The Bottom-tier Dungeon Streamer Meets a Famous Streamer by Misunderstanding His Strength and Using the Skill "Intimidation," and Becomes a Legend Without Realizing It?! - Chap 17: Disciple
“Please take me as your disciple!”
Such abrupt words from Ninko. Shinya grimaced openly at her plea, somehow finding words in response.
“…No, sorry, but I’m not exactly recruiting disciples.”
“Ah, that’s right. I’m sorry for saying something strange all of a sudden…”
“……..”
“…………”
An awkward atmosphere. What’s this? Can I go now? I want to go mushroom hunting. Shinya thought so, but he couldn’t just leave Ninko alone, looking at him with eyes that seemed to have something to say.
With a resigned sigh, Shinya opened his mouth.
“Do you have time in two hours… no, in an hour?”
“I’m free, but…”
“Then, can you wait for me at the cafe in front of the station? I can’t take you as a disciple, but I can at least listen to your story.”
“Thank you!”
Ninko looks at Shinya with sparkling eyes. Why does he always end up acting cool in front of girls? Even so, Shinya feels relieved for now.
“Then, I’ll be waiting, so please come when you’re done with your business! Thank you! Nin-nin!!”
Ninko disappears from the spot. He wonders how she does that, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on it right now.
“I better hurry and go mushroom hunting…”
Shinya is furiously hunting mushrooms in the first layer where dangerous monsters rarely appear. Now that he’s an S-rank and no longer has to stream, he collects mushrooms at a much faster pace than usual.
“Lots and lots.”
In just one hour, Shinya has collected enough mushrooms to overflow his item box. All he needs to do now is deposit them in a large box managed by the Dungeon Association. While stored there, most items won’t degrade.
Then, the arriving traders buy them at the current market price, and the money is transferred to Shinya’s account. Since S-rank streamers aren’t charged for the use of the box, it’s all pure profit.
“I got quite a lot. Maybe I’ll splurge on sashimi for dinner tonight.”
Humming happily to himself, he heads to the cafe where he’s meeting Ninko.
“Ah, over here.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Shinya, still hiding his face, sits down across from Ninko who arrived earlier. Just as he was wondering if a less crowded place would’ve been better, Ninko opens her mouth to speak.
“I’m sorry for saying something strange out of the blue, Shinya-sama.”
“It’s fine, but… could you stop calling me ‘Shinya-sama’? I told Sakurako-san too, just ‘Shinya-san’ is fine.”
“Is that so? It feels a bit embarrassing to change how I address you all of a sudden…”
Holding back the retort ‘What are we, a new couple?’, Shinya looks at Ninko with a serious face. Ninko clears her throat before speaking.
“Um, Shinya-san. The truth is, I’ve been having trouble growing.”
“Having trouble growing, as in your height? I don’t think you need to worry about that. I think you’re cute enough as you are, Ninko-san.”
“Really! …I mean, not my height. I’m talking about my subscriber count for my streams.”
With a disheartened look, Ninko brings her coffee to her lips.
“I’m not cute like Sakurako, and I’m not strong like you, Shinya-sama… um, I mean Shinya-san. My channel’s subscriber count has been stagnating for a while, and I’m not sure what to do about it.”
“…Ah, I see.”
It’s a serious concern, Shinya thinks, adjusting his mindset.
“Ninko-san, you’re still in high school, right?”
“Yes, I’m the same age as Sakurako, 17 years old.”
“Well, I think it would be better to focus on your studies rather than streaming.”
“…You say the same thing as my mom and dad, Shinya-san.”
Ninko looks away, seeming a little sulky.
“I think any responsible adult would say the same thing.”
“But I do really well in school, you know? In the last end-of-term tests, I ranked second in my grade.”
“……So you’re good at studying.”
Even though it’s not much, Ninko has over 200,000 channel subscribers. That’s tens of thousands times more than Shinya had a little while ago. While working hard at school and increasing her subscribers to this point, Shinya has no advice to offer.
Still, Ninko complains.
“But studying is only a school metric. If you do what you’re told, of course you’ll get results.”
“There are few people who can easily do that.”
“But I want to work even harder!”
Ninko raises her voice. Shinya sighs softly, realizing she’s more childlike than he thought.
“Even so, I don’t have any advice I can give. The reason why my channel’s subscribers increased, and why I… why I’m strong, it’s all just a coincidence.”
“There’s no such thing! Nin nin! Shinya-san looked so cool, defeating all those monsters! I couldn’t do anything when Sakura-chan was attacked… I really want to be your disciple, nin nin nin!”
“Calm down, calm down. A ninja’s coming out. Here, have some coffee.”
“…I’m sorry. I lost my composure. Nin…”
Does this girl turn into a ninja when she gets excited? Perhaps all streamers are a bit odd, Shinya muses as he adds sugar to his coffee.
“But still, even if I were to take you on as a disciple, there’s really nothing I could teach you.”
At best, how to pick mushrooms.
“Well then, at least I’d like to do a collaboration with you and Sakura-chan.”
“A collaboration? What would we do?”
“…I don’t know.”
“I don’t think there’s any need to rush, you know? You’re still very young, and becoming viral isn’t something you can plan or control. …There are even people who get into trouble because they go viral without realizing it.”
With the hope that this young girl won’t go down the same path he did, Shinya gives her a gentle warning. To this, Ninko responds with an air of resignation.
“…Understood. Then at least let me claim to be your disciple. You don’t have to train me or anything.”
“I don’t mind, but what’s the point of that?”
“I can brag to my friends.”
“That’s a pretty shallow reason. You know, if you keep doing things like that, you might end up losing friends instead.”
“It’s okay, please! Nin nin nin!!”
“Okay, okay. I got it, just calm down.”
Satisfied with that, Shinya manages to calm Ninko down. Hearing this, Ninko blossoms into a radiant smile.
“Thank you so much! I’ll surely repay this kindness someday, even if it costs my life!”
Shinya returns a vague smile to Ninko, who was brimming with so much enthusiasm it was almost like she was prostrating herself, and takes a sip of his coffee. The two of them then spend some time making small talk.
“…”
However, Shinya was not aware of the real reason why Ninko was so obsessed with increasing her channel subscribers.