“So, I’ll be doing a camping stream soon.”
“What does that even mean…?”
“The stream starts and the first thing you say is ‘So, here’s the deal.'”
Well, if someone says that without any explanation, the viewers would be confused, right? George, you slipped up. But I won’t explain it. After all, it’s not something I can easily talk about—camping in a hidden area of a mountain dungeon isn’t exactly something you boast about.
Now, for today’s drinking companions, I have edamame and broad beans. I suddenly craved them. Obviously, just this won’t fill me up, so I plan to eat something after the stream ends.
“――♪”
“Aurora seems to be having fun.”
“Right, I guess if she’s fairy-sized, it makes sense she’d prefer edamame like this.”
At first, I was going to give Aurora the beans I shelled, but she firmly refused. She kept the edamame as is, and for the broad beans, she made a small slit in the skin, then stomped on them with her feet. The beans popped out, showing their vibrant green insides. She’s quite handy with that.
“So, this time I thought I’d ask for some ideas for camp food. I got some meat, mountain vegetables, and mushrooms today… so, if you have any requests, I’ll try to make them.”
“Oh, you said it, huh?”
“Our requests are tough, you know?”
“Hehehe… You’ll regret it.”
“What’s with this vibe?”
Despite the teasing, I was kind of looking forward to it. Well, if they ask for something ridiculously bizarre, I’ll just refuse… but I can’t help but want to hear their wild ideas!
“Dirt.”
“Hahaha, this guy wants me to eat dirt!”
“How harsh!”
“But it’s full of minerals!”
“Yeah, I know! There are cultures where eating dirt is a thing! I know it’s full of minerals! You really want to eat it?”
“No, I’ll pass on that.”
“Well, you can get minerals from other things anyway.”
I’ve seen people in weird food manga eat dirt formed into balls… but no, that’s impossible for me. I’d rather eat something I don’t like than try that. To be honest, I didn’t expect the first outrageous request to come in so early. I would have tolerated something like a sea slug.
“Okay, next!”
When I declared this, the next batch of food ideas—well, more like ingredients—popped up in the comments. Things like sausages for BBQ, curry, hot sandwiches, and ajillo… Pretty typical stuff… although ajillo might be interesting.
Among those comments, one caught my eye.
“Manga meat.”
“Manga meat?”
“Isn’t that the meat that was said to be a myth before the dungeon appeared?”
“Never eaten it.”
“Me neither.”
“That’s some expensive stuff.”
“Really?”
I knew it existed, and I knew it was pricey, but since I’d never had any, I hadn’t looked it up.
Curious, I decided to search for it on Amazon. Let’s see… manga meat… and, whoa, low-cost versions and cushions show up. But that’s not what I want! I’m looking for the real thing, not some fake version!
“What? 150,000 yen?! For 500 grams?!”
“So expensive!”
“What kind of meat is it?”
“What kind of meat… Tyrannosaurus? Ah, okay, I get it.”
The Tyrannosaurus, a famous dinosaur known to everyone, lived before humanity appeared and became extinct due to factors like asteroids and ice ages. But thanks to the appearance of dungeons, these creatures have been revived—well, at least within the dungeons. Why? Maybe the dungeon has awakened the DNA of dinosaurs buried deep in the earth? Or maybe dinosaurs were originally created by dungeons? There were a lot of theories initially. But once goblins, orcs, dragons, and other fantasy creatures appeared, people stopped trying to make sense of it.
But even though people gave up trying to understand it, dinosaurs, once Earth’s greatest predators, are still formidable opponents, and their meat is being sold for extremely high prices.
“But the number of people who can actually hunt them is limited.”
“Doesn’t that page have a picture of adventurers?”
“Oh, it does. ‘We hunted this T. rex.’ Wait, can three people really hunt a T. rex…?”
This isn’t like those vegetable labels that say, “We grew this.” The three people in the photo are all Japanese, two men and one woman. They’re giving peace signs in front of a dead T. rex. Their gear doesn’t show any signs of battle, so it looks like they’re used to hunting these dinosaurs. Wow… quite different from me, just picking mountain vegetables in a dungeon.
“So, are you going to buy it?”
“Buy it, buy it, buy it!!!”
“It’s time to show your manliness!”
“I’m a woman, right now.”
“Haha, classic!”
“Well… as much as it sounds like a dream, 150,000 yen is a bit much… huh? Aurora?”
“――!”
I laughed awkwardly as I tried to back out of the page, but my hand froze. It wasn’t like I was under some spell, but I could feel the warmth of Aurora’s hand on mine. She’d been focused on the beans until now, but now she was paying attention to the screen.
“――!”
“Uh, Aurora, you know how expensive this is, right? Even if we sold hundreds of medicinal herbs, we couldn’t afford it.”
“Carnivorous fairy Aurora-chan.”
“I can’t see her expression from here, but I bet her eyes are sparkling.”
“You’re right, but just sparkling is 80 points. To get full marks, you need to add ‘drooling from her mouth’.”
“――!”
“Huh? You can make that kind of money so easily?”
“By the way, George, aren’t you going to do a super chat?”
“If you do a super chat, you can make money quickly.”
“No, really, let us throw some money at you.”
“Ah, well, I wasn’t really streaming for the super chats… I’d forgotten about that.”
To be honest, I just wanted to drink and chat during the stream. Back then, I wasn’t struggling with money, so I never cared about it.
But some people are saying to throw some money at me… I don’t really get that feeling, but should I apply for it? Thinking about it, I looked at Aurora to see if that’s what she meant with her gaze.
“――?”
“Huh? Is that not it? Then what?”
“――!”
“Fine, I get it!”
“It’s here!”
“Thank you for purchasing Manga Meat!!”
“I’m looking forward to the stream!”
Ah, I don’t regret it, but I just spent 150,000 yen. Damn it, now I’m going to buy some good alcohol!
