Today, everyone is gathered at the office for a livestream. This time, it''s for preparing to dive into the dungeon.


    "And here we have it, ta-dah! Weapons made from the bones of the Skull Dragon."


    : Is this a shopping channel?


    : How much does it cost?


    : Billions of yen!


    : What a bargain! (sarcastically)


    : Whoa, thanks to Kisaragi, they''ve released Skull Dragon materials on the market! They were so expensive I couldn''t afford any!


    : LOL


    This time, I brought in the Skull Dragon materials to have a two-handed axe made for Miyamoto, a dagger for Tennouji, and a great shield for Doudou. I sold off the remaining materials and put them on the market, but since the material was so rare, it ended up in an auction. I knew the cksmith viewer in the chat wouldn''t be able to afford it.


    "Is it really okay for me to have something like this...?"


    "...I saw the stream, but you seriously hunted a deepyer monster? Are you a monster yourself?"


    "Wow!"


    Miyamoto looked intimidated by the high-end weapon, Doudou kept calling me a monster for some reason, and Tennouji... well, she didn''t seem to care all that much.


    "Kanakon! These weapons were made specifically for us! If we don''t use them, the materials will go to waste! And it''s not like the boss really cares, right?"


    "Yeah. Since I brought the materials myself, the dagger didn''t even cost a full ten million yen."


    "Ten million yen!?"


    Looks like Doudou is about to pass out.


    Well, if I hadn''t gone to get the materials myself and bought them instead, it probably would have cost billions. The materials themselves are crazy expensive. But since I went to collect them, all I had to do was order custom-made weapons, and the total didn''t even hit a billion. Getting three custom weapons that can be used even in the deepyers for under a billion is pretty amazing.


    : Wow, the numbers are starting to sound like a hyper-inted online game.


    : LOL


    : I mean, if a dagger costs less than 10M, that''s cheap, right? (gamer brain)


    : Is it true that this came out of the boss''s own pocket?


    : Yep, it''s true.


    It''s not so much out of my pocket—it''s more that the money from selling the Skull Dragon materials easily covered the cost. So it''s really not a big deal. But for midyer explorers like Miyamoto and Doudou, that amount of money must sound astronomical. On the other hand, I think it''s more amazing that Miyamoto has been fighting in the midyers this whole time with just upperyer gear.


    "Wow... this is nice."


    "''Nice''? Is that all you''ve got to say?"


    : Knight-kun with the solid retort.


    : Asagao-chan...


    : Asagao-chan''s lost her sense of value too.


    : If this is what all EX-ranked people are like, their sense of money is totally broken.


    : Kisaragi only acts like this when ites to dungeon stuff, so it''s fine.


    : I don''t think that''s fine.


    The deeper you go into the dungeon, the more you make, but also the more you spend. That said, the profits far outweigh the costs, which is why people do it. By the way, in the chat, they''re calling him "Knight-kun" because of his name, Kishitani Douman. It''s a y on the "Kishi" part, which means knight in Japanese. I guess it''s kind of like how Rinrin gets called "Panda."


    "So, I''d like the two of you to reach D-rank soon."


    "We just got to E-rank, didn''t we?"N?v(el)B\\jnn


    "You can''t stay in the upperyers forever. Oh, by the way, Asagao and Kanakon, you two still have some free time. Personally, I''d like Kanakon to team up and experience the loweryers."


    "Okay!"


    "Wait, already?"


    Asagao responded with her usual enthusiastic reply, but Miyamoto was clearly shocked that I was suggesting she dive into the loweryers already. Still, with her self-enhancement abilities, she''s already capable of handling the loweryers. All that''s left is for her to attune her new weapon to her magic. She''s already strong enough for the loweryers.


    Asagao, holding her newly-crafted spear, started chatting with Miyamoto. I figured I should take Tennouji and Kishitani to the Association to demonstrate their abilities.


    "The goal is to take down a Wyvern."


    "Wait, what?"


    Naturally, I won''t be helping out. If I step in, they won''t be able to rank up. So, Tennouji and Kishitani, under Doudou''s guidance, will be hunting the Wyvern on their own.


    "I got us some high-performance cameras, so Doudou... good luck leading them."


    "You''ve got to be kidding me."


    It''ll be fine. Even if taking down a Wyvern is tough, once they manage to bring down a few, Doudou will be promoted to C-rank, which means he''ll be able to explore the loweryers. Then we''ll boost the other two to C-rank, and once that happens, we can all explore the loweryers together. Then... I''ll really be able to drag them through the depths.


    : LOL


    : Good luck, Panda.


    : Panda''s suddenly been put in charge of a Wyvern hunt.


    : And he''s never hunted a Wyvern before, has he?


    : Wait, really?


    : I thought midyer explorers always hunted Wyverns.


    : Stop spreading false info about midyer explorers, lol.


    : Are you guys making Asagao the standard for midyer explorers now?


    : She''s not midyer, she''s loweryer.


    Trust me. I''d like you to believe in my ability to assessbat potential. The three of them can definitely handle two Wyverns at once. Even if three show up, it''ll be tough, but they can just run away if necessary. That said, if Kishitani fully masters his Shikigami technique—his Kageboushi—he could probably take down five Wyverns... I think. I don''t actually know the full potential of the Kageboushi, so I''m guessing!


    "Oh, and Asagao, make sure you submit your rank promotion request."


    "...Ugh, the paperwork is such a pain."


    "It has to be done in person, and the office staff can''t help you with it. But you could probably hit A-rank right now, so get it over with."


    Sure, going to the Association multiple times and filling out the same forms is tedious, but if you don''t do it, you''ll stay stuck at C-rank forever. You get more tax reductions when you rank up, so it''s worth it. But Asagao doesn''t really do this for the money, so...


    Hmm... Oh, I know.


    "If you reach A-rank, you can go to the deepyers with me. Just the two of us."


    "I''m submitting the paperwork now! I get to go to the deepyers with just you, right?!"


    Uh... wasn''t that too easy?


    Does she really want to explore the deepyers that much?