021-040 · 031-ch27
Chapter 27: Interlude - A Story from the Surface (Around Chapter 22)
This is a story from the surface, though it may be out of chronological order.
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"Sorry to keep you waiting, Akane-chan."
"Oh, Kanacchi. You done already?"
"Yeah."
"Well then, let's go."
After meeting up in the office's break space, Akane-chan and I were about to head out to the dungeon as usual, leaving the office──
"You two, going to the dungeon again?"
Just as we were about to leave, one of our members, Shirahashi Erika-chan, called out to us.
"Yeah, we're off."
"Gotta make money, after all."
Ever since Akane-chan and I made it back from the dungeon safely, we've been diving into the dungeon whenever we find time.
Of course, we don't cut into our sleep time or do anything reckless, but still, we're spending most of the time we would have used for other hobbies on dungeon exploration.
Our office manager and the other members worry about us, but since there's the reason that we need to gather money to pay John Doe, they send us off as long as we don't overdo it.
But today was a little different.
"Mind if I join you today?"
Erika-chan, who usually just sends us off, said she'd come along with us.
We basically stream all our activities in the dungeon.
At minimum, we go to the dungeon solo or with members once every two days, and we do about as much activity as normal adventurers—Akane-chan, Erika-chan, and I all do.
What we're about to do now is the extra part on top of that, so there's no reason for Erika-chan to come with us.
"You too, Erika-chan?"
"When I see you two working so hard, I can't just sit by and do nothing."
"Yeah, that's great. With Elichi around, we'll be able to fight even stronger monsters, right?"
From an outside perspective, it probably looks like Akane-chan and I spend quite a long time exploring the dungeon.
And it's probably not just that Erika-chan wants to work as hard as we do.
"It's probably not good for just the two of us to be doing long explorations for so long, is it."
There's us—me and Akane-chan—Erika-chan, and three other members.
Those are the members who make up the group called DanSuta, Dungeon Stars.
We're Dtubers who do idol-like activities and streaming, but at the same time, we're each explorers who can fight.
Our abilities vary somewhat, but there's no significant difference between us, and even when we all form a party, there might be someone who leads, but no one who's dead weight.
That's why we can operate both as a Dtuber group and as an explorer party.
But among us, only Akane-chan and I are increasing the number and duration of our explorations right now.
There's no problem yet, but if this continues, it will show up as differences in our levels and strength, throwing off the party's balance.
"I'm not going to tell explorers not to explore. Plus, watching you two made me realize that I'd lost my own ambition at some point. I just thought I'd try taking things a bit more seriously."
"...Thank you, Erika-chan."
"I don't know what for, but I'll accept the gratitude."
"Yeah, please accept it."
Of course, it's probably also for the reason Erika-chan mentioned.
But at the same time, it was our accident that made Erika-chan feel this way and take action.
And probably, because Erika-chan is kind, she's probably also thinking it would be good if it became even a little easier for us to earn money.
So, not an apology "I'm sorry," but a "thank you."
If we're party members who fight together, I think that's what fits best.
"Anyway, having more fighting power is welcome."
"Noa and the others said they want to come too, but why don't we go with just the three of us today?"
"Noa and the others too?"
When the names of other members came up, I couldn't help but let out a questioning voice.
"Everyone's been inspired. The fact that John Doe showed there's still a path ahead. John Doe's ability to command a monster that blocked attacks from several skilled mages. There's still more to dungeon exploration, we can't stop here."
"I see... that's right."
After that, I only gradually gathered information from social media and other people's streams, but I feel like more people have become enthusiastic about exploration.
In stream comments too, there were slightly more questions asking about exploration than usual.
With the information about this overwhelmingly powerful person, John-san, everything related to dungeons has started moving all at once.
That's what I think.
"If everyone's saying that, wouldn't it be better for all of us to dive together?"
"That's true if we're progressing through exploration, but six people are too many if we want to raise our abilities. Three or four is about right."
"That's true too. In that case, that means one of the other three will come tomorrow, right?"
"In that case, should we split into groups of three and train?"
"That depends on discussion, I'd say."
Pirin
My smartphone notification sound went off.
"Excuse me."
Erika-chan took out her smartphone while walking and checked it.
Then her eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks.
"Erika-chan...?"
"What happened?"
The answer Erika-chan gave to our questioning was shocking.
"It seems a deep layer has been conquered in America. They say they've discovered the 5th layer."
"Eh, eeeeeeeeh!?"
"Really!?"
In a certain company's president's office. There was a man in a suit working at a computer, and a man in casual clothes sitting in a reception chair drinking coffee. The man drinking coffee, though not particularly doing anything and seeming idle, for some reason showed a strangely restless appearance.
Perhaps finding that behavior annoying, the man who had been working stopped his hands and called out to him.
"Kō, stop being so restless. You're disturbing my work."
"...Sorry."
The man let out a sigh, and though the man was more composed than before, he still couldn't hide his restless appearance. The suit-clad man returned to his work.
About 10 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Receiving permission, a young woman with glasses entered.
"President."
"Report."
