I couldn’t answer the viewer-san’s questions directly, but I encouraged them to speculate freely. As a result, I received a variety of serious analyses.
One suggestion was that Ayame’s ability might be due to ‘Learning’.
Learning isn’t a unique skill but rather an ultra-rare skill, with a few confirmed cases, so those in the know would recognize it.
We descended the stairs.
Normally, if you go straight down, you reach the next level, but this time, there was a staircase landing halfway, and we turned at a right angle.
Descending further, there was another landing, and we turned again.
「Isn’t this staircase a little long?」
How far does it go? Surely, it’s not an infinite staircase, right?
「They say the real dungeon starts from the 21st floor. Maybe it’s just setting the mood?」
「Having to climb back up all the way after descending is such a hassle.」
Ayame said with a slightly exasperated expression.
「That won’t be a problem. There’s a teleportation circle on the 21st floor. You can use it to return to the first floor.」
「Really? Where does it connect on the first floor?」
I didn’t recall there being any such teleportation circle in the Tenshiba Dungeon.
「It’s behind the reception desk. Once you use it, you can get a pass from the reception, so from the next time on, you won’t have to climb back up. But it’s only for this dungeon.」
I had no idea.
Where do people even get this kind of information?
Is there a dungeon guidebook or something?
「This really is long. How about a short break?」
I nodded at Milk’s suggestion.
Come to think of it, we hadn’t had lunch yet.
「We’re taking a meal break, so I’ll pause the stream. We plan to resume in about thirty minutes.」
While they don’t mind being seen fighting, the entire women’s team agrees they don’t want to be seen while eating, so we always stop the stream during meals.
I immediately pulled out lunch from my bag.
「Taira, you’re having bread today?」
「Yeah. My mom made a huge batch of homemade curry bread, and we’ve got a lot left over. Want some?」
「Sure, I’ll have one, thanks.」
「I’ll have one too, please.」
「Thank you. I didn’t know you could make curry bread at home.」
Curry bread.
The magic flask at home produces an exquisite curry, which is a favorite in our house. My mom, always looking for ways to incorporate it into dishes, eventually came up with this curry bread.
Like Hime said, I never thought curry bread was something you could make at home, but it’s surprisingly delicious.
「I heard they’re trying to promote curry bread in East Osaka, but it doesn’t seem to have really caught on.」
「Yeah, that’s true. Oh, but there’s a good place near Kiriyou High School. It’s a bakery that uses a Spanish stone oven—」
「I know it! The one on the highway, right? It’s in the opposite direction from my house, but I go there sometimes.」
「Really? If it’s on the highway, let’s all go together next time.」
The conversation turned into a casual chat.
One curry bread wasn’t enough, of course.
Especially since both Milk and Ayame had used magic, they must have been even hungrier.
Using magic really takes a toll on your energy.
So after that, we ate the lunch Ayame and Milk had made.
-0-
And then—it was time for the stream to resume, but none of us felt like moving.
So, at Hime’s suggestion, we decided to dedicate the first thirty minutes of the stream to a Q&A session.
The Q&A is a regular feature for dungeon streamers, where we answer viewer-sans questions with no restrictions.
That said, the questions are filtered by our dungeon footage editor—basically someone from our own team—so we never get any truly inappropriate ones.
In our case, we’re not likely to get questions about romance or anything like that.
〔First-ever Q&A session!〕
〔What kind of question will be picked first?〕
〔Supporter: Who is the explorer you admire most?〕
A pretty straightforward question.
「For me, it’s got to be King Campbell. I want him to remain the world’s top explorer until the day we surpass him.」
Hime answered, which was to be expected.
〔Alpha-chan’s confidence is amazing!〕
〔Isn’t King missing?〕
〔He often goes into dungeons for months at a time, so it’s nothing unusual.〕
「I admire Makino Gyuuzou. I’ve looked up to him even before he became an explorer.」
「I admire Gyuuzou-san too.」
Milk and I answered together.
〔Gyuuzou, nice! He’s great with the media too.〕
〔Currently recovering in New York. Hope he gets well soon.〕
〔Surprising! Given Beta’s combat style, I thought you’d say Sword Demon or Sword Saint.〕
Sorry, I don’t even know who Sword Demon or Sword Saint are.
Maybe Takeuchi-san?
