The Best Party, [Guardians Of Dawn]

The deepest reaches of the newly discovered dungeon, [Black Abyss].

There, a party of five adventurers was currently exploring, carefully keeping watch over their surroundings.

Their name was [Guardians of Dawn].

It was the greatest party in the world, and I—Shin—was a member of it.

“Shin. We’re getting close to the boss room. Do you need a break?”

“No, I’m fine, Alto-san!”

I answered confidently when Alto-san, the party leader, asked me that question. He was a handsome young man with slightly long blond hair who walked at the front of the group.

As the weakest member of the party, I participated in explorations as a porter and support member.

Since I was exempt from fighting monsters, I couldn’t afford to complain about being tired.

“Are you sure? Well, if you say so. But tell me right away if you ever get really tired. You’re an important member of our team, after all.”

“Yes!”

Perhaps understanding my determination, Alto-san showed no displeasure whatsoever and instead expressed his concern for me with his usual kindness.

While I was grateful to Alto-san for that, I also felt that I couldn’t remain a burden to the party forever.

“…I want to become stronger so I can contribute to the party as soon as possible.”

As I murmured those words, I recalled that incident that had led me to join [Guardians of Dawn].

It had happened just one year ago.

A powerful monster had attacked the village where I lived.

The monster was a B-rank dragon species, and the fighting forces of a rural village like ours hadn’t even been capable of putting up a resistance.

As a result, every villager except me had been wiped out.

In an instant, I had lost everything—my family, my friends, and the people who had helped me.

—However, at the same time, I had also gained something.

And that was everyone in [Guardians of Dawn].

When I regained consciousness, a dragon’s corpse was lying nearby, and Alto-san and the others stood before it with their weapons drawn.

That’s right. Alto-san and the others had defeated the monster responsible for destroying everything I held dear.

Afterward, Alto-san found me, the sole survivor, and said something.

“Would you like to join our party?”

Having lost everyone and everything I could rely on, Alto-san seemed to shine like a beacon of hope before me—and before I knew it, I had taken his hand.

Now, I could confidently declare that accepting his offer had been the right decision.

That was precisely why I felt so strongly about it.

I wanted to repay Alto-san and the others for everything they had done for me.

I wanted to grow stronger as quickly as possible so I could fight alongside them.

Perhaps they had heard me muttering to myself.

The other three members, excluding Alto-san, approached me almost simultaneously.

“What’s this, Shin? You’re saying that again? Well, I don’t dislike that way of thinking! The most important thing for a man is the strength of his will! No matter how weak you are, as long as you’ve got the will to fight, there’s nothing to worry about!”

“Oh my, this is why muscleheads are so troublesome… Shin, there’s nothing wrong with thinking deeply about things, but you mustn’t let it show on your face. Always remain noble, graceful, and beautiful, no matter the circumstances. That is what matters most.”

“What are you two talking about? The most important qualities are intelligence and pride. Shin-san, no matter what happens, you must never stop thinking.”

Garen, the warrior, was a muscular man whose short brown hair suited his rugged appearance.

Sierra, the Saintess, was a girl with an alluring figure, long, shimmering pink hair, and beauty so extraordinary that everyone who passed her couldn’t help but turn their heads.

Cedric, the Sage, was an intellectual-looking man with yellowish-green hair who wore a monocle.

Hearing the three of them offer their usual, completely different opinions for what must have been the hundredth time since I joined the party, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

It wasn’t just Alto-san. I was reminded once again that everyone in [Guardians of Dawn] was irreplaceable to me.

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

That was why, as always, I nodded enthusiastically in response.

Afterward, as I watched Alto-san and the others resume their exploration, I suddenly began wondering just how long it would take me to catch up with them.

With that thought in mind, I opened my status screen.

Statuses and skills were powers bestowed upon humanity by the gods to help them fight against monsters.

My current level was 30, considerably higher than the average level of 20 for adventurers with one year of experience.

That was entirely thanks to Alto-san and the others, who allowed me to safely gain experience points by fighting monsters stronger than myself.

Next, I lowered my gaze to the skill section.

There, clearly displayed, was my unique skill, [Infinite Regeneration].

—Unique Skills.

These were special abilities that only one person in the entire world could possess.

One of their defining characteristics was that many possessed effects far more powerful than ordinary skills.

However, my unique skill, [Infinite Regeneration], did nothing more than automatically heal my injuries.

Although convenient, its effects weren’t even as powerful as low-level healing magic.

Because of that, people had always dismissed it as a useless skill.

