Akatsuki Translations

“Well, Yuuta. You have the answer to what I asked, don’t you?” Yonezaki said.

I realized this person was starting the conversation without regard for Misuzu and Evie’s presence. His sudden appearance was similar to Nagumo-san, but I thought Yonezaki doing this wasn’t for some cute reason like trying to surprise us.

I felt like I was being threatened: Don’t cause even a bit of trouble because I can kill you guys anytime.

“F-First, there’s something I’ve always wondered about,” I said.

“Yes. Go ahead,” Yonezaki replied.

Yonezaki’s unhealthy-looking face seemed strangely cheerful. Rather than feeling relieved by this, I found it scary. Had he seen Lean and Rai too? No, I should focus on Yonezaki now.

The most important thing for me to do was to be liked by this man. Being disliked by someone higher up in the dungeon could mean death.

“What I wondered about is, first, why does the dungeon dislike modern weapons like guns? Especially, even if you defeat 10 goblins, you don’t level up with a gun. I’ve heard that you might only level up after defeating 1000,” I explained.

“You don’t need to defeat that many. To be precise, it’s 99,” Yonezaki corrected.

“I-I see,” I stammered.

“Yes. Where did you get that information? The internet? Or do you know an explorer?” Yonezaki inquired.

“Y-Yes, I do,” I answered.

“What’s their name?” Yonezaki pressed.

“It’s Nagumo-san,” I said.

I hesitated a bit about whether I should give the name, but Nagumo-san had given me permission to use his name in situations like this. More than anything, my fear made me say the name.

“Hmm, Nagumo-sama, is it? Kid, you shouldn’t casually drop such big names. Explorers have surprisingly complex relationships, you know. It could make things more dangerous for you. Well, in any case, I only care about whether you act in a way that displeases me. Ah, don’t worry, I like you so far. I’ll tell you about an explorer whose name you shouldn’t mention in this dungeon. It’s Demon-Eye. She’d probably get extra angry if she heard that name,” Yonezaki explained.

“W-Why is that?” I asked.

I had thought that mentioning Nagumo-san’s name might intimidate him a little. After all, even Kagura-san, a mid-level explorer, was really scared of Nagumo-san’s name. However, Yonezaki didn’t seem to care about it at all.

Was he just not showing his agitation? I couldn’t read anything from his expression. No good. I can’t lose mentally. Above all, Yonezaki probably wouldn’t be interested in a frightened fawn.

“The reason is something you should ask her yourself. She’ll surely get angry,” Yonezaki said.

Well, then I definitely won’t ask, I thought.

“Continue,” Yonezaki said.

“Ah, y-yes. If you rely on modern weapons for leveling up in the dungeon, you have to defeat even more goblins, and even when you level up, your stats are worse. Is that right?” I asked.

“That knowledge is correct. Go on,” Yonezaki replied.

“So I thought, maybe the dungeon doesn’t want guns to be used on the first floor,” I said.

“Hmm, your reasoning process seems to be correct. Yes, that’s right. Now, tell me your answer,” Yonezaki prompted.

“I think the intention of the first floor is that ‘the dungeon is assessing humans.’ The dungeon has this tendency overall, but it’s especially strong on the first floor,” I explained.

“Very good. You’ve thought it through and come up with an answer. Your conclusion is not wrong. I came to the same answer,” Yonezaki said.

“Um, excuse me,” Misuzu hesitantly spoke up.

“What is it?” Yonezaki asked.

“I don’t understand. How does that mean the dungeon is assessing humans on the first floor?” Misuzu questioned.

“Hmm, well Misuzu is one thing, but what about you, Evie?” Yonezaki inquired.

“Oh, um, I didn’t understand either,” Evie admitted.

I didn’t pursue why he knew not only my name but also theirs. I just realized he probably knew about us for quite some time.

“I see. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll explain properly. Yuuta, since you’ve come this far with your questions, can you explain the basics?” Yonezaki asked.

“Y-Yes,” I replied.

“Go ahead,” Yonezaki said.

“Well, first, the main purpose of the first floor is probably for the dungeon to learn about the characteristics of the humans who enter. And it wants to determine what magic and skills to give them, I think,” I explained.

Thinking about it this way, I could understand various reasons why the dungeon dislikes modern weapons.

“So why the gun regulation?” Evie asked. She seemed to have relaxed her guard against Yonezaki a bit.

“Um,” I started.

“No, Yuuta seems to really understand, so I’ll explain,” Yonezaki interjected.

“S-Sorry,” I apologized.

