chapter05 · 131-ep131

Episode 124: The Collapse of the Inukai Empire

"No, no, no..."

Yoko Inukai closed Karin's stream once and shook her head.

Then she took a deep breath and opened it again.

"No, no, no... This is impossible. No, no, no, no, no, no... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!?"

The same images still played before her, and finally unable to escape reality any longer, she screamed.

The secret underground space had been constructed to look as though "a dungeon suddenly emerged and swallowed part of the building's foundations," leaving some room for excuses in the worst-case scenario. And now Karin Yamada, floating camera in tow, had appeared at the entrance to that hidden dungeon, illuminated only by the phosphorescence leaking from within.

Over five million concurrent viewers.

The number continued climbing rapidly as Inukai Industries' most closely guarded secrets were broadcast to the entire world.

A subordinate still connected by phone tersely explained how this had happened while simultaneously giving orders for the research institute's response, but... What the hell were the odds!?

(Out of all the countless dungeons in the Kanto region alone, she chose Head Mound the very next day! Then used wide-area detection in the monster house near the hidden dungeon! I mean, after hearing the sequence of events, I understand why she picked this place, and considering how abnormal Karin Yamada's detection skills are, maybe it isn't unnatural... But even then, what the hell were the odds!?)

But no matter how much she railed against the unfairness, reality was merciless.

【Hey, what the hell has Inukai Industries seriously been doing!?】

【An unregistered dungeon smack under the research institute sitting alone in the middle of that huge private property...】

【Between the swarm of enhanced variants and that weird passage, they're guilty as hell, right!?】

【They are definitely conducting some forbidden research here, desu wa yo!?】

【A real-life Umbrella Corporation has killed all the herbs, lmao】

【If the herbs die, we can't restore our health, desu wa!】

【Don't tell me even the dungeon concealment was artificial!?】

【Artificially concealing a dungeon is a bit... But whatever the details, this facility is definitely bad news, desu wa yo!】

An unbelievable number of people had become nearly certain of Inukai Industries' illegal experiments and were shouting about it.

And then—

"Well... A dungeon beneath a building makes this even more dangerous, desu wa ne... There appear to be people inside the building too, so I must prioritize guiding them to safety!"

"Wai—"

As if she alone failed to grasp the gravity of the situation, Karin instantly discovered the entrance disguised as "an inspection hatch connecting the building's foundations to the first floor" and began advancing inside the research institute.

【Hold on, Ojou-sama!?】

【That facility is probably an extremely dangerous place, desu wa yo!?】

【Ojou-sama, that could be the lair of a criminal organization conducting illegal experiments, desu wa!】

【Shouldn't you report it and wait to see what happens for now!?】

Not only Inukai but the viewers raised alarmed voices as Karin advanced into the institute without hesitation.

But Karin placed a finger against her cheek and said, "It certainly does feel strange in various ways, but..."

"The nearby abyssal dungeon seems to have made the mana blend together and become difficult to distinguish, but this unregistered dungeon is still perfectly detectable if I raise my skill's power slightly, desu no. There is no way anyone would be stupid enough to conduct illegal experiments while possessing such a sloppily hidden dungeon! Surely the people in this building have not noticed the dungeon either! It seems to have emerged in a way that swallowed part of the foundations(?) too, so whatever the case, evacuation must come first, desu wa!"

This was also why construction-prohibited zones existed: when a dungeon collapsed, the surrounding buildings could be blown away with it. Therefore, an explorer who discovered a dungeon had to hurry and evacuate anyone in nearby buildings (because a newly discovered dungeon was normally freshly formed and unstable). And if the dungeon had appeared inside a building's very foundations, the danger was even greater, collapse or no collapse.

And so, having proclaimed her Elegant logic, Karin said, "It seems I shall need to prohibit entry to the entire building once the evacuation is complete, desu wa ne!" and refused to stop until everyone in the research institute was 'safe.' In fact, she was jogging along normally without a trace of hesitation.

【No, that's probably just because Ojou-sama's detection skill is broken!】

【She's genuinely such a good girl aside from lacking common sense and having an ojou-sama brain (eyes rolled back)】

【I-I mean, it DOES look like a dungeon suddenly appeared under the building, so maybe they genuinely haven't noticed, but still...】

【At this point, Inukai being innocent is about as likely as Karin ojou-sama awakening to common sense!】

【I-I don't even care which it is anymore! If they seriously haven't noticed, someone needs to evacuate them, and if they're conducting dangerous research, it'd be better to get it on video before they destroy the evidence!】

【F-forget Nonstop Ojou-sama for now! We should report this like crazy, desu wa!】

Naturally, the research-institute side, led by Yoko Inukai, did its best too.

