chapter05 · 130-ep130
Episode 123: Mass Confusion and Uproar
【Today As Always】 Explorer General Thread Floor 2032 【Stay Alive While Dungeon Exploring】
600 Passing-by Anon
H-hey, everyone... take a look at this Something bad is happening → "Natural-Born Ojou-sama Karin Yamada's Elegant Dungeon Conquest" channel now streaming → URL
601 Passing-by Anon
Hm? Karin ojou-sama's stream?
602 Passing-by Anon
Isn't this off-topic? I love Ojou-sama too, but Ojou-sama threads are popping up everywhere, so you should discuss it in one of those Well, what that ojou-sama does is so insane that she's at the center of nearly everything worthy of the general thread, so the distinction barely exists
603 Passing-by Anon
Abyssal information, the Queen-sama's (provisional) arrival, Kisaragi Dungeon...
604 Passing-by Anon
What did that outrageous ojou-sama do this time? Lmaooo
605 Passing-by Anon
...Eh?
606 Passing-by Anon
Hah...?
607 Passing-by Anon
Hah?
608 Passing-by Anon
Hah!?
609 Passing-by Anon
Haaah!? An undiscovered dungeon!? Is this seriously real!?
610 Passing-by Anon
It isn't on the guild OR Dungeon Bureau site, which means this dungeon is unknown to the government. That's something that must NEVER happen!?
611 Passing-by Anon
No way, what IS this!?
612 Passing-by Anon
Eh, hey, isn't this seriously bad?
613 Passing-by Anon
No, no, no, no, there's no way this can happen! Maybe several decades ago, but dungeons contain unimaginable quantities of mana, so the detectors installed across the whole country WILL observe them!? Even without that, any explorer above a certain level can notice their existence. This is like a hundred seismic-intensity-4 earthquakes happening every second without anyone noticing!
614 Passing-by Anon
Even dungeons under total government control that only state researchers and soldiers can enter can't be concealed, so their locations and sizes are public worldwide. Even THAT country and THAT country have had the numbers and scales of their dungeons exposed
615 Passing-by Anon
Since it's Karin ojou-sama, couldn't this be some kind of mistake!? The chances are astronomically low, but it'd be MORE plausible if she happened to be present when a new dungeon emerged!?
616 Passing-by Anon
But this dungeon's shape is obviously stable... Besides, if a new dungeon emerged, the detectors mentioned above would catch it instantly. Breaking news and warnings to the surrounding area would go out as fast as an earthquake alert... Brand-new dungeons are slightly more likely than ordinary ones to collapse, among various other dangers
617 Passing-by Anon
There isn't even a hint of any response like that. Seriously, what's happening...?
618 Passing-by Anon
I investigated a fresh newborn dungeon around ten years ago, and dungeons remain structurally unstable for several days after emerging. They feel obviously different from mature, stable dungeons The one in Ojou-sama's stream... looks completely stable no matter how you slice it... No way...
619 Passing-by Anon
Dungeons let radio waves through but apparently exist underground by distorting space, so maybe the GPS and map app are malfunctioning? ...Except there aren't supposed to be any other dungeons for several kilometers around Head Mound Dungeon, so slight inaccuracies don't matter. The underground passage Karin ojou-sama discovered was straight too, so she couldn't have unknowingly returned to Head Mound Dungeon either...
620 Passing-by Anon
No, hey, isn't this seriously, genuinely dangerous!? A dungeon the government doesn't know about could be used for unlimited illegal activity, and depending on its location, the initial response to a collapse would DEFINITELY be delayed and make the damage horrific!?
621 Passing-by Anon
And if this genuinely is an undiscovered dungeon, the possibility that "others exist" becomes much higher Because mana detectors can't pick them up
622 Passing-by Anon
Wait, isn't this insanely bad in a completely different direction from Sharie-sama's arrival...?
623 Passing-by Anon
Way too dangerous A different dimension of danger
624 Passing-by Anon
H-hey I looked up Karin ojou-sama's current coordinates... and it looks like this undiscovered(?) dungeon is on private land owned by the Inukai Group... → URL
625 Passing-by Anon
Hah?
626 Passing-by Anon
Haaah!? The Inukai Group!?
627 Passing-by Anon
Eh, Inukai? The company famous for bullying subcontractors and exploiting subsidiaries? Seriously?
628 Passing-by Anon
That's a megacorporation!?
629 Passing-by Anon
Whoa, it's real!? Wait, isn't this where the Inukai Group has a technical research institute!?
630 Passing-by Anon
Hah...? Did that exploitative prime contractor secretly OWN a dungeon!?