「I admire my grandmother and Ichino-san.」
Ayame chimed in.
〔Admiring family, huh? Is she flirting with Beta?〕
〔That’s one young-looking grandma!〕
〔Beta, you lucky guy.〕
〔No girl could resist looking up to someone that strong up close.〕
Forget about me for a moment—Ayame’s grandmother, a specialist in curses, was also an explorer?
No wonder she respects her.
「Alright, next question.」
〔Supporter: What kind of item was the Yatsude leaf dropped by the tengu at the Ikomasanjo Amusement Park?〕
That question got the viewer-sans excited.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t explained that yet.
I opened my bag and pretended to pull it out from there, while actually retrieving the Yatsude leaf from my inventory.
「This one, right?」
I asked, turning to Hime, who was holding the streaming crystal.
〔Yes, that’s it!〕
〔There’s no info on tengu monsters, so that item must be one of a kind.〕
〔What can it do?〕
〔Does this mean you’ll tell us? I thought it was classified.〕
It’s not classified or anything.
I’ve got way weirder items on me.
「Even though it’s called a leaf, it’s tough enough to block a regular sword. And if you fan it like a folding fan, it creates a powerful gust of wind.」
I gave it a light wave, and a strong wind swept through.
〔Just like the Basho Fan!〕
「It really is like the Basho Fan. I’ve been using it as a pot holder, but I think I’ll throw it out. It’s too dirty.」
〔Don’t spill wonton soup on it!〕
This back-and-forth with the viewer-sans is kind of fun.
I’ll explain a bit more.
「If you swing it down like a sword, it creates a wind blade. However, it doesn’t have the same power as when the tengu used it—it’s only strong enough to take down an ogre in a single strike. No matter who uses it, the power stays the same, and since it doesn’t consume magic power, it could be convenient.」
〔That’s an incredible weapon!〕
〔That thing’s probably worth millions.〕
〔Stronger than the Sage’s Staff.〕
〔But explorers who can drop millions probably don’t need it.〕
〔Yeah, it’s useless to top-tier explorers.〕
〔That’s the downside of fixed-power weapons.〕
Exactly.
We don’t use it either because, at our current level, we can all take down stronger variants like Red Ogres or Evil Ogres with a single hit, without relying on this.
「Next will be the final question.」
〔Question: Now that your stream is sponsored by a company instead of the government, why haven’t you enabled donations?〕
Ah, there were some viewer-sans who mentioned wanting to donate.
Personally, I don’t see why people want to throw money at us when we’re offering it for free, but I know there are those who enjoy supporting dungeon streamers that way.
Ayame stepped in to explain.
「The main reason is that we don’t want to create a divide between those who can donate and those who can’t. Also, while we’re handling things easily now, as we dive deeper and face tougher monsters, a single fight might take thirty minutes or more. In that case, we might miss donation messages, especially if they’re only visible for ten or twenty minutes. It’s a way to avoid that risk.」
〔A lot of top explorers don’t accept donations for similar reasons.〕
〔That’s a relief for us broke folks.〕
〔I want to donate, but if there’s a reason, I’ll just send a message. 【100 yen】〕
「The real reason I’m against donations is because we’re risking our lives, and even if we get donations, over 40% gets eaten up by fees. It’s ridiculous. Instead, we’ll be selling our own merchandise soon, so if you want to support us with money, buy that. I’m putting up the website link now.」
〔Support: http://www.〇〇〇.co.jp〕
〔LOL, ads!〕
〔Wait, 40%? I thought the fees were only 30%.〕
〔You’ve got official merch!?〕
〔The streaming platform takes 30%, but there’s also in-app purchase fees.〕
〔I bought all the acrylic stands!〕
〔We need a Dark Beta figure!〕
〔They’re seriously collaborating with companies. Is the TCG already out?〕
〔I understand why they’d prefer we buy merch over losing 40% in fees, but I still want to donate.〕
〔Hold up, if Dark Beta becomes the official name, you’re gonna get in trouble. You better think of something new.〕
〔Searching ‘Dark Beta’ brings up a totally different character.〕
〔Then how about ‘Dark Mall’?〕
〔I bought the TCG! Hoping for a Delta card!〕
〔I want a whole TCG deck of Alpha.〕
〔In that case, you could roleplay a bunshin technique game!〕
Looks like the merch sales are going to do well.
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