After slaying twenty slimes, I headed back. The walk to the dungeon entrance took about two hours, and I took out another five slimes along the way, so today’s total came to twenty-five kills. Apparently, taking down even a few monsters helps prevent Dungeon Breaks. Feels good to be doing something useful for the world, even if it’s small.
I greeted the guards at the dungeon management gate, then made my way to the Explorer’s Guild Hachioji Branch next door. I needed to file today’s activity report and sell any drops I’d collected.
The Hachioji Branch is a three-story building. The first floor has the Guild reception counter and offices in the center, a gear shop on the right, and a snack area on the left with shower rooms in the back. The second floor houses the branch chief’s office, conference rooms, and private negotiation rooms. The third floor has a few nap rooms that staff and explorers can use. The layout’s roughly the same across all Guilds, though the size changes depending on the dungeon.
I pulled out the small pouch of Magic Stones and slid it across the counter to the receptionist.
”Welcome back, Kondou-san. Glad to see you made it back in one piece today.”
Ughhh… that whole “Kondou-san” thing, though. Can we do something about that? The way she says it sounds like “condom.” And when a gorgeous woman like her says it to me… my fourteen-year-old soul can’t handle it. Actually – no. It’s a reward.
The receptionist’s name is Shiiba Yayoi. She’s twenty-two and apparently used to be a C-rank explorer. She’s got a delicate face, light chestnut hair, and a beauty mark on her right cheek. She retired after a bad injury during her explorer days left her with a bad leg, so now she works for the Guild. She’s about a hundred and sixty centimeters tall, slender-built, and… well. The chest situation is impressive. I’d guess around a D-cup, maybe eighty-five centimeters, but on her frame, it’s a lot. And I’m fourteen, in the middle of spring, staring like an idiot.
”Let’s see… twenty-five G-rank Magic Stones today. At three hundred yen per stone and three hundred yen per kill, that’s fifteen thousand yen total. After a twenty percent Guild processing fee, that’s twelve thousand, and after ten percent tax, we’re at ten thousand eight hundred. Does that sound right? And with the fifty percent donation to the orphanage, your take-home is five thousand four hundred yen.”
Ughhh… this world doesn’t go easy on kids without parents. Guys have to leave the orphanage once they finish middle school, whether they’re going to higher education or finding a job. And either way, you need money. I’ve been diving into the dungeon almost every day for two years now, and I’ve saved up about one and a half million yen. They say every little bit adds up, but when I think about the future, it’s not even close to enough.
When life gets heavy, there’s nothing like a little escape. And so, he mustered the courage to keep staring at Yayoi’s chest.
Summary:
After a successful slime hunt totaling twenty-five kills, the protagonist returns to the Guild to file his report and sell his Magic Stones. He endures the awkwardness of being called “Kondou-san” by the beautiful receptionist Yayoi, then learns that after Guild fees, taxes, and mandatory orphanage donations, his take-home pay is only a fraction of his earnings. Facing the harsh financial reality of his orphan background, he distracts himself by ogling Yayoi’s chest.
Trivia:
- The protagonist has saved one and a half million yen over two years of daily dungeon diving.
- Yayoi is a former C-rank explorer who retired due to a leg injury.
- The Guild takes a twenty percent processing fee plus ten percent tax from all earnings.
- Fifty percent of the protagonist’s earnings go to the orphanage as mandatory donation.
- The “Kondou” surname sounds like “condom” in Japanese, creating an awkward pun.
- The Hachioji Branch has three floors with distinct facilities including shower rooms and nap rooms.