I usually give hugs.
New Game Plus [The Gamer/Danmachi]
- Thread starter ryuan
- Start date
- Location
- South Africa
Your pain and tears sustain us...
Monsterphilia 8
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
"How's she mister Jee-han", Bell asked to me after I came out of Hestia's temporary room on the Hostess of Fertility bar. Looks like aside from being a pub it also doubles as an Inn in an emergency.
"Tired", I told him, "she's physically fine, not hurt or anything, no diseases or poisons in her system so the only reason she collapsed must be fatigue. I saw her shaking when we meet today which is an indicator of lack of sleep, but I thought that since she was unlikely to do anything strenuous I let it go and would just recommend her to rest when she came back home. Turns out she would be chased by a monster on the city today, just shows what I know."
We both sighed and I ushered Bell inside the room for him to watch over her. They had slept on the same room for a while already and I doubt Bell would have the guts to do something inappropriate with her. It's more likely for the opposite to be true.
As I descended the stairs I meet with the other girls of the pub. "How are your goddess faring mister Jee-han?" Asked Syr with a worried tone.
"Well enough I guess. Tired to the point of collapsing on the ground from lack of sleep, but other than that she's unharmed. Bell managed to protect her well enough before I arrived to help him."
"You must be really strong to be able to deal with that monster nya~, the Monsterphilia fair usually uses monsters from the tenth floor and down nya". Arnya gave her two cents from Syr side and I just shrugged. "What was the monster you fought nya?"
"It was a silverback, about as tall as a house."
"That's rather impressive Jee-han", said Ryuu from behind me and I turned around, I also could almost see a hint of disappointment in her expression. Heh, you're not going to truly make me react now that I know how to fully abuse Gamer's Mind miss Ryuu. "A silverback comes from the eleventh floor, that being the average floor the monsters came from as Arnya stated, and thus is on the threshold for a level one adventurer to defeat before going to the level two. How did you do it?"
"It was tricky, but not necessarily hard. His hide was tough and he was fast, but as a dumb animal it's movements and tactics were predictable and after some time I managed to read it's actions in advance. I keep dealing damage to it little by little, sapping at it's strength while conserving mine. Even when the creature became enraged it only enhanced it's strength and charge speed, but since I had already deeply damaged it's legs it had a limp where I could dodge with impunity and deal with it at my own leisure. Of course I wasn't fast enough to kill it before Bell came back and finished it off himself though."
Thinking back on the sheer damage that Bell had done to the monster I frowned. That was a lot of damage and we were nearly at the same level of strength today. Then again Bell status wasn't updated since Hestia was away, but certainly the difference in power wasn't that great? Was that the effects of the weapon Bell got? If so, it must have cost a lot of money to buy it.
Money Hestia probably didn't had.
"Is something the matter Jee-han?" Asked Ryuu and I shook my head.
"Just thinking a few things about my Familia, noting to worry about. By the way Arnya, I couldn't find Siegfried figurine, they were apparently all sold out."
"I knew nya~, it was a long shot anyway nya."
"As for you Ryuu", I said pulling the picture from my inventory, "when I found this I thought about you. Maybe you could have it, as a peace offering?"
Ryuu blinked, not really knowing what to say. "Peace offering?"
"Well, apparently I made you uncomfortable the few times we talked. On hindsight I think I know why that would be the case since not everyone appreciates the kind of humor I grew used to", Sae-Young noona, was as previously stated a flirt and master Loli was rather chill about it all things considered, "so I brought this to you so we could be cool with each other", at her blank stare I amended my statement, "sorry, slang from where I came from. I meant we could start over better."
She looked between me and the folded picture on her hands for a few moments, before opening it. At first surprised before she visibly frowned instead of subtly changed her facial expression, and she gave me back the picture, her voice frosty. "I thank your intentions, but I cannot accept this Jee-han."
She was clearly upset, and I sighed and nodded, before folding it up once more. I was ready to tear it apart when she stopped me. "What are you doing?"
I just raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't worry I will clean up after myself."
"That's not what I meant", she said with a bit more emotion on her voice. "Didn't you buy it? Why doesn't you want to keep it for yourself?"
"Well, clearly you're upset about the picture", why she would be upset by it was still a mystery. My theory was that it was a picture of herself and she was somehow ashamed of it, perhaps a sore point in her past? Or it could be someone else she knew and she was angry at her? It could go either way to be honest. "And I would feel like a real bad guy if I keep it to myself while it distressed you so much. Besides it was a gift, if you don't want it then it's value is lost to me."
Once more her emotions played on her face, before she sighed. "You're a really strange man, Jee-han", she finally said before hesitantly taking the picture. "If it's alright for me to have it, then I will accept your gift. You should also consider that we are 'cool with each other' now."
I scratched the back of my head at this turn of events. Not really how I envisioned it, but I will get what I can. "Thanks, I guess."
"Usually it's the person who receives the gift that giver their thanks", Ryuu said with a hint of amusement in her voice and I just shrugged.
"Not really used to this whole thing to be honest. Anyway, how much do I owe the pub for renting the room?"
"Oh no", finally said Syr, snapping from her daze as she witnessed our byplay, "it was my fault that you all got involved in that awful event. If I didn't forget to bring my coin purse none of this would have happened mister Jee-han."
"It wasn't your fault that the monster had escape it's cage", I pointed out to her, "and we might have gone anyway since I was curious to see the festival. If it is anybody's fault, it was those watching the cages that did a poor job of securing it."
"It's strange though", said Ryuu, "the Ganesha family have been doing it for a long time now. It's basically unheard off for this accident to happen."
I nodded at the point. Perhaps it was a mere accident, perhaps it was sabotage, but unless more information came to light we would probably never know.
Upon hearing the soft steps from the stairs we turned around and saw Hestia and Bell coming to greet us. "Sorry for making you all worry about me", she said in an apologetic tone, "I think I overdid it a little and in my excitement I overestimated myself. It's an understandable mistake for gods who descended recently from Heaven, but I was on Earth for several months now. I should have know better."
I took a single step forwards and flicked her nose. "Oie!"
"We all make mistakes", I told her, "Gaia knows that I pulled all-nighters often enough back in the day. Just don't make an habit out of it and do this only when it's really important that you finish a job right away, otherwise sleeping is always the superior option."
