Ch.25 My TS and Ruru-san's Curse (Real), My Strange Level ★10

"...I see. So the fact that it looks like a 'Wishing Well' is irrelevant."

"Probably. There are only a few cases in the world, but the only thing they all have in common is that "something inside the dungeon was the cause." Nothing special happened inside the dungeon, and it all happened after a normal dive and return. Even then, the duration varies... there are no commonalities. Just like you two, the phenomena that occur are also different..."

"The Wishing well... I've never heard of it, but I'll look around for it."

Ruru and me.

It's strange...especially the curse of bad luck like what happened to me today, also the phenomenon of a man turning into a girl.

"Yea. Well, this is definitely not normal."

"So that's why my luck..."

Yeah, you even send it to me.

I feel like there's some kind of presence... Like, someone hugged me from behind like earlier?

"I had looked into Ruru's apparent misfortune through connections at the office and had made some guesses, but... is that how it is?"

Putting me aside, it seems that Ruru-san and Emi-san are shocked like normal high school girls do.

Yeah obviously.

While Ruru is looking down, Emi-san and Kujima-san, who have been quiet since the beginning, are quietly stroking her head and back.

Ah, I told them I don't need it.

Because I'm still fine.

...But I can't let go of Ruru's hand holding mine.

"Fukaya-san... About your parents..."

"Yes... several years ago, both of them were seriously injured in different places."

Eh?

"But both of them are doing well now, or so I heard."

"Yes... but I'm scared it might happen again, so I've been living alone for a while... and now I'm staying at Emi-chan's house."

Wow, Ruru-san lived in Emi-san's house.

...Emi-san knows a lot about Ruru-san and still gave the OK, so she must be really close friends with Ruru.

"... We also knew about Ruru's misfortune. But even after being together for a while, all that happened was some minor accidents. Combined with Ruru's cheerful personality, we thought she would be an ideal match for dungeon streaming, so we invited her to join the party. From experience, we knew that the more people around her, the smaller misfortunes she would suffer... like falling."

"At the initiative of the agency?"

"Yes. It's been two years since Ruru joined us. She hasn't had any serious injuries and has been accepted as part of the entertainment industry as an 'Unlucky Persona'... but..."

"Before I got to know Ruru-san... well, the only thing I knew about her was that she's someone who often has accidents and sometimes those accidents spread to her collaborators."

"But I caused you trouble the other day, Haru-chan. And again today."

Yeah.

"... If it was about that stream, then we, the higher-ups, had also started a secret investigation, considering that the trap appearance rate was really strange, and we're also considering revising the difficulty settings and level notation of the dungeon itself..."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Our Kujima is also one of the investigation team."

"Is that so... Wait, Chiho-chan too!?"

Chiho-chan?

...Ah, right, Chiho is Kujima-san's name.

You two get along really well, huh.

But I guess the public security officer did say something like that before.

It went by so quick that I almost missed it.

"…… Sorry"

"Eh?"

"I didn't say anything to you all..."

Kujima-san stood up and bowed to us.

...This kid is way too serious.

"N-no, it's fine! It's for my sake, right?"

"That's right, Kujima-san. You were the one who kept Ruru company."

"Emi-chan?! Why are you treating me roughly?!"

"I don't really mind either. You helped me stop Ruru-san from hugging me so much."

"Even Haru-chan?! ... Geez!!"

It's troubling for us to see a girl who is usually so cheerful get so depressed.

So I think it would be best to join Emi-san's lead to brighten things up here.

◇

"Currently, no method of removing the curse has been found... However, there have been no reports of it getting worse, nor has it spread to the surrounding areas - at least for now."

"...I see. That's good to hear."

"So it's not Ruru-san's spirit that caused my stream to go public and cause all this crazy stuff?"

Ah, thank goodness.

It's not a horror story.

I'd be too scared to go to the bath alone.

"What do you mean, my spirit?"

"Is that not it?"

"Yeah... the comments said things like homing Ruru..."

"Bufu... Excuse my rudeness."

It seems that the phrase "Homing Ruru-san" really hit a chord with Kujima-san, as she, who usually doesn't laugh that much, started choking.

I understand.

Sometimes weird things like this can hit your spot.

Kujima-san's face and ears were bright red, even though she was usually calm.

