The mechanical voice gradually faded from Ryota's ears.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a dull throbbing in his temples.
The DanMachi world: gods, Familia, Dungeon...
He'd transmigrated into Naruto's universe, trained frantically in the Trial Space until he awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, and then the moment he stepped through the door—bam—he ended up in Orario's Babel Tower?
"This is getting ridiculous."
Muttering softly, he lifted his head to look at the still-nervous Lain.
"Hey... Lain, can you do me a favor?"
"Huh? Of course, Senior! Anything!"
Lain immediately stood at attention, his face stiffening with tension.
Ryota coughed lightly, then extended a hand:
"Could you lend me a bag for storing magic stones?"
Lain froze for two seconds before hurriedly taking off the backpack slung behind him, holding it out with both hands:
"H-Here you go! We have extras, take it freely!"
Ryota accepted the bag and nodded his thanks.
He raised his eyes, glancing toward the passage behind them:
"When I came down, I cleared out all the monsters from floors one to four, and even the early areas of the fifth floor."
"They probably won't respawn for a while, so you should be relatively safe heading back."
In the DanMachi world, the number of monsters spawning was fixed, with respawn times varying by floor, typically no longer than a day.
Well... assuming Ryota remembered correctly.
Lain nodded repeatedly, relief clearly visible in Lia and Lota's faces behind him.
They were badly wounded; even running into the weakest goblin at this point could mean their deaths.
"Thank you, Senior! Truly, thank you so much!"
"We owe you our lives today!"
Lain bowed deeply once more, then carefully supported his teammates as they began their slow, cautious journey back.
Ryota watched their retreating figures until they disappeared, then emptied the bulging pockets on either side of his clothes into the borrowed backpack.
With a sigh, he plopped down on the ground, resting his chin in one hand as he gazed upward at the softly glowing cavern ceiling, thoughts racing through his mind.
This world was definitely DanMachi, no question about that.
But... what timeline was he currently in?
That white-haired, protagonist-like "saintly rabbit," Bell Cranel—had he appeared yet?
Had Hestia, the clingy goddess with the iconic blue ribbon, descended to the mortal realm already?
Had she successfully recruited her first Familia member?
He had absolutely no clue.
"That's the biggest issue with transmigration."
"You never know if you arrived before the plot, in the middle, or after it's already ended."
Ryota sighed softly, rapidly running through various possibilities in his mind, only feeling a growing headache the more he considered it.
Thinking about Hestia, the goddess with assets that defied gravity, Ryota hesitated briefly before decisively crossing her Familia off his mental list.
"For now... let's exclude the Hestia Familia."
"Sure, her unconditional 'I'll-give-you-everything-if-you-even-glance-at-me' affection is tempting, but honestly, I can't handle that."
"What if I'm just sleeping, and suddenly she prepares an eight-course meal, brings tea, washes my feet, and tearfully confesses her undying love..."
He rubbed his temples, feeling genuine stress:
"That's not a Familia—that's a guilt trip."
"The Freya Familia... also off the table."
"It's definitely one of Orario's top-tier powers, especially with someone like Ottar, that level-seven superhuman beast."
Ryota narrowed his eyes slightly,
"That Familia... to put it nicely, they're fanatically loyal. To put it bluntly, it's basically a cult for obsessive simps."
"Not to mention, the goddess herself... isn't exactly clean."
Thus, both "Hestia Familia" and "Freya Familia" were immediately eliminated from Ryota's considerations.
That left him with three viable options:
"Hephaestus Familia," "Ganesha Familia," and "Loki Familia."
These three factions were legitimate powers in Orario, with solid strength, influence, and stability.
As for those like "Apollo Familia" or "Soma Familia," Ryota didn't even bother considering them.
One was absurdly flamboyant and notorious for causing trouble, the other was practically a cult brainwashed by booze.
Oh, and he'd almost forgotten the "Ishtar Familia," full of fierce Amazonian beauties with ample assets.
As enticing as that might seem to a self-proclaimed man of culture like Ryota, their line of work wasn't exactly clean either. Besides, there was that infamous man-killer among them—just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
Shaking his head slightly, Ryota snapped himself back to reality.
"Let's return to the surface first."
"I'll scout out a reliable Familia and complete this 'Main Quest' as quickly as possible!"
Standing up, Ryota walked toward the scorched patch of ground nearby, where he'd incinerated the War Shadow earlier.
The rock surface still bore scorch marks from the intense heat, yet in the very center of the charred area, a faint blue glow shimmered gently.
He walked straight over, bent down, and picked up the magic stone, noticeably larger than the ones dropped by goblins, tossing it into his backpack.
Just as he stood back up, a faint metallic glint at the edge of his vision caught his attention.
Ryota raised an eyebrow slightly, brushing aside some rubble.
Underneath was a finger-shaped weapon gleaming with a cold metallic sheen.
But it felt more like a severed limb from some monster than a forged weapon.
He picked it up, weighing it thoughtfully:
"A drop item? If I'm remembering correctly, this thing's called a 'War Shadow's Finger Blade,' right?"
In this world, monster drops were usually valuable items.
Anything brought up from the Dungeon could easily be sold in Orario, where guilds and merchant associations specialized in buying such materials.
Especially items from elite monsters like War Shadows—known as rookie killers—these materials were especially rare.
Even if they weren't crafted into high-quality weapons, selling them to alchemy workshops for research purposes would fetch a handsome price.
"No wonder there are so many Dungeon adventurers..."
Ryota murmured thoughtfully,
"Resources, a ready market, and a well-established recycling mechanism—all that's missing are adventurers strong enough to survive long enough to bring stuff back."
He glanced at the bulging backpack, stuffed full of magic stones and loot, jingling with the heavy, satisfying sound of money:
"Suddenly, joining a Familia doesn't seem so appealing."
"Maybe... I should just set up a stall instead?"
Meanwhile, on the Dungeon's sixth floor...
The Loki Familia members, currently retreating from a failed expedition, slowly advanced forward.