I Was the Supporter of a Popular Dungeon Streamer, but the Power Harassment Was Too Much, so I Quit. I’m Useless Anyway, so It Shouldn’t Be a Problem, Right? Huh? The Views Are Dropping Like Crazy? - 11-12

Chapter 11: Missing

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

The next day.

Since Abisu and I had already exchanged contact information beforehand, I sent her a message to let him know I was changing guilds. Abisu responded with a cheerful “Thank you.” We arranged to meet in the second-floor laboratory of Odd Cat. When I arrived there, Abisu was talking with Yun-san. As soon as she noticed me, she stopped the conversation and walked over.

“Good morning. I’m really glad you decided to join my guild. I look forward to working with you.”

Abisu said while holding her hand out to me.

“Likewise, I’m counting on you… Master.”

I shook Abisu’s hand.

“Drop the ‘Master.’ Just keep calling me ‘Abisu’ like before.”

“Got it.”

“Today, we’ll handle the paperwork and get your prosthetic arm fitted.”

“The prosthetic arm? You already finished adjusting it?”

Yun-san held up a V-sign with her fingers.

“Piece of cake. Once the paperwork’s done, head to the operating room in the back.”

“Y-Yes!”

A prosthetic arm… I’m finally getting my right arm back…!

“Alright, first, I need you to fill out this surgical consent form and the guild application.”

“Understood.”

I quickly filled out the documents and handed them to Abisu.

“Okay. Once we’re done processing the paperwork, your guild transfer will be complete.”

“Come here, Shibuki-boy.”

“Yes.”

“Oh, before that, I’ll hold onto your valuables for you.”

I felt a little hesitant about entrusting my valuables to someone else, but I doubted an S-rank Seeker would bother stealing my money. It should be fine.

“Thanks.”

I handed Abisu my wallet and smartphone. Then, I followed Yun-san into the operating room. Several people in lab coats, likely assistants, were already inside.

“Take off your shirt and lie down on the table.”

“Alright.”

I removed my shirt and lay down on the operating table. They administered anesthesia, and my vision blurred. By the time I realized it, I couldn’t see or hear anything at all.

◆◆◆

“It’s done.”

Yun-san’s voice woke me up.

Heavy.

I had gotten used to not having my right arm, so now it felt strange to have a weight dragging me down like this. I raised my right arm, my prosthetic arm. I then opened and closed my hand. I could feel it. It moved…! I sat up and looked at the reflection of myself in the mirror inside the operating room. There I was, with a mechanical right arm attached to my body. It looked cool, but the sense of unfamiliarity was overwhelming.

“How is it? How does the new arm feel?”

“It’s great. I can move it smoothly. It’s fast and it’s strong.”

“As expected of me. A flawless operation.”

“……”

“What’s wrong, boy? You’re staring really hard at my face. Even if you’ve fallen for me, it’s pointless. I have no interest in men over twelve.”

Leaving aside her casual admission of being a bit of a shotacon, what actually caught my attention was the paper cigarette Yun-san had in her mouth. In my excitement over getting my prosthetic, I had completely overlooked it, but when I woke up, she had a cigarette in her mouth. And not just a freshly lit one, but one that was almost finished.

“Could it be… Did you smoke during the operation?”

“Well, yeah.”

She neither denied it nor apologized. She just stood there confidently. What would she have done if an ash stub had ended up inside my arm? Seriously.

“Hey, is it over now?”

Abisu entered the operating room.

“Oh! What an impressive arm!”

“Thanks, Abisu and thank you, Yun-san and all the assistants too. With this… I can become even stronger.”

“That’s both reassuring and terrifying to hear at the same time.”

There was no need to say it, but having a right arm or not made a huge difference to me. The things I could do had literally doubled. There were also plenty of spells that I could cast from my hands, meaning I could now activate and chain spells simultaneously with much greater ease. Labyrinth exploration was about to get a whole lot smoother.

“By the way, while you were in surgery, a message came through on your phone.”

“A message?”

“I couldn’t check it since it’s locked with a password.”

Mia, maybe? If it was Mia, that would be depressing to read. I took my phone and checked the message. It was an email…

“-!? “

The email address matched the one I had received from Kisaragi yesterday. The message read:

《Help 62》

Something was clearly wrong.

“Abisu… take a look at this.”

“Hmm? Let’s see.”

Abisu’s smile instantly faded the moment she read the email from Kisaragi.

“Who’s the sender?”

“Koyuki Kisaragi. She’s the Supporter of Atsushi Iizuka, the guildmaster of Fenrir.”

“Okay. I’ll check the list of missing persons in the labyrinth. You should reply to that email for now.”

“Got it.”

The message I sent to Kisaragi read:

《What happened? Here’s my number. Call me.》

I added my phone number at the bottom. Hopefully, she’d call me. Then—

“This is bad, Hamura-kun.”

At Abisu’s words, a cold chill ran down my spine.

This must be… What they call a bad premonition.

“Koyuki Kisaragi and Atsushi Iizuka’s names are both on the list of missing persons in Amatsugahara. They activated a distress crystal two hours ago at 6 PM… And haven’t been heard from since.”

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Chapter 12: The Scum’s True Nature

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Upon hearing the report that the two had gone missing, Abisu and I bolted out of the guild headquarters and headed for Amatsugahara. We ran through the night streets at a speed faster than a car.

“The signal isn’t reaching. Most probably, they’re in a place where transfer crystals can’t be used either.”

“The forsaken realm, huh?”

The forsaken realm was an area that was completely shut from all external connections. 

“In the forsaken realm, all means of external contact are severed. That means the distress crystal and the message must have been sent either just before the forsaken realm was deployed or after they managed to escape from it.”

