The World’s Only Max-Level Lazy Introvert Accidentally Goes Viral After Helping a Famous Streamer Who Forgot to Turn off Her Dungeon Stream - 19

Chapter 19: The Lazy Introvert Shakes the World Once Again

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The next day… 

“Wha-What is this…?”

Upon waking up, I grabbed my smartphone to check on the news and I was immediately greeted with a string of shocking news. 

――A Huge Number of Orichalcum Slimes Were Defeated in a Short Time?!――

――Sunozaki Party, the Strongest Party in the World, Claims That This Is Absolutely Impossible――

――Who Exactly Is Strong Enough to Achieve This Feat? The Government Is Still Investigating This Issue――

――Could This Be the Emergence of Someone Who Will Rewrite the Whole History of Dungeon Exploration?!――

The news articles were filled with people saying this was something unbelievable. Indeed. It was only natural for other people to be shocked. Just like what Shiori mentioned yesterday, most S-rank explorers were around level 120. At that level, those S-rank explorers could only defeat one or two Orichalcum Slimes at most. After all, the toughness and the speed of those creatures were anything but ordinary. So while I could understand why the other explorers would be shocked when they saw that huge number of Orichalcum Slimes’ corpses, but I never expected things would blow out of proportion to this extent. And the government was going to launch an investigation too? Seriously?

“Well… If things are about to turn troublesome, I will just need to escape with everything I’ve got…”

I muttered to myself as I began preparing myself for school.

★★★

My life had been extremely peaceful for the next few weeks. After school, I would meet up with Shiori, who somehow always managed to wait for me by the school gates. We would then head straight to the dungeon and defeat many monsters together. We had also started doing other mundane things like stopping by a nearby café or going to a nice restaurant. We started going out to do things other than dungeon exploring. Given how eventful the last days had been, these peaceful days felt like absolute bliss. Though going out with a famous streamer like Shiori was anything but ‘ordinary’ in the first place. 

By the way, Onizuka and his henchmen hadn’t been to school since the assault at the back alley. The school had tried to contact Onizuka several times, but it seemed he had been ignoring all the calls. Well, that was to be expected though. Shiori had broadcasted the whole assault to the whole world with him holding a knife to me. There was no way he could show his face at school again. I thought the police would start taking action soon, but… Strangely enough, there hadn’t been any news from the police. Although Onizuka’s crime had been broadcasted to the whole internet, but neither the TV nor the newspaper had reported that incident. The reporters who had been flocking the school ever since the bullying scene on the school courtyard was broadcasted had started to stop coming to school too. 

Of course, the online community had noticed this strange turn of events too.

“The mass media needs to bring this issue to the public!!”

“Stop trying to manipulate the public’s perception!!”

Those kinds of sentiments were growing stronger each day on the internet. However, nothing had changed. Just like that, time passed by and…

“Hehehe… Of course. My big brother is a member of the yakuza, you know? If you dare to mess with me…. You won’t be able to get away from me easily.”

I remembered Onizuka mentioned that his big brother was in the yakuza. I doubt his big brother had that much influence in the yakuza, but could it be Onizuka was being protected by the yakuza? His big brother must be a big shot if the yakuza was willing to go this far for a mere high school student like Onizuka. I was bothered by this, but there was nothing I could do about it now. It would be better if my peaceful days would continue like this. 

But then… About four weeks after the assault on the back alley…

『This is Onizuka. You’re Ren Oomomo, right? Come to the Void Dungeon with Yuria-chan at 10PM tomorrow. I will be sure to kill you this time.』

I suddenly received a LINE message from Onizuka. Of course, I had never given him my contact information. Maybe Onizuka got my contact information through some underhanded methods? But then…. 

“Hello? Ren-kun?! Did you receive a message from Onizuka?!”

At almost the same time, I received a LINE call from Shiori. 

“Yeah, I got it. By ‘too’, does that mean you receive a message from him too?”

“Yeah. He said he’s going to have a match with you in Void Dungeon at 10 PM tomorrow. He told me he wants me to stream the match live….””

“…”

Onizuka didn’t change. The message he had sent to me and Shiori was still brimming with pride as always. Of course, I didn’t expect anything less from Onizuka. However, now that I knew Onizuka had a connection with the yakuza, I couldn’t help but to feel extremely uneasy about the whole thing. 

“Okay. Shiori, you don’t need to come. It’s best if you stay somewhere safe tomorrow.”

“Huh…?”

“You must’ve your suspicions too, right? That Onizuka is being backed up by the yakuza? I know you’re really strong inside the dungeon, but outside the dungeon… You’re just an ordinary… High school girl. Anyway, just leave this to me and don’t worry about it.”

“But the same could be said about you, right? Sure, you’ve defeated Onizuka and his henchmen outside the dungeon, but if he’s truly with the yakuza…”

“It’s fine. I can handle it.”

“Huh? Wha-What do you mean…?”

“Don’t worry about me. I will take care of this on my own. It’s best if you don’t get dragged along with me. Okay? See you then.”

“What?! WAIT!!”

Shiori suddenly yelled, causing me to flinch. 

“Don’t try to solve everything on your own like that…! Ren-kun, you know I love you, right? If you’re gone,, I… I…!!”

“…”

What’s with her? I don’t really understand, but she’s so desperate… This desperation… It’s as if there’s something more that she’s hiding deep down her heart. 

“I know. I’m fully aware of how amazing Ren-kun is, but… I know you’re kinder than anyone else. I mean, if you’re not, you wouldn’t have risked becoming viral just to save me, right?”

“…”

“If you hadn’t saved me back then, I wouldn’t be here in the first place. So… Please, let me protect you this time. I know my combat skill is not as great as you, but with my channel… With Yuria’s video channel, I can spread the word far and wide.”

“Yo-You’re…”

This girl wasn’t just a carefree airhead. She wasn’t like her public persona. She was surprisingly stubborn and her heart was stronger than anyone else I knew. 

“Even if you tell me no, I can still go there on my own. I already know where you’re going to meet him anyway, so there’s no stopping me.”

“…Alright. But don’t ever leave my side, especially outside the dungeon. Okay? Promise me.”

“Yes! Even if we’re up against the yakuza, I know we can win this together!”

hearing Shiori’s cheerful response caused me to chuckle. Once again, I couldn’t help but to think…

“…What a strange girl you are.”

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T/N: The media manipulation reminds me of my country “( – ⌓ – )