chapter05 · 135-ep135
Episode 128: Artificial Serial Dungeon-Collapse Terrorism
Since dungeons appeared throughout the world, an abyssal-class dungeon collapse had only ever been observed twice, including one in the former Soviet Union several decades ago.
That disaster now occurred in an American dungeon. Worse yet, the ground collapsed over a far wider area than in an ordinary collapse, spewing out enormous numbers of monsters. The incident received extensive coverage from media outlets around the world.
Related terms filled social-media trends, and every station assembled special programming to report on it around the clock. Countless live-reaction threads sprang up online as well, making it a commotion that drew attention across the globe.
But only a few days later, the abyssal-class collapse in America that had briefly dominated the world's media was no longer major news.
One reason was that the collapse had occurred far from any urban area and ultimately caused little damage. Rumors claimed that "some immensely powerful individual wiped out the monsters and brought it under control," but the situation ended without any details whatsoever being reported.
The greatest reason of all, however... was the 'unearthing' of an event that made everyone realize one abyssal collapse had been nothing more than the beginning.
Abyssal-class collapses had only occurred twice in history. This one was an unprecedented dungeon collapse in which the ground had caved in over a wider area than normal—and it came to light that a 'video announcing responsibility' had perfectly predicted it, including the date, time, and location. The video had been uploaded in multiple languages an entire week before the collapse.
"We are DDC, an anti-dungeon organization. For many years, we have conducted research to protest a world dependent upon the extraordinarily dangerous foreign objects known as dungeons, and at last, we have obtained tremendous power. As an initial demonstration of just how dangerous dungeons truly are, exactly one week from now, at 5:00 p.m. local time, we shall cause a large-scale collapse in America's Yellow Rock Dungeon."
Presumably to avoid identification, the video consisted solely of a pitch-black screen, a synthesized voice that sounded female, and subtitles. The account behind it claimed to belong to an outrageously anachronistic anti-dungeon force—a group of dungeon terrorists.
This sort of "prophecy" video typically used a classic method: upload a slightly vague prediction such as "An earthquake will strike western Japan tomorrow" every day, then delete every other video if one of the predictions happened to come true. Thus, when it was first unearthed, many people assumed it was that kind of hoax video.
【Then the dungeon isn't dangerous. YOU people are, lmao】
【If you're going to upload a stupid-ass video, at least put more thought into the premise】
【Well, a terrorist group's claims being this nonsensical makes them more realistic】
【Dungeon terrorists? In this day and age? Lmaooo】
【I don't know how to put this, but could you not use the kind of group name I would've invented in middle school?】
Plenty of comments mocked them in that fashion.
But there was no sign that the terrorist account had ever uploaded any other videos. On top of that, it had perfectly predicted when the dungeon collapse would occur, with a margin of error measured in mere minutes, causing the confusion to accelerate.
And even more unbelievably... their announcements did not end after only one incident.
"Did you enjoy the collapse in the dungeon-advanced nation of America? Unfortunately, it appears the damage was minor... But we anti-dungeon activists shall continue in this manner and remind you of the terror of dungeons. We shall force you to understand. Three days from now, at 2:00 p.m. local time, we will collapse the abyssal-class Western Desert Dungeon in the African Federation. You may assume that our 'protest' will continue until you stop tolerating the foreign objects known as dungeons and vow to dedicate your research not to exploiting them, but to erasing them."
The day after the abyssal collapse in America brought the account attention from across the world, a new video declared that this time, they would collapse a dungeon inside the African Federation.
And just as announced, the Western Desert Dungeon truly did collapse.
Fortunately, the Western Desert Dungeon was also located far from any city. As in America, rumors claimed that "something resembling an enormous long-range bombardment" somehow suppressed the incident, and no major damage resulted.
However—
【Hey, you've gotta be kidding me!?】
【One abyssal-class collapse in America was bad enough! What the hell is happening if they're occurring back-to-back!?】
【Is this seriously, genuinely an artificial dungeon collapse!? That's gotta be a lie, right!?】
【I mean, on a worldwide scale, dungeon collapses happening this often isn't unusual by itself, but ones this big...】
【If people can artificially cause collapses, at least make lower-layer-class dungeons the absolute limit!】
【Maybe because they're happening far from cities, it looks like the militaries and clans are somehow riding them out by just establishing defensive lines...? But what the hell IS this...!?】
【Karin ojou-sama is all we need jumping out of fiction into reality!】
The terrorist account's 'prediction' had proven perfectly accurate a second time. Despite the limited damage, the world fell into confusion. The uproar made even the American abyssal collapse pale by comparison.
And above all, what horrified people around the world... No, what sent all of Japan into a panic was the third video, posted as if to say, "Now you understand that our power is real, don't you?"
"And now, at last, for the main event. Next time will not be somewhere so lenient as the outskirts of a city. Ten days from now at 5:00 p.m., we shall collapse a dungeon in Tokyo, Japan—the Arakawa Dungeon, which possesses abyssal layers."
