Tajima Yuuto now knew both his hopeless stats and the strong "wall" of common rules in this world. Even so, he did not give up. He began his first plan to fight outside those rules.
Not far from Shibuya Station, there was a street full of shops for explorers. With the info he had learned yesterday, Yuuto walked straight to his target store.
A bright sign on the window said, "New to this? Starter Set on Sale!" Shiny swords and armor sat behind the glass, but he knew he could not use heavy weapons with his low STR. With low VIT, costly armor would only be wasted on him. He was not here for anything flashy.
A bell rang as he entered. The shopkeeper behind the counter only gave him a short look and said nothing. Yuuto was glad for the quiet.
He went to the corner for *dagger (short knife)*. Many kinds hung on the wall, from fancy ones with designs to plain ones built only to use.
(Prices really change a lot...)
He could not buy anything expensive. He checked the tags again and again, then picked up the cheapest one.
"Iron Dagger — 7,800 yen."
It felt heavy in his hand. The blade was thick, so it did not look very sharp. It was only enough to protect himself.
(Well, this is fine for a start.)
He also chose leather gloves, strong boots, and a few small food bars for the dungeon. It came to just under twenty thousand yen. Not cheap, but life was on the line.
He was about to pay when a voice called to him.
"Hey? Are you Tajima-san?"
The sound made his heart freeze. He turned and saw three people from his old job. At the center stood Suzuki, two years younger than Yuuto and once on the same project. A young man and woman, also from the same team, stood beside him. All three wore far better gear than Yuuto.
"I knew it was you, Tajima-san! What a chance, ssu! Meeting you here," Suzuki said with a friendly smile, but his eyes were cold. He looked Yuuto over, from the cheap clothes to the Iron Dagger in his hand.
"Suzuki... long time no see," Yuuto said, trying to stay calm.
(What a terrible time to meet them.)
He had known they were explorers even back at the office. They liked to brag about their weekend dungeon runs.
"Tajima-san, I heard you quit. Did you change jobs to be an explorer, ssu?" Suzuki asked. His voice held a clear note of mockery.
"Something like that," Yuuto answered shortly.
The woman behind Suzuki giggled. "No way. You as an explorer? I can't even picture it."
"Right? Tajima-san was always bad at sports," the other man added.
To them, Yuuto was only the slow, boring senior with no spark. Now he had stepped into their world, and that seemed funny to them.
"So, what skill did you get? If it was Fireball, that would be so funny," Suzuki said. He had fully started to tease him, pride shining in his eyes.
"...It's nothing great," Yuuto said, wanting to end it. But Suzuki pushed on.
"Come on, tell me, ssu. I got Slash. It's a common skill, but it works, ssu," he said, tapping the hilt of his long sword with pride. "She has Light Heal, and he has Shield. We're a pretty good team, ssu. We even try mid-level dungeons now."
They talked and talked about themselves, only to show they were above him.
(I'm so weak...)
At work or here, nothing had changed. He was always "below" them.
While Yuuto stayed quiet, Suzuki noticed the Iron Dagger in his hand.
"What, that's your only weapon, ssu? An Iron Dagger? That's what a total beginner buys, ssu. And you're solo?"
His two friends burst out laughing.
"Solo is crazy!"
"You're just going to die!"
Their pity and laughs cut into him like a blade.
"...Mind your own business," Yuuto said. His voice came out lower than even he expected.
"Huh?" The three stared at him.
"What I do alone is not your problem," he said, looking right at them. If he stepped back now, they would laugh at him forever. He refused that.
After a short silence, Suzuki snorted. "Oh, acting tough, ssu? Well, fine. Just try not to get eaten by a Goblin, ex-senpai." He hit the word "ex" hard, to show Yuuto was no longer in their world.
"Anyway, we're going to hunt a mid-boss now. We don't have time to waste here, ssu."
Suzuki left with his group, still looking down on Yuuto.
A heavy silence filled the shop. Even the cold shopkeeper now looked at Yuuto with a bit of pity.
(...Damn it.)
Yuuto held back the rising anger and shame. It hurt so much he almost cried. But at the same time, something inside him became firm.
(I will survive.)
Their laughs lit a fire in his heart.
(And one day, I'll show them.)
He would move smarter and better than those "elite" ex-colleagues, even with his E-rank skill. It was not the same as revenge. It was a fight for his own pride. A last stand for a man pushed out by society and left with zero hope.
"...I'm ready to pay," Yuuto said at the counter. His voice no longer shook.
When he stepped outside, the sky was red with sunset. Suzuki and the others were gone. Yuuto held the Iron Dagger tight. The cold metal helped cool his burning feelings.
He already knew where to go. The place where it all began: *Goblin Cave*.
Tomorrow, at dawn, he would enter the dungeon.
Yuuto faced forward and walked away from the Shibuya street. "Let's do it," he whispered to himself, as if to push his feet to go straight on.