1.Makoto Sakura
"...Hey, are you alright?! Hey, stay with me!"
I hear a loud voice near my ear.
"Aya, come over here quick! This kid’s collapsed! Hey, what happened to him?!"
Someone is shaking my body.
What’s going on...?
"Aya, hurry up and use recovery magic!"
"Ah, Hiro-nii, wait. I think he’s regained consciousness."
"Oh, you're right. Hey, are you okay?"
"…Yeah."
When I opened my eyes, I saw a man in his mid-thirties with a beard and a young woman, probably in her twenties, with long hair, both staring at me with concern.
"What happened? Why were you collapsed here? Were you attacked by a monster?"
They bombarded me with questions.
"..."
Did these people wake me up?
I was having a good dream, too...
"Hey, what’s going on? Say something!"
"Calm down, Hiro-nii... Hey, are you alright?"
The woman leaned closer to my face and asked.
"…Yeah, I’m fine."
"Hey, what’s this? You can talk! If you’re fine, then just say you’re fine already! You had me all worried for nothing, jeez."
The man gave my shoulder a few enthusiastic slaps.
"Hiro-nii, you’re hitting him too hard."
"Ah, sorry, sorry. It’s just that you were slumped against the wall, and when I found you, I seriously thought you were dead."
The man scratched his messy hair as he spoke.
It seems like they were just worried and helped me up. They don’t seem like bad people.
"Sorry for worrying you. I must’ve dozed off and ended up falling asleep…"
"You fell asleep in a dungeon? What are you, crazy?"
"Never do that again. You never know when monsters might attack."
"Yeah, sorry."
I thought to myself that I’d have no problem with any monster attacking me while I slept, but explaining everything from the start seemed like a hassle, so I just gave a vague response.
"I’m Aya Kudo, a second-year university student. This noisy guy is my brother, Hiro Kudo. And you are?"
"I’m Makoto Sakura. I’m... sixteen."
I almost said "first-year high school student," but then I remembered that wasn’t the case anymore and corrected myself.
"Wow, that’s such a cute name. Maybe even more girly than mine."
"Hey, Aya. No guy wants to be called cute, so knock it off."
"Oh, is that so? Sorry, Makoto-kun. Forget I said that."
Aya apologized, putting her hands together with a regretful look.
"It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize."
I’m used to being called cute because of my short stature and androgynous face, for better or worse. It doesn’t really make me happy, but I don’t mind it either.
"We’re part of a team called the Twilight Brigade, Makoto-kun. What about you?"
"You’re not alone, are you?"
A team... That brings back memories.
When the dungeons first appeared in this world, I was part of a team for a short while. Well, I only spent a little time with them.
But just like in high school, I couldn’t fit in.
"I’m alone. I’m not part of a team."
"Eh, seriously?!"
"You’re a solo player?! No way!"
Aya and Hiro both exclaimed in surprise at my answer.
"You don’t have to be so surprised. You guys are a team of two, right?"
"We’re not just two! We’ve got other members waiting in the next room."
"Waiting?"
What does that mean?
"I have a skill that lets me sense monster presence, and Hiro-nii has a skill for detecting traps, so we were checking the passage before the rest of the team."
"And that’s when we found you slumped against the wall."
"That’s how it happened?"
"We’re a team of six, all with specific roles."
These two are probably like a forward scout team, detecting danger.
They must be essential members of their group.
---
"Anyway, are you sure you can handle being solo? This is a Rank Q dungeon, you know."
"Yeah, that’s right. All of us are over level 30, and with six of us, we’ve only just managed to get down to the fifth floor."
"Ha..."
As Hiro-san said, we’re currently in a Rank Q dungeon.
Dungeons are ranked from A to Z, with the difficulty increasing as you approach A.
So, Rank Q dungeons are generally suited for mid-level players.
There are four other Rank Q dungeons in Japan besides this one, and this particular one is commonly referred to as the Dungeon of the White Land.
---
"What level are you, Makoto-kun? If you can handle being solo, are you around level 60?"
"Hey, hey, Aya, what are you talking about? There’s no way that’s possible. Level 60? That’s double our level!"
"But if he’s solo, his level must be rising faster than ours."
"Not necessarily. It’s tough to take down high-level monsters by yourself. Right, Makoto?"
Hiro-san looked at me with sharp eyes.
"Uh, yeah. That’s right."
"Most likely, Makoto has a skill similar to yours," Hiro-san said, looking at Aya.
"Mine...? Does that mean a monster-sensing skill? Is that it, Makoto-kun?"
"That’s definitely it. You’re probably just picking up items while avoiding monsters. So, I’d guess... your level is around 25, right?"
"Ay, Hiro-nii, I’m asking Makoto-kun, so you be quiet."
"What do you mean, ‘be quiet’ to your real brother?"
"I didn’t say ‘be quiet,’ I just said, ‘be quiet.’"
"It’s the same thing!"
"It’s not the same!"
The two of them started heating up their argument, completely leaving me out of the conversation.
Sigh... I don’t really care, but I wish these two would just go somewhere soon.
Chapter 2