It's so rare that it feels like I got a good deal.

“However, both Soya-san and Fukaya-san are victims of this phenomenon ー I don’t know if that’s the right word to useー but you two are in the same situation. It’s highly likely that there’s a synergistic effect between the powers behind this phenomenon, just like the magical attributes and job synergies within the dungeon.”

"Huh?"

I see.

What he's saying is that it could change depending on where you got possessed by the phenomenon and the person who is possessed by it.

Well, even magic is different for each individual with different strengths and attributes, so I guess that's how it is.

"...I've also watched the streams. Fukaya-san's stream the other day and Soya-san's stream today were both something with a probability that would never happen under normal circumstances."

"... We thought so too. Normally there are at most two traps a day at most. More often the not there aren't any traps... And the worst thing that could happen is when we accidentally get spotted by a monster or fall over."

Oh, I see.

I thought I must be doing something wrong.

"Ahem... From my experience as a medical team staff, I thought the same. It's true that we have received rescue requests from staircase traps... but I've never heard of a monster house or a boss monster being summoned from there."

Ruru-san was relieved, but now she was pale as she looked at me.

"Ha...Haru-chan..."

"I said I'm fine."

"But-"

"I wasn't even injured. The manager and the association told me they would cover the cost of the bullets and the time for my magic to fully recover, so it's fine."

As long as I get money, I really don't mind.

In fact, it's even more so because I got a good deal.

"Y-yes, that's true! Haru-san is so strong and adorable!"

"Mikazuki-san, hold it in, hold it in..."

Please Emi-san, it would be bad if you were found out to be a pervert in front of these pompous uncle and grandpa, right?

What's more, the high-ranking police and public security officials are right in front of her... wouldn't that make for an instant arrest?

"ー It's likely that your strength is also related to your changed appearance."

"Heh?"

The chairman of the Dungeon Association and a public security officer are making a follow up to Emi-san's statement.

"Soya-san. May I use an appraisal item?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. It's been at least a year since my last appraisal."

Appraisal crystal.

Items dropped in dungeons... People buy them for quite a high price.

This is a great way to get a rough idea of ​​someone's level and skill level.

This too can only be found within dungeons and apparently cannot be scientifically created.

Dungeons are amazing.

"According to the data we have at the association... Soya-san's data from last year, when you're still a man, was written as level 15. That's enough for an intermediate hunter to make it their full-time job, and you should be at the top 20% of all registered hunters in the country."

"Eh?! Haru-chan was that strong?!"

"... Ruru is level 11 and I'm level 12..."

"For medical team, being at level 10 is already amazing..."

Huh, was it that high?

My level that is.

...Well, anyone can become an intermediate level at anything if they do it for about three years.

Moreover, it seems that rangers tend to gain experience points more easily when using concealment skills.

Since it's a passive.

It's the kind of thing that automatically increases if you go into a dungeon and sneaking around.

"Yes, these days, if someone has the ability to reach level 10, they will make it their main job. We also had that mindset though..."

I don't know the details, but it seems I was a pretty good hunter even before my change.

I'm a little happy that my hobby combined with practical use is being appreciated.

"I didn't make dungeon diving my hobby for nothing."

Being inside a dungeon is kind of like a game and it's fun.

Like games with incredibly beautiful graphics or VR games?

However, it's also a death game... Nowadays though, such things hardly ever happen except by accident, so it's actually a fairly safe game.

Being able to make a living from gaming is really fun.

Being solo means I don't have to talk to anyone most of the time, and that's what makes me the happiest.

"As an office worker, you would dive for 2-3 hours every day after work, and about 6 hours on weekends. It's even longer on consecutive holidays. And you did that for three years... weren't you planning to make this your full-time job? You also filed your tax return as business income..."

"No, I just felt comfortable in the dungeon. And If I can make money from it, I don't have to work so hard at the company."

"Comfortable... I, I see..."

"Yes. Because it's dark and quiet."

I saw the stern-looking public security officer take his breath away for a moment.

But it sounds good, isn't it?

That damp, dark and quiet place.

It looks like a place mushrooms would grow, which is nice.

My favorite is maitake mushrooms.

I'm not a big fan of shiitake mushrooms.

I quite like enoki mushrooms.

"Well then, excuse me―!?"

