chapter02 · 037-ep32
Episode 32: Apparently, Getting Famous Means You Can't Dive
Waiting beyond the automatic doors was Mishima-san.
"Ichinose-sama. We have been expecting you."
The usual bow, straight out of a textbook. Hair done up just so, uniform ribbon sitting dead straight.
There were, however, faint shadows under her eyes.
"Mishima-san, hello. Um — have you, by any chance, been busy since yesterday?"
"...Thank you for your concern."
She didn't deny it.
"The phones would not stop ringing."
"I'm sorry..."
"It is not a matter Ichinose-sama need apologize for. This way, please."
The elevator carried us upward. One button higher than last time.
A room for people one rank higher than last time, apparently.
Some part of me was a little thrilled. The upper floors of Guild HQ — a place an ordinary high schooler would never set foot in, their whole life.
The room they showed me into had one entire wall of glass. The towers around Nagoya Station spread out below.
Across the table sat faces I knew.
The Deputy Director. The man of about fifty I'd met over the rank business.
Shibasaki-san. The examiner from my rank-up examination, terminal at hand as ever.
And across from them—
"Saku. Welcome back."
Big sis was sitting there.
Black jacket and a proper shirt today. Hair up. The same fully-armored look as when I came here before.
"Ah, big sis."
"Sit."
Beside her sat one man I didn't know. Thirty-something, slim suit, mild-looking face.
"This is Hayase-san, from my Clan. He runs the administrative side."
"Hayase. Rinka-san takes good care of us."
"Ichinose Saku. My sister is always in your care—"
I bowed hard, and Hayase-san's eyes went slightly round before he laughed.
"...I see. Exactly the little brother Rinka-san described."
"Eh? What did she say about me?"
"Energetic, honest, and madly in love with dungeons."
"Accurate."
"Accurate."
Big sis nodded, arms crossed.
Her expression barely moves. Barely — but I can tell. That's the smug face. The one she makes when her little brother gets praised.
"Now then."
The Deputy Director gave a light cough.
"Our apologies for summoning you so abruptly. Our gratitude for your coming in the middle of your schooling."
"Oh, classes weren't going in anyway."
The moment I said it, I regretted it. Beside me, big sis was nodding deeply for some reason. A face that said, good honesty.
The Deputy Director chose to pretend he hadn't heard. A grown-up.
"I will ask directly. Yesterday, in the trap room on Floor 15 of the Chikusa dungeon, damage was confirmed to the dungeon's structure. Judging from the footage, we believe it was caused by Ichinose-sama's attack."
"Yes. It was me."
Instant answer.
The class drilled me thoroughly enough this morning. I'm fully prepared. The interest on my lies got paid off by breakfast.
"Thank you."
The Deputy Director turned a page of the documents before him.
"First, the results of the investigation. As of this morning, the Guild's survey team has confirmed the site. The groove exists. Its length is approximately eighteen meters — spanning the wall of the room, end to end. Maximum depth, seven centimeters."
"Seven centimeters."
"Yes. And the greatest depth of damage ever recorded from any attack in history is—"
He allowed one beat of silence.
"Zero."
"ZERO?!"
"Dungeon structures have never once been damaged. Not by so much as a millimeter."
Zero versus seven centimeters.
The only thing I understood for certain was that the two were not comparable.
"Whoa..."
It slipped out.
The Deputy Director's eyebrow twitched.
"Ah — no, sorry. Is 'whoa' one of the things I'm not supposed to say?"
"...No."
The Deputy Director smiled, faintly at a loss.
"To speak honestly, since last night, we ourselves have managed nothing but 'whoa.'"
"Wait — you too, Deputy Director?"
"We have."
Beside me, Mishima-san gave a small nod. The shadows under her eyes were all the proof needed.
"Then, a few points of confirmation."
Shibasaki-san set her fingers on the terminal.
"That sword was called by your skill — the same family as the black katana we observed at the rank-up examination."
"Yes. A skill that calls weapons."
"Are you able to call multiple weapons?"
"A few."
The weapons volume has hundreds written in it, but I didn't say that. "A few" is no lie.
"Regarding that sword's performance — how much have you ascertained yourself?"
"Um."
I decided to answer honestly.
"It fires a slash of light and clears an area. That's all. I didn't know it could shave a wall. I only found out it HAD this morning, from a classmate."
"This morning?"
"Yes. Last night I switched off every notification and slept like the dead."
Shibasaki-san's fingers stopped on the terminal.
"...You were unaware of the damage."
"Completely. Even when I saw the news ticker this morning, I thought, 'someone amazing must have shaved the wall at Chikusa.'"
The meeting room went quiet.
Hayase-san turned aside, a hand pressed over his mouth. His shoulders were shaking.
Only big sis didn't change expression by a single degree. If anything, she nodded, somehow satisfied.
Satisfied with WHAT, this person.
"...Shibasaki-kun."
"Yes."
"Record this: the subject was unaware the damage had occurred until the following morning."
"Understood."
Shibasaki-san typed it into the terminal, deadpan.
Somehow, the deadpan was the funniest part.
"Might I ask the sword's name?"
The Deputy Director said it.
