Today, I continued to hunt the Red Skeleton by continuing to hide in the basement five floors of Nifonium throughout the morning.
　I went into the hunt with full concentration from the beginning, and as a result, my hit rate remained at 100% until the end.
　That was tiring, but I also felt a sense of accomplishment.

　By the way, my MP went from a solid B to an A.

　I returned to the city with a sense of accomplishment: a 100% hit rate and increased ability.

　The city of Cyclo was busy again today.
　There were no magic storms, and no daily and monthly calamities.
　The dungeon master hadn't shown up either, the adventurers were earning money as usual, and the city was turning and enriching itself.

　My feet naturally headed for home, but I stopped when I suddenly remembered.
　This morning, before I left, Emily said.

'I'm going to go maintain the hammer today,'

　Emily Hammer.
　It's being offered by Smith, a weapons store, customized to her.

　Just like athletes, they sponsor a famous adventurer and the more successful that adventurer is, the more they sell the same thing. It's a billboard, so to speak.

　That Emily has been active lately.
　She's leveled up and has been very active in the Cyclo dungeons - especially Arsenic, which has only rock monsters.

　I heard that nearly 70% of the adventurers who go to Arsenic have started using Emily's model hammer because of her success.

'It's like Air Jordan,'

　It reminds me of a pair of basketball shoes that were very popular in my school days.
　Anyway, Emily is out for maintenance today, so there's no food at home for lunch.

We'll just have to go out for dinner.

　Parade through the city, and look for a place that serves food.
　Then there was a shop serving ramen-like food.
　Judging from the smell, it was probably Tonkotsu or Kekkei, or ramen with a nice fatty umami taste.

　Suddenly, I missed the junk taste, so I went to enter the restaurant.

　Don!

　Just before I walked into the store, I was bumped from the side.

'I'm sorry--that?'
'Uh ...... uh ...... sorry ......'

　The guy who bumped into me was a couple of men and women who I saw some time ago, a couple of men and a couple of women who were following an older man.
　They called out words like "dreams and inspiration" and their method of brainwashing people to work like a religion or a black company.
　I'm a victim of that.

　The guy ...... looked even more haggard than the last time I saw him.

"Sorry, I'm just spaced out.
That's great, but can you go to ...... and tell me if you're okay?
......
Hey.
...... Huh?　Sorry, I didn't hear you.

　A man in the sky above, stupefied.
　It's not like he's not at home ....... He's obviously exhausted and entering into a dangerous territory.
　He looks like that.

"Then go to ......
"Wait, wait, wait, wait.

　I couldn't help but stop the man from leaving.
　It's not good if I don't do this, and I put my former self on him.

　　　　　☆

　Inside the ramen shop, the man was surprisingly disappointed.
　He's already on his third bowl of ramen, and he's also gobbled up a bowl of grilled rice from the side menu.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Sure, I said I'd buy you a drink, don't worry about it. Excuse me, I'd like another drink.

　I knew he would refrain from doing this, so I ordered more from my mouth.
　I pulled him into the restaurant to buy him a drink as he was about to fall over.
　He refrained from it at first, but fell easily in front of the aroma of the food that was brought to him.
　I'm sure you'll be able to get a good bite of this .......

　By the way, I couldn't eat it.
　The taste of the seasoning was too harsh and didn't suit my taste buds.
　The taste itself is not that bad, the restaurant is quite busy and all the customers around it are enjoying the food.

　So I wondered why ...... was doing that, but I soon found out why.
　Maybe it's Emily's fault - but it's thanks to her.
　I thought that Emily's food was so transcendentally delicious that my taste buds must have been disciplined.

　As I was thinking about this, the man flattened his fourth bowl.

'Thank you for the feast .......
Never mind. Let's see, ...... Yeah, I'm Ryota Sato, Satou or Ryota, whichever you prefer.

　Come to think of it, we didn't even know each other's names, so I introduced myself to him.

"I'm Cliff, thanks Lyota.
Is that enough?　If you don't have enough, I'll order more.
I'm fine now, thank you so much.
'Well, ...... what's more important than that?　You haven't eaten?

　I have an idea why, but I dare to ask ...... to shrug it off and ask.

