“Cleric? Nah, we’re good.”
“Come back after you learn some healing skills.”
“Level 1? Sorry, we don’t do nursing here.”
“Old man? Not happening.”
Having finally graduated from corporate slavery and become a dungeon explorer, I, Daishi Ajiri—thirty-seven years old—was suddenly facing my first crisis.
“J-just why won’t anyone let me join their party?”
I couldn’t help but mutter it aloud.
I had come to the Tokyo Second Branch of the Explorer’s Guild the day after quitting my job. I passed all the aptitude tests required to become an explorer and completed my initial registration.
With a result confirming my suitability as an explorer, I had quickly finished all the paperwork.
There was just one problem.
The initial assessment had assigned me the role of Cleric. In other words, a healer.
Unlike jobs in the normal world, dungeon explorer “classes” offered no freedom of choice.
When registering at the guild, a special device automatically assigned stats, class, and skills according to each person’s innate aptitude. Healing classes were apparently rare, since few were suited for them—but they were completely unsuited for solo exploration.
Basically, you had to move with a party to survive.
“Don’t want to die? Then form a party.”
The guildmaster’s warning had been fair.
Of course it had.
I had thought to test the dungeon solo with a non-healer class, but dying immediately wasn’t an option. So, following the guildmaster’s suggestion, I had sent friend requests indiscriminately to any party recruiting on the guild terminal.
——And still, nothing.
“This is depressing…..”
I muttered again, letting out a heavy sigh.
I wasn’t asking to join some high-ranking S-rank party. Just a bunch of beginners like me will really do.
On the F-rank recruitment board, I had already sent ten requests—and nine had been rejected. One reply was still pending, but at this rate, I didn’t hold out much hope.
“What am I supposed to do….?”
I flexed my fingers in midair and brought up my initial stats to review them. The guildmaster had explained that this action let me see my abilities and skills.
| ――――――――――― Name: Daishi Ajiri Class: Cleric Level: 1 HP: 10/10 MP: 15/15 Strength: 2 Endurance: 2 Agility: 1 Intelligence: 5 Mana: 10 Skill: 【 Clairvoyance (Lv.1) 】 ――――――――――― |
These stats, I was told, were rough estimates calculated from decades of data since dungeons appeared in the modern world, analyzed by AI. Not perfectly accurate, but if HP hit zero, you’ll be dead.
Skills were similarly generated, though I didn’t fully understand how.
This was my starting point as a dungeon explorer.
“Stat-wise, I guess this is really….. but the skill…”
The guildmaster had said that cleric’s usually started with a [Heal] skill, yet I didn’t have it.
Instead, I have [Clairvoyance].
“This is useful, right?”
I gingerly touched the floating status display and checked the skill description.
| 【 Clairvoyance 】: Allows viewing of a target’s stats and abilities. |
As I understood, leveling this skill would expand its range and functionality. For magical skills, higher mana typically meant more damage. Most skill effects could be researched online—but no guide I found even hinted at [Clairvoyance].
I guessed it was similar to an appraisal skill. Even the guildmaster had never seen it before. It was rare to start with a skill like this. However, it was useless in actual combat.
Being a healer, my combat abilities were abysmal. I couldn’t even be sure if I could harm an enemy.
Without a party, it was meaningless.
“Oh… the last reply came in.”
I could receive messages outside the guild terminal, but I wanted to handle this before venturing into a dungeon.
The message read:
“Die.”
….Seriously. Some days, the world offered no mercy.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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