NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 18
2-10. Sasara and Lulu Also Got Job
By the time we reached the safety zone, the surroundings were dyed red in the twilight.
Meiko felt relieved, thinking it was dangerous how the dungeon of lolis didn’t have the natural passage of celestial time.
“The hour of meeting evil, as they say.”
Sasara gazed at the torii gates lining the mountain slope from the window of the Japanese-style house and muttered to herself.
“Yeah. It really felt like we could’ve been spirited away or something.”
While picking up on Sasara’s words, Meiko lit the fire in the hearth.
The firewood was stacked beside the house, but it seemed they had to prepare the fire themselves, so Lulu used the lighter from her backpack to ignite the wood.
“Oomagatoki?”
“Yeah. I heard that people in ancient Japan feared the time when twilight began to darken. They thought they might encounter monsters or that children might disappear somewhere. That’s why it’s called the ‘hour of meeting evil.'”
Meiko answered Lulu’s question as she watched her work nearby.
“Hah!? Now that you mention it, in Japanese anime, when everyone’s playing during sunset, you have to be careful. If you hear the ‘kanakana’ BGM, it’s already over!”
“Lulu-san, that’s not BGM. It’s the sound of cicadas, called higurashi.”
“Ruu, so that’s how it was ne. I thought it was a Japanese-style horror effect.”
While the two were talking, Meiko vaguely imagined such a scene.
She couldn’t recall any specific titles, but it definitely felt like something that could happen.
Even as a modern person, Meiko felt something eerie about the twilight, so it must have been even scarier for people in the past.
The sunset in this mountain dungeon emphasized the eeriness of the “hour of meeting evil.”
The crimson torii gates cast multiple shadows on the red-stained stone pavement, and outside the gates, the mountain trees rustled their leaves as if announcing the start of the time of monsters.
This might be the kind of “hour of meeting evil” scenery that ancient Japanese people saw, something Meiko and the others had never experienced.
After lighting the hearth, Meiko and Lulu also gazed at the mountain scenery beside Sasara.
They didn’t speak much, but they tried to make it look good for a Winshita moment.
However, the scenery captured on their smartphones didn’t convey the eeriness they felt.
Instead, the sea of clouds spreading from the foot of the mountain shone in a golden-red hue, making it simply a beautiful sight.
Well, it was still pretty, so it wasn’t a bad thing, but for Meiko, who wanted to show everyone how eerie this time could be, it felt like a bit of a failure.
An early owl began to hoot, and night arrived without waiting.
Once the sun completely set, lanterns lit up all over the mountain.
The red endless torii gates, illuminated by the lanterns, had a spookiness that made it feel like they could be taken to a land of monsters, while also evoking the mystique of a place where gods reside.
“At night, the enemies might change.”
Meiko said, observing the drastically changed dungeon.
The other two nodded, having thought the same thing.
In any case, it was too scary to go out into the field.
Night also arrived inside the house, and the fire they had lit earlier in the hearth stretched their shadows on the wall. It should have been a safe place, but there was an undeniable atmosphere.
Inside the hearth, they roasted Rabbit meat that occasionally dropped from the Pestle Rabbits.
Lulu skillfully sharpened branches she had picked up outside with a small sickle and skewered the Rabbit meat.
Each of them held one of these makeshift skewers, seriously focusing on the Rabbit meat at the tip.
Sasara, being cautious, kept her distance, while Lulu avoided direct flames but brought hers close to the burning wood.
Meiko, on the other hand, was all in.
At one point, Meiko’s skewer caught fire and broke, causing the Rabbit meat to dive into the fire like a baked potato, but aside from that mishap, the three of them each ended up with their own cooked meat.
They ate the dripping Rabbit meat, saying how delicious it was.
They had to encourage each other like this, or they might have cried.
Being together made it bearable, but the reality of staying overnight in the mountain was planting a seed of homesickness deep in their 15-year-old hearts.
