arc3 · 174-ch174

Chapter 174: Kachofūgetsu's Reaction

My name is Hananoi Saki. Though it is presumptuous of me, I have the honor of serving as the leader of the team Kachofūgetsu.

Aside from myself there are three members: Toba Mitaka the Thrower, Kazamaki Arashi the Wind Mage, and Tsukimori Chizuru the Longbow Archer. Ah — my own job, by the way, is Flower Diviner. It's apparently quite a rare one, you see.

The truth is, the other day the famous cameraman SS-san filmed our floor-thirty attempt at the Inubosaki Tower Dungeon. The video reached us yesterday, and we all sat down to watch it together.

I've had chances to see videos filmed by SS-san before, of course. But seeing ourselves projected onto the screen in the very same quality as those wonderful streams gave me goosebumps.

The other members were no different. For the full three hours until the video ended, not one of them so much as touched the drinks we'd set out — of that much, at least, I am certain.

"Everyone, is your mental preparation in order? It's time to put the stream up."

And now, one night later, the moment has come to release this video on our homepage at last.

"Just let me take a few deep breaths here."

When Mitaka said that and began breathing deep, Arashi and Chizuru both followed suit and started deep-breathing too. I confess I took about three deep breaths myself as well.

"Yosh — go on and give it the click!"

It was Arashi — the mage, who trains his lungs daily for his chanting — who, having finished the longest deep breath of us all, urged me on. So, steeling myself, I clicked the stream button.

As a C-rank party, we flatter ourselves that we have a fair measure of name recognition. Enough, even, that a bulletin board exists where our fans gather.

This time, so that we could watch the reactions to this stream, we decided to keep an eye on one particular bulletin board. It seemed to be a board where plenty of people had been waiting for us even before the video went up. Arashi — who cares deeply what others think of him — was the one who introduced it to us.

"Look how happy everyone is!"

It was my first time seeing the board where our fans gather, so I'd been a little worried about what people might write — but just as Arashi said, the atmosphere was better than I'd expected, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh? Saki's the talk of the thread."

Mitaka teased me with a mischievous grin. Honestly, that boy never does grow up.

From the moment I posted the video, the comments on that board came pouring in as though it were a live broadcast. Up until now, we were doing well to reach about a million views — and that record was blown away without ceremony.

I'd be lying if I said I had no expectations, but I never dreamed our video would be watched this much. I believe this is entirely thanks to SS-san's filming skill.

The other members, too, were gazing in fascination at their own fighting selves, rendered so vividly on screen, sighing in admiration all the while. What's more, there were moments when the wide shot and the face close-up were filmed simultaneously — it was like watching a film of the finest quality.

There was only one thing: I had not yet joined the battle, so all that appeared of me was me giving my instructions. I cannot wait to see my own self using Flower Divination.

"Oh? Why is SS-san zooming in on the bento of all things? And on mine and Saki's at the same time, no less."

I hadn't paid it any mind at first — but just as Mitaka says, during the lunch scene, for some reason SS-san filmed close-ups of my and Mitaka's bento, and then went on to film close-ups of Arashi's and Chizuru's bento as well.

"Our lunch cloths match..."

It was Chizuru who realized the reason, muttering with head bowed. I see — perhaps SS-san didn't know about our relationships. And when he saw that our lunch cloths were the same, he must have realized it. SS-san may be rather more shy than he lets on.

The board was even calling it "a date" — but the truth is it did look that way, so we all exchanged glances and burst out laughing.

Once lunch ends, my turn should come at last. On the screen, I take out Nasturtium petals and channel mana into them to cast my buffs. The people on the board praise it as beautiful, and seeing Mitaka nodding along at the sight — my heart swelled so much it was almost too much to bear.

My commentary for SS-san's benefit, too, was of course filmed in full. I did wonder for a moment whether revealing the details of my own skill was wise — but among our fans it is common knowledge, so I let it run as it was.

And in fact, there were people on the board who didn't know my skill, and those who did seemed delighted by it — so I'm glad I didn't cut it.

The first monsters we met on floor twenty-six were the Scale Wolves, weren't they. Monsters with hard scales — but before Mitaka's blazing fastballs, there was nothing they could do. Mitaka himself, though, seems bothered by his own throwing form, and spent the whole scene muttering to himself. Truly a high school ballplayer. I haven't the faintest idea what could be bothering him.

After that, we kept pushing forward steadily, and the board was nothing but favorable comments — before I knew it, I'd fallen completely in love with this bulletin board.

We spent a while chattering away as we watched, and then, at floor twenty-eight, came the biggest hurdle of the day. Yes — three Shadow Wolves and three Scale Wolves appeared at the very same time.

As leader, I hesitated a little — but the Scale Wolves were below their rank, and SS-san was with us, so I decided we would fight. The people on the board, it seems, knew exactly what I was going to do.

"Whoa, I didn't catch it yesterday, but now I get why the Shadow Wolves never charged in."

At the time, I'd been thinking the very same thing as Mitaka — and it was watching the footage the second time that made it clear to me. SS-san's drone had been holding the Shadow Wolves in check from a perfect position. With the Shadow Wolves' movements stopped, Arashi's Tornado Cutter and the linked attacks that followed landed beautifully. The people on the board have truly trained eyes, it seems — they spotted SS-san's support at a single glance. Or rather — from the moment I asked SS-san for support, our victory was already a settled thing, wasn't it.

"Yikes — watching it again, SS-san's got SO much room to spare."

Just as Arashi — who was the one set upon by the Shadow Wolves — says, SS-san had been locked onto the Shadow Wolf that wasn't taking Mitaka's and Chizuru's attacks from the very beginning.

Could it be... that SS-san could actually clear dungeons with just this one drone? The thought crosses my mind. As the people on the board say — it goes far, far beyond the work of a cameraman.

And then, the boss battle at last. When SS-san went off to check whether it might be an error variant, I already knew the answer — and yet I found myself a little exasperated. After all, every single time, it's with my stomach in knots, wondering what if this one is an error variant, that I open the boss door.

In the boss battle, SS-san devoted himself entirely to filming. Thanks to that, the powerful long-range attacks, the superb coordination, and the plan-perfect progression of the fight were all captured to the very fullest. The board went absolutely wild, and watching that made us happy too.

"Hey... the view count's gone insane..."

At Arashi's words, all four of us were fixed on a single point on the computer screen. Displayed there: over ten million views in three hours.

And after this, for some reason or other, a rumor spread far and wide as if it were gospel — that if you watch this stream together with someone you like, the two of you can start dating — and the view count went on climbing higher and higher.