"For the skill records, we need to preserve the weapon's name."
Here it comes.
Now, of all places.
"The... name?"
"Yes."
"Do I have to say it?"
"It would be preferred."
Everyone was looking at me.
The Deputy Director. Shibasaki-san. Mishima-san. Hayase-san. And big sis.
Big sis wore her usual no-expression. But her eyes alone were unmistakably full of expectation.
The face of someone seriously looking forward to her little brother's sword name.
"Um — Heav—"
"Heav?"
"Heaven-Piercing Radiance. As in — the heavens... pierced... by the radiance of light."
I even went and explained the kanji.
The meeting room went quiet again.
Shibasaki-san typed into the terminal in silence. Mid-typing, her hand stalled for one instant — probably stuck on how to render "Pierce."
"...Heaven-Piercing. Radiance."
The Deputy Director repeated it back, slowly.
"Is that reading correct?"
"Um. The skill display actually has a reading attached."
"A reading?"
"It seems it's read 'Radius.' That's the real one."
I said it.
Why did I say that? Nobody asked.
But me-from-back-then named that sword — furigana and all — and stopping halfway felt like it would be rude to him.
Big sis raised a silent thumbs-up.
"What's with the thumbs-up?"
"He gave the reading too. Well done."
"Don't praise me."
"It's cool."
"Don't say it with a straight face!"
This is easily more embarrassing than being laughed at.
The Deputy Director coughed.
The cough, too, wavered just slightly.
"...Thank you. Recorded."
From there on, it was the serious part.
According to the Deputy Director, three things are known at this point.
One. The groove has not repaired itself. Dungeon structures do not break, so whether a "repair" function even exists is unknown. The Guild, together with a research institute, is now monitoring what becomes of the groove.
Two. Floor 15 of the Chikusa dungeon will be sealed for investigation, for a while. All other floors remain open as usual.
"The problem is the third thing."
The Deputy Director looked out the window.
"People have been gathering in front of the Chikusa branch since this morning."
"People?"
"Explorers, streamers, reporters — and plain rubberneckers. Dozens by last night, hundreds by this morning. It seems there are D-rank explorers across the city and beyond, standing by in case 'Dungeon Strolls' shows up."
"Waiting for me?"
"For Ichinose-sama, yes."
Hayase-san turned his phone screen toward me.
A Tritter post. A photo of the front of the Chikusa branch. People, people, people. There was even someone flying a drone.
『Chikusa is INSANE with people waiting for Dungeon Strolls』
『lol at how many streamers are camping the exit』
『Apparently they're at the Hirabari D-rank too』
"Uwah."
Amazing.
Amazing, but.
"Does that mean I can't dive Chikusa for a while?!"
"Nothing in the rules can stop you from diving. However—"
The Deputy Director chose his words.
"If Ichinose-sama entered Chikusa now, you would certainly be swarmed. Your face has not appeared on stream, but with your age, your equipment, and your voice, identification is a matter of time."
"I've already been identified at school."
"...I would imagine."
The Deputy Director's gaze went somewhere far away.
"The Guild has no intention of making Ichinose-sama's name public. It is personal information. But we possess no means of stopping the public from working it out."
"I see..."
I leaned back in the chair.
Can't dive.
"Whoa — that might honestly be the biggest problem."
It slipped out.
The Deputy Director looked mildly surprised.
"The biggest, you say."
"Yes. Name getting out, school going wild — those are embarrassing, but survivable. Not being able to dive is the real problem. I'm ten away from Lv100."
"...Lv100?"
"Yes. Ten more. It's right there."
The Deputy Director and Shibasaki-san looked at each other.
"Pardon me, but — how many days has it been since your registration?"
"Um. A month and a bit."
Shibasaki-san typed into the terminal in silence. Her fingers were moving faster than before.
"Excuse me—"
Hayase-san raised a hand, gently.
"On the Clan's side, there is one thing we would like to say."
"Go ahead."
"Since this morning, inquiries have been arriving to us as well. 'Introduce us to your little brother,' they say. From other Clans, from corporations, from streaming agencies — the calls to Rinka-san have not stopped."
"Eh — they're calling YOUR side too, big sis?"
"A hundred."
Big sis said it in one word.
"Refused them all."
"All of them?"
"All."
Hayase-san smiled wryly.
"To be honest with you, our own Clan is interested in him too. D-rank at fifteen, Lv90 one month after registration, and the first damage to a dungeon structure in history. Any Clan would want him."
"Eh — I'm being scouted?!"
"You are. From around the world."
"The WORLD?!"
"However—"
Hayase-san glanced at big sis.
"First thing this morning, Rinka-san left us exactly one instruction: 'Nobody touches my brother.'"
"I said it."
Big sis nodded, arms crossed.
"My brother decides. Whether he joins anyone at all, and where he goes. Until then, nobody touches him."
Her longest speech of the day.
"So as of today, our Clan is standing on the side of protecting him. We would like to serve as the window for interviews and scouting offers, for the time being. That is what I came here to propose — to the Guild, and to him."
The Deputy Director exhaled, long and deep.
"...Honestly, that helps. The Guild has been drowning in the same inquiries since yesterday."
