chapter04 · 097-ep97
Episode 94: Training Collab
※Before the Dungeon Queen arc begins in earnest, I shall insert just one more slightly different story!
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There are abilities known as resistance skills.
These skills grant resistance against troublesome status effects such as poison and paralysis. Depending on the skill level, they can ease symptoms, accelerate recovery, or provide complete immunity.
While concrete acquisition methods for most non-basic skills have barely been systematized, methods of training resistance skills are unusually well established. Clans above a certain size often have manuals for acquiring them, and even the Explorers' Association publicly provides basic information.
Yet surprisingly few people actually possess resistance skills.
This is because their training method is exceptionally dangerous: a person must experience the status effect and either overcome it on their own without using an antidote or endure the symptoms for an extended period, upon which the skill manifests and gains levels.
It has been confirmed that beginning with small doses and gradually increasing them almost never causes the skill to appear, and the method presents an ordinary risk of death. Even after braving that much danger, whether the skill actually manifests appears to depend on natural aptitude, and attempts commonly end in vain. Thus, many strongly argue that it is better simply to carry antidotes and other remedies and take them promptly. Apart from explorers above a certain strength, resistance-skill holders are relatively rare. Paralysis resistance may be the only one with a high acquisition rate.
Still, among resistance skills with such acquisition methods, poison and paralysis are considered some of the better ones. Using venom glands and similar parts brought back from monsters, people can inflict status effects on the surface, where proper medical care is available, and attempt to acquire the skill.
Trying to acquire resistance to the infamous "hypnosis" is far worse.
Monsters that use hypnosis magic are rare to begin with, and they almost never drop the organs they use for hypnosis. Safely reproducing hypnosis aboveground is difficult. Even if it can be reproduced, hypnosis has a high likelihood of causing the victim to harm those around them, so surface use is effectively prohibited.
That leaves only one particularly awful means of acquiring the skill: be hypnotized inside a dungeon, remain in that state for a long time, and pray the skill appears. Just as antidotes prevent the acquisition of poison resistance, breaking hypnosis through impact does not grant resistance. It is nearly impossible.
Confirmed cases have resulted from combinations of factors such as encounters with relatively safe hypnosis monsters and the coincidental absence of other nearby monsters. There are no cases—at least in official records—where anyone has intentionally manifested the skill. Since hypnosis is a status effect that can be dealt with comparatively easily by avoiding the few dungeons where those monsters appear or challenging them in a party, practically no eccentric actively seeks hypnosis resistance.
With all of that established—
"Good day, everyone, desu wa! As detailed on social media earlier, today's stream is a little special. I shall show you the training through which I aim to acquire the hypnosis-resistance skill, desu no. I cannot leave the dungeon until I obtain hypnosis resistance and reach my target skill level—what they call an endurance stream, desu wa!"
It was the weekend, several days after the three-billion-yen superchat incident.
After eating with Mafuyu and otherwise managing to recover her usual composure, Karin began a dungeon stream while the sun was still high, outside her usual broadcasting hours.
【Good day, desu waa!】
【It has been forever since Karin ojou-sama's last dungeon stream, desu no!】
【Can't go home until she acquires her target skill lmaooo】
【Are you seriously trying to get hypnosis resistance!?】
【Seriously!?】
【This ojou-sama is always serious...】
【This ojou-sama seriously does nothing BUT crazy things, desu wa ne!?】
【When dungeon streamers do endurance videos, it's normally "kill X monsters" or "gather a certain quantity of a particular material"】
【Can't go home until she acquires a certain skill? She might be stranded forever, desu no!?】
【Yeah, but this IS ojou-sama...】
【W-well, resistance skills do have moderately established acquisition methods... if we disregard the fact that every method is dangerous】
【Trying to acquire hypnosis resistance at will is what's strange in the first place, though????】
【Getting hypnotized by the hypnosis bats and showing an un-Elegant fight must have REALLY bothered her...】
【She cleared it effectively without damage, and she's still dissatisfied? What do you even mean????】
【Training videos are a fairly standard topic among explorer streamers, but could this be Karin ojou-sama's first?】
【It feels somehow unexpected for Karin ojou-sama to stream her training】
【This looks educational, desu wa!】
【I bet Kagerou's soul that it will be absolutely useless as a reference】
When Karin greeted everyone with extra energy for her first dungeon stream in some time, the comments from an audience that had swelled instantly within seconds poured in.
