chapter05 · 127-ep127
Episode 120: The Price of Backlash
"I-I am truly sorry, desu wa! For causing such a commotion!"
As the viewers sat dumbfounded, Karin hurriedly bowed her head again and again.
"Just as I said moments ago, I can escape this deep-layer loop without issue, so Sharie-sama and the police may safely withdraw, desu no! I believe I am close to discovering a procedure that will let someone else escape this irregularity even without detection skills, and I expect to be home by dinnertime!"
Karin resumed walking through the looping deep layers.
"Ugh... I stepped casually into this space because its presence did not seem like anything significant, only for it to cause such a tremendous uproar... I was careless, desu wa... My Elegant training is sorely lacking, desu no..."
She rubbed her stomach, terrified not by the inescapable dungeon, but by the uproar her own carelessness had produced.
"I-it's a bluff! A bluff!!"
After staring blankly at Karin's declaration for several seconds, Yoko Inukai leaned forward and shouted.
"It can only be bravado! An ordinary barrier skill would be one thing, but that malformed dungeon exists in a space slightly misaligned from this dimension! Escape is impossible!"
Inside a room in the secret hideout.
While her subordinates maintained the malformed dungeon, the person who had locked the world's strongest streamer inside an inescapable cage continued as if to deny Karin's words.
"That's right. Unlike that arrogant Mad Dog, you aren't the sort to reveal your despair so quickly. With your strength, you still have plenty of mana left! Your carefree behavior only means you still have enough composure to think something idiotic like, 'I cannot show the viewers an un-Elegant side of myself.' Isn't that right?"
Finally managing to calm herself, Yoko Inukai sneered as though she'd seen straight through the ridiculous Karin's thoughts.
"Or perhaps you simply haven't grasped that you're completely trapped yet. Your absurd talent has overcome every difficulty you've ever encountered, so you assume this time will work out too. Too bad! That's an illusion. Your current situation is entirely different from an ordinary irregularity! That seal is absolutely inescapable!"
Exactly. There was no possibility of escape.
No matter how abnormal her combat power or how many varieties of outrageous magic equipment she possessed, she had no method of returning from a space in another dimension.
And finding a universal method that would allow anyone other than Karin to escape if imprisoned was preposterous beyond words.
Her claim that she'd discovered a method ages ago had to be nonsense too!
【Ojou-sama seriously already knows how to escape!?】
【Eh, eh, does she really mean it...?】
【Now that you mention it, Ojou-sama may have gone quiet while concentrating on detection, but she didn't look hopeless even ONCE...】
【If anything, she looked far more hopeless AFTER she noticed the uproar, lol】
【I-I know Ojou-sama is terminally Ojou-sama-brained, but could even she forget to mention that she can escape...?】
【She DID go an unusually long time without reacting to comments...】
【Perhaps she's putting on a brave face so we won't worry...?】
【K-Karin ojou-sama isn't capable of that kind of scheming...】
【Eh, so while we were worrying with all our strength, did she go straight PAST escape methods and start investigating a universal response to the irregularity, desu no!?】
【Making an irregularity that trapped someone with a spatial unique escapable by anyone is still a bit much, even for...】
As Yoko Inukai made her declaration, the comment section filled with doubt from both sides.
Karin's behavior was so outrageous that some viewers and Yoko Inukai had even reached the same conclusion: perhaps she was lying to keep her audience from worrying.
But the next instant—
"Ah! Speak of the devil—I have just worked out a promising escape route and procedure, desu wa! This should work, desu no!"
【Eh】
【Eh】
【Eh】
"Wha?"
Karin had been walking through the looping dungeon while concentrating so intensely on detection that she neglected the comments. Now she punched an aberrant monster away and made the energetic declaration.
"This space appears to exist in a place slightly offset from normal space(?), but they do not seem completely separate, desu no. One might describe them as adjacent, connected through a spatial maze. It appears to be an ex-treeeeemely complicated maze... but after probing it while focusing fully on detection, I discovered the route and procedure for breaking through. I shall explain as I test it, desu wa ne! This phenomenon seems to possess a rather standardized structure, so even if the same thing occurs in another dungeon, surely anyone will be able to escape by following this procedure!"