"Alright", I said clapping my hands, "how about we celebrate the end of the fair on the pub? My treat!"
Suddenly Hestia looked like I had said something really outrageous. "But Jee-han, you shouldn't be expending your hard earned money so carelessly!"
"Meh, we made quite a bit of money yesterday and I'm feeling like partying after defeating the silverback. We can also cash the magic stone he dropped later which should cover some of the costs anyway so it won't be nearly as expensive as it sounds. Don't worry, I got this covered!" I finished with a smile.
Hestia tried to protest, but Bell put a hand on her shoulder. "He was really worried about you before he confirmed that you were alright. I think he want to express how relieved he is by you being alright goddess."
That's surprisingly insightful from Bell, and at his cute rabbit look Hestia relented.
Thus we finished the night with a small private celebration on the Hostess of Fertility, with good food and drinks aplenty. I didn't cared about shouldering the bill by myself, and I was starting to feel like I belonged to this world, to this town. Things might not always go according to plan, but I'm used to it by now. I just need to get stronger, regain my lost skills and magic to make sure this event would never repeat itself in the future.
I lost everything once already, I'm not going to lose it once again.
Hestia raised her mug of beer. "For the success of our Familia!"
"For the sake of our dreams", said Bell raising his own ginger ale cup.
"For new beginnings", I said while raising my own wine glass.
"CHEERS!"
"Tired", I told him, "she's physically fine, not hurt or anything, no diseases or poisons in her system so the only reason she collapsed must be fatigue. I saw her shaking when we meet today which is an indicator of lack of sleep, but I thought that since she was unlikely to do anything strenuous I let it go and would just recommend her to rest when she came back home. Turns out she would be chased by a monster on the city today, just shows what I know."
We both sighed and I ushered Bell inside the room for him to watch over her. They had slept on the same room for a while already and I doubt Bell would have the guts to do something inappropriate with her. It's more likely for the opposite to be true.
As I descended the stairs I meet with the other girls of the pub. "How are your goddess faring mister Jee-han?" Asked Syr with a worried tone.
"Well enough I guess. Tired to the point of collapsing on the ground from lack of sleep, but other than that she's unharmed. Bell managed to protect her well enough before I arrived to help him."
"You must be really strong to be able to deal with that monster nya~, the Monsterphilia fair usually uses monsters from the tenth floor and down nya". Arnya gave her two cents from Syr side and I just shrugged. "What was the monster you fought nya?"
"It was a silverback, about as tall as a house."
"That's rather impressive Jee-han", said Ryuu from behind me and I turned around, I also could almost see a hint of disappointment in her expression. Heh, you're not going to truly make me react now that I know how to fully abuse Gamer's Mind miss Ryuu. "A silverback comes from the eleventh floor, that being the average floor the monsters came from as Arnya stated, and thus is on the threshold for a level one adventurer to defeat before going to the level two. How did you do it?"
"It was tricky, but not necessarily hard. His hide was tough and he was fast, but as a dumb animal it's movements and tactics were predictable and after some time I managed to read it's actions in advance. I keep dealing damage to it little by little, sapping at it's strength while conserving mine. Even when the creature became enraged it only enhanced it's strength and charge speed, but since I had already deeply damaged it's legs it had a limp where I could dodge with impunity and deal with it at my own leisure. Of course I wasn't fast enough to kill it before Bell came back and finished it off himself though."
Thinking back on the sheer damage that Bell had done to the monster I frowned. That was a lot of damage and we were nearly at the same level of strength today. Then again Bell status wasn't updated since Hestia was away, but certainly the difference in power wasn't that great? Was that the effects of the weapon Bell got? If so, it must have cost a lot of money to buy it.
Money Hestia probably didn't had.
"Is something the matter Jee-han?" Asked Ryuu and I shook my head.
"Just thinking a few things about my Familia, noting to worry about. By the way Arnya, I couldn't find Siegfried figurine, they were apparently all sold out."
"I knew nya~, it was a long shot anyway nya."
"As for you Ryuu", I said pulling the picture from my inventory, "when I found this I thought about you. Maybe you could have it, as a peace offering?"
Ryuu blinked, not really knowing what to say. "Peace offering?"
"Well, apparently I made you uncomfortable the few times we talked. On hindsight I think I know why that would be the case since not everyone appreciates the kind of humor I grew used to", Sae-Young noona, was as previously stated a flirt and master Loli was rather chill about it all things considered, "so I brought this to you so we could be cool with each other", at her blank stare I amended my statement, "sorry, slang from where I came from. I meant we could start over better."
She looked between me and the folded picture on her hands for a few moments, before opening it. At first surprised before she visibly frowned instead of subtly changed her facial expression, and she gave me back the picture, her voice frosty. "I thank your intentions, but I cannot accept this Jee-han."
She was clearly upset, and I sighed and nodded, before folding it up once more. I was ready to tear it apart when she stopped me. "What are you doing?"
I just raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't worry I will clean up after myself."
"That's not what I meant", she said with a bit more emotion on her voice. "Didn't you buy it? Why doesn't you want to keep it for yourself?"
"Well, clearly you're upset about the picture", why she would be upset by it was still a mystery. My theory was that it was a picture of herself and she was somehow ashamed of it, perhaps a sore point in her past? Or it could be someone else she knew and she was angry at her? It could go either way to be honest. "And I would feel like a real bad guy if I keep it to myself while it distressed you so much. Besides it was a gift, if you don't want it then it's value is lost to me."
Once more her emotions played on her face, before she sighed. "You're a really strange man, Jee-han", she finally said before hesitantly taking the picture. "If it's alright for me to have it, then I will accept your gift. You should also consider that we are 'cool with each other' now."
I scratched the back of my head at this turn of events. Not really how I envisioned it, but I will get what I can. "Thanks, I guess."
"Usually it's the person who receives the gift that giver their thanks", Ryuu said with a hint of amusement in her voice and I just shrugged.
"Not really used to this whole thing to be honest. Anyway, how much do I owe the pub for renting the room?"
"Oh no", finally said Syr, snapping from her daze as she witnessed our byplay, "it was my fault that you all got involved in that awful event. If I didn't forget to bring my coin purse none of this would have happened mister Jee-han."
