The next day.
When I entered the dungeon, the monsters I had caught suddenly appeared.
A Monster Tamer's monsters disappear when you leave the dungeon and reappear when you enter. It's strange, but apparently that's just how it works.
It's convenient, since I don't have to bother putting them into monster-holding balls like in games.
Well, since you can't use monsters outside the dungeon, the downside is that a Monster Tamer would probably be weak in a fight against another explorer outside unless they're a very high level.
Not that I want to get into a fight at all, so it's fine.
"Today, it's the second floor."
"Gyagya!"
"Purupuru."
As usual, I have no idea what they're saying.
The slime doesn't even make sounds, it just trembles and goes purupuru. I caught it myself, but what good are you anyway?
"Goblin at the front, slime in the rear."
"Gyagya!"
"Purupuru."
Don't these guys have any variety in their communication?
We're never going to understand each other.
Oh well, whatever. My goal is just to level up and live a rosy life. Just because I'm a Monster Tamer doesn't mean I need to bond with my monsters.
They're just lowly creatures and my tools. Since they're tools, I'll treat them decently, but I'm not thinking anything sappy like they're my friends or family.
Leading these lowly creatures, I entered the second floor. We advanced cautiously, hunting for goblins.
"Oh? There's one. I'm going to make that one my ally."
"Gyagya!"
"Purupuru."
The enemy goblin didn't seem to have noticed us yet.
"Go."
With a single order from me, my goblin ran forward and punched the enemy goblin. The fight was one-sided, probably due to a level difference between the goblins.
After a while, I had my goblin stop attacking and used Monster Taming.
"This is still fun to watch."
The enemy goblin, under the effect of the Monster Taming skill, twitched with its eyes rolling back.
Goblins are smelly and ugly, but the only fun part is when they show that crazy face from Monster Taming. Honestly, I'm aware that I have a tendency to recruit these goblins just to see that scene.
It's a pretty messed-up face, but there's an addictive quality that makes you want to see it regularly.
"Alright. We've got more allies. Let's level up steadily here."
"Gyach!"
"Gyagya!"
"Purupuru."
The goblin is fine, but the slime. You're not just a purupuru. You haven't done anything.
While feeling a bit stressed by the slime that contributes nothing to combat, we continued hunting on the second floor.
Goblin experience is 6.
This is overwhelmingly more efficient than leveling up against slimes on the first floor. However, the beginner's tutorial only goes up to the second floor, so reaching the third floor is probably still a long way off.
My level went up by 2 in just the morning. I want to become an explorer who can reach the third floor soon.
"Status."
Status
Name: Sakura Kikyo
Class: Monster Tamer
Lv: 5
HP: 21 (Up 4)
MP: 31 (Up 9)
SP: 2
Skills
Monster Taming 3
Tamed Monsters
Goblin Lv5, Slime Lv4, Goblin Lv4
Experience to Next Level: 48
---
As a result of defeating 17 goblins in the morning, I reached level 5.
It's common for dungeon explorers to move to the next floor as soon as they reach the appropriate level. Because if they don't, beginner explorers can't even earn a daily wage properly.
But for me, leveling up is the top priority, and I'm not at the appropriate level yet anyway, so I don't want to move to the third floor. I want to prioritize safety and take my time leveling up steadily.
Well, it's a bit odd for me to say that, since I fooled around and made a slime my ally.
"Purupuru."
Don't "purupuru" me. You seriously aren't useful for anything, are you?
"Hey, slime. I'm going to have you be useful for once."
"Purupuru."
If a lowly creature isn't useful, I have my ideas.
I decided to treat this slime as something unnecessary.
To be honest, I'd be much better off increasing the number of smelly, ugly goblins. Having a decoration nearby that doesn't participate in combat and just trembles purupuru is nothing but stress.
What's more irritating is that it parasitizes us and only its level goes up nicely.
Some people might think I'm cruel, but just imagine being in the middle of a life-or-death battle while a decoration that goes purupuru on the sidelines is the only one leveling up.
It's annoying, right?
"Perfect timing, here comes a goblin."
I picked up the slime and, using my enhanced physical abilities, threw it at the enemy goblin with all my might.
A loud bang echoed, and the enemy goblin easily collapsed and turned into smoke.
Even for a backline class, apparently at level 5 you can take down a level 1 goblin just by throwing something at it.
Well, if that weren't the case, I'd struggle when I go to higher floors and might even die.
Level is justice, after all.
"I guess even a mere slime won't die that easily since its level is up."
I threw it expecting it to die, even if it was just a slime.
But it survived stubbornly.
"Huh? Oh?"
When I checked my status screen, for some reason, for this goblin only, I had gained 12 experience points.
"Was it a rare one?"
Probably not.
That goblin didn't seem rare or strong at all. It was a normal goblin, no color difference or different shape.
Did I meet some condition? But what condition...
"Oh. I see."
Due to the characteristics of the Monster Tamer class, when a monster defeats an enemy, the same amount of experience goes to both the Tamer and the tamed monster. Also, when the Tamer directly defeats a monster, the same amount goes to both the Tamer and the tamed monster.
In other words, by using the slime to defeat the monster, the game might have judged that both the slime and I defeated it simultaneously, so the experience points doubled.
But wait, is that really possible?
If it is...
"This is totally a bug."
Now that 80 years have passed since dungeons first appeared, research on dungeons has been steadily progressing.
But there are still many mysteries. What are magic stones? What is magic? We don't understand the fundamentals at all.
The experience system also remains unexplained.
Of course, there's no way we know who created dungeons in the first place. Most people just assume the gods created them.
However, even if we don't know who made them, we do know that everything seems to operate according to some kind of system or rules. I've never even heard of bugs existing.
"A bug. Yeah, it's definitely a bug..."
If this were a game, it would be something to report to the administrators.
But this bug benefits Monster Tamers, and I don't even know who the administrators are. I think I should at least report it to the Dungeon Association, but I want an advantage just for myself.
Probably...
"There's a chance I'm the only one who knows about this."
All people who get the Monster Tamer class treat their monsters well. In fact, people who get the Monster Tamer class tend to be the type who can treat monsters kindly.
That's only natural, since monsters are tools for them to succeed as explorers. I also treat my monsters decently as lowly creatures, and my first reaction is "yeah, that makes sense."
But there are few people like me who blatantly treat monsters as tools. Maybe none at all.
Under these circumstances, a normal Monster Tamer would never notice this experience bug. Because no one would ever think of directly using their monsters as weapons.
"Alright. From now on, I'm going to use you to level up like crazy, so I'm counting on you."
That means it would be a problem if you die too easily. Even if I'm using you as a disposable tool, it's more efficient if you last longer. I'll level up while checking the monster's HP each time.
Well, this is a dungeon. There are plenty of replacements to throw.
Even if you die, I don't care.
The operation name is: "Even If You Die, There Are Others."