Faced with the beyond-emergency situation of a sudden ojou-sama assault, they desperately tried to devise some way to buy time and destroy the evidence.

But however impenetrable the institute's security might have been, it was designed solely to protect the hidden dungeon and the top-secret areas around it. Against the overwhelming unfairness of a monster ojou-sama who had started out inside its strongest security and was charging nonstop through it with the best intentions, they were utterly helpless—and from that point onward, everything descended into chaos.

【Hey, hey, hey, hey, what the hell is this!?】

【Ojou-sama ignored it to prioritize calling for evacuation, but weren't those enhanced-variant drops we just saw in that storage-room-looking place!?】

【Whoa, I played it in slow motion, and that was obviously the gigantic horn from the enhanced minotaur earlier!?】

【They've got tons of materials that could only have come from the hidden dungeon stored here. Lmao】

【The grass is dying like this place got salted!?】

【Inukai Industries is confirmed guilty as fucking hell!?!?】

【Inukai Industries! Your house is an illegal organiiiization!】

【Calling a bald man bald can still constitute insult, so be careful, desu no yo!】

【Talking about hair again】

【OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! The Inukai Empire is doooooooooomed!

【My friend messaged me while I was working on my day off, and I opened the video to find an Ojou-sama Revolution OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!

【I am preordering Ojou-sama's acrylic stand and preparing to display it on my household altar, desu waaaaaaa!】

【No, let us build a whole shrine! The Grand Elegant Shrine!】

【HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Inukai Industries really WAS up to no good after alllllllllllll!】

【Serves you right, you shitty high-handed prime contractor!! I'm gonna bury you in all the evidence of power harassment and labor-law violations I've been saving foreeeeeeeeeever!】

【The evidence of abusive demands and illegal operations I put away because I thought it would only get buried is firing like an Elegatling guuuuuuuuuuuuun!】

【I wasn't totally sure, so I held back from commenting, but now it's safe to go wiiiiiiiiild!】

【AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I prayed every night that Karin ojou-sama would grow gigantic and smash everything to pieces, and it came truuuuuuuuue! Ojou-sama is a goddess of destruction, desu waaaaaaa!】

【The sheer amount of pent-up rage exploding here makes the Black Tiger incident look like nothing. Lmaooo!】

【So the Inukai Group really WAS famous for exploiting its subcontractors and subsidiaries...】

【When you're talking about the subcontractors and subsidiaries of a corporation that huge, the sheer number is on another level!】

【An enormous revolutionary army certain of victory is gathering!】

【Ahh, everything's gone completely to hell!】

【I'm at the guild right now, and forget the comments—the real world is so chaotic it's gone beyond chaos. Isn't that scary?】

【I wondered why all the guild staff looked deathly pale, then found out something a hundred times worse than I imagined was happening locally. Lmao】

【This guild employee feels like I'm gonna vo○it just imagining a long-concealed dungeon and facility suspected of illegal experimentation being found in my jurisdiction】

【Lmao that the kanji for 'mit' is still filtered】

【This F City ojou-sama can hear an insane number of sirens coming from the police station】

【Has F City's entire Anti-Dungeon Division mobilized!?】

【Forget that, Tokyo's Anti-Dungeon Division is probably crossing jurisdictions and mobilizing too...】

【I-is Honoka-sama going to collab with Ojou-sama again?】

【↑As carefree as Karin ojou-sama. Lmao】

【A top-ranked megacorporation confirmed to have concealed an undiscovered dungeon and suspected of illegal experimentation is too much for a local government—hell, even the nation—to easily handle, desu wa yo!】

【Strange... Today was supposed to be a relaxed stream from a haunted dungeon...】

【Expecting relaxation from Ojou-sama's streams was our mistake!】

【Is It Wrong to Seek Healing in Ojou-sama's Dungeon Streams?】

【↑No deliberation needed. Yes, it's wrong】

【Too bad! This is what an Ojou-sama stream is!】

【So that's how it was... Damn it!】

【No, wait, this seriously isn't the time for jokes!?】

【Social media and every forum are nothing but this. It's seriously insane】

The comment section racing past like a muddy torrent had gone beyond an uproar and become such a scattered mess that there was no hope of bringing it under control.

"...ucking..."

And amid it all—

"Are you FUCKING KIDDING MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?"

Yoko Inukai, helplessly buffeted by the ojou-sama disaster, roared with a bloodshot face.

