chapter05 · 143-ep143

Episode 136: Into the Abyss

The great mass of dungeon walls that had roared moments before lay silent as rubble. The viewers held their breath, uncertain whether the battle was truly over.

"Hmm, hmm... Good. Not one enemy on this floor remains alive. The boss seems to have been swallowed by these enhanced variants(?) too... And with that, Arakawa Dungeon's deep layers are fully conquered, desu wa!"

Karin used wide-area, precise detection to confirm the victory. As she made her cheerful declaration and filmed the earth dragons' bodies dissolving, the comments exploded.

【OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!】

【You did it, desu waaaaaaaa!?】

【This time you REALLY beat the cause of the tragedyyyyy!】

【It looked worrying at first, but she ended up with her usual flawless, unscathed Elegant conquest!?】

【She didn't even use Kazenari or full Storm Style! She won with power to spare!?】

【'It controls dungeon walls? Blow up the blast stones inside them' was genuinely a strategist move!?】

【It took absurd combat power to pull that off, but Ojou-sama has amazing battle IQ! (Poisonous mushroom scheme? Never heard of it...)】

【So the cause of the tragedy has well and truly been identified and defeated!?】

【Whoa... I thought Ojou-sama could do it, but she really overcame the ultimate symbol of disaster for explorers after all these years!?】

【Did Japan's mutant ojou-sama destroy an ENTIRE dungeon? (English)】

【Is this the stream where a Japanese high school girl destroyed the dungeon itself!? (English)】

【I heard Karin ojou-sama beat the cause of the tragedy!】

【Here from the breaking news!】

【Is it true Ojou-sama crushed whatever caused the tragedy!?】

【I saw the trends, but Karin ojou-sama really IS conquering it in a dress!?】

【Whoa, the viewers suddenly surged!?】

【More Japanese than foreign viewers, by far!?】

【People too scared to watch her stream in infamous Arakawa Dungeon are pouring in!?】

【Twenty-five million concurrents, desu wa!?】

【She's already smashed that otherworldly Okutama viewership record!?】

"Eek!? T-twenty-five million concurrents!?"

Karin had been staring at the comment explosion, but the count rising even faster startled her still more. With ten million right from the start, she'd braced herself to surpass Okutama, but not this quickly.

Apparently, a fair number of people had avoided the stream because of everything ominous associated with Arakawa Dungeon. Some were now joining after hearing the breaking news, seeing clips, or reading forum posts about her victory over the cause of the tragedy.

And literally, Elegantly blowing away the ill omen people had feared before the stream had other effects besides the soaring viewer count.

¥10,000

【Breaking News】 Kagerou hasn't posted lately, but a drone covering the Arakawa area caught him watching his phone and pumping his fist at the EXACT moment Ojou-sama beat the cause of the tragedy

【Huh!?】

【It's true lmao】

【Did Kagerou accept a defensive assignment near Arakawa this time!?】

【Don't think so】

【He's unattached now, but he's still one of the strongest young explorers, so naturally they asked. Rumor is he refused, saying, 'Like that monster would ever fail'】

【He sounds like a rival character from Jump!?】

【Then why is he watching the stream THERE!?】

【Maybe he was worried Ojou-sama would become the second tragedy and came nearby, AND watched the stream...?】

【What's he doing with this troublesome tsundere act under these circumstances!?】

【Ojou-sama's antics were enough. Why are Mitsuki-sama and Kagerou filling the sidelines with memes too!?】

【Since quitting nuisance streaming, Kagerou's been shining as an entertai—er, streamer lol】

【First caught practicing her tea routine, now THIS. Did Karin ojou-sama share her weird luck when she punched him!?】

【Kagerou! Stream again! I've saved superchat money to tease y—er, donate to you!! I'm sorry we mocked you for storming the TV studio!】

【I can't stop saving footage to confront him with on his next stream!】

【Seriously, he turned down the assignment but showed up on-site. He kind of deserves it...】

【Lmao????】

Unconfirmed though it was, more joking comments appeared. 'Lol' and similar laughter showed up slightly more often than at the start of the stream. And—

【Anyway, setting Kagerou aside, Ojou-sama is incredible!】

【She's only cleared the deep layers, so don't let your guard down... Keep going, but put your safety first!】

【Mitsuki-sama is screaming support from the greenroom where they carried her!】

【Why are her shrieks from the greenroom reaching the broadcast!?】

【Whatever happens, we're cheering for you!】

【I hesitate to cheer in case it adds pressure... but hearing she beat the cause of the tragedy is a relief...! Keep retreat in mind, always!】

The stakes had made people much more hesitant to cheer than during the Okutama solo deep-layer conquest. But the atmosphere was beginning to change slightly. Most still urged Karin to take care, yet Kagerou's apparent cameo and her victory had softened the tension.

For dungeon explorers and ordinary people alike, the Arakawa Dungeon tragedy was a symbol of the worst that could happen, and one of the greatest concerns about today's stream. Karin had one-sidedly crushed its cause without even resorting to much of her equipment. That mattered.

Karin was happy not just about the cheers but about that change in mood.

(Defeating those enhanced variants(?) Elegantly was the right decision! Of course, this relief must be temporary, born from defeating the cause of the tragedy. I haven't stopped the collapse yet. To truly put everyone at ease, the real work begins now!)

So—

(I shall continue conquering the dungeon Elegantly and help them relax even more!)

"Thank you, everyone, desu wa! I do have plenty of time, but no reason to dawdle... I shall descend into the abyss now!"