"It wasn't your fault that the monster had escape it's cage", I pointed out to her, "and we might have gone anyway since I was curious to see the festival. If it is anybody's fault, it was those watching the cages that did a poor job of securing it."
"It's strange though", said Ryuu, "the Ganesha family have been doing it for a long time now. It's basically unheard off for this accident to happen."
I nodded at the point. Perhaps it was a mere accident, perhaps it was sabotage, but unless more information came to light we would probably never know.
Upon hearing the soft steps from the stairs we turned around and saw Hestia and Bell coming to greet us. "Sorry for making you all worry about me", she said in an apologetic tone, "I think I overdid it a little and in my excitement I overestimated myself. It's an understandable mistake for gods who descended recently from Heaven, but I was on Earth for several months now. I should have know better."
I took a single step forwards and flicked her nose. "Oie!"
"We all make mistakes", I told her, "Gaia knows that I pulled all-nighters often enough back in the day. Just don't make an habit out of it and do this only when it's really important that you finish a job right away, otherwise sleeping is always the superior option."
"Alright", I said clapping my hands, "how about we celebrate the end of the fair on the pub? My treat!"
Suddenly Hestia looked like I had said something really outrageous. "But Jee-han, you shouldn't be expending your hard earned money so carelessly!"
"Meh, we made quite a bit of money yesterday and I'm feeling like partying after defeating the silverback. We can also cash the magic stone he dropped later which should cover some of the costs anyway so it won't be nearly as expensive as it sounds. Don't worry, I got this covered!" I finished with a smile.
Hestia tried to protest, but Bell put a hand on her shoulder. "He was really worried about you before he confirmed that you were alright. I think he want to express how relieved he is by you being alright goddess."
That's surprisingly insightful from Bell, and at his cute rabbit look Hestia relented.
Thus we finished the night with a small private celebration on the Hostess of Fertility, with good food and drinks aplenty. I didn't cared about shouldering the bill by myself, and I was starting to feel like I belonged to this world, to this town. Things might not always go according to plan, but I'm used to it by now. I just need to get stronger, regain my lost skills and magic to make sure this event would never repeat itself in the future.
I lost everything once already, I'm not going to lose it once again.
Hestia raised her mug of beer. "For the success of our Familia!"
"For the sake of our dreams", said Bell raising his own ginger ale cup.
"For new beginnings", I said while raising my own wine glass.
"CHEERS!"
Last edited:
moon so bright
Chief Minion
- Location
- US East Coast
Cute. I am glad that she is okay, as well. I look forward to the next installment! 
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
Since I reached a good 30k words in this fic, easily one of my longest pure stories threads, and the story itself reached a good cut off point, I will slow down the pace of updates from nearly daily to around once a week. I will still write a few words each day to keep up, but for the most part I will be focusing on my quests and other works at this moment.
The updates should also be longer than before, at least 2.5~3.5k words on each update but that's mostly my wishful thinking.
For those following my other works I will get back to them shortly, starting from the quests I'm running.
The updates should also be longer than before, at least 2.5~3.5k words on each update but that's mostly my wishful thinking.
For those following my other works I will get back to them shortly, starting from the quests I'm running.
Deeper Floors 1
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
"So", I said to the small goddess who was looking positively uncomfortable, "how much did Bell weapon cost?"
"I must tell you that I don't plan to have any of you pay for my own debts", she tried saying with as much dignity as she could and I nodded with an indulgent smile.
"That clearly shows how responsible you are, and how well do you care about the members of your Familia. Not only that it shows how strong your resolve is if you're unwilling to make us worry about your problems", Hestia sighed in relief before I placed one hand on her shoulder and lifted her chin so she could see eye to eye with me.
"How much. Did the weapon. Cost." I said in a calm, collected tone and Hestia shivered in my grip, looking left and right for an escape and finding none since Bell was still sleeping. She looked pleadingly to me but I just stared at her with my unflinching smile, until she relented with a sigh and she muttered something under her breath. "Sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you repeat that for me please?"
"One hundred, twenty million valis."
I just stared at her for a while before sighing. Should have expected something on that price range since the weapon Bell used was quite special. A weapon that could increase it's abilities as the user became stronger, not only that it was almost thief proof since a potential burglar would only see a shitty knife if they got their hands on it (though the possibility of demanding ransom for the weapon was possible, if rather unlikely).
"How did you got this weapon forged?" I asked gently this time.
"I asked my friend Hephaestus to forge me a weapon that could help those from my Familia, and she agreed to do it on a loan."
I paused for a moment to think about the implications of that. She could have either burned all her bridges with her friend in order to forge that knife, or this price range doesn't sound as outrageous as I initially thought, but it was still on the upper range of pricing. Thinking back on some of the price ranges of the stores on the main street I could see something like one million to up to forty million on a single piece of equipment if it's good enough, and for this weapon to be at least three times more expensive than the highest of my estimate means it must have been more special than I thought.
Truly we live in a world that works like a video game, I haven't seen such outrageous prices since playing Ragnarok Online and trying to get my hands on an Ice Pick+7. Either that or the prices on Diablo 3, specially those on the auction house. For a game that you play for the most part like a single player, they had a ruthless economy.
"Please tell me you didn't burn all the bridges with your friend for that weapon." I said, and Hestia looked outraged more than anything.
"Hephaestus isn't like that! Sure I asked a huge favor from her and I probably won't be able to ask for another one until I have the knife paid off, but she's still my friend."
I sighed in relief. At least that problem will never come out.
"And how do you plan to pay that off?"
"Hephaestus agreed to let me work on her stores part time to help pay for the knife, alongside the part time job I already had."
"And how much you have to pay each month?"
"About two hundred eighty thousand valis per month, give or take a couple hundred valis. It will be a total of four hundred twenty payments over thirty five years."
If I make fifty thousand per dungeon run, it takes roughly a week to pay it off, so that leaves twenty four days of pure profit for me later, if you later discount the general tithe gave to Hestia.
"Alright Hestia, I have an idea on how you can make up from your impulsive spending." She winced at my choice of words but I continued on, "and I'd like to bounce those ideas between us. It's also high time that you started to act like the head of our Familia and manage the headquarters, finances and utilities we're using. We're going to cross all our t's and ping all our i's before this is over."
"What's a tee and an ii?"
I resisted the urge to face palm, wondering how that actually sounded in her own language.
