Chapter 1: The Daily Life of a Loner Explorer

“Haa… They look like they’re having so much fun…”

I, Satou Makoto, muttered to myself as I stared at the streaming screen on my smartphone.

On the screen, two girls were cheerfully making their way through a dungeon.

They belong to the massively popular dungeon streaming group, [Luna Stars].

Like comets streaking across the sky, they appeared out of nowhere, immediately stealing the spotlight. Now, they’re as popular as idols.

You can’t go a day without seeing them on TV. I’ve been following their streams diligently since their early days.

The number of concurrent viewers displayed in the corner of the screen had exceeded 50,000. Their popularity is as incredible as ever.

The girl leading the charge is Shion-san.

Her brightly dyed hair with inner highlights gives her an energetic vibe, making her the mood-maker of the group.

She’s the youngest female S-Rank explorer, and her skills are unmatched.

Shion-san gave sharp, precise instructions as she and her partner Kanade-san coordinated flawlessly to defeat the monsters.

Kanade-san is the opposite of Shion-san—a composed and elegant beauty. Her sharp, piercing eyes are mesmerizing, making it impossible to look away.

Although she’s still A-Rank, her abilities are in no way inferior to Shion-san’s.

Their seamless teamwork caused the chat to erupt with excitement.

Kanade-san, in particular, stood out as the tank, earning heaps of praise in the comments.

Incidentally, my personal favorite is Shion-san.

The way her beautiful hair sways as she takes down enemies with grace—it’s like watching a flower bloom on the battlefield. Not that I dislike Kanade-san, of course.

“Shion-san is amazing as always.”

“Kanade-san is on fire today!”

“She’s always this good, though.”

“She’s so beautiful…”

“Ah, I wish Kanade-sama would protect me…”

“As expected of Shion-san. Watching her is so comforting,” I muttered, nodding along to my own words.

These pseudo-boyfriend delusions, however, were mine and mine alone.

Why? Because I’m currently in the vastly unpopular dungeon, [Garden of the Gods].

There’s no one else here.

The only kind of person who would come to this trash-tier dungeon is someone as peculiar as me.

And to do it solo? Most would think I’m insane.

Diving into a dungeon alone is, of course, extremely dangerous. But my reason for doing so is pretty simple.

I’m just painfully shy.

『Alright, that’s all for today’s stream! Thanks for watching, everyone!』

Kanade-san waved at the camera, while Shion-san smiled gently beside her.

It seemed like the stream had ended.

Hmm, yet another spectacular broadcast today.

I sent a barrage of red super chats and subscription gifts at the end of the stream.

《There it issss!!》

《The red super chat spammer is back again?》

《Is this guy an oil tycoon or something?》

《Thanks for the gifts!》

“Today’s stream was awesome as always,” I murmured, feeling energized by their broadcast as I slid my smartphone back into my pocket.

And then… standing right in front of me was a grotesque, abnormal monster.

“…Still here, huh? I thought I got rid of all of you,” I muttered.

It had black garb and dark wings.

The jet-black monster exuded a menacing aura, yet it possessed a certain eerie beauty.

Raising one hand, it began to chant.

The air around us crackled violently, and energy started to condense in its palm.

“I already saw that move earlier…” I said, as if bored.

In the blink of an eye—roughly 0.1 seconds—its condensed energy was unleashed.

I dashed toward the monster. Its glowing eyes locked onto me as it swung its arm downward.

The concentrated energy surged toward me like a lightning bolt.

I parried it with my short sword.

Giiin! A sharp, metallic clang echoed as the energy veered off course and crashed into the wall behind me.

The impact tore a massive chunk out of the sturdy wall.

If that had hit me directly, I’d have been obliterated.

Well, as long as it doesn’t hit, it’s not a problem.

And since I’ve seen this attack plenty of times, I already know how to handle it.

Taking advantage of the monster’s inability to move after the attack, I closed the distance and slashed with my short sword.

Its weak spot was just below the back of the neck.

I’d figured that out earlier.

The monster let out a ghastly sound as it was struck. Its body disintegrated into shimmering particles of light and vanished.

“Phew. Don’t interrupt my enjoyment, will you?”

“Oh, lucky! A mana crystal drop~”

Mana crystals are rare items that monsters occasionally leave behind.

If I take it to the Explorer’s Association, they’ll convert it into DP (Dungeon Points).

DP gets stored on an explorer card and can be used like digital currency in all sorts of places. Accumulating enough of it also raises your explorer rank.

The mana crystal lying in front of me was one of the largest I’d ever seen. This one would probably net me around a million DP.

Incidentally, I spend most of my DP on super chats.

I mean, it’s not like I have anything else I want.

From what I’ve heard, mana crystals contain a staggering amount of energy. However, this energy can only be utilized within dungeons.

Even the device I was using to watch the stream earlier was powered by energy extracted from mana crystals. Humanity’s ingenuity is truly amazing.

Normally, finding a mana crystal of this size would be cause for celebration. But unfortunately, I’m alone.

There’s no one to share this joy with.

Why? Because I’m a solo explorer.

Or to put it bluntly—a loner.

“…Not like I’m lonely or anything,” I muttered, picking up the crystal and heading out of the dungeon.

