Live Dungeon!

”The Fenrir cub was SO cute!” Daryl declared with beaming enthusiasm.

”The ninety-second layer’s been popular with the audience too,” Tsutomu replied with a shrug. ”I hear Ealdred Crow even tried using the Magic Stone they got from killing the cub to summon a Fenrir. Makes for a great crowd-pleaser, I suppose.”

”……”

”If the rest of the Explorers make good progress, it might end up treated like the Shell Crab,” Garm added matter-of-factly.

”…You know what, Sir Garm? Maybe you’ve been spending way too much time around Tsutomu lately. It’s rubbing off, and not in a good way.”

”Hey, how come you’re dropping the honorific only for HIM, and not me? Saying ‘Sir’ every time is just a waste of breath.”

”No can do! Sir Garm is Sir Garm. Sir Tsutomu is Sir Tsutomu.”

Daryl crossed his arms and looked away with an exaggerated pout, clearly annoyed at the unsolicited commentary. Tsutomu, brows furrowed, leaned over to Garm and whispered something inaudible. Whatever it was, Garm responded with a barely concealed chuckle.

”Wh-What did you just say to him?” Daryl demanded, eyes narrowing.

”Hmm? Oh, nothing that concerns you, SIR Daryl.”

”Oh c’mon, Sir Tsutomu!”

”Quiet.”

”Ugh…”

Korinna, watching the trio bicker like mischievous siblings while seated across the table, smiled awkwardly and bit into a crispy chicken roll, stuffed with tangy greens and melted cheese. As she closed her eyes in delight, Amira reached out and picked up a piece for herself, the gooey cheese stretching between layers.

”I don’t know how Ollie manages to cook like this every day,” Amira muttered, examining the contents suspiciously.

”Just coming up with the daily menu is impressive enough,” Korinna said. ”And not only that, she’s always on top of individual nutritional needs.”

”When it comes to household skills, she’s one of the best. Bookkeeping, supply management, gear maintenance… And to think someone like that runs an entire Clan,” Leleia added. ”Not to mention how naturally he interacts with AMIRA…”

”Hah?”

”L-Let’s not ruin dinner, shall we?” Korinna said quickly, sensing the spike in tension. She deftly diverted attention by tonging out servings of meat spaghetti to both women.

”I wanna pet Fenrir again,” Diniel mumbled as she reached out to fiddle with Amy’s ears.

”Sorry I’m not Fenrir, eh?” Amy replied dryly. ”And why are YOU getting in on the petting, Hannie?”

”Well, you did say idols belong to everyone,” Hannah said, nodding seriously to the quote she remembered from a broadcast years ago.

”That’s just a front. If everyone could claim an idol, how would they ever get married?”

”…Yeah, fair enough,” Hannah conceded.

Though Amy’s ears twitched beneath the two women’s constant fondling, she looked entirely used to it now, nibbling on her food like it was just another part of the mealtime routine.

While Dungeon strategy and prep were handled separately by each party, everyone made it a rule to eat breakfast and dinner together. And with the meal winding down, their talk shifted naturally toward recent happenings, starting with the white wolves.

”Sounds like you made quite a discovery,” Tsutomu said. ”Even the Dungeon Maniacs were buzzing about it.”

”We’re currently exploring options for how to help the Fenrir cub,” Leleia answered politely, dabbing her lips with a napkin. She used a fork and spoon to indulge in her spaghetti, in stark contrast to Amira’s primal approach.

”You probably already know this,” Tsutomu continued, ”but I’ll say it anyway: try to reach the ninety-ninth layer before Ealdred Crow hits the hundredth.”

”Of course. But… is your team holding up all right?”

”We’ve hit a few snags, but overall we’re progressing well. No issues with brute strength, at least.”

”Well, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, I think it’s been a disaster,” Amy chimed in, exasperated.

”It’ll be fine. I get that it’s mentally draining to be struggling with Slimes, of all things, but give it a week. You’ll adjust.”

Up until now, every new layer past a boss fight brought its own environmental challenges, but never to the point of feeling impossible. That changed with the ninety-first layer. Even seemingly weak monsters like Goblins and Slimes forced seasoned Explorers to retreat.

But they were not alone in that experience; every party that had dared step into the ninety-first layer reported the same frustration. Tsutomu had told them this repeatedly, and Amy’s complaint was more of a joke than a real complaint.

In fact, when Daryl’s group first entered the ninety-first layer, they’d been absolutely wrecked, getting torn apart by low-tier mobs like they were nothing. Even Tsutomu, during his first run on Live Dungeon, had lost his team’s Tank in seconds and watched the Attackers crumble before monsters whose strength defied their appearances.

The monsters here were, in a word, absurd. Their base status ratings were off the charts, strong enough to make even veterans crack. And that was before considering the layer’s actual challenge: fighting what amounted to a well-coordinated military force just to move on. In every sense of the word, it was jumping straight to the climax from the beginning.

[No wonder they got through it so smoothly,] Tsutomu thought, arms folded as he watched Korinna and her party. [I drilled Daryl and the others on countermeasures for this layer like they were kids in elementary school. But still, I didn’t expect them to clear it on the very first day…]

He had trained them thoroughly, passed on every tactic, every pitfall of the Ancient Castle layer. He’d even spent nearly a month building up the conditions for Korinna to shine. Clearly she had made the most of it; her coordination with the party and her own sharp instincts had led them to a clean victory on one of the Dungeon’s most brutal layers.

And yet, when he heard the others praising Korinna over himself, Tsutomu felt a vague, inexplicable tightness in his chest. A kind of muddled resentment, perhaps, mixed in with the usual sense of fulfillment from how things were proceeding perfectly as planned.

[…I think I get how Shirasaki-san felt now. Good God, I must’ve been such an asshole back then.] He thought, half-laughing to himself.

Shirasaki had been his girlfriend before he ever encountered Live Dungeon. They met in junior high and ended up at the same high school. Their relationship had been comfortable enough, but when Tsutomu discovered Live Dungeon, it consumed him. Gradually, his time and attention all shifted to the game, and Shirasaki slipped further and further into the background.

A few months into this obsession, she stormed into his house and broke up with him on the spot. She left in tears.

Tsutomu, deeming the situation unsalvageable, had calmly put his earphones back in and returned to his game.

…But not even an hour later, she returned and chewed him out for not chasing after her.

At the time, he’d wondered why he was supposed to do that when she was the one who walked out. But now, years later, he could finally see where she had been coming from.

He had made a stage for Korinna, carefully crafting every piece of the foundation, and now that she was shining brighter than ever, he was sulking over her success. Jealous, even. A petty, lonely part of him wanted recognition, too.

[How childish can I get?] He sighed inwardly, casting a glance toward Amira and the others. [Before I waste energy being jealous, I should focus on making myself useful. If I give this team everything I’ve got, I might not catch up to Leleia’s group, but at least I’ll keep us moving forward. I owe them that much.]

As irritating as Shirasaki had seemed at the time, in hindsight, she had become something of a reverse role model, showing him what it was like to deal with someone too caught up in their own feelings to see others clearly.

She’d stuck around for half a year even after their breakup, clinging to what had been. That experience alone had taught him how not to act.

[I’m sorry, Shirasaki-san… and thank you,] he thought wryly.

With that, Tsutomu quietly got up and began clearing his dishes, his expression pensive. There was still much work to do: a party to shape, strategies to refine, a path forward to carve. And when he returned to his room, he did just that, searching for the best course of action to accelerate their descent through the layers ahead.