Basement Dungeon ~Poor Siblings become the Strongest and Enjoying Exploration~

Chapter 23

Oh, Brother. We can enter.” (Haru)

　Haru, who was looking at the computer, suddenly said it to me.

“What do you mean?” (Kei)

“Dungeon Exploration License Exam. We can take it now.” (Haru)

“Ah, finally.” (Kei)

　It is now April 5th. The other day, the dungeon was finally opened to the public. The first day the dungeon was open to the public, there were no particular incidents, no one was seriously injured or killed. There were a few people who got into fights and were taken to the police station, but it appears that the rules forbidding the use of weapons are firmly in place, and there were only minor fistfights with bare hands.

　Then came the test for the dungeon search license. Because of the large number of people, the number of people who can take the test in a day is determined by the number of venues and the number of people exploring the dungeon. The number of people who can take the exam is determined by an online lottery.

　At first, the number of applicants was quite high, but it’s been a week since the exam started. The number of test-takers has been decreasing and it seems to be easier to get a spot in the lottery.

　I heard that from next week, the frequency of the tests will gradually decrease. They’re going to reduce the frequency of tests to once a week, then once a month, and in a year to once every three months.

　And we won the lottery, which we’ve been failing for a long time, and we’re going to take the test tomorrow. I always wonder how fast the dungeons work. When you win the lottery, you don’t have time to prepare for the next day. I don’t have time to prepare for the next day’s exam.

　After taking the exam, the results will be posted online the next day. The results will be posted online the next day, and the license will be issued at the Dungeon Explorers Association, which is located next to the dungeon dam in each dungeon. Incidentally, the Dungeon Explorers Association has a long name, and as a result of a suggestion by a fan of novels, it’s known as the Guild.

　Anyway, it was time for the test. When you level up, there’s not that much difference in real-world muscle strength, except when you get up to almost the 50th level as we did.

　Obviously, your strength is not equal to your physical capabilities. However, if I were to cut corners, I’m sure the professionals would know immediately, so I’d give it my all. To be honest, I’m not worried about the written exam. Since the scores are not disclosed, it is unknown how many people have failed the written exam.

　But. We are still in our teens, and our memories are still sharp. In addition, my sister and I were able to study well enough to get an average on the final exam just by listening to the class, so we think there will be no problem.

　So, there was nothing to prepare. The only things I need are writing tools, money, and some proof of identity. So, in order to regain our strength for tomorrow, we decided to cancel today’s dungeon exploration and took a rest at home.

“Because of that… this place is…” (Kei)

“There’s a lot of stuff about what the government believes.” (Haru)

　We are quietly whispering while listening to the lecture in the morning. Haru first spoke to me in her normal voice and was then glared at by the people around us, so it can’t be helped.

　After all, we didn’t do anything the day before and got up early today and made some minor preparations before coming to the venue by riding on our bicycle. But the venues are all over the place, so the one-way trip was short compared to the shopping trip when we first bought our weapons. At this rate, Haru and I are being ignored.

“But listen carefully because such content can appear in the written exam.” (Kei)

“Hmm. Yeah.” (Haru)

　Haru makes a sloppy reply, and she corrects her slack posture and turns to the front again. It’s true that the government has a lot of ideas, many of which we knew from our research in the dungeon, but there are also things we didn’t know that surprised us. I was surprised at how many things I didn’t know. Let’s look at them.

　・ If five or more people proceed together, the distribution of experience points will be reduced (up to a four-person group will have no problem).

　・ The level of the boss is twice the level of the level where the boss is located.

　・ If you leave something in a dungeon where no one can see it, it will disappear before you know it (in the boss room, everything you put in the room will disappear when the door closes after everyone leaves).

　・ Experience point earning is efficient up to the 5th level, but no results can be obtained.

　・Monsters have basically low intelligence and you can manage aggression like in games.

　And

　・You can get [Self-Assessment], a skill that allows you to check your own status by defeating the boss on the 5th level.

　We were both surprised at this. We both shouted out in unison, and not only the people around us but even the teacher stared at us. We were so tired after the boss battle that we left without seeing any drops. So we can’t even look at our status easily.

　Moreover,

　It was said that it was impossible to use gunpowder or electricity in the dungeon, but to be precise, it seems that it will instead use a large amount of magical power to use them. Strictly speaking, one pistol shot is about 20. It means that a person with a magic-related skill can raise their level by 10 and finally fire one shot. Certainly, it is too inefficient to use. Even Haru can only fire 6 shots.

　Well, in that case, crossbows can be used, so a gun is useless. It takes too long to reload, but the compressed air gun seems okay, but you probably won’t need it. It would be a shame to die in the pursuit of a fantasy gun crossover, we’re not that childish.

　The lecture ended with a lot of talks. It was a hundred-minute continuous lecture. I almost fell asleep at the end of the lecture. I did my best to listen to the lecture until the end, though.

　I spent the rest of the day lazing around studying without doing anything in particular, ate the lunch I brought from home for lunch, and finally, the afternoon exam started.

　It started, but surprisingly, nothing happened. The written test was simple and light, with a time limit of 60 minutes. The practical test that followed, a marathon of sorts, was also easy, as I was used to managing my pace through regular dungeon exploration.

　And thanks to the status that we nurtured in the dungeon, we were able to run quite fast. We didn’t know how to properly take rests, so we tried to imitate the way a group of four college students. They had passed us before and before we knew it, I felt that my fatigue would disappear.

　Now I can run again. While I was thinking about this, the group of college students was running steadily. By the way, they were the only group of people whose running pace was faster than ours. Rumor has it that they were college students that ran marathons at their university. By the way, I consciously tried my best to avoid using my passive skill [Acceleration].

　And we then went home. Well, of course, we were accepted. We had dinner while talking about going to the Guild tomorrow.

　And the long-awaited Dungeon Exploration License came. It was harder than I expected because there were a lot more procedures. I was told that if we commit a crime while we have these licenses, we will be sentenced to harsher punishment. There was also the fact that if we were somehow involved in an incident inside.

　If there was an incident in the dungeon, they would do their best to investigate it, but if we got involved in every single fight or instigate monsters to hurt others. Outside that, there is no limit to what we could do inside.

　And by having a license, you will be able to act as a Professional Explorer. Having this license will allow us to buy mass-produced weapons for the dungeon, so we’ll have to talk about buying weapons sometime today.

“So, brother. Let’s go buy weapons.” (Haru)