In this Second Chance at Life, where I can see skills as clear as day, everything feels like a breeze. And to make it even better, I’m spending my days joyfully with my First Love. - Chapter 47

After completing a dungeon exploration request from Defense Minister Sato, the event was officially recognized as the first successful dungeon clearance in the world.

In reality, the true first dungeon clearance had occurred during the Chuetsu Earthquake, but that was never publicly acknowledged.

Regardless, the recognition earned me a commendation for the dungeon clearance, and my face ended up being printed in the newspapers. Yet, this didn’t significantly change my life.

I mean, my name had already spread worldwide after the dungeon exploration on the first day of summer vacation. Having my face revealed at this point felt like a mere afterthought.

If anything, I heard that incidents involving people named “Yasushi Sato” going missing had sharply decreased.

…Wait, does that mean someone else named Yasushi Sato had been getting dragged into trouble because of me?

Well, I guess that makes sense.

Even though I rarely leave the house, foreign agents, domestic politicians, and various anti-social organizations have all tried to meddle with me. I’ve had to drive them away with Intimidation countless times.

If I’d known, I should have revealed my face earlier. While it wasn’t really my fault, I couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for anyone who suffered because of this.

That said, I still have no intention of appearing on media programs or becoming some public figure as Sato suggested.

I’d rather spend my time flirting with Ichika or focusing on my training. Losing those precious hours would be unacceptable.

Still, receiving a certificate for clearing the dungeon seemed harmless enough.

And so, I advanced to my second year of middle school.

In the special class, there weren’t any changes in class placements. No one had left by the end of the third semester, and there were no new transfers. At most, a few students from other classes moved up to join us.

One notable change, however, was the introduction of new laws in Japan.

I’m no legal expert, so I don’t know all the details, but it seemed like several new laws regarding professions and skills were established.

For example, crimes committed using professions or skills now carried harsher penalties. On the other hand, those who used their skills or professions for the benefit of society would receive various incentives, such as grants, reduced national certification fees, and tax benefits.

Additionally, regulations related to dungeon management were introduced. These included rules for exploring and clearing dungeons, as well as guidelines for assigning such tasks.

One specific rule that stood out was that only middle school students and older could accept dungeon exploration requests.

Not high school students, who are typically allowed to work part-time, but middle schoolers. The intent behind this was obvious—it was designed to allow requests to be directed to me.

As evidence, requests from ministries such as the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and the Ministry of Defense came flooding in.

Most of these requests involved dungeons that had appeared in locations threatening ecosystems or urban areas that required immediate action. The rewards ranged from three to five million yen per request, which seemed standard.

And the sheer number of requests was staggering.

There were far more than 30 or 40, but naturally, I had no intention of accepting all of them. Instead, I focused on dungeons located in areas I wanted to travel to or those nearby.

If I wanted to, I could use my clones and the level-999 monsters generated in Kanhebi’s dungeon to simultaneously clear every dungeon in the world. But doing so would probably cause a massive international uproar, far beyond a mere newspaper article.

Nowadays, efforts to use magical stones from dungeons as a new energy source are underway. Additionally, some groups are removing low-level dungeon monsters to repurpose the cleared areas for farming. Completely wiping out dungeons would likely earn me grudges from various organizations.

Moreover, I’ve never heard of monsters overflowing from dungeons and causing widespread damage, so there’s no real urgency.

With that in mind, I took my time, clearing dungeons leisurely—about once every two weeks to a month.

Aside from dungeon rewards, I also sold weaker magical stones from my item box. These stones, along with items dropped by monsters, were purchased separately, generating additional income.

Between the exploration rewards and the money earned from selling magical stones and monster drops, my savings were growing at an incredible rate.

By the time I advanced to my third year of middle school, I had amassed a savings of roughly 700 million yen.

Seven hundred million… That’s an insane amount of money. But I have no idea how to spend it!

There’s not much I want that I can’t already obtain through my dungeon or Ichika’s magic and alchemy. Honestly, all I really desire is a space where I can exercise as much as I want and spend happy moments with Ichika. Neither of those things requires much money.

As for donating to charity, it feels like it would just be hollow virtue-signaling if I did it.

If I genuinely wanted to do philanthropic work, I’d be better off going directly to the source and taking action myself. But to be honest, I don’t have the drive or the mindset for that. Plus, getting involved in that kind of thing seems like it would be a hassle, which is why I haven’t bothered.

So, with the money I wasn’t going to use, Ichika and I talked it over and decided to keep about 100 million yen in reserve and invest the rest in various companies.

We focused on companies whose products we personally liked, such as the maker of the affordable yet delicious protein powder I use or the textile manufacturer that produces high-quality towels. It wasn’t about making money—it was more about supporting companies I wanted to keep producing the products I enjoy. Even if it meant losing money, I didn’t mind.

Ichika also picked out around 20 companies she thought had potential, and we distributed investments among them.

These investments weren’t for trading or quick profits; they were long-term investments aimed at dividends. I handled everything online, building what’s called a portfolio.

It reminded me of the advice to invest in U.S. stocks that was popular in my previous life.

Back in 2009 in my past life, hardly anyone was doing this kind of thing. It’s the same now—very few people are investing this way. Realizing I had knowledge from my past life felt like having a cheat code.

Of course, since this world has dungeons, the companies that succeed here are entirely different from those in my previous life.

Speaking of which, the emergence of dungeons has brought fame to people I’d never heard of in my past life.

There’s some actor or maybe a former idol—I’m not sure—but apparently, he has a combat-oriented profession and has been making a name for himself by combining his entertainment career with dungeon exploration.

…Wait, isn’t this exactly what Sato-san wanted me to do?

Well, I’m sure this handsome guy is better suited for it than I am. Not that I care.

So, I continued taking dungeon-clearing requests at a pace of about once every two weeks, investing all the rewards into stocks.

The rest of my time was spent as usual—training in dungeons, spending time with Ichika, and just enjoying life.

By the time a year had passed and my middle school life was coming to an end, Ichika and I had accumulated a net worth of 50 billion yen.

What happened? It turns out every single company Ichika suggested investing in skyrocketed in value.

Some succeeded with innovations in new energy sources using magic stones, while others boomed with weapons designed for combating monsters.

Then there were companies producing disaster preparedness items like emergency kits and canned food, which saw massive demand as more families prepared for potential monster outbreaks. Companies specializing in underground shelters also experienced explosive growth.

As a result, some of the stocks we bought increased in value dozens of times over.

Now, I’m undeniably wealthy. But… I still don’t really know how to spend such an enormous fortune.

That said, watching our assets grow through stock investments is oddly similar to the thrill of seeing my stats increase through training. It’s enjoyable in its own way, so I plan to keep investing.