Ch.157 The Girl Possessed by "Curse-sama" Part 2

"...Phew. This is going much easier than I expected!"

Ruru has a joyful expression on her face as she picks up the crystallized monster drops.

[Certainly]

[Even though there aren't many monsters, it's still pretty fast]

[It's already been explored and people from the neighborhood often dive there, so the earnings are low]

[Well, safety comes first, and that's important to Ruru-chan]

"...Well, so far so good! ...It's going almost too well, it's scary though!"

With a burst of enthusiasm, she excitedly asks, "I wonder how far I can go with how I am now?"

[I understand]

[Scary]

[Too scary]

[Can you stop starting with horror right away?]

[Scarier than a bad horror movie]

[Please stop]

[Can we go back?]

[Click on that wristband]

[Look, we'll donate through tips.]

[It's a small price to pay for Ruru-chan's life.]

[I really feel that way]

However, some people are expressing concern about this.

"No way! I'm not going back yet! I'm just going to keep going from here!"

[Even if you say that, I'm still worried]

[It feels like I'm bringing my clumsy daughter to the park]

[I understand]

[This is a live stream to keep an eye on Ruru-chan, after all]

"...You know, Emi-chan has helped me out so many times."

She blurted.

Yes, the true feelings she had been trying to hide slipped out.

"The fact that I can go into dungeons like this, and that I can stream and talk to everyone, is all thanks to Emi-chan. ...Before I met Emi-chan...I didn't have any friends."

[Huh?]

[Ruru-chan?]

"Because of 'Curse-sama,' things would fall and fly at me even when I wasn't doing anything, and I would trip and fall when I walked... The closer someone became to me, the more the same things happened to them. That's why I was feared at school and in the community."

"Curse-sama".

The word, which listeners now say jokingly, had a completely different level of seriousness before she started streaming.

"But even someone like me... has finally found a place where I belong."

[Whoa!]

[Don't cry]

[Ruru-chan...]

[She's a cheerful girl, but as expected...]

"That's why I want to be able to be more useful to Emi-chan... no, to everyone!"

[How admirable]

[I'm rooting for you!]

[But when Ruru-chan is enthusiastic, something will...]

"So, assuming that I'll use the wristband to return from here, let's see how far I can dive with my current abilities and magic—oh."

Click.

The sound of a trap activating at her feet.

No one knows what kind of trap it is until it activates—

[Ah]

[Ah]

[Uh oh]

[Flag that will be immediately removed]

"...This sound... U-umm..."

The camera follows her as she gently lowers her gaze.

[Pitfalls]

[Oh no!]

"...Let me show it to everyo---Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!?"

[Eh?]

[Ehh...]

[We just went back the way we came, right, Ruru-chan?]

[Yeag... but a pitfall trap, right at her feet...?]

[Can something like that really happen...?]

"Kyaaah! Kyaaaaaaah!?"

As gravity disappears and she feels herself being sucked in, she can't help but scream, even though she's trying to maintain her composure.

[Pitfalls are scary...]

[She's falling several meters down]

[Even though it's only a few meters, if you think of it as the 2 or 3 floors, it's quite a distance.]

[It made me jump]

"...Ouch..."

Her defensive skills have somewhat mitigated the fall damage, and she doesn't seem to be seriously injured, but... Painful things are painful, scary things are scary.

However, given her skill level, even if she falls two more times, her HP won't even reach a dangerous level.

That's why.

"Phew... I-it's just, a little scary... Kyaaaaaaah!?"

The moment she stood up after falling, she heard a clicking sound at her feet.

A gaping hole in the ground.

Hole.

She is being sucked in, and the moment of her being sucked in is being live-streamed.

[Eh?]

[2nd round!?]

[A pitfall trap right below another pitfall trap!?]

[Is such a miracle even possible???]

[It's possible, you're seeing it here]

[So scary!]

...And so, having fallen into darkness for several meters once again, she still tries to put on a cheerful act despite her weakened mental state.

"Heh heh heh... I'm still okay... My HP hasn't even decreased much... Agaaaaaaaaaaaaaain?!"

...And then the third time.

[lol]

[Not lol]

[Sorry, this is so tragic I can't help but laugh.]

[What are the odds of getting three consecutive pitfall traps?]

[Ruru-chan, hurry up and use the wristband!]

["Curse-sama" is definitely here.]

[I realized today that she stumbled and hesitated less than usual...]

[I'm going to drop in Emi-chan and the others' live stream.]

[Oh, me too]

◇◆◇

(I remember those times, those were nostalgic moments.)

She momentarily feels nostalgic for a scene that suddenly comes to mind.

(And that's how "I" met that person. Haru-chan—"Harumi-san.")

"But because of me, Haru-chan said—'No Name-chan, protect her.'"