【Here we go...】

【Right... The cause of the tragedy and her victory were so huge I forgot the main event only starts NOW...】

【The deep layers were only the opening act. This is bugged】

【She's really conquering the abyss solo...】

【You said blind conquests are old hat, but PLEASE be careful, Ojou-sama!】

As Karin walked toward the abyss, the excitement of her victory gave way to renewed tension. The purpose of this stream was the bottom of the abyss, where she had to destroy the core and stop the collapse. By Karin's standards, the journey so far had only been a warm-up. In every sense, the real challenge began here.

Amid the tense comments—

【!?】

【Wait a moment!?】

【I thought she might, but she's SERIOUSLY charging in still wearing her dress!?】

【I know she entered Okutama's abyss in a dress, but she's doing it TODAY too!?】

【Ojou-sama, aren't you changing out of that dress yet!?】

Sure enough, Karin continued down the passage in her fluttering dress, drawing an entirely different kind of alarm.

¥10,000

Ojou-sama!? Even Tamago-sensei said this yesterday. Surely you should begin today's abyss run in more practical clothing!? → URL

The superchat linked to the sole message and illustration Mochimochi Tamago-sensei had uploaded the day before:

'Karin ojou-sama... Now that the government has formally asked you, I can only cheer you on. But the adults will bear the responsibility even if you cannot stop the collapse, so PLEASE don't push yourself too far. Perhaps I don't need to tell you, but as Setsuna-sama said in chapter 232, knowing when to retreat and not taking reckless risks is also Elegant!'

The accompanying new drawing recreated a scene from the original manga where Setsuna warned the protagonists against recklessness, substituting Karin. Tamago-sensei had used Setsuna's words to urge Karin to be careful.

In fact, Tamago-sensei had posted almost nothing online about the uproar. The situation was far more serious than Karin's deep-layer stream, and the expectations and responsibility placed on her far heavier. Tamago-sensei feared that speaking carelessly, with her own considerable influence, could increase Karin's burden in any direction. Apart from objecting to calls for Karin to help, she hadn't even posted when Setsuna-sama's figure was destroyed. (She had also been busy calming her enraged editor instead of posting online.)

Once the government actually asked Karin, though, Tamago-sensei couldn't do nothing. She posted that single drawing in hopes of lessening the pressure on her.

Of course Karin had saved it with a shriek and looked at it every second, like Tamago-sensei's earlier illustrations. She hadn't merely taken Setsuna-sama's and Tamago-sensei's words to heart; she'd engraved them on her soul. Even so—

"? Of course their words are engraved upon my soul! Though an Elegant conquest is important in many ways this time, a reliable conquest comes first. I mustn't make everyone worry excessively as I did in Kisaragi Dungeon, and I am still too inexperienced to guarantee a reliably Elegant conquest in the abyss. If necessary, I intend to fight in an un-Elegant fashion! Therefore—I shall wear my dress for now, desu no!"

【?????】

【??????????】

【???????????????】

【What is this idi—Ojou-sama talking about?】

【Did the meaning of 'therefore' change while I was studying abroad?】

¥5,000

My best guess... Ojou-sama means: 'I'm nowhere near the point where I need to change, so for now I'll keep wearing my symbol of Elegance to entertain everyone watching and show the terrorists how pathetic their plan is!'

【A translator appeared!】

【Do you have a level-one certificate in Wild Ojou-sama Language????】

【↑Isn't that kind of an insult】

【Why do we need a translation when we're speaking the same Japanese...?】

【We understand her words, just not her reasoning!】

【They say people twenty IQ points apart can't communicate, but apparently the same goes for people with different definitions of common sense...】

【Ojou-sama, are you serious!?】

【You could pace yourself in an abyss you've already cleared, but in a new dungeon isn't that suicide!?】

【She's not considering conserving her stamina AT ALL!?】

【Not even Setsuna-sama's and Tamago-sensei's words can get through. I despair】

【Like watching the ultimate weapon fail against a monster】

【(I think she understands the WORDS... Just the words)】

【A monster that understands your language but not your common sense is somehow scarier】

【W-well, she did rampage nearly unscathed on Okutama's abyssal floor 1...】

【↑That was insane in the first place】

【S-she seems to have taken a safety margin (?) beyond our understanding, so floor 1 should be fine... Probably...】

【She safely beat the presumably abyssal-class cause of the tragedy, and she's obviously stronger than she was in Okutama. She'll be fine! (self-hypnosis)】

【She did say she'd change if things got dangerous...!】

【(I bet she won't change until the VERY last second...!)】

【F-for now she's got a track record on floor 1. She'll manage...】

Some chose to trust her based on her past feats and watch her enter the abyss in her dress for now.

But as Karin descended the long stairway and an open space appeared ahead, different from the dim caverns above—

【Eh】

【Hah?】

【What is that...!?】

【Ojou-sama said the abyss looks different in each dungeon back in Okutama, but... WHAT!? This has to be a joke!?】

【No way...!?】

The image caught by her floating camera stunned even viewers who'd been cautiously optimistic about floor 1.

Because—

【Wait, is this an UNDERWATER COMBAT AREA!?】

【It's way beyond an 'underwater combat area'!?】

【It's not just the boss room—the ENTIRE floor is an ocean!?】

【Underwater is BAD news!?】

【And this is the ABYSS!?】

【Underwater areas are bad enough already, but an abyss this vast and ocean-like...!?】

【She can't fight here in a dress—or in ANY normal equipment!?】

What stretched across floor 1 of Arakawa Dungeon's abyss was utterly unlike the hills of Okutama's abyss: an expanse of water that seemed to go on forever.

Of all the special dungeons, underwater combat areas ranked among the most feared challenges, even above random bosses, challenge doors, and enhanced variants. The viewers cried out at the sight.

―――――――――――――――――――――――

I called it an ocean, but it's probably freshwater, desu wa.

I'd like to give Kagerou-sama a proper appearance again one of these days...!