After returning to the HQ, the girls took their leave, and I was left to my own devices. 'Now. Is there anything I can do to improve my situation? Hm? Hm? Anything?'  

I find it hard to come up with anything solid. 'Do I beg like a dog? Lick their feet and shake my tail?' "Why does it sound plausible? I don't think I'm into that kind of roleplay. Haaa, play the pity card? Promise something? Do I have something in the HQ option?"

I look through my HQ controls, finding little change. Except for my total Mp. "Fuck! How much did it cost to fix me up? I'm almost 200 Mp down… Ugh utilities went up too, fuck! Even with magic, the fucking bills are a pain in the ass. Can it get any worse? Come on! How about some tribulation lightning!?!! STRIKE ME DOWN!!! COWARD!!COWARD!!!"  

I'm not getting stronger in the dungeon, not in a fantasy way, no skills or magic, just my life slowly going to shit. This must be life on hell difficulty. I take respite in cooking. Nothing better to do anyway.  

In the evening I was visited by the other trio. On Anna's advice I have kept some larger plasters on, so that my 'I have fallen down' story can hold together. Later that day I went to gather more wood. "This time, it should be relatively easy to make a good shield."  

On Sunday, I relaxed most of the day, going to the gym and hot springs. In the evening I went to hunt some tomato monsters for mana. I need to work on getting the available rooms online. "Haaa… I'm below 2k mana points… Fucking bills… Why are there so few hours in a day? Haaa." I don't have a reliable strategy for tackling the rice-lizard, except for, hit hard and dodge fast. I distinctly remember that it had a core inside. I just need to penetrate all that ricy flesh.  

 ----  

【Eleanor Forte】Hole-Dwelling (English cover)【SynthV】

I knew that the morning song has foretold an ominous future.

"I asked for tribulation lightning and received 3 strikes. He, he, he, I'll get at least one bite in."

Upon seeing Anna's group enter, wearing dark, work clothes and wielding spears, with those serious expressions. Like soldiers marching into battle. I tightened my grip on the mop and shift my stance, ready for a feeble attempt to protect my life.

"So, the samples turned out to be valuable and now you have come to get rid of the unnecessary element. Am I right? And conveniently, you can feed my dead body to the dungeon, erasing all the evidence."

'Have they not expected me to fight back? LIKE HELL!!! I'll fucking bite you all!'

The trio: Anna, Tai and Yumi, look at me confused.

"Anna: You think we have come to kill you? Why?"  

"Valentine: Why? You took what knowledge I've had, access to the system, samples from the other side. Now, 2 days of silence later. You return late in the day, dressed in disposable clothes and armed. The only thing missing, are masks. You honestly don't look like a group out for drinks."  

Seemingly taken aback, they take a step back and look at each other in turn. Before coming to a conclusion and turning to me.  

I'm as tense as a spring. Ready to charge in and wreak havoc.  

"Anna: Ok, our get up may be sending the wrong message. First, we are not here to kill you. Second, sorry for disappearing like that. We had parents over that day and got dragged out yesterday. Third ,the spears are for the monsters, so put down the mop."  

'Fucking shit… Haaa… The fucking wake up alarm will kill me one day.'  

"Valentine: Sorry, woke up to music promising my death today. And the shady looks gave me the unpleasant reminder."  

"Tai: Come on! Don't you trust us!? We aren't cold-blooded murderers. I'm feeling offended by your attitude!"  

"Yumi: Now, now. Everyone, calm down. It was a silly misunderstanding. I feel that the blame is mostly on us."  

"Anna: Kuhum, yes we might have been better off giving a heads up. For the time being, how about we sit down for tea and talk it out."  

Well, that happened. I don't know if they are just naive or innocent, but for now I am off the hook. 'Even though I don't know if the portal will function if I kicked the bucket. Many would not care about anything in the way, to get it under their control.'  

It appears that rich girl can just ask for fully functional spears to practice some sports, and they will get them. 'I can understand decorative weapons, but these are fucking solid metal tip, sharp weapons! How in hell's name do you just ask your parents for top quality lethal weapons? Is this normal in Japan? Or is it anime world logic? Or rich people's logic? I don't get it.'  

Anyway, they want to explore the dungeon, record the mechanism of its work, see for themselves the magic of it. Basically, I've got myself a party to explore a dungeon.  

Unfortunately, they haven't gotten me a weapon. They couldn't ask for something like that for a nonexistent person. Too risky.  

'Well, I'm more used to my Viking mode anyway. I'd need to train again, to learn how to use a spear.'  

