Deep Dungeon: I’ve been thrown into a game-like world with a class system. Armed with a mediocre ability and no allies, I’ll take it easy and progress at my own pace
…Yamada Himari.
I lost sight of Matsui-kun and waited in the lobby for a while, but my thoughts kept spinning in circles, wishing I’d chased after him sooner.
In times like this, I need to stay calm—I reminded myself of past experiences and decided to head back to my room to take a shower.
“Ugh, uuu…”
While drying my hair with the blow dryer, a pathetic little whimper slipped out.
The thought crossed my mind that I could just chase after Matsui-kun next time, but I shook my head vigorously.
Thinking it’s fine to just go back so easily is dangerous. “Next time, next time”—has that ever worked out even once? No, it hasn’t.
Besides, I don’t want to see someone die again, nor do I want to feel the pain of dying myself.
Was it the fourth time…? I’ve lost count. Realizing I was stuck in this loop, the fear of death drove me half-mad for a while. Even though I don’t panic anymore, that doesn’t mean I’m not scared.
“When things get like this, I should just splurge on some gald without worrying about it!”
From past experience, it was only after the raiding party disappeared that gald ran so low we couldn’t even buy food. When gald stopped coming in, there was no one left to fight, and it was game over. Saving up gald until then? Pointless! Yep, that’s right.
“So I’m just gonna spend it!”
I ended up buying a face mask, disposable hot eye masks, and a relaxing incense set.
Lying on the bed, the warmth of the hot eye mask made my cheeks soften into a smile.
“It’s fine until tomorrow, but…”
The 24 people in class—everyone except Matsui-kun, who didn’t attend the meeting—formed a “pact.”
On the first day of the game, Kanzaki-kun, one of the two pillars leading the class and a regular at national tournaments, called for volunteers to head to the dungeon.
Sakaki-kun, the other pillar and student council president, immediately objected to his proposal. “Haruto (Kanzaki-kun’s first name) might be fine, but unless you’ve drawn ‘Advent,’ it’s impossible.” With “Advent,” you can let a hero take over your body to fight for you, or if you have powerful long-range magic or special abilities, you can wipe out monsters without even getting close. On the other hand, with “Divine Weapon” like Kanzaki-kun has, you get a weapon or something else, but you have to wield it yourself.
Among the “Divine Weapons,” the ones suited for combat are actual weapons. But even if you have a bow, you’ve got to be able to nock an arrow and hit your target. Facing a monster intent on killing you for the first time? Even someone from the archery club would struggle to land a shot. Kanzaki-kun’s in the same boat, but he’s not normal. I followed them a few cycles back, and even on his first try, he took down monsters while protecting us—he’s just on a different level.
This time, since it was the first time Matsui-kun survived, I decided to act the same way I did in the first cycle, so I didn’t raise my hand to say “I want to go.”
In the end, following Sakaki-kun’s suggestion, five people went to the dungeon: four who drew “Advent,” including Sakaki-kun himself, plus the exceptional Kanzaki-kun.
I think five is the right number to go. No injuries, no deaths…
Was it the eighth time? The cycle where everyone went to check things out was a disaster. I don’t even want to think about it.
Anyway, after all five returned safely, Kanzaki-kun called a class meeting.
He said he wanted to evenly split the gald earned by the dungeon-raiding party among everyone.
He went on. Of course, only with those who agreed. He wanted to form a pact with just those who were on board.
In exchange, everyone who joined the pact had to share what kind of gacha draw they got with the rest of the group.
Even back in the first cycle, I thought Kanzaki-kun was like the protagonist of a story.
It’s a saintly proposal, but it’s not just that. He also figured that in a game-like world, “fighting” isn’t the only key to winning, right, Kanzaki-kun?
In fact, I can’t fight, but with the power of my “Staff of Recovery,” I can “restore a body to its original state.” It works on the entire body, and I can rewind time as far back as the start of the game.
Even if someone loses an arm, I can turn back time to before it happened, and it’ll be restored.
I explained it to everyone in simple terms: as long as they’re not dead, I can heal any injury.
Others who didn’t draw combat-oriented “Divine Weapons” had abilities to brew buff potions, or skills like blacksmithing and crafting—various powers to support the game.
“Live and let live… I get it, but it’s still tough, huh.”
All 24 people at the class meeting agreed to Kanzaki-kun’s proposal.
But everyone except Matsui-kun joining the pact? That’s only until tomorrow. I’ve tried stopping people from backing out of the pact before, but it only ever made things worse—never better.
If Matsui-kun had been there, what would he have done?
“Hmm, probably just looked down and quietly joined the pact without me noticing.”
Imagining him like that made me chuckle.
Where did Matsui-kun even go? I don’t really know what kind of person he is, but I’m certain he’s not the type to recklessly throw himself into the dungeon out of desperation. He doesn’t talk much, always humble and reserved—I think he’s the cautious type. If someone like him went to the dungeon, he must have some kind of plan.
“Truth” abilities often come with system-like powers. An ability that makes you want to head to the dungeon… hmm, maybe something like pausing time or save-and-load?