As the comments noted, today's dungeon stream was somewhat different from usual.
First, rather than a dungeon conquest, this stream belonged to the category of "training videos." Ordinary training videos generally showed the streamer improving the proficiency of an existing skill or practicing acquisition of an easily learned basic skill, so whether today's endurance stream truly belonged in that category was debatable. But it was certainly different from her usual content.
And there was another difference: Karin was not alone.
"As I also announced beforehand, I will have others assisting me as I work toward hypnosis resistance, desu no. Resistance skills require me to remain hypnotized for some time and undergo hypnosis repeatedly, so I was told I absolutely must not do this alone... Thus, following our recent tea party, today's stream is another collaboration with these two! Mitsuki-sama and Honoka-sama, please join me, desu no."
"Thank you for the introduction. I am Mitsuki Shijou, who, after various events, has returned to her family home. It is my utmost honor to have been invited today to support Karin ojou-sama's training. I shall devote myself sincerely to being of service, so to all five hundred billion members of the Karin Party worldwide, I hope for your kind support."
"U-um... I'm Honoka Kamishiro. Apparently, Karin ojou-sama and Mitsuki-san originally planned to train privately today... but I came along to make sure Mitsuki-san doesn't do anything improper to ojou-sama while she's hypnotized. And since I can't stop Mitsuki-san by myself in an emergency now that she's grown to level 950... I persuaded ojou-sama to hold today's training as a stream. I'm not used to streaming, so I won't speak as well as these two... but I'd appreciate it if everyone joined me in keeping watch on Mitsuki-san."
【Lmao】
【A vast LMAO plantation】
【Honoka-sama really does sound unused to talking, but the content is razor-sharp, LMAO】
【I c a m e a l o n g t o m a k e s u r e M i t s u k i - s a n d o e s n ' t d o a n y t h i n g i m p r o p e r】
【Good call!】
【Police generally can't act until something happens, yet Honoka-sama is thinking about crime prevention even as a trainee... Is she a genius?】
【Honoka-sama has such a bright future!】
【Even as a trainee, she's an Anti-Dungeon Division officer, so we can rest easy with her here!】
【Actually, from now on, let's require Honoka-sama to attend as a chaperone whenever Mitsuki-sama collabs with Karin-sama, desu wa】
"Excuse me, Honoka-san!? Why would you say that in front of Karin ojou-sama—and you too, viewers!"
Mitsuki cried out at Honoka's sudden bombshell and the comment section's response.
Yes.
Today's resistance-skill challenge was originally intended to take place in private between Mitsuki and Karin.
After the Q&A stream, Karin held the tea party she had previously promised Mitsuki. She invited Honoka, who had participated in guarding the dungeon entrance, and they held it in the form of a chatting stream. After that broadcast ended—
"Come to think of it, everything has been so hectic that I put it off, but I should challenge myself to acquire hypnosis resistance soon, desu wa."
"That is certainly true. Some ne'er-do-well may conceive of doing something improper to ojou-sama, now that we know hypnosis affects you, so you should hurry. However, acquiring hypnosis resistance inevitably requires you to be hypnotized for long periods and multiple times inside a dungeon. Even if Karin ojou-sama can continue fighting while hypnotized, there is still a nonzero chance of an emergency, so a guard will be essential during the training. If you wish, might I accompany you? (rapid-fire)"
Karin and Mitsuki had settled the matter immediately.
Listening beside them, Honoka foresaw all kinds of danger and declared that she would participate too.
Karin's original stance had been, "Practicing extensively is Elegant, but is publicly showing that practice not somewhat un-Elegant?" However, Honoka persuaded her by saying, "Showing everyone your steady efforts and the three of us exploring a dungeon together as friends should also help clear away your genocidal image..." Thus, as a special exception, Karin agreed to aim for the skill while streaming.
