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? - 19

Chapter 19: Would It Be Okay if I Pick a Fight

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A week had passed since the battle with the Red-Eyed Minotaur. During that week, I had been hospitalized in the hospital area on the second basement floor of Odd Cat’s headquarters.

The hospital stood alone in the middle of a vast grassland. The elevator from the guild headquarters connected directly to the hospital’s elevator, and outside, all I could see was an endless expanse of grassland. I still couldn’t get used to this. It felt like stepping through the ‘Anywhere Door’ or something.

The reason I had been admitted here instead of a regular hospital was due to Abisu’s orders. Apparently, it would be problematic if my prosthetic arm were analyzed in a standard medical facility. As I suspected, there was something unusual about this arm.

My external injuries had been healed with recovery magic and healing-type OOPArts, but the accumulated fatigue in my body and magic power depletion syndrome, a condition caused by excessive use of magic power. This condition prevented magic power from being stored in the body and resulted in flu-like symptoms. This couldn’t be cured by recovery magic and healing-type OOPArts. That was why I had been hospitalized here for treatment. This floor was filled with magic essence (the source of magic), which was effective for magic power depletion syndrome. Thanks to that, a recovery that would normally take a full month was already nearing completion in just a week.

Kisaragi had been taken to a regular hospital. As for Abisu, I hadn’t heard anything from her since then. For the past week, all I had done was sleep, eat, and undergo tests. Nothing noteworthy. I was starting to die of boredom. At 10 AM, as I was eating a banana in bed, the visitor I had been waiting for finally arrived.

“Good morning, Hamura-kun! How’s your body holding up?”

Abisu strolled into my private room, looking strangely cheerful.

“I’m completely fine now. More importantly, you should’ve come sooner! You made me wait an entire week! I have a ton of questions for you!”

About this mysterious prosthetic arm. About the Red-Eyed Minotaur. About Kisaragi’s condition. But now, my first priority was…

“This prosthetic! What the hell is this? It’s not just an ordinary prosthetic, is it?”

“Yep. That’s actually a prosthetic made from the remnants of an OOPArts.”

“The remnants of an OOPArts…?”

“Right. Its name is Origin.”

Wait. Hold on. This doesn’t make any sense.

“OOPArts can’t be separated from their owner beyond a certain distance, even if they’re broken and they will automatically transfer back to the Divine Tomb when the owner dies. There shouldn’t be any way to obtain remnants of OOPArts.”

“That’s why I stole them from the Divine Tomb~. A few broken OOPArts, to be precise.”

“…What?”

Now, let me explain just how utterly insane it was to steal from the Divine Tomb.

First of all, we Seekers and Supporters were all affiliated with the guild. Above the guild was the Guild Association, and above that was an organization called the Divine Order. This city, along with all Seekers and Supporters, operated under the authority of the Divine Order. As long as we were involved with the labyrinth, we could not go against them. In this labyrinth city, the Divine Order was practically a godlike existence to us.

The Divine Order had established several taboos, one of which was trespassing into the Divine Tomb. Entering that sunken graveyard of OOPArts was a grave crime, getting caught would mean at least the death penalty. Breaking into the Divine Tomb and stealing OOPArts would get you executed three times over.

“You… What the hell did you give me…!?”

A prosthetic arm constructed from stolen OOPArts and I had been wearing it this whole time. Even if I hadn’t known anything, if the Divine Order found out about this, they would execute me on the spot…!

“…Well, we’re already accomplices now. If the details of that prosthetic get out, you and I are both guaranteed the death penalty. So let’s just keep moving forward without looking at the past, shall we?~”

“You think I can just do that!? What the hell kind of crazy mess did you just drag me into!?”

“Now, now, it’s all about perspective! Sure, we broke a taboo, but thanks to that, you managed to defeat an opponent that even an A-rank Seeker had to run away from. That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“No, no… But still—”

“Then, do you want to return that prosthetic arm? If you do it now, you can still turn back.”

“Ugh…!” 

This girl had such a twisted personality. If it had been before I received the prosthetic arm, I would have refused it without a doubt. But after defeating that red-eyed Minotaur, I could no longer let go of it. That feeling of success had burned itself into my mind and wouldn’t fade no matter what.

“…I won’t return it. This is the power that finally lets me fight monsters.”

“I see. Then congratulations, we’re now accomplices.”

“Damn it… You deliberately let me taste the sweet rewards before saying that, didn’t you…?”

As expected of an S-rank Seeker, she understood human psychology far too well.

“By the way, that Minotaur… What was it, exactly? When an OOPArt’s owner dies, the OOPArt should return to the Divine Tomb. So why did that monster have one? Killing a Seeker to steal it should be impossible…”

There were no OOPArt owners nearby, so it was impossible for the OOPArt to stay there and on top of that, that monster was actually wielding the OOPArt like it was nothing. It made no sense. Did it steal one from the Divine Tomb too? No, no, there was no way the Divine Order would be so incompetent as to let a monster sneak in.

“…The answer is simple.”

Abisu’s gaze sharpened.

“That Minotaur was the owner of the OOPart.”

“…What do you mean?”

That made no sense. OOPArts were anti-monster weapons that only humans could use. A monster being an owner of one was impossible.

“The DNA we extracted from the Minotaur’s remains matched a C-rank Seeker named Shuuren Araki, who went missing six months ago.”

“What!?”

“In other words… That Minotaur was the transformed form of Seeker Shuuren Araki.”

That Minotaur… Used to be human!?

“Now that you mention it, its movements and thoughts did seem strangely human… Does that mean there’s a monster out there that can turn Seekers into monsters?”

“We don’t know if it was the work of a monster yet. It might have been something human-made too.”

“Humans… Turning other humans into monsters!?”

“I think that’s the more likely scenario. There were traces of advanced technology involved. It’s quite fascinating, really. This matter will be reported to the Guild Association, and our guild will work together to investigate.”

Seekers turning into monsters… This was a huge deal. Things were going to get messy.

“One last thing… What happened to Kisaragi? Is she safe?”

I hoped there weren’t any lasting effects on her…

“She’s safe. She was severely weakened, but she’s past the worst of it. She’ll make a full recovery in about a week.”

“R-Really!? That’s a relief…”

I could finally breathe easy.

“Kisaragi-chan, huh~? You know, I kind of want her.”

“Want her? Are you planning to poach her?”

Kisaragi was skilled enough to be valued highly by Iizuka, the leader of Fenrir. I could understand why someone would want to recruit her.

“Hmm~ Yeah, that’s right~. But that guy won’t just hand her over so easily, right?”

By “that guy,” she must have meant Iizuka.

“Probably not.”

“Then there’s no choice. I’ll just take her by force.”

Abisu grinned wickedly.

Hey, hey… Is she seriously thinking about doing something crazy again?

“Say, Hamura-kun. Would it be okay if I pick a fight with your former guild, Fenrir?”

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