Chapter 7 – Uchigatana Dragon Eater
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With my school bag and a plastic bag in one hand, I opened the lock of my home’s entrance door. This house with a tiled roof and garden was way too big for a single person to live in.
My Dad was transferred overseas for his job and my mother died just last year. Ever since then I’ve been living all by myself. Then again, the people in the neighborhood took care of me one way or another, so I didn’t experience any inconveniences.
Opening the sliding door, I stepped into my own room. While taking a seat on my chair and wolfing down the chicken I bought at a convenience store, I unlocked my smartphone. My goal in doing so was obviously 『Dungeon Seekers』. For starters I opened the Stats screen I had already checked inside the dungeon.
- Player: Kurase Hirotatsu
- Gender: Male
- Age: 18
- Height: 174 cm
- Weight: 62.3 kg
- Level: 21
- Acquired Skills: 『Understanding of Hand-to-Hand Combat』, 『Intuition』
- Titles: 『Daredevil』, 『Usurpator』, 『Natural Combat Genius』
- SP: 150 pt.
My level went up by 12 from the battle against the ogre, huh? In addition, the Stats screen had something called 『Titles』 added to it.
Let’s check those first.
I tapped on a title, looking at its details.
Title 『Daredevil』
Granted to one who takes action without worrying about putting their own life in danger. You gain a resistance towards fear of death by becoming thickheaded.
Somehow, this is a rather shameful title, isn’t it? But, the effect in itself sounds powerful.
Title 『Usurpator』
Granted to one who obtained the power to “flawlessly” win against a superior opponent. Whenever facing an enemy with a higher level, your physical abilities will be boosted and the experience acquisition rate increases.
Usurpator…is that a title I got for defeating the ogre? Was that thing really so powerful? Also, it seems like there’s skills you can acquire by receiving titles. It’s become possible for me to learn a mysterious skill called 『Flying Banner of Revolt』 after having gained 『Usurpartor』.
Title 『Natural Combat Genius』
The makings of a genius which is absolutely useless during times of peace. This talent could be described as having been solely created for the sake of combat, and as such it might help you to weather through precarious situations.
…Nothing about its effect or whatsoever. Just some cryptic prediction of what could happen. On the other hand, you could rightfully claim that having calmed down like this and browsing an app while eating chicken could be labeled as talent for a modern person and regarded as thickheadedness towards death.
In addition, I opened the newly displayed Item tab. The teacup and katana from before were listed there. Once I pressed the “Retrieve” button, the teacup appeared. I picked it up and scrutinized it.
Somehow I feel it’s made out of a material I’ve never seen before. But, this costs 15,000 Yen…?
Next I checked the katana in the item list.
Item 『Uchigatana Dragon Eater』
Evaluation Points: 22,000,000
Market Estimation: 3,300,000,000 Yen
“…HUH?”
I closed my eyes and rubbed them. Then I checked it once more, but it still showed 3.3 billion Yen.
That’s a lie, right? No, wait. I’m an idiot. Why am I taking some game stuff so serious anyway? Since the katana seemed to have some additional info, I tapped 『Uchigatana Dragon Eater』 with my trembling index finger.
- Item 『Uchigatana Dragon Eater』
- Type: Magic Sword
- Magic blade said to have devoured a dragon in ancient times. After having absorbed the dragon’s lifeblood, the blade has survived, continuously devouring its enemies.
- Functions: 『Gluttony』, 『Slow Recovery』, 『Restore Curse』
- Acquirable Weapon Skills: Active Skill 『Hidden Technique – Dragon Eater』
“This thing ain’t anything you’d ever get at the beginning, is it…?”
After making it manifest, I grabbed the scabbard and tried to draw the blade a bit. Even though I shouldn’t know anything about the usual way a katana slides out of its scabbard, I could draw it so easily that it seemed uncanny even to me.
I feel like the blade, which peeked out of the scabbard, pounded alongside a blue glow. Startled by that suspicious light, I immediately rammed the katana back into its scabbard.
Still, so far as it goes, it might have been more than worth it to risk my life to get my hands on this. If I consider my future dungeon dives, it could become a powerful weapon.