Honoka had gone that far for exactly the reason she gave earlier: to prevent Mitsuki, Karin's fanatical admirer, from running wild.
"Th-this is a grave injustice! Karin ojou-sama's well-being matters to me above all...! I even returned to the family I once abandoned because Karin ojou-sama told me, 'You should cherish your family while you still can, desu wa!' Acquiring resistance is frequently dangerous... No matter how invincible Karin ojou-sama might be, I would never do anything strange inside a dungeon! Besides, I intended from the start to invite others so I wouldn't be alone if something unexpected happened!"
【Suuure】
【She's talking so fast, LMAO】
【Here. A clip of Mitsuki-sama reacting to ojou-sama being hypnotized during the hypnosis-bat fight】
【"So hypnosis works on Karin ojou-sama... I see..."】
【No matter how many times I watch it, the tone of voice is terrifyingly serious lmao】
【That is entirely the gaze of a predator looking at prey...】
【LMAO at people saying her voice and gaze alone looked like a compliance violation】
【I love that the main image on the "Dark Mitsuki-sama" Pix○v Encyclopedia article is fan art of that scene】
"Guh...!? Once an online image and meme spread, it is indeed difficult to dispel... A-anyway, let us begin working toward resistance!"
"Indeed, desu wa ne! I called this an endurance stream, but our dungeon entry and exit are recorded, so there is still a time limit. Also, Honoka-sama, for someone who claims to be poor at talking, you are excellent at exciting the audience, desu wa ne! I am unfamiliar with memes that appeal to the internet, so that helps greatly, desu wa!"
"Ahaha... Thank you."
【Mitsuki-sama saw she couldn't argue and changed the subject lmao】
【Karin ojou-sama, please stay as pure as you are】
【Honoka-sama isn't smiling with her eyes AT ALL, LMAO】
【Honoka-sama has grown so resilient...】
【Thinking about Mitsuki-sama effectively being under Anti-Dungeon Division surveillance makes this far too funny】
【LMAO at the next greatest threat after the annihilated Black Tiger】
And so, with the audience quickly surpassing one million, Karin and the others immediately proceeded through the dungeon and began their attempt to acquire the skill.
For this hypnosis-resistance challenge stream, they had traveled a little farther than usual.
Monsters that used hypnosis magic were already quite rare.
Moreover, acquiring hypnosis resistance meant Karin needed to be hypnotized inside a dungeon multiple times. They had to encounter a hypnosis monster as convenient as possible for resistance training, taking into account how it inflicted hypnosis and what the hypnosis made its victims experience. No matter how well Karin's detection skills pierced hypnosis, it was still best to avoid monsters that, for example, induced allies to fight one another.
Fortunately, information on monsters down to the lower layers was easy to obtain without even exchanging money. And when it came to highly dangerous hypnosis monsters, the guild published detailed lists of their dungeons as a warning.
Several lower-layer dungeons were reported to contain hypnosis monsters of interest. After confirming that their selection would avoid revealing which dungeon they had entered, the group chose their destination.
They took several trains, arrived at a certain dungeon in northern Saitama, and greeted their viewers. Then the party raced down to the lower layers and wandered through the dim caves searching for their target hypnosis monster.
Naturally, they mowed down every monster they encountered.
"""""GYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?"""""
Karin went without saying, but Mitsuki and Honoka also handled the lower-layer monsters without danger.
At level 950, Mitsuki had reached a realm where solo conquest of the lower layers was possible. Several flashes of her sword cut lower-layer monsters apart. Honoka had rapidly risen to level 400 through her recent training and made full use of her <Divine Artisan> equipment. With support from Mitsuki and Karin, she held her own against lower-layer monsters using her jet-black, bladed speed-enhancing boots.
