Chapter 35: Balancing Battle and Banter

"Whoa, it's spitting fire everywhere…"

Asakawa-san is trying to pierce through Orthrus's tough skin while maintaining her defensive spells. I can't quite make out what she's saying through the sounds of battle, but from what I've picked up from the stream's audio, she seems a bit disappointed that the spell she developed specifically to pierce through Ogre hide didn't work.

"…Something's coming."

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: That's not just "something."

: Isn't that a half-transparent skeleton?

: Didn't Asagao-chan nearly die to that thing before?

: Don't just brush it off as "something."

"This is basic strategy info, but I've already shared this with Asakawa-san… That half-transparent skeleton is only a threat the first time you encounter it. It's not actually that dangerous."

The monster is notorious for being a first-time killer on the 41st and 42nd floors, but honestly, the Orthrus that Asakawa-san is fighting is way stronger.

"That skeleton is in an astral form, meaning its magical energy is spread thin. A direct hit with a spell that's powerful enough will take it down. Like this."

I casually toss a fireball its way. The fireball, just strong enough to hit and destroy the astral skeleton, does its job perfectly, blowing the skeleton to pieces. That's pretty much what you get in the lower floors.

"See?"

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Uh…

: That was kinda intense.

: "See?" Seriously?

: You're just casually breaking the game.

: That was crazy.

: A first-time killer is still dangerous to most people!

: You're nuts, man.

There's a flood of somewhat rude comments. But really, Asakawa-san could probably do this too. The lightning beam she used on Orthrus would be more than enough to take it down.

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Is this the lower-floor stream we were all waiting for?

: Is it though?

: Definitely not.

: We wanted to see some real struggles.

: You can't expect that from an EX-rank.

: Yeah, that's asking too much.

"Hey, I'm still just a normal human being, you know?"

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Sure, sure.

: If you say so.

: Human?

: Real humans can't run at subsonic speeds, dude.

You could train up and run at subsonic speeds too if you tried.

"Still, it looks like you're having a real tough battle there."

Orthrus is definitely a tough opponent, but I thought Asakawa-san could handle it… Maybe I underestimated the challenge. Though, it might just be a bad matchup for her.

"Want me to take over?"

"Do you think I'd actually say yes to that?"

"Keep up the good work."

Asakawa-san, tumbling toward me after taking a hit, gave the expected response when I offered to step in. But facing a tough opponent like that is how she'll grow, so I'll just focus on clearing out the smaller threats that might come her way.

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Is she really okay?

: It does seem like she's pushing through.

: I was watching Asagao's stream, but I switched over here because I couldn't keep up with her speed.

: She's moving so fast, it's hard to keep up.

: Maybe she needs a better camera setup.

: Asagao-chan… you're really leveling up.

"If her camera can't keep up with the speed, maybe it's time to invest in a new one?"

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Didn't Asagao-chan's camera cost a fortune?

: Yeah, it was crazy expensive.

: You're suggesting something even pricier?

"A good camera is a streamer's lifeline."

That said, even technology has its limits. You can't just keep throwing money at it to infinitely improve performance.

"Whoops."

While responding to the viewers' comments, I noticed a burst of fire heading my way. It's probably a stray shot that Asakawa-san deflected. I casually deflected it with a bit of magical energy on my bare hand.

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Did he just swat away the fireball that Asagao-chan was struggling to block with her bare hand?

: Must be my imagination…

: This is terrifying.

: Why don't you just solo the whole thing?

: This is straight-up scary.

: EX-rankers are nightmare fuel.

: If this is the lower floors, how bad are the deeper levels?

: You should know by now…

"The deeper floors… well, let's just say 'hellish' is an appropriate description."

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: What does that even mean?

: I'm looking forward to it now.

: Rion Kamishiro's stream definitely felt like it was from hell.

: The environments there are all kinds of messed up.

It makes sense that viewers are curious about the deeper floors. I've explored a decent number of dungeons, and I've seen quite a few deep floors, but I still can't find any consistent patterns. The deeper levels of the Shibuya Dungeon, in particular, are full of mysteries.

"The deep floors in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, are what I'd call a fascinating kind of hell."

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Fascinating hell? What even is that?

: That sounds like an oxymoron.

: Wait, where is Northern Territory again?

: It's in Australia.

: Alice Springs is definitely in Australia.

: Australia, the land of dungeons.

: Japan's a dungeon land too, technically.

: I know nothing about overseas dungeons, so this is intriguing.

I'd like to stream from an overseas dungeon someday. Thanks to WDAO (World Dungeon Association Organization), getting permission to explore overseas dungeons is just a matter of getting the right paperwork. Of course, any materials you find have to go through the proper channels if you want to take them out of the country, but you can always sell them locally.

"Streaming from overseas dungeons could be fun. There are lots of interesting spots. Mumbai in Maharashtra, India, has a pretty wild one. Personally, I'd recommend the dungeon in Houston, Texas."

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Oh, wow.

: Getting all talkative, huh?

: Classic nerd move—talking too fast when excited.

: I don't want to hear a dungeon otaku ramble about overseas dungeons.

: LOL

: I kind of want to see these places…

"If you're worried about safety, America's a good bet. Oh, and by the way, I'm talking about the deep floors in all these places."

India isn't all that dangerous, but compared to Japan, there are more things to be cautious about. America's probably a better choice for first-timers. Thanks to the influence of explorers, even the gun culture there is calming down a bit.

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Yikes.

: I wanted to go, but now I'm rethinking it.

: The deep floors? No way.

: I'm out!

: Don't you need an international explorer rank to access foreign dungeons anyway?

"Don't worry. Japan is a signatory to WDAO, so as long as you follow the process, you can explore overseas dungeons."

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Haven't heard about WDAO in a while.

: Are they actually doing anything?

: They keep everything so secret; it's hard to know.

: You probably know all the inside info since you're EX-rank. Searᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Of course, I do. I know way more than I can talk about.

"Oh, Orthrus is dead."

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: LOL

: At least pretend to care.

: Stop getting so wrapped up in conversation.

: Kisaragi's stream is more interesting than I expected.

: Chatting casually like a friend while being an EX-rank streamer.

: This is so different from anything else.

: Pay attention to Asagao-chan!

"…My bad."

"You're apologizing already?"

Asakawa-san, who's approaching after taking down Orthrus, is smiling, but I can tell she's a bit annoyed. I was supposed to be keeping an eye on her, but I got too wrapped up in the stream chat.

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the stream, but I don't appreciate being ignored while I'm fighting my hardest."

"I really am sorry."

I've never had many friends, so chatting with viewers who actually respond to what I'm saying is a lot more fun than I expected… but that's no excuse.

Kisaragi Tsukasa Ch

: Is she your girlfriend?

: The classic "boyfriend too absorbed in his game" situation.

: Could this be… something more?

: licks finger Yep, that's the taste of romance!

: Stop it, some folks in Asagao's chat are losing their minds.

: LMAO

: Ah, young love.

"Th-That's not it!"

Asakawa-san is flusteredly waving her hands at the camera. Should I do the same? No, that'd be too embarrassing. This is definitely one of those moments where I'd get teased relentlessly.