Chapter 67: A Streamer's Dilemma: More Than Just Dungeons

"Guess it's about time I start doing things that feel more like a streamer than just an explorer."

: I don't care?

: What's this guy talking about all of a sudden?

: Starting a stream out of nowhere and now he's saying weird stuff.

I decided to start a casual chat stream from home for the first time in a while. While I am technically a dungeon streamer, I figured constantly streaming dungeon runs might get a little old. So, on a whim, I decided to set up a chill chat stream. There weren't many viewers, considering it was an unannounced stream with no dungeon action, but a decent number of people still dropped by.

It felt different from my usual streams; this time, it was just me, the screen, and the chat.

Honestly, sometimes it feels like I'm not really connecting with the viewers. Sure, we dive into dungeons, and that's exciting for them, but I never really get the chance to just... talk. It's almost like people only want to see me fight or explore and not actually engage with me outside of that. But there's more to streaming, right? Or at least, there should be.

"I mean, I could do a game stream or something, or maybe even meet up with viewers?"

: Where would that be?

: Probably the Shibuya Dungeon.

: Dungeon meetup LOL.

: Isn't that just a dungeon stream?

: Alright, let's have a meetup on the 70th floor of Shibuya Dungeon!

: That's in the middle of the desert though.

"No, not in a place like that… I mean just hanging out, you know?"

: He wants to try new things at his age?

: He's a high schooler after all.

: You could do a study stream, ya know? Sёarch* The NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

: Especially since it sounds like he's not getting much studying done.

That's not it.

I'm sure the viewers are probably just thinking, "as long as he keeps diving into the deep floors, that's all we need," but I want to do more... y'know, high school youth stuff! It feels like every day I'm either in a dungeon or prepping to go into one. Is that all there is for me?

Don't get me wrong, dungeons are great, and the adrenaline from battling monsters is awesome, but sometimes, I just want to... do something normal.

: If you want to have a youthful experience, don't rely on your viewers.

: Go to school.

: Join a club or something.

: Make some friends.

: Can we even make friends?

: Nope.

: Just give up on the whole youth thing.

: Dungeons are part of youth too, man.

: They've already given up on you LOL.

: You're one of us.

"...I'll just play some mobile games then."

: He's pouting.

: LOL.

: Haha, this is hilarious.

: I'll play too.

: Props for logging in every day, at least.

: As a corporate drone, I'm also just here for my daily login.

: Use your vacation days to game properly.

"Feeling annoyed, so I'm going to drop 100k yen on gacha and pull some characters."

: Whoa.

: Showing off that wallet power.

: Don't go smacking people with your cash.

: Man, I'm jealous.

: Must be nice.

: So, if I dive into a dungeon, I can pull gacha whenever I want?

: Don't even think about it, seriously.

It's my money, so I can spend it however I want. Besides, I've got more than enough, so if I blow it on gacha, I'm just helping stimulate the economy, right? I say that to justify it as I pull until I get full character unlocks. That's how it is these days – I have more money than I know what to do with, and gacha games are my guilty pleasure. I mean, what else am I supposed to do with it?

Dungeons have made me pretty well-off.

"So, what exactly do streamers do?"

: I dunno.

: Momo-niku does game streams, mostly.

: Kisaragi only introduced me to Momo-niku, so I wouldn't know.

: What do streamers even do, though?

: There's not much besides chatting or playing games, right?

: Not really.

"Would game streaming be fine? I've got all the latest consoles."

I do post those achievement badges you get for completing games on social media sometimes, and each time I get a decent amount of reactions. It's proof I'm becoming more well-known, I guess. Even my random daily tweets get a lot of responses. I guess that's the upside of having a following.

But sometimes I wonder, do people follow me for the dungeons, or is it just because they're hoping I'll reveal something more personal? It's a bit unsettling, honestly.

"People have been telling me to set up a Q&A box for viewer questions, but won't that just get spammed?"

: Yeah, it usually gets spammed.

: Either way works, I think.

: Just open up donations.

: Let people donate to get their questions answered.

: Having a question box is convenient, but it has its downsides.

"Huh... well, I don't need donations. I've got enough money."

: LOL.

: That reason is hilarious.

: Just streaming for fun, huh?

: I guess that's how it is.

: Makes sense since diving into deep floors is way more profitable.

