arc01 · 027-ep27

Episode 27: What to Do with Myself

Right after that, the bell rang and lunch was over, so I said my goodbyes to the two of them and headed home.

Today and tomorrow: rest.

Advisor's orders, for one—and even if I went to the dungeon right now, Floor 9 is off-limits. They said the subjugation request would go out right away, but I doubt they'd round up veteran adventurers on that short notice. Best case, the floor stays barred through this weekend.

Which all adds up to————

"Haah………… bored."

◇

It hits me, out of nowhere: how did I used to spend my time, back in my past life?

"What was it again… watching anime and reading manga, reading web novels. Otaku hobbies at full throttle, that was me."

Since reincarnating over here, I've barely touched any of that.

Can you blame me? There's this colossal fantasy called dungeons sitting right there. No helping it.

It's a rare day off, too. Might as well watch something with zero connection to dungeons for once.

"OurTube really comes in handy at times like this. Tons of videos, and you can tell what anime's trending at a glance."

I open the app on my phone right away and start checking what's been popular lately.

Hmm, it's a pain to watch anything on a phone… I figured I didn't need a PC since I'm barely home, but at times like this the PC really is more convenient.

"Oh, that movie's getting a release. That one was mega popular. I went to see it myself, back in the day. Out this summer, huh. I doubt I'll have anyone to talk about it with, but I'd better be careful not to let anything slip."

A romance-youth fantasy where a high school boy and girl swap bodies and things spiral this way and that.

Guaranteed blockbuster over here too, no question.

"What else… whoa! VTubers are already a thing here! …Total stranger of a character, though. Was there ever a V like this?"

Hold on, were there VTubers this early? Well… maybe there were.

I came to the whole scene late in my past life, so I honestly don't know when it got started.

I run a search—no other VTubers turn up. As of right now, this one stranger I've never heard of appears to be the only person calling herself a VTuber.

This kind of thing happens now and then. Then again, there are dungeons in the world, so if anything it's stranger that this place lines up with the past life I lived almost perfectly.

"View count doesn't look too hot… but let's give it a look."

Seems it's not livestreaming—she posts videos instead.

Livestreaming hasn't really taken off in this era, huh.

For now, I play her very first upload: a self-introduction done with a 3D avatar.

Not many views on this one either… well, it's the first video. Fair enough, maybe.

『…I am called Enishi Rian, a VTuber. A pleasure to meet you.』

S-so stiff……! God, she's unfriendly as hell!

Her look is way off from the progenitor I know, too—blue as her base color, a dignified, elegant-beauty type.

One small figure standing all alone against a pure-white background.

I'm sure it'll hit hard for the people it hits, but as the genre's very first entrant? This is pretty shaky, no? Can't see it taking off.

『I am solitude. A ghost of an existence, connected to no one. I don't even know where here is. If there is anyone who knows me, or anyone like me—please. Please, find me.』

Ehh… what is this. She's going with this kind of character…?

I mean, I get that VTubing is all about the roleplay, but still.

Somehow, I have no idea what she's actually trying to say. "Find me" means "watch my videos," is that it?

…………Yeah, this one's not taking off.

◇

And in the end, this is where I always land.

『Ahem—about this glow moss: as it happens, there are mosses outside dungeons that go by the name "glow moss" as well. Those are entirely different things, but… this is where dungeons get interesting, you see. A name that's widely used inside a dungeon ends up registered as the material's official name, just like that. "Registered"—not that any academic society got together and named them, mind you. The point is that when you use skills like 【Item Appraisal】, this is how it displays. Monsters work the same way, which is why they so often end up with names that match their looks. Hehe. The madake of Floor 1 is a mushroom inside the dungeon, but out in the world the name belongs to a bamboo—quite the little curiosity, isn't it?』

Dungeon-related videos, this time.

No livestreams to speak of, but there are a few videos filmed inside dungeons. Not that you get to watch any actual combat.

Mostly it's channels like this one—the explainer type.

Not a topic I care much about, personally… but dungeon talk still puts me at ease.

I really have been dyed thoroughly dungeon-colored since reincarnating, haven't I.

"…………Might as well check the dungeon threads."

I close the Awatube app and check up on dungeon talk over on the anonymous boards.

"Hmm, hmm. Floor 9 of Akabane Dungeon is still entry-banned, looks like. Oh—but an A-rank party's heading in to take the thing down today. That was fast."

Looks like this gets resolved way ahead of my estimate. Goblin King or not, against an A-rank party it should be exterminated in the blink of an eye.

We're talking about people who are level 60 or higher at absolute minimum. If something like that comes at it as a full party, it won't land a single blow.

"Still, rounding them up the very day after yesterday? Impressive. A-ranks are usually off on expedition somewhere, aren't they?"

I've had it beaten into me plenty by now: dungeons are, above all else, huge.

Exploring one properly means diving for days at a stretch, sleeping inside—that's the norm. That's what they call an expedition. And since phones are naturally out of range inside a dungeon, contact should be impossible.

"Could high-rank adventurers have dedicated comm items or something?"

C-rank-and-up information doesn't really gather online. Expeditions mean they're rarely up on the surface, and support staff tasked with collecting intel can't exactly keep up with them in the first place. Everyone's exploring by feel. Information that amounts to their very livelihood isn't something most would casually scatter across the net. Which is why exploring at C-rank and above is a different beast entirely from D-rank and below, where solid, high-confidence info is just sitting there online.

It really puts into perspective what a terrifying breed an A-rank party is.

"A-rank adventurers, huh………… a long way off."

And above even A-rank, there's S-rank. Japan has exactly one certified S-rank adventurer. An old man who stands as a candidate for strongest in the world.

Good grief. The road really is long—what a problem to have. He's still so far ahead I can't even see his back, but all I can do is keep moving forward, one step at a time.

Phew.

Before I know it, it's evening.

First things first: go eat something good and rebuild my strength.

I'll take a lazy stroll, and if a place looks promising, that's the one.