chapter01 · 021-ep21

Episode 21: Kagerou's Stream

That day, the nuisance dungeon streamer Saiga Kagerou, better known as Puke, was finally discharged from the hospital.

It had been about a week since Karin Yamada demolished him.

Multiple fractures, whiplash, ruptured organs—he'd been in critical condition. But with the superhuman healing of a level-1000 explorer and treatments including his own recovery-boosting medicine, he'd somehow made it out.

The moment he got home, Kagerou posted a live-stream announcement. He started streaming with his face twisted in irritation.

His goal, naturally, was to denounce Karin Yamada, who had shattered his pride with a cowardly sneak attack. He would 'explain' that a sneak attack like that proved nothing about their real strength.

Perhaps because the previous incident had attracted so much attention, the number of people waiting for the stream was an all-time high.

Ready to thoroughly demolish the antis who'd spent days saying whatever they liked, Kagerou clicked Start Stream, blood rushing to his head.

Immediately—

【Good day, Kagerou-sama! How are the injuries you sustained when some random ojou-sama appeared out of nowhere and beat you up?】

【How lucky that Karin ojou-sama found you lost in the dungeon and came to your rescue! Fortune like that doesn't come often, does it?】

【I do hope this has taught you to stop doing such confused things as detonating blast stones.】

【My! We heard you'd left the hospital, but did you manage to get home all by yourself?】

【Lord Vomit's video's overrun with ojou-samas too lmao】

【Such a refined comments section for a Lord Vomit stream, lmao, desu wa】

【I'm disappointed you lost to a child. Gonna unsubscribe, so see ya, yeah?】

【There's an Osaka old man mixed in with the ojou-samas lmao】

"Quit fuckin' around, you bastards!"

Kagerou snapped at the horde of ojou-samas who'd begun taunting him in their infuriating voices the instant the stream started.

"I just let my guard down for a second—she completely blindsided me in the first place! That doesn't mean I lost! I'd win in a fair fight!"

Comments came back: 【We knew you'd say that, desu wa】 and 【In a dungeon where a moment's carelessness can mean death, isn't that practically an admission of defeat?】

But he'd spent his whole hospital stay preparing rebuttals for shallow anti comments like those.

He'd let his anger get the better of him, but he would start by refuting the antis as planned—Kagerou braced himself for battle.

Except... the next comments were nothing like he'd expected.

【Well, if you let your guard down, that can't be helped.】

【By the way, have you watched Karin ojou-sama's stream?】

【She beat a monster from the deep layers—the ones you fled after ten minutes—apparently an enhanced variant, to death with her bare hands.】

【She also blew a dungeon wall to pieces barehanded.】

【Whereas frail little Kagerou-sama needs a terribly dangerous blast stone to break one...】

【How relaxed your mind must be, Kagerou-sama, to think you could beat that inhuman ojou-sama simply by paying attention.】

【How adorable...】

【How can you face the mother who hurt her lady parts giving birth to you with that cute little head of yours?】

"...Huh?"

The incomprehensible comments flooding in left Kagerou dumbfounded and confused before they even made him angry.

"What the hell're you talking about? Don't make up any old crap just to get a rise outta me. You're exaggerating. No way a brat like her could do all that."

【Wait... Lord Vomit, could it be...?】

【Oh... (realization)】

【I was wondering why he was so confident, but... lmao】

【Pardon me for asking, but were you hospitalized somewhere without internet access?】

"Huh?"

As chat took a strange turn, Kagerou's brows drew together. What the hell were they on about...?

True, he'd stayed off the internet throughout his hospitalization. That awful footage of him getting beaten senseless had spread everywhere for people's amusement, and the whole internet had erupted into festival mode. Unable to refute anyone on stream, he'd sulked rather than subject himself to the stress.

And with his pride in pieces, he hadn't felt like talking to the other Black Tiger members either. He'd lost touch with the news, but so what?

As he frowned—

¥10,000

Here's a highlights video of Karin ojou-sama's dungeon stream the other day, desu wa → URL

"Seriously, what's your point...? Sending a red superchat just to show me some—.....................................................huh?"

Kagerou played the video attached to the large donation known as a red superchat. Moments later, he froze.

On-screen were the many outrageous feats of dungeon conquest Karin Yamada had performed on her recent stream.

It was footage from another dimension, and Kagerou was seeing it for the first time.