"Yes. Currently, we haven't found any information connected to John Doe. His channel on the video site is the same. However, though it probably won't be a clue, we did find one piece of information."
"What is it?"
The suit-clad man asked in a quiet voice, and the woman, his secretary, continued her report.
"In the thread from when he mentioned that he does streaming, there was a thread stating that they would move to a password-protected thread to search for channels. The password for the destination was an image, and it's now deleted. Additionally, we discovered that threads with similar titles to that one are being created every few days. All of them are password-protected, and viewing them as related, we're continuing our investigation."
"...I see. Continue the investigation."
The secretary woman received the instruction and left the room. The man in casual clothes had directed expectant eyes when she entered, and afterward showed a slumped appearance. The suit-clad man sighed at him.
"I told you it wouldn't be that easy to find, didn't I?"
"Yeah, that's true, but...""
The one more eagerly awaiting information about John Doe to be found is, if anything, the man in casual clothes here. The suit-clad man is also interested, but isn't this disappointed.
"You want to meet him that badly?"
"Well, of course. I think any explorer, anyone who seeks strength, would want to meet the strongest explorer. And..."
As he said this, the man took up a sword that had been placed on the reception desk and pulled it from its sheath.
"I want to properly thank him for that time too."
A plain sword with no excellent decoration like one struck on the surface.
But its performance has yet to be surpassed in Japan. Even the man who reached the dungeon's deep layer, District 11, hasn't been able to find one.
That beloved sword is one that the suit-clad man paid for when an explorer from who-knows-where proposed a trade over ten years ago.
"At that time, I didn't think it was that great either. Rather, the fact that I could buy that sword for 1 million was a bit of a rip-off."
The suit-clad man remembered 10 years ago.
A friend who had been a pioneer among explorers, who were still almost nonexistent at the time, brought the person who had helped him when he was in crisis. Though he wore a hood and a mask, he remembered those powerful, somewhat insane-looking eyes. When the man offered that he wanted to do something in thanks for his friend being saved, the person proposed a trade.
He brought up the buying and selling of dungeon-produced items, which was still hardly done at the time.
As a result, the man accepted it. He gave value to something that still had no value attached, and bought it listening to his friend's opinion too. At the time, he thought he had paid a considerable amount, but thinking about it now, it was quite the low estimate. So thinks the man who now runs a company that buys and sells dungeon-produced items.
And then, another knock.
"What is it?"
When he called out, a woman, out of breath unlike before, entered the president's office.
"President, I have a report."
"Continue."
"In America, at the New York dungeon, a deep layer has been conquered."
At the secretary's report, the suit-clad man just raised his eyebrows, but the man who had been sitting and eavesdropping shot to his feet as if kicking his desk.
"Really!?"
"The moment of the boss defeat wasn't filmed, but the deepest part of the dungeon was streamed. Also, there's an even further area continuing from there. The 5th layer has been confirmed, they say."
At the secretary's words, the man in casual clothes gasped. Meanwhile, the suit-clad man, taking off his glasses and wiping them, began to speak.
"Kō."
"...What?"
"You should head to the dungeon."
"Hah? Now's not the time for that──"
"No. That's what's needed now."
Unable to grasp the meaning of the suit-clad man's words, the man in casual clothes, called Kō, made a puzzled face.
"Now that America has advanced, Japan must conquer the deep layers as quickly as possible, even a step sooner. Otherwise, Japan's dungeon business will be left behind like this."
"...I see, so that's it."
"Minori, you too. You can take a break from being secretary for a while."
"Understood."
At that instruction, the woman's expression, who had been a capable career woman, changed dramatically. By the time she took off her glasses, let down the hair tied in the back, and raised her face, a fearless smile was floating on it.
"It's been a while since I've dived into a dungeon."
"Hurry up and get your preparations done."
"I know. We'll meet up in a day."
The two explorers left the president's office together.
"John Doe, huh..."
The suit-clad man who saw them off displayed the topic of the New York dungeon that he had just mentioned from the news shown on his computer screen.
The man felt that ever since John Doe's appearance, various things surrounding the dungeon had started moving.
Not just public opinion, but explorers' actions had also become more active, and the dungeon-related companies and sponsors that support them had also started moving.
Information still hasn't reached the man yet, but it seems the government is making moves too.
"Thanks to you, the nuisances have been removed."
At the same time, what had been the cancer of Japanese dungeon exploration until now was being removed all at once.
To give some examples, some of the powerful figures in the explorers' union who had only been fighting over interests, like Dungeon Ace who made a sweet deal to go against John Doe.
In a situation where dungeon exploration has become more serious and waste is no longer permitted, those who can only hold others back are losing their status.
And all of this is because a distant path was shown by John Doe's hand.
"...I'd like to meet him."
Not that I particularly want to do anything.
John Doe probably doesn't need support from the surface, including from me, and it's not like I have any favors to ask of him if we meet.
Just.
In a place like the dungeon where even one's life can be easily lost at times.
What did he think, and what did he sacrifice to obtain that much strength.
I want to meet one superhuman.
The man had such a pure admiration.