chapter04 · 115-ep115
Episode 112: Karin Ojou-sama's Next Power-Up Flag
"Good day to you all, desu wa~"
【Karin ojou-sama's stream is heeeere!】
【Good day to you, desu wa~!】
【Elegant Elegant Ojou-sama! Besties-with-the-Queen Ojou-sama!】
【Thank goodness for a business-as-usual chatting stream even after that uproar, desu wa!】
【It's seriously business as usual—you truly don't doubt Sharie-sama's identity at all, desu no!?】
【I've been waiting!】
【A MILLION people waiting for a chatting stream is such a massive Lmao plantation lmaooo】
The day after hundreds of millions of yen were deposited into Karin's account.
As announced in advance, Karin was holding a chatting stream.
Perhaps the incident with Dungeon Queen Sharie was still having an effect, because despite the broadcast having only just started, an absurd number of viewers had gathered.
"Er, as I wrote in my announcement, thanks to all of you, I recently received the superchat money and advertising revenue you gave me... Today is a stream for expressing my gratitude for all of that once more, desu wa...!"
【It fiiinally got deposited, desu wa ne!】
【Thank goodness, desu wa~!】
【Now Karin ojou-sama can finally and truly escape a life of gnawing on monsters...!】
【The taste-testing-monsters thing will be rubbed in forever. Truly Lmao】
【More importantly, ojou-sama, that's not the face of someone who just received a fortune lmaooo】
【We knew from her superchat reactions, but her resistance to large sums of money is way too low lmaooo】
【She looks way more drained than after she charged into the abyss. Truly Lmao】
【Though honestly, if I suddenly got tens or hundreds of millions, I'd probably make the same face lmao】
As the viewers pointed out, Karin looked a little haggard as she delivered her opening greeting. But that was only natural.
Afterward yesterday had been a nightmare.
Keeping hundreds of millions of yen in a single account apparently carried risk if she lost access to it or the bank failed (unlikely though that was), so at Mafuyu's direction, she opened multiple new accounts and spread out the money while restoring the account left by her parents to its original balance. She placed some in fixed-term deposits, contacted the relative serving as her guardian, and rented a safe-deposit box for all the new bankbooks, cards, seals, and the like. It had been one unfamiliar task after another. A proper meeting with an accountant was scheduled as well, making everything extremely hectic.
"And also, according to Mafu—my best friend, properly spending this sort of money will please all of you and also save on taxes? Most of the money is planned for donation to the Dungeon Collapse Reconstruction Fund, as I said before, but just as I wrote in the announcement, apart from that donation, I have made the purchase of a lifetime...! That is why my heart is still going badoom-badoom, desu wa...!"
【Ahh, so that's why you looked a little tired, desu ne】
【Given ojou-sama's usual food situation, a tax-saving-scale purchase would be a heavy mental burden...】
【Her heart went straight past ba-dump into badoom-badoom, lmao】
【Karin ojou-sama's heart: "BADOOM┗(^o^)┛DOOMDOOM┏(^o^)┓BADOOM┗(^o^)┛DOOMDOOM"】
【I thought an ojou-sama buying something expensive was unexpected, but now it makes sense】
【Giving back to viewers + tax saving suggested by Best friend-chan, huh】
【Tax measures are seriously important! (Seriously!)】
【Once annual income passes ¥10 million, taxes get brutal. A 40% income-tax rate takes close to half】
【Pile prefectural and municipal taxes plus insurance premiums on top and you seriously die (one loss)】
【Prefectural and municipal taxes, premiums, and income tax all get genuinely insane once you cross certain income thresholds...】
【Then when you cross ¥10 million there's consumption tax collected later on too...】
【Taxes are frightening, desu wa... It's totally possible to have more spendable money at seven or eight million a year than just over ten million...】
【Anything that can count as an expense should, desu wa!】
【I hear farmers buy new tractors purely for tax savings and stuff】
【Top explorers buy high-end equipment they barely use too. Though that does become income for the workshops and a growth opportunity for the craftspeople】
【An incredible flood of tax knowledge and resentment is gathering, desu waaaaa!?】
【The momentum's enough to birth the Tax Devil and the Tax-Return Curse. Truly Lmao】
【Though for a tentacle like streaming where income fluctuates hard every year, apparently they'll lower the tax rate a fair bit】
【↑Lmao at the fetish-revealing autocorrect】
【And the way Best friend-chan casually proposes and steers things like this proves again she's competent】
【The donations seem like Best friend-chan's proposal too】
【This is how we acclimate ojou-sama to spending large sums and steer her toward eating her fill every day, desu wa!】
"That said!"
