An Old Man Restaurant Owner Is Unparalleled by Relying on His Old Tricks. It Turns Out, He’s the Legendary Dungeon Conqueror.

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Chapter 57: I’m Doing It Because I Like It

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“I’m sorry for always making you help out with the closing. But thanks to you, I can go home early now.”

“No, no. Don’t worry about it. I’m doing it because I like it. Besides, Manager-san is paying me properly for the amount of hours I worked.”

“Yeah, but to be honest, the hourly wage I offered is not enough compared to the work you put in.”

My restaurant closed at 9 PM, but I still had to clean up and prepare for the next day. So I usually ended up finishing everything around 10 PM. But thanks to Mao Osaka helping out with the closing duties, I was able to leave the restaurant around 9:30 PM.

“But still, are you really okay working all day long without taking a break?”

“Absolutely! I have no problem at all! Besides, Manager-san has it harder, right? I mean, you’re still diving into dungeons even on your days off…”

“No, it’s fine for me since I enjoy doing it.”

“Well, the same can be said about me! I like doing it, so it’s okay!”

Hmmm… While I was grateful for her help, but I couldn’t stop worrying about her. After all, I really didn’t see any benefit she could get from working at my restaurant. I heard she used to work as an explorer with an explorer agency. I wondered why she had to quit her job… Well, although I was curious, but I knew it wouldn’t be nice to pry too much. Hence why I never asked her about it.

“Manager-san, thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you for your hard work too.”

After locking up the restaurant, I parted ways with her. Our home was the complete opposite. Ken-chan Restaurant was located near a small station a few stops further west from Tachikawa Station, which was located in the Western Tokyo. Unlike the area around Tachikawa Station, which was bustling with people, there weren’t many shops around here and the area got dark at night. I watched her figure disappearing into the night. I couldn’t help but to wonder if it was okay for a young woman like her to be walking home alone late at night. However, she was also an A-rank explorer who could hunt Minotaur and High Orc easily in the lower level. I guess my worry was unprecedented.

“…But still, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being watched. I’ve been feeling this way since a while now.”

I was probably being followed by a scout. People had been trying to scout me in the past, but I always rejected their offer. Their numbers had dwindled significantly over time, but I guess there were persistent people who refused to give up.

“Of course, I don’t have the intention to entertain them.”

I muttered to myself before kicking off the ground. At the same time, I activated my stealth skill to blend with the darkness. This was a precaution to avoid having my home discovered by the scout. It was already troublesome enough that they showed up at my restaurant. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if they also showed up at my house.

I stepped onto the main street and headed straight north. Before long, I could see the apartment building where I live. The building was 35 years old. Since the building was quite old, the rent was very cheap in return. Not to mention, it was a 2LDK room, which was a bit too big for a single person to live in. But since the building wasn’t located at the prime location, the rent was only 60.000 yen per month despite its size.

“Well. All that’s left is to take a bath, drink a beer and go to sleep.”

Just when I was about to open the door to my apartment, which was room number 203…

“Hm? Someone is watching me?”

Sensing an unpleasant presence, I quickly turned around. However, that feeling dissipated in an instant.

“Maybe it was just my imagination? Come on, give me a break. Don’t show up at my home uninvited.”

◇　◇　◇

“Fufufufufufu…. Finally… I finally found God Old Man’s home… Fufufufufufufu….”

◇　◇　◇

On my next day off, I had another collaboration livestream with Miku Kanamoto. Of course, my niece, Koto, was here with us.

“I-I’ve been promoted to D-rank..!”

“Ooooh!! That’s amazing!”

Koto, who made her dungeon exploration debut during our last collaboration livestream, had been diving into dungeons in between her busy schedule as an idol. She kept accumulating achievement after achievement along the way. And so, she had become a D-rank explorer in just a month.

〈She’s a D-rank already?〉

〈She’s getting promotion at lightning speed.〉

〈She really is Nishida’s niece.〉

〈Her growth rate is incredible!〉

“You did well! It’s pretty rare to get promoted from F-rank to D-rank in just a month!”

〈So said the S-ranker who got promoted to S-rank from F-rank in an instant.〉

〈Nishida is an exception after all…〉

〈So Koto-chan is a D-rank explorer too? Just like Miku-chan?〉

“But, you’re not pushing yourself too hard, right?”

“Ye-Yes! I’ve only been exploring the upper levels and… Thanks to Uncle’s power leveling, I was able to handle the upper levels without any difficulties!”

“That’s right. You need to get more combat experience too. Just having your status leveled up is not enough. I think you should be able to handle the middle level without any issues now.”

Manager Kaga Reika, who was a B-rank explorer, gave Koto her stamp of approval.

“By the way, I’ve been promoted to C-rank!”

〈Miku-chan is a C-rank explorer!?〉

〈That’s amazinggggg!〉

〈Congratulations!〉

〈About time for her to get promoted.〉

“Is that so? Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Ken-san! It’s all thanks to Ken-san’s power leveling me!”

〈Power leveling is awesome~〉

〈Only if it’s Nishida doing it. LOL〉

〈Normal power leveling wouldn’t help much. Nishida is an exception.〉

〈I want Nishida to power level me too.〉