Meanwhile.
The members of the streamer group “The Numbers,” having entered the Dungeon, were grimacing as they defeated Monsters.
“Damn it. These insect-type Monsters are such a pain in the ass.”
“Hey Leader, didn’t you research this beforehand~?☆”
“If I researched it beforehand, it wouldn’t be a surprise stream, would it? Use your head a little.”
Team leader—Kujou Shin—who had just finished the stream after cutting down the Dungeon Boss, the Queen Bee, was exasperated with the complaining duo.
The appeal of storming into wild Dungeons… commonly known as “Dungeon Raids,” lies in the gamble of not knowing the difficulty of the destination.
If they could fight rare species like Dragons, Fairies, or Demons, their Concurrent Viewers would increase, and the item drops themselves would be of high quality, making it a real jackpot.
On the other hand, there are many misses.
In particular, insect-types that appear in “Forest” stages are the worst, with their unappealing appearance and stingy item drops.
(The listeners say whatever they want. As soon as they realize it’s a forest stage, they immediately leave. They have no idea how hard this is.)
It’s completely unfair.
Kujou and the others are Streamers, not Cleaners.
They have to show off their cool side as Hunters, but if the opponent is bad, they can’t even swing their blades.
As Kujou was getting annoyed, the warrior-like man—Hazaki Tsutomu—and the female magician—Akushichi Nana—called out to him.
“Leader. Are you really okay with this? Or, should we switch to Answers? I heard their agency pays better.”
“I agree~☆ Besides, isn’t our agency’s management in trouble?”
“It’s easy to say ‘switch,’ but… even if we moved now, we’d just be treated poorly. Besides, Answers is a laid-back agency focused on female Streamers. There’s no way people like us could get in.”
The Hunter streaming agency “Re:Trys,” to which Kujou and the others belong, is a group that branched off from another agency, “Answers.”
The reason seems to be a family feud among the operators, but he doesn’t know the details.
In any case, the agency “Re:Trys” to which Kujou belongs has been declining in revenue and Concurrent Viewers year by year.
Many frown upon the incompetent management that only takes stopgap measures.
(Seriously. Why is the world so unfair?)
His dissatisfaction bubbling up, Kujou clenched his fist tightly.
Unfair, unfair.
Even The Numbers, Kujou and his team, have seen a sharp drop in Concurrent Viewers recently, but—if his companions were more attractive, or if they drew an amazing Dungeon—if the management were better, they should have been able to go much higher.
It shouldn’t be any other way.
Why is it only me who has to go through this…?
As Kujou was getting irritated, Hazaki, as if remembering something, slammed his axe into the floor and said.
“Oh yeah, I remembered. There was that Suit Man who went in ahead of us, right? The Cleaner. Isn’t he asking for it?”
Kujou frowned, and Hazaki grinned, twisting his lips.
“We’ll stream it. We’ll secretly beat up the old man, and then we’ll ‘rescue’ him. ‘We found an injured person on the way back from the Dungeon, helped him, and he thanked us, helping people is the best!’ kind of thing.”
“Huh~? That’s a good idea for stupid Hazaki☆ I’m in!”
“Stupid is unnecessary, I’m always smart!”
Kujou was taken aback by the two who bumped fists, but… he thought it wasn’t a bad idea.
Not just the listeners, but the people of the world are weak to cheap tearjerker stories.
Rescuing a lost person in a Dungeon—that heroism is a much better draw than bug extermination that doesn’t look good on video. It would earn impressions.
And if you think about it, that Cleaner went into the Dungeon in a suit. It can only be seen as making light of the job.
Serious people like Kujou and the others, who are properly equipped with specialized gear, should be rewarded, and it’s strange in the first place that such a drab old man is splitting the reward with them.
The reasons are sufficient.
This is a legitimate act to correct inequality, he thought, placing his hand on the sword at his hip.
“Well, that’s not a bad idea for Hazaki.”
“That’s why I’m telling you guys to stop treating me like an idiot. I’m thinking, you know?”
“It’s meaningless because even your brain is made of muscle, isn’t it~? Kyahaha.”
Nudging Akushichi, who was laughing indecently, the three immediately turned on their heels.
Fortunately, they were found quickly.
They seemed to have come to the fork in the road in front of the Boss room, and were whispering in front of the empty Treasure Chest that Kujou and the others had already collected, but—huh?
…Next to the Suit Man, for some reason, a figure who looked like a High School Girl had appeared.
“Uwah. What’s this, what’s this, he’s got a girl with him! Is he doing it with a JK in the Dungeon while on the job?”
“Kyahaha, that’s hilarious. So typical of an old man☆”
“Then we can do it without holding back. Can I have that girl, by the way? I need to properly teach her as a senior what happens to amateurs who enter the Dungeon!”
Hazaki ranted, breathing heavily. Kujou could only be amazed at his bad personality.
But the other party is also scum who engage in love affairs in the Dungeon, so they can’t complain no matter what happens to them. That’s what equality is.
…Even so.
What are they doing at the end of the passage?
Whispering to each other… no, are they waiting for something…?
“Let’s do it. We don’t even need to use Hide Cloak, I don’t know about the old man, but that girl is an amateur.”
“Then can I have that old man? I’ll roast him in front of her while doing it with the JK☆”
“…Don’t forget to destroy the recorder.”
“Roger,” Hazaki quickly approached them.
His behavior is bad, but he’s at least a Hunter License B rank. An ordinary Cleaner can’t resist his speed.
As Kujou smiled contentedly, Hazaki immediately raised his axe—
Beep
An unfamiliar electronic sound.
Kujou frowned, wondering what the sound was, when, BOOM.
With a sudden explosion, Hazaki’s body was blown away and slammed into the ceiling like a toy.
…Huh???