~~O~~
In the end we hashed out a good plan. She would quit her part time job at the Jagamaru-kun stand to get enough time to take care of the headquarters do our finances and restart the recruiting pitches, while she would also keep at the Hephaestus job since it pays more. Between Hephaestus part time job and the money we bring from the dungeon we should be able to pay at least two months in advance, that is if I stick to the upper floors.
I think I will first map out the first six floors in order to get the full maps for a later date, before braving the seventh onward for money. If we can reach the tenth floor or so and still keep our standard kill ratio we should be able to get a lot of money which will in turn further help increase the chances to pay off the debt in a reasonable time frame and allow both me and Bell to get stronger.
That, and as soon as we can pay off that debt from Hephaestus the sooner I can ask Hestia for her to ask a favor for me, even if I plan to keep that one for a rainy day.
"It still feels wrong to accept your help like this Jee-han, I made the debt and I should be the one to pay it off."
"That's true", I agreed with her, "but you are thinking too small. As a goddess you are in the unique position to make and expand a Familia, meaning you have to focus on your strengths. You have to keep trying to recruit more members to our Familia, and it is your responsibility to maintain the proper support structure. Us adventurers risk our lives on the dungeon, you make sure that we have a safe and comfortable place to come back to, alongside making sure we are well stocked with supplies. There's a lot of work involved in managing a guild, and while us adventurers can help with some of the load, most of it should be handled by you."
She looked at me for a few moments, before slowly nodding. "I admit, for a time I had given up on getting more members to my Familia since nobody wanted to be part of an unknown goddess Familia." She took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm not really reliable as a goddess, am I? First I abuse the generosity my friend gave me, then I ask for a huge favor and land myself in debt, and I even forgot about the duties the head of a Familia should have. You think I'm a failure as a goddess, huh?"
I looked at her depressed state for a moment before I flicked her nose.
"Oie!"
"Don't talk like that. We all make mistakes and what's important is that we learn from them and become a better person in the process." I said to her while she rubbed her nose, and a thought came to my mind. "Hey Hestia, how long have you been on the human world?"
"Human world? That's a strange way to say it, isn't it? But it should be more familiar to you since you came from another world. As for how long I'm here, about six months I believe? Most of it I spent with Hephaestus before I was kicked out to find a job and a place to live."
I nodded. "That does explain why you weren't doing that well. As a goddess you probably wasn't used to mortality, like hunger or trist in a meaningful way I suppose. You were too used with life in the godly realm and you couldn't adapt quickly to the changes you faced, even tried to keep acting like you were in heaven out of sheer inertia. It's actually pretty normal if you think about it, you acted like a kid who finally moved out of their parents house, and while you were excited for the future prospects you were also confused and not prepared for the responsibilities that brings. But since you started a proper Familia now you have to shape up and focus on it if you want to improve." At this I gave her my most sincere smile, "don't worry though, both me and Bell will help you get through this."
"Thank you Jee-han, and I promise that I will become a head of Familia that you can be proud off."
"Just do your best, that's all I can ask."
As if she realized something, Hestia chuckled while shaking her head. "Isn't this kind of talk supposed to be the other way around? The goddess guiding the new adventurer of her Familia?"
"Meh, just think of it as a training for the future. We all have to start somewhere, and I had a lot of experience being talked out of my stupidity, harebrained schemes, general poor choices and depressed moods. It's what growing up means, in a sense."
At this I clapped my hands to signify the end of the talk. "So, who wants to have a little massage now?"
Hestia blushed, but was quick to jump on the bed. "I don't know if you will get a skill out of this, but if you need to do it every night in order to develop it, who I am to deny my adventurer his opportunity to train?"
I chuckled, and started to work. Hopefully I will regain that skill soon enough.
~~O~~
The next day we woke up early like usual and went through our morning routine. Hestia was supposed to take care of our utilities from now on, including making food herself in order to save up a bit on the bills, but sadly we lacked a proper stove and a refrigerator, something she would be using the tithe money she was saving in case of emergencies. I had nodded at her initiative since we couldn't live off takeout forever, and the expenses pilled up rather quickly.
That meant however that we went to the Hostess of Fertility once more to get Bell's lunch from Syr, and hopefully gently tell her that from now on it won't be necessary.
"Please Bell, allow me to give you my home cooked lunch. It would really make me feel happy about it, and it would help me make up for the trouble I inadvertently caused during Monsterphilia", said Syr when the topic came up before making her best puppy dog eyes to Bell, "please?"
Suffice to say, he folded like a house of cards. He will probably take this lunch AND the one Hestia makes and eat them anyway. It's a good thing he will be going on the dungeon to work off those extra calories.
"By the way mister Jee-han please wait here, someone wants to give you something~"
I blinked, not really understanding what she meant when Syr came back dragging Ryuu by the sleeve. "Here, show him Ryuu!"
Ryuu looked partly exasperated by being dragged from her usual duties, but gave me a small basket with a couple of bottles on it. "Those are some bottles of our homemade liquor. They're not up to the quality to be sold in the bar at night, but Mama Mia agreed to let you have some of them since you seemed to like it so much. Think of this as a return of the gift you gave me before."
I stared at the bottles on the basket for a moment, blinking in confusion. "Thank you, I guess. Though is it alright? I didn't pay too much for that picture, and I didn't give it to you expecting something in return", other than a cessation of hostilities at any rate.
"It would have been improper to not return the gift to you when the opportunity appeared. I think the proper term here is that now 'we're even' I believe."
Ah, she was worried she owned me something. A fair assumption at any rate. "You didn't owned me anything, I gave that gift out of my own initiative, but either way I accept your gift and now we're even." I extended my hand to her to shake on it. "Friends now?"
She looked at my extended hand, glancing between me, Bell and Syr with a lost and worried expression on her face. I let the hand stay like that for a couple more seconds, before bringing back my hand to scratch my head. Guess that's some kind of taboo here? I simply lightly bowed to her in apology. "Sorry, I didn't knew it was improper." With the way the city looked I wasn't sure what followed a more western or eastern tradition, or what was something completely alien to me.
This time Ryuu bowed, and she looked visibly embarrassed by the whole ordeal with slightly rosy cheeks. "No, it is alright, of course I would like to be friends with you mister Jee-han!" She also sounded a bit distressed, even addressed me as mister. Odd.
