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Tl: Sam

…

“Zzz… zzz…”
“Tanaka-san, please wake up. We’ll be arriving soon.”
“Nn…?”

　Gently shaken by the shoulder, I woke up from my sleep.
　Huh, what was I doing again? This isn’t… a bed. I’m sitting in a chair.

　There’s an eye mask over my face, so it looks like I wasn’t sleeping at home.

“Ah… right. I fell asleep on the plane.”

　Taking off the eye mask and opening my eyes, I was inside an airplane.
　And surprisingly, it was first class. I had said economy class was fine, but thanks to Dojima-san’s kindness, he had prepared the best seats for us.
　I’m confident I can sleep anywhere, but not having eyes on me was comfortable and relaxing. It was quite an ordeal getting swarmed by viewers at the airport, after all.

“The meal arrived while you were sleeping, Tanaka-san! It was super delicious, I was so surprised!”

　More than anything, I was glad to see Hoshino thoroughly enjoying first class as well.
　I really have to thank Dojima-san.

“Ah, you can see it from the window! I’m so excited!”

　Looking out the window, a vast expanse of land spread out below.
　The northern land, Hokkaido. I had seen it countless times on TV and the like, but seeing it in person, it was truly massive.

　Where we were headed was a place called “Niseko” in western Hokkaido. A new dungeon had apparently emerged in the volcanic area there.

“Ah, that’s the dungeon we’re supposed to be going to, right!?”
“…You can see it from here?”

　Looking where Hoshino pointed, I could indeed see something like an architectural structure sprouting from the mountain. Our eyesight was on the better side, but even so, normally there was no way you could see the shape of a dungeon from so high up in the sky.
　I had heard about it, but it seemed to be a pretty massive dungeon.

　The bigger a dungeon is, the higher the probability that resources and treasures are slumbering inside.
　It made complete sense why the guilds would desire the First Attack.

“I wonder what kind of place it is. My heart is pounding.”
“Yeah…”

　And the larger a dungeon is, the higher its danger level rises.
　Praying that nothing bad would happen, I waited for the time of our arrival.

◇　◇　◇

　Landing at New Chitose Airport, we were driven for two hours in a pickup car.
　We set foot in our destination, Niseko.

　Before heading to the hotel Adachi arranged for us… we went to check out the dungeon scheduled for the attack.

　The joint exploration with the other guilds was tomorrow. Today was just a preliminary inspection.
　And we had one more job to take care of as well.

“Hoshino, are you ready?”
“Yes! Ready anytime!”

　Having gotten the okay from an eager Hoshino, I operated my smartphone to turn on the drone’s streaming function.
　Then, the stream began on D-Tube, broadcasting our appearance live to the entire world.

「Hm? Did something start?」
「Was there a stream scheduled for today?」
「It’s a sudden stream!」
「The title says “Participating in the Niseko Volcano Dungeon Starting Tomorrow”! For real!?」
「Waffle waffle」
「My reason to live」

“Hello everyone, I’m Makoto Tanaka. And also…”
“I’m Yui Hoshino from Yui Channel! Nice to meet you all!”

「It’s here━━━━(゜∀゜)━━━━!!」
「I’ve been waiting for your stream!」
「Yui-chan is here too!!」
「Doesn’t Yui-chan get cuter every time she appears?」
「I wish my life had such a cute bride in it」

　Perhaps because Hoshino was here, the comments were even more lively than usual.
　Just by being around, she brightened the atmosphere, and she added visual charm to the screen. To think such a cute, good girl had feelings for me, honestly, I still couldn’t quite believe it.

“As I’m sure you already know since it’s on the news, a large-scale dungeon has appeared here in Niseko. Multiple guilds are scheduled to jointly conduct the First Attack here, and the White Wolf Guild I belong to has decided to participate as well.”
“I will also participate as a part-timer! I’ll do my best not to drag Tanaka-san down!”

「Seriously! Looking forward to it」
「Things are getting interesting」
「We get to see the muscle-brain couple in action again?」
「I was worried since the Ministry of Monster Control isn’t doing it, but if Shachiken is there, it should be fine lol」
「I almost feel sorry for the monsters… lol」
「Do we even need other guilds? lol」

“Today we’ll wrap up with just a light preliminary inspection, but tomorrow at 10:00 AM we’ll dive into the dungeon and stream it. I would appreciate it if you turned on notifications and tuned in.”

「Okaaay!」
「Too excited」
「Pressed the notification button 100,000 times」
「Didn’t that just turn it off?」
「First Attacks are always thrilling, aren’t they?」
「If there’s a Shachiken stream, maybe I’ll take a day off for the first time in 20 days」
「Take more time off」
「Active corporate warriors are watching too」
「The darkness of society is still deep」

“Alright, greetings are done, so shall we observe it a little closer?”
“Yes. Let’s go… huh?”

　Noticing something, Hoshino turned her gaze in that direction.
　When I shifted my eyes where Hoshino was looking, there was a figure approaching us. There was nobody else around here besides us. It seemed that person had business with us.

　That person was a large individual standing nearly two meters tall.
　Muscular and exuding the aura of a powerhouse, with a sharp gaze, and… wearing women’s clothing.

“Long time no see, Tanaka-chan. Seeing you doing well puts me at ease.”
“Yu-Yuki-san!? Why are you here!?”

　I knew this person. Or rather, I had even dived into a dungeon together with them before.

　Real name: Yukinoshin Busujima. Nickname: Yuki-san.
　Though wearing women’s clothes and sporting flawless makeup, he was a full-fledged man.

　And this person was also a veteran explorer.
　To tell the truth, this person was one of the seven returnees who dived into the Imperial Palace Underground Dungeon with me and Dojima-san and returned alive.

“Why am I here… that should be obvious, isn’t it? I’m the president of the guild ‘Beauty Rose,’ you know? I’m going on tomorrow’s exploration too, so take good care of me, okay?♪”

　Saying so, Yuki-san gave a strangely powerful wink with a wink☆.

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