“Listen, you two. It’s because the goblins on the first floor are weak. They’d die immediately if killed with a gun. If they’re killed so easily, the dungeon can’t learn anything about human characteristics. Surely anyone could easily kill goblins with a gun, and the results would all be the same. That’s problematic. However, the dungeon can’t put monsters that are immune to guns on the first floor. After all, if it did that, only armies could clear the first floor,” Yonezaki explained.

“They’ve been saying on TV that dungeons are a blessing from God to humans, right?” I asked.

“That’s right. Many people think the dungeon regulates guns and intentionally makes things difficult to torment humans. But from the dungeon’s perspective, it’s the opposite. To give each person the skills and magic that suit them best, gun regulation is necessary. That’s why they regulate,” Yonezaki said.

“Why doesn’t the dungeon explain this to humans?” Evie asked further, seemingly intrigued by Yonezaki’s explanation.

“That’s also part of assessing humans. The dungeon is watching to see if humans realize this,” Yonezaki replied.

“Why don’t you broadcast this explanation on TV or something?” Evie inquired.

“I’d like to say ‘It’s their fault for not understanding,’ but that’s not it. I’m sure there are other humans who have realized this reason, so it’s strange that this isn’t widely recognized. But I kind of understand. The dungeon probably dislikes having these facts spoken about outside. So maybe that’s why no one says anything. Of course, that includes me,” Yonezaki explained.

You’re just being mean-spirited, I thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

“Above all, the dungeon wants humans to get used to skills and magic as quickly as possible. It’s said that beyond the 10th floor, you can’t kill monsters with modern weapons no matter what. In other words, no matter how much you cling to modern weapons, they’ll only hold you back in the dungeon. The dungeon wants to avoid that situation. It probably doesn’t want to crush the potential of humans,” Yonezaki continued.

That’s why the dungeon says not to use modern weapons, but to use skills and magic instead, I thought.

“Well, this has been a fairly meaningful time. You all, no, especially you, Yuuta, seem to be favored by the dungeon. It’ll be tough, but do your best,” Yonezaki said.

Yonezaki stood up abruptly, as if the conversation was over now that he had answered what he wanted to. He brushed the dust off his white coat.

As he was about to walk away slowly, I stopped him.

“There’s one thing I’d like to ask you, if that’s okay?” I said.

“…You’re doing something unusual, kid. Newcomers who manage to survive in the dungeon for a bit usually want to part ways quickly when they meet someone with a higher level. Yet you’re stopping me. Are you overconfident? Or are you thinking things through?” Yonezaki said.

He looked at me with an unnaturally wide grin. His face suggested he had actually been waiting to be stopped. It was the kind of face that made me think he might have killed us on a whim if I hadn’t stopped him.

A powerful figure in the Kofu Dungeon. He’s talking to us with interest. I realized that if I couldn’t see this as an opportunity rather than something to fear, I probably wouldn’t make it. If I were an explorer, it would be stupid to let such a chance slip away.

So I asked.

“Why are you on this floor?”

It was the biggest question I had for Yonezaki.

“Oh? What do you mean?” Yonezaki asked.

“You must have been entering the dungeon for quite some time now. Are you still investigating goblins? That’s what I want to know,” I explained.

“W-Wait, Yuuta,” Misuzu said in a panicked voice. Evie didn’t speak, but her face said, “What are you asking?”

“Hehehe, hehehehehehehe,” Yonezaki laughed with a pleasant smile. He seemed to understand what I was getting at, and it appeared to align with what he wanted to hear, making him happy.

“Ah, very good. You seem to be incredibly favored by the dungeon, so I had high hopes. I’m very lucky. Maybe I’m not as disliked by the dungeon as I thought. You understand why I’m on this floor, don’t you?” Yonezaki said, leaning in so close our faces almost touched.

“I-I do,” I replied.

“H-Hey, Yuuta. Doesn’t this person just like goblins?” Misuzu whispered to me.

“I think that’s part of it, but not all,” I responded.

After all, Yonezaki was part of the first generation that entered the dungeon in its early days. He should have finished investigating the third floor long ago. Even if he wanted to study monsters as a researcher, there are many more mysterious monsters further down.

Yet Yonezaki keeps studying goblins endlessly. It’s strange behavior when you think about it. From what I’ve heard him say so far, I could tell he was intelligent. But he keeps doing things like breeding experiments with goblins.

“Many people have criticized me as a pervert. The two 18-year-olds who came before were the same. When they met me, they cried like frightened fawns, begging, ‘Please don’t throw us into the goblin village.’ It was really disappointing. I wondered if my actions were indeed wrong. And then they went and got caught by goblins on their own,” Yonezaki said.

