I tried to investigate the person who put a 4 million yen bounty on the treasure chest.
Even though I tried to get in touch with this person, I received no response. During this time, changes occurred in the bounty situation.
At first, the streamers thought it would be an easy task to just bring the chest back and receive 4 million yen.
However, the skeleton monster guarding the chest was so powerful that once the information got out, no one dared to challenge it.
What they initially thought would be a simple task, akin to casually carrying a chest home during a dungeon run, turned out to be a situation where the reward didn’t match the difficulty.
With that, no one dared to challenge the chest anymore, which, in turn, reduced the number of rivals aiming for the chest.
“Hmm?”
Then, an email arrived for me. The sender’s name was Mitsuru Misawa.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Kageno.
My name is Mitsuru Misawa.
Recently, I placed a bounty on a treasure chest on a certain website.
Mr. Kageno, I apologize for the sudden request, but would it be possible for us to meet and talk directly?
If that’s difficult, we can also handle it remotely.
Please consider it, and thank you in advance.”
I couldn’t believe it—this person contacted me first. However, something felt off. I had made the contact first, yet there was no reaction to that.
Did my message not reach them?
I decided to consult with Shiba-san about this.
After explaining the situation to Shiba-san, he nodded thoughtfully.
“For now, I’d like to hear about this as well. But I think meeting in person could be a bit risky. It seems better to handle it remotely.”
“Ah, so you also think remote is the way to go, Shiba-san? To be honest, I don’t really understand why someone would offer 4 million yen for that chest, and I’m feeling a bit scared about it.”
If they put up such a large bounty knowing they would be attacked by the skeleton monster, it would definitely be malicious.
Because of this, quite a few people had disappeared in dungeons.
But, well, that’s probably not the case. The skeleton monster didn’t appear in our stream, so it’s likely they didn’t know what would happen and just made the request.
I emailed them with the condition that Shiba-san and I would contact them remotely.
Misawa-san agreed, and we scheduled a remote meeting for that day.
When I started the remote call app, Misawa-san was already waiting.
Misawa-san was a woman in her late twenties, dressed in a suit, with a fairly attractive appearance.
“Hello, this is Kageno.”
“This is Shiba.”
Both Shiba-san and I entered the chat room and greeted Misawa-san, who responded in kind.
“Mr. Kageno, hello. I am Mitsuru Misawa. Nice to meet you.”
There was a sense of elegance in Misawa-san’s voice. She might be from some distinguished family.
“Uh… Misawa-san, is there something you wanted to discuss with us when you contacted us?”
I decided to ask her directly about the reason for her contact. Misawa-san lowered her eyebrows and began to respond.
“Yes. I must retrieve the music that flows from that treasure chest.”
It sounded like there was some kind of reason behind it.
I might be a bit rude asking about it on our first meeting, but I felt it was something I had to ask.
“Yes. My father was a composer. He has passed away now, but before he died, he left behind some unpublished sheet music. That music was stolen by someone.”
The story of the stolen sheet music and the treasure chest with music in the dungeon didn’t seem to connect, but I could see the connection between sheet music and music.
“I contacted the police, and they identified the thief from his fingerprints. The thief was a dungeon streamer. He had a criminal record, so he was easy to identify.”
Dungeon streaming is something anyone can do without specific qualifications. For people who find it hard to get jobs, it becomes the last chance to make money.
That’s why the ratio of former criminals in dungeon streaming is said to be higher than in other industries.
“However, the dungeon streamer who stole the sheet music and other items from my father’s house died in the dungeon just a few days after the theft.”
The man who stole the sheet music died in the dungeon… This seemed related to the current situation.
“The police investigated his house, but of all the stolen items, the sheet music was the only thing missing. I was… devastated that I couldn’t recover my father’s work.”
Not being able to recover something left behind by a parent—how painful must that be…
“I sympathize with your feelings.”
I, too, have lost my parents. The thought of having my memories of them taken away is enough to tear me apart.
“I had given up on recovering my father’s work. However, the other day, when I watched your stream… the song my father composed at the end of his life played.”
“That music came from the treasure chest…?”
It was a story that was hard to believe. Could there really be a song composed by someone from outside the dungeon among the items created inside the dungeon? Is that even possible?
“I have one thing I’d like to confirm, if that’s alright?”
Shiba-san entered the conversation.
“How did you know that the music that played in our stream was composed by your father?”
That’s a fair question. Is it really possible to recognize the content of a piece of music just because an unpublished sheet was stolen? If you know the contents of the music, wouldn’t there be no need to recover it?
“Actually, my father played me part of the music he was composing. It was only the beginning, but the opening part matched the music coming from the treasure chest.”
“…We didn’t hear the music all the way to the end. There’s a possibility it might have been cut off. Even so, do you still want to retrieve the treasure chest?”
“Yes. If there is even a slight possibility, it’s human nature to want to cling to it. I absolutely must recover that treasure chest in order to hear the music all the way through. And I want to recreate my father’s sheet music and release it to the public.”
Misawa-san’s eyes were glistening. She was probably holding back tears. However, her expression was also one of pain. It seemed there was more going on inside her than just the matter with her father.
“Misawa-san. Actually, I tried to contact you. I sent a message to the contact info on the bounty site, but didn’t you notice?”
“I’m very sorry. Actually… because of the bounty, many lives have been lost. Because of that, I’ve received numerous messages filled with slander… I was too afraid to look at them.”
“I see. That’s what happened. I apologize for asking something so painful.”
Dying in a dungeon is generally considered one’s own responsibility. However, there are people in this world who can’t reconcile with that idea. When that happens, it’s common for their anger to be directed at the person who created the situation that caused their loved ones to die.
Even if it’s an unfair outburst and the person at fault is not the one being targeted. For the person directing the anger, it’s a righteous indignation.
From the perspective of the person receiving the slander, it’s an inconvenient situation, but the world doesn’t run on logic alone. There are people who mourn the loss of their favorite dungeon streamers, or those who lose family, friends, or lovers in dungeons.
Actually, we at Shadow Stars have received such messages before. During the recent Gold Gel battle. We received a message saying it was because we hadn’t done enough, which caused Lena-tan to suffer a lifelong injury.
From our side, we did what we could, and in fact, we were the ones who helped. But still, there are always a certain number of people who unfairly lash out.
“That’s why, I have a request for the Shadow Stars. I will pay you 10 million yen, so please, could you recover the treasure chest?”
The bounty increased from 4 million to 10 million yen. Well, the situation had changed. The mysterious monster guarding the chest had increased the cost of the request several times over.
However, Shiba-san was looking at Misawa-san with a skeptical expression.
“Misawa-san. Just a moment? If you only want to hear the music, the stream should be enough. Wouldn’t it be better to just open the chest right there instead of taking it home?”
Shiba-san’s point was valid.
“…My father’s work is still unpublished. So, I don’t want the public to hear it.”