We agreed to stop at the tomato monsters again, I need to polish my axe skills and think about ways to fight together.   

We have a time limit of 2 hours, so we waste little time. I pack extra water and we move swiftly.  

"Valentine: I suggest to focus on fighting the chicken-raptors, they are the most challenging and will help to improve your teamwork. When the hour is up we move to the next floor and look for the tomatoes. I'll show you one potato-golem and its weak points."  

"Anna: That is fine by us. We only wish to understand more, and won't take any risky actions."  

'You do understand that walking into a dungeon is inherently a risky endeavour? Right?'  

"Valentine: I'll step in if anything goes wrong. Follow my lead the same way as last time."  

The smiles and carrots stand no chance. Total annihilation by 3 pointy sticks. Teamwork takes care of the chicken in seconds. With two spears constantly keeping it at bay and one focused on attack, there is no chance for it to resist. 'Solo players get the short end of the stick. Fucking ×3 dmg and long reach. This is soo unfair! They gang up on the monsters! Where is the game balance!?'  

They murder another 5 chicken-raptors. If I consider all the drops they got so far, a distinct difference is seen between us. The quantity of the dropped item is half of mine. We tried having them kill a monster solo, the results were the same. 'Is this the influence of my [Artisan Lv 5]? Does it have increased drop rate?'  

If I participate in the battle, dealing some dmg, the drop increases by ~20%.  

"Anna: How did you get that added to your profile? Did it happen like in the games? Kill monsters, get exp?"  

"Yumi: I want to be a healer! An indestructible, self healing tank!"  

"Tai: So? How do we get job Lv?"  

'Aaah… If only I knew… How the fuck DO I GET MY Lv up?'

"Valentine: I haven't earned mine. I'd rather not say how I was made to receive it."  

"Anna: A discussion for another day then. Shall we go to the next floor?"  

I don't want to talk about that demonic piece of shit, and they get the gist of it.

There is not much to do on the first floor right now, I will collect some veggies on the way back. My backpack isn't an infinite magic storage wonder, I have to carry shit the old fashioned way.  

...

There is a change to the pattern as soon as they take down the first tomato-fusion.  

"Anna: What did just happen? Did something go wrong? Girls, are you ok? I don't feel any different."  

"Tai: Hm? I'm fine. It felt like a breeze of fresh air, nothing more."  

"Yumi: Same here. All good."  

I stare at them with wide eyes. 'WTF? Am I seeing this right? Did the mana just go into them, instead of condensing into a drop item? DID THEY just earn exp?!? WTF!!!!!'  

"Valentine: How!!! Why!?! What did you dooo!!?? How can you earn exp and I can't!? This makes no sense! It didn't happen on the first floor, so why now?"  

'Think! Think! What is the difference? I killed hundreds of monsters on this floor and it never happened to me. Again!'  

"Valentine: We are going for the next one. I need to see it again!"  

I move, as my mind is spinning. How? Why? Why not me?  

The next kill goes the same way, no drop, the mana goes into them. I sit down and think and think harder.  

"Valentine: What is the difference? Why this floor? The action is the same, but the results are what they are. What are the starting conditions that are different???"  

"""Gender? Age? Coolness? The dungeon likes us more than you?"""  

"Anna: What about the job Lv you mentioned. On the tablet, we are displayed as [Human Lv1], but you have the second entry."  

That is one horrible, nightmarish, godly judgment level of bad possibility. I tremble in dread.  

"Valentine: No…n..o..o. It can't be. The mobs Lv is too low to give a high Lv player exp. It, it, can't be… I'm [Artisan Lv 5]… meaning… floor 6… No… This is a death sentence!!"  

'I almost died on floor 2, there is no way I'll get to floor 6 on my own. This is a set up… I'll need firearms or a team to carry me. What does the dungeon have against solo players!?'  

Ah, my life was thrown into a shit hole from the very beginning. I feel lightheaded, so I plop down on my back. I am forced to delve deeper into the hellhole that is my future, as I imagine the likely ways I'll get eaten alive in here, before I make it to that accursed floor.  

"Yumi: I know it might look bad right now. Try thinking about the positive, ok? If we truly are gaining exp and get magical abilities, we can help you further down the line."  

"Tai: Yeah! We are involved in this now. Besides! We will need a chore boy to take care of us! You can focus on cooking and carrying bags if you turn completely useless in a fight!"  

"Anna: Not all men have to be warriors. A chef is a respected occupation."  

'Not when you have to delve into the dungeon for supplies! For crying out loud! Do I have to make a gun myself? Shit! This can't get any worse!'  

With limited time, we move a bit further, take down another two pairs of tomatoes, make a U turn, and I go ape shit on a potato-golem, turning it into mashed potatoes. I have so many, pent up, negative emotions that I could commit monster genocide right now.  

'Fuck my life.'  

Feeling downhearted, I take my time drowning myself in hot water. Metaphorically speaking.  

'Haaa…. Slow and steady wins the race. One step at a time. If I can get support from them…fuck. It's not just being a craftsman instead of a warrior. It's the fact that I can get 1 hit killed by some floor 4 or other big honcho! A floor 2 rice cracker almost finished the job! Sigh, I am tired of things not going my way.'  

"Maybe, it's for the best to play the role of a chef and leave the dungeon entirely to others? If only I could move freely, or have a solid position of power. Otherwise, I am the weakest link. If someone comes to take everything away, I will be at their mercy."  

`Sigh, the days are getting better and better. I give up and go to sleep, fighting nightmares and possibly cruel demons in the dream world.

 ----  

Mrs.Pumpkin's Comical Dream/の滑稽な夢 ver. RafScrap ft. Mirai

The next few days were not as bright as I needed them to be. Honestly, nothing much changed. I wake up to follow my routine, farm a full mana battery, cook for the 3-6 girls, train myself. In the evening I go into the dungeon with Anna's group, at first we went hunting together, but it was obvious that I was unneeded after they got the hang of things.  

The potato-golem is too slow to effectively respond to their assault, and gets poked full of holes in a matter of minutes.  

On the bright side of things, I have managed to successfully test a viable strategy for taking on the rice-lizard solo. It is time consuming, but gets the job done.  

"Here! Here! Hop! Hop!" `Splash`Slam.

I do as a rabbit does. I keep my distance and taunt the idiot into range combat. The point being, that its ammunition is its body. A mindless construct, literally flinging itself at me, reducing the rice body mass and toughness.  

If I can't dodge, I block with my shield. The impact isn't pleasant, but bearable. After the ammunition is empty, it lumbers towards me for direct combat. At that point, I can take it down in 5 well placed, strong hits.  

"Haaa..haaa.. fucking cardio. Why does this floor favour agility soo much? Dodge this, jump there, climb a fucking mountain!"  

'I would need to transform into a mountain goat to climb some of these steep paths!'  

I dig around in the hole, formally occupied by the rice-lizard. After digging like a dog for 10 minutes I find a crystal. "The hell is this? A salt crystal maybe? Why?"  

I hazard a lick, in addition to dirt I taste salt. 'Soooo… The burrowing monsters eat salt crystals? Is it a coincidence? The potato-golems were laying on top of extra spicy smelling dirt. Not useful to me as it's fucking spices and dirt mix, but the crystal can be cleaned and used.'  

"Sigh, dungeon, can you stick to drops coming in plastic bags? Make your monsters eat the useful things and pack them up for me. Please! The slimes do it with no problem! Put some slimes on each floor!"  

I have no idea where to send my complaints, so instead I packed the salt into my own bag and got moving, even as the terrain got more treacherous.  

"Soon I'll need specialized gear to move up sheer cliff walls. Fucking disposable gear, as the dungeon will eat everything!"  

There is much mapping out to do, finding the traversable paths leading up will be a time consuming pain in the ass.  

'Haaa, daily grind, that's the essence of most online games, daily grind.'  

 -- --

POV Anna

This technology is unbelievable. Some form of matter manipulation? Energy conversion on another level of understanding? I am not sure if anything I can imagine is actually what is going on.  

'How does this building convert mana into water, electricity, clothes? How does the dungeon convert it into those monsters and then into food? And the portal? Everything is soo alien to our own level of technology, that it's easier to call it magic.'  

I get taken out of my musings by a tired voice.  

"Valentine: Potato crisps and rice crackers. The sandwiches are next."  

The low-spirited chef walks back, barely keeping up the appearance of a neat, young man.  

'There is also that. After we have possibly gained exp, as he assumed is what happened, he's been in a dark mood. It's not even proven to be the case. There are too many things that we don't know yet.'  

"Hana: Did courtesy and good manners take a day off? The manager better get some whipping done, pronto!"  

"Yumi: Now, now, everyone can have a bad day. The food is as good as always, actually I like the crisps even more now."  

"Tai: Yes! The new salt seasoning is better now. And the crackers are a nice addition for variety."  

"Anna: The matches are coming up in two days. Anyone got cold feet, or are you all aiming to give your seniors a beat down?"

I steer the conversation away from the disheartened chef and towards the upcoming event.  

"Meiko: We have been most diligent in our training, I believe that we will be a good match against any upperclassmen. Especially if we are allowed to use our skills to the fullest."  

"Mari: We have not gotten any information on our opponents, so it is hard to judge the final result. If we are forced to compete using an unfamiliar martial arts style, we will have a hard time."  

"Anna: Ah, indeed. We have just come to a decision on that ourselves. A number of volunteers want to show off and pushed to include more matches. Long story short, the seniors will first have a match among themselves, the winner then will have a match against a first year. You will get the advantage of using your preferred martial arts. It was mostly the result of having too many eager seniors and not enough willing juniors."  

'Not to mention that some people started throwing around challenges to one another.'  

"Mari: I see. Everyone has their own reason for participating."  

We keep the conversation going, giving advice, but we aren't professional martial artists, so there is only so much we can help with.  

Chef Valentine played the role of a quiet server, or being mostly relegated to the kitchen.  

'Friday will be fun. Some stuck up bitches will get a spanking, of that, I'm sure.'  

That evening we went exploring the dungeon again. Honing our fighting skills and exploring more of the unknown.

...

Thursday evening, something, finally happened. After defeating another tomato-fusion I feel a sudden release of adrenaline, a clarity of myself and my surroundings. The feeling of raw power, like I have never felt before... and it's regressing now.  

"Anna: Oh… Well, that just happened. I am fine ladies, but I do feel stronger than before. What just happened?"  

"Tai: You were glowing for a few seconds. Did it finally happen? Can you check?"  

"Yumi: It really happened?!"  

'I leveled up? Was that ecstatic feeling of power, something that we should consider normal? Did my physiology change or that mana energy got over a critical point and assimilate into me? How does that even work?'  

""Ooohhh!!!! Holy!""  

"Tai: Do we begin worshipping you now, or after we get back?"  

'Anna [Human Lv1, Valkyrie Lv1]. Oh...'

"Anna: As my closest servants, you may gaze upon me for 10 minutes a day, without kissing my feet... Back to reality. I feel great, strong, `he, he he~. Give me a minute to check if I'm still myself, both mentally and physically."

They nod, and I take a minute to stretch all of my muscles. 'Mmm this feels nice, I feel like I could lift a car with half my strength. Now for the important part... .' I comb through my memories, re-examining my thoughts, ideas, beliefs, everything that makes me myself.

"Anna: I can't see anything wrong with myself. The increased strength not withstanding. The same old person you've known for a long time."

"Yumi: So, it just happened? You didn't get a list of choices poping up in front of you?"

"Anna: No, it happened spontaneously. I believe that the tablet only reads the information from us and presents it in a way we can understand."

"Tai: So the mana is naturally gathering in us, giving an increase of abilities, and the job we see is simply a way for the system to keep inventory?"

"Yumi: Aww, we don't get to choose. I wonder what are the parameters to get a specific job?"

"Anna: We would need to run millions of tests to determine that. We know soo little, it's frankly terrifying. More importantly, if this works like a game exp bar, I think you will experience it after another 2-4 monsters. We acted as a team, so I imagine we are almost at the same level."

Indeed, the second monster triggered the level up for the both of them.

""Ow wow, this MmMmm.""

"Tai: You don't mention this sensation! Mmnn, I feel hot and a bit horny!"

"Yumi: That was cruel! You could have warned us!"

"Anna: And be the only one to suffer? You know me better than that. Now! Let me check your jobs! Hmm, hm, OoO. Would you look at that."

""Let us see!!""

'Tai [Human Lv1, Kunoichi Lv1].'

'Yumi [Human Lv1, Warpriest Lv1].'

"Tai: Gods! I'm an actual ninja! Ha ha ha."

"Yumi: Oh? I am kind of a healer! Better yet a competent healer that can kick ass!"

I think all of us are a bit intoxicated by the sudden increase in our abilities. Normally it would take many years of training to feel this kind of an increase in strength.

"Anna: Ok, I feel that we need to exercise control here. Let's get one thing tested in the dungeon and go hit the gym tonight. I want to see how far this phenomenon has pushed us."

Swiftly, we ended a barely resisting potato-golem. Just like on the first floor, we got a food drop after finishing off the monster.

'Yeah, he won't like the confirmation of that particular theory. Hmm, sixth floor, how unlucky indeed.'

DECO\*27 - Salamander feat. Hatsune Miku