Dungeon Streaming in a Chastity-Reversed World with 1:99 Male-to-Female Ratio! I Might Be a Rare Man, But I’ll Risk My Life to Find a Wife! - 42

Chapter 42: The Man Who Gets Left Out and the Women Who Leave Him Out

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〈A Goblin’s Lair, huh…〉

〈Man, he really picked a nasty place〉

〈Looks like today’s gonna be a long one〉

Next to the magic drone, Ittou glanced at the comment feed. Negative opinions lined up one after another. In dungeon streams, dungeons with lots of traps weren’t very popular. The progress was slow, and viewers generally didn’t enjoy them. 

Some female comedians leaned into it, using their unique magic toughness to deliberately fall into traps for comedic effect, but for the most part it was considered an unpopular genre. Still, whether subscriber numbers went up or down wasn’t Ittou and his team’s concern right now. In fact, the current numbers were so abnormally high that Ittou felt nothing but dread.

“Today, I think my experience with dungeon traps is still lacking, so I’d like to study that as we go.”

With that, Ittou pressed deeper into Goblin’s Lair. The place was dim, with dungeon vines growing thick everywhere. Visibility was poor, so Ittou advanced carefully, slicing vines as he went. 

After entering through a hole and following the passage, his party reached the first room. The vines covering the chamber walls made him grimace.

“This…This looks like trouble.”

“Right? Can’t we just burn all this?”

At the entrance, Anri sat on her knees with a fed-up expression. Kusumi shook her head.

“If it spreads through the whole dungeon, we could all die from carbon monoxide poisoning. Which means we must also avoid fire-based spells in combat.”

“So basically, we just have to deal with it. That’s what this dungeon is meant for anyway.”

The vines even covered the floor thickly. It was a perfect environment for setting traps. A chill ran down Ittou’s spine. How many traps lay hidden here? And worse, goblins could be lurking nearby, waiting for the moment someone triggered one. Fear stiffened his body, but he forced himself forward.

“All right. Then I’ll—”

Kanna, her mouth the only part visible beneath her mask, stopped him with a smile.

“Ah, One Swordsman, you stay back and watch. We’ll take care of disarming the traps.”

“Eh? But…”

“For now, just leave this to us, okay?”

“Uh, o-okay…”

Even though only her eyes should’ve been visible behind the mask, the pressure radiating from them was overwhelming. Ittou shivered harder than from the dungeon itself, nodding rapidly.

After sharing nods, the three girls asked Ittou for rods from his magic bag. Taking them, they entered the room and began carefully searching for traps. 

About a meter and a half long, these were “probe rods,” a common tool adventurers used in trap-heavy dungeons. They extended them as far as possible, tapping the floor and sweeping the air.

“Found one! Pitfall! Ugh, there’s some gross liquid inside too!”

“…And this exit has a thread at neck-height. They probably strung it up to catch adventurers trying to flee.”

“There are plenty of tripwires too. Don’t just poke from above, check along the ground as well.”

The three of them searched and disarmed traps with their probe rods. They even looked like they were having fun. Even Anri, who had been sulking earlier, lit up like she’d found treasure whenever she uncovered a trap. Left out of the “trap team,” Ittou puffed his cheeks and stared from afar.

〈One Swordsman looks lonely…〉

〈What’s wrong, buddy? Wanna talk about it?〉

〈That pouty face… C-cute…!〉

“Yeah… Honestly, I do feel kind of lonely. We’re supposed to be a team, after all.”

〈Well, he is a guy…〉

〈If they screw up and make him fall into a trap on stream, it’d be a disaster. It’s safer this way〉

〈That’s just how it goes〉

The comments scrolled quickly, but Ittou was getting used to them. Since men generally didn’t dive into dungeons, the idea of one disarming traps was almost unthinkable. 

Still, being treated like some princess from the old days left Ittou unsatisfied. Anri and Kanna felt his gaze and trembled, stifling their laughter.

“K-Kanbara-san… Ittou is sulking… He’s so cute…”

“Y-you can’t! Just because the magic drone is fixed on him… Don’t call his real name in here… B-but, I get it…”

Glancing back, they caught sight of Ittou with puffed cheeks and a pout, then quickly turned away, whispering into their hands.

(So cute! I’m totally gonna watch the archive later and grab a screenshot!)

(No! Kanna! You can’t have these feelings about a boy’s pouty face… No, no, no!)

They exchanged looks, fighting back giggles—until Anri suddenly stiffened, eyes narrowing.

“…! Over there! I sense something! Maybe three or four!”

She pointed to the other exit, not the one where Kusumi had found a trap. Ittou and the others instantly tensed.

“What about traps!?”

“I think we got most of them! The pitfall we couldn’t disarm has glow paint around it, so use that as a marker!”

At Kanna’s words, Ittou scanned the room. Several spots glowed a dangerous red. He memorized them quickly, then entered the room and formed up with the others.

Their formation was a triangle with Ittou and the other frontliners protecting Kusumi as she cast spells. But this time, knowing enemies were coming, Kanna braced her shield at the entrance while Ittou and Anri took positions on either side.

“They’re coming!”

Kanna shouted. From the passage burst three goblins. Thinking she was alone, they charged at her in unison. But Kanna braced herself and unleashed a spell.

“【Electrocute】!”

Her shield, with high magical conductivity, crackled with lightning from her unique magic. The energy surged into the goblins, burning them as they howled.

“Gyaaagh! G-Gahhh…!”