Syr for her part just giggled at our antics. "You should be more honest sometimes Ryuu."
Ryuu didn't quite glare at Syr, but it was a near thing.
With a small bow to each other, we departed the Hostess of Fertility and as we walked I looked at Bell. "Did you get what just happened?"
"What do you mean mister Jee-han?"
"I can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something from the whole ordeal."
Bell just stared at me for a few moments before smiling. "I'm sure it's nothing that you can't handle."
Somehow I wanted to cave in his teeth when he gave me that smile. I wonder why.
"I must tell you that I don't plan to have any of you pay for my own debts", she tried saying with as much dignity as she could and I nodded with an indulgent smile.
"That clearly shows how responsible you are, and how well do you care about the members of your Familia. Not only that it shows how strong your resolve is if you're unwilling to make us worry about your problems", Hestia sighed in relief before I placed one hand on her shoulder and lifted her chin so she could see eye to eye with me.
"How much. Did the weapon. Cost." I said in a calm, collected tone and Hestia shivered in my grip, looking left and right for an escape and finding none since Bell was still sleeping. She looked pleadingly to me but I just stared at her with my unflinching smile, until she relented with a sigh and she muttered something under her breath. "Sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you repeat that for me please?"
"One hundred, twenty million valis."
I just stared at her for a while before sighing. Should have expected something on that price range since the weapon Bell used was quite special. A weapon that could increase it's abilities as the user became stronger, not only that it was almost thief proof since a potential burglar would only see a shitty knife if they got their hands on it (though the possibility of demanding ransom for the weapon was possible, if rather unlikely).
"How did you got this weapon forged?" I asked gently this time.
"I asked my friend Hephaestus to forge me a weapon that could help those from my Familia, and she agreed to do it on a loan."
I paused for a moment to think about the implications of that. She could have either burned all her bridges with her friend in order to forge that knife, or this price range doesn't sound as outrageous as I initially thought, but it was still on the upper range of pricing. Thinking back on some of the price ranges of the stores on the main street I could see something like one million to up to forty million on a single piece of equipment if it's good enough, and for this weapon to be at least three times more expensive than the highest of my estimate means it must have been more special than I thought.
Truly we live in a world that works like a video game, I haven't seen such outrageous prices since playing Ragnarok Online and trying to get my hands on an Ice Pick+7. Either that or the prices on Diablo 3, specially those on the auction house. For a game that you play for the most part like a single player, they had a ruthless economy.
"Please tell me you didn't burn all the bridges with your friend for that weapon." I said, and Hestia looked outraged more than anything.
"Hephaestus isn't like that! Sure I asked a huge favor from her and I probably won't be able to ask for another one until I have the knife paid off, but she's still my friend."
I sighed in relief. At least that problem will never come out.
"And how do you plan to pay that off?"
"Hephaestus agreed to let me work on her stores part time to help pay for the knife, alongside the part time job I already had."
"And how much you have to pay each month?"
"About two hundred eighty thousand valis per month, give or take a couple hundred valis. It will be a total of four hundred twenty payments over thirty five years."
If I make fifty thousand per dungeon run, it takes roughly a week to pay it off, so that leaves twenty four days of pure profit for me later, if you later discount the general tithe gave to Hestia.
"Alright Hestia, I have an idea on how you can make up from your impulsive spending." She winced at my choice of words but I continued on, "and I'd like to bounce those ideas between us. It's also high time that you started to act like the head of our Familia and manage the headquarters, finances and utilities we're using. We're going to cross all our t's and ping all our i's before this is over."
"What's a tee and an ii?"
I resisted the urge to face palm, wondering how that actually sounded in her own language.
~~O~~
In the end we hashed out a good plan. She would quit her part time job at the Jagamaru-kun stand to get enough time to take care of the headquarters do our finances and restart the recruiting pitches, while she would also keep at the Hephaestus job since it pays more. Between Hephaestus part time job and the money we bring from the dungeon we should be able to pay at least two months in advance, that is if I stick to the upper floors.
I think I will first map out the first six floors in order to get the full maps for a later date, before braving the seventh onward for money. If we can reach the tenth floor or so and still keep our standard kill ratio we should be able to get a lot of money which will in turn further help increase the chances to pay off the debt in a reasonable time frame and allow both me and Bell to get stronger.
That, and as soon as we can pay off that debt from Hephaestus the sooner I can ask Hestia for her to ask a favor for me, even if I plan to keep that one for a rainy day.
"It still feels wrong to accept your help like this Jee-han, I made the debt and I should be the one to pay it off."
"That's true", I agreed with her, "but you are thinking too small. As a goddess you are in the unique position to make and expand a Familia, meaning you have to focus on your strengths. You have to keep trying to recruit more members to our Familia, and it is your responsibility to maintain the proper support structure. Us adventurers risk our lives on the dungeon, you make sure that we have a safe and comfortable place to come back to, alongside making sure we are well stocked with supplies. There's a lot of work involved in managing a guild, and while us adventurers can help with some of the load, most of it should be handled by you."
She looked at me for a few moments, before slowly nodding. "I admit, for a time I had given up on getting more members to my Familia since nobody wanted to be part of an unknown goddess Familia." She took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm not really reliable as a goddess, am I? First I abuse the generosity my friend gave me, then I ask for a huge favor and land myself in debt, and I even forgot about the duties the head of a Familia should have. You think I'm a failure as a goddess, huh?"
I looked at her depressed state for a moment before I flicked her nose.
"Oie!"
"Don't talk like that. We all make mistakes and what's important is that we learn from them and become a better person in the process." I said to her while she rubbed her nose, and a thought came to my mind. "Hey Hestia, how long have you been on the human world?"
"Human world? That's a strange way to say it, isn't it? But it should be more familiar to you since you came from another world. As for how long I'm here, about six months I believe? Most of it I spent with Hephaestus before I was kicked out to find a job and a place to live."
I nodded. "That does explain why you weren't doing that well. As a goddess you probably wasn't used to mortality, like hunger or trist in a meaningful way I suppose. You were too used with life in the godly realm and you couldn't adapt quickly to the changes you faced, even tried to keep acting like you were in heaven out of sheer inertia. It's actually pretty normal if you think about it, you acted like a kid who finally moved out of their parents house, and while you were excited for the future prospects you were also confused and not prepared for the responsibilities that brings. But since you started a proper Familia now you have to shape up and focus on it if you want to improve." At this I gave her my most sincere smile, "don't worry though, both me and Bell will help you get through this."