"What...!?"
Yoko Inukai's eyes opened wide.
Karin's explanation was rather vague, but it correctly described the sealed barrier's general nature. (Could she truly...!?) The possibility, however slight, crossed Yoko's mind when Karin began explaining her supposed escape method.
"Now, I shall begin the explanation, desu wa. First, start in the boss room at the center of the loop, desu no!"
And with Yoko Inukai watching, Karin began her explanation.
"...Hah?"
Yoko let out a vacant, dumbfounded noise.
The reason—Karin, who'd begun explaining her supposed escape method, suddenly walked toward a wall.
And she wasn't even slicing through it with her sword and advancing straight ahead.
Splat. Even after colliding with the dungeon wall, Karin continued the walking motion like a game character whose controls had been mishandled.
And Karin's bizarre behavior did not stop there.
"All right. Once you spend about ten seconds walking into the wall while no monster-samas are interfering, move roughly one hundred meters to the left, and then hop up and down ten times here, desu no!"
"Next, back up roughly ten meters, spin around three times on the spot, then advance again!"
"Ah, and this next part is not particularly Elegant... After advancing roughly one hundred meters with your body pressed against the wall, lie down and travel forty meters by rolling across the ground, desu no! Roll, roll, desu wa!"
She repeated one ridiculous, incomprehensible motion after another.
【Hold on, Ojou-sama!?】
【What are you doing, desu no!?】
【Walking into the wall nonstop—are you a TAS!?】
【RNG-Manipulation Ojou-sama!?】
【No, what is this part where you're walking while stuck against the wall, desu no!?】
【It's what someone who hasn't learned the controls does in the early Resident Evil games!】
【No, is Ojou-sama all right? In MULTIPLE senses!?】
【There's no way this leads to an escape!?】
The comments exploded as the viewers recovered from their bewilderment.
At the same time, Yoko Inukai snorted with laughter.
"Ah—ah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!! I wondered what you would do after speaking so confidently... I see! Fear drove you mad ages ago, didn't it!?"
At Karin's behavior, which could only be seen as the loss of her sanity, Yoko burst into her loudest laughter of the day.
"So much for finding an escape method with your detection skills. Even if those incomprehensible actions truly allowed escape, there is no way detection skills alone could find them without any trial and error whatsoever. You poor thing. Convincing yourself that you can escape is now the only way you can preserve your mind, isn't it?"
As expected, Karin Yamada had long since lost her sanity to fear.
Her claim that she already knew how to escape, and her nonsense about discovering a method others could use, had all been delusions meant to help her flee reality.
And Yoko Inukai was apparently not the only one who thought so.
【H-hey, Ojou-sama, this is already...】
【Oh no...】
【This is exactly how someone acts after being driven to the absolute limit...】
【Even if Karin ojou-sama is Karin-ojou-sama-brained, there's no way she'd forget to mention she already knew how to escape. So this really is...】
【Hey, can't anyone do something!?】
【Unlike with Mad Dog, the government must be moving. It's too soon to give up hope!】
【Yeah, but this is...】
"Ah hah hah hah hah hah! The viewers' reactions are wonderful too! The invincible explorer gets swallowed by a paranormal phenomenon and breaks like this—the finest horror imaginable. Now fear of dungeons will spread even further and cause an enormous flight from the explorer profession. As one would expect from an immensely popular streamer, you know how to put on a show."
The viewers fell into despair at the sight of Karin Yamada, apparently broken beyond repair.
Yoko Inukai smiled over the perfect conclusion as though intoxicated by her total victory, delivering her mockery all the while.
—But immediately afterward—
"...Then take the third side passage from here, do ten side-to-side hops, face left—and here it is, desu wa!"
At the end of her series of bizarre actions, Karin reached into empty space—SHLUP!
Her hand vanished as though swallowed by the void.
【Eh!?】
【Eh!?】
【Hah!?】
【!?】
【!?】
【Ah!?】
"........................................................................Eh?"
At the unbelievable sight, time stopped completely for everyone except Karin, including Yoko Inukai.
Naturally, some briefly wondered whether Karin had put her hand into something like her item box to create the performance... But then something decisive happened.