Under the nostalgic glow of the hearth fire, they could feel that seed growing.
They noticed it too and tried to distract themselves with idle chatter to keep it from sprouting.
By the way, only Meiko’s meat ended up mostly burnt, so she was teary-eyed for a different reason.
After finishing their meal, they wiped themselves with a towel dampened by Lulu’s water art and found themselves with nothing to do.
Meiko thought it was a waste of time, so she started enhancing their equipment with [Synthesis Strengthening].
Since their magic would recover over time, she wanted to do as much as she could now.
Lulu also wanted to boost her magic a little, so she faced the garden through the window and chanted, “Nin nin.”
“Oh my?”
Suddenly, Sasara raised her voice with a question mark above her head.
“What’s wrong?”
Meiko stopped her [Synthesis Strengthening] and asked Sasara.
It seemed Sasara had been looking at her status.
“Next to my job, it says ‘changeable’. Meiko-san, what does this mean?”
“Wait, seriously!?”
Meiko’s eyes widened in surprise.
This was both fortunate and dangerous.
According to the Professor, it was proven that jobs could be obtained after entering the vortex gate on the first floor.
It didn’t matter whether the gate was blue or red.
In other words, no matter how long you adventured on the first floor, you couldn’t get a job without entering the gate.
Meiko and the others hadn’t passed through any gate in this dungeon yet.
The fact that they could now get jobs meant that this dungeon didn’t have clear boundaries between layers like gates.
Furthermore, it was also a discovery that you could get a job even while crossing layers, but that wasn’t important right now.
Meiko suddenly remembered the checkerboard-patterned doll.
It was likely that the switching point was near this safety zone.
Was there a return gate somewhere along the way?
Or was this a dungeon where you couldn’t leave until you cleared it?
Meiko felt a sense of urgency.
Still, first things first—they had to celebrate.
If Meiko showed her anxiety over Sasara getting a job, it would make Sasara feel pitiful, so she decided to put that aside.
“Congratulations! Hey, Lulu, Lulu. Can you check your status too?”
“Nyau!”
“Since Sasara can choose a job now, you’re next, okay?”
“Huh? …Oh, it’s true!”
Leaving Lulu, who had immediately started staring at her status, for a moment, Meiko turned back to Sasara.
“So, so, what can you choose?”
Meiko set aside her thoughts for now and simply congratulated her.
“Let’s see… High School Girl, Airhead, Lady, Apprentice Recorder, Apprentice Swordsman, Apprentice Knight… Wait, airhead?”
As if she had been insulted, Sasara made a shocked face.
Meiko, who had Loli High School Girl as a job option, thought being an Airhead wasn’t so bad.
High School Girl and Apprentice Recorder were options Meiko also had.
The Airhead option was probably because Sasara occasionally said airheaded things.
The Lady option might be because she speaks formally?
Apprentice Swordsman was fitting since she used a Pestle sword.
Apprentice Knight… maybe because she protected Meiko from the Checkered Doll?
“What do you want, Sasara?”
“Apprentice Knight.”
“Not the Lady option?”
Of course, Meiko would stop her from choosing that right now, but she joked about it anyway.
Then—
“Being a Lady isn’t a job. It’s a way of life for a woman.”
Sasara said firmly, and Meiko felt scales falling from her eyes.
“Okay. Then let’s go with Apprentice Knight!”
“Yes!”
And so, Sasara became an Apprentice Knight and started spacing out as her job information installed.
Next, Meiko turned to Lulu.
“What options do you have?”
“Hmm… High School Girl, Airhead, Bunny Girl, Apprentice Recorder, Apprentice Swordsman.”
She skipped one, but it was as expected.
Lulu probably got the airhead option because she genuinely believed in Pekatwo. Come to think of it, Sasara also thought Pekatwo existed overseas.
Apprentice Swordsman was because she used a Pestle sword.
Apprentice Recorder was likely because Lulu didn’t map but took photos instead.
Bunny Girl… probably because she was wearing Rabbit gear.
