New chapter of Ordinary Person is out! (1/3 chapters)

 

 

Chapter 64

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

It was just as I predicted. On the first day of Golden Week, people flooded into the Toyota Dungeon especially the younger generation, going in groups, entered the dungeon one after another. The first floor was as packed with people as a beach during clam-digging season. From early morning, we had headed for the second floor, and now, as we return, I could feel just how right that decision was. By the time we were heading back, people had even reached the entrance to the second floor.

“Somehow… there’s an amazing number of people…” (Haruka)

“They’re probably people who made friends this spring and decided to try going into a dungeon together.” (Kouta)

“That’s us too, isn’t it.” (Haruka)

“Yeah. But to avoid getting caught in this crowd, we decided to do a starting dash from the beginning of spring.” (Kouta)

It’s probably the effect of the campaign the government is doing.

It might be good for helping people become familiar with dungeons. But going in so casually, then facing the vastness and the pain of battle, many people end up not diving into dungeons again. On top of that, when you think about money and daily life, it’s hard to live solely as an explorer. That’s one of the reasons why exploration doesn’t progress very far. There’s also the prejudice from old-fashioned folks against explorers.

No matter the country, they’re weighing public opinion against danger and making political decisions accordingly. In Europe, investment targets are slowly shifting from sports athletes to dungeon explorers. If explorers start appearing in sports competitions, the sport itself stops functioning properly. If they try to reject explorer participation because of that, then the people conscripted into dungeon exploration by the state won’t be able to participate either.

There’s no doubt there are people secretly entering dungeons behind the scenes. To invest in someone, there has to be something that leads to profit. Whether it’s goods or the person’s abilities, you need something to compare in order to decide who to invest in. But what exactly to have them compare and compete over becomes the issue.

The most easily understandable, “strength”, makes explorers too dangerous. As for reached floor levels, most are still about the same. In most countries, people have only reached the 6th or 7th floor. Right now, only something like level is even remotely useful as a reference. Temporarily, explorers were excessively scrambled over, and that led to hiding one’s abilities becoming the norm. Now, there’s a demand to permeate society by turning it into entertainment.

What we’re trying to do is to be part of that effort. Of course, we’re not thinking about that even a little bit. And yet, Mira…

“Wonderful! This is exactly what we should be doing right now! Sending information out to the world, getting people interested in dungeons! There’s no way we can go on living without knowing about the existence of dungeons, which are having such a huge effect on the current economy!! Let’s definitely do it!” (Mira)

Did she eat something weird for lunch?

“Recently, there was talk of a successful livestream from a dungeon in Mexico! Japan will probably implement it sooner or later! I bet they’ll test it within the year and make it usable by the end of the year!” (Mira)

I know about the Mexico thing too. But I don’t know how far along Japan is. It’s probably just Emilia’s speculation.

“No! It can already be used in a limited capacity! The only reason it hasn’t been implemented for full-time use is due to manpower shortages! But because of Mexico’s announcement, Japan and Germany won’t be able to sit still anymore! There should be a call for general testers sometime this summer!” (Mira)

“Mira, that’s not confidential information or anything… right?” (Kouta)

“Barely. It’s borderline out. Well, there’ll be an announcement soon anyway.” (Mira)

It was just the right kind of shared secret. She’s probably resolved to carry it with us.

Hiding a friend’s skill isn’t something inhumane. Rather, if it’s her support, someone who cares deeply for her companions, I can rely on her without worry. In that case, I’ll go along with it.

“If we build up some achievements now, our chances of being selected as testers go up too!” (Kouta)

“Exactly, Kouta! If we become a topic of discussion, the funding will also come in! Exploration will move forward even more!” (Mira)

“U-um…!” (Haruka)

Haruka-kun, who had been intimidated by Mira’s intensity, finally managed to speak. But Mira held a finger up to her lips and stopped his words.

“You don’t have to talk about secrets. But if we’re ever in trouble, help us, okay?” (Mira)

“Yeah!” (Haruka)

Mira grinned and wrapped up the conversation.

Even though it felt like we were slightly steamrolled, Haruka-kun also agreed, and I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

“Was there something that Mira and the others might end up troubled about?” (Kouta)

“Well, for now, it’s my Lv 10, I guess.” (Emilia)

“Ah, Emilia’s. That’s true. Speaking of which, what about Adelaide-senpai?” (Kouta)

“She went home. It was our problem, after all. No need to force her to tag along.” (Mira)

I succeeded in completely tossing the video editing and uploading over to Mira.

To think that the most annoying part of the work was now off my plate, it was an unexpected delight.

That night, the footage taken by my smartphone of Haruka-kun and the footage of me taken by Emilia’s smartphone were combined and uploaded.

 

—

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)