"Hm!? What in the world!? Is that presence that suddenly appeared Karin!? Hurry, all of you! Over here!—Nwoh!? An arm just grew out of empty space!?"
"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! There can be no mistake! This color, shape, and scent belong unquestionably to Karin ojou-sama's haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand! OJOU-SAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! YOU'RE SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFE!!!!!"
"Hold on, Shijou-san! I understand how you feel, but please calm down...! Senpai, there's a lot of noise, but can you hear me...? We have just confirmed Karin ojou-sama's hand...! Detective Fukusa is with us and has confirmed her presence as well... Yes, an arm is sticking out of thin air...! Shijou-san is even rubbing her cheek against it while everyone's distracted... so I do not believe this is an illusion...!"
The voices of Sharie, Mitsuki, and Honoka emerged through the void where Karin had inserted her hand. Until now, not even the roar of Sharie destroying the deep layers had reached the stream.
【WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?】
【Eh!? Are those seriously Sharie-sama and the others!?】
【Mitsuki-sama's monster-like scream drowned everything out, but are Honoka-sama and the others REALLY coming through!?】
【Mitsuki-sama is so louuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud!?】
【Stop using a human roar, desu wa!?】
【I understand how she feels, but... Wait, can Ojou-sama seriously escape with those incomprehensible actions!?】
【In a game, this would be a wall-clipping bug the devs patch!】
【Reality-Debugger Ojou-sama!?】
【No way!?】
【This joke has gone too far, desu wa!?】
【Even Karin ojou-sama's detection skills must have SOME limit, desu wa yo!?】
【How could anyone detect that those actions would allow escape!?】
【That's hundreds of times harder than discovering how to make konjac on the first try, desu wa yo!?】
【Haaah!? Those bizarre actions will seriously let her escape!?】
【Ninety percent of viewers find this development so unbelievable that they haven't noticed Mitsuki-sama and Honoka-sama quietly followed Sharie-sama all the way to the deep layers】
Comments exploded at the outrageous development, though many voices remained only half convinced.
But—
¥10,000
A live stream from Mitsuki-sama's side just started too! This is real—she can escape!?
【Whoa, Ojou-sama's hand and dress are sticking out of empty air!?】
【She seriously reached the exit(?)!】
【Breaking news too! An Anti-Dungeon Division detective confirmed Karin ojou-sama's presence!】
【Whoa, seriously!?】
【No fucking way...!?】
As report after report came in, the viewers had no choice but to accept reality despite their confusion. Karin herself breathed in relief that her escape method had not been mistaken.
"Phewww. It was such a complicated procedure that, honestly, I felt uncertain, but I am relieved it succeeded, desu wa! It is unfortunate that because it worked this time, I cannot verify whether it will truly be reproducible the next time the same phenomenon occurs... Still, I understand the trick now, so if anyone else is caught inside, I believe I can guide them even through a video, desu wa ne!"
"I-im... possible...!? This is impossible! Impossible, impossible, impossible! There cannot be an exit from this absolutely inescapable space...!? And there is no way such idiotic actions could ever reach it!!!"
Yoko Inukai was more confused by Karin's words and actions than anyone.
Although this pseudo-dungeon seal had only been activated once before, they had kept it active for several consecutive days and never neglected mana observation or data analysis. Admittedly, it contained oddly distorted holes, such as allowing some streaming and internet posts... But just as a human could not pass through a fiber-optic cable, there could be no hole like the one Karin described, no flaw that led to escape.
"No matter how inhuman Karin Yamada's detection abilities are, this is still far too...!? This has to be some kind of joke!!"
As Yoko Inukai screamed in flight from reality—a vast amount of mana burst on the other side of the screen, crushing even that refuge.
"—!?"
"Now then. My only lingering concern is the method's reproducibility, but I seem to have caused Mitsuki-sama and everyone else tremendous worry... And it would be bad if somebody else wandered inside, so rather than use the method anyone can follow, I shall destroy this dangerous space itself and escape for now, desu wa ne! Mitsuki-sama and the others, please retreat for the moment! At least to the floor above!"
