000-020 · 010-ch9

Chapter 9: Streaming Begins!

　Roughly finishing my preparations, I thought about diving back into the dungeon, but then I remembered—I never actually thought about where or how to do my stream.

"What would be a good way to go about this?"

『Vaf!』

"Oh, good? Yeah, Japanese seasonings really are great, huh."

　Entering the dungeon, I met up with Robo at the layer just above the deep layer after making him wait for so long. The area where I transferred from the deep layer's regular magic circle had been completely flattened—well, yeah. For Robo, I suppose they were all disappointing opponents. All I can do is reflect on that.

　Well, the dungeon's environment returns to normal pretty quickly even if it gets somewhat damaged.

"But seriously, streaming... I should've asked about it beforehand, huh."

　Probably because I drew a clear line, the owner didn't really get into specifics about what to stream. Some people might get stubborn if told how to stream, after all.

　The result was that I dove into the dungeon without consulting anyone about streaming, and without even researching it properly.

"Show footage from that world? But no, there are still intact castles and things like that without any trace of civilization—that's definitely going to be problematic."

『Gaf gaf』

"Don't worry, I won't die that easily."

　Robo went on attacking the meat without a care in the world. This was his first time tasting meat seasoned sweet and salty, so it's good that it suited his palate.

"Hmm... actually, I wasn't thinking about dungeon diving specifically for streaming or anything..."

　Just constantly streaming my normal activities feels oddly awkward, you know?

　While thinking that, I came up with a good idea.

"Ah, right. I'll do that thing I've been thinking about for a while. Since streaming leaves video, I can also keep records—perfect, right."

＊＊＊＊＊＊

　Once that was decided, first up was the first stream.

　To be honest, I had already decided what to do for this first stream. There were plenty of things I could do on the way down, and it would be trouble if someone like Ms. Amamiya got sent flying here.

"Deciding the stream title... and, stream start."

　Starting the stream, the comment section alone appeared in my vision like a hologram window, as if leaping out of the smartphone screen.

"Heh! This is what it feels like, huh!"

　This itself seems to be a built-in function of smartphones for streaming inside dungeons. Something about applying illusion magic technology or whatnot.

　And, just as I started streaming....

(No one's watching at all... Or rather, right, I haven't advertised or anything, and everyone probably doesn't know who I am. I guess I need to consider that sort of thing too.)

　I created a channel under the name "Nameless Explorer" (名無しの探索者), but how many people could recognize me as "the person who lives deeper than the deep layer, who appeared on Ms. Amamiya's stream"? If it were John Doe, maybe, but since I twisted it, probably no one would notice.

　I hadn't considered any of that at all. I had vaguely thought it'd be nice if about 10,000 people watched me, seeing how over 100,000 gathered for Ms. Amamiya's stream, but the foundations between her and me are completely different.

　Originally famous, she ended up in that situation, which became a rumor and drew in even more people.

　On the other hand, what about me? There's no motivation for anyone to watch my videos in the first place.

(Come to think of it, I did look into this briefly a while back... thumbnails and titles? was it, to catch people's attention?)

　Thinking about it, I recall the game playthroughs on WeTube I used to watch before I started living in the dungeon. Among those, there were channels with tens or hundreds of thousands of viewers, and channels streaming for single-digit viewers with only a few dozen subscribers.

(...Well, if even one or two people come to watch, that's fine. If no one comes at all, I guess I'll think about it then.)

　That said, I'm not trying to make a living from streaming. I'm just doing it as a bonus, and to keep videos as records I can watch later myself. Eventually I want to share information, but for now I just have to stream normally to build that foundation.

　The streaming site seems to save the streamed videos, and the owner at that shop smiled and said "I'll save the recordings for you!", so if I want to watch them after returning to the surface, I should be able to do that anytime.

(That said, this 1 person might just be that guy)

　I thought there was someone who didn't comment but had been sitting there from the beginning, but that's definitely the owner, right. I even created the channel in front of the owner, and he should have subscribed to the channel right then and there.

　And then.

>>Hello

　The first comment flowed through the comment section.

"Oh, hello there. Good. I seriously thought no one would watch me at all"

　Well, as long as there's at least one person watching, that's good enough, isn't it?

>>Alright then, let's go.

>>Where to?

"I decided what to do for the first stream. Or actually, should I do a self-introduction first? Hey Robo, let's go." 『Vaf』 "The meal's already over!"

　Suppressing Robo's urging, I cast cleaning magic on the plates and put them in the bag.

>>Um, excuse me, but are you perhaps the John Doe-san who saved Ms. Amamiya Kanata?

"Hm? Ah, right right, that John Doe... there's only one of him, isn't there? I'm John Doe, who briefly appeared on Ms. Amamiya's stream a few days ago. Taking the opportunity of returning to the surface this time, since I got the equipment, I thought I'd try streaming occasionally"

　

>>Really!? You're a celebrity!? E, seriously!? Why is there no one here!?

