ch61-ch80 · 079-ch78

Chapter 78

That Shirazawa Kana had decided to join an explorer club in college was, without question, because of Hayasaka Toru. To put it bluntly, the 'Dungeon Rampage' that took his family was what had severed Kana and Hayasaka Toru's relationship. Surely, she wasn't the only one — surely, all sorts of people had lost all sorts of things in all sorts of places, and surely, they would continue to lose them.

Once she started thinking that way, she couldn't just do nothing.

Like cleaning a filthy room, or clearing a sink piled high with dirty dishes — that was the kind of feeling it was closest to. It felt wrong to leave it undone.

If becoming an explorer required sacrificing everything she had, Kana wouldn't have chosen that path.

But reality was the opposite. There was so much to gain from becoming an explorer. Money, of course. The strength gained from raising her explorer level. Her future prospects improved too. If she could reap a profit along the way to self-satisfaction, there was no reason not to.

For instance, thanks to her improved base physical fitness, she had fewer 'off days.' Her periods were lighter, and her skin and condition no longer fluctuated based on what she'd eaten the day before. She'd become less prone to gaining weight — and, conversely, less prone to losing it.

In short — she had grown stronger, biologically.

But whether that was unambiguously wonderful as a human being was a harder question. Kana herself felt she was stronger now than before, a little prettier, a little more confident — but if someone offered to undo it all and put her back three years in exchange for throwing this self away, she'd throw it away without hesitation. Just because nobody would ever make such an offer.

"Phew..."

Thinking vague thoughts like that, she finished her morning prep. Coordinating with today's members and her university schedule had — conveniently — resulted in being able to dive into the labyrinth first thing in the morning.

For labyrinth exploration, light makeup was the rule. Explorer-grade cosmetics were sold too, apparently because demand had surged from female explorers who streamed their explorations.

Kana herself had no interest in exploration streams, so she didn't particularly want to doll up inside a labyrinth — but if she were going to be on camera, she'd want to look as pretty as possible. There probably wasn't anyone who wanted to be on stream drenched in sweat with their eyeshadow running.

In that sense, it was a relief that the club had banned exploration streaming. Apparently, the club president at the time streaming had first become popular had banned it on the grounds that "if a university club does exploration streams, somebody will absolutely slip up and say something they shouldn't." If you want to do it, leave the club and do it on your own. Kana thought that was extremely astute.

In fact, it was an everyday occurrence for upper C-rank exploration streamers who'd gotten stronger to have minor scandals. If they belonged to some organization, it became a scandal for that organization too. It was probably just that there were more people whose first impulse was malice rather than goodwill. That was all.

Anyway — confirming her usual labyrinth exploration gear was in her shoulder-pouch magic bag — about a tenth the capacity of a cargo container, but a hefty sum all the same — she left home.

The solo living she'd started when she entered university. The driver's license she'd gotten right before graduating high school. The compact car her parents had gifted her for graduating.

By anyone's measure, a happy life — just an ordinary second-year college student in a regional city...

— Everyone's got their own shit going on.

— They just don't bother weighing in on other people's 'shit' one way or another.

That ex-boyfriend who used to say things like that hadn't bothered to weigh in on other people's 'shit' either. Because he hadn't wanted people weighing in on his.

Kana didn't go out of her way to show special consideration to people she wasn't close to either.

Maybe the world was creaking along, little by little, because of that... but even so.

◇◇◇

After gathering once at the university, they loaded into current club president Hatoba Akihiko's wagon and headed to Noumi Dungeon in S City.

A familiar route, and a fairly familiar party makeup for this exploration.

"I just checked on my terminal — permission really did come through for a club-clan Noumi Dungeon exploration. Kyohei, your connections are something else."

Hatoba said it lightly while driving, and Seno Kyohei gave a smug "Hehe" and nodded. The way he could properly lower himself toward people above him in standing, age, or skill — he was suited to the jock-type vertical hierarchy. Including the part about lording it over those below him.

"Honestly, I think their real feeling is they want reliable people to do the survey ASAP. Word is some big shot from the Labyrinth Agency's here, but either way, they can't get anywhere without surveying Noumi Dungeon and Sugai Dungeon."

"They'll probably open up the upper layers first and gradually accept explorers from outside the prefecture. From what I saw on 'Toru-bro's stream, high-rank explorers would happily come to Sugai Dungeon for leveling."

"...Barreling through floors at that pace isn't what a normal explorer does, though."

"No argument there."

Hatoba let out a small laugh at the disgruntled Seno and turned the wheel.

It wasn't far from the university to Noumi Dungeon — they crossed city lines, but it was close enough that chatting got them there in no time. The surrounding scenery, however, was completely different from what Kana and the others knew.

First, the area all around the dungeon entrance had been scraped down to bare earth. The labyrinth branch office that had been right next to it was gone without a trace. Like a planned shopping mall development site — no, maybe a bit rougher than that.

The hydra that had appeared when Kamioka Dungeon disappeared had rampaged through here.

Kana had watched 'Anthem's' stream in real time, so she knew that feeling of despair intimately — even through a screen.

If the hydra had kept rampaging, the casualties would probably have been the worst since the 'Chain Dungeon Rampage.'

And the 'Cursed Blade wielder' Toru — Hayasaka Toru — had come flying in and cleaved it down.

By rights, every last citizen of S City should've been applauding and thanking him, but it didn't seem to have gone that way. It had blown up huge on net news and social media, but the TV coverage was minimal, and there was still no official announcement about this 'Dungeon Rampage.' Kana herself wasn't sure how to take that.

Anyway — do what she could.

They parked the wagon at the edge of the cleared — or rather, ruined — ground, and each person ran through their checks. Bags, equipment, condition, and goal-setting for this exploration. We turn back once we hit this point. If we see this, we retreat. This much is acceptable... Safety first, fundamentally. Explorers improvise within the safety margin they've secured.

"For now, the monster info matches pre-mutation Noumi Dungeon down to the fourth floor. If that info's accurate, we're well within the safe zone. The goal of this exploration is information gathering. Obviously we're not streaming, but the camera's rolling, so refrain from any careless remarks."

Hatoba said, looking around at everyone.

Everyone nodded quietly. Kana too. Then Seno clapped Yuki on the shoulder with a grin.

"Listen, Yuki. We're counting on you to deliver this time. Coordinate with Shitani-senpai on backup and give us a perfect map."

"Of course. You're bumping up my cut this time, so I'm going serious. I've already worked out the coordination with my senpai. The relay units are already set up by Anthem, right?"

"Yeah. I dunno how many floors Anthem dove, but word is they went past the middle layers — twelve, fifteen, somewhere around there, I'd guess. Mapping's still undone, as far as I know. Well, we're not getting that far anyway."

Seno's tone didn't seem to carry any lies or schemes. He probably had no intention of going below the fourth floor. He'd been far more serious than Kana about working as an explorer, so his judgment wasn't so dull as to mess that up... probably.

Kana couldn't fully trust Seno Kyohei — partly a matter of his character, but also because he seemed to burn with rivalry toward Hayasaka.

After getting his nose broken back in middle school, they'd had no direct contact — but even after they'd gone to the same high school, Seno had seemed to keep Hayasaka on his mind.

Pride, or something else — Kana didn't know.

They were fellow club members, but their interactions were surface-level. Watanabe Yuki was the one Kana felt much closer to.

Sometimes you end up moving with someone you're not particularly close to.

As an explorer, Seno Kyohei was within tolerable range.

For now, anyway.

"Alright. Takahashi on camera, Watanabe and backup Shitani on mapping. Forwards are me and Seno. Rearguard are Shirazawa and Maeno. We'll take our time from the first floor and map carefully. Got it?"

Hatoba swept his gaze around the members and said.

Seno barked "Roger!" and Kana and the others nodded in turn.

...Honestly, she didn't have any bad premonitions or anything like that.

There hadn't been any three years ago, either. So naturally there wouldn't be now.

－－－－－－

It's Mo (greetings).

This one's shorter than usual, so I'll post another slightly short chapter tomorrow.