| > Seriously? > No, I’m sure one of Satsuki’s fans dropped it! > Does she even have fans that hardcore? > Huh? Don’t tell me Satsuki is actually dead? > What about the stream? > Satsuki-tan’s stream has been offline this whole time… sob > Could she be with the Hero…? > Come to think of it, the Nether King old man said there were two explorers. > Why though? > Maybe she got kidnapped. > You think it’s because of that old guy? > She could be a hostage. > AAAAAAAHHHHH!! SATSUKI-TAN!!! > Can somebody find out what’s going on? > Satsuki was kind of a pain, but now that something’s happened to her, I can’t help worrying. > That damn Hero can go die!! |
So that was it. I had always wondered why a few people who still seemed to be Satsuki-chan’s fans occasionally showed up among the viewers. Now it finally made sense. The moment my eyes landed on the message suggesting that Satsuki-chan might be the Hero’s hostage, my heart lurched with unease.
“Who is this Amane Satsuki?”
Shion asked. Apparently, she had never met Satsuki-chan before and was simply curious about what kind of person she was.
“…She was my companion. We explored the dungeon together before I came to this Nether-Class dungeon.”
“And she’s… an old friend of mine as well.”
Mina-chan added. For a moment, her expression hardened. Even her voice sounded strained. Just like me, she had seen the name engraved on the pendant, and it was clearly making her anxious.
“I see… Then that’s definitely something worth worrying about.”
“Let’s hurry! I’ve got a really bad feeling about this!”
“Honestly, Satsuki’s always been like this… She drifts through life completely oblivious to everything…”
Her words were laced with sarcasm, but there was no mistaking the genuine concern behind them. Evidence of that was the faint sheen of tears gathering in her eyes—
“Ugh! This dungeon is way too dusty!”
Apparently not. It seemed she’d just gotten some dust in her eye.
“But are you sure you’ll be alright? If we do run into the Hero… can you really fight him?”
“…”
I understood what Shion was really asking.
If Satsuki-chan truly had been taken hostage, could I still face the Hero with everything I had? Could I really bring myself to fight him without holding back?
There was no doubt that the Hero was a psychopath with a seriously twisted personality. A guy like that would absolutely use Satsuki-chan as bait. And on top of that, his abilities and skills were still a complete mystery. No matter how absurdly strong I had become—strong enough to be considered virtually invincible—I couldn’t imagine defeating someone like him under such unfavorable conditions. If I didn’t come up with some kind of countermeasure beforehand, confronting him might end with us completely helpless.
But at this point, there was no time left to stop and think. For now, all I could do was keep moving forward while pushing my brain to its limits—
Hm? Wait a second….
No.
I’ve got one.
Among all the skills at my disposal, there was one perfect trump card that might be able to save Satsuki-chan.
“Fu… fufufu…”
“Eh? Why are you suddenly laughing? What’s wrong with you, Daishi-san…? That’s kind of creepy!”
“Creepy…? Ouch. Anyway, I think I might be able to save Satsuki-chan right now!”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Have you finally lost your mind, old man?”
“…”
Seriously, weren’t these two way too harsh with their words?
An old guy’s feelings could actually get hurt, you know.
“Remember that skill I used to bring Mina-chan’s brothers here?”
“Oh? So that really was your skill after all, Daishi-san! I didn’t think much about it at the time because everything was so chaotic, but now that I think about it, a skill that can summon people is completely insane…”
She suddenly gasped.
“Oh! Wait… don’t tell me—”
“Yep!”
I grinned.
“I think that skill can help us rescue Satsuki-chan!”
【Return】With the skill at MAX level, it allows me to summon anyone listed in its registry—including monsters and other creatures—to a designated location. I clearly remembered seeing Satsuki-chan’s name on that list the last time I used it.
The livestream chat immediately exploded with comments.
| > Oh, the skill he used to bring Mina-chan’s brothers over! > Wait, that was an advanced application of Return? > I was so focused on the fight against the Nether Realm Knight that I completely forgot about that. > So can he summon literally anyone? > Then summon the Dungeon Master! > He can’t just summon the useless goddess right? > SUMMON THE HERO!! > Pretty sure it only works on people the old man met inside the dungeon. > Wait, hold up. Does that mean monsters are fair game too? > Then can he summon Hades? > I want to meet Rakshasa-sama. > Summon Gorue-chan and grind infinite levels. |
The chat was already spiraling off in every possible direction. The viewers were really saying whatever they wanted. A few of them even had some surprisingly reasonable theories about how the skill worked, and I couldn’t help agreeing with some of their observations.
Still, this wasn’t the time to sit around pondering game mechanics.
First things first—I needed to use 【Return】 and rescue Satsuki-chan!
“Return! Set destination point!”
By now, I had completely mastered how to use the skill. The first step was setting the destination.
| 《 Destination point changed to the vicinity of the entrance to Floor 2 of the Nether-Class Dungeon. Who would you like to return? 》 Return Candidate List • Slime • Orc • Amane Satsuki • Skeleton • Mimic • Space-Time Rabbit • Kisaragi Slei • Kisaragi Jan • Nether Dragon King, Ades • Laika • Gorue • Rakshasa • Nether Realm Knight (True Body) New • James Mei New • Sakuya New • Ran New |
The list floating in midair had been updated. Apparently I could already summon even Ran-chan, whom we’d defeated only moments ago. Of all the absurdly overpowered skills I possessed, Return might actually be the most insane.
| 《 Amane Satsuki will be transferred to the designated destination point. Proceed? 》 |
Though… I felt strangely nervous about seeing Satsuki-chan again. The last thing she’d seen from me was the lingering aftermath of the Hell Gat. There was a decent chance she’d be furious when we reunited. But that was fine. If it meant saving Satsuki-chan—the girl who had helped me so much during our previous dungeon expedition—then I wouldn’t regret it.
Alright! Time to bring Satsuki-chan here!
I’m counting on you, Return!
“…Hup!”
| 《Acknowledged. Transferring Amane Satsuki to the designated return point: Nether-Class Dungeon, Floor 2, vicinity of the Nether Cavern Entrance—》 |
Hm? Why had the text suddenly stopped scrolling—
Whoa!
What?! Why were a ton of error messages popping up all of a sudden?!
| 《 Communication with point of origin has been rejected. 》 |
| 《 Error Code 2×0105 detected. 》 |
| 《 Emergency Deployment of Protection No. 069. 》 |
| 《 Space-Time Interface Forcefully Terminated. Process Aborted. 》 |
Whoa! Even though all those ominous warnings were flashing everywhere, a space-time vortex still opened up! Something fluttered out of it.
Flutter… flutter…
“…Eh?”
The chat exploded.
| > Huh? > What?! > Why?!” > Whose is that? > No way… > Is that… > It’s SATSUKI’s > PANTIES!!! |
The Return skill had probably only activated halfway before the error interrupted it. The only thing I had managed to summon, at great risk to life and limb…
…was a seductive pale-pink thong.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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