"Thank you Jee-han, and I promise that I will become a head of Familia that you can be proud off."
"Just do your best, that's all I can ask."
As if she realized something, Hestia chuckled while shaking her head. "Isn't this kind of talk supposed to be the other way around? The goddess guiding the new adventurer of her Familia?"
"Meh, just think of it as a training for the future. We all have to start somewhere, and I had a lot of experience being talked out of my stupidity, harebrained schemes, general poor choices and depressed moods. It's what growing up means, in a sense."
At this I clapped my hands to signify the end of the talk. "So, who wants to have a little massage now?"
Hestia blushed, but was quick to jump on the bed. "I don't know if you will get a skill out of this, but if you need to do it every night in order to develop it, who I am to deny my adventurer his opportunity to train?"
I chuckled, and started to work. Hopefully I will regain that skill soon enough.
~~O~~
The next day we woke up early like usual and went through our morning routine. Hestia was supposed to take care of our utilities from now on, including making food herself in order to save up a bit on the bills, but sadly we lacked a proper stove and a refrigerator, something she would be using the tithe money she was saving in case of emergencies. I had nodded at her initiative since we couldn't live off takeout forever, and the expenses pilled up rather quickly.
That meant however that we went to the Hostess of Fertility once more to get Bell's lunch from Syr, and hopefully gently tell her that from now on it won't be necessary.
"Please Bell, allow me to give you my home cooked lunch. It would really make me feel happy about it, and it would help me make up for the trouble I inadvertently caused during Monsterphilia", said Syr when the topic came up before making her best puppy dog eyes to Bell, "please?"
Suffice to say, he folded like a house of cards. He will probably take this lunch AND the one Hestia makes and eat them anyway. It's a good thing he will be going on the dungeon to work off those extra calories.
"By the way mister Jee-han please wait here, someone wants to give you something~"
I blinked, not really understanding what she meant when Syr came back dragging Ryuu by the sleeve. "Here, show him Ryuu!"
Ryuu looked partly exasperated by being dragged from her usual duties, but gave me a small basket with a couple of bottles on it. "Those are some bottles of our homemade liquor. They're not up to the quality to be sold in the bar at night, but Mama Mia agreed to let you have some of them since you seemed to like it so much. Think of this as a return of the gift you gave me before."
I stared at the bottles on the basket for a moment, blinking in confusion. "Thank you, I guess. Though is it alright? I didn't pay too much for that picture, and I didn't give it to you expecting something in return", other than a cessation of hostilities at any rate.
"It would have been improper to not return the gift to you when the opportunity appeared. I think the proper term here is that now 'we're even' I believe."
Ah, she was worried she owned me something. A fair assumption at any rate. "You didn't owned me anything, I gave that gift out of my own initiative, but either way I accept your gift and now we're even." I extended my hand to her to shake on it. "Friends now?"
She looked at my extended hand, glancing between me, Bell and Syr with a lost and worried expression on her face. I let the hand stay like that for a couple more seconds, before bringing back my hand to scratch my head. Guess that's some kind of taboo here? I simply lightly bowed to her in apology. "Sorry, I didn't knew it was improper." With the way the city looked I wasn't sure what followed a more western or eastern tradition, or what was something completely alien to me.
This time Ryuu bowed, and she looked visibly embarrassed by the whole ordeal with slightly rosy cheeks. "No, it is alright, of course I would like to be friends with you mister Jee-han!" She also sounded a bit distressed, even addressed me as mister. Odd.
Syr for her part just giggled at our antics. "You should be more honest sometimes Ryuu."
Ryuu didn't quite glare at Syr, but it was a near thing.
With a small bow to each other, we departed the Hostess of Fertility and as we walked I looked at Bell. "Did you get what just happened?"
"What do you mean mister Jee-han?"
"I can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something from the whole ordeal."
Bell just stared at me for a few moments before smiling. "I'm sure it's nothing that you can't handle."
Somehow I wanted to cave in his teeth when he gave me that smile. I wonder why.
NorthSouthGorem
To Walk Down Every Path
- Location
- Maplewood, NJ
FTFY.
Also, I REALLY FUCKING HATE when an MC is made to be completely dense.
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
More like he's rusty on social interactions. He still notices things, like how transparent it is Hestia infatuation with Bell, but so far in his life he never got a girl liking him without a catch.
Shi-Yun was simply too innocent about relationships to get a proper reaction of her.
Sung-Ah had pretty much no idea on how social interaction worked period due to her sickness.
Sae-Young liked to mess with him because he was her cousin friend.
Master Loli messed with him for her ego and because it was funny.
And so on and so forth. The only one he kind of tried dating seriously was the Class President, and as I stated before it didn't end really well because even more spoilers.
So please understand that Jee-han is not used to people acting as if they like him because they like him, and not because they feel they are in debt with him, or because they are the sole human interaction aside from their parent they had since pretty much forever, or send a lot of mixed signals for no reason, or are messing with him for their own amusement, or anything in that line.
Shi-Yun was simply too innocent about relationships to get a proper reaction of her.
Sung-Ah had pretty much no idea on how social interaction worked period due to her sickness.
Sae-Young liked to mess with him because he was her cousin friend.
Master Loli messed with him for her ego and because it was funny.
And so on and so forth. The only one he kind of tried dating seriously was the Class President, and as I stated before it didn't end really well because even more spoilers.
A couple of attempts on her life due to his association with him, for both coercion and to get back at him, which ended in a big fight between the two of them. They managed to patch things up eventually, but things remained awkward for them both.
So please understand that Jee-han is not used to people acting as if they like him because they like him, and not because they feel they are in debt with him, or because they are the sole human interaction aside from their parent they had since pretty much forever, or send a lot of mixed signals for no reason, or are messing with him for their own amusement, or anything in that line.
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moon so bright
Chief Minion
- Location
- US East Coast
I like the update, and look forward to Hestia growing as a person.
- Location
- My house
He's a harem protagonist in this?
Who's in his harem? That elf waitress is one (I think) but who else is in it.
- Location
- U.S.
don't you mean denser than a Endbringer core?
Deeper Floors 2
ryuan
From Zero to Hero!