As comments filled with resentment and warnings about taxes flowed past.
Karin changed the air around her, although some of the earlier tension remained.
"It is true that I have never made an expensive purchase like this before and was frightened by all sorts of things... but even so, thanks to your kindness, I made a truly, truly wonderful purchase, desu no! Surely the finest purchase of my entire life, desu wa!"
Karin spoke with a smile that conveyed her gratitude to the viewers and her genuine delight at the same time. Completely unlike moments earlier, she said, "I shall show you at once, desu wa!" and left her seat with light steps to fetch her purchase.
As the viewers waited, wondering what she had bought—
"Here it is, desu no!"
Karin returned and gently placed a large paper shopping bag atop the desk, where she had used her crafting skill to create a little extra space for today's stream.
And then—
"Dungeon Alive merchandise I have wanted forever and ever, desu wa~!"
She revealed the bag's contents with a childlike smile.
The Dungeon Alive DVD box set, every volume of the original manga whose reprints had been selling like mad recently, fanbooks, art books, a Setsuna-sama Nendoroid—an assortment of Dungeon Alive fan merchandise.
【Ohh!?】
【I see, Dungeon Alive products, desu no!】
【That IS a good purchase】
【Hm? Wait, Karin ojou-sama, you never owned this sort of thing before, desu no!?】
【Ah, right! Watching the anime online was basically the best Karin ojou-sama could do, and she never owned any of this!?】
【You're kidding!?】
【Come to think of it, she'd never shown signs of owning any of it, desu wa ne!?】
【Her Dungeon Alive love had pierced the heavens so hard it was a blind spot, desu wa!?】
【True, there was no way Karin ojou-sama eating meals like that could afford these things...】
【Now that you mention it...】
【It's too bugged that she got a collab illustration with Setsuna-sama and an original animated message from the creator despite not owning this stuff!?】
【That DVD box ended production ages ago, but the recent uproar got it reissued with all the original bonuses, and she managed to buy it brand-new. Truly Lmao】
Yes.
Until now, watching the Dungeon Alive anime on streaming sites had been about the limit for Karin; she had been unable to buy merchandise like this. She had once borrowed the original manga from a classmate, but Dungeon Alive was the sort of series that retained its price even secondhand, and she had ultimately given up because she could not bring herself to buy the entire set.
But that was all true only through yesterday.
With Mafuyu's persuasion giving her the final push, she could now purchase the Dungeon Alive merchandise she'd wanted for years.
【Fan merchandise is nice, desu wa ne!】
【No, but this is...】
【Less than the basic exemption, desu wa!?】
【It's an amazing purchase, but for tax measures on income over a hundred million, this is a rounding error, desu wa!?】
【It's plenty extravagant for a student, but a child with a slightly generous New Year's allowance could buy this, desu wa!?】
【Ojou-sama, you can splurge on something much bigger, desu no!?】
Since she had called it the purchase of a lifetime and a tax measure, voices naturally rose saying she could have made a more ojou-sama-like purchase.
But—
"It would never end if I tried to collect figures of every character, so I have limited myself to this much... but even so, I am so freakin' happy, desu wa! ...Ugh, truly, to have so many things inside my room... even a Setsuna-sama Nendoroid... when until now I could only gaze at them in bookstores... It feels like a dream, desu no...! It is all thanks to you...! Thank you so very much, desu no...!"
【I was being boorish just now, but if ojou-sama is happy, then it's all good, desu wa】
【This is the single best possible use of superchats, no contest】
【As someone saved in Shibuya, I still want you to splurge more... but I take it back—Iron Body, desu wa. The hardest return-to-viewers stream. Thank you】
【↑Lmao, Six Powers user detected】
【Ojou-sama looks so happy that it's making me happy too!】
【I'm glad I sent a superchat, desu wa~!】
【The viewers' furious about-face, lmao】
【When she's this delighted, our palms are gonna drill straight through the heavens】
¥10,000 @motimotimotimoti
I'm truly glad I created Dungeon Alive Thank you once again For loving the world and characters of Dungeon Alive this much
【Tamago-sensei!】
【Lmao she kept the superchat modest, probably to reduce Karin ojou-sama's mental burden】
【She's probably desperately holding herself back from sending ¥50,000】
【Ojou-sama, that was the finest possible purchase, desu wa!】
【Honestly, Karin ojou-sama might feel relieved if taxes took half of it anyway! This use is fine for now!】
【This merchandise purchase can be the start, and she can gradually acclimate herself to bigger luxuries from here, desu no!】
【That's probably what Best friend-chan is aiming for too!】
At the sight of Karin gazing at her purchases with heartfelt delight, all criticism regarding taxes dissolved.
