Ch.174 A Month of Being Alone. I'll Do My Best to Conquer this Place and Return to Ruru-san's Place

"...I wonder what Ruru-san is doing right now."

They're monsters, but unlike typical monsters, the feeling of having clearly taken a "life" lingered for hours, and somehow, I felt lonely.

So, out of the loneliness I'd never felt before, I suddenly remembered Ruru-san and the others.

"I completely forgot, but from Ruru-san and the others' perspective, I'm missing and my fate is unknown after the dungeon collapse... Well, if this stream is reaching them, I'm sure they know I'm alive and well..."

Kushima-san.

She's the girl I haven't seen since she retreated halfway through that dungeon, saying, "We're just getting in the way."

Emi-san.

Of all times, that pervert messed up during a live stream, and the whole world found out she's a pervert... I wonder if she got arrested? Is she okay?

...And then there's Ruru-san.

"They don't really need to worry about me; I'm me, so I'll be fine. But girls are just creatures that worry, after all."

[Haru-chan is also a girl though]

[She uses the masculine pronoun "boku," but she's still a girl.]

[When you just listen to the audio, it really does sound like a young boy at times]

[Ara, you're quite talented!]

[Stop it, Anego, stop dragging me in]

[Stop it, Anego and friends... Don't come over out of nowhere...]

[It's okay. We've got more men on our server now.]

[How awful...]

[lol]

[Those onee-samas are too scary... Let's put a stop to the theory that Haru-chan is a boy]

[For self-preservation]

[Is the Otokonoko theory true?] (TL: otokonoko = femboy)

[Should I send you a server invitation?]

[Scary!!]

[A new threat has been created, lol]

My mother was like that too, but women are just so prone to worrying.

Things like, "Are you doing okay with your studies?", "Are you doing okay at school?", "Are you being bullied?", or "Are you okay even though you don't have any friends?".

"Are you having any trouble living alone?", "Are you experiencing any harassment at work?", "You've never had a girlfriend, but are you okay with marriage?", "When are you going to have grandchildren?"... Well, maybe that last one isn't quite right.

Ruru-san and the others came barging in, so I thought it was a good opportunity to explain things to them, but then they started asking things like, "Are you having any trouble being a girl?", "Are you able to use the toilet properly?", and "Are you having trouble choosing cute clothes?".

...Honestly.

I wonder what everyone thinks of a man who's already 25 years old is.

[Um, I just had a thought]

[Stop]

[Go home]

[Never show your face here again]

[Isn't that awful?!]

[lol]

[So, what is it?]

[Ah... now that I think about it, Haru-chan refers to herself as "I" (using the masculine pronoun "boku"), and she's never once said that she's a "girl," right?]

[Huh?]

[Eh?]

[!?]

[No, that's not right.]

[No, no]

[Unbelievable]

[Wait a minute, didn't Ruru-chan and the her as a girl?]

[That's right, they were all excited about Haru-chan's outfit!]

[But, to be honest, the vibe was a little different...?]

[Remember that time Haru-chan said she took a bath with RuruEmiRiriKushima-saan?] (TL: this is getting ridiculous)

[isn't it a bit awkward saying all that?]

[lol]

[Oh yeah, she did say that she entered with them]

[So she's obviously a girl, right? Or rather, Ruru-chan has been saying things like "cute girl" and "princess" to Haru-chan back then]

[Certainly]

[It's so nostalgic I can barely remember, but probably]

[But what if... that happened when they barged into the bathroom while Haru-chan, who's a boy, was taking a bath...?]

[So... RuruEmiRiriKushima-saan found out that Haru-chan had something down there and went into the bath completely naked...!]

[!!!]

[!?!?]

[Are you a genius?]

[Oneshota?]

[An Oneshota harem!?]

[Seriously?]

[Humanity's dream?]

[Did I just hear someone mentioning oneshota?]

[So, people are finally starting to accept Haru-kyun's charm?]

[Come over here]

[Don't worry, the number of men has increased considerably.]

[It's okay, it's okay, anyone can be a boy or a girl until you peel them and check.]

[In fact, even boys can easily become girls.]

[Oh, here come the Onee-samas!]

[Scary!]

[Don't worry, the scary part is only the first moment.]

[Every boy has potential, you know?]

[Young boys, older brothers, uncles, and grandfathers are all welcome!]

[Haru-chan is a boy?!?]

[That's nice]

[Our claims are finally starting to be recognized by the public...]

[Eeek...]

[There are so many comments that I can't scroll through them all fast enough]

[Um, the number has increased by several hundreds in an instant...]

[Anego and her followers are scary!]

[No way! The theory that Haru-chan is a shota is definitely taboo!!]

[Run, run!]

[Help No Name-chan!!!]

[My butt! My butt is twitching!!]

[Anegoo!]

[My server has 1 million users. It's so large that it's divided into about five branches and has communities in dozens of countries]

[So scary!?]

[If anything happens, we'll mass report you. Got it?]

[lol]

[What's wrong with this people... so scary...]

[Run! You'll become their prey!]

◇◆◇

"Phew..."

Ahh.

I finally started to feel better after taking a bath and having a drink.

Alcohol and baths are really important, aren't they?

I wish there's a hot spring... but this is underground, so I guess nothing like that will gush out...

"................................................"

Pichan.

I warm myself for a while in a large tub filled with hot water from the shower.

--It's been a month since I came here.

I've gotten used to living alone in the dungeon, but more than anything, even though I sleep in a room that seems like a safe zone, anything can still happen.

So, except for the first few days, the bath is outside the shower room.

I've placed the camera far away and covered it with a cloth, so it should be fine.

...I was only able to do this so easily because I had stuffed everything in the dirty bag though.

There should still be plenty of water for daily use... which is supposedly drinkable.

If I wipe my body with a towel when it starts to run low, it should last quite a while.

But.

"...What if things continue like this for many years?"

Yes, I sometimes think that.

...I was optimistic at first.

In a dungeon, if you can just deal with the monsters, you can get food as drops, and you can get as much safe water as you want on the water floor.

But.

"...It doesn't seem like there's anything like that here..."

This dungeon is "not an ordinary dungeon."

Given the high probability of that being true... I might need to speed up my progress.

Besides, my tolerance for loneliness... might not last very long.

Right now, I can keep my sanity by talking to the camera, but... what if this continued for months?

Gradually, the absence of "other people" will cause me to break down.

That's what I think.

"...I'll try my best starting tomorrow."

Of course, I won't overdo it.

But I have to get out on my own.

I need to crawl out of here somehow and first make Ruru-san feel at ease.

"...Gulp."

The breath I exhaled with a sigh carried the scent of high-quality alcohol.

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