“‘Please! Help us, Yonezaki-san! You’re watching, aren’t you?’” he mimicked.

“What nonsense. They weren’t even explorers anymore. Just trash that wandered into the dungeon knowing it was dangerous. They should be grateful to be used as experimental materials,” Yonezaki continued.

“That’s…” I started.

I too was once just such trash. It was only by chance that I met Nagumo-san and became something more. In truth, I might have been even worse than those two, unable to even descend to the first floor.

“I can guess what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that you too were helped by someone,” Yonezaki said.

His accuracy was unsettling.

“That’s right,” I admitted.

“Nagumo-sama, huh… Well, a 15-year-old can’t survive in the dungeon with just school learning and internet research,” Yonezaki said.

“I was indeed just helped by Nagumo-san,” I said.

“No, that’s not right. You’re underestimating yourself too much. Be careful of that. I’m impressed that you’re surviving like this now. I feel the same about Misuzu and Evie. It’s remarkable that you’re alive here at this stage. In general, those 18-year-old pieces of trash weren’t particularly talented to have descended to the third floor,” Yonezaki explained.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“They were D-rank dropouts. Some trouble happened at the D-rank, and they got tired of attending. So they decided to challenge a regular dungeon. Stupid, right? Trash that runs away from the D-rank coming to a regular dungeon. From the moment I heard that, I could only see them as some kind of trash,” Yonezaki said.

To me, the mentality of easily calling people trash seemed more like trash. Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud even if my life depended on it.

“But I have expectations for you. Since the D-ranks were established, explorers only come to the third floor of a single dungeon about once every six months. And those who come every six months are all D-rank dropouts. That place is no good. They don’t do anything necessary for explorers to descend to lower floors. They prioritize life above all else. In my opinion, the D-ranks are trash manufacturing machines for explorers,” Yonezaki continued.

“…”

There was a time when I slightly regretted not going to D-rank. But annoyingly, after hearing Yonezaki’s words, I became convinced that it was good I didn’t go.

“You’re definitely the first explorer to properly reach the third floor at this stage in Kofu,” Yonezaki said with a grin. It was eerie and chilling. Seeing Yonezaki in a good mood, I looked at Misuzu and Evie. They both nodded. Before talking to Yonezaki, I had told them what I planned to say if he approached us again.

“You must have more questions for me, right? You’re not going to say this is the end, are you?” Yonezaki asked.

“Y-Yes,” I replied.

“Let’s hear it then,” he said.

Yonezaki seemed to be in a good mood so far. But I thought he might become upset after hearing what I had to say.

“The two 18-year-old girls. The ones you called trash. Is it not possible to help them?” I asked.

I said it. I actually said it. I watched as Yonezaki’s face gradually turned sour.

“You’re an idiot, aren’t you? Why ask me such a stupid thing? I told you, didn’t I? That idiot Kunimaru made the same proposal. I rejected it. As a result, the fool died. I consider those two girls you want to save as less than trash. I think they should be used as experimental materials. You want to save that trash?” Yonezaki said.

“Y-Yes,” I replied.

“It seems I was greatly disappointed. Did you think I would grant permission if you appealed to my emotions?” he asked.

“Probably not,” I admitted.

“Then why did you ask? You’re not making the foolish choice of trying to use force, are you?”

Yonezaki casually raised his hand. Somehow, he was now holding what looked like a surgical scalpel. I felt the air around us cool. There was a strange clattering sound.

“Eek!”

Skeletons were rising from the hot savanna ground. There were rumors that Yonezaki’s job was Necromancer. I felt a chill despite the 40-degree heat of the savanna.

“O-Of course, I don’t think I can win in a fight against you. This is just a negotiation,” I said.

“Negotiation…” Yonezaki fell silent. He seemed to be thinking.

“Because you want to descend to the lower floors, don’t you?” I asked.

“…”

The moment I spoke, the smile vanished from Yonezaki’s face.

“B-But, you can’t descend anymore, can you?” I continued.

“…”

Yonezaki was staring at me without smiling at all.

“I understand the reason,” I said.

His silence was unnerving, but I continued.

“Most explorers skip the Goblin Emperor quest on this floor. It’s said to be ridiculously difficult. Even at level 16, the level cap for the third floor, you’d almost certainly die if you challenged it. I think you didn’t die, but you failed,” I explained.

“How so?” Yonezaki asked.

“Because you’re here. You challenged the Goblin Emperor and failed. So now you’re looking for someone who can do what you couldn’t. You’re searching for someone who might be able to descend to the 100th floor of this special class dungeon. I don’t know why you’re doing breeding experiments with goblins. But I thought that if you found someone who might be able to get you to the 100th floor, and if that person wanted the 18-year-old girls released, you would definitely agree to something that minor,” I said.