"I'm a little short on cash. I'm out of food for three days.
'Three days?　Cliff's been hiding in dungeons too, and he's made a lot of money, hasn't he?
'We're ...... Oh, we have another buddy who's our captain, but he's our captain, and he's in control of the money. We do this on a salary basis from our captain.
So what's your salary?
...... a little short.
Not enough? How much do they give you?
Last month, I believe it was 30,000 piro at ...... last month.
Kid's pocket money?
What?
Oh no.

　I pouted, and Cliff gave me a dubious look.
　No, no, no, that amount is strange.

　A "pillow" is the currency of this world, and it's worth about the same as a "yen".
　The ramen I'm eating right now costs 700 piro for a bowl, and a large bowl costs 100 piro extra.

　A big bowl of ramen costs 100 more piro for a 700-piro cup.

I don't know how you can live on that kind of salary.

　When I saw Cliff's subtle look, I apologized to him.
　'You're doing this because you can't make a living.

'It can't be helped, partly because we didn't make enough money.
Is it really that bad?
Also, we get hurt a lot, and our weapons and armor get torn apart, so they take that away from us.
Mmm. ......

　Will consumables and equipment be deducted?
　It is still strange though it seems to make sense at a glance.
　Because it is 30,000 in a month, the net income. It's not possible.

　Cliff was slightly depressed, and became despondent.

"Sometimes I wonder if this job isn't right for me.
Is that so?
'I'm thinking there are more places I could use my strength, though if you ask the captain, that would be naive.
'No, you don't, and it's not naive to think so.
But it's true.
Yeah?
'When the captain picked me up, my status was terrible. My abilities were low, and the only plants I dropped were E's and the others were F's.
Yeah?

　It's like Emily when we met.
　If that's the case, then maybe ...... many things can't be helped.

'Didn't the drop grow?'
What?
What?

　Surprised Cliff, I'm surprised too.
　What?　Now "What? Ha.

What does that ...... mean?
What does that mean? It means what it says.
'Does the drop ever grow?'
'No, there's usually ....... As you move up a level.
......

　I guess that's what it means to be astonished, I thought to myself.
　I was blindingly aware of the fact that I was in a dungeon, and my mouth was open, and I forgot to blink and went still.

　I remembered the last time I'd seen him in a dungeon, that fishy, old man Cliff called the captain, calling him an impression and a dream.

'Maybe they told you that the ...... drop wouldn't go up?'

　Cliff nodded timidly.

'You're going up ......?'
Some people don't go up, but that doesn't mean they never do.

　At least my guys had grown some by the time they were level-canned.

　Cliff was aghast.
　We paid the bill and left the shop with him.
　We went around the busy city together.

'Why didn't you check yourself?'
'Because the captain told me to stop. If you look at your abilities, you will define your own limits. He said that status isn't the only strength, a man can't go beyond it.
"Quibble!

　The swearing naturally came out of my mouth.

　He had a point, but that didn't mean he shouldn't see it.
　Maybe the guy was managing the inferiority complex Cliff, who only had Plant E, well by not letting him see it.
　It makes me so angry.

　I took Cliff to a tool shop in town.
　I bought a consumption item to check his status, a portable now board, and gave it to him.

　As the name implies, it's a portable now-board, and it works exactly the same.

Try it.
Oh, yeah.

　Cliff used it as he was told and displayed the status.

---1/2---
Level: 66/66
HP C
MP C
Power D
Strength D
Intelligence B
Spirit B
Speed F
Dexterous C
Luck F
--------- ...

'You're on top of the level!　How much of a drag was that?
This is ...... my .......
And he's pretty strong. He's more of a wizard, but he's also pretty strong.
Oh, really?

　Cliff is confused. More than that.

"Next time, next time, that's the real deal.
Oh, yeah.

　I heard a gulp, and the sound of spitting.
　Then Cliff, with the intention of displaying the drop status.

---2/2---
Plants E
Animals F
Minerals C
Magic F
Characteristic F
--------- ...

...... Huh?
Let's get this straight.

　I said to him, remembering both my gasps at Cliff and my anger at the man.

'The numbers don't lie, it's not here (Cyclo) that your skills are on display, it's in a place like Indor.
Oh, no. ......
"And there you can be sure to make over a million piro a month at .......

　Cliff was even more stunned.