631 Passing-by Anon
No, no, no! No matter how huge it is, a single company secretly owning a dungeon is impossible in all kinds of ways!?
632 Passing-by Anon
The disadvantages of hoarding one are way too severe Even if secretly owning a dungeon let them use its materials freely without taxes or anything, it would never be worth it...
633 Passing-by Anon
If the dungeon collapsed, they'd die themselves. And if it damaged the surrounding area, responsibility would fall on the landowner, causing a compensation scandal for an amount even a corporate group that big couldn't pay!?
634 Passing-by Anon
To begin with, failing to report a dungeon on your own land carries vicious penalties all by itself???????? Those laws were passed to stop corporations and foreign powers from secretly monopolizing dungeons during the early era before detectors. The compensation alone could genuinely destroy a corporation, so the risk is far too enormous
635 Passing-by Anon
It'd never be worth it unless they had some certainty the dungeon couldn't collapse!
636 Passing-by Anon
But considering they kept the dungeon hidden this whole time, could they have some reason to feel sure it won't collapse...?
637 Passing-by Anon
We don't even know whether they deliberately hid it, do we? If this is truly a dungeon unknown to the government, maybe Inukai hasn't noticed it either This private property looks pretty huge. If the dungeon doesn't show up on detectors, overlooking it wouldn't be strange ...I HAVE to think that way, or this becomes unimaginably bad... The suspected undiscovered dungeon is already dangerous enough
638 Passing-by Anon
But finding an unregistered dungeon in a location as incredibly specific and suspicious as private property owned by a huge industrial corporation (with a research institute)...
639 Passing-by Anon
H-hey, an unregistered dungeon is already bad enough, but depending on the circumstances, couldn't this have even more unbelievable effects in every direction...?
640 Passing-by Anon
I don't know... I don't understand anything, so all I can do is watch Ojou-sama's stream to the end with my heart pounding and cold sweat pouring out...
641 Passing-by Anon
Ojou-sama's concurrents are climbing like crazy, lol
642 Passing-by Anon
They're rising as fast as the milliseconds on a stopwatch!?
643 Passing-by Anon
The most obvious thing beyond obvious
644 Passing-by Anon
What kind of star was that ojou-sama seriously born under...?
645 Passing-by Anon
No wonder checking Ojou-sama's streams is called part of Prime Minister Kongouji's official duties!
※
While every forum fell into an uproar over Karin's stream after she opened a hole in Head Mound Dungeon, dug through the ground, and discovered an unregistered hidden dungeon—
Naturally, the viewers watching in real time had fallen into total chaos as well.
【Haaah!? An unregistered dungeon!?】
【No fucking way!?】
【Eh... Hold on, isn't this seriously dangerous?】
【What unbelievable thing did you just dig up, Yamadaaa!?】
【Karin ojou-sama: "Dig here, woof woof! Dig here, woof woof, desu wa!"】
【This doggy ojou-sama just dug up something five quadrillion times more dangerous than an unexploded bomb!?】
【I've never seen "dig here, woof woof" this outrageous】
【Lol】
【This isn't "lol"!? (dead serious)】
【This is so dangerous that even Hanasaka Jiisan can't help. I'm all laughed out!!!!】
【Wait, people are saying the coordinates match land owned by the Inukai Group!?】
【Wait, wait, wait, there are even suspicions Inukai Industries was concealing a dungeon!?】
【What the hell is that exploitative corporation doing!?】
【This Dungeon Bureau employee: "Wah... ah..."】
【She cried!】
【This ojou-sama opened a hole in the dungeon AND the stomach of every government ojou-sama!?】
【She's already a psychological anisakis】
【Parasitic-Worm Ojou-sama!?】
【Why does this person do nothing but collect un-Elegant nicknames, desu no!?】
【No, but if this seriously is an undiscovered dungeon, government ojou-samas' stomachs don't even matter compared to how dangerous this is!?】
【Today's stream was supposed to be a relaxed conquest of a haunted dungeon. What IS this!?】
An undiscovered dungeon unknown to the government.
Comments flowed at tremendous speed over an object far too dangerous in every imaginable sense.
Among them, many came from viewers unable to immediately believe in something as impossible as an undiscovered dungeon.
【Eh, is this really an undiscovered dungeon!? Really!?】
【That's impossible because of how dungeons work!?】
【There's no dungeon recorded at the map coordinates Ojou-sama showed on-screen, so it must be real, right...?】
【N-no, but surely the app is malfunctioning somehow!?】
【It IS true there are no recorded dungeons around Head Mound Dungeon】
【No, is this seriously an undiscovered dungeon!? Not some mistake in the records!?】
【F-for now, if she heads toward this dungeon's entrance, the presence or absence of a guard post and everything else should become clear!?】
"Ah! Th-that's right, desu wa! I cannot stand around marveling forever, desu no!"
