Literature / Dungeon Busters

Clear all the dungeons!^note From left to right: Akane, Kazuhiko, and Mari.

Dungeon Busters (ダンジョン・バスターズ) is a Light Novel series written by Toma Shinozaki and illustrated by SenriGAN, which began publication in 2020. The novels are available in English via J-Novel Club.

Now and then, phenomena occur where mysterious 666 dungeons appear out of nowhere, bringing fortune or doom to the world in which they arise.

After going for a drink, a laid-back 40-year-old Ezoe Kazuhiko finds what appears to be the first dungeon in his own backyard. Out of curiosity, he decides to explore it, only to discover what at first appeared to be an endless source of wealth is actually a serious threat, leaving him with two choices, either clear all dungeons, or face the end of the world at the hands of the monsters that inhabit them.

Dungeon Busters provides examples of:

• Absurdly Sharp Blade: The Cosmic Zantetsuken that Kazuhiko obtains near the end of the first volume of the light novel. It's description claims that it can cut through everything except for "jiggly things".
• An Arm and a Leg: Kazuhiko loses his left arm against the minotaur boss at the final level of the Sapporo dungeon. Thankfully, it gets reattached thanks to the Extra Potions they have at hand but it doesn't dull the pain Kazuhiko went through.
• Blood Knight: Akira's bored of human fighters and wishes to see how far he can go. When Kazuhiko calls him "weak", Akira ends up being excited that there are far better challenges that await him in the dungeons.
• Captain Ersatz: President Ronald Howard from Gamerica is a stand-in for Donald Trump and the USA respectively, Peter Wozniak is Pete Buttigieg, Venisuela is Venezuela, Sina for China, Woori for South Korea, Kingdom of Ko for North Korea, Rushian for Russia, Reichman for Germany, and so on. Safe to say, it's set in an alternate universe of Earth as Word of God claims that in this world, the COVID-19 Pandemic never happened.
• The Chosen One: Subverted. Kazuhiko damned well knows that just because he has the status of the world's First Contacter, doesn't mean that he's the chosen hero. Indeed, he takes measures to prepare the world on clearing the dungeons themselves, with him becoming acquaintances with certain people from the JSDF.
• Crazy-Prepared: Kazuhiko makes damned sure that he and the rest of the world will be prepared to make sure they can even survive just the first floor of a dungeon. Indeed, he took so many preparations after he accidentally activates the first dungeon by making sure he can get a trademark of the "Dungeon Busters, Inc." name and use the money he earns to set up a website and the facilities needed for the first dungeon in his own backyard, "The Abyss".
• Despair Event Horizon: According to Akane, Earth isn't the first one to have dungeons appearing out of nowhere and indeed, the prologue of the light novel points out that this event has happened throughout other worlds and they've all failed. Akane also points out that whoever was the first to discover the dungeons ended up drinking themselves in despair after finding out that the world will end in a decade.
• Determinator: Other characters, including the prime minister, note that Kazuhiko's obsession with clearing dungeons goes way beyond simply atoning for the reason the world's in a mess. Kazuhiko explains that he wants to know the unknown to him.
• Deuteragonist: Joker, despite being built up as the Big Bad for wanting the world to get destroyed due to the injustices that the citizens of Venisuela and poor countries had to go through, gets the lion's share of the POV that's happening at another part of the world.
• Dungeon Shop: In volume three, Kazuhiko, Akane, and Akira find Rita the vendor who can exchange a certain amount of lower tier cards for one higher tier card. She's also monstrously strong as one kick from her sends Kazuhiko flying and smashed into a wall after attempting to intimidate her and tells him that she's Rank S. For comparison, Kazuhiko at this point is already at Rank B.
• The End of the World as We Know It: If all 666 dungeons are not cleared within 11 years, the remaining monsters of the uncleared dungeons will go out and destroy the world. Some people like Joker actually want this to happen as in his eyes, everyone will be equal in the face of death.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: While this doesn't stop the mafia from killing his mother due to them taking her hostage after Joker wipes out a branch of the mafia, Joker tells his mom that he's committed to his cause moments before he kicks the asses of the mafia. He then carries her to bed and uses her blood as makeup while tears pour down from his eyes.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Joker may have no problems killing off corrupt leaders and even letting his men rape women due to his philosophy of wanting to enjoy the present due to the world ending, but he makes sure that children are left unharmed as he believes that Children Are Innocent and that as adults, they're responsible for a child's happiness.
• Experienced Protagonist: Downplayed from the reader's perspective as Kazuhiko is a 40-year old man, but even he's not foolish enough to go down a dungeon unprepared. The rest of the world however sees him as the world's leading expert in dungeons.
• First Contact: Kazuhiko ends up being the first person who ends up discovering a dungeon, triggering the dungeon network.
