After teasing Jeanne until her face was bright red, Ronan let the girl go. He looked around at the messy battlefield and waved at her.
"You used a lot of energy. Rest for a bit and recover. Use a Potion, and don't be stingy. Regular Potions aren't that expensive. I'll pick up the loot."
[Origin]: Blue Pharmacy
[Type]: Potion
[Effect]: Slowly restores stamina and reduces fatigue.
[Description]: A sea-blue liquid, usually kept in small glass tubes with wooden stoppers. Price is 500 Valis. A must-have for adventuring and exploring the Dungeon.
Potions like these were carried by everyone, from Level 1 rookies to Level 5 or Level 6 elites.
They did not have the strong healing effect of a High Potion, but they could restore stamina and reduce fatigue.
In a place like the Dungeon, where danger could appear at any moment, keeping your strength up and recovering quickly was a basic skill for every adventurer. Most importantly, these things were cheap. At 500 Valis, almost anyone could afford them. They were standard gear.
Jeanne nodded and did not waste time. She took a Potion from her pouch and drank it.
After finishing it, she did not stay there to rest. Instead, she walked to the entrance of the chamber and kept watch.
"The fight lasted a long time, and the Killer Ants kept coming. It made a lot of noise. It probably stirred up this floor. Other adventurers may have noticed. We should be careful."
Her reminder made Ronan alert. The logic he had pushed aside in the heat of battle came back at once.
A sense of urgency hit him, and he immediately sped up his looting.
...
"Magic stone, magic stone, still just magic stones..."
Ronan mechanically broke apart the monster remains and pulled out the magic stones. As his [Magic Stone Bag] grew fuller, his face went blank.
The two of them had killed several waves of Killer Ants. Altogether, there were somewhere between 100 and 200 of them.
Looking at the [Experience Pool] on his panel gave him a rough idea.
The number had jumped from 8,800 to 9,000.
Of course, that was the total number of monsters killed during the whole trip.
But even after killing that many, he had not seen a single Drop Item.
He had not even seen a [Drop Chest], which had an extremely low drop rate from the system.
With the rates this low, it was no wonder the market prices for Drop Items and Dungeon materials kept rising.
Ronan crouched on the ground, annoyed. He kicked a burnt ant corpse near his feet to vent his frustration.
Then his knife cut into another broken corpse with a familiar motion. This time, the result made him freeze.
"Did I finally get lucky?"
"Heh, a Killer Ant Shell. It's an excellent material for making armor, so the price is high. It can sell for about 60,000." With that extra profit, Ronan finally felt a little better. At least this trip had not been a loss.
By his rough estimate, if he had only relied on the basic income from magic stones, he would have made about 50,000 Valis.
Compared to a normal five-person Level 1 adventurer party that made 20,000 to 50,000 a day, that was already a lot.
But this was only because of the unexpected Monster Party.
The number of monsters had exploded. Since the two of them survived the pressure, the rewards were naturally higher. But this was not normal.
If he only counted the magic stones, after subtracting the cost of potions, food, and equipment maintenance, their actual profit would be just over 30,000.
That did not even include the value of their time and effort.
Ronan and Jeanne only made this much because they were strong enough to move through the upper floors without fear. Along with that unexpected monster surge, they reached this level of profit.
Normally, with their strength, making 20,000 to 30,000 Valis a day was standard.
Of course, that was on the 7th floor, and only if they did not go deeper.
...
After happily putting away the Drop Item, Ronan worked even faster. Soon, he finished with the pile of burnt bodies. He turned and walked toward the entrance where Jeanne was standing guard.
Compared to his side, Jeanne's side looked even worse.
Green blood was everywhere. Severed limbs, broken heads, and shells were piled up at the entrance. It looked like hell.
But Ronan and Jeanne stayed calm. They were already used to scenes like this.
"?"
As soon as Ronan crouched down, he froze.
"A Killer Ant Shell? That's pretty lucky." He grinned and put it away.
But soon, Ronan could not smile anymore. As he kept working, more and more Drop Items appeared. Then, a glowing golden [Drop Chest] that only he and his Familia could see appeared as well. The smile on his face vanished completely.
"What's wrong, Ronan? Isn't that chest a good thing?"
"Then why do you look upset?"
Jeanne asked curiously, confused by his reaction.
Ronan: "..."
He stood up silently. His eyes twitched.
He walked toward the chest with stiff movements and stared at it. He took a deep breath, then finally snapped.
"Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of discrimination?" Faced with the huge difference in luck, Ronan felt real despair. "The gap between people is just ridiculous! Damn Orario!"
This was Jeanne's first time in the Dungeon. She killed monsters, got a whole bag of Drop Items, and even a [Drop Chest] appeared.
And him?
He might not see a Drop Item for a whole month. He relied on magic stones for his normal income.
He had worked hard as an adventurer every day, yet this was the first [Drop Chest] he had seen in six months.
"Jeanne, I'm really glad you're here." Ronan pulled Jeanne toward him and hugged her roughly, finally feeling a little better.
"W-What are you doing!" Jeanne's face turned bright red. She tried to push him away in a panic. "S-Someone is coming! Put the things away!"
"Tsk..." His mood was ruined.
But he quickly hid the golden [Drop Chest] and the bag of loot.
Even though other people could not see the [Drop Chest], it was still safer to hide it right away.
"Let's leave quickly. If people see us, your plan to keep a low profile will fail." Revelation was still active. Her high perception let Jeanne easily hear adventurers approaching.
"Okay. Let's take the side route and avoid the main path to the lower floors." They pulled up their hoods. Using the parchment map as a guide, they quickly moved in the opposite direction.
Ronan looked back at the ruined chamber full of corpses. Then he pulled up his mask and disappeared into the darkness.
...
...
On the main route of the 7th floor of the Dungeon, adventurer groups were passing through one after another.
Ronan and Jeanne had started very early.
It had been over an hour since they reached the 7th floor, and now the morning rush had begun.
In a tunnel near the battle site, a group of adventurers was walking.
They were moving through the Dungeon, but they looked relaxed. They did not have the tension that low-level adventurers usually had down there.
Instead, they looked far too calm.
That meant they were either reckless rookies or confident veterans.
Obviously, these girls belonged to the second group.
"Did you hear a strange sound?"
"A strange sound? No."
"Don't worry. This is the 7th floor. It's probably just Killer Ants or Needle Rabbits giving some rookies a hard time. If they can't win, they can run. At worst, they'll learn the hard way. It won't kill them."
"Exactly. Even with bad luck, it wouldn't be an [Irregularity]. How unlucky would someone have to be? Hehe."
"..."
The girl who first noticed something twitched her pointed ears and listened carefully. Soon, her friends stopped laughing. Their smiles disappeared, replaced by serious looks.
They realized something was wrong.
They heard dense, rustling sounds. They also heard weapons clashing and magic exploding.
"This is..." The female adventurers looked at each other, surprised and concerned.
"Wait, those are intense fighting sounds. And... those footsteps are way too dense. Is it a swarm of Killer Ants?" A girl with fiery red hair in a ponytail and a sword at her hip shouted.
"Oh no, it's an [Irregularity], a [Monster Party]. Some adventurers are being cornered. We have to save them!" A girl in a green cloak spoke and rushed toward the scene at once.
"You and your big mouth!"
A beautiful black-haired girl in a wine-red kimono glared at her leader and chased after her.
"Wait, seriously? Is someone really that unlucky!?" The red-haired swordswoman froze in surprise.
Then she ran after her friends at full speed.
"I hope they're okay."