【Eh】
【Hah?】
【What did she saaaaaaaaaay?????】
"—!? Wha!? This cannot be!? I suspected as much, but this one concealed her power during the rookie instruction with enough precision to fool even warawa's eyes—!? Th-this is bad! We must retreat, all of you!"
KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!
Enough mana to seemingly twist space itself was refined inside Karin's body.
At the same time, a piece of accessory-type magic equipment she had secretly kept active beneath her dress for some time raised its output yet again.
That equipment was the trick that had allowed Karin to identify an escape from the utterly abnormal other-dimensional seal in so little time.
At Mafuyu's suggestion, she had mass-produced and constantly worn these outrageous booster items as protection against stalkers and suspicious individuals. They 'enhanced her detection ability at will.'
And what her boosted detection could perceive more clearly than usual was a rift between dimensions floating in the void—a nearly imperceptible fracture connecting to the adjacent original world.
It was separate from the exit anyone could reach by following the correct procedure: a flaw in the other-dimensional space so tiny that Yoko Inukai and her faction could not even notice its existence.
"It will not be particularly Elegant... but this time it can't be helped, desu wa ne!"
Karin let out one mutter... Then, as though releasing the raw power she normally controlled because even <Recoil-Free Cannon> and her other skills could not prevent un-Elegant damage to her surroundings, she swung her fist at the dimensional fracture.
The instant she did—DOGASHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!
【EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?】
【WHAT THE HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL!?】
【AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUU!!!????】
【The camera's going completely haywire, and I have no idea what's happening, desu waaaaaaaa!?】
【Who the hell is posting weird comments in their confusion!?】
Shattered.
Blasted apart.
Dimensional collapse.
Proving Karin's claim that she had figured out her own escape ages ago, the fist she swung destroyed the entire artificial other-dimensional space.
Then—
"All right! I have safely escaped while destroying the dangerous irregularity, desu wa!"
When the camera signal, briefly distorted by the shock of the shattered space, returned to normal... Karin stood in one corner of the deep layers, now enormously widened because Sharie's magic had demolished the walls and everything else.
The location looked obviously different from the looping space she'd seen again and again.
"Ah, K-Karin ojou-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
As if to prove she'd escaped safely, Mitsuki charged with physical abilities approaching level 1000.
"Wah!? Y-you truly seem to have worried terribly about me, desu wa ne... But as you can see, I escaped alive, well, and Elegantly, desu wa!" Karin caught Mitsuki and clearly declared her safety to the camera.
【HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?】
【OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!?】
【She seriously escapeddddddddddddddddddd!? Wait, she didn't use that earlier exit(?)—she forced her way out!?】
【The screen distorted so badly that I couldn't see, but did she punch Kisaragi Dungeon apart!?】
【What does it MEAN to destroy another space(?) with your fist, desu no!?】
【Isn't this on a different level from defeating the mist with Enchant Fire (Physical)!?】
【This makes so little sense that I have no idea what's what anymore, desu wa!?】
【I thought she'd escape by using her item box or whatever gear she must've made from that spatial-magic boss, but it was the purest gorilla tactic, lololol!】
【H-her move of finding an escape method for ordinary people still made her a gentle sage of the forest...】
【"Gentle sage of the forest" still means a gorilla!】
【She's a gorilla either way, isn't she!?】
【A-anyway, I am so glad Ojou-sama is saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafe!】
【Thank goodness! Seriously, thank goodness! But then Ojou-sama genuinely forgot to report that she'd found a way to escape!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!】
【Yamadaaa! Seriously, communicate properly, Yamadaaa!!】
【I am so glaaaaaaaad, desu wa! That aside, Karin ojou-sama should receive a thorough scolding from Best friend-sama, desu no!】
【I'm laughing strangely from the combination of relief that Ojou-sama is safe and the certainty that Best friend-chan is going to be furious later!】
【OOOOOOOOOH! Strongest Strongest Ojou-sama! Pulverize-Everything Ojou-sama! Guaranteed-Scolding Ojou-sama!】
【This means another scolded-dog-caught-raiding-the-fridge stream, desu wa ne!】
【The comments are full of both celebration and predictions of a scolding. Lmao】
【I despaired because even Karin ojou-sama couldn't possibly forget to say she could escape, so she must've lost her mind. Now MY emotions are completely lost (but seriously, thank goodness!)】
【This ojou-sama is NEVER in her right mind!】
【But Ojou-sama seriously spent that whole situation developing a response for other explorers who might suffer the same thing...】
【Now THAT is Elegant】
【Wait, Mitsuki-sama flew into her at light speed, but Karin ojou-sama's core didn't shift by a single millimeter. Endless fields of lmao】
【Is she a wall?】
【In the sense that she's an utterly insurmountable obstacle, she's already the most complete and perfect wall imaginable】
【OOOOOOOOOOOOH! Karin ojou-sama versus the Kisaragi Dungeon apparition ends in Ojou-sama's complete victoryyyyyyyyyyyyyy!】
【That was seriously a clash of apparitions, though. Isn't that terrifying?】
【When you think about it, this was an irregularity that forced Karin ojou-sama to concentrate so hard on detection that she forgot to check the comments...】
【Whatever else, I am so glad you're saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafe!】
The stream erupted in celebration over her complete conquest of a first-class irregularity previously believed to be nothing but a fake urban legend—mixed with voices asking, "Did this ojou-sama seriously forget to report it!?"