"Big sis..."
I looked over, and she was staring straight back at me, chin high.
No trace of embarrassment or modesty. Chest out, the face of someone who simply did the obvious thing.
"Thank you, big sis."
"Obviously."
"So cool!"
"I know."
She knows.
Hayase-san watched us, warmly amused. Probably, at the Clan, it is always like this.
The meeting wrapped up in about an hour.
What was decided, in short:
Stay away from the Chikusa dungeon for a while.
Whether to keep streaming is my decision to make. Just — no announcing the location, for a while.
Interview and scouting contacts go through big sis's Clan.
And if anything is learned about the groove, the Guild will contact me.
"One last thing."
At the door, the Deputy Director said:
"Ichinose-sama. That sword — we would be grateful if you refrained from swinging it in public."
"Ah, yes. No danger of that. The chant is embarrassing, so I basically never want to swing it anyway."
"...That is, in its own way, reassuring."
The Deputy Director nodded with an indescribable expression.
On the way home, big sis and I rode the subway side by side.
"Tired?"
"A little. But it was interesting. First time on an upper floor of Guild HQ. And hearing that even the Deputy Director's people can't manage anything but 'whoa' — knowing the adults are like that too was kind of a relief."
"I see."
"Saku."
"Hm?"
"You love dungeons."
"I do. Enormously."
How many times is that today?
"When you said not being able to dive was the biggest problem, the Deputy Director was startled."
"Eh — was that weird?"
"It was good."
Big sis lifted one corner of her mouth, slightly.
"Exactly what I'd expect from my little brother."
The smug face. Prouder of that than when she herself gets praised.
Then her eyes went to the dark tunnel flowing past the window.
"Get famous, and diving gets harder."
"You too, big sis?"
"When I made S-rank, eyes on me wherever I went. Still now."
"I see. Still now, huh."
"Endure it, for a while."
She said only that, and went quiet.
A while.
A while — how long is a while?
A week? A month?
When I got home, Seina looked up from the sofa.
"Welcome home, celebrity!"
"Stop calling me that."
"Hey, hey — did you see the subscriber count?"
"Did. On the subway."
"It's over 150,000 now!"
"It's STILL going up?!"
"Because it's the channel I named!"
"That part I'm grateful for."
"Be more grateful!"
"I am overwhelmingly grateful, Lady Seina."
Seina puffed up proudly, then dropped her eyes back to her phone.
"Ah — also, big bro!"
"Hm?"
"Every D-rank in Nagoya has people waiting. Even Kasugai, and over toward Toyota, apparently! Isn't that insane?"
"Eh — all of them?"
"All of them!"
Seina turned her screen toward me.
Photos lined up on the Tritter timeline. In front of every dungeon, people. Some flying drones.
『No Dungeon Strolls today, huh』
『Weekday — he's at school』
『Might come after class』
『Staking it out』
"Don't stake it out."
The retort came out on its own.
Night.
Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling.
I want to dive.
I want to dive so badly.
All day today — the Guild, the wall talk, the groove's depth, being made to say the sword's name, the scouting talk — and through every single minute of it, one corner of my head had been saying, "I want to get to the next dungeon already."
Ten to Lv100.
The next skill is right there.
And yet, at every D-rank in Nagoya, there are people waiting for me.
If I go, I get swarmed.
"Dungeon Strolls is here," they'll say.
"Hm?"
There. Something snagged.
Dungeon Strolls.
What everyone is waiting for is Dungeon Strolls.
The streamer who's fifteen, D-rank, in ordinary clothes, face blurred, with a voice that is unmistakably Ichinose Saku.
So then.
What if someone who isn't Dungeon Strolls shows up?
I sat up.
Become the King, and my looks and my speech change; the hood hides my face.
The "man in the black cloak" who saved Tono-senpai at Nanyo is still unidentified to the world. Nobody connects him to Dungeon Strolls. Even today, Tono-senpai herself waved it off as her imagination.
Dive as the King, and nobody notices a thing.
"This could work!"
It came out loud.
In King form, I've got about two and a half hours at my current level. Plenty to go after school, dive, and make it home.
And in King form, even a D-rank's deeper floors are easy work. XP is halved, but killing the stronger monsters further down more than balances it. No — balances it? I'd be getting change back.
A weekday afternoon.
The waiting crowds are waiting for Dungeon Strolls.
And right past them, some stranger in a black cloak strolls on in.
"Am I a genius?"
I clenched a fist inside the covers.
The chant is embarrassing. The King's speech is embarrassing. None of that changes.
But it beats not diving by a mile.
Besides, if my identity never gets out, the embarrassment drops by about half. Strangers just think, "what a cringey guy." Nobody would think it's Ichinose Saku.
Nobody would. Probably.
I picked up my phone and checked tomorrow's schedule.
Sixth period ends at 3:30 PM.
Then — where to go.
What a D-rank me can enter goes up to D-rank. And D-ranks have 150 floors. The deepest I've ever been is 15.
If I'm doing this — go to depths I've never reached.
Just thinking about it made my face split into a grin.
I could not wait for tomorrow afternoon.