【His blank face lmao】

【That's the same face I made when I first saw her clips, lmfao, desu wa】

【Yeah, of course. Anyone would react like that.】

【lol】

【This is funnier than that foreign guy reacting to Karin-sama's dungeon run lmao】

【Getting to watch Lord Vomit see Karin ojou-sama's dungeon run for the first time was SO worth coming to this stream, desu wa~!】

"...! You bastards sent me some elaborate fake video! Think I'm gonna fall for it!? You all got together to pull one over on me, didn't you!? You're that desperate to pretend I lost!? Guess you'd NEED her to be a monster like this to say she beat me!"

No, he knew the truth. A level-1000 explorer's senses could spot a fake in an instant. The outrageous footage was real. Social media trends were full of it, far beyond the scale of a prank a few internet users could stage.

Even so, Kagerou couldn't immediately believe everything Karin Yamada had done in a single stream.

【'It's fake'... There was a time I thought that too, desu wa... No, seriously.】

【Even someone less proud than Lord Vomit would naturally doubt it.】

【Lord Vomit, you know it isn't fake, don't you? lmao Your voice is shaking lol】

【His hands are obviously trembling, lmao】

【Watching Lord Vomit pathetically refuse to accept reality while every ojou-sama in chat goes 'Yeah, we understand how you feel...' is too funny lmao】

【It's admirable that you still won't admit defeat at this point, but...】

【With all this footage, why not finally admit it? Sneak attack or not, you lost to a sixteen-year-old child, Kagerou-sama.】

【A fireball right down the middle】

【Fastball ojou-sama!】

【That insult had to be going 200 km/h lmao】

"D-don't fuck with me! I said I didn't lose!"

Kagerou roared with all his might.

But—

【My! There's no need to shout!】

【Indeed! You'll feel so much better if you admit it! Look how many viewers you have thanks to Karin ojou-sama beating you senseless!】

【Oh my, you never managed numbers like this no matter how badly you behaved, Kagerou-sama.】

【Isn't that lovely, Kagerou-sama? Even your subscribers have gone up a little thanks to Karin ojou-sama's leftovers!】

【You won't need to stir up controversy with nuisance acts anymore!】

【How about a collab stream where Karin-sama gives you a scolding? I'm sure you'd get all those numbers you wanted so badly you resorted to flame bait.】

【A spanking stream would be splendid!】

【Your subscriber count's guaranteed to soar~! lmao】

【Wait, everyone! Even if Karin-sama is a barbarian, she has a right to choose her collab partners!】

"Y-you pieces of shit... Actin' all smug when you're not even the strong ones...!"

Kagerou ground his teeth. It felt like anything he said would come back as a hundred times the mockery. None of the rebuttals he'd prepared would do him any good.

And that was because Karin Yamada had displayed such overwhelming strength that it blew flimsy arguments away. No matter how cleverly Kagerou questioned the sneak attack, he'd sound like a sore loser.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

He'd intended to spend this stream denouncing the sneak attack, casting doubt on Karin Yamada's abilities, and using that as a springboard to demand a rematch.

By challenging her in public, he could make it impossible for her to run away. Then he'd face her head-on with no chance for a sneak attack, get his revenge, and restore his ruined reputation.

But in this ridiculous situation... If Karin Yamada refused to fight, no one would ever think she'd run away. They'd see an absolute powerhouse gently brushing off a yapping puppy.

And if the footage was real, challenging her as things stood would have a predictable outcome.

"...Fuck!!"

His original plan was out of the question now.

After hastily ending a stream that had brought him nothing but taunts, Kagerou ground his teeth again at the footage of Karin Yamada he'd been sent. Rage swirled across his face; a vein looked ready to burst.

He nearly punched through the screen at the thought that he couldn't immediately repair his mangled pride... Yet his eyes studied the video the internet had sent him with ferocious concentration.

"...Calm down. Strength like this ain't possible. There's gotta be some trick to it...!"

No matter how exceptional her talent, a sixteen-year-old couldn't pull off anything this ridiculous otherwise.

She had to be hiding some secret weapon, like a powerful unique skill or a combo involving a top-class magic item.

"I'll figure it out, come up with a counter... and crush her head-on, no matter how much time or money it takes...!"

He would erase the disgrace of losing to some kid who'd come out of nowhere.

Absolutely. Whatever it took.

Kagerou combed through and saved every viral Karin video he could find. Then, seeking any scrap of detailed information about his opponent, he began watching the archives on her channel from the very beginning.

Without subscribing or following her on social media, of course. That would piss him off.