I, Who Was Criticized as the World's Weakest S-Rank Explorer, Am Actually the World's Strongest Explorer - Episode 38

Episode 38

(Note: Special for this chapter, dialogues through the telephone are in ‘….’)

(Back to MC’s Perspective)

“……”

In the silence of the room, I woke up.

…Damn those reporters.

Every day, the media shows up from nowhere. From morning till night, they follow me around, pressing me about everything.

It’s seriously annoying.

How did things end up like this?

Wasn’t it what you all wanted? The demotion? Then, it should just be over with, right?

Like Miyoshi-san said, I seriously feel like just punching all of them and ending it.

But that’s not something you can just finish in today’s world, unfortunately.

It would be nice if we could return to a time when power was justice.

For now, I’ve moved away from home. My family says they’re fine, but I can’t risk them getting dragged into this. I don’t know who might ask them what, so I can’t involve them in my problems.

I have to be careful and avoid being seen, so I hide out in an apartment. It’s one Miyoshi-san’s acquaintance set up for me. At the moment, I live in three different apartments, rotating locations daily.

So, the media hasn’t been able to track me down completely. The townspeople have been helping me by not talking about me either.

The biggest problem is when they ambush me at school. But I can easily escape using my physical abilities.

So, the media isn’t too much of an issue… But when I check my phone, it’s a storm of abuse.

My name, alongside words like “incompetent”, “trash”, “lazy”, and “failure” are all over the place.

I don’t really care about myself. But when I see people saying awful things about my family, I just want to tear apart everyone who left those comments.

First off, I’ll request all of their details. Once things calm down, I’ll consult a lawyer.

Even if it costs me, anyone who insults my family will regret it!

I slapped my cheek to refocus myself when my phone buzzed.

At first, I thought I’d ignore it. Recently, I’ve been getting prank calls from unknown numbers—I’m not sure how they got my number.

Besides my acquaintances, the only people who would know it are the people from the Association.

………It probably leaked from one of them.

It was always just a few insults or silent calls.

I expected it to be more insults from some unknown number, but the name displayed was “Kirishima”.

It’s been a while. …I wondered if Kirishima-san, who had always been kind, had changed her attitude toward me. I hesitated for a moment. But I decided to muster up the courage to pick up.

“…Yes, this is Amakusa.”

‘…Amakusa-san… I apologize for the late contact. …Are you available now?’

“Yes, I’m fine. What is it?”

In reality, I wasn’t really fine. I had been taking screenshots of all the hateful posts every day, and my phone’s memory was starting to get full.

‘Actually, there’s good news. It might be possible to film or stream inside the dungeon soon!’

“…Huh? Is that true?”

I didn’t know when I would be able to conquer the dungeon.

I had reached floor 501, but the goal still wasn’t in sight.

If filming was possible, and I could submit that footage to the Association……. it would prove that I hadn’t been slacking all this time.

With that, the chaos would hopefully settle down.

…..Well, who knows if the Association will even believe it.

‘Yes. Right now, a researcher named Saotome, a colleague of mine, is here conducting research on the dungeon. We’re still in the process of adjusting things. But once it stabilizes, I’ll contact you again!’

“…Understood. Thank you.”

‘…Please, don’t overdo it.’

“Yes… I understand.”

After hanging up, I sighed deeply.

No matter how much the people around me deny me, I still have things to protect.

There are people who believe in me.

As I thought about this, my phone buzzed again.

This time, it was from Kanzaki.

“…Kanzaki? What’s going on?”

‘…Help me.’

“What? Is something wrong?”

I immediately began to worry. Was she being attacked by another dangerous monster?!

I quickly started preparing my gear.

‘……..I don’t understand how to set up an SNS or a channel…’

What? Suddenly, what? This makes no sense, Kanzaki-san!

“Uh… what do you mean?”

‘Anyway… can you teach me…?’

“Wait a minute! Ah, fine, can you come to Kamino Town later?”

‘…Yeah. Got it… I’ll come.’

I wasn’t sure where to meet her, but I sent her the address of the apartment where I was planning to return today.

I confirmed that the media wasn’t around outside the apartment. So, I decided to leave the house, just in case, and avoid being seen.

—

That Afternoon After School.

That day, there were several visitors scheduled to come to my apartment.

First, it was Kirishima-san and her friend, Saotome. Apparently, Saotome-san is the one researching the magic stones from the 101st floor of the dungeon.

Next, Kanzaki.

……..I don’t really understand why she came to ask me about how to create SNS accounts and channels. But anyway, she was available today, so she was coming over.

Lastly, Yuna. Well, as usual, she was coming to make dinner.

………………I didn’t really think too deeply about having four women gather in my room, but maybe it would have been better to have scheduled it for another day?

Well, it should be fine.

Aside from Yuna, everyone else was involved in work-related matters.

So, while I was waiting in the apartment… the first to arrive was Yuna.

“I’m glad, you look well.”

“We see each other at school too, don’t we?”

“Yeah. But still, Misaki-san and my dad are really worried about you…… Don’t you think you should just go back home? We don’t mind anything here.”

“It’s me who’s concerned.”

The media is treating me like some kind of criminal, constantly pressuring me. If that kind of thing were happening to my family, my anger would never subside.

“Well, anyway, I’ll go ahead and make dinner. Curry should be fine, right?”

“Yeah… Could you make a little extra?”

“Why?”

“Kanzaki is coming over today. And when I mentioned dinner, she said she wanted to eat here.”

“……Kanzaki? Hmmm, I see.”

Wait… Is Yuna suddenly getting cautious?

I guess I should tell her about the other visitors too.

“Also, Kirishima-san from the Explorer Association and one of their acquaintance are coming.”

“…Explorer Association!? Are they enemies!?”

“N-No, Kirishima-san isn’t an enemy! I’ve been helped a lot! I am even being brought a solution for my current situation!”

“….…Is that true?”

“Yeah, it’s true.”

“By the way, what’s their gender?”

“She’s a woman.”

“Honey trap! She’s definitely going to bring the media with her!”

“She won’t! If that happens, I’ll run away with you, so don’t worry!”

…..…There’s no way Kirishima-san would do something like that.

Could this kind of thinking mean that *I* am falling for a honey trap? 

Yuna saying weird things was starting to make me a little nervous.

As I was thinking about this, the doorbell rang. When I went to answer it, Kanzaki was standing there.

……Since she’s a bit of a famous person, she was wearing a hat, mask, and sunglasses. She looked very much like a suspicious person.

In her hands was a thick magazine… It seemed to be a map. Considering we have smartphone GPS these days, I thought she could have just used that.