An Old Man Restaurant Owner Is Unparalleled by Relying on His Old Tricks. It Turns Out, He’s the Legendary Dungeon Conqueror. - 3

Chapter 3: If You’re Going to Apologize, Now’s the Time

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I booted up the small drone that Higashiguchi had sent me for the livestream. It was about the size of a softball and the drone floated silently without making much noise. With the rise of the streaming boom, streaming equipment had become so much more advanced. Nowadays, people commonly use these kinds of silent drones for livestream. These drones could automatically follow the streamer and deliver smooth, stable footage to the viewers. 

Feeling nervous, I fiddled with my smartphone and started the livestream. 

“Ummm… He-Hello. I’m the owner of Ken-chan Restaurant. This is my first time streaming, so I’m quite nervous. Please don’t be too hard on me…”

〈It’s here!〉

〈The festival has begun. 〉

〈He’s just an ordinary old man.〉

〈His voice is trembling?〉

〈Is this Tachihi Dungeon?〉

〈He’s able to get past the gate checking, so I guess he’s really an explorer.〉

The moment I started the stream, floods of comments started pouring in. 

“You’ve got keen eyes. That’s right. This is Tachihi Dungeon in Tachikawa.”

I was still at the entrance of the dungeon. The remnants of the formal shopping mall could still be seen on the wall. A pitch-black hole could be seen behind me. You wouldn’t be able to peer into it no matter how close you were because this hole led to a different world. I jumped into the hole, I could feel a tingling sensation, almost like a dizziness and in the next second, I found myself standing inside a cave.

There was another pitch-black hole in the wall behind me.

“High Orcs and Minotaurs only appear in the lower levels of this dungeon. So, I will head straight to the lower levels.”

〈So far so real〉

〈When will the lies get exposed?〉

〈Just getting to the lower levels is going to take him a half a day. Just how long is this old man going to do this? LOL〉

〈Oi, old man! If you’re going to apologize, now’s the time!〉

〈Is there anyone who actually believes this old man?〉

People were still doubting me, just like usual. However, I continued forward, paying them no concern. 

〈No, but, he’s dressed so lightly. Isn’t he only wearing regular clothes?〉

〈He looks so weak.〉

〈According to explorer ranks, this old shouldn’t be going to the lower levels even if he could. 〉

〈This is a suicide mission. LOLOLOL〉

〈Should we report this?〉

〈Oi, don’t do anything stupid. Things are just getting interesting. Let’s watch him for now. 〉

〈He won’t even make it to the lower levels anyway. No need to worry.〉

I started exploring the first floor. 

〈Isn’t he going to the opposite direction to the stairs?〉

〈Ah. I knew it. I knew he’s going to do this. 〉

〈He’s only going to explore the first floor aimlessly, huh?〉

〈He’s just pranking us. A big fat prank. 〉

〈So we’re the stupid ones here. 〉

〈We’re getting tricked by Ken-chan without knowing. So damn oblivious LOL〉

〈Alright. This is it. Thank you for watching. 〉

The comments became increasingly chaotic. Flustered, I quickly explained.

“Umm… It’s true that you will need to take a lot of time to get to the lower levels if you’re using the normal way. That’s why I’m going to take a shortcut using this old trick of mine. Please be patient for a little longer.”

〈This is so painful to watch. 〉

〈If there’s a trick like that, everyone would’ve known it by now. 〉

〈I’m really wasting my precious weekend by watching this shit. 〉

〈I should’ve watched Eikou Kanou’s dungeon livestream instead. 〉

〈Oh, I like Eikou Kanou. There’s always something interesting happening LOL〉

At this rate, my viewers would be leaving the stream. Just as I was starting to panic, I finally discovered it. 

“Ah! There! I found it! This is it! Oh, thank goodness I found it faster than I expected.”

There was a small switch on the dungeon floor. It was something you could easily step on by mistake if you just walked around the dungeon and even harder to avoid if you were in the middle of fighting monsters. This was…

“This is a teleportation trap.”

Stepping on this switch would make you get teleported randomly to a different location, making this one of the most dangerous traps hidden in the dungeon. 

〈A teleportation trap?〉

〈So does that mean you could use this trap to get straight to the lower levels?〉

〈This old man doesn’t even know how teleportation traps work. 〉

〈Teleportation traps can only send you to another location within the same levels. 〉

〈He’s exposing his stupidity to the whole stream. LOLOLOLOL〉

“That’s right. If you just step on it normally, you would only be teleported to another location within the same levels. However, there’s a trick to it.”

I channeled my magic power into the trap.

“If you pour your magic power into a trap like this, you could get teleported to the middle levels straight from the upper levels.”

〈Never heard of this trick before. 〉

〈He’s just spitting up more lies to cover up his other lies. Absolutely ridiculous. LOL〉

〈Just give up already. 〉

〈We’ll let you go if you kneel down and apologize now. 〉

〈Somehow, this is getting real funny. I’m going to see how far he’s going to take this lie. 

Right??〉

I grabbed the streaming drone. I had to do this, otherwise the drone would get lost during the teleportation.

〈A sudden close-up of an old man’s face. LOLOLOL〉

〈What are we even watching now…〉

〈I think I’m going to throw up. 〉

〈Close-ups are a crime unless you’re good looking.〉

Click.

As soon as I stepped on the trap, a magic circle appeared at my feet. This meant the teleportation trap had been activated. I closed my eyes and by the time I opened my eyes again, the scenery around me had changed from a gloomy cave to a place that looked like an artificial ruin. 

〈Wait, the place is changing?!〉

〈Huh.. Isn’t this the middle levels?〉

〈Huh?〉

〈For real?!〉

〈Yeah, there’s no mistaking it. These stone walls and floors are a common characteristic of the middle levels in most dungeons.〉

I glanced at the surprised comments and nodded to myself, feeling satisfied. 

“As you can see, we’ve made it to the middle level in an instant. However, we’re still not at the lower levels yet, so I’m going to find another teleportation trap to reach the lower levels.”

I started walking again, searching for another teleportation trap. Meanwhile, the comments section was getting quite wild.

〈You won’t find this kind of trick no matter how hard you look in DungeonPedia.〉

〈Isn’t this a big discovery?!〉

〈I can smell the teleportation trap hunting boom from here. 〉

〈Who the heck is this old man?!〉

〈Wait! While we’re all dumbfounded by this new discovery, the old man is about to face a middle level monster!〉

〈It’s a lizardman. 〉

〈Is the old man gonna be okay? Lizardmen are considered among the stronger monsters in the middle levels. 〉

〈I really don’t want to see him get killed by monster. 〉

〈First stream and the last stream that ends with a murder. 〉

〈An incredibly fast livestream accident. If it wasn’t for me, you guys wouldn’t have caught that.〉

A bipedal lizard-like monster started going at me with a longer spear in hand. This was a lizardman. The lizardman thrusted the spear toward me and I met it head on with my fist. 

BAAAAMM!!!

The blade of the spear shattered into pieces. 

〈What?〉

〈What?〉

〈What?〉

〈What?〉

〈What?〉

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