I spoke my mind. I didn’t think Yonezaki was the type to kill people without reason. At the least, I thought he was someone who disliked doing meaningless things. So in a way, I believed he would listen to me until the end.

“The Goblin Emperor is safely skippable,” Kunimaru-san had said in a video once. Because of that, I had thought it might be better not to aim for an S rank when challenging the Goblin Emperor. If it were an individual quest, I might have done differently, but the Goblin Emperor quest is a party quest.

If we aimed for an S rank, there was a possibility that Misuzu and the others could die. But Nagumo-san’s words changed my thinking.

Yonezaki was silent for a while, then said, “You first questioned why I’m here at all…”

“Y-Yes,” I replied.

“…The Goblin Emperor is strong. Last. That’s what he calls himself. The first being in the dungeon to speak human language. At least, I thought challenging him was something only an idiot would do. But I needed to get an S rank on the Goblin Emperor quest. The method is quite simple. Challenge it at level 14. Two levels below the third floor’s level cap. I wanted to go to the 100th floor, so I did it. And I regretted it bitterly. I thought I would definitely die. So I used all my skills to escape,” Yonezaki explained.

For just a moment, I thought I saw Yonezaki’s expression change.

“I ran away, leaving all my researcher colleagues behind. The dungeon doesn’t give a second chance to those who run away. Last never appeared before me again. I thought, I’m just a scholar after all. There are few researchers who can level up. So I got a bit cocky. I thought of myself as a chosen one. The dungeon shattered that arrogant heart of mine to pieces,” he continued.

“There were young men with you before, right?” I asked.

“The three I have now are guys I told to ‘keep watch here’ in exchange for helping them level up. They’re only level 20. You might think that’s high compared to your levels, but the quality of their leveling is poor. They’re not much. You might even be able to beat them,” Yonezaki said.

“Then how did you descend further from there?” I asked.

“When I was on this floor, there were many explorers in similar situations. I went down with them. But we could only reach the Bronze Area. I’ve already found clues to Silver, but as things stand now, there’s no way to clear it,” he explained.

“The boundary between low and mid-level,” I mused.

The dungeon information becomes extremely scarce from around that point. It might be because hardly anyone can descend that far, but the information becomes unnaturally scarce for those floors.

“What are you aiming for? What do you want? Can you challenge the Goblin Emperor at level 14?” Yonezaki asked, staring at me. The hollow eyes of the skeletons were still fixed on us too.

“That was my intention from the start. Unlike you, I’ll show you that I can beat the Goblin Emperor,” I replied.

“Anyone can talk big,” Yonezaki said.

“Then I’ll prove it with results,” I declared.

“I’m confident I had the best leveling up to the third floor. In fact, all my companions got S ranks for the second floor quests. Your current stats and those of my other three researcher colleagues shouldn’t be much different. But I thought I couldn’t win at all. I didn’t think there was even a sliver of a chance to win. So I ran without hesitation. Honestly, when I tried to challenge it again with makeshift companions after reaching level 16, I was relieved it didn’t appear. I didn’t think I could win even at level 16,” Yonezaki explained.

“I… see,” I said.

Misuzu and Evie only got A ranks on the second floor. And there are only three of us. That means we’re weaker than Yonezaki’s group.

“Don’t die, please. If you really can do it without dying, come here,” Yonezaki said, handing me a business card. It read:

[Director Hideki Yonezaki

Artificial Level Up Research Institute]

“Artificial level up? Is that possible?” I asked without thinking.

“Look, people all over the world are leveling up, aren’t they? That means it’s possible. My institute has achieved up to level 10. Thanks to that, we’re getting unlimited funding from rich people who don’t want to risk their lives in dungeons and from armies around the world. China gave us 10 trillion yen. America, 15 trillion. Both countries should be too busy with reconstruction to afford this, but sadly, people are people no matter what,” Yonezaki said.

“H-How much does it cost to reach level 10?” I asked.

“About 1 billion yen per person. China wants us to create an army of 10,000 level 10 soldiers. America wants 15,000. I don’t know if they can control that many, but we’re manufacturing at full speed,” Yonezaki said with a wicked grin.

“Well, this is just a trifle. What I’m really aiming for is to artificially reach level 1000. I’m thinking about creating an artificial god, so to speak. Since you know Nagumo-sama, do you know? Apparently, a level 1000 reincarnator can become a demigod. I want to artificially reproduce that. But I’ve hit a wall. To advance my research further, I need to increase my intelligence stat. Ideally, I want to make my brain have the processing power of a quantum computer,” he continued.

