Ch.48 "Dungeon RTA to 80F & Rescue Mission" 5

A while after I defeated the three-headed dog.

The girl I had saved was clinging to me, but her new scent was fading away.

[Oh no, the tower has collapsed.]

[Is this the Tower of Babel...?]

[The precious yuri has been parted]

[It's all over...]

[Civilization... will collapse...]

[lol]

[What are you guys talking about?]

[Fukaya Ruru "...............................................]

[Ruru-chan is scary...]

[Maybe she was using voice recognition and forgot to turn it off, don't worry about it]

[Yeah, she's in a rush to get here afterall]

[There's no need to rush anymore, but we can't let our guard down.]

Now that it's been a year since I got this body, girls often hug me.

At first I felt embarrassed and my heart was pounding as I was surrounded by girls much younger than me, but then I thought "I had just about gotten used to it, so maybe you should keep going a little longer..." which is a bit of a dangerous line of thought, yeah.

Also, it had a fresh smell and feel, so... I just did it.

『I, I'm sorry... for hugging my benefactor...』

『No, it’s fine.』

Because the amount of girls I know is so small, I thought hugging someone on the first meeting was normal.

But the way she suddenly turned red and stepped back meant that this wasn't normal.

...No, there are only four of them: Ruru-san, Emi-san, Kushima-san, and this girl, so I don't think I'll ever know the truth...

It's sad that I have no experience with girls.

And without even having that, I've become a girl too.

... At least with this body, I'm sure her reaction won't be, "Wow, I've hugged a creepy guy," so that's a bit reassuring.

What if that happens?

What if the girl I helped says something like, "I'm really grateful, but it feels disgusting"?

…I'd be holed up in the dungeon for about a month… men are pure-hearted.

She went away for a while, trembling, but then seemed to come back towards me timidly.

『I'm... Ah, you're currently streaming... Then please call me Lily.』

(TL note : oh right, I never explained this bracket, have I? This bracket means they're talking in foreign language)

[Lili, is it? Nice to meet you... Ah, should I stop streaming? It's the latest version of equipment, so the AI ​​installed should be able to disguise your appearance, voice, and what you're saying."

"It's Lily... no, Lili is fine. You can call me that affectionately... I don't mind the stream, but..."

[Oh, so something feels a bit weird?]

[The latest model is amazing]

[It would cost several thousand yen to stream with a smartphone or cheap equipment, but this one costs 3 more digits, so it must be good for professionals.]

[It's true that Haru-chan's voice has changed slightly... but this is nice]

[It looks like there will be no more accidents like accidental face reveal on a live stream or forgetting to turn it off]

[I'd rather keep those accidents thank you very much!]

[Say that to Haru-chan who was being harassed by Ruru-chan]

[Do you have anything to say to Haru-chan, who got caught up in Ruru-chan's misfortune and now has her identity exposed to the whole world?]

[I'm sorry]

[Forgive me]

[lol]

『That model...um, can I ask your name?』

『Um, my name is Haru.』

『Haru ah?!』

『?』

What's wrong?

Did she bite her lips?

[lol]

[What's wrong with this girl? She suddenly started screaming.]

[Well, Haru-chan is probably the most famous person right now]

[Ah, she thought "no way" based on her appearance, but it was indeed her]

[She's so popular that fake Haru-chans are popping up in droves]

I look up blankly at the girl who remains frozen for another few seconds.

She was much bigger than Ruru-san, but considerably smaller than Emi-san and Kushima-san... And most importantly, even though she was lightly dressed, she was still wearing armor so it wasn't soft, but she controlled her strength properly so it didn't hurt me.

Ah, silver hair is so pretty.

...I guess to the girls who keep playing with my hair, my hair probably looks like this girl's.

I feel a little complicated.

What's complicated, you ask?

... The fact I was looking up to a girl with beautiful hair that I'd only seen in movies, right in front of me, from below, and at the same time, I was thinking, "my hair is prettier."

...I guess it's been eroding...my self-consciousness.

I want to go back to being a man while I still have the mind of one.

If I make the mistake of falling in love with a man, I will die.

I'll go to the bottom of the dungeon and die in agony.

