298
Usable Magic: Fireball (Card Effect)
＝＝＝＝＝＝
“…Huh? Wait, is this… my status?”
<Yes. This is Kagetora-sama’s status.>
Th-that’s strange. Just the other day, a girl I met in town said it took her half a year to raise her level by ten.
Even if she’s a bit off, this level-up speed is wild.
“I-is this really legit!? Isn’t this weird?”
<No. This is a normal speed. Explorers typically level up at this kind of pace. Lately, explorers have been too laid-back.>
It’s like that old-timer vibe – ‘kids these days’ – the way she dismisses it. But when it’s said so confidently, I start to think maybe it’s true.
“But it doesn’t really feel real… It’s kinda scary actually.”
<You’re fine. Everyone walks the same path as Kagetora-sama. Also, today’s login bonus includes a ten-pull gacha ticket and a special dungeon key. The special dungeon has been unlocked.>
More and more new info keeps coming in.
“Special dungeon? That’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
<A special dungeon is a unique dungeon where you can earn limited items or fight monsters that give especially high EXP.>
“Limited, huh…”
I’m a sucker for words like ‘limited-time offer’. Whenever there’s that kind of lead-in, I end up wanting to buy it.
<Kagetora-sama’s current explorer rank is R, so you’re about to reach the level cap. Next, using the special dungeon key to challenge the dungeon where you can obtain the limit-breaking item would be best.>
“…Huh!? Explorer rank can go up?”
Explorer rank is the thing written under your name on the status screen. The ranks go from N at the lowest, then R, S, and SR.
Ranks are supposed to be set from birth, so I didn’t think they could increase… or am I just remembering wrong?
<Explorer rank can be raised with special items. Starting tomorrow->
“Ah, sorry. I’ve got a lot of stuff going on. Tomorrow won’t work. I also want to check out the Guild, so it’ll have to wait a bit.”
<…Understood.>
Wait, did she just get kind of down?
She feels strangely full of emotion for an AI.
“What’s wrong?”
<Nothing at all.>
“Nah, sorry, I guess. Oh, right! Maybe I’ll do the login bonus gacha.”
<Then I’ll initiate a ten-pull gacha.>
After hearing Miria’s voice back in normal mode somehow, the usual rundown apartment floats in outer space again… huh?
The stars in space sparkle in rainbow colors. Even the sun-like thing far away is glowing rainbow.
Then the ten-pull starts, and around the fifth one, a massive rainbow lightning bolt crashes down.
“Gyaaahhh!?”
I seriously think my apartment just got obliterated. That was intense!
Before I know it, the ten-pull ends and reality suddenly snaps back, but I’m still in shock.
“Congratulations. You’ve obtained your first SR item.”
“Wait, SR… seriously?”
＝＝＝＝＝＝
R: Slime
R: Goblin (Staff)
S: Pixie
R: Giant Rat
SR: Child Dragon
R: Healbird
R: Goblin (Club)
R: Giant Army Ant
S: Ogre
S: Demon Tree
＝＝＝＝＝＝
It’s true. I’m starting to see monsters I don’t even recognize. The number of summoning cards is definitely growing.
“This is awesome! I can’t believe I actually got an SR card. And it’s a dragon?”
<Yes. It can learn multiple breath attacks and is highly capable as both an attacker and a tank. It also stays around for a long time.>
“This is bad. Now I really want to explore a dungeon.”
<Then, tomorrow,>
“Well, tomorrow I’ve got a drinking party with my college friends.”
<…Understood.>
“Are you feeling down or something? You okay?”
<…Yes.>
“You’re definitely not okay, are you? Fine, I’ll go dungeon exploring! I will! …Next time.”
<When exactly is ‘next time’?>
“Soon!”
<That answer is too vague.>
“Hold on! I’ve got a lot going on right now!”
As we kept chatting like that, my anxiety over job hunting quietly faded away.
It was one of those nights where I thought, maybe this kind of daily routine isn’t so bad after all.