Chapter 4: Good opportunity

Tier Ryugasaki is a dungeon streamer.

Her real name is Manami Sato, a 25-year-old single woman.

After graduating high school, she dropped out of vocational school because she couldn’t fit in with her peers.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell her parents, who had paid for her tuition, and on a whim, she started dungeon streaming.

She had a decent aptitude as an explorer, and while not exceptionally beautiful, she wasn’t unattractive either, so she

was able to earn enough to live on relatively quickly.

However, due to her innate timidity, she couldn’t take risks either as an explorer or a streamer, and she felt stuck.
Then, a turning point came.

While she was streaming lazily in the shallow levels as usual, she encountered a deep-level irregular monster.

Just as she thought, ‘This is the end,’ a young man suddenly appeared and saved her in the blink of an eye.

That young man quickly became famous as the world’s first returnee from another world and a dungeon conqueror.

–The development is too rollercoaster-like.

Along with that, the views on her streaming archive started spinning at an unbelievable rate, easily surpassing the

total number of views she had accumulated over the past six years.

Faced with this reality, she thought, ‘I have to ride this big wave!’ and, with a shameless – no, indomitable – spirit,

she gathered information about him – apparently, his name was Sehei Moritsuki – from the internet, made videos

about it, and streamed it with a disclaimer like, ‘Please see the truth with your own eyes.’

She herself says, ‘If you put “!?” even in small letters in a catchy headline, you can say anything, right?’ but that’s not

the case at all, and viewers have been saying things like, ‘A woman left behind in the Heisei era’ and ‘A poorly made

tabloid.’

I digress.

Recently, Manami has been planning a collaboration stream with the aforementioned Moritsuki.

After the press conference, when Moritsuki created a social media account – fortunately, she had been gathering his information like a stalker – she discovered it immediately and followed him.

Perhaps because of that, he followed her back, making them mutual followers.

And when she contacted him through the social media’s messaging function, he readily agreed to appear on her stream.

She racked her brains about what kind of project to do, but as someone who had only been streaming aimlessly until

now, she couldn’t suddenly come up with a good idea, so it ended up being a simple project where she would collect

questions from viewers and ask him various things.

–Besides, it’s not like I’m trying to liven up the stream, I just want to thank him for saving me and apologize for causing a big fuss because it was recorded on the stream…

While consoling herself, the day of the collaboration stream arrived.

The filming location was the shallow level of the Kyogoku Dungeon where she met him. They met at the Kyogoku

branch and descended here together.

His outfit looked like ordinary street clothes.

It wasn’t the obviously high-grade otherworld-style equipment he wore when they first met, nor was it modern,

explorer-like equipment. It was fashionable, but just ordinary clothes.

Although it was halfway her trademark on the stream, she felt self-conscious, feeling out of place in her full-on explorer gear.

“Alright! It’s the start of Tier Ryugasaki’s Rambling Dungeon Exploration Log~!”

Furthermore, even though they had been talking normally until just a moment ago – like a typical introverted woman – it was embarrassing to suddenly start talking in a high-tension voice for the stream.

“And today, we have a very special guest! The hyper-famous Sehei Moritsuki-san is here!”

“Hello. I’m the hyper-famous Sehei Moritsuki.”

–He’s going along with it even with a wry smile… Is he a god?

While thinking such trivial thoughts, her mouth talked as if it were a separate creature, and the stream progressed.

“…So, as you know, Moritsuki-san is currently working as an explorer.
Well, that’s enough of an introduction. First, let me say one thing, no, two things.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for saving me the other day! And I’m really sorry that it became a big deal because it was shown on the stream!”

“Oh, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

[He’s a nice guy.] [Good for you, Sato.] [Your Kansai dialect is slipping out.] Comments like these flowed by.

The number of comments was also vastly different from before she met him, and she wanted to thank him for that

too, but she thought that might be too much and held back.

“Sato…?”

“Ah, sorry. That’s my real name.”

Her real name had been exposed.
Manami Sato was a careless woman.

“It spread even more because I picked it up. I’m sorry. Please cut that out.”

Moritsuki made a scissors pose with both hands.

“Um, um, this is a live stream…”

[LOL] [Moritsuki-kun is surprisingly playful.] Glancing at comments like these, she decided to move the conversation forward.

“Well, let’s leave the preamble at that. Can we start with the questions right away?”

“That’s fine, but can I check the comments on the stream here too?”

“Ah, I can check them on the streaming app, but Moritsuki-san, if you open the stream directly and mute the audio, you should be fine.”

“I see. Actually, I bought a smartphone recently. It’s amazing, isn’t it… So, how do I watch it with this?”

“Ah, ah, I see. Let me explain.”

Remembering that he was like Urashima Taro, she took the device he had taken out and explained while showing him the screen.

Seeing this, the comment section said things like, ‘Is he a grandpa?’ and ‘A scene you often see at a mobile phone shop.’

Some were quick to point out, ‘Then how did you pick up on the real name thing earlier?’ but it was buried in the

fast-paced comment section.

In fact, Moritsuki was doing something inhuman, reading the comments that appeared in Manami’s eyes, but no one could grasp that.

“Thank you. Well, who’s calling me a grandpa!”

“Sorry about my listeners!”

The comment section became lively again with such exchanges.