◇◇◇

“Alright, let’s write today’s blog.”

As soon as I got home, I turned on my computer and began typing up the dungeon information I obtained today, referencing my notes.

The mana crystals I collected were stored away in my closet as usual.

“‘[Garden of the Gods]—5th Floor. This floor is a bit different from the previous ones. The types of monsters that appear change significantly. Mainly, angel-type monsters appear here—’”

My blog, “Loner’s Dungeon Strategy Notes,” contains all the dungeon strategy information I’ve gathered so far.

Initially, I started this blog casually as a combination of a diary and a memo, but before I knew it, a year had passed since its creation.

However, the number of visits remains practically zero.

It’s so underpopulated that getting two or three visitors a day is considered good.

But I haven’t let that discourage me and have continued updating it daily. In fact, this task has become such a part of my routine that it feels weird not to update it.

“Consistency is power.” Believing in those words, I continued typing today’s strategy article.

“…Alright. That should do it.”

After finishing the article, I stretched. Before I knew it, quite a bit of time had passed.

Today’s article is a masterpiece.

The headline is: “Weaknesses and Countermeasures for Angel-type Monsters Appearing in the Garden of the Gods.”

“Hopefully, someone will come after reading this…”

Maybe someone interested after reading this article will come to the [Garden of the Gods]… and if I’m lucky, perhaps they’ll team up with me… or something.

In short, I want companions.

…’Just go find them yourself’ is a forbidden phrase. If I could do that, I’d have graduated from being a loner long ago.

“Onaka suita, onaka suita!” (“I’m hungry, I’m hungry!”)

As I was stretching my body stiff from long hours of work, my pet parakeet, Fuu-chan, started chirping adorably, asking for food.

“Is it that time already?… Alright, alright, I’ll bring your food now~”

Fuu-chan, who is also my only friend, was fluttering energetically in her cage, gazing at me with expectant eyes.

Savoring today’s accomplishments, I happily gave Fuu-chan her feed.

◇◇◇

“Hey Kanade. Do you know this site?”

It was during the time when we had safely finished today’s dungeon stream and were discussing the next one.

Shion-san, who was sitting next to me, spoke up while holding her smartphone.

I was just eating a chocolate snack, so I shook my head to indicate “no.”

“Recently, it’s a site that Masaru from [Everlight] has been talking about.”

Seeing me shake my head, Shion-san showed me her smartphone screen.

On the screen was a site called “Loner’s Dungeon Strategy Notes.” Pointless decorative banners were busily moving left and right.

“…What’s this? It just looks like a personal blog.”

“Well, well, just keep reading.”

I looked again at the smartphone that was handed to me.

At first glance, it just looks like a personal blog.

The ‘loner’ part caught my attention, but other than that, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly unusual.

“…Hmm?”

As I thought that, I lowered my gaze and a headline caught my eye.

—”Weaknesses and Countermeasures for Angel-type Monsters Appearing in the Garden of the Gods.”—

“…Huh? Garden of the Gods?”

“See? Isn’t it crazy?”

The [Garden of the Gods] is a super-famous dungeon that any explorer knows about.

The reason is simple—

It’s just ridiculously difficult.

I heard that even the S-Rank clan [Everlight], which was just mentioned, gave up on conquering it… Or rather, they abandoned it on the first floor.

This is a fact known only to a few explorers. The leader Masaru supposedly hushed it up, saying it would affect the party’s reputation or something.

Out of curiosity, I tapped on the article.

Then, reading the text displayed on the screen, I couldn’t help but gasp.

“Eh…?”

Unbelievably, it contained information about the fifth floor of a dungeon that an S-Rank clan had given up on at the first floor.

As I scrolled down, it detailed the characteristics of the monsters that appear there, and even their weaknesses.

In disbelief, I kept scrolling through the screen.

Before I knew it, I was engrossed in the article.

“Kanade, what do you think?”

“What do I think…”

After finishing the article and returning the smartphone to Shion-san, she asked me seriously.

I hesitated to answer that question.

Because I couldn’t think that what was written in the article was a lie.

Because it was too detailed to be a lie.

From the monsters’ ecology to their weaknesses, and how to defeat them—the realism was compelling.

But still, I had feelings of disbelief.

To conquer the [Garden of the Gods] solo… As an explorer, I know how difficult that is.

“Hmm… If it’s true, it’s amazing, but I think it’s probably a lie. I mean, it’s the Garden of the Gods, right? I can’t imagine someone conquering it alone.”

Even as I said that, my heart wavered.

The passion in this article isn’t normal. Regardless of its authenticity, I became curious about the person who wrote this.

If there’s an explorer who can solo the [Garden of the Gods]… I’d like to meet them. I’d like to hear their story.

I wonder if that feeling showed on my face.

Shion-san grinned and spoke.

“I think it’s true.”

“…Huh?”

“Masaru said ‘It must be a lie,’ but I don’t think so.”

At Shion-san’s confident words, I let out a strange sound involuntarily.

“Wh-why do you think that?”

When I asked, Shion-san prefaced with “…It’s a secret, okay?” and continued.

“…Actually, before I met you, I went to the [Garden of the Gods].”