Then Tamago-sensei appeared as naturally as ever, and Karin's eyes bulged.
"M-Mochimochi Tamago-sensei!? I-it is I who should be saying that, desu wa! And I know I am repeating myself, but thank you all so very much as well, desu no! ...Now then, I have hardly looked inside any of these yet so I could save it for today's unboxing video, so from here I shall lightly enjoy the contents while introducing what I purchased, desu wa ne!"
Still overcome with emotion, Karin began checking the original manga and the DVD bonuses.
Taking care not to show too much copyrighted content on-stream, she cried out and let her eyes shine at the DVD's new illustrations, the color pages from the original serialization, the newly drawn Setsuna-sama artwork, and more.
【Karin ojou-sama looks ridiculously happy and excited—this is so heartwarming, desu wa!】
【The way her eyes sparkle not just for Setsuna-sama but the other characters too, and how much she talks about the appeal of the color art—she feels like the real deal, desu wa~!】
【She looks even happier than when she ate monster meat, and it's making me smile too, desu no!】
【At this point this is basically sponsored advertising for Dungeon Alive lmaooo】
【Well, ojou-sama is practically a walking promotion already】
【A walking violation?】
【Well, that isn't wrong either lmao】
【No, seriously, that was an amazing use of superchats】
【Dungeon Alive merchandise is gonna sell out AGAIN lmaooo】
Karin was now purely enjoying unboxing the Dungeon Alive merchandise without any thought of the stream, but the sight only made the broadcast more popular, and the comment section took on a warmly affectionate mood.
As this went on, Karin picked up another book.
The official Dungeon Alive fanbook.
It began with compiled profiles and worldbuilding, and also contained short stories never told in the main series, behind-the-scenes lore, unpublished materials, and more. Two numbered fanbooks existed, and the one Karin now held was the first.
And naturally, the first page Karin opened was that character's.
"I love every Dungeon Alive character, but of course, I shall check Setsuna-sama first, desu wa ne! Fanbooks list height, blood type, and such things, correct? I once worked out Setsuna-sama's height and three sizes from the anime episodes I watched again and again, then tried my hardest to get as close as physically possible, so there may not be much new information, but—"
【Eh】
【Scary scary scary】
【She just casually dropped more disturbing information???】
【That's stalker behavior, hello????】
【No, she's trying to make her OWN figure match, so this is something similar to yet entirely different from stalking, desu wa!?】
"Ah, but perhaps this contains newly drawn illustrations too, desu no!? If there are outfits I have never seen, they may inspire designs for future equipment, desu wa ne...!"
Not noticing the unsettled comment section, Karin flipped through the fanbook with an excited expression.
The instant she did—
"Eh."
Karin suddenly froze when she saw Setsuna-sama's page.
【Hm?】
【Karin ojou-sama?】
【What is the matter, desu no?】
【What? Is it lagging, desu no?】
At Karin's sudden stillness, the viewers asked, "What happened, desu no?"
Several seconds later, Karin began trembling.
"Eh... Setsuna-sama doesn't only dodge everything perfectly and smash it all to pieces with her fists—she also has a combat style where she combines lessons and skills from aikido and Chinese martial arts lineages to deflect attacks, desu no...!?"
At that behind-the-scenes detail—never stated in the main story, or at most hinted through one tiny moment in the original manga—Karin let out a stunned murmur.
――――――――――――――――――――
Fanbooks will casually contain details that make you go "Eh!?" now and then, and it can be startling, desu wa ne. (The most recent one that surprised and entertained me was Nakime-san's past from Demon Slayer.)
Incidentally, Karin ojou-sama was previously asked to provide a blurb for the obi of Dungeon Alive's new edition, but since its release and her complimentary copy haven't arrived yet, she purchased the ordinary edition of the manga this time. I'll write a side story about the new edition to coincide with the bonus announcements for Ojou-sama Buzz volume two. (I'll give full details around February 29, but various bonuses are planned at Melonbooks, desu wa!)