'Demons, a Demon God, a holy order serving the one true god, and mages...'
Having heard such an utterly ridiculous story, my brain couldn't keep up for a moment. But I couldn't not believe it either. I'd witnessed some crazy woman actually using magic, and right in front of me, Rio had demonstrated the Red Demon Tribe's specialty by conjuring a small fireball.
'Why?'
I'd just fallen asleep while playing a game... Why had I suddenly been transported to this world? And with abilities from a 'Cleaning Game' of all things? Who did this? For what purpose?
"Mister, are you a half-breed?"
"A half-breed?"
In the midst of all that, Rio thought I was a 'half-breed.' The woman I'd seen earlier had said the same... When I asked why she thought that, she explained that on this continent, black hair was a symbol of human-demon hybrids.
And those hybrids were shunned by both humans and demons alike...
'What kind of world is this?'
But apparently, that's the world I was in now? Oh, fuck me.
"Haa... Let's move for now."
"Huh? Where to?"
"Let's head outside first. You said you found a door out there and came in, right?"
My head was starting to ache, but rather than dwelling on it, I decided to get moving.
Now that it was clear this wasn't a dream, I couldn't just stay in this unknown space casually cleaning forever. Besides, all there was here were corridors covered in strange mucus.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"A demon half-breed? And one who uses high-level magic?"
"Yeah... They dispelled my spell effortlessly and unleashed water magic even more advanced than mine at an insane speed!"
After receiving urgent treatment from the priest and regaining her senses, Arcna told her comrades everything she'd witnessed without omission.
"...No way a half-breed wields magic like that."
"Aren't half-breeds all just half-assed?"
The demon hunters who'd heard Arcna's explanation whispered among themselves, exchanging opinions. Honestly, it was hard to believe her, but seeing Arcna—the second strongest among them—return in such a pitiful state made it seem unlikely she was lying.
"Exactly! And they deliberately let me go! To scout our position!"
"Even if that's true... what good does knowing where we are do them?"
Unlike Arcna, who was breaking out in cold sweat, her comrades remained calm. They'd been hunting demons as their profession for over five years now. They'd taken down all sorts of flying and crawling beasts, even wiping out entire demon villages. They were far too confident to get spooked over some half-breed story.
But one among them—a green-haired man—listened to Arcna with utmost seriousness.
"...Could it be a dungeon?"
"...?!?"
"What, a dungeon?!"
At the words of the green-haired man, Rox, the group froze and stared at him before bursting into laughter all at once.
"Hahaha! No way!"
"Right! As if a new dungeon would pop up now!"
A dungeon. An unknown space spawned around an artifact called a 'Dungeon Core.'
An item that grants the chosen demon the position and power of 'Dungeon Master.' Humanity's greatest threat to the Holy Empire Yukram. But...
"It's been ages since a new dungeon last appeared!"
Mysterious spaces like dungeons vanish once their central 'core' is destroyed. Even so, new ones would always crop up somewhere on the continent, as if maintaining their numbers...
But conversely... if you didn't destroy them, no new dungeons would appear.
"Thanks to the previous emperor's policy of maintaining dungeon numbers, it's been nearly 80 years without a new one... And you're saying one popped up now?"
"And if a real dungeon did appear... the Dungeon Master is that half-breed?"
"What? Not even a full demon, but a half-breed? That'd be hilarious! Kahaha!"
Thus, the group dismissed Rox's words lightly, chattering away. But Rox ignored their reactions and focused solely on Arcna.
"You said there was a strange entrance in the middle of the forest."
"...Yeah."
"You remember the location?"
"Yeah... Why?"
"Why? Well..."
Stroking his prized weapon—a Holy Relic—Rox grinned deeply.
"You figured our position's already compromised anyway, right? That they're after something and scouted us out."
"...Yeah."
"Then it's simple."
He lightly swung the spear in his hand, Holy Relic - Baikal, glowing with green light. From the tip, droplets of ominous liquid fell with a plop.
"Eek! Watch out!"
"What the hell, Rox! Trying to kill us all?"
The hunters, who'd been laughing noisily, scattered in panic. The drops that hit the floor began corroding it bit by bit, rising in green smoke.
"Lead the way, Arcna. I don't know what that half-breed bastard's scheming or how they got that power... But if you're this freaked out, I'll kill 'em for you."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇-Shwaaaah...
