chapter02 · 074-ep66
Episode 66: The Nakano Broadway Underground Dungeon
Coming out of Nakano Station, a covered shopping arcade stretched straight ahead of me. At its far end stood an old building: Nakano Broadway.
The moment I stepped inside, it was overwhelming. Tiny shops crammed wall to wall down a narrow corridor — figures, old manga, retro games, card games, clocks, and then merch for things I couldn't even identify.
"Whoaaa...... incredible......!"
My feet stopped on their own. A display case lined with robot plastic models I half-recognized; the next shop stacked with thick art books; and the one after that, a whole wall of replica swords and staffs.
This was a place you should never be allowed to walk through carrying a wallet.
"No, no. Today is dungeon day. Dungeon day."
I managed to tear my eyes off the display case and pressed on inside.
The dungeon door was at the very back of a shuttered-off section in the basement.
Flanked by the shutters of closed-up shops, that one spot alone was an old iron door. Something was written on the faded signboard above it, but the letters had worn too blurry to read.
The Nakano Broadway dungeon — the one I'd spotted on the list last night. C-rank here, too.
I launched the drone and started the stream.
『Dungeon Strolls: Tokyo Edition 2』
『It's here』
『Nakano today?』
『Nakano local here』
『The under-Broadway one!』
『Hallowed ground of subculture』
『Strolls-kun is 100% hyped right now』
"I am. I am SO hyped!"
No point hiding it.
"Just walking through the arcade upstairs was a blast. Every single shop looked like a treasure chest."
『I get it』
『A place where money dissolves』
『Stop back by on your way out』
『Strolls-kun, what's your thing?』
"Swords, staffs — that kind of thing. Cool stuff in general."
『Called it』
『There's a replica shop, you know』
『Go after the stream』
"I will. On the way back — just for a bit."
『No way it ends at "a bit"』
"It will. Probably."
Yesterday had been Tva's katana, so today I went with One Life, One Strike. I recited its three-line call, and summoned the tachi, sheathed and all.
『The katana』
『A different katana from yesterday?』
『It's curved — a tachi?』
『What's it called?』
"That one's a secret."
『No name yesterday, a secret today』
"I'm a man of many secrets."
『Don't say that yourself lol』
『Weren't you showing off just now?』
Before the comments could bury themselves in lol, I slipped through the door.
What waited below was — another shopping arcade. A corridor like the Broadway above, copied straight down into the basement, with shops packed along both sides.
Except every shop's shutter hung half-open on a pitch-black interior. All the signboard lettering had blurred into illegibility, and the corridor's fluorescent lights flickered on and off.
"Is this not a little creepy, or is it just me?"
『Totally get it』
『That after-closing-arcade mood』
『Broadway at night』
As I moved down the corridor, something moved inside a shop's display case.
A mannequin — pure white, wearing nothing. Just its head swiveled toward me.
Shutter Mannequin Difficulty: C
The mannequin smashed through the showcase glass and lunged out.
"——!"
I cut on the draw — slashing the instant the blade left the sheath.
First stroke.
The mannequin split clean in two, showcase and all. I sheathed, and the tsuba rang out — kachin.
Mannequins came out of the next shop. And the one after that.
"That's a lot—"
『Mannequin hell』
『A Floor 1 specialty』
『The last thing you want to see in an arcade at night』
Down the corridor at a run: draw, cut, sheathe. Draw, cut, sheathe. Every mannequin that appeared got one stroke off the draw.
『Iai?』
『Draws, then sheathes right away』
『Too cool』
『One stroke EVERY time, though』
"That's just the kind of katana this is."
I let that be the whole explanation.
At a bend in the corridor, three mannequins emerged ahead and two behind, all at once. Pincered.
"——!"
A draw-stroke through the one in front. Clean in two.
But there was no time to sheathe. From behind, white arms coiled around my neck.
The neck! The exact thing they'd hammered on about in the comments!
I slammed the katana's pommel full force into the face of the mannequin behind me. In the instant its grip slackened, I turned and cut through its torso with the katana's ordinary edge.
The remaining two came from the front. I kicked off a shop shutter to leap, sheathing the katana in midair.
The instant I landed, one stroke off the draw — both cut down together.
The last one grabbed for me from behind. This time I knew. Ducked under its arms, cut upward as I turned.
"Hah...... too close......"
