Dungeon Refrigerator 23

Test

I Was Spoken To

Today, I thought of selling some magic stones and diving into other dungeons. My training with the fighting frog grappler frog has improved my skills. I wanted to test the results of my training.

I decided to go to a goblin dungeon where only goblins appeared.

It was the closest place to my house in Tokyo. The dungeon is located right next to the dungeon store with the cute lady shopkeeper. Well, the dungeon is the reason they opened the store there, so I guess the order is reversed.

I have never seen a goblin in the flesh, but I know what they look like and what they are like because I have often seen them on the internet and in the news. It would be nice if I could think of them as violent old men with the child's height.

If I were to describe them in more detail, I would say they have green skin, a pointed nose and ears, and a slit mouth and ears. Their mouth is also slit to the ears. If I unravel the history of fantasy, goblins were classified as evil fairies, but recently there was a tendency to equate goblins with kobolds due to various mix-ups. But nowadays, some people tend to equate goblins with imps.

Well, it is common for interpretations to change over time.

But now that goblins have appeared in dungeons, a new view of this classification may be born. That is if there is someone who studies goblins.

Anyway, goblins are monsters that appear as small fry in video games. How strong are they in reality? If you ask how strong they are, I hear that an adult male can beat them in a real fight. If that is the case, it would be about the strength of an upper elementary school student or a junior high school student. However, if I am fighting a junior high school student who is seriously trying to kill me with a blade in their hand, they're not an opponent I can take lightly.

However, it would be better to get used to fighting with other opponents than fighting frogs, as well as with the melee combat skills I have developed. That is the reason why we chose the goblin dungeon this time.

..........

It was a little after noon.

I arrived at Dungeon Shop Parade, where the goblin dungeon is located nearby. That was the last dungeon shop I visited because we went around in the opposite direction than usual. The streets were empty, but all the stores were reasonably crowded. I wondered why, but today is Sunday. I had already forgotten what day of the week it was since I became unemployed.

It was interesting for me to learn about the people who dive into the dungeon beside me. But it's not good to judge based on what I saw today, but overall, the place is not very nice.

Of course, fantasy is a favorite of otaku, and I saw a few of the same kind of otaku here and there. However, the young people making a lot of noise in the store were the so-called DQN (jocks) type of young people. Indeed, the fighting ability of otaku is generally low, and although I won't delve too deeply into it, their occupations are also generally magic-oriented. At this low level, they had no choice but to give way to the DQNs, who were used to getting into trouble.

When I entered the store, many customers were in the parade today because it was Sunday. It is not surprising since I used to come on weekdays during the daytime.

I waited for my turn at the reception desk and asked a male staff member to make a purchase.

"Thank you for waiting. Next customer please."

"I'd like to sell something, please."

"What? Yes! Please wait a moment!"

But for some reason, the male staff member who had been serving the customer smoothly until now became impatient when it was my turn.

Why? I looked around, and my eyes met those of a man standing in line behind me to sell his item, and he looked surprised.

I followed his gaze with suspicion. He couldn't hide his surprise at the difference in the number of magic stones I was holding carefully in my hand with a handkerchief.

(Oops! Maybe this is the pattern of Did I do something?!)

)I had divided the stones into small portions so as not to be conspicuous and had them purchased at several stores. Even so, the number of small pieces itself seemed to be too much. When I understood this, I immediately followed up with a single comment.

"No, I worked hard to save up, so I'm looking forward to seeing how much I can get for it."

I acted like I was trying to show I had spent several days collecting the magic stones I had asked to sell. Then the expression on the face of the man in line behind me seemed to soften somewhat. The male staff member had gone to the back of the line, so he didn't seem to hear me.

And even after my sale was completed, I remained in the store, casually keeping an eye on the sales counter. Today, many customers sell their magic stones. So I wanted to know what kind of drop items were being offered for sale by these people.

So, I glanced around the store in a position where I could see the selling counter and was looking at the displayed products in the store.

"Um, excuse me."

However, when I did that, I was suddenly called out from the side. It was the voice of a pretty woman. However, it's rare for a woman to approach me, so I must have gotten in her way of looking at the displayed products.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

I immediately bowed my head and moved to leave.

"Um, excuse me."

However, the woman followed me and called out to me. Hmmm, but she was walking around me. But what is this relentless pursuit? Why on earth? I turned my head to look at the woman who had approached me again, and to my surprise, she was the clerk who had approached me.

"Huh?"

But it was understandable that I did not recognize her immediately. She was not wearing the red polo shirt and red hat that the staff of the store wears today. She was dressed in a very girlish outfit and let down her brightly colored hair.

Illustration (by Mitemin)

"Hi, today is my day off."

She senses the questioning look on my face and speaks cheerfully. I, on the other hand, am thrilled and upset.

It takes a lot of determination for a shy geek to talk to a pretty girl. It's not fair to surprise her! I tried my best to keep my face calm and my surprised expression on my face.

"May I have a moment to talk to you?"

(Talk...? What do you mean by "time to talk"? (A young woman and a couple of ladies who came to my apartment once talked about God for a long time.)

"Um... we'd like to discuss a few things about the dungeon."

(When I kept quiet, she muttered while looking up and pouting her lips as if she was having difficulty saying it.

(Goha! Damn, she's going for it, isn't she? If she makes a cute gesture like this, she'll win over all the guys. She's probably thinking that. Damn it! She's a total schemer!)

But at this point, my dungeon-trained mind regained its composure. I was so relieved. And my dungeon-trained intellect began to spin at high speed.

There was no doubt that she was trying to get in touch with me for some purpose. And it seemed to be something to do with the dungeon. And she knows that I'm getting magic stones from the dungeon. It is only natural since she was the receptionist at the sales counter.

She approached me, who was not popular but had money, and when she caught me, the scary men appeared. It is possible that she is a beauty pageant that threatens, and offers me money and goods.

But would she do such a thing when people already know her workplace? Besides, even if it was a beauty pageant, I would not be an enemy to any number of scary older men who might have appeared, especially if they were in the old days. Even if they threatened me with violence, I would use my strength against them.

And even though I am a shy otaku, I have lived a social life as an office worker. Therefore, I can even talk to women in a clerical manner. For example, if I am asked, "Would you like me to heat your bento?", I have cultivated the social skills to say "Yes, please.".

After summarizing the above in about seven seconds, I decided to listen to what she wanted to say.