【Oh my, instant kills】
【Mitsuki-sama's level is closing in on Kagerou's, and her skill proficiency and swordsmanship are exceptional. Couldn't she just stream a solo lower-layer conquest normally now...?】
【Apparently all her skills and swordsmanship grew a lot from her desperate fight in the cave-in, then ojou-sama's abyss conquest inspired her to spend tons of time in dungeons lately】
【So when that White Knight executive posted "Mitsuki has been dangerous lately," they meant her growth... I assumed it was about her bizarre behavior】
【Karin ojou-sama and Mitsuki-sama go without saying, but Honoka-sama has gotten seriously strong without anyone noticing...】
【No, hasn't she gotten TOO strong!? She's been in the Anti-Dungeon Division just over a month and she's already competitive in the lower layers!?】
【A monster has been growing steadily behind the scenes while Karin ojou-sama causes all sorts of incidents】
【She was broken enough to pull off middle-layer musou the very day she met ojou-sama...】
【Anti-Dungeon Division instruction + hunting tons of stronger monsters with <Divine Artisan> equipment, so naturally she'd get strong】
【Her berserker side has calmed down some, but isn't Honoka-sama's gaze terrifying in battle?】
【I heard she returned to school, but she got THIS strong in so little time while balancing her studies...!?】
【I wondered whether two guards would be enough even if ojou-sama can pierce hypnosis, but these two should be plenty...】
【But beside Mitsuki-sama's and Honoka-sama's normal equipment, Karin ojou-sama REALLY stands out wandering through a dungeon empty-handed in a dress... It is Elegant, though】
【Ojou-sama floats around just fine without even equipping Demonic Dragon Armor: Storm Style, LMAO】
【Is she a pool float?】
【Calling Karin ojou-sama empty-handed is malicious exaggeration, desu wa! Sometimes she properly holds a teacup!】
【↑That makes it even crazier】
The audience grew excited by the far-too-safe monster annihilation and Honoka's newly revealed growth. The concurrents climbed steadily.
Besides Karin's subscriber count exceeding twenty million, Mitsuki's channel had reached eight million due to the aftereffects of the previous abyss incident (+ her reaction comedy). A collaboration between the two produced rather brutal numbers.
"Now, let me explain resistance skills and their acquisition again. Unlike ordinary attack, defense, or detection skills, resistance skills cannot be acquired or trained through ordinary practice. It is said that they manifest and grow when one actually suffers a status effect and endures it without relying on an antidote or similar remedy. But because it is dangerous and proficiency also depends on natural aptitude, many say it is more cost-effective to carry antidotes and use them quickly. In reality, resistance also improves the effectiveness of antidotes, so acquiring even level 1 is still best."
Even before those extraordinary numbers, Mitsuki was naturally a veteran streamer. While eliminating monsters, she managed the conversation without hesitation. Her usual streaming style was to leave a safety margin in the upper and middle layers while providing detailed, beginner-friendly explanations, but with Karin's overwhelming force in the party, she had enough room to explain even in the lower layers.
"Among these, hypnosis resistance is considered exceptionally difficult to acquire for various reasons. Since opportunities for acquisition exist essentially only inside dungeons, almost no one manifests it. Whether even such a rare skill can truly be acquired is what today's viewers should watch for. Though Karin ojou-sama will certainly manage it."
"Ahh, so there truly are very few opportunities to acquire hypnosis resistance, desu wa ne. To avoid any chance of catastrophe, I have always broken hypnosis through impact immediately. Presumably because of that, the resistance skill never manifested. I can use detection skills to keep fighting nearby monsters while remaining hypnotized, but hypnosis should generally be treated as something that renders detection itself unreliable, so as a mostly solo explorer, I had no option beyond breaking it at once, desu wa ne. But today is a fine opportunity. To meet Mitsuki-sama's expectations, I shall acquire and grind up the skill, desu wa!"
