DNSG CH 06

Myojin’s guess had been correct. Apparently, Hikari had been listening to everything the others were saying. He simply hadn’t shown it on the outside.

For some reason, Myojin felt a bitter taste in her mouth as she glared at the people whispering among themselves.

“Really? That’s great, then.”

“What?”

“I’m usually pretty lucky. Hmm, no. Saying I have good instincts would be more accurate.”

She held out the cardboard box to Hikari, whose body had gone stiff.

“No matter how messed-up the situation gets, I’m not going to die that easily.”

There was a strangely confident edge to her voice.

“All that talk about how you’ll become unhappy if you stay with him, or how you’ll die…… Those are just excuses made by weak people.”

“……”

Hikari didn’t take the object she offered, but he didn’t move away either. He simply stood there, biting his lips nervously.

For Myojin, that alone was enough of an answer.

His drooping white ears slowly lifted.

“If you don’t need it, just throw it away.”

“No……!”

Startled, Hikari hurriedly grabbed the box. Soon, the tips of his ears turned slightly red.

“Thank you. I’ve…… never received a present before.”

“It’s nothing.”

Strictly speaking, it was more accurate to call it recycling than a present.

Myojin almost corrected him, but then slapped her own lips shut.

“!”

Hikari’s golden eyes trembled violently in surprise.

His expression seemed to ask, Why……?

“It tickled.”

Myojin quickly added the excuse.

Hikari nodded.

“What should I call you?”

He asked while fiddling with the box he had received as a gift.

“!”

A fluffy tuft of pure-white fur brushed lightly across Myojin’s thigh.

Her body instantly stiffened.

A scent, like the smell of wet grass on a meadow, suddenly wafted toward her and tickled the tip of her nose. Every nerve in her body went on high alert at once.

‘That startled me.’

She forced out a trembling voice, like someone barely managing to breathe.

“……Myojin.”

“Myojin.”

Hikari parted his damp lips and rolled her name over the tip of his tongue.

Myojin looked at him as he gave a small nod. His expression was subtle, impossible to read.

No, she didn’t have the luxury to figure out what he was thinking. All her attention was focused on the soft sensation tickling her thigh.

“I’ll accept the present.”

Hikari picked up the cardboard box and withdrew his tail.

‘Did it have dust on it or something?’

Myojin rubbed her still-tingling thigh vigorously as she thought.

Apparently, she might have a cat-fur allergy. Her chest felt itchy.

[Hikari (님) has remembered your name.]

[Due to meeting the conditions, Taming Proficiency has been activated.]

Huh?

Myojin immediately opened her status window to check the changes.

• Name: Myojin

• Class: Apprentice

• Dungeon Owned: –

• Taming Proficiency: (NEW) C

• Unique Skill: Unreleased Setting Book

She had done nothing more than exchange names with Hikari, yet her Taming Proficiency had changed.

The grades displayed on the status window were broadly divided into S, A, B, C, and F. Among them, C-rank wasn’t exactly an impressive stat.

‘Putting that aside, was the target of Taming not monsters, but NPCs?’

Confused because her prediction had been wrong, Myojin noticed that the Taming Proficiency grade was glowing.

Almost as if hypnotized, she clicked the text floating in the air.

★ Taming Proficiency <C-Rank>

• When the skill is activated, the chance of persuading an extremely stubborn, my-way-or-the-highway individual increases slightly.

Myojin thought Taming Proficiency was similar to the existing affinity system.

Players could build affinity through NPC quests. Once affinity reached a certain level, they could obtain rare items.

‘Then if I raise Taming Proficiency to S-rank, will I get some kind of special item reward?’

It was a fairly plausible hypothesis.

ᕷ˖° Break Over ᕷ˖°

A sudden ringing bell shattered the peace of the lounge.

As always, Rune appeared by tearing through the air like a sheet of paper and walked toward the tightly wound group of people.

“Everyone, did you have a good rest? Unfortunately, our sweet break is over. I’m sure you’ve all gotten acquainted with your teammates, right?”

The noisy lounge became eerily silent as if someone had flipped a switch.

Everyone held their breath and listened carefully to Rune.

“Oh, my. There’s no need to be so nervous.”

Rune curled the corners of his mouth into a wide grin.

“This is merely an exam to select the official Dungeon NPCs. Now, shall we begin the real test?”