"Let's take a break", I said to Bell who nodded, having just finished extracting the last magic stone from the enemy.
As we both sat down, I made a few mental calculations and what I got wasn't really promising. "Bell", I turned to the young man at my side, "what do you think of our current profit? Be honest please."
"Uh... I think they're good?"
I sighed at that. Clearly he wasn't very experienced, but I hoped our situation was a bit more obvious for him. Then again, he didn't knew the knife he was swinging around costs one hundred twenty million. "Please elaborate on that then. Why do you think it's good?"
He frowned a bit, thinking on it. "Well, we have been killing them quickly and in great numbers. We also rarely get injured, so we don't need to expend much money on potions. Each day we can make about forty five to fifty thousand valis in magic stones alone, with more from the item drops we pick up from the many enemies we kill."
"That's right, but you're missing a few things", I said while holding him a few fingers, "first, we can kill them only so fast and I'm certain we reached the highest point by now. The only way for us to get more money in the same amount of time would require us to beat stronger enemies." Bell nodded, "there's also the fact that we spend far too much time taking out the magic stones from the enemies you kill, and it takes a good hit from myself in order to allow you to benefit from my ability to convert them directly into loot. In other words, we need to either go deeper into the dungeon or find a way to extract the magic stones faster, or have someone else do it for us while we keep killing the monsters."
"Hmm, actually I was thinking on going deeper into the dungeon myself. I just wasn't sure if it was a good idea with your current status."
I just raised an eyebrow at bell before looking around at the very long corridor that was still regenerating it's walls after being milked dry of monsters.
"... in hindsight, it was wrong of me to underestimate your abilities Jeehan hyung", and there it goes once more with the inconsistent translation. I swear I will find the damn options menu and see if that thing isn't bugged. "But how deep should we go?"
"Well we can just ask Eina, can't we? I'm sure she would be delighted to help."
~~O~~
"Absolutely not." Said the woman in front of us, "I cannot in good conscience allow you two to go into deeper floors! It's been less than a week since we talked about this, what are you two thinking?"
"But why not Eina-san?" Now you're mixing japanese honorifics too? What is wrong with this place's language? "We can certainly take it, right Jeehan hyung?"
Inwardly I felt like throwing my hands in the air while giving up in disgust but outwardly I simply nodded.
Bell turned back to his advisor. "Please Eina-san, we are already plenty strong to reach lower floors. Can't you give us some more information on what to expect?"
"Don't you know the risks you're facing?" She says in a heated tone, "it is already bad enough you two go as deep as the sixth floor, but from the seventh onwards it's an entirely new level of difficult!"
"It's not a matter of underestimating the enemies", I interrupted her tirade, "but instead it's a matter of necessity. The enemies that we are currently facing are too weak to allow us to advance while the profit itself stagnated, being too low for the level of effort we are currently giving. In order to become stronger, and afford better equipment, we will need to start taking more risks. The Falna isn't so convenient as to increase our abilities with the simple act of murder, we need to struggle and overcome greater challenges in order to become stronger."
"Why, why aren't you two content with what you have right now? Your Familia doesn't even have a year since it was founded, and you two are bringing in plenty of money right now! Why do you two insist on taking unnecessary risks? Do you really want to die?"
It was clear that Eina was suffering over our apparent lack of self preservation. It was clear she was a good kid, very compassionate.
She wouldn't last a week in the Abyss.
"There's something I want to do", said Bell after a few moments, "someone that I want to reach. I'm too weak right now that she's so far away I can't even see her back. I want to be able to stand at her side with my head held high, I want her to see me as a fellow adventurer, someone she can respect, someone she can", at this he stoped, blushing and silently muttering his next words though even a moron could guess what he was about to say, "I want to be stronger."
Eina stared at Bell before shaking her head and sighing, as if she had somehow expected that answer from him.
Then she turned to me.
"Heh, I don't have something so romantic sounding as a motivation", I said making Bell blush even harder than before. "If you're so curious, the answer is quite simple really."
"Once you stare into the Abyss, you can never look away."
Bell turned to stare at me, before frowning himself. He had already heard this before but I wonder what he actually thinks about it.
"I cannot go back to living a life of ignorance. Knowing what I know, having experienced what I had, there's no other life for me but risking my life in the Abyss that is the adventurer life."
Eina simply stared at me, trying to figure out what I meant by that no doubt, before looking down and softly wondering if it wouldn't be kinder if my memories didn't returned.
Like I said, she's a good kid.
"Fine!" She finally relented, "I will tell you what you need to know about going in the deeper floors, on one condition: you show me your status so I can be the judge whether or not you can survive down there."
"Isn't that kind of a big deal", I said with a frown, "I thought the specifics of a Falna is a Familia secret, aside from our individual level for tax purposes."
"W-well", said Eina with a blush at being caught red handed, "even if you are confident I at least want to make sure you will be safe."
"I don't mind", said Bell, "if it's only a small peek. I trust Eina not to tell anyone else."
"Sadly", I stared at her with a frown, "I do mind."
"That's understandable", allowed Eina, "well, you said you had two things you wanted to ask. What was the other one?"
"I was thinking on finding a good Supporter. Someone with experience that's willing to tag along on the upper floors, and wouldn't mind some above average risk for the floor level we're in. Someone that can extract the magic stones quickly would also help."
"Hmm", hummed Eina as she took a peek at Bell's back, showing his newly increased statistics before widening her eyes. She looked back and forth between me and Bell, and I just shrugged.
In the end she just shook her head. "I can put a request notice in the Guild Board with those specifications if you want, but it might take a while to find someone. I can see if my coworkers have someone to recommend, and I will pass the word to others I might find trustworthy."
"I would really appreciate that Eina", I replied with a smile, to which she answered with a huff and puffing her cheeks.
"Well, if you are going to go ahead with rushing headlong into danger the least I can do is to make sure you won't end up dead due to negligence."
"Thanks Eina-san, you're the best!"
Bell earnest smile was almost blinding, making the elven maiden in front of us blush at the praise.
"Well, hopefully you will find someone with more common sense than both of you."
"Hey!"
~~O~~
Status
Strength G 201 -> 221
Endurance H 196 -> G 205
Agility G 209 -> G 231
Dexterity G 215 -> G 220
Magic H 131 -> H 153
V$ 156500
As we both sat down, I made a few mental calculations and what I got wasn't really promising. "Bell", I turned to the young man at my side, "what do you think of our current profit? Be honest please."
