“Me? A rookie explorer like me? What could someone as important as the head of the Guild possibly want?”
Why had this man gone so far as to hijack the entire stream just to contact me?
Was it because I defeated the Hero?
Because of the Dungeon Master?
The Nether King maybe?
Or something else entirely…?
But more than that, who did he think he was, taking over everyone’s connection like this? I didn’t care if he was the Guild’s supreme commander—that kind of abuse of authority wasn’t okay.
| > Calling yourself a rookie after everything you’ve pulled off is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think, Daishi Ajiri? I’ve watched your entire broadcast. You’re already a full-fledged explorer. |
“…Uh, thanks.”
He won’t hijack twenty million viewers just to flatter me, right?
“I’m exhausted, so could you get to the point?”
It wasn’t that I was angry. I just didn’t have enough energy left to sit through meaningless pleasantries.
Please. Just tell me what you want.
| > Heh. Don’t glare at me like that, Daishi Ajiri. This won’t take long. All you have to do is say yes, and there won’t be anything for you to worry about. |
That sounded suspiciously loaded. The more confident he sounded, the more certain I became that whatever he was about to propose was something I’d never be able to accept so easily.
“Then say it.”
| > Once you guys leave the dungeon, spend one night at the hotel we’ve designated. After that, I’d like you to come directly to the top floor of Guild Headquarters and meet with me personally. Naturally, every arrangement has already been made. We’ve prepared a proper reception, and our people will be waiting at the entrance to the Nether-Class Dungeon to escort your group. |
Yeah… right.
There was no way I was buying that.
| > If I told you this honestly, you’d naturally be wary and refuse. However… what if I told you this is the only way I can guarantee your safety? |
“That’s a threat! I don’t actually have a choice, is that what you’re saying?!”
“Daishi-san?”
Mina tilted her head.
“You’ve been staring at the comments and muttering to yourself this whole time. What’s going on?”
“Mina-chan…”
I let out a weary sigh.
“The Guild’s boss is inviting us to Headquarters.”
“W-what!?”
“He wants us to come. Right now, my dungeon stream has been hijacked by someone named Kagami Yuda.”
The instant I said his name, everyone except Ryunosuke froze in place.
Well… I couldn’t blame them. Anyone who’d spent even a little time as an explorer knew exactly who that name belonged to. It was the kind of name that carried enough weight to stop people in their tracks.
Shion was the first to recover.
“…It’s a trap. No question about it.”
A bead of cold sweat ran down Shion’s cheek as she spoke, her expression grim.
“But if we leave on our own, we’ll just get arrested anyway, right? At this point, we don’t really have a choice.”
Satsuki grasped the heart of the situation surprisingly quickly. Considering everything that had happened—and the way this conversation was going—it didn’t seem like refusing the Guild Master’s invitation was an option.
“Honestly, I hate to admit it, but…”
Shion folded her arms with a look saying, “Go on, I’m listening.”
“Even if it’s a trap, sitting here won’t accomplish anything. We’ll just run out of food and die down here.”
Mina-chan gave a reluctant nod.
“I don’t like it either… but she’s right.”
Mina-chan and Shion-san also seem to understand the situation and have made up their minds.
“Shaaaahhh!! Koaaaaah!!”
Ryunosuke let out an enthusiastic battle cry for some reason.
Well, whatever. At least everyone had made up their minds.
Then a new message appeared in the frozen comment feed.
| > So that’s a unanimous decision, then? Excellent. Simply leave the dungeon and speak to the men in black suits waiting outside. And one more thing—leave the stream running. If you end the broadcast, we’ll consider that a rejection of our proposal… and you’ll be taken straight to prison instead. |
“Ryunosuke… whatever you do, don’t get so fired up that you hit the stream camera’s—”
“Ah! Hey!”
“Quit messing around!!”
“Shion! Thanks for grabbing him!”
That was close…
A single accidental swipe, and we’d have been hauled straight off to prison.
“Oh! Right, Yuda-san!”
I suddenly remembered there were two things I needed to take care of before we left.
“Can you give me another five minutes?”
A new message appeared immediately.
| > Hmm? Make it three. I’m not a man with time to waste. |
For someone running the Guild, Kagami Yuda was surprisingly willing to negotiate.
Maybe going to Guild Headquarters wouldn’t be so—No!
That was exactly the kind of thinking I needed to avoid. It’s obvious that he is plotting something. When the time came to face him, I’d have to stay on my guard and never let my defenses slip.
Right. No time to waste.
First things first. There was something I’d been dying to check ever since all the chaos settled down. My status screen.