With a light snap of his fingers, the scenery before them began to shake.

The place where they had been standing changed as though the screen itself had transitioned.

📍 World Tree’s Roots – B2, Main Training Center

The space was three times larger than the place Myojin had seen when she first entered this world through the VR Watch.

Hundreds of monitors covered every wall, displaying jungles, coastlines, caves, cliffs, and various other types of dungeons that were all familiar to Myojin.

It felt as though she were standing inside a gigantic control room.

“I hereby reveal this year’s examination!”

Every monitor flickered simultaneously, flooding the screens with text.

>> 237th Dungeon Maker Examination <<

Protect the dungeon for the duration of the time limit.

Rune’s voice echoed from speakers all around them.

“Each of you must maintain the number of monsters in your assigned dungeon for the duration of the time limit. Simple enough, right? You have one hour.”

A new number filled the screens.

Time Remaining Until Mission Ends

01:00:00

Once again, it was a countdown to death.

“Whether you can finally get rid of that apprentice label will be decided after the mission ends. Of course, so will whether you survive.”

Rune spoke jokingly, but no one could bring themselves to laugh along.

The steadily ticking numbers looked like a time bomb.

“As is customary, all eliminated participants will be disposed of. There will be no exceptions.”

The moment Rune finished speaking, a notification window appeared before Myojin’s eyes.

[A new mission has been registered.]

Dungeon Maker Examination – <Dungeon Monster Management>

• If the monsters in the dungeon are wiped out, you will be eliminated from the examination.

Eliminated applicants will immediately be disposed of.

They had been given a quest where failure meant nothing but death.

The screams of Team 4, who had fallen underground as an example to everyone else, still echoed in Myojin’s ears.

As she looked at the despairing faces around her, a chill ran down her spine at the sight of Rune’s gleeful expression.

“Well then, good luck to everyone.”

Snap!

With one final snap of his fingers, every participant was transported into the dungeon displayed on the screens.

Everyone except one person.

“……Is there some kind of weight limit on the teleportation?”

Myojin, left standing all alone, cautiously asked.

Only then did Rune realize that something had gone wrong and raise his eyebrows.

There was no way the perfectly constructed teleportation magic formula could have been incorrect.

He snapped his fingers again, but Myojin still remained exactly where she was.

“This…… can’t be happening.”

His low growl came out with the same broken, creaking quality as when he had swallowed Team 4.

He lowered the microphone he always carried and strode toward Myojin.

‘What is this? What’s going on?’

Myojin was just as confused.

She had to endure the gaze of his brown eyes, filled with both curiosity and wariness, staring directly at her.

Cold sweat gathered on her clenched fists.

Myojin held her breath and desperately searched her memories.

She tried to recall anything she knew about Rune, the squirrel beastfolk, but nothing came to mind.

It felt as though a fog had settled over her memory storage.

“That’s strange. I’m not usually someone who makes mistakes……. I’ll take care of it immediately.”

Rune opened the bag hanging over his shoulder and began rummaging through it.

Just then, something caught against Myojin’s heel.

She bent down and picked up the object rolling across the floor.

The moment she touched it, information about the item automatically appeared.

[Pinecone Bomb]

A special bomb made by squirrel beastfolk! It may look small and unimpressive, but its power is tremendous.

Warning! Its effectiveness can vary greatly depending on the creator’s stats.

Myojin quickly read through the information.

Before Rune could notice anything strange, she swiftly held the purple pinecone out to him.

“Here.”

“A small token of appreciation for the apprentice’s kindness.”

Rune grinned and handed the pinecone bomb back to her.

Myojin accepted it reflexively and looked at Rune.

“……Huh? Wait a second.”

Rune, who had been smiling pleasantly, suddenly froze.

He immediately sprang to his feet and stared intently at Myojin.

His narrowed eyes gradually widened before gleaming sharply.

‘What? Is there something on my face? Is it because I secretly took two drink pouches from the lounge?’

All kinds of thoughts flashed through her mind in that brief moment.

“Oh-ho…….”

A strange, low laugh escaped between his small lips, carrying an unmistakable chill.

“A non-standard candidate…… How interesting.”

His curled tail trembled.

This was not mere curiosity.

The gaze of a predator that had discovered its prey bore intensely down upon Myojin.