ch21-ch40 · 024-ch23

Chapter 23

Saito Megumi had always vaguely felt she wasn't suited to being an explorer, but after the last expedition, that doubt had crystallized into certainty.

She knew she had more talent as an explorer than the average person. That was how she'd met the members of Anthem. So she figured she'd been able to perform decently up until now, and objectively that was probably true—but surely, this was as far as she could go.

Beyond this point, she couldn't advance.

That said, if you asked whether she'd quit being an explorer, the reality was she couldn't say yes or no. Her magical affinity had been too high to live a normal student life, so she'd been transferred to an explorer training school on the government's dime, where she'd spent her days training and exploring labyrinths until she came of age. She was aware that this had left her somewhat naive about the world.

It would be hard to live without being involved with labyrinths now.

Besides—she didn't dislike streaming.

"Hey everyone! I'm Saito Megumi from Anthem. You might be surprised, but today we're at the Kamioka Dungeon, where we had a really rough time the other day."

As usual, she flashed a smile at the streaming camera Shingu Sanagi was holding, then took a step sideways to center the dungeon entrance in the frame.

"It's starting!" "Morning Anthem!" "Morning Meg-tan!" "For real? You're going into Kamioka Dungeon?"

The moment the stream began, viewer count broke ten thousand, and the comment section scrolled by at a considerable pace. Megumi checked the comment-display PAD attached to her arm and considered the flow of the stream. After more than two years of activity, she was used to this.

"For real for real. I know everyone has their thoughts, but I'll explain things as we go. First, let me introduce the members."

The swordswoman Kagurazaka Chizuru, the healer Mido Airi, and Megumi herself. So far it was the same lineup as before, but when she introduced the S-rank explorer Ilseria, the comment section exploded.

"I-chan! Haven't seen you in a while!" "Elf shows up in a private jet lmao" "The woman who makes SNS interesting" "Boss, look after the members!"

"You're noisy. I don't need to be told—I'll protect Megumi and the others. Leave it to me."

Ilseria, who'd been sneakily checking the comments, glared at the camera with a deadpan look when it turned to her and said exactly that.

For all her attitude, she seemed to enjoy streaming culture.

"As expected! Reliable I-chan!" "Thank you!" "You can yell at me more, it's fine" "There are nutrients only a tsundere elf can provide" "I want to feed her lots" "I want to educate her lots"

"And then, this time we have two special guests joining us. You viewers might actually know more about them than we do. 'Worksite-bro'—Toru-san, and the dragon-slaying swordswoman, Tia-san! They're the ones who saved us!"

"WTF!?" "Whoa, it's Worksite-bro!" "He's not in work clothes lmao" "Tia-chan, pant pant" "How'd you negotiate that?"

"I know everyone's curious, but let's talk about that while we explore. Oh, and I'm sure some of you are wondering about this too—this exploration has nothing to do with S City's request. I guess you could say we're exploring under direct orders from the Labyrinth Agency?"

"S City, currently getting roasted online" "Guess even Anthem cut ties with S City's requests" "Well, dungeon products still benefit S City, though..."

At Megumi's statement, the comments flowed in the direction she'd expected.

"Oh, by the way, this exploration is more about investigation, so the magic cores and rare drops will be submitted directly to the Labyrinth Agency."

"Ohhh, I see" "They're legit pissed, lmao" "Self-inflicted" "So S City doesn't get a single cent from this, huh"

"But since the labyrinth has actually mutated, an investigation is necessary. I saw some people mentioning 'Dungeon Rampage' online as of yesterday. If someone doesn't explore it and it looks like it's about to rampage, we have to defeat the monsters and calm the labyrinth down."

"True" "We really do rely on real explorers for that stuff" "S City couldn't handle exploring a mutated labyrinth even when it was a B-rank dungeon. Anthem's on the right track here." "I mean, the councilman and mayor aside, regular people aren't at fault" "But be careful, Meg-tan"

"Mm, thanks. And there's a reason we're re-entering the labyrinth so quickly. Do you all know the term 'survivor'?"

The word had various meanings.

Those left behind after a suicide. People who'd overcome diseases like cancer. Survivors of abuse. The meaning of 'survivor' spanned a wide range.

For Megumi and the others in 'Anthem,' it meant those who'd encountered an irregular in the labyrinth, fallen into crisis, and lived to tell the tale—the survivors.

"Like a firefighter who gets badly burned but returns to the scene"

"Something about returning to the scene as quickly as possible makes you less likely to develop trauma?"

Among the scrolling comments, Megumi found accurate ones and nodded.

"Right. Honestly, we're pretty scared about this exploration too. But since we're operating with government support, we can't just say 'we quit' without trying again even once. And we wouldn't get to chat with everyone like this anymore."

"Meg-tan..." "Don't push yourself" "I'm tearing up" "As expected of my wife"

"Who're you calling wife! So anyway, that's why we asked Ilseria to come along. And Worksite-bro—Toru-san—and the dragon-slaying Tia-san too. For an A-rank explorer clan, this is pretty pathetic, I know."

"I see" "Better than risking your life to retry" "Explorers need to keep fighting, that's the job" "But didn't bro not have a license?" "Is Anthem buying him off and giving him money again?" "No, you can't intentionally take an unlicensed person into a labyrinth. That's illegal. Can't see Anthem doing that. Though minors can apply to enter with consent and a supervisor... Worksite-bro's an adult, right?"

Comments like "How pathetic" weren't entirely absent, but they were almost nonexistent. Megumi had expected them. An 'Anthem' that had been trained with public funds—tax money—to give back to the nation, unable to recover on its own, resorting to relying on someone who didn't even have a license. She'd have taken the criticism.

Probably—it was Megumi herself who felt pathetic.

She knew that about herself, which was why she didn't want to hear it.

But maybe, actually, she'd wanted to be told.

"Yeah, that's right. For those who don't know, Toru-san was working as a cleaner in a D-rank dungeon, accidentally stepped on a teleport trap, and found two swords in a hidden room. And then—as you all know—he instantly killed the dragon and Black Knight that we were struggling against... well, about to lose to."

"Clearly not the behavior of someone below D-rank, lmao" "Wait, bro's got something, right? Not that cursed blade, but" "Tia-chan keeps looking at the camera, it's cute lol" "She's smiling and waving, legit cute" "Even Chizuru's fanboy here has to admit defeat"

"So we went directly to the Labyrinth Agency and had them issue Toru-san a temporary license. People who can instantly kill dragons and Black Knights—telling them they can't enter a labyrinth because they don't have a license would be against public welfare, right? Besides, this might be pretty urgent."

"Effective use of power, let's go!" "As expected of a national project" "This ain't tax-sucking"

"Anyway, as usual, we're ignoring political statements. So then—let's head into the mutated Kamioka Dungeon!"

◇◇◇

Unless it was an unexplored area, labyrinth exploration came with maps.

That was because pioneers always created them. Contrary to the fantasy fiction image of explorers competing against each other, they were actually in a cooperative relationship. Sharing information could directly save another explorer's life. Conversely, hiding information meant killing others.

In the modern information society, such concealment was nothing less than an act of self-destruction. As long as the labyrinth was managed by the state, the pioneer's records always remained. Suspicion would arise that the person had hidden information, so explorers were quite careful about providing information to labyrinth branch offices. Not a few explorers brought cameras to record their explorations, even if they didn't stream.

Nobody wanted to get torn apart online. Especially when that reputation could hinder their activities.

Anyway, for a clan like Megumi's Anthem—which had back-end support—the labyrinth map and their current position were cross-referenced in real time, with the feedback being delivered to the explorers as a matter of course.

Of course, the data was also sent to Megumi's device, but handling that support was primarily the healer Mido Airi's job.

"Hmm... the upper layers seem to match the map for now. Same as last time."

Receiving Airi's report, Megumi murmured it for the viewers.

The collective wisdom was nothing to scoff at—sometimes viewers would come up with ideas that would never occur to Megumi and the others on the spot.

"So, about time we asked Worksite-bro some questions?" "Agreed. Let's interview bro." "Let's ask Tia-chan stuff too."

Though the collective wisdom wasn't always helpful. Sometimes viewers would unite around a direction, and whether to stop that flow or let it continue was something that required handling as a streamer.

"Hmm... yeah, okay. Let's ask some questions while we're in the upper layers. But I won't pry into anything private or off-limits, okay?"

Emphasizing that just in case, she gestured with a little wave toward Hayasaka Toru, who was walking behind Sanagi—out of camera range.

She'd heard that there had been some friction with Manager Nanami and Ilseria before departure, so honestly, Megumi felt a bit reluctant to talk to Hayasaka Toru about things. Neither Nanami nor Ilseria had told her what the friction was about, and Hayasaka Toru and the holy sword wielder Tia hadn't said anything either. When Megumi and the others came down to the lobby to greet them, Hayasaka Toru had been unsociable but hadn't seemed particularly irritated.

Still, it bothered her that Chizuru, who'd apparently been looking forward to calmly talking with the 'cursed blade wielder,' had gone down to the lobby before Megumi and the others but had barely spoken to Hayasaka Toru—or seemed unable to.

Chizuru usually went at her own pace and said whatever she wanted, but toward Hayasaka Toru, she seemed oddly hesitant. That worried Megumi.

He was their benefactor. A lifesaver.

She understood that, and she was grateful.

But he was also a type of person Megumi had never had anything to do with before.

Simply put, she didn't know how to interact with him.

It was the downside of having been transferred to an explorer training school in middle school and living almost entirely without contact with the 'outside world' since then. She'd gained strength as an explorer, but it felt like the core of her heart hadn't grown. And that was probably just a fact.

In the end, she was still that child from back then, hurt by being treated like a monster...

No, that didn't matter now.

Shaking off her internal unease with a light toss of her head, Megumi spoke to Hayasaka Toru.

"Umm... again, thank you for the other day. For saving us in the labyrinth, and for attending the prefectural government meeting..."

"Ah... yeah. Well, I left the meeting, though."

Hayasaka Toru stepped closer to Megumi, entering the camera frame, and responded in an incredibly bored tone. The impression of a thug from a TV drama still lingered somewhat, but the fact that he had no intimidation or aggression whatsoever was a relief for Megumi.

How should she put it... he seemed like a quiet beast that didn't hunt more than necessary. The type that wouldn't get angry if you pet him when he was in the mood.

"Worksite-bro lol, his energy level's low lol" "Surrounded by this group and still that energy, lmao" "Say something about being called 'Worksite-bro'"

"Ahaha... um, Toru-san, right? The internet has settled on the nickname 'Worksite-bro.' Honestly, what do you think about it?"

"Going straight for it lmao" "First question is that?? lol"

Shut up, you guys are the ones who wanted to ask.

Megumi thought that internally while barely managing to keep her smile. It was probably pretty strained, but oh well.

"Uh... I think it's 'cause I was wearing work clothes. Never worked a construction site though, so I kinda feel bad for real construction workers out there. I don't have a crane license or anything, so I'd like to hand over the title of 'Worksite-bro' to someone legit."

Despite her potentially rude question, Toru thought for a moment and answered normally. He didn't seem to like being called Worksite-bro, but he didn't seem angry about it either.

"Surprisingly serious lol" "Worksite-bro's not a title, dumbass lol" "Can't be helped, I'll call him Toru then" "So bro got a provisional license, but can he actually beat monsters?" "I mean, what's bro holding? That's not a sword, right?"

"Comments about monster slaying are coming in... umm, things like 'is monster slaying okay?' and 'what is Toru-san holding?'"

Actually, Megumi had been curious about it too, ever since the parking lot near the labyrinth—Toru and Tia had followed Anthem's van in their own car. The iron rod that Toru was carrying like it was the most natural thing in the world, looking like something she couldn't quite identify.

"This? It's a blunt weapon a dwarf acquaintance of mine made. Welded together rebar used in construction. My work tool from when I was a cleaner."

"...That really is nothing but a blunt weapon, huh."

She had doubts about whether that would work against labyrinth monsters.

It was said that modern weapons—like bullets and bombs—were ineffective against labyrinth monsters because the monsters were wrapped in magical power. That was why swords and spears, which were easy to infuse with magical power, were the main tools. Bullets could work if infused with magic too, but making expendable bullets from dungeon products was less efficient than crafting melee weapons with higher sustained combat capability.

The greatsword Megumi used was also a custom-forged piece with monster materials mixed into the steel. It supposedly had excellent magical conductivity, was harder than iron, and had more toughness than bamboo.

In contrast—bundled rebar.

She felt like hitting a monster with that would bend it immediately.

"Ah... well, can I try something real quick?"

Saying it like it had just occurred to him, Toru pointed down the corridor.

The Kamioka Dungeon was a relatively standard stone-maze type labyrinth. As with most labyrinths, the walls, floor, and ceiling themselves gave off a faint glow, providing visibility for about thirty meters.

Where Toru was pointing was... farther than that.

Megumi exchanged a glance with Ilseria, who had the highest perception among the members. The elven magic archer looked displeased but gave a small nod.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot. If it looks bad, pull me out."

His casual tone was probably because he was talking to Tia. Tia nodded lightly and watched Toru's back as he started walking normally, with Sanagi following behind him with the camera.

Around then, Megumi could make out wolf-type monsters coming from the other direction.

Two of them.

They were clearly higher-ranked than the monsters that had appeared in the upper layers during the previous expedition. The mutation was definitely progressing. If that was the case, they should advance while defeating monsters, but...

Would he be okay?

A person who, until just a few days ago, was below D-rank—a cleaner without even a license—against two magic wolves probably at upper C-rank. On normal terms, wasn't that suicidal?

Toru's back, walking with the iron bludgeon over his shoulder, showed no fear—but neither did it have the aura of a strong warrior.

Looking around, only Airi seemed to share Megumi's concern. Tia, Chizuru, and Ilseria were all watching Toru's back without particular concern.

"bro's first real fight" "No, his first fight was the Black Knight" "He's using that bludgeon?" "Shouldn't he use the cursed blade?" "Maybe he wants to look cool in front of Anthem?" "He didn't seem like someone trying to look cool" "He's literally just walking" "The wolves are about to charge"

As the comments predicted, the two magic wolves lowered their bodies and sprang forward.

The result was—anticlimactic.