『That chokehold had me sweating』
『The neck!』
『We SAID protect the neck』
『But midair sheathe into iai is way too cool』
"The neck really is important. That lesson just hit home."
I rubbed the back of my neck. Still a little tingly.
Down on Floor 2, the corridor was covered in signboards. Every shop sign on both sides glowed neon, blinking in unreadable letters.
The moment I tried to walk past, one of those signs peeled off the wall and came flying.
Signboard Mimic Difficulty: C
Square signboards came spinning at me like shuriken.
Signboards do not fly.
I knocked the first out of the air with the katana. Ducked under the second. The third smacked the wall behind me and clanged away.
More signs kept peeling off the wall, one after another. And right before each one took flight, its neon flared bright enough to blind me.
"Gh — too bright—"
『Comes with a built-in flash』
『Floor 2's signs are lowkey nasty』
『The flare right before is the tell』
The flare, right before it flies. Got it. I narrowed my eyes and watched only the neon.
Flare.
Now I knew where it would come from. I waited with the katana sheathed, and cut the sign off the draw the moment it reached me.
The halved signboard dropped to the floor, its neon snuffing out.
Flare. Sheathe. Cut. Flare. Sheathe. Cut.
When I cut the tenth one down, every signboard in the corridor went dark.
『Like a rhythm game』
『Iai and signboards go great together』
『Strolls-kun picks things up mid-fight so fast』
In the Floor 3 showcase stood a neat row of palm-sized figures. Armored knights, staff-wielding wizards — all kinds. Every last one of them turned to face me at once.
Figure Soldiers Difficulty: C
"They're so small!"
Small — but so many. Dozens of figures leapt down from the showcase and charged me together. Tiny swords slashed at my feet, and tiny fireballs flew from tiny staffs.
"Ow. That lowkey hurts."
『Going for the feet lol』
『Hard to hit when they're that small』
『The figure army』
『The tyranny of numbers』
A low sweep off the draw sent several of them flying with the first stroke. But there was no opening to sheathe. The second and third strokes were just an ordinary sharp katana, and landing them on something that small was another story.
Cut one down, the next was already coming. This wouldn't end.
Then I looked past the swarm. Deep in the showcase, one figure wasn't moving. A touch bigger than the rest — wearing a crown, seated on a chair.
That one was the commander.
"——!"
I vaulted the whole swarm and leapt for the showcase. Sheathing the katana as I flew.
Through the glass — landing and draw-stroke in one motion. The crowned figure split apart with a crack.
And at that instant, every figure around it froze mid-step. One after another they crumpled, back to being ordinary dolls, tumbling across the floor.
『Kill the commander, they all drop』
『Spotted it so fast』
『Strolls-kun's got a real knack for fighting』
"Total luck. ......No — I aimed for it, a little."
Being praised still felt great.
Partway down the Floor 5 corridor stood a lone machine. Closer up: a capsule-toy gacha machine.
"A gacha?!"
『A gacha』
『That thing's a trap』
『Don't crank it』
『Do NOT crank it』
"What happens if I do crank it?"
『Random』
『Hit = rare drop』
『Miss = monsters come out』
『Don't crank it』
I wanted to crank it. I wanted to crank it SO badly.
There was a handle on its side, and no coin slot anywhere.
"Just once. Just the once, I promise."
『We TOLD you not to crank it』
『Welp』
『Strolls-kun, this is so you』
I cranked the handle.
Ga-cha. Ga-cha. Ga-cha.
One capsule rolled out. I popped it open — inside was a single tiny slip of paper.
"A miss."
The gacha machine began to rattle and shake. Capsules came bursting out one after another — one, two — and in a blink there were ten, twenty. Little monsters came crawling out of every cracked capsule.
"UWAAAAAH!"
『WE TOLD YOU!』
『lolololol』
『Classic』
『We said don't crank it』
"I'm sorry!!"
Screaming the whole while: draw, cut, sheathe, draw again. Clearing every last monster that came out took ten minutes.
......Honestly? That was kind of fun. Even though they were all misses.
On Floor 10, only one shop had its shutter fully open — the biggest one, at the corridor's end. I peeked inside. A robot was standing there.
A giant robot — the plastic-model kind. Tall enough that its head nearly brushed the ceiling. White-and-blue armor, with an emblem on its chest I couldn't begin to decipher. And here and there at the joints, the little marks left where its parts had been snipped off the runners during assembly.
