A few hours earlier. In the depths of the New Dungeon “Snowfield Ice Mountain,” stood several men who seemed out of place.
There was a man with neatly combed, light blond hair, a muscular, warrior-like man, and a stout, magician-like man.
The streaming group, The Numbers… or rather, the former Numbers, since their contract had already been terminated. Hazaki, oblivious to his age, breathed heavily before the vast snowscape.
“Whoa, amazing! Miroku, you were hiding such an awesome dungeon? You should’ve told us sooner, you’re so secretive!”
“H-Hehe, it’s nothing really…”
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll be the talk of the town! That damn president, it’s too late for regrets now, isn’t it?”
Hazaki slapped Miroku on the back with a bang.
Kujou, while amazed, couldn’t help but grin, though he thought they were acting like children.
The information about the New Dungeon “Snowfield Ice Mountain” was indeed true.
Moreover, it wasn’t just any dungeon, but a derivative labyrinth of a Rank S Dungeon, of which there were only four in Japan. If they were the first to capture this information in a live broadcast, they would surely be flooded with interview requests from all over the country.
A labyrinth that the government was desperately trying to keep hidden, exposed—tomorrow’s trending topic was decided.
This was true equality, Kujou smirked to himself.
Good fortune must follow misfortune. The chance should fall upon those who have steadily built their adventure careers, like himself.
“Hey Kujou, let’s start the stream right away! Post it on SNS for a surprise broadcast!”
“Hold on, Hazaki. It’s too early to start streaming. …We’re still at the entrance of the snowfield, aren’t we? And not too far from the entrance to Nagi Plains.”
If Kujou and the others started streaming, the Labyrinth Agency would notice the anomaly.
The public safety officials would come out, and things would get troublesome.
“To avoid that, we’ll stream after we’ve gone deeper. First, we’ll show the Boss, then live stream the battle. After that, the most beautiful thing would be to escape before the Labyrinth Agency guys arrive, what do you think?”
“Oh, that’s amazing, Kujou! Hey Miroku, good thing you came with us. You’ll be a hero too, you know?”
“R-Really…? Do you think my dad will acknowledge me…?”
“Of course. Ah, with this, I can show those guys who used to make fun of me…!”
Kujou looked down on the two laughing men, thinking they were still vulgar.
They should look at things from a broader perspective. If the information about this dungeon was released, they should be able to earn more views than they could ever get from their parents or classmates.
Furthermore, if they could obtain items that only appeared in the new dungeon, they could earn a corresponding profit—probably no less than ten million.
That way, they could get back at the agency that had abandoned them.
And also get revenge on that gloomy salaryman who caused them humiliation.
Boiling with emotion, Kujou and the others advanced through the snowfield and eventually reached the iceberg standing in the center of the field.
As they stepped into the cave that opened in the center, Kujou suddenly had a question.
“I’m curious, but no small fry monsters are appearing.”
“Huh? Now that you mention it, that’s true. I wanted to see the new monsters, and I’m curious about the drop items.”
“Has someone already defeated them all…? No way.”
“What are you saying, Kujou? You mean someone cleared everything out before us?”
Haha, Hazaki laughed nonchalantly, and they entered the iceberg cave.
But as soon as they entered… the three stopped in their tracks.
Before them was a huge vertical hole leading underground—a stone staircase clinging to the wall.
“…A spiral staircase to the underground?”
“That’s strange. In a normal dungeon, each floor should be a proper labyrinth. Could it be an extra dungeon?”
“That’s highly possible. Nagi Plains is originally an entrance to various derivative dungeons.”
Thinking it would look good on stream, Kujou and the others descended the spiral staircase along the wall.
“Good, good,” Hazaki said, wiping the sweat from his cheeks with a lewd grin…
Sweat?
“It’s hot. This is supposed to be a snowfield stage.”
“H-Hey. Isn’t something weird…?”
Kujou noticed he was also sweating slightly and stored his coat in his inventory.
Yet, the deeper they went, the stronger the heat became. It was as if they were approaching the crater of a volcano.
Before they knew it, everyone had fallen silent—and Kujou felt a sense of unease.
…Should they really continue?
No, of course, they should.
Information about a new dungeon was worth a fortune. To abandon the gold mine that would restore the name of “The Numbers,” who had been abandoned by the world, and make the name of Kujou known to the world, would be the act of a fool.
And yet.
What was this strange unease he felt, as he noticed the odd sensation, the three finally reached the lowest level.
“……!”
At the bottom of the earth, like a cauldron of hell, heat bubbled up from the sea of magma that spread across the entire area.
And sitting motionless in the center of it was a huge mass of rock.
“Haha, what’s this rock? It’s as big as a mountain! Can we get materials from it?”
“…I’m curious, but it’s in the lava. It’ll take some effort to get close. Miroku, can you fly over the lava with your ‘Levitation’?”
“I think so. But I don’t have heat-resistant defense skills, so I might take damage over the lava…”
“That’s enough. First, let’s examine that rock. Maybe it’s a gimmick that leads to the Boss.”
Once they solved the underground mechanism and faced the Dungeon Boss, they would start streaming.
The viewers would be astonished.
The topic would generate buzz, and many concurrent viewers would gather. Ten thousand, twenty thousand… maybe even a hundred thousand.
Losers. Criminals. The dregs of society.
“The Numbers,” who had been scorned by the scum, would now spread their wings to the world anew.
The unfair balance would be corrected, and finally, he would receive the recognition he deserved—
As he thought about having Miroku cast support skills, at that moment.
“H-Hey. …Did that rock just move?”
“Huh? Never mind that, hurry up and cast Levitation, idiot.”
“But just now, there was something like an earthquake…”
Hazaki clicked his tongue, Kujou looked at the rock standing in the lava with amazement,
And then, with a rumble.
The huge rock mass swelled.
With a glare.
“Eyes” that should not exist on a mere rock opened, and with a ground-shaking roar, the entity stood up.
“……Huh?”
Before the stunned trio, the giant rock slowly rose.
Ignoring the heat of the lava, it planted its four giant legs with a thud, and slowly rose—not a rock, but a giant monster.
If one were to describe it, it was close to a turtle.
However, the part corresponding to the shell was covered with jagged rocks, and the head was equipped with a majestic horn like a rhinoceros.
Above all, its unrealistic giant body, which was incomparable to ordinary creatures—the imposing presence, as if a school building had begun to walk, already showed an existence like a disaster rather than a monster.
“……!”
Kujou was a Hunter with a B-rank license.
He was confident.
He believed that there was no Boss he couldn’t defeat.
But.
But this—…it’s no good.
It far exceeded the level of monster that humans should face!
“Hazaki, Miroku, run! These guys aren’t opponents we can fight!”
Kujou’s judgment was quick.
He regretted abandoning the stream, but life came first.
There was no point in getting numbers if they died.
In that respect, Kujou’s judgment was correct.
However—
“What are you saying, Kujou! There’s no way I’m missing this climax, hurry up and start the stream!”
“Wha—are you an idiot, Hazaki! Run now!”
“Don’t screw with me! If we run here, there’s no point in us coming here!”
Hazaki raised his arms as if worshiping the giant body of the Boss, and laughed vulgarly, “Gyahaha.”
“If we stream even a little of this big shot, tens of thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of guys will watch! Then those guys who betrayed me will surely realize it… Ah, that’s right, a cheap group like The Numbers doesn’t matter, what I was looking for was here…!”
He had been waiting for this moment.
With a rapturous expression, Hazaki held up his battle-ax.
His eyes had completely lost their sanity and were shining madly.