: Stop, this is killing me from laughter.

I mean, at this point, would it even matter if I started taking donations or ad revenue from streams? I'd much rather just take on some quests from the association and dive into dungeons. Getting money from viewers feels a bit... you know? It's weird to think about people paying me just to talk or answer questions.

I'm already making more than enough from dungeon quests, and there's something about accepting money from viewers that just feels... off.

"Alright, let's roll some gacha and answer some questions while we're at it."

: Been waiting for this.

: I've got a ton of questions ready.

: Mainly about Nagoya Dungeon.

: That's a forbidden topic, dude.

: LOL.

: What the heck is going on there?

"Ah, I knew it. You guys were discussing Nagoya Dungeon on some forum or something, right? I suddenly got flooded with replies about it."

: We were shocked too!

: This gave me a headache.

: I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about it!

: Dude, you caused an entire thread dedicated to Nagoya Dungeon to pop up!

: Surprised it didn't exist already LOL.

: There were a few scattered threads, but now it's official.

Ugh… I don't know how to respond to that.

"Alright, shoot your questions. Ask anything, I'll just pick out the ones I feel like answering."

: How did you get to the 34th floor of Nagoya Dungeon?

: Why did you stop at the 34th floor?

: What's Nagoya Dungeon like inside?

: Are you ever going to reach the bottom of Hachioji Dungeon?

: What's your favorite game genre?

: Kisaragi, do you like girls with big boobs?

: Do EX explorers gather regularly?

: Any tips on controlling magic?

: Recommend any good blacksmiths?

: Tell us about foreign dungeons.

: Why don't you have any friends?

"That's a lot."

: You said anything goes!

: Now answer!

"Alright, I'll try… I got to the 34th floor of Nagoya Dungeon using my shikigami. There's no way to breathe underwater, and there's proper water pressure too, so it's a total nightmare of a dungeon. As for why I turned back at the 34th floor, it just took too long. I do want to challenge deeper floors someday, though."

: There's water pressure too?

: I didn't even think about going there, so I had no idea LOL.

: So, it's just time-consuming?

: Makes sense why the government hasn't been able to crack it.

: There's rare metals down there though...

: Yeah, even though magic stones made rare metals less in demand, they're still valuable.

"As for Hachioji Dungeon's bottom floors… I'd probably just get bored, so I'll leave that to others. My favorite game genres are action and RPGs, I guess? I tend to enjoy the more mainstream stuff."

: Stop slacking on your responsibilities!

: Action games are awesome.

: The graphics in action games have gotten so much better lately.

: Turn-based RPGs are on the decline.

: Sad but true.

: They're only popular in Japan these days.

"We don't have EX gatherings, but there are occasional meetups for B-rank and higher. It's more like strategy meetings with the association. By the way, I've never seen Kamishiro show up to one of those."

: LOL.

: Figured as much.

: Makes total sense.

: Stop dodging the boob question!

: What about boobs???????

: He's evading!

Shut up.

Why would I need to talk about my preferences with viewers? I'm a high school boy, you know? Talking about that kind of stuff is embarrassing.

"I'll probably set aside a stream for foreign dungeon stories sometime… maybe. As for magic control, it really depends on the person. And for blacksmiths, I'd say stick with the big-name companies. As for why I don't have friends… I'd like to know that too." Discover tales on m_vl_em_p_yr

: That's so sad.

: Friends? What are those?

: Never had friends.

: Why are you making this so depressing?

: Set that stream up soon.

: I wanted to hear more about foreign dungeons.

"Alright, I got the maxed-out character, so I think it's time to end the stream."

: LOL, quietly threw a lot of money at that gacha.

: He's just casually dumping so much money into this game, it's hilarious.

: This is what a whale looks like.

: It's not about skill, just money power.

: Haha, please don't ever play PvP games.

: Seems like he likes busty characters.

: High school boys will always lose to boobs, huh?

: That's just how it is.

PvP games aren't my thing anyway, so I don't care. Besides, it's my money, and I'll use it however I want. And stop trying to analyze my preferences, geez.

"…Alright, I'm logging off now."

: Thanks for the stream!

: Looking forward to the next collab.

: Good job!

: Take care.

: See you next time!

Chatting with viewers without any real purpose is surprisingly fun. Maybe next time, I'll just stream while reading random news online and talking about whatever comes to mind.