Today, the members of Shadow Stars are doing a dungeon stream.
However, today, Koya is absent. During a battle with the Gold Gel, Koya broke his sword.
Because of this, Koya is in a situation where he can’t really go into the dungeon right now.
“Ah… Why am I not there…!”
Koya, sitting next to me, looks frustrated as we watch the stream together.
“It can’t be helped. Your only attack method is your weapon.”
The dungeon they’re in has fairly strong monsters, and a half-baked weapon would only be a hindrance.
Until Koya’s new weapon arrives, he’ll likely stay here with me, waiting.
“I really should learn attack magic. That way, I can fight with magic like Shiba-san or Daigo-san.”
Even Shiba-san, who is a front-line type like Koya, can use magic, so it’s probably not impossible for Koya to learn attack magic as well.
However, according to Shiba-san and Daigo-san, using attack magic is difficult, and they say you need to first learn supportive magic.
Apparently, there are people who can suddenly learn attack magic, but Koya doesn’t seem to be that type.
“Anyway, let’s focus on watching the stream. Watching it like this is part of our training.”
“Yeah, I know, Eito-kun.”
Koya and I focus on the screen, where Shiba-san and the others are fighting monsters.
Shiba-san pierces a monster with his spear. His attack power is as strong as ever. A weak monster can’t withstand it.
Daigo-san follows up with a magic attack. A brilliant attack magic bursts out, hitting the monster. These two are still strong. Their stability is unmatched.
The two of them continue to defeat monsters one after another with their combined efforts.
“Both of you! Don’t let up on your attacks!”
Ikezawa-san gives instructions to the two of them. As a result, their attack speed increases. With Ikezawa-san’s buff, the speed at which they eliminate the monsters rises.
“Phew, is that all?”
The three of them cooperate to wipe out the monster horde. Shiba-san puts his spear away with a cool expression.
[Comments:]
- Shiba-san and Daigo-san are so strong.
- As expected, these two are the two big aces!
- They’re strong enough even without Koya.
“…”
Koya, looking at the comments, seems a bit dissatisfied. It’s likely a complicated feeling seeing how well everyone is doing without him.
“Well, as long as everyone is okay, that’s fine… but seeing them do so well without me… it’s kind of annoying.”
“So, do you want them to struggle?”
“It’s not that… Well, I guess it’d be better if they struggled a little, as long as there’s no real harm.”
Koya seems a bit hesitant to say this.
“Well, I understand how you feel, but honestly, those monsters aren’t that strong, right? Compared to the Gold Gel, they’re practically weak.”
Of course, as monsters, they’re still a threat. I probably wouldn’t be able to defeat them either, but with proper equipment, someone at Koya’s level as a dungeon streamer would probably have no trouble winning, as long as they don’t get careless.
“If they’re at that level, even without my sword, I could take them out! I’ll knock them down with a club!”
“I’m not so sure. You struggled against even the weaker dungeon rabbits, remember?”
After getting his sword, Koya became strong enough to be a support role for Shiba-san, but if he were still using a club… he’d still be a burden.
“I’ve grown since then! You know that too, don’t you, Eito-kun?”
“Yeah. I’ll admit that. But are you really confident you can beat those monsters without your sword?”
Koya probably knows best about his own strength. He falls silent for a few seconds before responding.
“Well, realistically, I guess it’s impossible.”
Koya isn’t foolish enough to misjudge things. He understands his own strength.
That’s why, until a few days ago, he wasn’t confident in his own abilities.
Meanwhile, there’s some activity on the stream. There’s a treasure chest in the dungeon that hasn’t been opened.
“Daigo-kun, do you think this treasure chest is trapped?”
“Well, most treasure chests in dungeons are probably trapped.”
Treasure chests in dungeons are often trapped. If you open a treasure chest without disabling the trap, you’ll end up in a disastrous situation.
“What should we do? Who will disable the trap? Should I do it?”