I had a strong feeling of wanting to go on with this, checking the skills I can obtain, but suppressing that, I opened the guide as I had planned.
｡ ₊°༺🫀༻°₊ ｡
Finally done, is what I thought when I finished reading the instructions of Dungeon Seekers. The explanation started with disturbing remarks along the lines of we won’t take any responsibility even if you die, or if you summarize them all, a stupidly long disclaimer. It then continued with a ridiculous amount of information.
Also, because it was written like a half-assed game guide, it was slightly difficult to read.
I looked at the notes I had taken while reading all the explanations.
1. Everything happening in the game is real. Dying in-game is basically the same as dying in real life.
2. Revealing any information about Dungeon Seekers is forbidden by the User’s Agreement and you’ll receive a penalty in case you violate that rule (it’s a mystery what sort of penalty we’re talking about here).
3. Dungeon Seekers is a game where your goal is to gather items. You can use RMT (Real Money Trade) based on an encrypted currency which you obtain by selling the items you obtained.
4. Skills and levels are auxiliary features for the sake of collecting items. You can also use your skills and levels outside the dungeons, or in other words, in the real world.
As for the fourth entry, it basically pans down to the creation of human weapons without any indiscrimination. In case the management confirms players using their abilities to commit crimes against humanity, they’ll put up missions with a monetary or item reward among the players and lock the functions of the Dungeon Seekers app for the offender.
If that isn’t enough to suppress the offender, the management will dispatch its strongest vanguards to deal with the situation. In short, they’re writing that they’re going to kill you, if you go on a rampage with your game abilities.
The management is an organization that can suddenly hack smartphones and restructure human bodies. So, it’s likely that they can easily deal with problematic players. Quite scary, that.
I’d say this is the general overview of the game.
In addition, they also provided the players with information on how to clear dungeons, just like any game guide would do. Stuff like telling you to thoroughly consider your skill acquisitions because you can’t reroll them, to not challenge dungeons with too high a level, or to immediately open Dungeon Seekers and press the Escape button, if you consider yourself in danger.
Escape button. They had something like that from the start? It’s probably the red button below the dungeon’s description field. Though it seems like you won’t be able to enter dungeons for a while as a penalty, if you use it.
Moreover, the space where I got 『Uchigatana Dragon Eater』 seems to be labeled as reward room, though its appearance and location constantly changes.
The catchphrase 「Gather items, sell them, and get rich quickly!」 was inserted here alongside the illustration of a cute anime character.
Additionally, sellable items apparently drop outside the reward room as well. I entered the reward room after clearing the dungeon, but sometimes you’re also able to enter it before that. That part isn’t really game-like, though.
There exist various types of items. If you go by ratio, the incomprehensible items like my teacup take the absolute lead, but some items will help you in clearing dungeons, and thus the guide tells you to keep the powerful items so that they’ll assist you in your explorations.
What I obtained this time was a weapon, but dungeons can also drop other game-like stuff such as armor pieces or accessories with buffs on them.
Well, I’d say this covers most of what’s written in the guide. I tossed my pencil into the pencil box and closed my notebook as well as the guide inside the game.
All of it is extremely shady.
Say what you want, but I get a dire feeling that they’re intentionally trying to push you into the game. The text in the guide also gave me the vibe of something being hidden.
Moreover, it seems like this game is still in its closed beta phase. However, it looks like half a month has already passed since the launch of this game.
I was able to participate in this game with its restricted access thanks to the QR Code. The code was something akin to an invitation into the closed beta. I harbored various questions such as who placed the code there and for what reason, but all of them were immediately cleared.
On Dungeon Seeker’s Home screen I received a notification in the 『Friends』 entry.
You received a friendship request from Player: Venom-san!
This is a message to you who used the QR Code I put up to participate in the game. I believe there may be many things you don’t understand. As an experienced player, I’d love to talk to you directly. I’ll be waiting for your DM in the game.
“I got a truckload of stuff to do like acquiring skills and so on, but…I guess I’ll meet that person.”
A player called Venom. Well, it’s a game, so I guess it’s only natural for other players to exist. And even though I felt a pang of anxiety, I agreed to the friendship request and opened the DM menu.
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