"Amazing! Are you a mage, mister?"
"This is new to me too."
With the [High-Pressure Cleaner] continuously spraying water, I cleaned the filth clinging to the dark corridor and slowly advanced. Trailing right behind me, Rio stared at my [High-Pressure Cleaner] in wonder. I'd brushed it off earlier thinking it was a dream, but yeah, it was a pretty neat gadget.
'What's the principle behind it? Did those science nerds finally invent a Bluetooth showerhead?'
Whatever. No matter how much I examined it, I couldn't figure out how it worked, so I set that aside. Sure, I could just leave, but why was I bothering to clean the corridor with cleaning tools on the way out...?
+10p
'There it is!'
The system message I'd been waiting for finally appeared. As soon as it popped up, I set down the cleaning tool and opened the [Shop].
🛒 SHOP 🛒- Category: [Equipment] [Detergents] [Furniture] [Staff] ...
A [Shop] window appeared before my eyes, looking just like an online shopping mall. I'd suspected as much once points showed up... Nice. The [Shop] window existed exactly like in the game.
I navigated the familiar [Shop] window and found the item I wanted.
[Cleaning Mask (Lv. 1)]: 30p
'Got it!'
I spotted the product type I wanted and bought it immediately. I'd been curious how it'd appear after purchase... and poof—a pristine white mask materialized in my hand.
"Rio. Wanna try this on?"
"Like before?"
"Yeah."
Thanks to the [Cleaning Mask] I was wearing, I couldn't smell anything, but I remembered the horrific stench when I'd briefly taken it off. We'd cleaned the corridor somewhat, but this lingering odor was still there, and naturally, Rio could smell it too.
After healing Rio and following her guidance through this suspicious structure's corridors, I'd noticed her pained expression and belatedly realized it.
So I'd taken off my [Cleaning Mask] and handed it to her, figuring I'd tough it out...
The staff member's rank is too low to equip this item.
...Only for that message to pop up, and the mask to reject her.
Only then did I recall that I'd registered Rio as [Staff], so I opened the [Staff Management] window to check her info properly.
👤 STAFF: RIO 👤Race: Red Demon Tribe *[Incinerator] usable. *Can clean 'Flame' type contaminated zones. Rank: 1-Star (★☆☆☆☆) *Promotable upon meeting conditions. Traits:[Effort]: Promotion EXP rises 20% faster. Reduced chance of slacking during tasks. [Loyalty]: No 'Escape' events. [Endurance]: No complaints even under harsh cleaning duties.Talent: (Locked) *Unlocks at 2-Star. Status: Normal
'...Mostly like what I remember.'
There were a few differences, though. For starters, there was no 'Red Demon Tribe' race in the game. I could hire 'Mutants' for radiation zones sometimes, but I swear, nothing like that existed in the game.
Otherwise, it was pretty much the same as the staff system from the 'Cleaning Game' I knew... But the '1-Star' rank caught my eye. Come to think of it, in the game, equippable gear levels depended on staff rank...
'Maybe?'
That's why I'd suddenly started cleaning, amassed enough points, and bought a Lv. 1 [Cleaning Mask] instead of my max-level gear to give to Rio...
"Whoa! I can't smell a thing!"
"...Good."
This time, thankfully, Rio equipped the mask without issue. Seeing her so happy warmed my heart, but...
'...What the hell is this system, really?'
Watching the cleaning tools, [Shop], and [Staff] functions work flawlessly only deepened my confusion. Why did I get these ridiculous powers...?
"Light."
"There! That's the door I came through!"
Not as far as I thought. Makes sense—considering Rio's condition earlier, she couldn't have walked long, so it had to be close.
'But even if I get out, then what?'
If this really was the bizarre otherworld Rio described... Even escaping this weird structure, what could I do?
From what she'd said, black hair seemed like a symbol of discrimination here... What if I went out and ran into racist assholes who killed me?
...No idea. I didn't know what to do next, but first, I had to escape this filthy place...
-Thud!
"Ow!"
"Ah! Mister! You okay?"
"Ugh... What? What'd I hit...?"
⚠️ SYSTEM WARNING ⚠️You cannot leave the Cleaning Area until cleaning tasks are complete!
"...What?"