Chapter 44: Collab With a Vtuber?

When a mass outbreak of monsters occurs, the first to be noticed are always the fastest ones. If all the monsters were born in the same place at the same time, it's only natural that the fastest ones would arrive first. Not that it makes much difference, though.

Apparently, the Association's prediction was right on target. The mass outbreak this time seems to have happened in the lower section of the middle floors. In other words, the monsters will conveniently stop right where I'm lying down, fiddling with my smartphone on the 30th floor. If it had been on the 25th floor instead, I'd be running all over the place.

That would've been a huge hassle, so I hope the Association improves its accuracy or increases its personnel.

The first monsters to charge up the stairs were several types of dog-like creatures. As expected, regardless of size, dog-type monsters are always fast. Just to be safe, I summoned "Hashihime" to block the stairs leading to the 29th floor, and I'll take care of all the monsters on the 30th floor. Not that any of the monsters will escape in this perfectly flat area of the Hachioji Dungeon.

"Komainu."

Raijū had already rushed forward, swiftly annihilating the oncoming monsters, but with more coming from behind, it wouldn't have enough hands—well, paws—to handle them all.

I summoned Komainu, a pair of guardian beasts often seen at shrines and temples. The Komainu I summon, however, are not the cute, small statues seen at shrines, but rather massive beasts the size of tigers.

"I'll leave the ones Raijū misses to you."

With that simple command, the pair of Komainu moved in perfect sync, ready to act.

That reminds me—some time ago, I was browsing a forum where people were talking about me, and someone suggested that if I summoned enough monsters, I could create a literal "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons." Normally, I don't summon that many because there aren't enough monsters to warrant it.

If I encounter an enemy that my usual two or three familiars can't handle, I'll just summon one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals. But still... that idea stuck with me.

"Onmoraki. Nue."

With this, I'd summoned Hashihime, Raijū, Komainu, Onmoraki, and Nue. Quite a number of them, yet I still had plenty of magic power left. I had Onmoraki handle any flying monsters, while Nue didn't need specific orders—just like Raijū, it would act as a sort of free-roaming attacker.

No matter how weak the monsters are, a mass outbreak can overwhelm an explorer if they don't have enough resources. But for someone like me, who can endlessly summon reinforcements, completing the Association's request is a breeze. Basically, I just leave everything to my shikigami, and there's nothing for me to do... which means I'm bored.

Since I'm bored, I might as well watch something on my phone. As I'm still learning about being a streamer, all my free time has been dedicated to watching other streams.

"Hmm... is this Tori Momo Sasami? Streaming live this late at night... I guess she does this full-time."

Well, for a popular streamer belonging to a big agency like her, it makes sense that this would be her full-time job. Either way, since I've got nothing else to do, I'll watch for a bit.

By the way, I had thought about streaming this magic anomaly event, but I figured a stream of my shikigami simply wiping out monsters on the middle floors wouldn't be entertaining at all. Maybe I'll just take a picture and post it on social media instead.

"Tonight's a late-night chat stream... Good work today, everyone."

: Momo-niku's here!

: I'm craving fried chicken now.

: Don't eat fried chicken this late at night.

: You'll gain weight.

: So watching Momo-niku streams late at night makes you gain weight.

: Q.E.D... we've proven it.

"Please don't gain weight from watching my stream!"

This kind of casual distance between the streamer and audience seems to work well.

As expected from a popular streamer, there's a lot to learn. I should take a page from her book and find a way to get more people interested... and expose them to the hellish reality of the deep floors.

"So, what should we talk about tonight?"

: Talk about Kisaragi-kun.

: That game you mentioned.

: Did you go to the new game launch event? S~eaʀᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

: Say something about the deep floors of the dungeon.

: Is it too late to aim for becoming a dungeon explorer?

: Kisaragi-kun was watching your clips the other day.

: Let's talk dungeons.

"You all really love dungeons, huh? Wait, what!? Kisaragi-kun was watching my clips!?"

: Yeah, for real.

: He watched them after eating crab.

: He was having a crab hotpot.

: Right after the crab hotpot stream.

: He was mostly just chatting while watching, though.

"I saw the crab hotpot clips on social media... but I didn't know he watched my clips after that. It feels kind of nice, like being noticed by a celebrity, doesn't it?"

Noticed by a celebrity?

Is "being noticed" a phrase used for anyone other than children?

: Kisaragi's streams feel pretty close and personal, like he knows us.

: Well, he is a newbie streamer.

: When he heard your name, he said it sounded delicious—like food.

"I won't deny it. When my manager first told me, 'Your character is Tori Momo Sasami,' I thought the same thing—make up your mind, am I chicken thighs or tenderloins?"

: Relatable.

: Decide already!

: Is chicken thigh from bird-people delicious?

: Probably.

: Definitely delicious.

: Kisaragi said that anyone could become an explorer if they're willing to nearly die over and over.

"Don't do that—you'll literally die. Okay, tonight's chat theme will be dungeon-related, especially about streaming dungeons."

: Has to be Asagao-chan.

: Asagao, hands down.

: Kisaragi gets more viewers, though.

: A lot of international fans.

: He's got a huge overseas fanbase.

"Asagao-chan is cute, strong, and young... she's dazzling, right? Kisaragi-kun's global popularity is impressive... well, no one else streams from the deep floors, so it's no wonder."

She knows more about dungeons than I thought. From her earlier stream clips, it seemed like she just admired dungeon explorers, but maybe she's been doing more research because she hasn't fully given up on the idea.

"Still... nobody expected the deep floors to be such hell."

: Most of the pictures we've seen were just dim caves.

: There aren't many clear photos of the deep floors.

: First time seeing the Shibuya Dungeon's deep floors like that.

: I've seen photos of deep floors in overseas textbooks, though.

: When the lake suddenly turned into a volcano, that was wild.

"It wasn't a laughing matter, but Kisaragi-kun wasn't exaggerating when he called it hell."

: Watching it makes me question why anyone would ever attempt it.

: It's enough to make me give up.

: Kisaragi's strength is on a whole other level.

: I only knew EX-rank was strong, but now I really get it.

: There are three others as strong as him? Unreal.

Seeing people talk about me in real time is kind of embarrassing. I don't usually look myself up online, but hearing their opinions like this makes me feel awkward.

"Wouldn't it be cool to do a chat collab with Kisaragi-kun someday? Even just a voice chat, to ask him all kinds of things?"

: I think it'd be great.

: He's not with a company, so it's possible.

: But he's a guy.

: Yeah, but still a guy.

: Do a collab with Kamishiro Rion instead.

: Honestly, I just want to hear more about the deep floors.

: Who cares if it's a guy, we just want dungeon stories.

They're saying all sorts of things, but I'd be worried about what people might say if I collabed with a popular corporate-affiliated virtual streamer. Even if they're not marketed as idols, people still get weird about male-female interactions.

As for the suggestion to collab with Kamishiro Rion—let me give you some advice: don't. That guy is impossible to have a coherent conversation with.