Karin had been staring with sparkling eyes, murmuring, "Hwoah," over the hidden dungeon she'd only ever seen in Dungeon Alive. Now the flood of comments caught her attention, and she spoke seriously.
"Just as the comments say, I must quickly find the entrance and determine whether this truly is an undiscovered dungeon! If that is confirmed, the area around the entrance must be sealed immediately, and I must make a formal report with photographic evidence as soon as possible!"
Explorers who discovered a dungeon or happened to be nearby when a new one emerged had several duties.
One was identifying the entrance's position and prohibiting entry into the surrounding area as swiftly as possible. Until the authorities took over, someone had to guard it so children did not accidentally wander into a dungeon with no guard post, and so unscrupulous people did not appear to harvest its materials without authorization.
In this case, Karin had prioritized discovering the dungeon as swiftly as possible and entered through a hole in its side. Though she did have the coordinate information displayed on her phone, some doubt remained over whether this truly was an undiscovered dungeon. Inspecting its entrance was the best way to make a report with confirmed information.
Her prominent legal loopholes and ridiculous conquests made it easy to overlook, but Karin had a surprisingly firm grasp of dungeon regulations for the sake of her Elegant streams. That was why she'd immediately entered the undiscovered dungeon even if it required opening a lateral hole. She had grown a little excited by the unexpected discovery of a hidden dungeon, but fulfilling an explorer's duties Elegantly left no time to dawdle.
"And so, this differs from my originally planned stream, but I shall hurry toward the surface, desu wa ne!"
Karin was about to head upward when it happened.
""""BUMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!""""
Monster roars echoed as though to obstruct her.
And these were no ordinary monsters.
【What are these things!?】
【Hah!? Are those possibly minotaurs!?】
【Enhanced minotaurs...? Aren't they WAY too enhanced!?】
【Are they carrying giant dump trucks on their shoulders!?】
【And why are FOUR appearing at once!? That's impossible!?】
【Nothing like this happened even in Head Mound Dungeon, where enhanced variants appear easily!?】
【Hey, isn't this dungeon way too dangerous!?】
Enhanced minotaurs.
More than that, four individuals with bodies and horns even more powerful than the one Karin previously encountered in Okutama Dungeon's lower layers had appeared simultaneously. The abnormality made the viewers shout.
But the next instant—ZUBAN!
""""""
Before anyone noticed, the heads of the first three minotaurs to charge Karin had flown away.
She had drawn <Mongolian Desu-Worm>, still in hand after her excavation, at invisible speed.
Moreover—GRAB!
"Out of my way, desu wa!"
"Bumoh!? Buh!?"
DOGOSHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Karin seized the final monster by the head and slammed it into the wall, where it stopped moving. Sandwiched between her palm and the dungeon wall, its skull had been pulverized as her fa jin pierced its high physical resistance.
【Yep, Ojou-sama was way more dangerous than the dungeon!】
【I'm trembling because it's too scary, too scary】
【No, but Ojou-sama being dangerous doesn't make this dungeon any less abnormal, desu wa yo!?】
【An unregistered dungeon alone is already too dangerous, but it's overflowing with enhanced variants...】
【H-hey... I thought Inukai Industries might not have noticed the dungeon either, but... could they be doing something dangerous here...!?】
"Hmm. Four enhanced variants appearing together certainly is unusual, desu wa ne... I believe I sense a strange presence farther inside as well... I truly must reach the surface as quickly as possible!"
Karin raised her alert toward the discovered dungeon by another level, though in a direction slightly different from the viewers'—KIIIIN! BAM!!
With a single flash of the impossibly sharp Mongolian Desu-Worm, she sliced apart the dungeon-wall ceiling.
Holding her floating camera, she leaped to the floor above at tremendous speed, switching places with the falling ceiling.
【Whoa!? That sound!?】
【SO FAAAAAAAAAAAST!?】
【Is she a missile!?】
【Doesn't this seem way faster than during the dungeon collapse!?】
【Eh, could this be because unlike during the collapse, she doesn't need to worry about the impact on her surroundings...?】
【Eh, she's already in the middle layers, desu no!?】
【She's moving so fast that the only instant I can understand is when Ojou-sama stops to swing the sword!?】
【This unbelievable ojou-sama already made this shortcut feel ordinary!?】
As the viewers watched in shock, Karin leaped repeatedly at speeds like a supersonic missile.
She raced toward the surface so quickly that anyone aboveground had no time whatsoever to plan a countermeasure.
