“……-san! Daishi-san!”
A voice called my name from somewhere far away.
A woman’s voice.
Even in my dazed state, I could feel a faint sensation of someone shaking me gently.
“Daishi-san! Wake up!”
Gradually, my consciousness sharpened.
This voice… it’s Satsuki-chan’s.
“Hurry and wake up! You’re going to die!!”
Huh? Satsuki-chan sounds… really panicked.
Oh, that’s right!
My memories started coming back in sharp relief.
I had been in the [Unique House] of the Fourth Beginner Dungeon in West Tokyo, encountered the Space-Time Rabbit, thrown the darts… and then flung through the space-time vortex into another dungeon.
The Nether-class… floor fifty!
This is bad!!
I can’t just keep dozing off now!
“Daaaahh!”
To jolt my sluggish brain awake, I unconsciously triggered a habit I’d picked up back in my corporate days—shouting loudly while swinging my body upright.
“Ungh!”
“Hey, quiet down! We finally got somewhere with no one else here!”
Satsuki-chan instantly clamped her left hand over my mouth, while making a ‘shhh’ gesture with her right hand. Her face is too close… I felt a little flustered.
No, I don’t have time to be flustered.
> …Wha… a…ppened…?
> …ly… coming…
> …connected!
> I can see!
> Whoa! So this is Nether-Class Dungeon, floor fifty!
> Incredible… first time seeing it.
> Just as the stories said… what a malevolent-looking temple.
> But it also kinda looks like an ancient Greek temple.
> It’s so dark. I can’t see ahead.
> Is there a boss?
> Good thing we teleported behind that massive pillar.
I felt a twinge of anxiety, but it seemed the streaming camera had teleported along with us, which was a relief. The signal had been a little shaky, but the comment feed had recovered, and the equipment appeared to be working fine. From a few of the viewers’ comments, it looked like we had been lucky enough to land in a safe zone—so we weren’t suddenly thrown into a boss fight. That was a huge relief.
“Eh? Daishi-san, you’re streaming right now?”
“Ah… yeah. Everyone seems to be able to see it fine.”
“My feed isn’t connecting. I thought you needed a special ultra-rare antenna to connect in Super-Class dungeons and above…”
I leaned closer and whispered to Satsuki-chan, regaining a sense of caution.
Huh? Is my equipment special?
I’m only borrowing it from the guild, though. Did they accidentally give me the right one by mistake?
“Well, anyway. As you probably gathered from the viewers’ comments, we’re currently near the entrance of Nether-Class Dungeon, floor fifty, hiding behind one of the massive pillars.”
“Y-yeah…”
“It’s been about a minute since we teleported. I used my Detection skill to scan the area, and at least within a fifty-meter radius, there’s no sign of any enemies… for now.”
I’d always thought Satsuki-chan is amazing—she could pull off all sorts of little tricks. As an explorer, she must be really exceptional. And it seemed the target one-minute mark had already passed.
“By the way, Satsuki-chan… how were you able to move immediately after teleporting? You didn’t lose consciousness or anything?”
“Don’t underestimate me. I’m still an S-rank explorer, you know. I’ve had my fair share of teleport experiences.”
Oh. So with enough experience, you can handle even that without panicking huh.
> Satsuki-tan, you okay?
> Ah, I can see her just fine.
> This really does feel like Nether-Class.
> Don’t get so familiar with Satsuki-chan!
> Old man, get away from her!
> Leave that old man behind!
> Hope the old man gets taken out by Ades!
Huh… the low-quality comments suddenly started standing out more. Looks like fans of Satsuki-chan are flooding in at an incredible rate.
Well, that makes sense. They probably can’t watch on Satsuki-chan’s own channel, so they migrated to my stream to check on the situation.
Which means… my viewer count must have skyrocketed.
Let’s see… how many viewers do we have now…
“Eh? T-twenty thousand?!”
“Geez! Daishi-san! Don’t shout so loud!”
“S-sorry…”
I was completely stunned by how fast it had grown.
Even the increase just a moment ago had been abnormal, but this… this was on a whole different level. Twenty thousand concurrent viewers—this was the level of a top-tier streamer.
Not because of me, but Satsuki-chan’s sheer skill as a streamer hit me all at once. No wonder she boasts half a million subscribers.
“Let’s just stay put for now. We might even be able to clear the mission like this.”
“Yeah…”
“But we can’t know when or what might attack us. Daishi-san, make sure you’re ready to use [Return] at any time.”
“Ah… yeah.”
I don’t really know how to prepare [Return], but at least I can keep it in mind and stay aware.
“Alright, that’s enough talking. Let’s try to stay completely still and—”
It happened suddenly.
Without any warning, the space around us split open. The once-clean air immediately thickened with malevolence, making it hard to breathe. The darkness that had obscured my vision tore apart, and space itself warped.
“Ah…”
“Satsuki-chan!”
She must have used her detection skill and realized the full horror of what was coming.
The light in her eyes… it was gone!
Whatever she sensed was so terrifying, she couldn’t even cry out.
Something is coming!
“Gwaaaaaaah!”
“Kyaaaaaah!”
“Ughh!!!”
Three figures were violently hurled from the rift in space.
The source of the female scream landed right beside us. The two male voices came from slightly farther ahead, barely within sight, groaning as they hit the ground.
Another explorer party had been fighting in a separate pocket dimension, and somehow, they had now been thrown back into this place. The exact sequence of events was unclear, but they were suddenly here again.
“Hmph. Not bad at all. The last explorer party to escape my Death Layer, the Nether Realm, was the Hero’s group.”
From the rift in space, it slowly descended to the ground.
Despite its malevolence, the dark aura it radiated was oddly bright, allowing me to clearly make out its form. An abomination shaped like an elderly gentleman, its malevolence pushed beyond the limits of imagination.
Long, razor-sharp fangs extended from its mouth. A dragon’s tail—completely out of place—slithered along the ground with a sickening, undulating motion.
…No doubt about it.This is the Nether Dragon King—Ades.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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