Living in a Dungeon in Modern Japan! An Overpowered Life with a Useless Skill - Episode 7

Episode 7

I was scheduled to take the dungeon training. And Hiyori-san was operating something on the tablet in her hand.

“OK! In about 30 minutes, someone will come to guide you. Until then, let’s just chat.”

When someone says something like that so directly to your face, it kind of makes you feel flustered.

“Uh, ah, okay.”

“Ah, you don’t have to be so tense. Actually, I’m younger than you, so no need to be so formal.”

From the way we’d talked so far, I didn’t think she was that much younger than me. So I was surprised when she said that.

“You thought I was older, didn’t you? Well, I know I’ve been so focused on clinical work and research that I’ve been neglecting that kind of image care.”

It wasn’t so much her age but rather the aura of being worn out by society that gave me that impression—but I guess I wasn’t too far off.

“Anyway, when I say ‘chat,’ I mean if you have any questions, I’ll answer them. I did all the asking earlier. So I’ll do my best to answer whatever you’re curious about. Just a heads up, if you want to ask personal questions—raise your approval rating with me first.”

With her joking tone, the atmosphere lightened. And it became easier to ask questions.

“Well then, I’ll save the private stuff for after I put in more effort. So here’s my question: Has anyone with a Special Attack skill actually become an explorer?”

That was something I’d been wondering for a while.

“So you’re asking that… does that mean you’re aiming to be an explorer?”

“Ah, no, just kind of interested, that’s all.”

“I see. Well… there have been some, or maybe I should say there were. The Special Attack skill is actually quite rare. And there aren’t many reports of it even worldwide. At first, because it’s essentially a combat skill, a lot of people with it became explorers. But back then, no one realized that it made it harder to deal damage to anything other than the specific monster it targets.

For example, in the case of a Dragon Special Attack, someone with the skill can deal clearly increased damage to Dragons—easily ten times more than normal, no exaggeration. Just hearing that sounds amazing, right? But on the flip side, against any other monster, their damage is reduced to one-tenth.”

“One-tenth…?”

The benefit was more extreme than I’d imagined, and so was the drawback—it shocked me.

“People say you grow stronger the deeper you go into the dungeon—it’s kind of like leveling up in a game. But the stronger you become, the more this skill becomes a burden.”

“How so? Wouldn’t a stronger person still do reasonable damage to other monsters, even if it’s less?”

“The gap becomes too wide. Like, someone who can one-shot a Dragon ends up doing damage like a rookie against a single Goblin. As others around them grow stronger, that discrepancy becomes even more noticeable. Eventually, that explorer retired.

And that person still had it better. If your Special Attack target is something like Goblins or Slimes, it’s even worse. Other adventurers can one-shot them even without the skill once their levels rise. So for people like that, they only suffer the damage debuff without gaining anything. There were a few who tried early on. But recently, no one with that kind of skill tries to become an explorer anymore…”

It sounded like she was indirectly telling me not to become an explorer either.

“I see…”

I thought I’d already given up on that dream. But my voice clearly dropped. I guess I still had some lingering attachment.

“Well, that said… I personally like people who go for it without worrying about what others say. Besides, we still don’t know everything about unique skills—there might be hidden abilities you haven’t discovered yet.”

She added that with a bit of encouragement.

I might just be an easy person to motivate. Her words stirred a bit of determination in me again.

While I was still asking her various questions, someone from the staff came into the room and called for me.

“Thank you for teaching me so much.”

“No, thank you—it was a meaningful time. If anything comes up, feel free to contact me.”

She handed me a business card.

Was it just a polite gesture? I wondered that. But then she gave me a slightly playful smile, fitting for someone younger.

“Since you’re a re-tester who manifested magic, we need to monitor you periodically. So come back in a month. Use that card to contact us when the time comes.”

Ah—it was just business.

I almost misunderstood…

I’ve always considered myself to be fairly sociable. But I felt like it was particularly easy to talk with Hiyori. Maybe because as someone in charge of medical checks for explorers, she interacts with people a lot. Though maybe because of that, she also came off as a bit blunt—but she did her job well. I could tell she was competent.

And with that, I bowed and left the room.