GILF Hunter

Lia and Mika followed behind Frey up the stairs.

Fortunately, it seemed they hadn’t drifted too far from the group. After walking for about ten minutes, they were able to reunite with the rest of the party gathered in the room.

Rin, spotting them, approached and asked.

’Mika! Lia! Are you okay?’

’Yeah, we’re fine...’

’I was really startled... I can’t believe the rooms actually move.’

Lia and Mika both nodded, letting out sighs of relief. To think a room could move and drop them somewhere else—it was hard to fathom exactly what had happened.

Ian, who had approached in the meantime, also asked them.

’Are you okay? Nothing happened, right?’

’Well...’

Lia and Mika’s eyes met.

A silent gaze passed between them as they decided who would speak, and eventually, Mika stepped forward and opened her mouth.

’Um... well, Leader. Actually, while we were on the floor below...’

Mika confessed to Ian everything that had occurred while the two were separated.

The story of discovering the torch, going to check it out, and meeting the merchant. And that the place was called an [Exchange Post].

Ian listened quietly to Mika’s story for a moment.

’An Exchange Post appeared?’

’Yes. It was almost exactly as you described... and Miss Frey called it an Exchange Post too.’

’Did you happen to buy something there?’

...Of course. There was no way he wouldn’t ask that.

Hearing Ian’s question, Mika flinched and trembled slightly.

Not knowing how to answer, Mika kept her head bowed for a long while. Instead of Mika, who was fiddling with the handle of her staff in contemplation, Lia answered.

’Mika did buy a prophecy there... but Miss Frey paid the price for her.’

’Instead of her?’

’She offered some kind of jewel...’

Hearing that explanation, Ian could roughly grasp what the situation was.

It seemed Frey had provided a [Soul Crystal], which could be used as currency at an Exchange Post.

He decided to thank Frey separately later.

Recalling the types of prophecies that appear at Exchange Posts, Ian briefly wondered what Mika might have bought.

It was likely... a prophecy related to magic.

’Mika, what did you buy there?’

’That is...’

Faced with that question, Mika was flustered.

Could she... tell this to the person himself?

If she could tell the contents of the prophecy to the party involved and let him handle it, Mika’s burden might be lightened, but...

Would being more careful really allow him to avoid it?

Or would it change into an even stranger future?

Mika fell into a difficult dilemma, unable to go one way or the other.

At the very least, it wasn’t something she could easily conclude and tell Ian right here on the spot.

As Mika agonized with a troubled face, Frey approached from behind and chided Ian.

’Hey, even if you’re the leader, you shouldn’t ask things like that.’

’Excuse me?’

’Why would someone tell others about the future they bought?’

Only after hearing Frey’s words did Ian realize he had been thinking about it slightly wrong.

In the game, the place called the [Exchange Post] was a shop that sold buffs called [Prophecies].

A mercenary who purchased such a buff would receive an effect matching the prophecy they held in specific situations.

For example, if you bought a prophecy regarding your own death, that mercenary could survive once in a situation where they were determined to be dead.

If you had a prophecy about obtaining treasure, a legendary-grade reward was guaranteed to appear in the next treasure chest you opened.

Besides those, there were many useful prophecies, such as the Prophecy of Awakening which significantly boosts specific stats upon leveling up, or the Prophecy of Enlightenment which allows one to learn a trait.

The price paid for such prophecies was things like a mercenary’s [Traits], [Stats], or [Level].

It was a considerable cost, but depending on the situation, if used well, one could see a huge gain by giving away unnecessary traits or stats to buy a good prophecy. It was even used as a way to delete traits that hindered a build.

He had thought to help Mika get the maximum benefit if she had bought a prophecy, but hearing Frey’s words, it seemed like a slightly different matter.

In the game, it was just a buff, but here... had it actually shown her her actual future?

A prophecy about one’s own future could be something difficult to share with others.

Ian apologized to Mika, who was still bowing her head in contemplation.

’....’

’Sorry. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.’

’I’m sorry. I’ll tell you when I get the chance later.’

Mika answered Ian in a small, uncertain voice.

Once the conversation between the two seemed mostly concluded, Frey urged the group while looking around.

’Alright, now hurry up and look for chests again. Unless you want to sleep here for a few days.’

’Yes...’

Everyone scattered at Frey’s command.

Since the room positions had all changed due to the Rearrangement Trap, they had to start searching the surroundings from scratch.

＊　＊　＊

Frey, walking through the room with Ian, spoke to him.