“Alright. That’s a good start, so let’s move on to the project.”

‘Wait, this is my channel, isn’t it…? Oh well. It’ll never move forward otherwise, so let’s get to the questions.’

‘Um, first of all, after I announced this project, I received an incredible number of questions. More than I’ve ever

seen before… So, no matter which one I choose, I feel like I’ll be told later, ‘Why didn’t you choose my question?’ so

I’m going to decide completely randomly!’

‘So, the first question is…’

[Did you really go to another world? How did you get the government to acknowledge it?]

‘…Um, I know it’s late to say this, but you don’t have to talk about anything related to the country or anything that would get you in trouble, okay?’

“Hahaha, it’s fine. I got permission from Match… I mean, the Chief Cabinet Secretary before appearing.”

“Whoa, the Chief Cabinet Secretary… I don’t really get it, but it sounds scary…?”

“Don’t worry, he’s just an old man.”

[Calling him an old man is hilarious.]

[Is it true that they’re classmates?]

“Um, so, about whether I really went to another world, it’s true. The proof is that I had things from the other world that haven’t been found here yet, things like that.”

“Oh. Isn’t that incredibly valuable?”

“Hmm. It only proves the existence of the other world, it’s not like the things themselves are amazing. Ah, I’ve been told to keep the prices and such confidential, so I’m sorry.”

“Ah, no, no! I’m actually scared to know, so it’s fine!
Um, next…

[What’s your favorite food?]

…that’s the question…

[Why are you asking this question?]

[There were better questions, right?]

[A woman throwing a precious chance into the gutter.]

‘Hey, shut up! It’s random, so it can’t be helped!’

“Um, my favorite food… Hmm, I like motsu-ni (stewed offal).”

“Oh, that’s kind of…mature, I guess. I’ve only ever eaten it at pubs. Surely Moritsuki-san is different, right?”

“Yes. I haven’t been to a pub yet.”

Moritsuki answered with a wry smile.

“There was also a question about this, but how old would Moritsuki-san be now?”

“For now, we’re going with my subjective age, so I’m 23. Well, if I were to be 68 based on my birthdate, people would ask how long I’m going to live, and I’d be getting various deductions without having paid taxes until now.”

“Whoa. I don’t really get it, but it’s amazing.”

[Stop with the stupid reactions.]
[( ᐛ )و＜IT’S AMAZING!]

“Well, getting back to the topic, I ate motsu-ni in the other world.”

“Huh~. So they have motsu-ni in other places besides Japan?”

“I don’t know about motsu-ni, but eating offal is a fairly common food culture here too. Foie gras is famous, for example. And if you think about it, sausages and other stuffed intestines are similar.”

[That’s true.]
[It’s just a matter of preference, it’s not exactly bizarre food.]

“Um, next…

[Show us your equipment!!!!!!]

…that’s the question. You can refuse if you don’t want to.”

Explorers dislike being scrutinized by others for various reasons.
Unless they disclose it themselves, information about their equipment and skills is generally kept secret.

“Oh, it’s fine. I’ll move a bit away to bring out my weapon.”

Moritsuki, who was sitting across from Manami, stood up and moved a little away.

The filming drone automatically tracked him.

And when Moritsuki held his arm in front of his body, he was suddenly holding a beautifully crafted hilt.

[Just the hilt?]
[Huh?]

Just like the comment section, a puzzled Sato asked.

“It’s not just the hilt of a sword…right?”

“It’s a bit hard to see, isn’t it? How about this?”

Saying that, he poured water from a plastic bottle, which he had somehow grabbed, onto the area where the blade should have been, revealing its form.

“A transparent sword…?”

“That’s right. It’s a sword made of an invisible metal called Spirit Silver.”

[Wow, amazing.]

[Spirit Silver!?]

[Cool!]

“Wow, amazing.”

Ignoring Sato’s low-IQ reaction, he lightly swung the sword to shake off the water and then made it disappear just as

suddenly as he had brought it out.

No one reacted to this because, as mentioned earlier, all explorers have the Item Box skill.

And he sat back down in the chair he had been sitting in until just a moment ago.

“Well, that’s about it.”

“Is that your main weapon? Does that mean you’re a swordsman type?”

“It’s not really a main weapon… I mean, weapons are consumables, aren’t they? It’s just one of many. If it’s about

being able to use them, I can use spears, bows, and anything, like the Bujutsu Jūhappan. But I often used swords

because, like the one just now, they were easy to use and readily available.”

Although he called it a consumable, the Spirit Silver sword was indestructible and could regenerate, but Moritsuki

didn’t intend to explain that much.

If someone who knew about Spirit Silver, as some in the comment section did, might notice.

Spirit Silver, as its name suggests, has a nature close to that of a spirit, and it has a nature that should be called semi-

matter rather than anti-matter. It has the power to interact because it is matter, but it is indestructible because it is

not matter.

Even in this Earth world, a small amount has already been brought back from the dungeon.

However, it is only confirmed as an inseparable component, rarely found in Spirit Silver, which is rarely obtained

from fairly powerful golem-type monsters, and cannot be separated by modern technology.

But Sato, completely unaware of such things, continued the conversation.

“Then the next question is this!

[What’s your type in women?]

[Not ‘this,’ I tell you.]
[It’s not that.]
[Sato, get out of there!]

*