“Quantum computer…” I was taken aback by words beyond what I had imagined. I wondered if I should even be hearing this.

“Do you have plans for a fourth member?” Yonezaki asked.

For a moment, I thought he was asking about the number of children, but I realized he meant party members.

“Y-Yes, but I think I want another particularly intelligent person as a companion,” I said.

It was my intuition. When I first saw this person, along with intense dislike, I thought he had a lot of what I lacked. We’re a party of 15-year-olds. There are no adults. I had always felt that was a significant shortcoming.

And the person before me was an adult who seemed endlessly calm. Moreover, it occurred to me that this very person might be someone I could invite.

“That’s a very smart idea. Alright then. In that case, I’d be happy to become your party member. Don’t worry, there are various ways even if the party becomes more than five people. Ah, I’m so glad. I desperately needed this. A person strongly favored by the dungeon. So, I won’t use any methods you might dislike,” Yonezaki said.

“Then that’s fine,” I replied.

“Oh, and about what we discussed earlier. It’s a matter of national security, so don’t tell anyone. If you do, you’ll be killed by high-level assassin explorers, regardless of Nagumo-sama,” he warned.

As Yonezaki started walking away, his figure suddenly vanished. I couldn’t tell if he was still nearby or had gone far away. Only his voice remained.

“I couldn’t surpass the framework of a scholar, but I’m different from those incompetents. I guarantee it will benefit you. If you can properly kill the Goblin Emperor, Yuuta-kun, let’s talk again. I’m really looking forward to it,” Yonezaki’s voice said.

Then Yonezaki fell silent. But I still felt like he was listening somewhere. An unpleasant sensation of being watched. Because of that, the three of us couldn’t open our mouths for a while in the middle of the sun-scorched savanna.

“Is he gone?” Misuzu finally asked after about 10 minutes.

“Probably,” I replied.

“Yuuta, are you really going to make Yonezaki a companion?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

We had discussed it beforehand, but there wasn’t time to talk it through properly.

“Then what about Imari-chan?” Misuzu inquired.

“Imari is definitely our fourth. But as Yonezaki said, there seem to be various methods. Apparently, the dungeon is surprisingly permissive about forming sub-parties,” I explained.

“Yuuta. That man is dangerous. He’s clearly trying to challenge the core of the dungeon. One wrong step and we might be disliked by the dungeon too,” Evie warned.

“The dungeon shouldn’t dislike researching itself. If it did, Yonezaki wouldn’t be allowed in. Above all, the dungeon seeks not only combat ability but also intelligence. I’ve heard that the deeper you go, the less you can do if you’re stupid. If so, research into the dungeon’s core should actually please the dungeon,” I reasoned.

“…”

Evie looked angry.

“Yuuta, did you want to save those 18-year-old girls that badly?” Misuzu asked.

“It’s an insensitive thing to say, but honestly, that was just a side benefit. I thought if Yonezaki’s wishes aligned with what I was thinking, he’d easily agree to something like that. I figured if we could save the 18-year-old girls, we should do it as a matter of common decency,” I explained.

Since hearing Yonezaki’s story, something had been bothering me. The two 18-year-old girls captured by the goblin village on this floor. The pair that Kunimaru-san wanted to save. But Yonezaki refused.

What Yonezaki cares about is whether something benefits him or not. Kunimaru-san tried to force Yonezaki to listen without showing any benefit, relying on strength alone. But it seems Yonezaki turned the tables on him. Yonezaki, whose intelligence is off the charts.

He’s definitely someone I wouldn’t want as an enemy. The fact that Yonezaki’s brutal actions are allowed in this Kofu Dungeon is probably because no one wants to make an enemy of him.

So why did Kunimaru-san do such a thing? I thought Kunimaru-san was an extremely level-headed person. Why did he do something so emotional? Kunimaru-san and Yonezaki should have about the same experience as explorers.

It’s hard to believe he didn’t know Yonezaki’s personality. Why now of all times? Right. It’s not just now, is it? Did Yonezaki only start this recently? That’s unlikely.

These rumors have been around for quite a while, and Yonezaki must have been doing this for some time. So why did he suddenly try to stop it now?

“The Goblin Emperor is safely skippable.”

Looking back, many of Kunimaru-san’s statements in his videos were strange. There were many things that would clearly prevent reaching high levels if followed.

“Haa,” I sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Misuzu asked.

“No, I was just thinking how complex humans are,” I replied.

What was Kunimaru-san thinking at the end? Why did he want to save those 18-year-old girls? Part of me wanted to know, and part of me didn’t, causing me to sigh.