【Mitsuki-sama just casually placed some heavy expectations on Karin ojou-sama!】
【Well, if Karin ojou-sama merely has the opportunity... right?】
【Also, wow... Mitsuki-sama has been behaving normally beside Karin ojou-sama for a while...】
【She may have developed some resistance during the tea party...】
【Plus her parole officer (Honoka-sama) is standing beside her】
【Everyone, never mind that! Didn't Karin ojou-sama just say something sensible!?】
【!? She really did! Understanding that hypnosis is dangerous—is this an impostor!?】
【If an impostor could reproduce the combat power that's been casually obliterating lower-layer monsters, the world would be ending】
【An impostor recreating Karin ojou-sama's power is just five seconds away from becoming nasty fireworks】
【No, watch the video back calmly! Saying she can fight normally under hypnosis using detection skills is NOT a sensible statement!?】
【And when you stop to think about it, being fully confident she'll acquire a resistance skill naturally is strange too...】
【Everyone has let ojou-sama erode their common sense too much...】
【Damn... I genuinely mistook it for a normal statement... I need to watch one of Mitsuki-sama's sane streams to restore my common sense...】
【After watching that abyssal stream, it may already be too late...】
With Mitsuki skillfully keeping the conversation connected, the stream proceeded to positive audience reactions.
But—
"It isn't appearing..."
They had continued through the lower layers for some time.
As Honoka murmured, despite how long it had been since the stream started, the target hypnosis monster had yet to appear. The viewers enjoyed Honoka and the others' musou, but the visuals were admittedly growing monotonous.
"We expected this from the beginning. Hypnosis monsters are generally rare species. Floor 2 of Okutama Dungeon's deep layers is simply far too unusual. This is another reason why almost no one possesses hypnosis resistance."
【Well, if monsters with magic that dangerous spawned everywhere, dungeon danger levels would soar】
【An explorer classic: the one monster you want to find refuses to appear】
【So even Dungeon-san has a desire sensor, desu no...】
【Looks like whether they can even meet the hypnosis monster will be part of the endurance stream, desu waa!】
【Wow... Karin ojou-sama is here, and somehow this feels like a normal dungeon stream. I'm moved...】
【A can't-go-home-until-you-get-a-resistance-skill stream is NOT normal!】
Many viewers appeared to have anticipated this to some degree from the announcement, and almost all agreed with Mitsuki's explanation. Their reactions were broadly tolerant.
However—
"Hmm. It certainly is taking far longer to encounter one than expected, desu wa ne... This is a little problematic."
Karin alone worried about the stream beginning to drag.
Her subscriber count had risen so frighteningly high that she had become a little oversensitive to such things. Recently, she had been deliberately holding "relaxed streams to clear the genocidal image," and this endurance broadcast was one such effort. Yet allowing a dungeon stream—the main content of her channel—to lose momentum seemed questionable.
And so—
"I wanted us to encounter one naturally and build excitement, but it seems that was too much to hope for, desu wa ne. Conquering the lower layers will be good training for both Mitsuki-sama and Honoka-sama, but forcing you to accompany me for an unnecessarily long time would not be Elegant... So I shall cheat just a little, desu wa!"
With that, Karin suddenly poured an enormous quantity of mana into her detection skills.
Then—
"—Oh, there is something that appears suitable, desu wa ne. How lucky."
"Eh? Karin ojou-sama, what are you—"
Just as Honoka noticed the change in Karin and turned around—DOH!!!
Karin left the floating camera behind temporarily and took off at a run.
She vanished from the spot, then returned less than a minute later.
"I caught one, desu wa! This is the hypnosis monster-sama we seek, is it not, Mitsuki-sama?"
"GYOGYOGYOGYO!?"
""Eh...!?""
Karin had brought back an enormous spider clutched in one hand—the rare hypnosis monster they sought, a Bad Status Taratect. Mitsuki and Honoka stared at it in shock.
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Q: Why was Mitsuki-sama able to retain a normal human shape with Karin ojou-sama right beside her this time?
A: She developed some resistance during the tea party + unlike a commentary stream, appearing directly on Karin ojou-sama's stream meant she couldn't do anything strange, so she squeezed out as much willpower as during their first meeting and put on her public face + her parole officer (Honoka-sama) was beside her... desu wa ne!
※As for the tea party, if an opportunity to show it presents itself someday...!