"Ah, so I've become a celebrity, huh. The lack of people is because... I haven't announced I'm streaming anywhere, the thumbnail is completely black, and I haven't done anything to attract viewers, right? I didn't advertise either." >>E, um, can I call people over!?

"Eh, I'm already heading toward today's destination. Don't I need to do the self-introduction again or something?"

>>No, that sort of thing would be if you look back at the stream... actually, you haven't done a self-introduction at all! 　

"Oh is that? Then, here we go."

　While walking, I had been looking at the comment section, but I stopped and turned my face toward the drone for the self-introduction.

"I live in the dungeon, my name is John Doe. Of course it's a pseudonym? I don't think I'll do much specifically for streaming, but well, I'd like to do some things if possible."

>>Mnhh!! That's not what I mean!? This is a stream that shouldn't be watched by just me alone, right!?

"Nahaha. Well, when people increase it gets rowdy. If even one person is watching, that's fine in its own way, and if no one's watching, I can watch it myself later, so that's fine too." 　

>>That means, you want me to stop calling people over?

"No, not particularly. It's more like I really don't care either way. If people increase and say something, I'll just ignore it if I don't like it."

　While talking about such things, we arrived at the destination. By the way, there are still only 2 viewers.

>>Wooo, I'm strong!

"What, if I'm known wouldn't you know the words I said on Ms. Amamiya's stream? Anyway! We've arrived at today's destination!"

>>Hah!?

>>That's fast

"This part of the 5th layer is right near the entrance."

　What I'm pointing at, the drone faces toward a hole in the wall and the small room spreading beyond it.

"This is the same one Ms. Amamiya stepped on while fleeing from a Unique Monster, right."

>>Eh!?

>>That's not only in the upper layers!? 　

"No, it's pretty much everywhere. Probably in the middle layers, lower layers, and deep layers too."

　While explaining, I squat down and peer inside the hole that only goes up to about waist height. I don't go inside yet.

"Look, can you see that? A magic circle."

>>Eh, uwa, really. I've never seen a magic circle that big.

"Magic circles for transfer magic are small. That one is what sent Ms. Amamiya down to the lower layers last time."

>>Transfer, you mean?

>>Yes?

"Yeah. I don't really know the proper use of this either, but it's like a trap that randomly transfers you to a small room with a similar magic circle somewhere in the dungeon."

>>Randomly? So there's a possibility of transferring from the middle layer to the upper layer?

"Totally possible. I think Ms. Amamiya was really lucky. Like, getting sent exactly to the layer I was on."

>>I see, if she had been even slightly off, she wouldn't have been saved...

"Well, yeah. At that time I was gathering materials on a few layers, so maybe about a 1 in 6 chance?"

>>That's brutal... 　

"Well anyway, now I'm going to use this to move down below." 　

"Don't know? I live in a place that connects from the very bottom of the dungeon."

>>I know. You said that on Ms. Amamiya Kanata's stream, right? Whether it's true or not, it's quite controversial.

"Oh really. Well anyway, I could try hard and go down 100 layers, but using this gives a pretty good chance to take a shortcut. Its destination... approximately, but the probability of going to nearby layers both above and below is high, and the further apart, the more likely it is to go down. So, since this is the 5th layer from the top, if I ride here, there's a high probability I'll get sent down—that's the logic."

>>Using such a vicious trap as an elevator substitute, are you sane?

"Well, if it's inside this dungeon I can fight on any layer. Ah, so don't ride it half-jokingly, okay? You won't be able to return alive normally. Or rather, this hasn't been discovered until now because everyone who rode it hasn't been able to come back." 　

"Well, if you get sent to a layer with monsters far stronger than the places you normally explore, you won't be saved."

>>There's no way back?

"It's random. If you keep desperately riding it, maybe you'll return eventually, but fundamentally the interior is so similar that you won't even know where you are anymore."

>>It's an instant death trap...

"No really, I wonder why this exists? Unlike monster houses it's isolated in a small room, which doesn't make sense either. I wonder if it has some sort of purpose, but I don't really get it."

　Alright. Then let's dive in.

"Alright then, now myself and Robo, the two of us, are going to try stepping on the trap. I'll say it again, don't step on it for fun. Unless you can survive wherever in this dungeon you get sent to, and then reach either the surface or some safe place at the very back, you'll die if you step on it. By the way, the moment you enter the room you get caught by the magic circle, so be careful."

>>Ah, yes. Have a safe trip.

"Alright then, let's go Robo."

『Gau』

　Robo, having activated spiritization, goes through the hole first, and I follow into the small room.

"The inside looks like this. Well, it's just a small room."

>>Ah, your feet are glowing.

"Then, let's see how many layers we can shortcut! Tohu!"

　The magic circle activates, and blue light wraps around our bodies. And like that, we successfully finished introducing the transfer magic circle on our first stream.

—Or so it should have been.