Everything had happened so fast that I hadn’t gotten a chance to look at it. And honestly…
I’d been incredibly curious to see what it looked like now.
| Name: Daishi Ajiri Class: Burial Priest Level: 25(+10) HP: 2249 / 3333 (+1084) MP: 1899 / 2929 (+1030) Strength: 2456 (+892) Endurance: 2890 (+1030) Agility: 8001 (+1002) Intelligence: 3044 (+1125) Burial Power: 9999 (+1) Surplus Burial Points: 5555 (+5555) Skills: 【Burial Samsara (Lv1)】 【Burial Healing (MAX)】 【Burial Fist (MAX)】 【Retribution (MAX)】 【Requiem (MAX)】 【Return (MAX)】 【Cremation (MAX)】 【Clairvoyance (MAX)】 Unique Skill: 【Hell Gate】 【Infinite Itembox】 Title: 【Enlightened One】 |
The wall of numbers was getting ridiculous. At this point, looking at my status felt less like reading a character sheet and more like staring at the source code of a computer.
Oh?
My surplus Funeral Points had finally started piling up.
5,555. Now that was a number. I have to think carefully about how to spend them later, but there wasn’t time for that now.
Then there were my skills.
…Huh?
I learned a new one.
New Skill: Burial Samsara. The name alone told me absolutely nothing. Even if I read the description, I probably wouldn’t understand it. Still, I’ll check it out later.
“All right. One last thing…”
There was one more matter I’d wanted to take care of. Something that had been on my mind ever since before I fought the real Hero.
It was time.
“Itembox!”
BOOM!
My Item Box materialized before me. Without hesitation, I reached inside and rummaged through its contents. There were two things I wanted to retrieve. I pulled out the first.
“Satsuki-chan.”
“Y-yes?”
“This…”
“Ah…! T-that’s…”
Resting in my hand was a delicate silver pendant. A fine chain supported a single small blue gemstone that glimmered softly at its center. I found it on the second floor of the Nether-Class Dungeon. If I remembered correctly, it was called the Rune Pendant. And engraved on the back was Satsuki’s name.
“Oh! So it was yours after all, Satsuki!”
Beaming from ear to ear, I gently placed the pendant into her hands.
“My mother’s pendant…”
Satsuki-chan clutched it tightly to her chest.
“I lost it somewhere… and after I ended up with the Hero, I never had a chance to look for it.”
“So it was something that precious huh.”
“I’m really glad I managed to get it back.”
Satsuki-chan’s eyes shimmered with tears as she hugged the pendant.
So that explained why the gemstone looked so worn with age. Honestly, finding it had been pure luck. And it was only because the viewers had searched every corner of the second floor of the Nether-Class Dungeon so I got it. If anything, they deserved the credit.
Still… seeing it safely back where it belonged made me genuinely happy.
“Daishi-san… thank you so much.”
“Ah, well… it wasn’t really me. The viewers were the ones who found it.”
“Really?”
Her face brightened.
“Then when I can stream again, I’ll make sure to thank everyone personally!”
They’d probably be thrilled to hear that. Thinking back, the viewers had helped me countless times.
Not just Satsuki-chan. They’d saved me more times than I could count.
Someday… I wanted to find a way to repay them, too.
| > Is it finished? |
“Oh! Wait!”
“There’s one more thing I need to give Satsuki!”
Yuda-san’s impatient reminder flashed across the screen.
Right. No time to waste.
“Satsuki.”
“Hm? Did I lose something else?”
“…This.”
“…?!”
“This belongs to you, doesn’t it?”
The time had finally come. At long last… I am about to fulfill the mission I’d been carrying around forever. Returning Satsuki-chan’s panties.
I reached into the Itembox, pulled out the unmistakable T-shaped piece of underwear, and spread it open just enough so she’d recognize it.
“HWAAAAAAAHHH!!”
“Wha—?!”
“Final Flame Sword!!”
“WAAAAAHHH!!”
Satsuki-chan instantly drew her sword, wrapping it in a colossal tornado of fire as she lunged into a battle stance.
“W-Whyyyyy?!”
“Ashen Inferno Blade!”
SLASH!!
FWOOSH!!
The evidence…
…was completely incinerated.
“O-ohh. Hot! Hot! Hot! HOT!!”
“T-that embarrassing panty is not mine!!”
Come on! Even if you were embarrassed, did you really have to unleash your ultimate technique?!
And, why burn it?!
What a waste!”
They were obviously yours! And they’re really hot too!
(…Sigh.)
The panties crumbled into ash, drifting gently through the air. The glowing embers sparkled beautifully as they floated away.
“Well, there’s practically no point in wearing that panty anyway.”
(Does… Daishi really like that kind of thing…?) Mina wondered silently.
“Shaaaahhh!! TTTT!”
| > Are you done, Daishi Ajiri? Time’s up. |
Yuda-san’s final, merciless message appeared on the floating screen while the heat from Satsuki-chan’s flaming sword still lingered in the air.
It was a bit hectic at the end, but finally we’re heading back to the surface and towards the guild headquarters.
What kind of fate was waiting for us there?
None of us knew.
Not yet.
“Waaahhh! That was my favorite one! Daishi-san, you idiot!”
…You burned them yourself!
Honestly… I could be an idiot sometimes. But Satsuki wasn’t exactly one to talk.
Oh well…
“Fine, fine. My bad.…”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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