『No, it's not Al-san, but Haru-san. Sorry, it's easy to mistake them in my own language.』

『Oh, so that's the part that surprised you?』

In some languages ​​the initial H is silent.

Other letters, like J and R, have unique pronunciations.

In that sense, I wonder if some people find the name Haru difficult to understand.

Even when I traveled abroad, people would call me "Arumi" instead of "Harumi."

What even is Arumi?

If you bite it with your back teeth it feels spicy.

『It's fine, I don't mind.』

『Thank you... you really are a wonderful person.』

[This girl has such an elegant way of speaking]

[The face is made to look like an AI, but I wonder if it reflects their personality]

[In other words, unless Haru-chan sets herself as the subject, even if she is caught on camera, her face will not be visible!?]

[No way…]

[But maybe that's better because otherwise she wouldn't be able to go outside.]

[You can also fantasize about all sorts of things]

[The Shota fantasy is still intact, and Anego's faction is smiling]

This girl... Lili-san is a head taller than me right now.

Since she's about the same size as the big Emi-san, I think she's around 160 or 170 cm.

Well, it seems that in Europe and the US, even the women are tall and I don't mind.

After all, when I look up from below, I can clearly see the bulge of her chest.

『...Um, can I ask one more thing? ...Haru-san, you seem to be accustomed to speaking my language, but have you lived there before?』

Hmm?

『Eh? Ah, yes... I may have lived there for a while, maybe?』

『………………………… Is that so』

Considering the flow of the story...huh?

[Huh?]

[Haru-chan, is she speaking a foreign language too?!]

[What is this? Simultaneous interpretation!?]

[And even the voice is reproduced almost perfectly?]

[This cute, relaxed voice is definitely Haru-chan]

[This relaxed and slightly tongue-tied way of speaking is just like Haru-chan]

[Yeah, the equipment is expensive for a reason.]

[Amazing]

[Not only is there no lag, but it's amazing that we wouldn't even notice it unless someone told us.]

[From the beginning of today, there have been a number of comments saying something felt off...]

When I say "I lived there for a while," I mean when I listened carefully, I felt like I heard the words "gourmet" and "boots," and I just remembered, "Ah, that's right, there was a year when I spent the whole summer vacation there."

But why am I able to hear and speak normally with her?

My foreign language was supposedly not only broken, but I couldn't even speak set phrases.

………………………………………….

… Surely this too is because of this body…right?

It's a little scary, but useful.

It's a little troubling.

What worries me is that I can't help thinking that if I kept my body like this, I could get a job as an interpreter or translator.

But when I think about the fact that one day I might suddenly turn back into a man and become useless, I wonder if it's a good job.

[By the way, this girl, Lili-chan, really does have silver hair]

[Blonde Haru-chan, silver-haired Lili-chan]

[…… Good]

[Yeah……]

[Weren't you guys RuruHaru fans?]

[No, we're fans of Haru-chan]

[I just supported Ruru-chan because she was always hugging her]

[Yuri's traitor]

[Execute? Execute?]

[Sorry, I was just kidding]

[Ruru-chan is so cute that I just...]

[Blonde and pink hair are good too!]

[Emi-chan's deep green is quite something as well...]

[If it's onee shota then anything's fine, hurry up!!]

[Uwaa...]

『Lili, are you injured?』

『No. My attendants were the one injured, but...』

『Oh, those people were receiving treatment upstairs so they should be fine.』

『Thank you very much...!』

『No, it's not like I'm the one helping them.』

But this girl can't speak our language, right?

Why were they with those people... Weren't they from my country?

『Those people... were my guards, introduced by an acquaintance. One of them could speak English... while trying to protect me from falling rocks, one of their wristbands got damaged, so...』

『One of them couldn't escape.』

I feel like my wristbands have been breaking a lot lately, but it should have been pretty sturdy.

The slogan they sell is that it won't break even if you get hit by a car or dive into the ocean.

...This is not Ruru-san's fault, right?

Can I believe it?

Oh, I can't believe it for a moment...

