chapter01 · 016-ep16

Episode 16: The Ojou-sama Goes Wild!

"BRUOOOOOOOOOOH!"

The bull-headed monster looming before Karin stood some two meters tall.

Its muscles seemed ready to burst, its entire body radiating overwhelming destruction and violence.

【Minotaur is hereeeee!】

【Strongest-class lower-layer monster right off the bat. Will she be okay!?】

【Against this ojou-sama, maybe you need something at least this strong】

【You'll probably be fine, but be careful, ojou-sama!】

Chat sped up at the appearance of one of the lower layers' strongest monsters so soon after she entered. Some worried for Karin; others cheered her on, trusting her strength.

"Rest assured, everyone."

Karin puffed out her chest to reassure them.

"I am well acquainted with how to handle this bull."

"BRUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

It probably hadn't understood her words. But the minotaur roared as if it had taken her attitude as a challenge.

It crouched down from two legs onto four, like a sprinter ready to start.

【Ah】

【Here it comes!】

【The minotaur's charge!】

Its powerful legs tensed and swelled—BOOM!

DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

A deafening crash shook the lower layers.

The minotaur had charged Karin and slammed into the dungeon wall at terrifying speed.

"How dangerous, desu wa."

Karin dodged the charge easily.

But the comments weren't all relief.

【Ojou-sama dodged it like nothing!】

【As expected of Karin ojou-sama!】

【But that impact was nuts!?】

【It's so FAST!?!?】

【Even from the floating camera I could barely follow it...】

【Even among the monsters of the lower layers, minotaurs are second to none in the speed and power of their charges...!】

【The lower layers really are dangerous...】

【Minotaurs get me every time】

【It's not even on the same level as the monsters we've seen so far】

【Even without the tea, surely she can't dodge every attack and insta-kill this one like before...】

【Don't let your guard down just because you dodged once!】

As if to embody their fears, the bull's charge—the source of its standing as one of the strongest lower-layer monsters—didn't end there.

"BRUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

Though it had hit the wall hard enough to shake the dungeon, its sinister-horned head was uninjured. It accelerated again as if nothing had happened.

DODODODODODODO!

And this time it didn't stop by crashing into a wall.

It scraped its curved horns against the wall, or ran along it with its momentum, charging Karin again and again from every direction across the dungeon's broad corridor.

"Over here, Mr. Bull, desu wa!"

But Karin took the successive attacks in stride.

She dodged each charge like a dancer, her dress skirt fluttering.

【Karin ojou-sama is SCARY STRONG!?】

【She can read those movements perfectly!?】

【She's even waving her dress skirt to taunt it!?】

【Playing bullfighter with a minotaur and not even getting grazed...】

【Karin ojou-sama really is Karin ojou-sama!】

【Dodging's great, but what does she do now!?】

【The usual strategy is to stop it charging in the first place, or have the front line force it to a halt so someone else can strike with a sword, right!?】

【There's the life-or-death counterattack option too, but even that needs a sword or magic!?】

【Isn't it too much even for ojou-sama's fists!?】

A minotaur's body, particularly its head, could withstand the tremendous recoil of its impacts. Even mana-infused blunt blows didn't do much; without magic or sword strikes, meaningful damage was hard to inflict.

"BRUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

And perhaps the flutter of Karin's dress annoyed the bull, because its charges only grew faster.

Amid all this—

"It is all right, everyone."

Karin dodged another charge.

"As I said, I know exactly how to handle this bull!"

At the same moment, she seized the horns of the minotaur as it passed her. And then—

"I'll borrow some of that charging power, if you please!"

"!? BRUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!?"

Using the minotaur's own strength, she began to spin it around at incredible speed. Round and round and round!

【!?!?!?!?!?!?】

【HUH!?】

【She's turned the minotaur into a helicopter rotorrrrr!?】

【Wait, WHAT!?】

【She grabbed it mid-charge... and she's swinging it around!?】

When the rotation reached its peak and gales whipped through the corridor—

"Shall we dance! Desu wa!"

"BMOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!?"

DOBAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

The bull, hurled with the force of its charge, the centrifugal force, and Karin's own arm strength, slammed headfirst into the dungeon wall.

Its impact-resistant body sank into the wall with an explosive crash, crumpled, and never moved again.

"Phew! Having both hands free really does give me more ways to fight, desu wa!"

【FWAAAA!?!?!? LMAOOOO】

【No no no no no NO!】

【Even if you beat it, what kind of way to beat it is THAT!?】

【A minotaur dying from hitting a wall!? How powerful was that!?】

【That's like killing a fish by splashing it with water!?】

【Ever heard of a water cutter?】

【W-well, the minotaur didn't turn into a wall stain, so it's tough, I guess (dead eyes)】

【A-and the dungeon wall didn't even crack. Still sturdy as ever. Maybe its dense lower-layer mana made the impact hurt the minotaur? (desperate rationalization)】

【As expected of Karin ojou-sama! (brain off)】

【Everyone's too scared to call out ojou-sama's awful English lmao (trembling)】

Karin's unprecedented bull disposal left chat reeling in shock and confusion for what felt like the umpteenth time today.

And having dispatched one of the strongest lower-layer monsters so early, Karin showed no sign of stopping.