She fell from a height of "tens of meters"—but just before hitting the ground, an "unnatural force" caused an explosion, and the resulting wind slowed her descent. She landed with only minor injuries, without becoming incapacitated.

"Thank you."

In other words, a recreation of the past—but intentionally, of one's own free will.

[Ruru-chan...]

[No matter how much power No Name-chan has]

[Despite having a fear of heights, to deliberately fell into a pitfall...]

[But still, supporting Ruru-chan is what makes he a Ruru-chan fan!]

[Yeah]

[Of course]

[On the 120th floor here...is the boss a bear-type?]

[Well, it's a monster that's already familiar, so I don't know it.]

Having reached the 120th floor, the "boss floor," by repeatedly using pitfalls to skip ahead, she sees a gigantic figure rise up.

With her dark eyes that let no light through.

[So scary!]

[Which one?]

[Both]

[Grass]

[Doesn't it give you chills?]

[I understand]

[Even if Ruru-chan falls into darkness, that's fine too...]

The viewers continue to watch over her, as is customary after "Haru-chan" disappears.

"...Bear-san. I wonder how Haru-chan would defeat him."

The monster, having detected the intruder, charges forward, roaring.

Despite the fact that a colossal figure easily exceeding 15 meters in height was charging towards her as she stood up, the girl remained relaxed and simply stood there.

"--'No Name-chan'"

She'll be attacked in a few seconds.

--Just before she spoke, the monster tripped over a "tumble trap lying on the ground."

"Goaaaaaaaaa—!?"

[lol]

[I shouldn't laugh, but lol]

[It always ends up going in an unexpected direction like this.]

[Oh no, No Name-chan, you prankster!]

[If you're going that fast, of course you're going to take a spectacular fall...]

The monster falls over in an unnatural way, crashes headfirst into a rock that was right in front of it, and loses a significant amount of HP in an instant, while also being unnaturally completely stunned.

"So, what's next?"

The gun she was carrying belonged to "him".

She fired the gun, loaded with a higher-grade bullet, into the monster's head.

Bang, bang, bang—persistently.

To prevent the usual "worst-case scenario" from happening.

[Brutal]

[Trick tactics are powerful, aren't they?]

[This is Ruru-chan's go-to thing lately]

Cring, cring.

"...If Haru-chan were here, she would have shoot more."

As she gazed at the monster, which was already well overkill, she muttered to herself and began to load her bullets.

[Scary]

[Let's not mention that Haru-chan could do it in one go.]

[But still, that's an unfairly strong ability, isn't it?]

[Well, yeah]

[It's because No Name-chan can control the dungeon, after all.]

[Support (Mandatory)]

[Support (Defeated by Yang's Eyes)]

[Poor No Name-chan]

[Well, she had been bullying them quite a bit up until now...]

[If you think of it as several years' worth of school life... right?]

[There were a few times in the dungeon when things got seriously dangerous.]

[Is No Name-chan okay?]

[She's being overworked, isn't she?]

[……Not present……]

[No Name-chan doesn't come around much, maybe she's tired?]

[You never know when Ruru-chan might call her.]

..."No Name-chan."

The "unknown intelligent life form associated with dungeons" that became famous worldwide in last month's battle.

That existence... is now.

"...A treasure chest. Okay, let's go."

The girl, whose once cheerful expression had completely vanished and whose once bright eyes had lost their light—had become the complete opposite of what she used to be— that existence has become someone who would "protect her no matter what."

[No Name-chan is being overworked]

[Thanks to Haru-chan's will]

[Don't say will]

[But the fact remains that she's not here.]

[Haru-chan is sleeping soundly in another stream, you know?]

[lol]

[lol]

[I'm relieved that it's the usual Haru-chan.]

[But Ruru-chan is really taking some bold steps...]

[Ah... She's using Haru-chan's "protect her" comment to her advantage.]

[She deliberately does dangerous things and causes mysterious phenomena.]

[Ruru-chan is extremely determined]

[It can't be helped, because we know Haru-chan is alive, but we don't know where she is.]

[Yeah... it's been a month since then. Haru-chan, her stream is still completely black.]

[Of course, even Ruru-chan would fall to the dark side.]

[Ruru-chan is scary!]

--Definitely.

(I will definitely find where you are. So just stay still and wait. I will use this life, which has been saved twice, entirely for you.)

And so she continued to venture downwards, venturing alone into unknown levels.

In a world where "Haru" and "No Name" have disappeared—a world where "floors have appeared beneath the lowest levels of dungeons all over the world, rendering previous levels and monster standards completely useless."

Simply somewhere in the depths of the dungeon, where "he" might be.

With that as her goal, she keeps going relentlessly.

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Author's note:

This concludes the flashback arc, which was entirely driven by my personal interests.

Chapter 158 will pick up right after arc 7. (TL: it's the arc before this flashback arc)

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