While Ren Isana and the others were absolutely slaughtering everything on the 39th floor of the Dungeon, many who had obtained their strategy guide also began to make their moves. Knowing exactly where to go based on their strength, these adventurers naturally had a clear plan in mind.
For those looking to farm money, the 16th floor was the best choice. It housed a specific type of monster that dropped metals used in forging weapons—materials that weapon shops desperately needed.
Thanks to this information, the first choice for many weaker adventurers was to head straight to the 16th floor. It was profitable and easy to farm. Who could refuse?
Of course, the stronger adventurers naturally opted to delve deeper. Even if they couldn't reach the very bottom, the monster materials from the lower floors were undoubtedly much more valuable.
It was safe to say that Ren Isana's guide had successfully recommended the most suitable hunting grounds for everyone. Because of this, Ren and his group—along with Maya's shop—had become quite famous.
When Maya arrived early the next morning, she found her shop absolutely packed with people. Some even came specifically looking for weapon repair services. Fortunately, she had brought extra staff with her today; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to handle the sheer volume of business.
Ren Isana and his party, however, were completely oblivious to all of this. They were still busy purging the monsters on their current floor, only heading back up once their Spatial Backpacks were completely full.
Even though their Spatial Backpacks were stuffed to the brim, the monsters on this floor still hadn't been entirely wiped out. There were simply too many of them.
Returning to the 18th-floor Safe Floor to process their materials, Ren and the others finally saw the situation at Maya's shop. Business wasn't just booming—the shop had actually expanded! It was a little ridiculous.
As soon as Ren's group arrived, Maya immediately spotted them. Without a word, she ushered everyone straight to the back room before finally speaking. "I really have to thank you guys. This incredible business is all thanks to you."
An excited smile spread across Maya's face. Lately, her shop had seen an endless stream of customers, leaving all her competitors eating her dust.
Those other merchants had tried to copy her by releasing their own guides, but they simply didn't have the capability to produce anything original. All they could do was plagiarize, which was honestly just embarrassing.
After all, it wasn't that easy to copy something like this. Everyone knew the first guide came from Maya's shop. Plagiarizing it? Anyone with eyes could see right through it. Doing so would completely ruin a merchant's reputation, so anyone capable of opening a shop down here wouldn't stoop so low—they all cared about their face. Besides, Maya wasn't someone to be trifled with, so her rivals could only watch helplessly as her business flourished.
Hearing Maya's words, the group just chuckled, not taking the matter too seriously. Ren pulled out their latest haul of materials and stuffed them directly into the warehouse.
Once everything was sorted, they followed their usual routine: borrowing Maya's facilities to take a shower, eating a hearty meal, and then wandering around the Safe Floor to relax.
Maya also went over the previous accounts with Ren, letting them know exactly how much they had earned in a single trip. Since they didn't plan to stay long this time, Ren and the others simply hung out for a bit before heading back down.
Over the following period, the group came up once a week to offload materials before diving right back down. As time passed, more adventurers slowly began to venture into the deeper floors. Meanwhile, the Floor Boss on the 27th floor respawned.
However, it seemed this respawn resulted in casualties. When Ren and the others heard the news, they fell silent. Ren had written the boss strategy with crystal clarity, yet people still died.
They really couldn't blame anyone else—especially when they found out those idiots had used magic to attack the boss's red head. That little detail actually made Ren laugh. It seemed their casualties were entirely their own fault.
After all, Ren had explicitly written that the red head emitted a red mist that ignited Magic Power. He had made it so obvious, yet people still died? That was just them courting death. Who else could they blame?
Ren didn't pay much mind to it. It had nothing to do with him, and it wasn't like his group had killed them. Hearing these little pieces of gossip from time to time was one of their few sources of entertainment in the Dungeon.
It took Ren's group nearly two months to completely clear out the monsters on the 39th and 40th floors. The 40th floor, in particular, had the highest monster density, taking them a full month to sweep clean.
During this time, the Floor Boss on the 37th floor respawned as well, but it was instantly one-shot by Ren's group the moment it popped its head out. Having finally cleared the 40th floor, the party decided to withdraw. Their university life was about to begin.
Retreating from the 37th floor, they returned to the 18th floor. As soon as they arrived, Maya greeted Ren with some news. "You're back just in time. Your teacher is looking for you. That old hag Shizuka Hiratsuka told me to pass on a message: contact Natsuki-sensei once you're back."
Ren and the others paused for a moment before quickly nodding. "We were just planning to head out anyway. We can't push any further down right now. Maya, take this. You can publish it when the time is right."
With that, Ren pulled out a few sheets of paper and handed them to Maya. It was the map for floors 37 through 40. That was as far as they could go; anything deeper was currently beyond their reach.