To tell the truth, when Alto-san first invited me to join the party, I had assumed it was because I possessed this unique skill.

Even now, I vividly remembered how my heart had nearly burst from anxiety when I explained that its actual effects weren’t anything special, fearing that he would abandon me once he learned the truth.

But Alto-san had been different. Even after learning that my [Infinite Regeneration] was considered a useless skill, he had continued to welcome me with the same kindness as before.

That was precisely why I found myself thinking about it once again.

I wanted to become stronger as quickly as possible and be of use to these people.

(…Well, I have no idea how many years it’ll take, though.)

My current level was 30.

Meanwhile, Alto-san and the others—there was actually another member who simply wasn’t accompanying us today—had an average level exceeding 300 among the five of them.

It would take me at least ten years to reach that level.

And considering that Alto-san and the others would continue growing stronger during that time, it would probably take even longer before I could actually catch up.

(But I’m going to do it anyway!)

I wanted to repay the kindness they had shown me.

Once again, I made that vow in my heart.

Several dozen minutes later.

Beyond a vast hall that appeared to be a safe area, the boss room awaited us.

As we stepped inside, the dungeon boss appeared before us.

“Grrrrrrrr…”

Standing there was a beast-type monster with distinctive black fur.

The monster growled as it glared at us.

I checked the monster’s status.

Coincidentally, the monster was the same level as me.

“Well, we accepted a request to investigate this newly discovered dungeon, so we’ll need to defeat the boss to confirm what rewards it offers for clearing it…”

As Alto-san spoke, he glanced toward me.

“This is a good opportunity. Since it’s only this level, Shin, why don’t you try defeating it on your own?”

“Y-Yes!”

After nodding at his suggestion, I drew the dagger from my waist and faced Black Fang.

The amount of experience points gained from defeating a monster increased the stronger it was compared to yourself, while weaker monsters yielded less experience.

That was why Alto-san always left the fighting to me in situations like this.

With everyone ready to intervene if anything went wrong, I could safely level up.

And this time was no exception—

“Haaah!”

“Gyaah!?”

—Approximately five minutes after the battle began.

The dagger I swung successfully carved a deep gash across Black Fang’s chest, delivering the finishing blow.

Immediately afterward, several system notifications rang out.

Upon hearing the system notifications, I clenched my fist tightly.

“Yes! I leveled up!”

Filled with a sense of accomplishment, I checked my status.

Compared to before, I could see that each of my attributes had increased slightly.

Incidentally, whenever someone leveled up, their HP and MP each increased by a random amount between 1 and 10, while the other five attributes, such as Attack, each increased by 1.

In addition, leveling up granted 5 SP (Status Points), which could be freely allocated to any attribute except HP and MP.

However, things seemed to be a little different this time.

Besides the SP I had received from leveling up, I had also gained another 10 as a reward for clearing the dungeon.

And I wasn’t the only one who benefited from that reward.

“Oh, so the reward for clearing this dungeon is 10 SP. That’s far more generous than I’d expect from a level 30 boss.”

Behind me, everyone, including Alto-san, was looking at their status screens with thoughtful expressions.

Unlike experience points, which were awarded only to the person who fought the monster, dungeon clear rewards were granted to every party member present.

That was why Alto-san and the others had received the same reward.

And as for why he had described the reward as unexpectedly generous for a level 30 boss, the reason was fairly obvious when you thought about it.

After all, 10 SP was mathematically equivalent to gaining two levels’ worth of bonus Status Points.

Although SP couldn’t be allocated to HP or MP, some people might even consider it more valuable than leveling up once, since all those points could be freely assigned to whichever attributes they preferred.

Now, after hearing all this, some people might think that repeatedly clearing dungeons that offered rewards like these would be a more efficient way to grow stronger than defeating monsters for experience points.

Unfortunately, however, that wasn’t possible.

And the reason was—

“Still, that makes it all the more disappointing. It’s a shame we can only receive the clear reward from the same dungeon once.”

—exactly what Alto-san had just said.

Dungeon clear rewards could only be received once per dungeon.

Although the exact mechanism remained unknown, prominent scholars had speculated that dungeons might record information about those who cleared them by registering their souls.

Regardless, one thing was certain.

The idea that someone could become the strongest simply by endlessly defeating level 30 monsters like the boss we’d just fought was nothing more than a pipe dream.

(I guess there’s no choice but to keep moving forward, one step at a time.)

“All right, let’s head back.”

“Yes!”

Having reached that conclusion, I followed Alto-san.

—It was only one minute later that an entirely unexpected sight appeared before us.