arc1 · 033-ch33

Episode 33: Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon ①

It was the third day since the Kokushi Musou video started streaming. Today was supposed to be the release of the final video, but I'd been asked by Himehana of Hyakka Ryouran to come to the Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon. The view counts on the first and second videos had gotten absolutely insane, so I was terrified of what the final numbers would look like, but I had to do my job properly.

Since the income from Hyakka Ryouran kept coming in steadily, I'd bought mid-grade potions to replace the ones I used last time. I'd learned just how important potions are.

"SS-san, thanks for today. Also, I watched the Kokushi Musou video! The response is incredible!"

Toomi-san, the leader of Hyakka Ryouran, greeted me with even more energy than last time. Probably because of that video, there were adventurers, onlookers, and all sorts of people gathered around. Obviously, a drone couldn't fly all the way into central Tokyo, so Himehana had carried me here today.

But it wasn't just Hyakka Ryouran—I had a feeling my drone was also getting pointed at and stared at. Is this a good thing?

Since my voice wouldn't reach them anyway, I floated the drone and blinked its lights twice to respond to Toomi-san's greeting.

"All right, let's get going!"

They used this Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon as their base of operations and had already registered at the twentieth floor. So instead of going through the entrance, we headed into the transfer stone room beside it. This time, I filmed from among the group to give the feel of actually being a Hyakka Ryouran member. At the end, Himehana carried me, and we transferred safely to the twentieth floor.

The Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon looked like a skyscraper from the outside, but inside it was a standard cave-type dungeon. The monsters that appeared here were mostly wolf-types. However, this dungeon was famous for occasionally spawning a certain monster.

That monster's name was "Golem." That's right—the magical creature Golem sometimes appeared here as a rare monster. The rock-bodied Golem was C-rank, the kind of opponent that D-rank and below parties would want to avoid.

However, this Golem often dropped high-quality ore when defeated. For C-rank and above parties, it was a lucrative target.

And there was an even rarer variant of this Golem. That was the Mithril Golem. As the name suggested, this Golem was made of the rare metal Mithril. It was a formidable B-rank opponent, but defeating it supposedly guaranteed a Mithril drop.

Golems were said to appear from the twentieth floor onward, but the encounter rate was so low that deliberately hunting them was difficult. On the flip side, if you happened to run into one and take it down, that alone could make you a fortune. That's the kind of dream this dungeon was packed with—the Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon.

After transferring to the twentieth floor, we immediately headed down to the twenty-first. We walked through the relatively bright cave for a bit when a beast's growl echoed from deeper inside.

"They're here."

Rin, the thief at the front of the group, reported the monster's presence in her usual few words. Based on the reception from last time, I knew Rin's voice was popular with viewers, so I made sure to capture the audio properly.

Emerging from the shadows up ahead was a brown wolf, slightly larger than normal. That was definitely a Ferocious Wolf. True to its name, its temperament was extremely vicious. It was D-rank—normally the kind of strength that required a D-rank party to handle, but...

"I'll take this one!"

The moment she confirmed it was a single enemy, Himehana charged forward. Her twin swords glinted, and in the blink of an eye, she'd sliced the Ferocious Wolf to pieces. As expected of Himehana—she had what it took to potentially rank up to C depending on today's performance. I couldn't help much in combat, but I wanted to capture every moment of their success and contribute through the revenue instead.

"As expected of Himehana. No need for the rest of us."

When the leader Toomi-san praised her honestly, Himehana came back with a beaming smile. Damn, she's so cute. It was a little frustrating knowing the viewers watching this would get hyped all over again, but it made for great footage, so I kept the camera rolling.

Our objective today was to defeat multiple C-rank monsters and bring back their magic stones. That would supposedly promote their party to C-rank.

By the way, C-rank monsters in this dungeon were either elemental wolves that appeared from the twenty-fifth floor onward, or Golems themselves. According to Himehana, they were planning to hunt elemental wolves while keeping a "if a Golem shows up, that's a bonus" mindset.

For reference, the boss on the thirtieth floor was apparently a B-rank Werewolf, and they'd decided it was still too early to challenge it. So the plan was to hunt on the twenty-fifth floor and return to the twentieth once they'd collected enough magic stones.

After walking a bit further, three Ferocious Wolves appeared next. Himehana definitely wasn't going to charge in alone this time.

"Hehehe, it's my turn. Fireball!"

Akatsuki-san, who'd started chanting the moment the multiple Ferocious Wolves appeared, launched an extra-large Fireball. Of course, I'd been filming from the moment she started the incantation.

Since Akatsuki-san was from a wealthy family, she was popular among other well-off young ladies. I made sure to aim the camera to capture that audience's interest too.

Akatsuki's Fireball struck the Ferocious Wolf in the middle that hadn't dodged in time, dealing massive damage.

"Nicely done, Kureha!"

"We'll take the next ones!"

Toomi-san, spear at the ready, praised Akatsuki before charging toward the wolf that had dodged to the right. The other one, which had gone left, seemed to be Himehana's target. Which meant the injured wolf in the middle was...

I pointed the camera behind the damaged, crouching Ferocious Wolf. As expected, Rin had circled behind it and was raising her dagger. Close call—I almost missed her cool moment.

Toomi-san and Himehana both took down their Ferocious Wolves in the blink of an eye. Sure enough, it looked like all of them had already attained C-rank-equivalent combat ability. The best proof of that was how it was getting harder and harder for me to keep up with the camera.

I was happy about it, but at the same time, it stung that I wasn't growing myself. If they kept getting stronger like this, there'd come a point where the camera couldn't keep up—just like with Kokushi Musou. I hoped I could find some way to grow too, before that happened.

Watching their spectacular performance while carrying that anxiety inside, I kept filming.