『They were guiding me, since I couldn't speak the language, and were acting as guards just in case. It happened as soon as we arrived at the boss floor, so I made a quick decision and gave the order, and had them put on mine and go back.』

『Hohee~ so you seem fine. But then why didn't you put down that dog?』

『A-a dog... eh, yeah, that's right...』

[lol]

[Dogs she said lol]

[Haru-chan's way of speaking is cute]

[But Haru-chan, you did something terrible to that dog, didn't you?]

[Well, they are monsters after all...]

『…This is embarrassing to say, but.』

『Shall I turn off the mic?』

『No, it’s fine… well.』

Her face, which hadn't yet cooled down, turned bright red again.

If you have pale skin it will turn bright red.

『...Because it looked similar to the dog I have at home...』

『Ahh』

[lol]

[That does happen]

[That happens a lot.]

[Many people who have pets can't defeat dog, cat or bird monsters.]

[I know because I can't do it either]

[Understandable]

[I usually ask other members to do it too.]

[In that sense, it's not easy to play solo...]

[Fukaya Ruru "..................................................."]

[Um, Ruru-chan has been scary for a while now...]

At first glance, the equipment looks good, and even though it's been used properly, there are few scratches.

It would be impossible to do it alone, but it would probably be easy at this level.

『But if it looks like your pet, I guess that can't be helped.』

『I am so embarrassed…』

[Cute]

[Even though the AI ​​correction makes her look like a different person... she's still cute]

[Lick lick]

[You lick Haru-chan]

[I do though?]

[Uwaa...]

[But Haru-chan, you don't have pet, do you?]

[Haru-chan calls them "chicken" or "bear" and kills them in an instant...]

[She's like an angel, but she's cold-hearted... She really is an angel of slaughter...]

They say pets are family, so I guess that can't be helped.

I understand.

I've never kept one though.

『I’ve defeated the boss and it’s safe now… but I’m sorry, I had to hurry, so I didn’t bring a spare wristband or anything.』

『No, please let me accompany you so as not to get in the way.』

『Oh, before that, can I get the treasure chest? Ah, but this is for Lili-san and her friends.』

『No, I was just being helped, and I'm not the one defeating the boss monster either…』

I hadn't picked up anything up until this point... Now that she's safe, I suddenly felt like picking something up.

『It's over there,』 she told me, and I walked towards the treasure chest.

...For some reason, Lili-san is following while keeping a step away from me.

This girl keeps quite a distance from people.

In other words, she's like me and that means she's a good kid.

[Fukaya Ruru "..................................................."]

[Ruru-chan, voice recognition]

[I feel like Ruru-chan is really staring at her]

[Ruru-chan is watching]

[Stop it, that's really scary]

[It's so scary that I can't even laugh]

[I'm watching the stream, and Emi-chan and Ruru-chan are just going down to head to Haru-chan and the others, so it really seems like they forget to turn it off]

[When I think of forgetting to turn it off, the only thing I can think of is an accident]

[That's why I told you to stop]

[Don't unnecessarily provoke Curse-sama like that]

[But you think so too, right?]

[Well, I do, but still.]

It's a bit of a relief when a floor is completely monster-free.

I've defeated the boss, and it seems like there aren't any minion monsters around it.

Even though I like places with mushrooms growing and it's damp, it makes a huge difference whether there are monsters around just in case something happens or not.

『Haru-san, I will give a proper thank you once we manage to leave the dungeon.』

『It's fine, I got this treasure chest. There's also the reward from the rescue mission."

『But……』

『Actually, I wasn't even supposed to come here. So... You know?』

『………… Okay』

[Haru-chan is a good girl]

[A really good girl]

[But she still kills monsters with explosions without a second thought]

[It will blow the hearts of the viewers away too.]

[Innocence is scary]

[My heart is trembling]

[Thrilling]

[Turn back, that road has no supplies and is full of thorns]

[lol]

◇

"I'm glad it wasn't a very high-level dungeon. No, the lower levels seem to be quite high, but at least up to this point..."

"Yeah... that's right..."

[I agree……]

[Yeah……]

[Though the difficulty does pick up from the middle onwards...]

[Yeah……]

[There is a little girl who speedran through such a dungeon in record time...]

[Speedrun at maximum speed (falling down)]

[Speedrun at maximum speed (explosive speed)]

[lol]

[Look at EmiRuru... how pitiful...]