’You should probably open yours soon too, right? I won’t be responsible if you miss your chance.’

’Yes. I was actually planning to open it soon.’

In this treasure vault, there comes a point where all treasure chests are sealed.

Many people had tried to break through and continue opening chests, but all had failed. Eventually, once the chests were locked, the exploration of this place was over.

For this expedition, they had agreed in advance that each person would pick one chest they wanted and keep everything from it, while items from all other chests would be shared collectively.

Except for Ian, everyone had already picked and opened their own share of chests, and they had opened quite a few small shared chests as well.

Ian was the only one who hadn’t chosen his treasure chest yet.

Ian checked the trap gauge. Since they had been opening chests quite frequently, it was quite high.

It was a good time to finally open a large chest.

Ian walked toward the chest he had found and marked earlier.

A large-scale consumable chest of the gold-rimmed grade.

Since large chests fill the gauge a lot, there was a high possibility the dungeon would be sealed after opening this. Because of that, he had pushed it to the very end of the order.

’Oh. You picked this one? Just so you know, big doesn’t necessarily mean good items.’

’Still, there weren’t any others that caught my eye.’

’Well, it’s not a bad way to wrap up. Here, the key.’

The requirement to open this chest was a Golden Key.

Frey handed over a Golden Key she had found while opening another chest in the dungeon.

It was an item that could only be used on chests inside this place anyway, and couldn’t be taken outside, so it had no value as loot.

Ian took the key and carefully unlocked the lock.

’Oh...’

’What’s going to come out?’

Hearing the news that Ian was opening a chest, all the party members had gathered around to watch.

With a clicking sound, the lock was released and the chest opened.

From behind Ian’s back, everyone poked their heads out to look inside. Being a large chest, it contained quite a few items, so it was hard to tell at a glance what had come out.

’A few elixirs and... mana recovery potions? And that is...’

First of all, most were consumables without much value.

There were miscellaneous elixirs and high-grade potions, so the price would be decent if gathered all together, but that wasn’t what he had been aiming for.

The most important thing... was the rare consumable that was guaranteed to be in this chest at least once.

’This is...’

Ian pulled a glass bottle from the very bottom.

A black die contained in a glass bottle.

Even at a glance, it was an item with an extraordinary aura.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Chaos Die]

- Consumable Item

- Randomly redistributes all the user’s [Stats], [Traits], and [Potential] for the duration of one expedition.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sigh...

Ian closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

It’s just a toy...

The other members watching from behind, and even Frey, wore puzzled expressions.

’What’s that?’

It clearly didn’t look like an ordinary item, but since they were seeing it for the first time, they couldn’t tell if it was good or not, making it hard to offer congratulations readily.

For now, looking at Ian’s expression, it seemed it wasn’t a very good item.

Frey, who had been watching silently, burst into laughter.

’Hahaha. Looking at your face, it seems it wasn’t the item you were expecting?’

The item Ian pulled from the chest was something Frey was seeing for the first time as well, but looking at his face, she could tell things hadn’t gone according to Ian’s plan.

Before long, a faint vibration spread through the dungeon, and clicking sounds began to be heard from all directions.

It was the sound of all the chest locks being sealed.

With this, the dungeon exploration was over.

’Alright. Let’s head out now. We can’t open any more chests. Everyone pack your things and gather up.’

’Yes!’

At Frey’s words, everyone scattered to prepare for the return.

’Um, Leader?’

’Yeah?’

Tanya secretly approached Ian, taking advantage of the bustling atmosphere as everyone went around packing their gear nearby.

’I’ll give you one of my gems.’

’No, you don’t need to—’

Tanya secretly handed Ian one of the raw gemstones that had come from her chest and went back.

Since Ian’s chest draw appeared to be a complete failure, she seemed to have shared some of her loot.

’Excuse me...’

’Airi?’

’This... please take it...’

’No, I’m okay...’

This time, Airi gave Ian a small earring and left.

After that, the members continued to approach Ian one by one in secret, sharing their loot.

’Here!’

’Even Miss Frey...’

’Haha. It serves you right for holding out for something big, but still, I can’t really send you back empty-handed after inviting you as a favor.’

Frey tucked a fairly large strengthening stone into Ian’s pocket.

And finally, even Lisia came to find Ian.

’Um, this...’

’...This is?’

’It’s a library pass for our mercenary group.’

’...Why on earth this?’

Though some slightly strange items had been mixed in, Ian was ultimately able to return from the dungeon with the most luggage.