However, the available jobs didn’t end there.
Lulu continued.
“And also, Apprentice Ninja, Apprentice NINJA.”
“Huh? There are two Apprentice Ninja options?”
“?”
Lulu tilted her head in confusion.
Or maybe she said it twice because it was important?
“Noa. Apprentice Ninja and Apprentice NINJA.”
“Hmm?”
Completely lost verbally, Meiko asked to see Lulu’s status window.
Sure enough, there were both Apprentice Ninja and Apprentice NINJA.
By the way, status windows are automatically translated into the language most understandable to the reader.
This also applies when viewing someone else’s status window.
The Professor had told them that after receiving reports of even animals possibly gaining skills, experiments showed that animals could also summon status windows.
This was how that fact was discovered.
Anyway.
Lulu’s job options indeed included both Apprentice Ninja and Apprentice NINJA.
Meiko was stunned.
If you want to know more about a job, you can get a brief description, so she asked Lulu to check.
Apprentice Ninja: Specializes in scouting and stealth.
Apprentice NINJA: A path of Ninja with no intention of hiding.
That’s what came up.
By the way.
Bunny girl: One who exudes a bewitching charm. Hop!
It had the potential to be a surprisingly fun option.
Setting that aside.
“Lu, Lulu, which one do you want?”
“Apprentice NINJA!”
Lulu said with a bright smile, but since it was verbal, Meiko couldn’t tell which one she meant.
But she figured it was probably the one with no intention of hiding.
“Then let’s go with that, okay?”
“Nyau! Now I’m a shinobi too!”
She definitely won’t be hiding, though.
As Lulu took on the job, her blue eyes widened, and she spaced out.
Meiko felt the urge to stick her finger into Lulu’s defenseless mouth but resisted the temptation and waited patiently.
Beside her, Sasara was still spacing out.
The two beautiful girls had such embarrassing expressions. Meiko really wanted to stick her finger in their mouths. Must resist!
Once the two had finished processing their jobs and returned to reality, they decided to hold a little presentation.
“Okay, Sasara first. What’s your status like now?”
“Please wait a moment. Let’s see, it looks like this.”
Sasara brought up her status, and Meiko looked at it with her.
―――――――
Sasagasa Sasara
15 years old
Job: Apprentice Knight
Karma: +1622 《Got a Job +30》
Level: 4
Mana: 11/11
Skill:
[Armor Performance Up – Small]
Job Skill:
[Knight Techniques]
[Sword Principles]
[Strength Up – Small]
[Auto Recovery – Tiny]
[Knight’s Physique]
Title:
[The One Who Congratulated Earth-san]
―――――――
“Oh! You look strong!”
When Meiko praised her, Sasara puffed up proudly.
“But, your mana has decreased?”
Hearing that, Sasara’s proud expression deflated.
“When you take on a job, your mana decreases by the amount required for passive skills. Don’t worry, you’re definitely getting stronger!”
“Passive skills? What does that mean…?”
Since Sasara didn’t play many games, she didn’t understand passive skills.
Some people wouldn’t know, so Meiko carefully explained it to her.
Once Sasara understood, it was Meiko’s turn to learn about [Knight Techniques].
[Knight Techniques] was a flying slash attack called Slash Sword.
Meiko had heard about a similar skill from the Professor.
It seemed that jobs using swords had these flying slash-type attacks.
The attack power was the same as a normal slash, but it had a range of about three meters and was extremely fast.
[Sword Principles] was a skill classified as a principle type, which increased the speed of technical mastery.
Similar skills had been found in many jobs.
Likewise, [Knight’s Physique] was a growth-boosting skill found in many jobs.
As the name suggests, training with it would help one develop a knightly physique.
Meiko’s [Magician’s Discipline] was a similar type of skill.
Now, next up was Lulu.
