After Accidentally Helping a Famous Streamer Who Forgot to Turn Off Her Dungeon Stream, I Began to Go Viral as a Legendary Explorer ～ The Introverted Me Accidentally Dominating with My Mysterious Skill 'Ignore Rules' - Chapter 19: The Reward from the Red Dragon Is Just Too Over-the-Top

Chapter 19: The Reward from the Red Dragon Is Just Too Over-the-Top

“Whaaaaat!? A call from Goyama!?”

“Whoa, Miyu, keep it down!”

After school, as promised, Miyu was waiting for me at the school gate.

We’d planned to casually relax at a café and then delve into a random dungeon, but that plan got interrupted.

I couldn’t just keep quiet about being forcibly roped into Goyama’s plans, so when I told Miyu the truth, it led to her current outburst.

“Ugh, he’s the worst! Seriously, he only thinks about himself!”

As we were walking toward the café, Miyu was visibly furious, as if this affected her personally.

“Yeah, I know… I didn’t even have a chance to argue.”

“You should have stood up to him. Tell him, ‘I have plans, you know!'”

“Haha, easier said than done. It’s not that simple.”

After all, my connection with Goyama didn’t just start in high school.

Elementary, middle, and now high school… Unfortunately, bad relationships have a way of enduring.

Perhaps because he’s known me since elementary school, Goyama seems to find it easy to bully me. The reason he targets me might largely be due to that fact.

And now, to make matters worse, we’re in the same class. It would make sense that the bullying—which I hate to even call by that cutesy term—is intensifying.

In other words, standing up to someone who has been persecuting me like this isn’t easily done just because I feel like it today. Whenever I remember Goyama’s propensity for extreme violence, my body still trembles a little.

“…”

Seeing me like that, I wondered what Miyu thought. She gently placed her own hand over mine as we walked side by side.

“M-Miyu…?”

“Yeah, sorry. I understand it’s not that easy to just talk back.”

“…No, no, it’s just me who’s at fault. I know I should be stronger…”

“…”

Miyu’s eyebrows formed a sad furrow, as if she were sympathizing with me. 

“Tsukushi-kun, your meeting with Goyama is at 8 p.m., right?”

“Huh?Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then we still have some time. How about we skip the café today and head straight to the dungeon? We should make use of the reward from defeating the Red Dragon now more than ever!”

★

Tsukigaoka Dungeon. 

It’s a relatively safe dungeon located not too far from our school.

The monsters that appear there aren’t particularly strong, and it’s an excellent place for gathering herbs.

However, it’s also a place that Goyama frequently visits—although our main gathering spot is not here, but the dungeon where Miyu and I met yesterday.

“Alright, we’ve arrived! Tsukushi-kun, show me your status!”

“Okay.”

Anyone who has visited a dungeon even once can bring up their own status screen by thinking about it. The exact mechanics are unclear, but it’s visible within one’s field of vision.

There, you can change your equipment, combine materials to modify weapons and armor, and check your own status.

(While you can check your status outside the dungeon, the stats are only applicable within the dungeon itself. Also, you obviously can’t change equipment outside of the dungeon.)

“Huh…⁉”

Something very unfamiliar appeared on the status screen.

— 403,321 gold. 

Just the day before yesterday, I had only around 2,000 gold. How did it increase so suddenly…⁉

“Yes, this is the reward for defeating the Red Dragon! I think it’s being split between us, but there’s a lot, isn’t there?”

“Y-yeah…”

This was certainly unexpected. I felt as if I had suddenly become wealthy.

By the way, “gold currency” within the dungeon can be exchanged at a designated facility in the country on a 1-to-1 basis with yen. So, at this moment, I’ve gained nearly 400,000 yen.

The timing when the “gold screen” in the status increases is generally when it’s transferred from someone else or when you defeat a monster. And, much like in many games, the stronger the monster, the larger the sum that’s transferred.

Defeating monsters might seem like it has no benefit for the country, but that’s actually not the case.

The stronger the monster, the greater the risk it poses to explorers’ lives. So, indirectly, by protecting everyone’s safety, you can exchange the rewards for Japanese yen.

And there was another reward for defeating the Red Dragon.

“W-What’s going on with my item inventory…⁉”

Yes, Scales of the Red Dragon, Wings of the Red Dragon, Claws of the Red Dragon, the Dragon’s reverse scale, and so on…

Items I had never seen before, rare items, filled my item box.

“Fufu, there’s a lot, isn’t it?”

Miyu wore a pleased smile for some reason.

“Let’s use them to craft a powerful weapon. That should improve your own attack capabilities even more.”