Chapter 144: Change
“The reason why I wanted to become an adventurer…?”
“Yes”
When I repeated her question, Claire nodded.
“According to the post-event report, I heard Amane-san was the one who defeated the High Ogre, making us learn that your capabilities are far more than what we had expected. And it is normally impossible for someone of your age to gain that much power.”
Look who’s talking here. Her words made me want to give her that kind of tsukkomi. However, since it will just interrupt her, I decided to listen to the continuation for the time being.
“It has been 20 years since dungeons emerged in the world. Because of that, it is said the world has undergone a major change. In fact, humanity has acquired an abnormal power, which is the level system. At that time, only dungeons that presently were called E-rank dungeons existed, but… Even so, there was no change in the fact that we could obtain a valuable resource from the dungeon.”
Then, Claire suddenly took magic stones of various sizes from an empty space and placed them on the table. Looks like she just used her [Item Box].
“Knowing that the magical power extracted from the magic stones could be used as an energy resource, many countries started to seek to acquire them. Even the magic stones from an E-rank dungeon could cost hundreds of thousands at that time. However, along with the emergence of high-ranking dungeons, their value decreased. Now, I think they only cost about tens to hundreds of yen.”
“That’s about it. And that tendency is still going on even now. Currently, it is said that C-rank or higher adventurers could make quite some money, but we still don’t know what would happen in a few years.”
That is unmistakably the reason why I was urged by others to quit being an adventurer. Because an untalented person could never keep up with the growth rate of the world. No matter how much one raises their level, the value of the dungeon resource will change by that time, causing one to not be able to make money like before. If that happens, adventurers, who are said to possess excellent physical abilities, could earn more money by undertaking physical labor than being an adventurer itself.
Approximately 20 years since dungeons emerged in the world. Although it was the same as how long Claire and I have lived for, considering the length of the history of the world, it was still extremely short. And the influence that dungeons give the world will keep advancing and changing through time.
Then, in front of me who was thinking about that, Claire continued.
“Furthermore, because of the difference in level-up rewards and the mechanism of re-challenge intermission, it has become common sense that those who are late to become an adventurer can not surpass their predecessors no matter how much they struggled. Among them, the only ones who could reach them were only those with excellent unique skills. They will rise to heights with their talent alone, as if trampling on the efforts of the others…”
Claire tightly gripped her hand.
For sure, she may have been told something similar before. For me, her appearance right now seemed to remind me of that.
“Although many people said that, I don’t think so. I’m sure they also suffer because of their power. Even so, they are still striving to improve, aiming for the top.”
Saying that, Claire turned her eyes to me.
“That is why I was curious. If Amane-san possess enough abilities to defeat the High Ogre, I am certain you have suffered a lot of trouble to get there… That is why, I wanted to hear the reason why you keep moving forward without being crushed by that.”
She looked at me straight, with those pairs of beautiful blue eyes. If she stared at me like that, there is no way I could lie here, making me want to answer her properly.
“I was—”
The reason why I wanted to become an adventurer. While recalling the events that happened about 10 years ago, I started to slowly talk about that.