In addition, Ren specifically noted the conditions of the lower floors—namely, that the unmapped floors were absolutely swarming with monsters. If anyone wanted to go down there, they had better organize a large-scale expedition force.
Maya looked over the maps Ren provided, a flash of surprise in her eyes. She nodded. "I'll make these public, though whether anyone actually dares to go down there is another story."
She already knew the lower floors were crawling with monsters, but she hadn't expected Ren's group to actually clear all the way to the 40th floor. That was seriously impressive. After all, many people hadn't even set foot on the 37th floor yet.
"Should we transport today's materials directly to the surface for you, or leave them here?" Ren asked after explaining everything.
Hearing Ren's question, Maya replied, "I'll head out with you guys. You can bring the materials straight to the surface for me, and I'll settle your accounts while we're at it."
Ren's group had handed over so many batches of materials that a massive amount of funds had piled up on her end. Since they were heading back, she needed to properly settle their payments. With that decided, Maya began making preparations.
After arranging a few things, she joined Ren's party and followed them back up. On the way, Sora couldn't contain her curiosity and asked Maya exactly how much they had earned this time.
Hearing Sora's question, Maya smiled brightly. "Your individual earnings for each trip are around fifty million. Think about how many times you've handed materials over to me?"
In reality, she had carefully calculated the profits every single time, and it was consistently around that amount. The total value was absolutely staggering. This meant she needed to pay out over three hundred million to every single person in the group.
Everyone heard Maya's words, and their eyes instantly lit up. Such a good thing actually existed? They had made over three hundred million in just two months? Wasn't that a little too amazing?
The thought made everyone thrilled. This was money they had earned with their own two hands—how could they not be excited? With this, they had thoroughly achieved financial freedom.
"Pioneering new floors really is the most profitable thing you can do. If we didn't have to go to school, I'd honestly want to keep going down and slaughtering," Leo said, his voice trembling with excitement. His sentiment was immediately echoed by the rest of the group.
If school wasn't starting soon, they really would have kept going. Making money at this speed was just too satisfying.
"Strength is the only absolute truth. The stronger you are, the easier it is to make money. Don't forget to focus on your strength just because you're busy getting rich," Maya couldn't help but remind them as she looked at the excited group.
Hearing Maya's warning, everyone quickly nodded. Naturally, they wouldn't forget that. Even though they now possessed Falna and could simultaneously earn money and increase their strength...
...some of the more profound magic could only be learned at the university. That was what they truly needed. As for money, as long as they had enough for now, it was fine. And right now, they certainly weren't lacking.
The group left the 18th floor and made their way to the surface. After exiting the Dimensional Rift, Maya took them to her shop on the outside and began settling their accounts.
She handed Ren a ledger containing detailed information and quantities of all the materials they had collected. Ren merely glanced at it before losing interest and passing it to the others.
To be honest, they didn't even know exactly how many materials they had gathered themselves. Besides, there was no reason for Maya to lie to them about this, right? It didn't matter whether they checked it or not.
Maya began transferring the funds to everyone one by one. The final payout was two hundred and fifty million per person—even more than they had imagined. By the time she finished, everyone's face was brimming with pleasant surprise.
"Alright, that should be everything. If you have any questions, you can contact me anytime," Maya said after finishing the transfers, adding one last reminder.
She had already given the ledger to Ren. If there were any discrepancies, they could check it themselves, and she would handle it later.
"No problems here. The numbers line up pretty well. It's about the same as when we sold materials before," Ren said, shaking his head. Everyone actually had a rough idea in their heads; they knew exactly how much those materials were worth.
After all, it wasn't like they hadn't sold them before. Even if there was a discrepancy, it wouldn't be by much. There was no need to nitpick over these details.
"To be honest, Maya, aren't you the one taking a loss by buying our materials in such massive bulks?" someone couldn't help but ask.
With materials, the greater the quantity, the lower the price. The insane amount of loot they had farmed down there was enough to easily crash the market, yet Maya had consistently paid them the same rate. No matter how they looked at it, she seemed to be taking a loss.
"While there's a huge supply of materials right now, the consumption rate is just as high! The hammers at the factories are practically smoking from overuse. Don't worry, your big sis here isn't taking any losses~!" Maya chuckled, completely unbothered.
Besides, just because she kept Ren's group's prices the same didn't mean she kept everyone else's prices the same. So, that issue simply didn't exist for her.
Hearing this, the group didn't dwell on it any further. Since Maya said so, what else was there to say? As long as she wasn't losing money, it was fine.
After finishing their chat with Maya and dropping off the rest of the materials, the group took their leave. At the same time, Ren didn't forget to send a message to Natsuki Minamiya, letting her know they had returned.