Paralyzed, the goblins dropped their weapons. Ittou and Anri didn’t waste the opening. As Kanna held their rush, they gauged the goblins’ size, gear, and neck placement, then struck.

“Tch!”

Anri’s right-hand slash cut through a goblin’s neck; her left-hand thrust pierced a goblin’s chest. The goblin collapsed, lifeless. Ittou’s strike was shallow, leaving his target still flailing with blood spraying from its neck. 

He clicked his tongue. Just as he prepared to finish it, an ice pillar slammed into the goblin, knocking it against the wall. Kusumi, who had cast the spell, gave a polite smile.

“Sorry. You really saved me back there.”

“Not at all. It seems you still haven’t fully mastered that longsword.”

At her words, Ittou looked at his black longsword. It was the one left behind by the Black Knight in the Black Wolf Forest. He alternated between using it and his familiar short swords. The Adventurers’ Guild had told him it was excellent quality, but the real reason he had begun using it was because of team play in Tokyo.

Back in the countryside, he had preferred speed-focused gear to cover all roles himself. But now, as a student of Touma Academy working in a team, he wondered if a longsword might suit better. 

Short swords had speed and were great in cramped spaces, but most girls in Class 2-9 used them for support roles because of their low attack power. For Ittou, with his strength, short swords felt underwhelming given his strong offensive power. With a team covering each other, he thought it was time to transition to a longsword instead of embracing all roles himself.

“Yeah… But I feel like I’m getting used to it. If you could give me a bit more time—”

“Of course. There’s also that, but we’ll support you when the time comes. Take your time… Slowly… Carefully… For a long, long while…”

“Ah—! Anyway, it’s amazing how you can tell when monsters are coming! That’s incredible!”

“Y-yeah! Totally amazing!”

“R-right? Maybe I’ve awakened to a unique magic or something! Ahaha!”

Kusumi’s eyes glimmered strangely as she veered into odd phrasing instead of focusing about the midterms. Picking up on the ominous feeling, Ittou hurried the topic along. Kanna and Anri jumped in to back him, and Kusumi just giggled, hiding her mouth with her hand.

〈Long-term?〉

〈Careful, One Swordsman! That fox is dangerous!〉

〈I wanna be in a long-term relationship with One Swordsman toooo!〉

Since she was right beside Ittou, the magic drone caught Kusumi’s words clearly, throwing the comments into chaos. But Kusumi only smiled serenely at them. For a while longer, Ittou stayed excluded from trap duty. But as Kanna and the others grew more confident, he was gradually allowed to join. Around three hours into the dungeon—

“…Huh?”

Anri suddenly stopped, staring at a wall.

“What is it? Something wrong?”

“Hm? Ah, yeah… I dunno. This wall feels weird somehow.”

Ittou and the others stared too. Nothing looked strange, and even touching it felt no different from any other wall. Anri herself couldn’t pinpoint what was odd, so she gave a sheepish laugh.

“Guess it was nothing. Don’t mind me—let’s just keep—kya!”

As she turned, a click sounded beneath her foot. Arrows shot toward her. She raised her sword, but her grip was off, and the force knocked it from her hands.

Just as she bent to retrieve it, three goblins burst forward. Kanna rushed to block them, but while two slammed her shield, the third slipped sideways toward Anri. 

Two goblins were holding Kanna pinned her down, preventing her from covering Anri. Kusumi began chanting, but it was too late. Ittou, positioned at the rear for back attacks, lunged to intercept—but the distance was too great, and he couldn’t reach in time.

『Fool. Extend it. You can do it.』

“!! I’ll do it! Get down!”

A voice echoed inside Ittou. Heat surged in his right hand. He drew back the sword, taking a one-handed thrust stance, and aimed at the goblin charging Anri.

The black longsword couldn’t possibly reach her, but Kusumi’s copper-colored magic, amplified by the Strengthening Magic within Ittou, coursed through the blade—extending it. Longer than a probe rod, the sword stretched and skewered the goblin. It shrieked, flailing briefly before going limp.

The weight nearly pulled Ittou forward, but Kusumi caught him in her arms.

“A-amazing! One Swordsman! What was that!? Why did it stretch!?”

“Eh? Ah… I dunno. Somehow, I did it.”

〈Somehow he did it lol〉

〈Yeah, that’s One Swordsman for you. Figures〉

〈He can do anything. He’s a man! The best!〉

The comments exploded as Ittou gave a wry smile. Then both he and the chat froze. From his stomach came warmth and a floral scent.

“Ahh… One Swordsman-sama, you’ve already made my power your own. Ufufu… You’ve claimed me. And such firm, wonderful abs…”

〈The real enemy is his abs!〉

〈Oi! Get off him, pervert!〉

〈Or let me take your place!〉

The comments seethed with hostility toward Kusumi, who clung to him with rapture. Ittou, blushing furiously, could only raise his arms in surrender.

“Ufufu… if it’s us, we could surely handle that with ease! O-ho-ho-ho-ho!”

Thinking her laugh sounded like the exaggerated laugh of a manga villain, Ittou waited as Kanna and Anri closed in to pull Kusumi off him. With the steadily improving teamwork, the potential of the black longsword, and the progress he himself felt, Ittou had begun to sense real promise for the midterm test.

However—

“Itsukushima, you’ll be in a different team for the midterm.”

““““Eh?””””

Kusumi’s premonition was proven wrong, and Ittou was removed from the team.

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