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? - 53-54

Chapter 53: Massacre

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“Stop! Don’t be reckless!!”

No. My words couldn’t reach them through all that rage!

“…Haaaaaaaaaa!!!”

I dashed toward Iizuka to stop the three of them, but it was impossible. There was no way I could stop them before they reached Iizuka.

“Ohhh? The ones that got away during our little hunting game earlier, huh? Guess I’ll just eat everyone except the woman~”

Iizuka’s right fist swelled as he swung it down. The one caught in the strike was the female greatsword user.

“Ivina!!!?”

“Ah, I killed her by mistake. Oh well.”

Flesh scattered across the pure white snow.

“You bastard!!!”

The man wielding the boomerang OOPArt hurled it at Iizuka. However—

“Too slow.”

Iizuka swatted the boomerang away like a mere mosquito, then enlarged his face and…

“Uwaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!?”

He tore the man’s upper body off from the waist up. With its owner dead, the boomerang OOPArt vanished into thin air. No… This was bad! I couldn’t even follow Iizuka’s movements!!!

“Ah… Aaah…!?”

The last one, completely losing his will to fight, turned and fled. Iizuka sneered and stretched out his right arm.

“That’s enough!”

I leapt between them and smacked Iizuka’s hand away with my prosthetic arm.

“Aww, missed your chance there, Hamura-kun.”

“What?”

That was when I noticed… Iizuka’s left hand was buried in the ground.

“Damn it!!”

I turned around and the man with the staff had been crushed in Iizuka’s left hand, which had emerged from beneath the ground. That bastard…! He extended his arm underground and grabbed him from below!?

“Bahahaha!! You know, all three of these guys were stronger than I used to be! And yet, look at this! Instant kill! This is the best!!!”

“…What the hell do you even want?”

“Hah?”

“Your revenge… The ones you want to kill are just us, right? Then why did you kill those guys!? Aren’t they unrelated to our mess?!”

“Revenge? Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that. You know what? It doesn’t really matter anymore. Right now, I just want to play with humans like they’re my toys! First, I’ll turn this labyrinth city into my own empire of slaves! My own personal toy box!!”

“You piece of trash… You’ve fallen to the lowest point…!”

Iizuka attacked me, freely transforming his body and his OOPArt.

“Tch!?”

There was no opening to use 【Phantom Formation Mastery】. I had no items that could work against him. Running was impossible. I went through every option in my mind, but I couldn’t find a single way out of this predicament!!

“By the way, you sure you should be wasting time with me? Looks like things over there are getting pretty bad.”

I followed Iizuka’s pointing finger.

“Kisaragi…?”

Kisaragi was being swarmed by a horde of werewolves.

“I’m not the only one here, you know. There are other monsters too.”

“Shit!!”

The moment I turned and sprinted toward Kisaragi—

BAMMM!!

“…Huh?”

Before I knew it, I was airborne. It took me a few seconds to realize that Iizuka had punched me away.

“Game over.”

A delayed wave of pain shot through my entire body. My prosthetic—Origin—had crumpled from that attack. Even though it had withstood everything until now…

“Is this… My loss…?”

My consciousness sank into darkness.

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Chapter 54: Awakening

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When I came to, I was in a pure white space. No matter where I looked, there was nothing. No one else was here but me. I felt a strange sensation in my right arm. When I looked down at it, nothing was there. My prosthetic arm was gone.

“I’m… Dead, huh?”

“Too bad, you can’t die yet. Not you.”

“-!?!”

I heard a voice from behind and turned around. A mass of black haze floated in the air.

“Hey there.”

A woman’s voice echoed from the haze.

“We finally meet.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Cyan Talker. You’ve at least heard the name, right?”

“Cyan… Talker!?”

I knew that name. Not because we were acquaintances. I knew of her, one-sidedly. Anyone involved with the labyrinth would have heard of Cyan Talker. The strongest Seeker in history. The one who reached the highest recorded floor of Amatsugahara—Floor 180.

She was always wrapped in bandages from head to toe, draped in a black robe, leaving her appearance shrouded in mystery. The only thing known about her was that her eyes were green. No one even knew what her gender was. She was never officially registered as a Seeker, yet she broke into the labyrinth, rampaged freely, and became a legend.

“T-There’s no way! Cyan disappeared without a trace ten years ago! No one’s seen her since! Everyone just assumed she was…”

Her air of mystery, her reckless yet masterful exploration style, her vast knowledge, her exceptional tactics, and above all, her overwhelming combat strength captured the hearts of many. The labyrinth videos she uploaded amassed over 20 billion views. She wasn’t just admired in Japan. Cyan was a global icon. I was one of her many fans.

