CH 80

When Chigo uttered the desired level, Tenji's vision changed instantly.

The 21st level.

There is not a single oasis but a huge desert field with endless mountains of sand, only dunes.

At the entrance and exit of this level, there is a fountain, which is necessary for transition, but perhaps because this is a desert, not a drop of water is flowing.

The only thing that stands there is a withered stone sculpture.

Looking out over the horizon, desert hills rise everywhere, and monsters could be seen in some places.

However, the monsters here do not attack unless someone provokes them. In game terms, they behave like non-active monsters (NPCs). These monsters can be said to be calm ones.

"Ughhh! Sand within my eyes."

A gust of wind blew in and some sand came into Tenji's eyes.

He closed his eyes reflexively and rubbed hard to remove the sand.

"Oh, no, no. Put these goggles on. And you'd better put on this cloak, too, because you'll get your uniform dirty."

"Yeah, thanks."

Chigo rushed in to stop Tenji from scratching his eyes, and out of nowhere she pulled out a cloak and goggles and handed them to him.

Tenji wears them immediately without hesitation.

"Whoa!... What are these goggles, this is not normal." Tenji replied in surprise.

As soon he put the goggles on, multiple thin red square marks appeared in his eyes as if he had aimed at something.

Tenji was surprised to find that they were not normal goggles. He thought it was just to protect eyes from the sand.

"About time you get used to it. Of course, it's my item. See that square frame on the lens? It means where you see it, there's a monster. Oh, and by the way, you can't see the monsters that are hiding, so please be careful."

Tenji thought he pretty much knew about Chigo's quirks and behaviors. Still, he found this one particularly new.

He couldn't help but get excited about such an awesome item.

"Then let's move on."

"Yeah. Come on out with Goblins."

"Tenji immediately summoned five Goblins."

Since there weren't many students, Tenji was in the habit of summoning Goblins without worrying if anyone was around to see.

And the battle is basically left to them.

As the Goblins killed the monsters they found around them, Tenji and Chigo slowly walked toward the edge of the field. For Tenji now, this method is the most experience - efficient.

"Hey, that anything bag... is awesome."

Tenji stomped through the desert, which was difficult to walk through, and suddenly saw a necklace glinting on Chigo's chest and muttered to himself. "I've never seen such a beautiful necklace."

It was a beautiful, delicately decorated, stainless steel necklace.

Chigo noticed this stare and crossed her arms to hide her bosom, even though she knew he was not looking at them.

"Iyan! (No!), Tenji-kun's naughty."

[TLN: Iyan is feminine word; it is used when uttering a small emotion and uttering a voice. Normally it means "oh, no, don't"]

"No, it's not!"

"I know, I know! I was just teasing you."

"Oh God!... You're giving me a heart attack."

"Alright, calm down. Even for Tenji-kun's wish, it's difficult, I only have this as well."

The necklace that Chigo wears is an extremely valuable item around the world that would fetch tens of billions of dollars if sold at auction.

The name of the necklace is "Inventory Necklace", and it is a small diamond that is hooked into the necklace which can hold several things compressed into it.

The problem however, is that it requires some MP to take it out and put it in, but it is said that one necklace can hold about the capacity of two mountaineering bags.

In the entire world, Chigo is the only person to have this possession. It was a gift from Leon as a seduction item when he recruited Chigo to join the guild.

People believe that a small percentage of the world's top explorers have some valuable items which are hidden away, have not been disclosed to the world. Many of them are very secretive, and high school students like Tenji could never know about their existence.

So, it was no wonder that Tenji falsely assumed there were few storage items.

"I know - I know, but it's still awesome."

"What are you talking about? From my point of view, I envy Tenji's calling many times more than this inventory necklace. Yours can store a Weapon, a Recovery Item, and summon Goblins that can fight independently. And it weighs absolutely nothing?"

[It's true. My' Book of Enma' has zero mass, and I can summon Weapons, Goblins, and Recovery Items at will... I'd like to brag again about all my awesome abilities. But... I'm still at level 1.]

"Well, sure, I guess so... Okay, can I get started now?"

"I'd like to get to level 24 before the end of the day. I reached the 21st level in less than a week, and I want to advance to the 24th too. It will be easier later on if we advance to the shallow levels first."

[I guess my goal for today is to get to the 24th level and reach level 2 in my calling. But it will be difficult to get to level 2 by the end of the day...]

Here in Mallorca, Tenji and Chigo had one goal in mind.

---- Attainment of the 75th level, the highest level currently attained by mankind.

If people around in Mallorca heard this, they would definitely make a pity face and say, "What a silly thing a swordsman and a mere teacher are talking about."

That's as it should be.

Only a few people in the world have reached the 75th level. One of them is Ursula-Limey, the rector who is the president of the academy here in the Republic of Mallorca Island.

[TLN: Rector: the head of certain universities, colleges, and schools. President basically.]

While working as the president of the university, she continued to go underground day after day to conquer the dungeon, and finally reached the 75th level after more than 10 years of experience.

