My Refrigerator Turned Into A Dungeon
Chapter 301

Special Labyrinth Entry License Application 3

When dungeons appeared in the world, humanity was utterly shocked and frightened by these mysterious labyrinths.

However, once it became clear that the strange monsters in the first underground layer weren’t much of a threat to humanity, people began to relax.

"Ha, a dungeon? Easy, easy. We can handle it."

But that was only true for the shallow layers, and those who ventured deeper, such as Self-Defense Force personnel, saw horrors beyond their imagination.

Despite the government's warnings about the dangers, ordinary people, driven by curiosity and novelty, kept trying to enter the dungeons. Over time, these overconfident individuals went deeper and deeper, becoming lost and never returning.

Still, human foolishness couldn’t be stopped.

The number of people entering dungeons without permission continued to rise, and each time, their families would create a fuss, demanding the government and the media search for them.

Frustrated with this ongoing cycle, the Japanese government decided to open a few dungeons to the public, saying, "We’ll make places like fishing ponds for you, so don’t enter random dungeons and play here!"

This decision had a certain effect, as previously unreported dungeons were gradually reported, and those who entered unauthorized dungeons were increasingly seen as responsible for their own fate. However, it was only after this that people realized they could gain powerful skills.

Two dungeon stampedes later, humanity found itself in a tight spot. If another stampede occurred, it was predicted that there would be a severe lack of combat strength.

Japan, in particular, was in a critical situation.

While petty online harassment and real-world violence never ceased, they were relatively minor compared to the looming crisis. The country, too accustomed to peace, found itself woefully lacking in truly capable people when danger arose.

But this was inevitable.

Unlike other countries with mandatory military service, Japan had been repeatedly cautioned by foreign nations to remain pacifist, ever since its militaristic past, leaving it with very little military strength.

As a result, Japan's Self-Defense Force was in a dire state, having suffered losses of over 20%.

This wasn’t because the Self-Defense Force was incompetent, but because enemy forces had flooded its own territory, and they couldn’t fully utilize their firepower. In other words, "There’s no way we can use cannons in the middle of the city!"

Sadly, the Self-Defense Force had to bear the cost of this lack of readiness in terms of human casualties.

The real problem now was the country’s future defense. Sado Island remained occupied by the C country, and preparations had to be made for the next dungeon stampede.

As a result, the Japanese government established the Special Labyrinth Countermeasures Department and put dungeon abilities under its control, hoping to utilize them as combat strength in times of crisis.

(Hmm, well, it’s not like I have much of a choice now. My identity’s already exposed, and there’s no escaping it…)

While waiting in the hallway for my interview, I flipped through the textbook, thinking about such things.

I had planned to speak to Kumokai-san, but he was so full of energy after obtaining his skills that as soon as the lecture ended, he stood up and rushed straight to the interview room.

"Next, five people, please enter."

It seemed my turn had come, so I entered the room.

There, sitting across from a folding conference table, was a group of older women dressed like shamans, resembling Itako. From their atmosphere and presence, they seemed to be dungeon ability users.

(Mm… What’s this? Are they planning to use people with spiritual talents like a sort of identification device!?)

It didn’t seem like these elderly women would personally enter a dungeon. Perhaps they were planning to have such true spiritual ability users obtain stats and use their enhanced abilities to gather information from spirits, or maybe perform some kind of spiritual mind-reading.

(So this is what they’ve got up their sleeves… the Japanese government is truly frightening. I never expected them to have such a hidden card…)

By the way, I believe that a skill like [Appraisal] doesn’t really exist.

For example, imagine a student with only high school knowledge, like A-kun, gains the [Appraisal] skill. If they activate it, I don’t think they’d immediately say, "Oh, that’s called XXXX!"

That’s because identification is a task that requires specialized knowledge to be meaningful.

Even for something as simple as a stone on the side of the road, unless you’re familiar with mineralogy or geology, identification would be impossible. Similarly, identifying a random plant requires cross-referencing with a plant encyclopedia, which would involve an immense amount of information.

So, to use [Appraisal], you’d first need to have all that vast knowledge beforehand.

Therefore, a skill like [Appraisal], which allows someone to know information they have no prior knowledge of, would technically not be identification. It would be more like accessing some external database for information—something like [Appraisal], perhaps.

But even that could overload the human brain if there are no safeguards in place when accessing vast amounts of information.

Still, it would definitely be a useful skill.

As I was thinking this, I noticed an elderly woman with a rather severe expression, looking like she stepped out of a Miyazaki film, beckoning me.

"You’ve got soot on your back..."

Unnecessary concern.

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