—Meanwhile.
"........................................................................Impossible."
In complete contrast to the comments, Yoko Inukai's secret hideout resembled a funeral.
"Impossible, impossible, impossible! What IS thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!?"
The next instant, Yoko Inukai lost all composure as though she'd gone mad.
Naturally.
She thought she'd finally managed, through the supreme other-dimensional seal that had remained unusable all this time, to eliminate the greatest obstacle to the invasion plan. Then Karin broke through using incomprehensible logic.
From heaven to hell—this was exactly that.
Yoko could neither accept nor comprehend it.
Even as she clutched her head and writhed, she desperately forced herself to think. Her bloodshot eyes opened wide as though insisting the operation was not over yet.
"N-no, wait. Calm down, me...! That's right, we still have a move left! The other-dimensional dungeon seal may have needed a cooldown of over ten years because we kept it active for so long the first time! In other words, if its use is interrupted after a short period like this, we should be able to use it again immediately! Yes, yes! Then we'll target the Dungeon Queen next! There can't possibly be any reproducibility to those incomprehensible escape actions, and if we target the Queen when she has no camera, this time we'll be certain to reduce their forces...! All of you! Our next operation! Test whether the seal can be reused immediately, and if not, then even if we must dope all of you at the 'laboratory'—"
Yoko Inukai turned toward her subordinates as if trying to recover from the defeat.
But that was when it happened.
"""Ugh...!? Guh!?"""
"Eh?"
Her subordinates, who'd been strangely quiet until then, groaned as though in pain.
The next instant—
""""""GUHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!?""""""
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!?"
Yoko Inukai screamed.
The ten subordinates who had constructed the other-dimensional dungeon abruptly spewed an unbelievable amount of blood and collapsed, as if tiny Karin ojou-samas running wild inside their bodies had devastated them from within.
Because destroying an other-dimensional space should ordinarily have been impossible, Yoko's faction had never known about the hidden risk inherent in causing a phenomenon as overwhelmingly powerful as the other-dimensional dungeon. When it was destroyed by brute force, the casters suffered potentially fatal backlash.
But amid the abnormal sight of literal bloody rain, no one could instantly realize the mechanism behind such an unthinkable consequence.
"Ah... ah... wh-at..."
Shlump... splat.
The overly abrupt paranormal horror had completely halted Yoko's thoughts.
Her legs gave out at the sight of her incapacitated subordinates, and she sank to the floor in a daze as though her spirit had broken.
―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
The subordinates are all properly alive, just so you know, desu wa!
And it appears Yoko Inukai-sama somehow escaped harm, desu wa ne.
And so, next time on Ojou-sama Buzz, Episode 121: "The Kind of Curse You Can Never Escape Once You Get Involved"—Duel standby, desu no!
(Also, to clarify: the only thing Ojou-sama boosted this time was her detection ability. The power of the fist Sharie-sama sensed was Karin ojou-sama's own, desu wa ne.)