“The problem with transfer crystals is that it takes more than three minutes from activation to full deployment. If they had enough time to send a message and activate a distress crystal, they should have had time to activate the transfer crystal as well.”

Saying this now isn’t going to change anything, though…

“The issue is what kind of forsaken realm they’ve entered.”

There were different types of forsaken realms. One common example was a boss area. In labyrinths, entities known as bosses each had their own designated large chambers, and those chambers were typically forsaken realms.

“A boss area seems unlikely.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Your message said, ‘Help 62.’ That ’62’ refers to the floor number. The distress crystal was also activated from that location. But there is no boss on the 62nd floor. Bosses only appear every ten floors.”

“Then it must be a monster spring. If that’s the case, this is the worst possible situation for them.”

Another well-known type of forsaken realm was the monster spring. Simply put, it was a spawning ground for monsters. Swarms of them gathered there and they just kept increasing. Monster springs were often connected to pitfalls or hidden doors. The monsters there were all small fry, but their overwhelming numbers often led to people being overwhelmed. Monster springs were the number one cause of death for Seekers.

“Or perhaps their crystals and communication devices were destroyed. Or…”

“They encountered a powerful monster capable of deploying a forsaken realm. The most reasonable assumption is that they ran into a ‘Aberrant.'”

Unlike an RPG, the labyrinth didn’t have fixed monster levels by location. Monsters leveled up by defeating other monsters, growing stronger through battles with Seekers, or consuming special substances. A monster that had evolved beyond what was normal for its floor was called an Aberrant.

The one that took my arm was an Aberrant. I remembered it well. It was a minotaur with pitch-black skin and bloodshot, crimson eyes. Unlike a normal minotaur, it didn’t wield an axe or any weapons. It simply rampaged with its enormous body. Even now, just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine.

“I just got word. The Guild Association has dispatched a rescue team.”

“Then shouldn’t we just leave it to them and wait?”

“No way~! What are you talking about? The rescue team is starting from the 50th floor, and with their pace, it’ll take them three hours to reach the 62nd floor. But if it’s me, I can do it in thirty minutes. And with you, we can make it in twenty.”

I see. 

The sudden turns of events had rattled me, and I hadn’t thought it through, but right now, I was about to enter the labyrinth with Abisu.

Abisu Yuiga, an S-Rank Seeker…!

“We’re here.”

Abisu and I passed through the massive gates of Amatsugahara and stepped inside. We ran up the escalator’s handrails, dashing straight to the entrance hall.

“-!? “

In the entrance hall… A man was receiving treatment from a Guild Association medic.

It was Atsushi Iizuka.

“Iizuka!?”

“Hah? You’re… Mia’s Supporter, right?”

His energy was strangely low. He looked exhausted. Sitting cross-legged, Iizuka was having his arm bandaged. But there was no sign of Kisaragi anywhere.

“…Did you come to rescue me or something? Too bad for you, I’m not so pathetic that I need your help, dumbass.”

“…Hey. Where’s Kisaragi?”

Don’t tell me… If it’s true then… I’m sure I’m going to lose it…

“Oh, that girl? She did a fine job… As my decoy.”

I grabbed Iizuka by the collar. The moment I did, his anger flared up like a lit firework.

“You bastard! Who the hell do you think you’re putting your hands on!?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…! You left a Supporter behind and ran away!?”

“The life of a Seeker takes priority over a Supporter’s, obviously! You guys are expendables! But us? We’re the ‘Chosen Ones’! We’re irreplaceable!”

“Even though you have an OOPArt… Why the hell are you such a scumbag?! Kisaragi… She… She doesn’t even have a way to fight monsters! Do you have any idea how terrifying, how dangerous it is to be left behind in a monster nest, unable to fight back?!”

I swung my fist back, ready to punch him, but Abisu grabbed my shoulder.

“Calm down, Hamura-kun. We don’t have time to waste on this trash.”

Upon being called trash by Abisu, Iizuka turned his head toward her.

“Hey, woman! What did you just…?”

As soon as he saw Abisu’s face, Iizuka’s complexion turned pale.

“Abisu Yuiga…!? The S-rank Seeker…!!”

“Even someone at the bottom like you knows my name, huh? Good grief, I sure have become famous.”

“Ugh! You…!!”

Abisu gave Iizuka a disinterested glance before shifting her gaze to me.

“Hamura-kun, we don’t have time to waste on him. According to the association member, Atsushi Iizuka and Koyuki Kisaragi encountered an Aberrant on the 62nd floor. After that, Kisaragi Koyuki acted as a decoy while Atsushi Iizuka escaped from the forsaken realm the Aberrant had created, then used a teleport crystal to leave the labyrinth and come here. That was just seven minutes ago.”

“Kisaragi…!”

“Every second counts. Save your fight with him for later.”

“…Damn it!”

I let go of Iizuka’s collar, and he fell back onto his rear.

“……”

I focused my gaze on Iizuka’s feet.

“You damn useless Supporter! I’ll pay you back for this, just you wait!”

“Fine by me. You better be ready for it yourself.”

I replied coldly, and though Iizuka looked afraid, he still glared at me. Abisu and I headed toward the mid-level gate.

“We’re entering the mid-level gate. Are you ready?”

“Always!”

“Nice. Even in this situation, the thought of teaming up with you makes my heart race…”

Abisu grinned in a twisted way.

“Come on! You need to be more aware of how dangerous our situation is!”

Someone’s life is at the stake here! Geez… But, well, to be honest, I’m pretty excited to be teaming up with Abisu too. 

Together, Abisu and I stepped into the mid-level gate.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー