「Now then, shall I explain the rules of the game?」
Danpol began explaining the rules at his own leisurely pace.
「Explain? Wouldn’t it be quicker if I just killed you here and now? Then the happy ending would roll in, credits and all.」
Hime said, pointing her Fuma kunai at Danpol.
If only it were that simple…
「Want to give it a try? If you do, the dungeon will never be destroyed, and while you might miss out on the sight of monsters being unleashed on the outside world, watching countless human lives become one with the memories of the stars is an experience in itself.」
「Hime, I think he’s telling the truth.」
Mikoto told me to destroy the dungeon, not to kill Danpol.
That’s probably because killing him doesn’t actually matter.
Well, maybe not completely meaningless, but he’s likely just one of its many bunshin or something.
「So, the rules?」
「Ah, yes, let’s get this over with. Honestly, I don’t have high hopes for you all, but even so, a fair game is a fair game.」
After an irritating preamble, Danpol finally got to the point.
「If you can destroy the Black Skull on the tenth floor, you win. The dungeon will be destroyed. If you fail to do so, you lose. Simple, isn’t it?」
A hologram of a black skull appeared above Danpol’s head, then vanished.
It really is that simple.
「Oh, and I’ll be streaming the whole dungeon run.」
As soon as he said that, countless streaming crystals appeared and embedded themselves in the walls of the dungeon.
「Testing, testing, can you hear me?」
Danpol called out.
After a moment, text appeared in the air.
〔uematsu: What’s the meaning of this, Danpol-kun?〕
Uematsu…? Is that Minister Uematsu’s account?
「Ah, I simply wish to broadcast their progress to the entire world. This is a battle between humanity and us, after all. It would be a shame if most of humanity didn’t get to witness it. I believe in transparency, you see. So, no, you don’t get a say in this.」
What a selfish jerk.
Like he’s one to talk about keeping things open.
〔uematsu: On one condition. To protect their privacy, I ask that their names and appearances be hidden. Japan has the technology to do that.〕
「Ah, avatars, like you showed before. It was quite entertaining. I don’t mind. I’ll allow you to conceal their names as well. I’ll also filter out any offensive comments. It wouldn’t do to have their motivation crushed over something like that. Even I don’t want that.」
Danpol glanced at the void—probably looking into a camera—before turning back to us.
「Is that acceptable?」
「You literally just said we don’t get a choice.」
「I’m merely confirming in case you prefer not to use avatars or fake names.」
I clicked my tongue.
「Currently, the video feed is only going to the base above. But the moment you step through that door, the entire world will see the stream, almost in real-time. I’ll be watching closely from my room, so go on, enjoy your little adventure.」
With those words, Danpol’s figure vanished.
「A broadcast, huh… In a normal stream, I’d prefer to keep my abilities hidden if possible.」
「I doubt it’ll be that easy.」
「I kind of get where Danpol’s coming though. Everyone outside must be incredibly anxious about all this.」
「True. In that sense, the broadcast might be a good thing. Maybe people can send helpful information through the comments if we miss anything.」
Ayame commented and Milk added optimistically.
Ayame and Milk are too nice for their own good.
Well, I guess I agree with them.
「I’d prefer to keep whatever secrets we can, you know—」
〔uematsu: I apologize. We will do our best to ensure none of your personal information is leaked.〕
I can almost picture Minister Uematsu’s strained expression. He really does remind me of Gyuuzou-san in so many ways. Well, they are fellow disciples, after all.
「It’s not the Minister’s fault. Once this is all over, we’ll capture Danpol and subject him to the Balsamic Vinegar Punishment.」
I have no idea what that punishment entails, but I’ll leave that to Hime.
-0-
We opened the door. Beyond it, more streaming crystals were embedded in the walls.
〔It’s starting〕
〔Delta-chan and her team are the challengers Danpol chose!?〕
〔This might actually be winnable〕
Looks like there are people watching who know about us.
So far, there aren’t any comments that make me nervous.
There also aren’t too many comments overall—probably because Danpol is filtering out the ones we don’t need to see.
「Alright, let’s get this dungeon run started. Everyone watching, just so you know, this isn’t some casual investigation. We’re risking our lives here, so we might not be able to respond to your comments. Apologies in advance.」
〔Alpha, One, affirmative〕
If you say it like that, it makes it sound like you’re Alpha… I mentally sighed at the viewer’s joke.
Unlike normal dungeons, we’ll have to map this place as we go.
The first enemy appeared—a wolf.
Is that a Bite Wolf?
No, it’s something else.
〔Bite Wolf Leader, a ninth-floor monster right off the bat?〕
〔Bite Leaders are always early birds〕
Some viewers were cracking jokes, but this was no laughing matter.
Milk almost got killed by a lower-tier Bite Wolf once.
If she’s still traumatized by that memory, this could get bad.
Damn Danpol, throwing something like this at us right from the start.
「Milk, fall back—Milk?」
Milk calmly pulled a gun out of her golf bag.
「Release: Create Gunpowder. Release: Hot Stone Bullet.」
She muttered it like a tongue twister, then fired.
The bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and pierced straight through the Bite Wolf Leader’s neck from above.
〔A gun!〕
〔Can you even bring guns into a dungeon?〕
〔There were attempts to use air guns based on cork gun principles in dungeons, but they never became practical, so it’s understandable why this is surprising〕
〔The Bite Leader clocked out early〕
〔She said ‘release’, so it’s probably a type of magic. But creating gunpowder? Is that even a thing?〕
〔Delta’s specialty is drug magic〕
〔How can you create gunpower with something called drug magic? How is that possible?〕
〔What was that ricochet?! Is that even physically possible?!〕
〔Can she fire it repeatedly?〕
The comments were getting lively.
Isn’t there any restriction on revealing information about new magic?
Come to think of it, Danpol only agreed to let us use avatars and hide our names.
It makes sense that guns would cause a stir, even without that.
After all, it’s been common knowledge that firearms can’t be used in dungeons.
「Yes, it’s less of a gun and more of a magical tool. It was crafted using blacksmithing skills, which is why it’s allowed in the dungeon. No, it can’t fire repeatedly.」
Milk explained, answering the comments.
I wonder just how many more surprises we’ll end up revealing.
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