"Ah, a rock turtle this time, desu wa! This one is a little heavy, but flip it over and it'll stop moving, making it much easier to finish off!"

Annihilation.

"A butterfly panther! Up close, they're fluffy and surprisingly cute, desu no! Though I shall defeat this one."

Destruction.

With both hands free, Karin's range of options had expanded. She was clearing the lower layers as quickly as the upper and middle ones—if not faster.

She explained how to defeat each monster she encountered (in ways almost nobody could imitate), sometimes grabbing one to immobilize it and showing it to the camera up close. She had enough room to spare for fan service as she pressed onward.

Naturally, her dress didn't gain so much as a speck of dirt, let alone a scratch.

【W-we look like idiots for worrying...】

【Someone bring this ojou-sama tea! Hit her with the tea debuff even now!】

【She should already have the dress debuff and the pressure of over a hundred thousand viewers, though...】

【Ojou-sama can't be stopped! lmao】

【Some kids are sitting in a classroom with this ojou-sama as we speak】

【Is this Assassination Classroom or what】

【The parents are gonna complain】

【Monsters that are supposed to be massively stronger thanks to mana are dropping like scraps of paper, desu wa~! lmao】

"Floor 1 of the lower layers—cleared, desu wa!"

Karin reached the back of the first lower-layer floor in no time and cheerfully announced it in front of the connection to floor 2: the boss room.

【Too fast lmao!】

【No no no no lol NO no no no lmao】

【Encounters dropped off partway through, maybe 'cause the monsters were scared of her, but even so this is insane lol】

【We knew she was strong since she insta-killed Puke, who could solo the lower layers, but... Isn't this on another plane of existence?】

【Is this... footage of the real world?】

【Hey, everyone, this is her first lower-layer boss fight. Get nervous】

【You're asking the impossible】

【She was going to fight a lower-layer boss WITH tea if she hadn't run out...】

"Well then, I shouldn't keep you all waiting, so let us challenge the floor 1 boss right away, desu wa."

If she had no tea, pacing mattered!

Modern audiences don't want a story that drags! (Mafuyu's words.)

Karin moved straight into the boss room.

"—RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

As she entered the great hall, a white four-legged beast some twenty meters long rose in its center. Its body seemed a mix of various animals, with a giant tail and spines along its back standing out in particular. It glared down at Karin and gave a twisted cry.

【A large chimera... This one's a pain too】

【It jumps all over despite its size AND fills the room with poisonous mist that blocks your sight...】

【I can't wait to see how she beats it!】

【Watch her teleport onto its back and smash the mist-producing organ first lmao】

【Nobody's even worried about ojou-sama anymore lol】

【Well, yeah (after watching the minotaur helicopter)】

"RUOOOOOOOOOOH!"

With a cry, the large chimera kicked off the ground.

It sprang toward Karin with speed its enormous body belied, swinging cleaverlike claws.

It was somewhat slower than the minotaur. But a twenty-meter body leaping around at speed was a tremendous threat in its own right, its attacks coming from every direction like a storm.

"Your movements are as inelegant as ever."

Karin dodged its attacks as naturally as all the ones before.

But the truly troublesome part of a large chimera was the white mist now pouring from its leaping back.

A thick fog gradually filled the great hall. It blocked an explorer's vision, concealed the already agile chimera, and slowed their movements with an effect akin to a nerve poison.

To beat this lower-layer boss, explorers first needed to destroy the organ on its back producing the mist. Failing that, they had to burn the mist away with a flamethrower or magic.

But—

【? Hey, why's ojou-sama just dodging!?】

【This isn't an opponent you can afford to wait and watch, is it!?】

【Knowing her, she must have something in mind】

Comments sped up as Karin kept dodging and let the mist spread. Most expected that she had another plan, but—

"Ah, I may have made a little mistake here, desu wa."

【No, this is bad!?】

【The mist's so thick even the floating camera's struggling!?】

【She probably has a detection skill, so she can see the attacks, but isn't it dangerous to have poison slowing her down against a boss with wide-range, powerful attacks!?】

【At this concentration, even an antidote wouldn't completely counteract it!?】

With the entire boss room turning white, viewers could no longer overlook it. Karin's quiet remark had them genuinely worried.

"RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

The large chimera, too, seemed convinced Karin was at a disadvantage.

Immune to its own poison, it hid in the fog and located Karin easily using heat-sensing pit organs.

From that position of absolute advantage, it unleashed its finishing move: a full-strength slam with its huge tail.

DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

Its fastest and strongest attack came down on Karin.

But—

"What a relief, desu wa. I thought I'd got the timing of its defeat wrong and the camera might stop working entirely before you used that move."

Karin, who had naturally dodged the blow using her detection skill, sounded relieved.

"What a pity for you, large chimera-sama. Neither blocked vision nor poison works on me. My resistance skill is maxed out, desu no."

She seized the thick tail that had slammed down before her with both hands.

"HIIII-YAAAAAAH! DESU WAAAAAA!"

"RUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!?"

Veins standing out across her body, she swung the beast around by brute force.

DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

The large chimera smashed back-first into the dungeon wall. The mist-producing organ was utterly destroyed, and the flow of poison stopped completely.

At that same moment—

【............Huh?】

That one barely typed comment was the last before the chat of over a hundred thousand viewers stopped dead (for the second time today).