Plamo Gigant Difficulty: C (layer boss)
"A robot!"
『It IS a robot!』
『Floor 10's boss』
『This IS the Nakano boss』
『A boy's dream』
My hype went stratospheric. A robot. A ROBOT.
The robot heaved an arm up and hammered the floor with its fist. I leapt clear.
Right where I landed, the other fist came flying. Genuinely flying — forearm detached at the elbow, trailing fire.
"A rocket punch?!"
『Rocket punch lol』
『It's a PLASTIC MODEL』
『A boy's dream』
I rolled out of the way. The fist stabbed into a shop shutter behind me, flared once more, and flew back to its arm.
A draw-stroke at its torso. Bounced off.
Hold on, it's HARD?! You're a plastic model, you know that?
The chest armor flipped open. A row of small missiles poked their heads out.
"You're kidding."
『Missiles lol』
『Fully loaded, isn't it』
『RUN!』
The missiles fired all at once.
I bolted full speed down the corridor. Behind me the missiles slammed into the floor, little explosions popping one after another. The blast shoving at my back, I dove behind a shop showcase — and the glass came down around me, shattered to powder by the shockwave.
"Hah, hah...... fully loaded, seriously......"
A short breather behind the showcase.
Everywhere I looked, it was hard. If anything would cut, it was the joints — only where the runner marks remained.
When the missile fire died, I burst out from cover.
"——!"
I drove a draw-stroke straight into the knee joint.
Crack — and the lower leg came away. In the instant the robot listed, I sheathed.
Leap — one stroke at the shoulder joint. Sheathe. One stroke at the elbow joint. Sheathe. Draw after draw, first stroke after first stroke, cutting the whole thing apart.
Last — the neck joint.
One stroke, flung free of the sheath — the robot's head popped off and rolled across the floor. The body came apart into loose pieces and collapsed.
"Hah...... I won......!"
『Dismantled it lol』
『Taking it apart joint by joint — the build manual in reverse』
『Stripped it for parts lol』
『Can't you take that home?』
"I want to take it home!"
I looked down at the robot's head on the floor. White and blue — up close, cooler still. I truly wanted to take it home.
Before long, the head too broke into specks of light and faded away.
"Aw — it's gone......"
『Too bad』
『Strolls-kun sounds gutted from the bottom of his heart』
『They sell ones like it in the arcade upstairs』
"I am absolutely going to look."
I ended the stream and left the dungeon. Back up in the arcade, I drifted into the replica sword-and-staff shop.
A wall of swords, staffs, and shields — every single one cool. Middle-school me would have wanted the whole set. No — current me wanted a fair chunk of it too.
But I bought nothing. Cool weapons, I had aplenty — in the weapons volume. Real, usable ones, at that.
"Thank you very much—"
Just as I made for the door, the shopkeeper called me back.
"Kid — you were streaming just now, weren't ya."
"Huh?!"
"Watched it. The part where you cranked the gacha."
"You watched THAT?"
"And they told you not to crank it, too."
"Sorry. I just couldn't help it."
"It's fine. I know the feeling."
"Right?! You'd crank it too, wouldn't you!"
"I'd crank it. Absolutely."
I'd found a comrade. Nakano was a pretty great place.
That night, I opened the hotel room door to Seina rolling back and forth on the bed.
"Big bro. The gacha. You cranked it! Ahaha."
"You watched AGAIN?!"
"I did. From a maid cafe in Akihabara. With big sis."
"A maid cafe?"
Big sis was on the sofa. The usual face.
"Big sis? YOU went to a maid cafe?!"
"Seina said she wanted to go."
"Was it fun? Hey — was it fun?"
"......"
No answer. But her ears were a touch red. Right. It WAS fun.
"Big sis did the 'moe moe kyun'!"
"Seina."
"There are photos."
"Seina."
"Can I post them on Picsta?"
"No."
"Aww come on — I REALLY want to see them!"
......I was ignored.
Tomorrow would be day four in Tokyo. Plenty of Tokyo dungeons left that I wanted to dive. But apart from that, something had been camped in the back of my mind this whole time.
The Executives' volume. The Third Seat — the archaic-loli dragon. And according to Adam, she'd been braiding her hair, waiting, for quite some time.
Tokyo's dungeons, or the Third Seat — both were tugging at me, and I couldn't decide at all.