"The upper echelons of every nation have surely researched dungeon collapses for many years and must already have some idea, so we will simply tell you... There is exactly one way to stop this, other than accepting our demands. You must destroy the dungeon core at the very back of the abyss once before the collapse occurs. You are welcome to try stopping us, if you can."
After the previous incidents, it was becoming impossible to deny that these dungeon collapses were artificial.
This was a declaration of an attack on a major metropolitan area, where the damage would be incomparably greater than in America or Africa.
And faced with advance warning that an especially notorious dungeon—one where nobody knew what might lurk—would collapse, all of Japan descended into total chaos.
"Th-this has truly become an awful situation, desu wa ne..."
The threat had far too abruptly shattered the world's common sense. With all of Japan in an uproar from top to bottom and many Tokyo schools temporarily closed—
"Or rather, I assumed this must be the case, but wicked people like these truly are lurking behind the scenes after all, desu no ne... It may not be as dangerous as a Pit-Collapse Beam, but how dreadful, desu wa. Everyone in the neighborhood seems anxious and dispirited too, which does not feel good... At a time like this, I must do whatever I can as an Elegant ojou-sama explorer!"
Karin stared fixedly at the continuing news coverage day after day, clenched her fist, and made the declaration as though firing herself up.
Her motivation in the face of this emergency was tremendous. She looked ready to charge straight into Arakawa Dungeon, exactly as 'the people setting up the dungeon collapse intended.'
But—
"Still... with something this serious, people far stronger than I am must already be working to prevent the dungeon collapse and defeat the terrorist-samas. There is likely very little that I, merely a student, could accomplish."
Karin calmly muttered as though admonishing herself for almost letting the atmosphere of the news drive her enthusiasm in a slightly strange direction.
Karin took pride in believing she was fairly capable among explorers her own age. But that only applied among her peers—and only in the public world. The internet praised Karin ojou-sama as the strongest because truly powerful individuals presumably remained concealed behind the scenes to avoid attention, but she understood perfectly well that, in reality, she still fell far short of the absolute best, such as Setsuna-sama.
Thus, although Karin would act without hesitation if an incident or accident unfolded before her eyes, she believed an inexperienced explorer like herself had no role in a major event that mobilized the entire nation.
There were admittedly a few tasks that even someone of her limited ability could easily assist with. But surely many people could perform those tasks better than Karin.
If there was any one area where she might be able to help, it would be if they mobilized her as part of the force defending the surrounding area from the dungeon collapse. Yet if warriors and clans on Setsuna-sama's level—and the powerful individuals who surely served in the Self-Defense Forces—were taking action, someone as inexperienced as Karin, who had almost no experience coordinating in a party, was unlikely to be summoned.
"Yes. This is a terrible emergency, but the powerful individuals who normally remain behind the scenes must surely be working to resolve it. Rather than push myself forward strangely, I should limit myself to doing what I can. And the first thing I can do is... provide Elegant video streams, of course, desu wa ne!"
Karin nodded with conviction.
Some might consider that inappropriate when the world faced such trouble... But it was precisely during troubled times that familiar entertainment, which many people could enjoy, became important.
After all, Dungeon Alive had saved Karin when she shut herself away after losing her parents. At a time like this, she should strive to provide Elegant streams that many people could enjoy and use to forget their anxiety, even if only briefly.
"Although putting it that way feels a little too conceited..."
Nevertheless, that was where everything had begun for Karin.
She only needed to do her utmost at what she could accomplish now.
"Still, dungeon conquest at a time like this might be considered a little questionable, so deciding what kind of stream to hold presents a dilemma... At times like this, perhaps I could ask Mitsuki-sama, whose chatting and training streams are both popular, for advice!"
And so, although Karin still puzzled over the details, she settled on a general plan for the future and fired herself up once more.
By following her innate good sense and (questionable) common sense, she was about to unconsciously and completely ignore the intentions of those orchestrating the dungeon collapses—but—
【Hey, isn't Tokyo in serious trouble!?】
【Karin ojou-sama, save us!】
【That Destroyer-God Ojou-sama will definitely pull it off!】
【If Ojou-sama intended to challenge the pit, could she not reach the very back of the abyss as well!?】
【It was treated as a purely theoretical idea because the warning signs of a collapse can't be observed... but researchers have said for ages that destroying the core shortly before a collapse would stop it. So if Karin ojou-sama can reach it...!】
【Would that not be too dangerous...? But if Sharie-sama participated as well, perhaps they could manage...?】
【Shouldn't the government approach Ojou-sama immediately!?】
These voices were the exact opposite of the malicious ones Black Tiger had manufactured when creating suspicions of a staged incident.
Pure cries for help, born because people truly trusted and adored Karin for both her strength and her character, began rising in all kinds of places, primarily online.
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Karin ojou-sama is the type of boar-warrior who actually knows when to stop.
Incidentally, I only mentioned this briefly a long time ago, so it may have become a little confusing, but the dungeon terrorists are a smokescreen with the same roots as Inukai-sama and the other operatives, desu wa ne.
The word count got a little out of hand, so next time will include the finer details and explanations, desu wa!
※My health has started recovering, so I have revised the afterword! Thank you all for your concern, desu no...!