• Formerly Fat: Kazuhiko is a chubby middle-aged man, but after his experience in The Abyss, everyone notes how muscular he is and how young he looks. Indeed, this becomes the sales pitch for those who join the dungeon boot camp. It ends up working as Mutsuo goes from a fat, middle-aged man, into a slimmed, muscular man who no longer needs his glasses as much. The manga however depicts him as his slimmed up self from the get go.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: After accidentally triggering the acceleration of all the dungeons appearing all at once by stepping inside the Osaka Dungeon, a Rank S dungeon named Avaritia, Kazuhiko gets slapped by Yukie and tells him to get a grip as his mission still hasn't changed.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Myu is equipped with gloves by Mari and becomes one of the best strikers of the group. Kazuhiko's flabbergasted as to why a rabbit, known for their leg strength, is capable of punching things.
• Happiness in Slavery: Attempted by Akane who tries to obtain the "Sex Slavery Necklace" card, only for Kazuhiko to slap her hand and puts the card under his "Sealed" binder, much to her dismay.
• Hero of Another Story: As even Kazuhiko knows that he can't clear all 666 dungeons by himself especially if they're located at different parts of the world, there are other stories by other people who end up going on their adventures on their dungeons in their own country. Rolf Schnabel from the newly reformed Crusaders from the Vatican and an unknown man, later known as Demon King Joker from South Gamerica are examples of these.
• How Unscientific!: Despite the fact that he's the most experienced person in the world when it comes to dungeons, even Kazuhiko's stumped as to how things and even monsters work. The response from the party is that "it's a dungeon" becomes a Running Gag before Kazuhiko retires the gag at the end of volume one.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Kazuhiko reiterates this repeatedly to the people he talks with due to the potential the dungeons have. Indeed in volume 3, Demon King Joker had a really rough life, including his mother's death at the hands of the Venisuelan cartel at South Gamerica, and reveals the Dark Secret to the entire world. Then again, he does have a Freudian Excuse.
• Internal Reveal:
  • The readers already know that Kazuhiko is the one who discovered the first dungeon of the world and its Dark Secret where if the world doesn't clear it within ten years, the world will end. The rest of volume one then has a few people finding out about the fact that there's a time limit for clearing the dungeons.
  • To get become a Rank A buster, the Rank B buster must first clear a Rank B dungeon. Mifa spells this out to Joker right away before Kazuhiko finds out just a chapter later after having a "Eureka!" Moment.
• Killer Rabbit: The Osaka dungeon has rabbits as the enemies of the first floor. One of the female participants who was also an anti-war activist attempts to pet the rabbit, only for her to find out the hard way that the monsters are very dangerous and chews off her nose. She only manages to survive thanks to the exam proctor saving her while chewing her out.
• Loveable Sex Maniac: The more Akane spends her time with Kazuhiko, the more she wants to bang him in all sorts of ways. Kazuhiko ultimately relents but only after he got strong enough to protect himself.
• More Expendable Than You: Plenty of characters all out Kazuhiko that he shouldn't just get himself killed off as he's become a beacon for solving the mystery of the dungeons. Akira and Mutsuo tell him this after he barely survived having his arm chopped off and later on, Yukie gives him a slap for him thinking that it's all his fault that the dungeons appeared far earlier than scheduled after stepping into Avaritia for the first time.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Though many characters attribute that it wasn't his fault and there's no way he could be punished by law for accidentally discovering the dungeon system and later on, accelerating the process of the dungeons appearing all at once due to him stepping inside a Rank S dungeon while being a Limit Breaker, Kazuhiko feels that he's very responsible for the state of the world to be out of whack.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Akira finds out the hard way that just because he's considered to be the World's Strongest Man on Earth, doesn't mean that he's strong inside the dungeons. Indeed, the dungeon only considers him as Rank E, while Kazuhiko at that point was already Rank D. Not to mention, Myu, Mari's pet rabbit, pretty much outpaces him very easily and knocks him out.
• Number of the Beast: There are 666 dungeons throughout the world and if the world doesn't clear it within ten years, the world will end.
• Old Master: Liu Fengguang is 103 years old and is a formidable martial artist. Even though he starts out as Rank F for a Legend Rare card, Akira notes that the old man is very strong. He then takes both Akira and Kazuhiko as his students.
• One Hit Poly Kill: At the end of the first volume, Kazuhiko manages to wipe out five goblin soldiers with one swing with his new sword. These are the same goblin soldiers that gave the team a hard time when they first started going down the fourth floor of The Abyss.