"Uh... I think they're good?"
I sighed at that. Clearly he wasn't very experienced, but I hoped our situation was a bit more obvious for him. Then again, he didn't knew the knife he was swinging around costs one hundred twenty million. "Please elaborate on that then. Why do you think it's good?"
He frowned a bit, thinking on it. "Well, we have been killing them quickly and in great numbers. We also rarely get injured, so we don't need to expend much money on potions. Each day we can make about forty five to fifty thousand valis in magic stones alone, with more from the item drops we pick up from the many enemies we kill."
"That's right, but you're missing a few things", I said while holding him a few fingers, "first, we can kill them only so fast and I'm certain we reached the highest point by now. The only way for us to get more money in the same amount of time would require us to beat stronger enemies." Bell nodded, "there's also the fact that we spend far too much time taking out the magic stones from the enemies you kill, and it takes a good hit from myself in order to allow you to benefit from my ability to convert them directly into loot. In other words, we need to either go deeper into the dungeon or find a way to extract the magic stones faster, or have someone else do it for us while we keep killing the monsters."
"Hmm, actually I was thinking on going deeper into the dungeon myself. I just wasn't sure if it was a good idea with your current status."
I just raised an eyebrow at bell before looking around at the very long corridor that was still regenerating it's walls after being milked dry of monsters.
"... in hindsight, it was wrong of me to underestimate your abilities Jeehan hyung", and there it goes once more with the inconsistent translation. I swear I will find the damn options menu and see if that thing isn't bugged. "But how deep should we go?"
"Well we can just ask Eina, can't we? I'm sure she would be delighted to help."
~~O~~
"Absolutely not." Said the woman in front of us, "I cannot in good conscience allow you two to go into deeper floors! It's been less than a week since we talked about this, what are you two thinking?"
"But why not Eina-san?" Now you're mixing japanese honorifics too? What is wrong with this place's language? "We can certainly take it, right Jeehan hyung?"
Inwardly I felt like throwing my hands in the air while giving up in disgust but outwardly I simply nodded.
Bell turned back to his advisor. "Please Eina-san, we are already plenty strong to reach lower floors. Can't you give us some more information on what to expect?"
"Don't you know the risks you're facing?" She says in a heated tone, "it is already bad enough you two go as deep as the sixth floor, but from the seventh onwards it's an entirely new level of difficult!"
"It's not a matter of underestimating the enemies", I interrupted her tirade, "but instead it's a matter of necessity. The enemies that we are currently facing are too weak to allow us to advance while the profit itself stagnated, being too low for the level of effort we are currently giving. In order to become stronger, and afford better equipment, we will need to start taking more risks. The Falna isn't so convenient as to increase our abilities with the simple act of murder, we need to struggle and overcome greater challenges in order to become stronger."
"Why, why aren't you two content with what you have right now? Your Familia doesn't even have a year since it was founded, and you two are bringing in plenty of money right now! Why do you two insist on taking unnecessary risks? Do you really want to die?"
It was clear that Eina was suffering over our apparent lack of self preservation. It was clear she was a good kid, very compassionate.
She wouldn't last a week in the Abyss.
"There's something I want to do", said Bell after a few moments, "someone that I want to reach. I'm too weak right now that she's so far away I can't even see her back. I want to be able to stand at her side with my head held high, I want her to see me as a fellow adventurer, someone she can respect, someone she can", at this he stoped, blushing and silently muttering his next words though even a moron could guess what he was about to say, "I want to be stronger."
Eina stared at Bell before shaking her head and sighing, as if she had somehow expected that answer from him.
Then she turned to me.
"Heh, I don't have something so romantic sounding as a motivation", I said making Bell blush even harder than before. "If you're so curious, the answer is quite simple really."
"Once you stare into the Abyss, you can never look away."
Bell turned to stare at me, before frowning himself. He had already heard this before but I wonder what he actually thinks about it.
"I cannot go back to living a life of ignorance. Knowing what I know, having experienced what I had, there's no other life for me but risking my life in the Abyss that is the adventurer life."
Eina simply stared at me, trying to figure out what I meant by that no doubt, before looking down and softly wondering if it wouldn't be kinder if my memories didn't returned.
Like I said, she's a good kid.
"Fine!" She finally relented, "I will tell you what you need to know about going in the deeper floors, on one condition: you show me your status so I can be the judge whether or not you can survive down there."
"Isn't that kind of a big deal", I said with a frown, "I thought the specifics of a Falna is a Familia secret, aside from our individual level for tax purposes."
"W-well", said Eina with a blush at being caught red handed, "even if you are confident I at least want to make sure you will be safe."
"I don't mind", said Bell, "if it's only a small peek. I trust Eina not to tell anyone else."
"Sadly", I stared at her with a frown, "I do mind."
"That's understandable", allowed Eina, "well, you said you had two things you wanted to ask. What was the other one?"
"I was thinking on finding a good Supporter. Someone with experience that's willing to tag along on the upper floors, and wouldn't mind some above average risk for the floor level we're in. Someone that can extract the magic stones quickly would also help."
"Hmm", hummed Eina as she took a peek at Bell's back, showing his newly increased statistics before widening her eyes. She looked back and forth between me and Bell, and I just shrugged.
In the end she just shook her head. "I can put a request notice in the Guild Board with those specifications if you want, but it might take a while to find someone. I can see if my coworkers have someone to recommend, and I will pass the word to others I might find trustworthy."
"I would really appreciate that Eina", I replied with a smile, to which she answered with a huff and puffing her cheeks.
"Well, if you are going to go ahead with rushing headlong into danger the least I can do is to make sure you won't end up dead due to negligence."
"Thanks Eina-san, you're the best!"
Bell earnest smile was almost blinding, making the elven maiden in front of us blush at the praise.
"Well, hopefully you will find someone with more common sense than both of you."
"Hey!"
~~O~~
Status
Strength G 201 -> 221
Endurance H 196 -> G 205
Agility G 209 -> G 231
Dexterity G 215 -> G 220
Magic H 131 -> H 153
V$ 156500
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NorthSouthGorem
To Walk Down Every Path
- Location
- Maplewood, NJ