The group of four headed toward the dungeon rumored to harbor the werewolf.
Once there, they began their live stream, battling monsters as they went.
Shiba thrust with his spear, Makita crushed enemies with his fists, Daigo incinerated foes with magic, and Ikezawa supported them.
There were indeed plenty of enemies, but the elusive werewolf they sought refused to appear.
“Take this!”
Makita chopped off a monster’s head with a sharp hand strike, a dazzling move that even captivated the viewers.
Comments on the live stream:
– “Strong!”
– “They really hired some great talent this time.”
– “Congrats on the hire!”
– “I want a job too (23 years old, unemployed grad).”
“Damn it! Where the hell is that werewolf?!”
Makita punched the dungeon wall, producing a loud thud and leaving a dent, though his fist remained unscathed.
Honestly, it was a bit enviable—if punching walls left no rebound damage, maybe there could even be a niche job market for “wall-punching services.”
“It showed up in this dungeon the last time,” Daigo muttered, scratching his head as he scanned the area. Yet no sign of the werewolf could be found anywhere.
“What should we do? Should we split up for now? Maybe Kaito and I, and then Daigo and Jin as another team?”
“Well, to be honest, sticking together as four might be overkill for this dungeon. Splitting up and contacting each other if we find it sounds reasonable,” Shiba agreed.
The two quickly reached a consensus.
“If Shiba says so, I’m fine with it.”
“I agree as well.”
They paired off into a front-liner and rear-guard combination, leveraging the advantages of being in a larger group.
Indeed, there’s strength in numbers.
If only Yukiya were here, we’d be even stronger… No, I will save Yukiya.
The next live stream will be with all five of us—definitely.
As they split into two groups, I adjusted the live stream so the main channel could show both groups’ progress through a picture-in-picture display. My role was to monitor the two screens and switch perspectives as needed.
Comments on the live stream:
– “Is it really okay to split up?”
– “If Shiba and Daigo are there, it should be fine.”
– “Honestly, those two are so strong, they could probably handle things solo.”
“Shiba, the werewolf isn’t showing up.”
“Yeah, it was here last time, but there was only one. Maybe this dungeon never had many in the first place.”
“Really…?”
“And even if we found another dungeon, there’s no guarantee the werewolves there are infected—it wouldn’t help us much.”
“Right, the werewolf has to be one of the infected ones.”
Shiba and Ikezawa seemed to be doing well together.
How about Daigo and Makita?
“Gotcha! Found a target!”
Makita charged at an unrelated monster.
“Hey, Jin, there’s no need to hunt that one!”
Despite not being provoked, Makita attacked any monster in sight. Daigo could only laugh wryly.
“Huh? The more monsters we take down, the easier it’ll be to find what’s left.”
Fair enough—Makita’s logic wasn’t entirely off. Leaving other monsters alive could create distractions.
Still, the guy just charged ahead without regard for conserving energy.
While his recklessness was a bit of a hassle, their group seemed to be managing fine for now.
Switching back to Shiba’s group.
“Look, Shiba! Isn’t that a werewolf over there?”
Ikezawa pointed toward a figure—it was a werewolf, and it was heading straight for them.
The werewolf was running quite fast and was out of breath.
“It seems like it’s coming towards us. Moreover, this one is running, consuming stamina. That’s actually convenient for us since we won’t need to tire it out ourselves.”
Shiba readied his spear to face the werewolf. However, in the next moment…
“Grsshaaah!”
From behind the werewolf, a monster twice its size emerged from the darkness.
The creature had eight tentacles, one of which it stretched toward the werewolf.
The werewolf was grabbed by the tentacle and dragged toward the monster’s mouth.
“Wa, woooaaah!”
The werewolf struggled desperately, but couldn’t break free from the tentacle.
“Sh-Shiba! What is that monster?!”
“That one… It’s a rare monster. A Beast Predator. A monster that prefers eating beasts… I can’t believe it’s in this dungeon.”
The Beast Predator opened its massive jaws and swallowed the werewolf whole.
The werewolf, engulfed by the creature’s enormous body, probably met its end without dropping any materials.
Comments on the live stream:
– “Eww! What was that monster? Gross!”
– “That’s terrifying!”
– “The monster’s eating another monster!”
“It seems like the reason the number of werewolves is decreasing is because of that thing,” Shiba said, glaring at the Beast Predator without putting away his spear.
“Shiba! Are you planning to fight that thing?”
“Of course. If we leave it be, it’ll just devour all the werewolves.”
“That… Even a werewolf is a tough opponent. Can we really beat a monster that swallows them whole?”
“We have no choice but to fight it. The one who hunts first wins. And that thing’s the better hunter. If we don’t take it down, it will keep picking off the werewolves.”
I thought this would just be a job of hunting werewolves, but I’ve been caught up in something much worse.
“Should we call Daigo and the others?”
“Leave that to the management.”
Management… In other words, me. I’d been focused on Shiba’s team, but I wondered how Daigo and the others were doing.
“Take this! I’m faster than you!”
Makita and the werewolf were engaged in a back-and-forth battle.
Makita, despite the werewolf’s remarkable speed, was able to keep up with it. This guy’s incredible.
It seemed like they were encountering a werewolf of their own over here.
There’s no guarantee this one’s carrying the pathogen, but it would be a waste to let it slip away after finding it.
I contacted Daigo over the intercom.
“Daigo, can you hear me?”
“Ah, yes. I was just about to contact Shiba and the others.”
Daigo spoke quietly so only I could hear.
“Shiba’s team is up against an even more dangerous monster. It’s a Beast Predator, a creature that can swallow even a werewolf whole.”
“What? What should we do?”
“If we don’t defeat the Beast Predator, it will eat all the werewolves in this dungeon. We have no choice but to take it down. But we can’t let this werewolf escape either.”
That means there’s only one answer.
“Daigo, once you finish off the werewolf, head to Shiba’s team to assist them. I’ll send you the coordinates later.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of this one as quickly as I can and then head over.”
If all I needed was a werewolf’s claws, I could just break off the claws of the one Makita’s fighting and finish it off…
But I can’t tell if it’s infected with the pathogen here. That uncertainty is complicating things.
In the end, taking down the Beast Predator had become a must.
“Ikezawa, Daigo’s team is currently in battle with a werewolf. It will take time to join up.”
“Got it,” Ikezawa replied.
I had to make sure to keep everyone informed. Everyone… Please, for Yukiya’s sake, I’m really counting on you!