"In that case...! In that case, I've got a plan of my own!"

With her close-aide driver visibly shaken, she gathered an alien mana inside the car.

"I'll 'erase' all the evidence—together with every researcher there!"

Only low-ranking researchers who knew nothing beyond the artificially enhanced variants were currently inside the institute.

But even they unquestionably possessed plenty of inconvenient information, such as the fact that Yoko Inukai had led illegal experiments while concealing the dungeon's existence. Allowing them to be arrested like this would be extremely bad.

Therefore, she would erase them together with all the evidence remaining in the research facility.

Dead men told no tales.

She would blow everyone away and make the dead researchers take the blame for acting entirely on their own!

(Of course, an excuse that flimsy won't prevent an investigation into Inukai Industries or massive damage, and we'll have to abandon the research institute and hidden dungeon either way. But it's far better than doing nothing and losing everything, including the Inukai Group that provided such a valuable source of funding!)

Then Yoko Inukai closed her eyes and gathered mana, thinking, (Thank goodness I touched that thing during today's inspection...!) In response to her mana, a grotesque creature lurking in the distant hidden dungeon writhed in the gloom.

And then—

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!"

A monster with countless tentacles roared in the upper layers.

It was a Tentacle Worm, a monster ordinarily meant to appear in the lower layers.

Its majesty differed enormously from the standard species.

In addition to a physique and mana density reminiscent of a deep-layer boss, the ends of its countless tentacles had become predatory organs lined with sharp fangs.

That abnormal specimen, given the name 'Greed' during the research process, extended all its tentacles at once as if obeying Yoko Inukai's will.

Their destination—the surface.

The special acid welling from their mouths easily devoured even dungeon walls, bringing them aboveground in the blink of an eye.

Ordinarily, monsters could not advance onto the manaless surface.

But those tentacles continued their gluttony even aboveground, where monsters could not function without the release of mana from a dungeon collapse.

By feeding it endless monsters and refined materials based on 'a certain hypothesis,' they had turned it into what could be called an 'ultra-enhanced variant.' Though only the tips of its tentacles could do so, this abnormal specimen had become capable of functioning outside a dungeon. It was one of Yoko Inukai's research achievements.

This first-class irregularity—a monster that had advanced onto the surface despite no dungeon collapse occurring—bared its fangs to devour everything inside the research institute.

But the next instant—

"I-I apologize if I slice through anything expensive, desu wa! Detection skills cannot tell me the price, desu no!"

Every tentacle emerging throughout the research institute was sliced away.

Karin, who had perfectly grasped the tentacles' locations, swung <Mongolian Desu-Worm> and cut them down through the walls with minimal destruction. Naturally, the researchers remained unharmed.

【Eh!? What was that just now!?】

【A monster!?】

【Hah!? There hasn't been any sign of a dungeon collapse, right!?】

【Eh, hold on, something is seriously wrong with this place!?】

【Hey, hey, more of them are still appearing!?】

As the viewers recoiled, Karin said, "So this is the strange presence I sensed inside the dungeon earlier, desu wa ne!" and cut apart the newly emerging tentacles too.

Her speed and precision were tremendous, preventing the tentacles from devouring anything at all.

But—Yoko Inukai was not panicking.

"You're every bit the monster I expected. But those are only a decoy! This is the real plan for destroying the evidence!"

In her hand was a detonation switch.

It was a self-destruct device for igniting the blast stones planted throughout the research institute in preparation for the worst.

"I don't care how strong you are! You may be able to redirect Dragon Cannon bombardments, but there's no way you can protect everything from an explosion while those tentacles have your attention!"

As though venting all her hatred for everything Karin had ruined, Yoko Inukai curled her lips into a smile.

"I'll blow away the evidence—and that ridiculous pride of yours about never letting anyone die along with it!"

BAM! She slammed her fist down on the self-destruct switch with all her strength.

The enormous blast stone planted in the center of the institute ignited at the same time as the two others positioned around it as a precaution.

The tentacles would inevitably delay Karin's initial reaction by an instant. However inhuman she might be, that instant would prove fatal in this surprise attack born of pure malice.

But the next instant—

"! H-hold on, I am terribly sorry, desu wa!"

ZUBAN! DOGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

"Eh?"

Karin reacted immediately.

At almost the same instant the detonation switch was pressed, she sliced into the walls along her path together with each tentacle that appeared, pulverizing them like Styrofoam as she raced straight toward the blast stones too quickly for the eye to follow.

