The Virgin Hero Who Fought in the Dungeon for 20 Years Returned to the Surface Only to Find the Population of the World Has Dropped Drastically, with a Male-to-Female Ratio of 1:1000 - 14

Chapter 14: A Touching reunion…or Is It?

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Ryuuto had never once thought he was someone better than others. When he was in his teens, the world was invaded by mysterious monsters and without thinking twice about it, he decided to fight on the frontline as an explorer. That said, Ryuuto might have been more suited to being an explorer than he had initially thought. To put it bluntly, the chaotic world, the dungeons that popped up one after another across the globe, and the monsters that emerged from them, everything felt unreal to him but not in a negative way. If he had to describe it then it felt like he was in the middle of a festival. He felt like he was in an endless cultural or athletic festival. At the time, Ryuuto had fought monsters with his life on the line and braved exploring dungeons that left him coughing up blood, yet it all felt like he was still in a dream. 

Without having the chance to wear his middle school uniform properly, Ryuuto had received orders from the government to delve into dungeons as an explorer. He was told to clear one difficult mission after another. Maybe because he had spent the most crucial part of his adolescent years (aged 13), he ended up losing something vital to him as a human being. That said, he still had his youth (somehow). His youth was just a bit different than normal boys. Instead of doing his best in club activities, he honed his combat skills and magic. He had to give everything he had in the most dire situations since his life was literally on the line. 

Adults were rarely present on the front lines. Explorers in that era were mostly boys and girls. The Demon Lord subjugation was also organized and carried out by boys and girls and the subjugation eventually came to an end with the death of the enemy boss. Ryuuto hardly attended school. Sure, he had received the distributed textbooks properly, but he barely opened them. What little knowledge and common sense he possessed came from lessons his older sister squeezed in between battles and breaks. To Ryuuto, academics was nothing more than a form of entertainment.

His big sister, six years older than him, had taken on the role of their late mother and was always stern with him. But at the same time,she was so relentlessly caring to Ryuuto. She was borderline overbearing, even. Ryuuto was always rebellious toward his big sister, Kazuki, because of her overbearing nature. He was embarrassed with the way she acted in front of his peers, who were in the same party, so she could never get along with her properly. 

“Studying is actually not a bad way to kill time, huh?”

Ryuuto nonchalantly said that one day and his usually composed big sister quietly shed tears of joy. When Ryuuto was forcibly drafted to the front lines due to his exceptional skills, his big sister was about to graduate from high school. In other words, she was part of the last generation who was able to enjoy a peaceful school life without dungeons and monsters. 

And… That big sister was now standing before him. Kazuki, his older sister, whom he hadn’t seen in ages, was where. Ryuuto, who had surrendered his weapon to Loria Himejima, was finally reunited with his big sister. 

“Nee-chan…?”

“Ryuuto… Is that you? Is that really you?”

Kazuki took a step forward cautiously.

She looks old. 

That was the first thought that crossed Ryuuto’s mind. Indeed. Considering he had been wandering in the dungeon for 20 years, it was only natural for her sister to look older. In fact, her big sister looked exactly like how Ryuuto had imagined she would look like if she was older. 

However, the memory of his big sister that had been burned into his memory was the image of a young woman barely in her twenties. A sharp pain throbbed in the back of his head due to the disconnection between the memory of his big sister in his head and the reality before him. He tried to forcibly align the present reality with his memories, but his mind began to malfunction. The one thing he could say for sure was that her voice had hardly changed at all. That fact must be the reason why Ryuuto could accept that the aged woman in front of him was his big sister after all.

“Is that really you, Kazuki-neechan?”

“RYUUTO!”

“OUFFPH-!”

What hit Ryuuto the hardest was definitely the passage of time. Even though he felt like he had only been wandering in the dungeon for a short while, but in reality, he had been missing for yours. Almost 20 years even. Only now was Ryuuto able to fully feel the passage of time. Then, there was the difference in their feelings. From what Ryuuto could remember, his big sister, who was six years his senior, had never been one to express her emotions so straightforwardly, even as she graduated from school. Yet, here she was, holding him tightly and crying out loud. This was something unthinkable given the stoic image of his big sister he had. His big sister had always seemed unshakeable, no matter what happened. A part of him thought his big sister was being overdramatic but as she let her much smaller frame embraced him, Ryuuto found himself unable to tease her over it.

“You idiot! You’re late! You’re way too late!”

Kazuki shouted as she lifted her face. Her face was messy from tears and the usually stoic expression on her face had disappeared. This sight triggered something in Ryuuto’s mind. It was the memory he had buried deep inside, the day their mother had passed away. For the first time since he had gotten lost in the dungeon, his fragmented memories finally came together. 

“Sorry… I guess I’ve kept you waiting, huh, Nee-chan?”

Physically and mentally, Ryuuto hadn’t aged past the age of 18. He was still trying to grasp the reality, but being surrounded by members of the Explorers’ Association, law enforcement, and firefighters made him unable to focus on his ‘touching reunion’ with his big sister. In fact, he felt more embarrassed than emotional.

A round of applause erupted around them—clap, clap, clap. This only made Ryuuto squirm even more. Flushing bright red, he furiously ran his fingers through his ridiculously long, overgrown hair, tousling it in frustration. Twenty years of time had definitely passed.

Now that her emotions had calmed down somewhat, Kazuki slowly let Ryuuto go. Even though Kazuki was his big sister, Ryuuto couldn’t deny that his big sister was a beauty. That said, 20 years of separation had certainly left a mark on his big sister.

She’s really the spitting image of Mother…

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