“Yeah. My body is dead. But right before I died, I transferred my soul into an OOPArt. Then, my OOPArt was dismantled, rebuilt, and now… I’m inside your arm.”

“T-This is impossible… There’s no way I can believe that…”

“You don’t have to believe it. My identity isn’t the real issue here. The real issue is your current situation. Right now, you’re battered and broken after being sent flying by Atsushi Iizuka. If you want to turn this around, you have only one option left. Awakening your OOPArt.”

Cyan,or rather, the voice from the haze, grew serious.

“To awaken your OOPArt, you’ll need my power.”

“…You’re saying you hold the key to its activation?”

“That’s right. Your OOPArt is about 80% complete. But it’s still missing something. I can provide what’s missing. This is a negotiation. I will lend you my power, and in exchange, you will grant my wish.”

“This isn’t a negotiation at all. What choice do I have? If I don’t awaken my OOPArt, I will die!”

The black haze let out a cheerful laugh.

“Haha! True enough. This is more of a threat, isn’t it? Ahem! Then let me rephrase it.”

A suffocating pressure, almost like killing intent, emanated from the haze.

“If you don’t want to die, lend me your strength.”

It was an overwhelming force that brooked no refusal.

“…What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to take over as Cyan Talker.”

“What!?”

“There are certain people I need to believe that I’m still alive. All you have to do is act the part.”

That was an absurd demand. To take on the name of Cyan Talker meant I had to possess her level of strength. The effort required to reach her level would be immeasurable. But right now… I had no other choice. This was, after all, a threat.

“Fine! I’ll do it! I just have to do it, right!?”

“Fufu… Thank you. Then, I’ll give you this power.”

“Just so you know, whether I can pull it off is another matter entirely.”

“You’ll be fine! I’ll support you however I can.”

From within the black haze, an OOPArt materialized. I grasped it firmly.

“This is your OOPArt… ‘Bokutou.’ Written with the kanji for ‘ink’ and ‘blade’—interesting, right?”

“…So this is my OOPArt… And this shape…”

“It’s the same shape as my OOPArt, ‘Kamunata.’ But its abilities are entirely different. Mine was designed for annihilating monsters, but yours is different. I do have to say its ability would be considered as ‘peculiar’ for a Seeker, but… I’m sure you understand hwo to use it, don’t you?”

“…Yeah. I get it.”

The moment I grasped the OOPArt—Bokutou—I instinctively knew its abilities.

“Thanks. With this… I can beat him.”

A radiant light enveloped me. The cold air outside filled my lungs.

“See you again, Shibuki Hamura.”

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When I came to, I was soaring over a snowfield. Was this after I got punched and sent flying by Iizuka? The OOPArt I had been gripping was gone. My Origin was still in the form of a prosthetic arm. That white space… That was probably something like my mental realm.

Looks like I had to activate the OOPArt again to awaken Origin….This time, with my own hands.

“Ouch…”

My whole body was in shambles. But I couldn’t afford to just lie here and sleep.

“【Dragon Chains】!!”

I shot a chain from my left hand, sinking its fangs into the neck of the werewolf attacking Kisaragi. The chain contracted, closing the distance between us, and I swung my prosthetic arm, sweeping away the werewolf

“Ha—Hamura-san!”

“Sorry. It took me too long to get to you.”

“N-No, not at all! More importantly, Hamura-san, your body…”

“Yeah. Sorry, but I’ll need healing magic. There’s still one left.”

True to my words, Iizuka strolled toward me, dragging his feet.

“You’re still alive? Tough bastard, ain’t ya?~~”

Kisaragi placed her hand on my back.

“【Blossoming Healing Mist】!!”

A green smoke billowed forth, seeping into my wounds and healing them.

“…Hamura-san, what will you do? You have no chance of winning…”

“I do. I’m going to win. Leave the rest to me.”

I gripped the wrist of my prosthetic with my left hand.

“Huh?~ And what the hell do you think you’re doing now?”

Cracks spread across my prosthetic arm—like an egg about to hatch. As the cracks reached across the entire arm, my prosthetic arms shattered, bursting apart like fragments of glass hitting the ground.

“Hahahahaha! What the hell?! You just broke the only damn arm that works against me!”

The shattered pieces of the prosthetic gathered in my hand, taking on a new form.

“I’ll show you, Iizuka… This is mine and mine alone… My OOPArt.”

In the next instant… A wooden sword formed in my left hand with its grip wrapped in bandages. This was my OOPArt.

“Kurogane.”

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T/N: The kanji for Kurogane( 墨刀“クロガネ”) and bokutou (墨刀ぼくとう) is the same btw.