Of course, the rector is no ordinary explorer, but a great human who is one of only four active zero-grade explorers in the world and has been awarded the "Heroic Explorer" in active service.

The Heroic Explorer is a medal awarded to an explorer who has achieved exceptional greatness. They are the ones who are truly the god of exploring.

During the first period of the dungeon era, there were many awards for heroic explorers, but in recent years, the number of such awards has been drastically decreasing. This may be because the world is now slowly moving toward peace.

If there is no battle, no medal will be awarded.

This is the era in which people are moving toward such peace.

While this is not a good trend for young people who want to become explorers, from the perspective of the average person who has little to do with dungeons and wants to live a simple peaceful life, it is a blessing.

Tenji and Chigo continued to walk through the desert area as they saw fit.

At such times, Tenji suddenly spoke up a question that was in his mind.

"I wonder what kind of person President Limey is. I couldn't attend the entrance ceremony because of the time of year, so I've never seen her."

"Limey? She's an unfriendly grandmother."

"Haha, not very sociable then."

"She always looks so unhappy. I wondered if she was angry, but she told me that she wasn't. She replied that she hasn't been good at making facial expressions ever since a kid."

"I'd like to meet her just once. The most powerful armory in active service, they say?"

"I guess so. It's not an all-purpose type like Tenji's, but in terms of instantaneous firepower alone, it surpasses Leon's. It's amazing, isn't it? She can emit a beam that glitters and shines!"

"I remember reading in the textbooks that she was a light system magician."

"When I was in high school, it wasn't in the textbooks... I'm not from Explorers High School, though."

Chigo grinned weirdly.

Yes, Chigo did not graduate from the Japan Explorers High School, which is said to be the gateway to success for explorers.

Rather, she was from an ordinary public high school.

However, she apparently went crazy and participated in the "Explorer Olympia - U18 Division" held every year from summer to fall, and even though she was an amateur, she left various marks on the competition before vanishing without a trace.

Many recruiters paid attention to this tournament, and of course, many students from Japan Explorer High School participated too, making it a tough tournament for explorers.

Chigo had this to say to Tenji.

---------- She wasn't interested in being an explorer at first, and she only entered the competition for fun with her friends. She didn't care if she was going to participate in the finals or not, and it became too much of a hassle to go to the venue.

It was truly a thing that typical free-spirited Chigo would do.

However, it seems that at the pre-final competition, she caught the eyes of various recruiters, and all the famous guilds around the world made offers. They asked her to join their guilds.

According to Chigo, every day for about a month, she received so many letters and other things that her apartment's mailbox was overflowing. There were several world-famous guilds, such as the top-ranked guild in the U.S. and the most fearsome guild in Russia.

And apparently, Leon's name was also among them.

In the meantime, she looked through everything and met with a few guilds that looked interesting.

So finally, she decided to join the guild [Busy Man], who gave her an inventory necklace and also told her they wouldn't be mad for playing games all the time. They basically gave her the freedom to do everything she likes.

"No, really, Chigo is not average. Just a high school girl, and that too with no dungeon experience, entered the Explorer Olympi and got offers......."

It is said that participation in the Explorer Olympia finals is similar to baseball's tournament.

In short, it is like a student who has never even held a baseball before suddenly appearing and standing on the mound at Koshien.

[In Japan, Kōshien (甲子園) generally refers to the two annual baseball tournaments played by high schools nationwide. Koshien is also the name of the stadium where the tournament is held.]

It would obviously be an unusual sight.

"Haha ~ But that's okay because I'm having fun right now. I can eat a lot of delicious food."

"Did President Limey invite many famous restaurants from all over the world?"

"Yes, yes, especially since the cities on the first and third levels are all made to Grandma Limey's liking. This is another privilege of being a zero-grade explorer."

"I'm so envious. Ah! Hey, isn't that the "Prowling Boss?"

All the surrounding monsters had been defeated by the Goblins, and as the two walked leisurely through the desert area, conversing at their leisure, a monster with a huge body appeared out of the corner of their eye.

Tenji pointed to the individual and switched his eyes to Chigo.

"Oh, yeah! That's the one!"

Each level has several bosses.

The number of bosses varies from level to level and from day to day. Even so, up to the 75th level, the president Limey has created a map, a strategy map, with warnings to stay away from dangerous bosses.

And if you defeat even one of them, you will get an item called a "Transit Pass".

To be precise, a fist-sized jewel emerges from the center of the boss's body, and the person in the group who did the most damage touches it to obtain a scroll of paper. That is the permit to pass.

If you bring it close to the transition gate fountain, you can automatically transition to another level.

It is rumored in the media that it may have taken President Limey more than 10 years to reach the 75th level because she was gathering this kind of detailed information as she proceeded with her dungeon attack.

"Can I kill him?"

"Of course! Why don't you try fighting without the Goblins anyway? It's just a half second grade monster, and I think it will be a good experience for you. I'll give you some advice from behind."

"Sure, let's do that..."

Tenji sent the Goblins back to the hell realm and decided to hold the Red Demon Dagger himself.