Natsuki Minamiya quickly replied, telling Ren and the others to gather at the school tomorrow. Seeing the message, Ren immediately announced, "Natsuki-sensei wants us to assemble at the school tomorrow morning."
Everyone quickly nodded. Sora, looking particularly excited, said, "It's probably to hand out our admission notices! There are only a few days left until school starts on September 1st. We'll probably be heading to Nexus Island soon."
Bringing this up sparked a flurry of excited chatter among the group. Everyone was incredibly looking forward to their upcoming university life—and the new dimensional gateways!
What kind of worlds would they encounter on Nexus Island? Would there be special races in those worlds? These questions filled them with burning curiosity.
The group returned to their city and disbanded, each heading to their respective homes. Ren, along with Asuna and the others, returned to his apartment complex. As soon as they arrived, they saw Hestia walking out of Ren's room.
Ren blinked in surprise at seeing Hestia coming out of his room. Hestia, upon spotting Ren and the others, instantly lit up with joy. "Ren, you're back! I was just cleaning your room for you!"
Hearing Hestia's words, Ren smiled and immediately thanked her. "Thanks, sorry for the trouble."
Hestia giggled at his response, quickly waving her hands. "It's nothing, it's nothing! I didn't have anything else to do anyway. Now that you're back, how long until you go down again?"
Hestia was worried that Ren and the others would be heading right back down into the Dungeon soon. If that happened, she would be incredibly disappointed.
"We probably won't be going back down this time. We're about to change maps and head somewhere else," Ren explained slowly.
Hearing this, Hestia's eyes instantly sparkled. They weren't going back down? The thought immediately energized her. That was fantastic news!
This meant Ren and the others would have a lot more free time! Just thinking about it made her happy. As for changing maps or whatever, Hestia didn't care in the slightest.
Her main priority was just having people to hang out with. Being cooped up alone every day was far too boring. And as long as they weren't diving into the Dungeon, she could tag along, right?
The more she thought about it, the more excited Hestia became. Seeing her silly grin, Ren felt a twinge of helplessness. Truth be told, he had been neglecting her lately.
She had followed them to this world, only to end up stuck at home every single day. She was probably feeling quite depressed about it. Moving to a new place might actually be good news for her.
With this in mind, Ren spoke up. "Hestia, come with us to the school tomorrow morning. Once we're done with our business, we can go shopping. We can also see what Natsuki-sensei has planned for you."
Among the people who had come over from Orario, Ais and the others had joined Ren's party, Riveria was busy with her own affairs, Tsubaki and her group had gotten their operations on track, and Miach had daily work to do. Hestia was the only one left with absolutely nothing to do.
Hearing this, Hestia perked up immediately. That sounded perfect! She was actually quite curious about what Natsuki Minamiya would arrange for her. After all, she really was incredibly bored right now.
"Okay!!" Hestia agreed without a second of hesitation, thoroughly delighted by the surprise.
After chatting with Hestia for a bit, Ren pushed open his door and walked in. Seeing this, Hestia didn't bother him any further; he had just gotten back and needed to rest.
Back in his room, Ren tossed his Spatial Backpack aside and headed straight for the bathroom to take a proper shower. As he was drying his hair, he looked at his reflection and suddenly had a pretty good idea.
With a mere thought, Ren exerted his control. His hair began to shrink and reshape itself exactly how he wanted. This was Yukino Yukinoshita's innate talent, [Body Control]—the ability to dominate every aspect of one's physical form, which naturally included hair.
Ren felt there was still a lot of untapped potential in this talent. After neatly styling his hair, he nodded in satisfaction. He even used the ability to completely eradicate his budding beard, hair follicles and all.
Having finished his grooming, Ren finally pulled out his phone to scroll through the latest news. He was surprised by what he saw—the top trending headline online was a Dungeon strategy guide?
It was sitting right at the top of the hot search list. Ren clicked on it, and as he read the contents, his expression turned a bit strange. Wasn't this the exact guide his group had released?
Even Maya's shop was heavily featured in the post. The Dimensional Rift they were exploring was currently the hottest topic on the internet. He just hadn't expected the information they released to blow up like this.
After a brief glance, Ren lost interest. When evening rolled around, he went out for dinner with Hestia and the others before returning to his apartment and crashing hard.
After grinding for nearly two months, Ren finally got a thoroughly satisfying night's sleep. The next morning, he woke up early and headed to the school with Asuna, Hestia, and the others.
Upon arriving at the school, Ren and his group noticed something unusual—there were a lot of students on campus today. It seemed they were all here to fill out their college applications? Though slightly puzzled, Ren didn't dwell on it and simply headed toward his classroom with the rest of the group.