Karin had faced the threat of blast stones multiple times before, from Kagerou's nuisance-streamer antics to the cave-in that engulfed Mitsuki, and those experiences had left her sensitive to their presence.

In fact, from the instant she entered the research institute, she had noticed the planted blast stones and kept part of her attention on them, thinking, (Does this not seem somewhat dangerous?)

Therefore—

"H-hold on, this is dangerous, desu wa! Why are these being managed so badly!? ...Ah, so THIS is why research institutes always explode in anime, desu no!?"

DOGON!

Before the enormous blast stone embedded inside the wall could explode, she seized it—yoink!

The instant she dragged it out, she stowed it inside her time-stopped item box.

Then—DOGOGOGOGON!

Just as before, she raced to the remaining blast stones in an instant while slicing apart tentacles and stowed them in her item box.

She did not quite have the split second needed to put the last one inside, and it was about to explode with a nearby researcher caught in the blast, but—

"Hmph!"

DOFON!

Karin thrust her hand into the wall and squeezed the blast stone tight!! inside her palm... and the explosion capable of destroying even dungeon walls was contained entirely within her tiny hand.

Her overwhelmingly powerful grip prevented nearly all of even the scent that attracted and enraged monsters from leaking out... Only a little smoke escaped as she completely crushed Yoko Inukai's scheme in her fist.

【Eh!? What was that just now!?】

【The camera on Ojou-sama's shoulder was shaking all over the place. What happened!?】

【Hm? Wait, isn't something like smoke leaking out of Ojou-sama's fist?】

【Eh, did you trap a fart in your fist, desu no!?】

【Ojou-sama is trapping farts in her fist during this incomprehensible emergency!?】

"!? H-hold on, that is not what happened, desu wa yo! A blast stone was about to explode, and I did not have time to place it in my item box, so I squeezed it to stop the explosion, desu no!"

【Hah? You stopped a blast-stone explosion... by squeezing it?】

【E-even Karin ojou-sama couldn't possibly...】

【Why was there a blast stone in the first place...?】

【Ojou-sama, even if you DID trap a fart in your fist...】

【Lmao that trapping a fart in her fist is considered more plausible than crushing a blast-stone explosion in her hand】

【Why does everyone only forget at times like this that Karin ojou-sama is incapable of lying!?】

"H-hold on, no! That is not what happened! Please stop! This is slander, desu no!"

Karin refuted the confused viewers, who had failed to understand what happened because her actions were too fast, while continuing to cut apart the tentacles—but Yoko Inukai had failed to understand just as completely.

"................................................Hah?"

Click, click, click.

Too dumbfounded to comprehend, she pressed the detonation switch again and again, but naturally, no further explosions occurred.

Worse yet—

"GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!?"

"Good! The strange irregular has been defeated too! Everything seems safe now, desu wa ne! All that remains is evacuating everyone here outside... Um... I did break quite a number of things, but... th-this will be all right, will it not? I-I shall compensate you in the worst case, but...!"

Karin fired an 'Elegatling gun' into the hole the tentacles had dug, remotely slaying 'Greed' itself and completely shutting down every agent of evidence destruction Yoko Inukai had unleashed.

Which meant she could no longer eliminate either the evidence of illegal research or the witnesses...

"................................................"

How long did she continue clicking the self-destruct switch with her face looking completely empty of its soul?

"U-um... Inukai-sama...?"

The driver had pulled over to the roadside and finally called out, unable to keep watching Yoko Inukai's condition.

Then—

"...unning away."

"Eh?"

"WE'RE RUNNING AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! We'll erase all the dangerous information left at my house and hideouts immediately... and flee to No. 2's locatioooooooooooooooooon!"

"Y-yes!"

Yoko Inukai kicked her driver in the rear and hurriedly returned to Tokyo—then abandoned the status, facilities, and everything else she had spent years building for the invasion operation and began fleeing to the invasion sabotage unit operating separately from her group.

—And afterward.

The safely arrested researchers' testimony officially established that Inukai's own president had personally concealed an unidentified dungeon and repeatedly conducted illegal experiments, setting the Inukai Group ablaze. Leaks then poured out regarding the company's endless exploitation of subcontractors, and its president becoming a wanted fugitive and vanishing into hiding dealt the final blow, causing the group to collapse all at once. Between celebrations by the liberated subcontractors and subsidiary employees and daily reports on the enhanced-variant experiments, the public uproar continued for quite some time.

―――――――――――――――――――――――――

The conclusion to Inukai-sama's story will come next time, desu wa.

And so, if you found this entertaining, I would be delighted if you supported it with stars and follows, desu no!