While Emi and Ruru were devoted to pursuing Haru, they also took the approach of reading out information about Haru and the others from viewers while streaming.

"Plus, today is a rare day where Ruru hasn't fallen for any traps."

"Yeah……"

[Ruru-chan, are you okay?]

[The girl in need of rescue was saved, so maybe she was relieved?]

[I hope so...]

[It's something about her voice and the look in her eyes earlier...]

Ruru is virtually unresponsive to Emi, who speaks to her in the "Onee-san" mode suited to the stream.

'ーI guess she's worried about Haru after all.

That makes sense, she's not in her usual equipment, in fact her outfit is a neat and tidy lolita outfit befitting the stylish, cute and ladylike lolita from before she ran away.'

Emi notices that Ruru is unusually quiet, but she responds promptly when asked, and is careful not to get in the way since she is working more efficiently than usual.

"Haru-san, this is the second time she did this. The last time was when she saved Ruru..."

[The second one after Ruru-chan]

[Isn't the pace too fast...?]

[She's the kind of little girl who rushes to the scene when there's a rescue request.]

"………………………………"

--"The second one," "It was me last time," "I'm not the only one," "I'm not the only one who was saved."

Ruru's heart is in turmoil.

Still, she tried to laugh somehow, to act in a way that wouldn't make Haru dislike her, when at that moment the audio from Haru's live stream, which was still on on her smartphone, reached Ruru's ears.

『ーReally, you don't have to.』

『No, that's not possible. At least for tonight, let's go to a restaurant run by my chefー』

ーSnap.

And then, something inside Ruru - quietly moved.

◇

[：]

[・・・・・・]

[ーーー System boot]

◇

[Fukaya Ruru "Descend"]

[Fukaya Ruru "Descend Descend Descend Descend Descend"]

[Ehhh...]

[Ruru-chan?!]

[Eh]

[What is this?]

[Maybe: Curse-sama]

[Geez, it's because you guys keep performing the summoning ritual]

[No, I'm really scared]

For some reason, Lili keeps inviting me to dinner.

I already said no though...and in the first place, I've tried not to receive any thanks up until now.

Well, you know, that kind of thing is embarrassing, isn't it?

It feels wrong when I help someone with something I can do daily and everyone involved fawns me over it.

Being praised at every opportunity by Ruru-san, Emi-san, Kushima-san, and the people in the comment section...feels kind of wrong.

But at the same time, I understand that that is a natural feeling for most people.

...Well, now that it's been discovered, I'll just have to bear with it until everyone forgets about it.

If I can just bear the itchiness, it will go away eventually.

So I said yes to this slender, silver-haired beauty, thinking that it would be fine as long as she's satisfied with just dinner.

『Dinner, is it? It's okay as long as Ruru-san and the others can join us.』

『Yes, of course. Because I also wanted toー』

Is that what I was thinking?

Or was there "no sign or warning sign"?

For the first time since I was a beginner, I was taken by surprise.

ー Grumble.

『Eh?』

"Eh?"

We opened the treasure chest.

I was kneeling on the ground to check that there were no traps around, while Lili-san was crouching a little distance away.

The platform where there should have been no traps or anything was hollow, and it was darkness below.

"Ah, this pattern again."

『Eh? … Kya, kya――――――!?』

Flutter.

A sense of losing gravity.

Even if we tried to resist, there was no ground to stand on - we were pulled towards the center of the earth, spinning around.

A-ah.

...Well, I guess this is worse than Ruru-san's case.

We were sucked even lower - from the "bottom level of the dungeon."

["Dungeon RTA to 80F & Rescue Mission"]

["Dungeon RTA to 80F & Rescue Mission"]

["Dungeon RTA to 80F & Rescue Mission"]

["Dungeon RTA to 80F & Rescue Mission"]

[：]

[next]

[phase]

["Dungeon Escape RTA From 250F"]

[Eh?]

[Eh, wait a-]

[Um, even the title of the stream n has suddenly changed]

[250F]

[It's a bug...]

[Or is it a trap?!]

[Haru-chan, RUN! RU――――]

Previous | ToC | Next