ーJust as I thought I saw a crystal ball I'd seen somewhere before glowing, the public security officer covered it with a nearby trash can.

Then, from inside, there was the sound of glass breaking.

... I'm amazed he can do that in an instant... He's a true professional.

The man was quick and agile, he adjusted his glasses and looked at the granpa.

"... I did expect this to be the case, but..."

"There's no doubt about this."

The chairman and the public security officer nod to each other.

"Soya Harumi-san"

"Yes?"

"You are ー probably ー already beyond the limits of humanity."

"Haa, is that so?"

"... Aren't you surprised?"

"No, It just doesn't feel real."

Oh, the chairman also has an expression that says, "What's with this girl... She's scary..."

What a rude thing to do to such a cute little girl.

◇

"ー★10. That's Soya-san's level."

"Star, ten?"

"This is the result of using an appraisal item I obtained in a higher level dungeon. The meaning of this star is... perhaps it's proof that you've broken through your limits. However, there is no precedent for this, so it's only a guess..."

"Hoee~"

There's such a thing in the level notation when breaking through limits, huh.

"Ugh..."

"Mikazuki-san, hold it...!"

It's like some kind of game.

That was my first impression.

"It sounds like a game system. Limit breaking and stuff."

Ah, Ruru-san had the same reaction.

I guess that's what you'd expect from the gaming generation, right?

"R-Ruru..."

"I don't mind. It's actually very similar to an RPG... the levels, the skills, the dungeons, everything."

It could be said that it's precisely because it's game-like that humans became familiar with dungeons as soon as they first appeared.

It was a very hard game, when you can die in one hit, but there is an emergency escape device so it'll be fine unless something really bad happens, which in turn making it an "easy game"... I guess that's typical of modern games with this level of difficulty.

"In other words, we can say that Soya-san currently have the highest level of the entire human race on Earth."

“That is, compared to other civilians. We can’t grasp the military state of each country.”

"Hoee~"

"Fugu..."

"Mikazuki-san..."

Kujima-san is holding back hentai-san's heart as she reacts to my voice.

What is it that tickles your fancy so much?

I do think it's a cute voice, but is it really worth that reaction...?

"In light of these circumstances, we would like to provide Soya-san and Fukaya-san with any necessary support, as well as conduct regular checkups to shed light on this phenomenon... a half-day medical check-up... and provide special security in the event of an emergency."

"Okay."

"Haru-chan your response is too light!"

"Well, isn't that our only option? Especially since we're being possessed by something unknown that has to do with dungeons?"

"That's true, but..."

The public security officer looked a bit dejected after hearing my conversation with Ruru-san... Did he really think I'd get whiny?

You know I was a grown man, right?

"Besides, you want to break the curse too, right, Ruru-san?"

"Y-yes... I might end up causing trouble for Haru-chan again though..."

"I want to go back to being a man as soon as possible."

"That's not okay, Haru-tan!! You're a precious boku-ko drunkard little girl - Ahh?!"

"...Haru, tan?"

"...Ah."

"Emi-chan..."

"Mikazuki-san..."

"Sigh."

Perhaps because she was so captivated by this little girl body, hentai-san blurted out, "Haru-tan."

Sigh.

We managed to hide it so well... But at least it's not being streamed, right?

◇

After Soya Harumi ー "Haru-chan", Fukaya Ruru, Mikazuki Emi and Kujima Chiho had left the room.

...The men, well over their prime, were in agony.

"She's so cute... sooooo cute...!"

"Chairman, your blood pressure!"

"What's with that little thing, chubby cheek, and beautiful blonde hair!"

"Even though a year has passed, it seems like she's still a man on the inside. Her knees were open just enough that they weren't visible... You let your guard down. Or rather, she's wearing a dress normally..."

"I've decided! I will absolutely protect Haru-tan! Until my heart stops!"

"Please keep it under control... but as a 'rare protected target related to phenomena within the dungeon', I will also give instructions to allocate more security than some pointless ministers who get replaced once a year. Since it's just for her and Ruru-cha - I mean, Fukaya-san, it should be fine."

"Sure. By the way, Emi-chan's eyes were the same as ours."

"... Should we add her as the Primordials?"

"It'll be convenient to have an informant, and she'll get along well with the girls and that shotacon. Let's contact them."

"Understood."

Previous | ToC | Next