Three days had passed since Rakuna’s first stream.
The shocking rookie explorer—Narakino Rakuna—still showed no signs of slowing down, and before anyone knew it, 【Narakino Stream (Temp)】 had surpassed 200,000 subscribers.
Naturally, she was being covered all over social media and in the media, and the biggest topic was her abnormal level of “strength.”
She defeated monsters with her bare hands, punched holes into a dungeon, and wore none of the usual exploration gear.
People were already making a fuss even at that point—then came the word “serious,” straight from her own mouth.
And what appeared on-screen at the same time was a stance identical to that of the legendary explorer once hailed as a hero: Kamijiki Genbu.
The real shock was that it wasn’t just the look of it—its destructive power was the same, too, as she proceeded to one-shot special-grade monsters one after another.
On top of that, even when she took attacks like electricity and corrosive fluid, she remained unharmed for some reason—practically invincible.
And yet, she didn’t seem to be using any “Skill.”
Countless theories were exchanged, and even experts eagerly broadcast their own analyses, but no one could find the answer.
The mystery only deepened.
That was when attention turned to her background.
The story was that she’d grown up in Hakone Town, Kanagawa Prefecture, and had trained for five years in a cave where monsters appeared.
This connected with the rumor that had long circulated—“She’s a victim of the Abyss Incident from five years ago”—and with “Rakuna’s mysterious strength,” making one hypothesis especially convincing: that Narakino Rakuna had trained in Abyss.
And so, in direct proportion to the buzz around Rakuna, Abyss—the special-grade dungeon—found itself in the spotlight once again.
What kind of dungeon was Abyss, where the mysterious newcomer Narakino Rakuna supposedly trained?
Did an unregulated connection dungeon really exist?
More to the point, was it really safe to leave a dungeon alone when it connected to other dungeons and continued expanding?
Many explorers headed to Hakone, chasing clout or the truth, and recklessly infiltrated Abyss.
And every single one of them failed.
Every stream ended the same way: faced with the vast underground labyrinth and the vicious monsters infesting the special-grade dungeon, they couldn’t even reach the boss room and ultimately abandoned the attempt.
In the end, the movement did nothing but prove how terrifying Abyss truly was.
But it didn’t stop there—the administration also caught a stray bullet from the backlash.
People pointed out that the nation had kept turning a blind eye to a dungeon this dangerous, drawing heavy criticism.
In response, the Dungeon Agency—having left the matter untouched until now—finally roused itself.
It issued Alert Level 3, effectively barring entry to Abyss.
Furthermore, it requested an investigation from the Ten Greats, Japan’s top explorers.
At last, the country had begun to move toward conquering Abyss—
§
Morning, clear skies.
Sparrows chirped cheerfully.
Today was the third stream for 【Narakino Stream (Temp)】.
Even though it was still on the waiting screen, 50,000 viewers had already gathered.
That was, of course, because the second stream had been as outrageous as ever—but also because of the impact of the special-grade dungeon “Abyss,” which had been stirring up the public since the other day.
〝Came here from the news〟
〝Heard you trained in that Abyss for five years〟
〝First time watching〟
〝So like… it’s not starting, huh?〟
〝What’s up, Abyss-chan〟
Since it was her first weekend stream, it was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
But even after the start time passed, it still didn’t begin.
In the comments, worried voices popped up here and there.
Then, ten minutes after the planned start time, the stream finally went live.
The pitch-black screen switched to video.
What appeared was Rakuna—looking so odd that everyone was left confused.
Her hair was a mess with bedhead, her eyes only half open.
And on top of that, she seemed to be indoors, sitting in seiza facing the camera.
“…Good morning, Black Eggs… I’m currently filming under emergency circumstances…”
〝Huh!? LOL〟
〝Seriously, what happened? LOL〟
〝Where are you? LOL〟
〝Why’s your hair like a failed experiment? LOL〟
〝You’ve had the stream scheduled since yesterday, this isn’t an emergency LOL〟
〝If anything you’re filming exactly as planned LOL〟
The viewers were baffled.
Rakuna stared at the camera for a moment, then quietly bowed her head.
“…I overslept… I’m truly sowwy…”
〝LMAO〟
〝So you just woke up? LOL〟
〝You’re so half-asleep you can’t even talk right LOL〟
〝Cute sleepyhead〟
〝Wait, is that Abyss-chan’s house? LOL〟
“Yes, it’s my house. When I woke up, the stream time had already passed… so I pressed the Go Live button right away, yes.”
〝No, you panicked way too hard LOL〟
〝That’s actually an emergency stream LOL〟
〝You could’ve fixed yourself up first〟
〝You’re full-on flustered, I’m dying〟
〝You’re filming too urgently LOL〟
Normally, if a streamer is going to be late, the standard move is to post an update on social media—like TwiX.
However, Rakuna didn’t have a smartphone.