※
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!!!
"...Eh? What?"
On the road home from Inukai First Research Institute—
Yoko Inukai frowned at the ringtone echoing inside the car her close aide was driving.
The screen displayed the name of the subordinate she'd ordered to inform her if Karin Yamada made any move that could not be ignored.
In other words, this was guaranteed to be an unpleasant call.
Still, something was strange.
Yoko Inukai had only ordered her subordinate to monitor Karin Yamada's movements a few days ago.
Surely Karin could not have taken some action harmful to them THAT quickly...
(It had better not be a wrong number.)
If so, she'd kill them.
Yoko Inukai let a slight wave of anger expand as she pressed the answer button.
The instant she did—
"I'm sorry...! I'm terribly sorry, Inukai-sama! I looked away for a moment because I thought today's broadcast was an ordinary stream...! Ah, damn it! What ARE those odds...!? To begin with, I've never even heard that rumor...! No, forgive me! This is an emergency!"
"...? Hah? What?"
Her subordinate's horribly distraught scream immediately rang out, and Yoko Inukai frowned.
She was taken aback, wondering what could possibly have happened, when—
"Karin Yamada discovered the hidden dungeon in F City during her stream, and it's causing an unbelievable uproar!"
"Hah...?"
Her thoughts, time, and everything else stopped.
Completely losing her words, she could not comprehend what her subordinate was saying.
What the hell was this fool talking about?
Karin Yamada might be an aberration, but there was no way she could suddenly discover their greatest secret the very next day without any connection or reason whatsoever...
"Inukai-sama!? Can you hear me!? Look at the stream! ...No! That can't be! What IS that speed!? Ah, hurry! Hurry!"
"...!?"
Her subordinate's bizarre cries sounded as if their mind had broken upon witnessing something Cthulhu-like, pulling Yoko back to reality. That voice clearly could not be explained by a lie or misunderstanding.
"N-no, but... even so, there's no way..."
Still muttering her denial, Yoko Inukai operated the device in her hand, pressured by her subordinate's voice.
With trembling fingers, she opened Karin's channel.
And what leaped into Yoko Inukai's eyes was—
"All right! I have reached the surface, desu wa ne! ...Wait, oah!? I had begun suspecting as much because I sensed no guards... but this truly is a genuine undiscovered dungeon, desu wa!?"
【Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!?】
【Eh, she already reached the dungeon entrance, desu no!?】
【Haaah!? What the hell? There's no guard post or ANYTHING!?】
【I've never seen a dungeon with no material detector, guard post, or guard!?】
【Karin ojou-sama (properly, more or less) climbed through the dungeon to reach this spot, so this can't be fake or a mistake. This is an absolutely plain, unguarded entrance!?】
【Whoaaaa... This seriously is an unregistered dungeon the government doesn't know about...】
【Eh, eh, seriously...?】
【Wait, there's no guard post, but isn't this OBVIOUSLY indoors!?!?!?!?】
【What IS this? Did someone hide the dungeon with a building!?】
【I put the coordinates showing on Ojou-sama's map into a search, and the aerial image points smack in the middle of the Inukai Group's research facility, never mind merely its private land. Lmaooo (dried out)!】
【Uhhh...】
【Could a dungeon really emerge in such a perfectly specific place!? And one undetectable too...】
【Eh, is it possible they constructed the building to hide the dungeon...?】
【Isn't all of this impossible in all kinds of ways!?】
【I HAVE heard that if a dungeon suddenly emerges beneath a building, it forcibly distorts the foundations and creates an underground area like this...】
【Seriously, what does this mean...?】
【Hey, between this and the festival of enhanced variants along the way, isn't the Inukai Group doing something genuinely dangerous!?】
【The Dungeon Bureau director-general must be foaming at the mouth and unconscious by now...】
【Inukai Industries is finished!】
"........................................................................Hah?"
This had gone far beyond merely discovering the hidden dungeon.
Karin had already reached its entrance at an insane speed, exposing the secret underground space where Yoko had been smirking moments earlier to a live stream with over five million concurrent viewers.
――――――――――――――――――――――
Her subordinate might have had a chance if they'd spotted the comment saying, "You could kill two birds with one stone by visiting a high-difficulty dungeon with a ghost story," but expecting anyone except Karin ojou-sama to cover every one of those countless comments would have been cruel... (Besides, the Head Mound Dungeon rumor was false information only posted in a few corners of the internet, so Inukai's faction did not realize it was treated as haunted.)
Incidentally, if her opponent were anyone other than Karin ojou-sama, Kuroi-sama's unique skill would detect and avoid even this sort of accident-like misfortune with near certainty, desu wa.