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 22: Karma, Part 1 - A Pathetically Poor Lie

Chapter 22: Karma, Part 1 – A Pathetically Poor Lie

“Eh…?”

I couldn’t hide my surprise at the sudden intruder.

I remember checking the time just a moment ago; it hadn’t even passed 6:00 PM yet. It was still too early for Goyama to arrive—why had he shown up in the dungeon so early?

And that wasn’t all. Behind Goyama stood three male students, faces I recognized.

They were like underlings who always followed Goyama around and, of course, they were also the perpetrators of bullying. All of them belonged to either the soccer or baseball team, with good physiques, so fundamentally I couldn’t compete with them in terms of strength.

For some reason, these underlings each held an anti-monster landmine in one hand. This place only spawned weak monsters, so there shouldn’t have been any need for such things.

With things having turned out this way, the live stream was no longer my main concern.

“Miyu—no, Miru. Stop the stream.”

“O-okay.”

Muttering softly, Miyu quickly started to fiddle with her smartphone. During that, she uttered a puzzled, “Huh, that’s weird…?” but honestly, I had no time to pay attention to that.

“Huh…?”

Then something inexplicable happened. Seeing Miru, Goyama let out a startled exclamation.

“AAAAAAAAAAH! You can’t be—Miru Ayatsuki!?”

“…Huh?”

Stopping her smartphone, Miyu looked puzzled.

“Y-yeah, that’s right.”

“Oh, so you really do live around here! No wonder—wait.”

Goyama’s words were cut off midway, probably because a question had popped into his mind. Why Miru Ayatsuki and I were together…

“Hey Kirishima, are you messing with Miru Ayatsuki again? Stop it, just stop. There’s no way someone like you would be worth Miru Ayatsuki’s time.”

Ah, there it was. As always, he wore a condescending grin and spoke in a mocking tone.

“I get that you admire Miru Ayatsuki, but stalking? That’s just like you, Kirishima. Eww, gross!”

“…”

In that moment, as I clenched my right fist to contain my anger, Miyu placed her hand on my shoulder, as if to calm me down.

“That’s not it, you know. If that’s the case, wouldn’t I be the one following Tsukushi-kun?”

“Ha…?”

…Impressive. Although Miyu was perfectly playing the role of “Miru Ayatsuki,” I could detect a slight undertone of anger in her voice.

“What are you talking about? That’s ridiculous.”

Goyama responded with a puzzled expression. 

“You following Kirishima? And why are you using his first name…?”

“Fufu, well, I haven’t announced it yet, but maybe I should just say it now.”

Miyu placed her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, and declared,

“I intend to make Tsukushi Kirishima a regular on my channel! At first, he was hesitant, but my ‘stalking’ made it happen wonderfully☆.”

“HA, AAAAA?!”

I’ll probably never forget the dumbfounded expression that Goyama displayed at that moment.

“What did you sayyyyyyyyyy?!”

“That’s why Tsukushi-kun being here isn’t strange at all, okay? We just decided to use the time before meeting you for streaming.”

“…”

“And so… um, what was it again?”

For the first time, a bit of anger appeared on Miyu’s face.

“If I remember correctly, you guys were supposed to meet here at 8:00 PM. Yet here you are, much earlier, and even holding anti-monster landmines. What exactly were you planning to do?”

“T-t-t-that is…!”

“And coming with four people. I really can’t overlook this, can I?”

“Ugh…”

Unable to say anything in return, Goyama hung his head in defeat.

…Strange. 

Whenever he’s about to be defeated in an argument, he usually resorts to either shouting or violence. Those are his only two options.

Yet this time, he didn’t resort to either. How unusual.

“…I thought I was the better choice.”

Sure enough, a few seconds later, Goyama muttered softly.

“Compared to Kirishima, I’m more suitable to be your partner. I’m stronger than him—that’s why I came here early to prove it.”

“Oh really? Then what’s the deal with those landmines?”

“T-these were just left behind by these guys. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Hmm~”

It was a pathetically poor lie, but Miyu didn’t point it out. She probably found it too ridiculous to even mention.

“So, you came all the way here to prove that you’re stronger than Tsukushi-kun?”

“That’s right. My skill is ‘Attack Power Up (High)’. What do you think? Don’t you find me more suitable as a partner?”

“Well…”

At that point, for some reason, Miyu glanced back at me and winked.

“How about settling this with a one-on-one duel? That way, you can prove your strength, can’t you?”