“Yeah. I can also disable it with magic, but I’d prefer to conserve MP as much as possible.”
“Understood. Then just wait a moment.”
Shiba-san takes out some tools and starts fiddling with the chest, making clicking sounds.
There are two ways to disable a trap on a treasure chest. One is to disable it manually, and the other is to use magic.
What Shiba-san is doing is the manual method. It doesn’t consume MP, but if it fails, there’s a risk that the trap will activate.
With magic, MP is consumed, but it’s a guaranteed way to disable the trap without the risk of a malfunction.
There’s a click, and then Shiba-san opens the chest.
“Alright, the trap’s been disabled. Inside… it’s an old coin. It’s kind of tarnished.”
The treasure chest, which looked extravagant, only contained a single coin. Whether it’s valuable or not is unclear.
“Daigo-kun, do you recognize this?”
“It doesn’t seem like something made by humans. There probably isn’t any record of this design being manufactured in history.”
“So, that means it was created by the dungeon?”
Shiba-san carefully puts the coin away to avoid damaging it.
“Shiba-san, do you think this coin could be worth much?”
“I’m not sure. If there’s someone who sees value in it, it could sell for a high price. Even things that seem useless at first can be highly sought after by collectors, especially if they’re made by a dungeon.”
Even coins that don’t seem to have any special effects could be collected by people who appreciate them for their uniqueness.
If a collector finds value in it, it could sell for a high price.
[Comments:]
- A coin made by the dungeon sounds like it could be valuable.
- There are cases where there are hundreds of thousands of coins of the same type, so it’s important to have a collector appraise it to determine its worth.
- I used to resell dungeon coins, but I lost a lot of money and don’t do it anymore. It’s possible for a valuable coin to drop in value if many more of the same type are discovered.
- Even if it’s a worthless coin now, it could turn out to be a valuable material for rare weapons or tools later on, so dungeon coin investment is something you can’t easily give up.
Dungeon coins… they have a market, and it kind of feels like cryptocurrency, reflecting human desire, which is hard to explain.
Shiba-san and the others move forward. Soon, another treasure chest is found.
“This chest… Hmm. It doesn’t seem to have any particularly dangerous traps. If the trap activates, it won’t cause any fatal damage. Kaito-kun, would you like to try disabling the trap?”
“Huh? M-Me?”
Ikezawa-san looks flustered when Shiba-san asks him.
“It’s fine. If you follow my instructions, you should be able to disable it. Even if you fail, this trap will only cause a little sting.”
“Kaito-kun, everything is a learning experience. You have to practice on weaker traps so you won’t be caught off guard later on.”
With Shiba-san and Daigo-san’s encouragement, Ikezawa-san reluctantly stands in front of the chest.
“I-I’ll give it a try.”
[Comments:]
- Good luck, Kaito-kun!
- I’ll pick up the bones if needed.
- If Shiba’s supervising, he should be fine.
Ikezawa-san borrows some tools from Shiba-san and attempts to disable the trap on the chest.
“Here, turn this left twice. Move this a little upwards. Pull this carefully without shaking it…”
Following Shiba-san’s instructions, Ikezawa-san works to disable the trap.
“Ah, I’ve always wanted to try disabling a trap too.”
Koya watches Ikezawa-san enviously. Well, I can understand his jealousy since he’s not the one getting to experience it, even though Ikezawa-san is the junior.
There’s a click.
“Alright, looks like it’s disabled. Open it up.”
“Okay.”
Ikezawa-san opens the chest, and suddenly music starts playing.
“What is this…? Is the chest a music box? Doesn’t seem like there’s any treasure inside.”
Shiba-san checks the contents of the chest. The only thing inside is a device that plays music—nothing else of note.
“A treasure chest that’s a music box. Well, it might become popular as an interior decoration, but I’m not sure if it’s worth bringing back this size.”
Daigo-san makes a somewhat disappointed face. It doesn’t seem like it’s the treasure chest they were hoping for.