Here were her stats:
―――――――
Nagare Lulu
15 years old
Job: Apprentice NINJA
Karma: +1785 《Got a Job +30》
Level: 4
Mana: 13/13
Skills
[Apprentice NINPO]
Job Skill:
[NINJA Techniques]
[NINJA Principles]
[Agility Up – Small]
[Stand Out]
[NINJA Physique]
Title:
[The One Who Congratulated Earth-san]
―――――――
Meiko gulped.
F-First, she needed to hear about it.
She turned to the beaming Lulu and asked about her skills.
Unlike Sasara’s straightforward set, Lulu’s required almost a full rundown.
Here’s what she learned:
―――――
Apprentice NINPO
For some reason, [Apprentice Ninja] had changed. The effect was the same.
Consumes mana when used.
NINJA Techniques
Allows for high jumps. Temporarily increases movement speed.
Both consume mana when used.
NINJA Principles
Increases the speed of mastering stylish martial arts.
Stand Out
When a strong attack lands, visual effects appear.
NINJA Physique
Develops a stylish physique. For women, a kunoichi-specific version.
―――――
“I don’t really get it, but it sounds strong!”
Honestly, Meiko was really jealous.
Especially [NINJA Physique]—she wanted it so badly.
With this, her legs would get longer, and she’d develop a perfect hourglass figure.
She needed it…!
On the other hand, [Stand Out] made no sense to her.
It probably contributed to the max mana cost, but the effect seemed like a joke.
Incidentally, the Professor had said that beginner jobs granted six job skills.
However, if a skill from Earth-san overlapped, it would already be part of the person’s skill set, so it wouldn’t appear among the job skills.
In some cases, overlap was possible, but not always.
In this case, Lulu, of course, and apparently Sasara’s [Armor Performance Up – Small also overlapped, so both only received five job skills.
Still, no one expected Lulu’s [Apprentice Ninja] to change into [Apprentice NINPO].
For now, Meiko had the two move around indoors to test things out.
Sasara had a lot of passive skills, and she was especially surprised by [Strength Up – Small].
Since she was a girl and not that strong to begin with, the boost was obvious.
Her sword swings became faster, and her club-like sword whooshed through the air, ready to smash things apart.
“Ohohohoho! I feel like I could lift a car now!”
That was, of course, impossible.
“This is amaziing! Nin-nin! Fwaah, nin-nin! Ninninninnin!”
Meanwhile, Lulu’s abilities were also very clear.
Her temporary speed boost consumed mana, but it was incredibly fast.
It seemed perfect for emergency dodges or exploiting brief openings.
With her high jump, she could easily touch the high ceilings of an old Japanese-style house.
Both abilities cost 4 mana to use.
While this impromptu showcase was happening, Meiko continued her [Synthesis Enhancement].
Eventually, excitement and exploration fatigue caught up with them, and the three drowsily huddled together and fell asleep.
―――――――
《Kismian Language Lesson》
Noa: Means “No, that’s wrong.” A feminine phrase.
―――――――
[Current Equipment]
Meiko
Water Grimoire 58/125
Mini Scissors 100/100
Club Handle Sword 100/100 ATK 14
Jersey Top 100/100 DEF 12
Jersey Bottom 100/100
Sneakers 55/100
Socks 55/100
Fingerless Gloves 125/125
Sasara
Jersey Top 100/100
Jersey Bottom 100/100
Sneakers 55/100
Socks 55/100
Belt Choker 50/50
Lulu
Small Scythe 0/125 ATK 14
Club Handle Sword 100/100
Overalls 100/100
Dress Shirt 100/100
Socks 55/100
Shoes 55/100
Bunny Ear Band 65/125
Bunny Tail 30/125
Belt Choker 50/50
[Party Inventory]
Various snacks, Rabbit meat, drinking water, etc.
Multiple dropped Rabbit materials and magic stones.
Meiko’s dungeon gear and miscellaneous items.
Appraisal gem, unknown coins.
※ Three pieces of Pestle Rabbit fur can restore surface-made clothing to 100/100.
―――――――