Since streaming was her only way to communicate with viewers, things ended up like this.
Technically, she could have notified those waiting by posting a comment herself.
But of course, there was no way Rakuna would know such a feature existed.
Bombarded with rapid-fire tsukkomi from viewers, Rakuna just giggled, “Ehe, ehe.”
Then, one Black Egg noticed something.
〝Wait, are those magic stones behind you???〟
“…Huh?”
〝Huh〟
〝Oh wow, true LOL〟
〝Why do you have magic stones at home? LOL〟
〝And that’s a ton of them LOL〟
Behind her, filling the frame, were magic stones—so many they looked like they’d been spread out to cover the entire room.
Seeing the comments, Rakuna puffed out her chest proudly toward the camera.
“Hehe, they’re cute, aren’t they? Don’t you think they make a nice decoration?”
〝Cute〟
〝Cute〟
〝Didn’t think Abyss-chan had a ‘cute’ sense, but okay〟
〝But why are you decorating with magic stones piled like a mountain?〟
〝Your whole background is just magic stones now LOL〟
Rakuna didn’t understand what people meant by “why,” and tilted her head.
“Huh? But didn’t you all tell me to make sure I brought the magic stones back properly?”
〝Huh LOL〟
〝LMAOOO〟
〝I mean, yeah, we said that, but still LOL〟
〝No, cash them in LOL〟
〝Who told you to bring them all the way home!? LOL〟
〝Hey, someone has to teach Abyss-chan to cash them in properly〟
〝Nobody would assume you didn’t know that LOL〟
〝Honestly, if you’re just selling them, you can do it anywhere〟
〝I can’t believe someone would literally just bring them home LOL〟
〝Oh no my stomach hurts LOL〟
A storm of tsukkomi from the entire audience.
Battered by a typhoon of nonstop laughter, Rakuna finally realized that bringing the magic stones home had been a mistake. Blushing bright red, she quickly faded out of frame, then dragged over her usual huge-ass backpack.
“S-so that’s what you meant! W-well, of course I understood that, you know? Y-you can sell them anywhere, after all! O-okay then, I’ll just go sell them for now!”
Her voice trembling, she hurriedly started stuffing the magic stones into the backpack.
And then—
—Gogogogogogogo.
With a sound like a rumbling quake, the room shook violently.
The magic stones that had been spread out everywhere lost their balance and came crashing down like an avalanche.
In an instant, the stream screen was filled with magic stones.
Naturally, Rakuna was swallowed up by the avalanche as well.
〝ABYSS-CHAAAAAN LOL〟
〝What are you doing, seriously LOL〟
〝Abyss-chan disappeared LOL〟
〝Stop being this busy before you even go to the dungeon LOL〟
A tremor like an earthquake had occurred, but it didn’t seem to have come through to the viewers.
To them, it looked like Rakuna had simply collapsed the pile of magic stones herself, and they laughed warmly.
When the shaking settled, a single stray cowlick popped out from the mountain of magic stones filling the room.
At the same time, with a “Bwah—!” and magic stones scattering, Rakuna popped her face out.
Judging by the comments, it seemed nobody had noticed the rumble.
If so, then Rakuna decided to change the subject as-is.
“Right, everyone. Changing the subject, but when I checked yesterday, I’d been promoted to C-rank!”
〝That’s changing the subject way too hard LOL〟
〝It’s like you got bonked on the head by magic stones and suddenly remembered LOL〟
〝Please don’t continue the stream while only your face is sticking out of a magic-stone pile LOL〟
〝I can’t focus at all LOL〟
〝C-congrats!〟
“They said I can enter intermediate dungeons now, so today my goal is to get promoted to B-rank, and I’d like to make my first dive into an intermediate dungeon!”
〝Makes sense〟
〝Yeah yeah, easy for Abyss-chan〟
〝Feels like we can finally get a chill stream today〟
〝Chill stream in an intermediate dungeon… yeah, that’s Abyss-chan for you LOL〟
〝Third stream and we finally got the stroll stream!〟
〝And it’s morning, perfect〟
〝I’m happy it’s a stroll stream!〟
〝Please do a Q&A corner!〟
She still hadn’t managed even one truly relaxed stream so far, but judging from the reaction, a laid-back stroll stream seemed to be in demand. Rakuna nodded with satisfaction.
“Alright, I’m going to end the stream here for now! I’ll get everything ready, sell the magic stones at the convenience store, buy breakfast, and then restart the stream from in front of the dungeon! See you then—”
Waving at the camera, she leaned toward the drone to end the stream.
〝Huh?〟
〝Did she just say she’s selling magic stones at the convenience store?〟
〝W-wait, Abyss-chan〟
〝Wait please LOL don’t cut it〟
〝At least stream the convenience store part LOL〟
The Black Eggs’ pleas went unanswered, and the stream cut off there for the moment.