• Peninsula Of Powerleveling: Invoked with Liu Fengguang's "Disciple Cultivation" skill where he helps out the busters killing enemies to rank up far faster than they should.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: It's noted near the end of the first volume after having a chat with the Director General of the newly formed Dungeon Adventurer Administrative Bureau, Yukie Ishihara, that if they had known that Kazuhiko was earning money very easily at The Abyss, the Ministry of Finance and the National Tax Agency would be at his doorstep right away and probably even arrest him for failing to file his tax revenues. Despite him earning a ton of money, he puts it to good use like transforming his former home into the headquarters of the Dungeon Busters Inc.
• Smoking Is Cool: At the end of the first volume, Kazuhiko lights up a cigarette while looking at the moon while reminiscing that he's got ten years and six months before the world ends.
• Stripperific: Mari's costume, the "Virgin Maiden's Holy Garment" barely covers anything with her developing body.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Quite a lot in the series.
  • People just don't undergo an instant transformation while delving inside dungeons in other fantasy novels. It's a slow process of building up the body and while the dungeon does help facilitate the development, humans are the ones who have to make an effort to improve.
  • Gamerica adopting their closed doors policy meant that Japan won't even bother sharing any of their classified information to them other than what they publish in public, much to Isaac Roland's dismay of wanting to study the dungeon cores.
• Switching P.O.V.: The light novel does switch it's point of view over the rest of the cast, some even from the world leaders themselves.
• Take That!: The light novel scoffs at the isekai premise where The Chosen One will somehow manage to save the world on their lonesome. Indeed, the prologue of the light novel has the hero from a different world die anti climatically just from a boulder falling on top of him and his party.
• This Is Reality: During the exam, people try to think that everything will be fine and dandy because it's all fantasy, only for them to realize that even the weakest monsters inside the dungeon are very dangerous. Indeed, an activist who believes everything's a sham finds out the hard way when a monster rabbit eats her nose after attempting to pet it. She does end up surviving and quits the activist group after Kazuhiko offers her a potion that rejuvenates her nose.
• Title Drop: Technically it's "Dungeon Busters, Inc." but this is Kazuhiko's company for clearing dungeons that appeared throughout the world.
• Too Dumb to Live: When an activist claims that the dungeons are harmless and even tries to pet a rabbit, no surprise the rabbit bites off her nose.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Kazuhiko ends up experiencing this in half a year's time in the first volume where even his niece Mari notices that he went from being a happy fun guy, into a cynical man who feels responsible in triggering the world's demise by accident.
• Training from Hell: Kazuhiko subjects people joining the boot camp with these as while it's only a day on the outside, it is an entire month inside the dungeon, with the dungeon helping out on developing a person's muscle development. Kazuhiko also makes sure that they wear weights and make them walk around the dungeon for at least two hours inside.
• The Unchosen One: Kazuhiko by all rights is just a regular guy who happens to find the first dungeon in his yard. He's only considered to be the First Contacter but apart from that, is just as normal as everyone else. However, he decides to choose himself as one of those who would clear the dungeons before the world ends.
• The Unfettered: Kazuhiko's one main goal is to have the Earth clear all 666 dungeons in ten years time, and he will make sure to achieve it no matter what it takes. It's why he didn't tell anyone but a few of when the first actual dungeon appeared as the world knows that the first official dungeon that appeared is at Osaka and New York. Joker is a darker example of this trope as he's committed to letting the world get destroyed after experiencing the injustice that his fellow poor citizens had to go through just to feed the rich, claiming that everyone will be equal in death.
• Virgin Power: Mari's Virgin Maiden's Holy Garment only works if the wearer is a virgin. It specifically states that its effects are nullified if she loses her virginity.
• Weapon Specialization: Amane Kirihara's main weapon is a whip, something she questions as to why.
• We Have Become Complacent: Kazuhiko very much tries to avoid this as much as possible, to better prep up for things where even his trusted shovel doesn't work on the 4th floor of The Abyss.
• World's Strongest Man: Kazuhiko maintains that Akira is the strongest human on Earth despite Kazuhiko having far more experience than Akira does. This is because Akira ranks up faster than Kazuhiko due to being the undisputed champion in martial arts and it has helped him immensely during their dungeon explorations.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: An entire month inside the dungeon equates to an entire day above ground.
• You Can't Thwart Stage One: Kazuhiko realizes that to get to rank up to Rank A, Rank B busters must clear a Rank B dungeon before ranking up. Also counts as an Internal Reveal for the readers as a chapter before, Mifa spells out the conditions to Joker.