Ordinary Person × Modern Dungeon × Summer Vacation Life = Rise to Success!? 〜A Private Dungeon Was Made at the Remains of a Secret Base From Childhood〜 - Episode 31: [Listener] In the Case of Childhood Friend, Miyano Manami

Episode 31: [Listener] In the Case of Childhood Friend, Miyano Manami

(Note: Special for this chapter, dialogues from the livestream are written in this bracket:『…..』. And chats from the livestream are written in this bracket:《……》)

My name is Miyano Manami.

My explorer name is “Moonbow Hermit”.

I’m a skilled explorer holding an A-rank license, which places me in the top 3%. And I am a user of [Light Magic] and [Dark Magic].

…is a complete lie.

To be exact, I make my living by writing a dungeon strategy blog under that persona.

The real me is Level 1, and has super low stats. I possesses only a mysterious skill called [Desire to Transform].

I have absolutely zero dungeon exploration experience.

Even someone like me—if I put out articles summarizing publicly available national data under that flashy title and label them as “Premium Tier”—there are people who support me with paid subscriptions on their own.

And if I summarize high-news-value events like today’s incident, I can get a decent amount of PVs (page views). So ad revenue comes in too.

It was a desperate measure after being kicked out of my parents’ house. But I’ve managed to earn enough to live in a cheap property in the countryside.

All thanks to the dungeon exploration era.

So, initially, I was watching the livestream of the Ōta Dungeon as research for an article…

—And by coincidence, my two childhood friends appeared on screen.

“Heh heh, Kou-chin and Tamatama. Nothing’s changed.”

The two of them are conquering the 13th floor of the Ōta Dungeon.

The monsters appearing on the floor are Red Lizardmen.

They’re quite fast, breathe fire, and are strong enemies.

But if it’s those two, they’ll be fine.

Tamatama defends using [Water Magic], while Kou-chin takes them down one by one with his dagger.

“They’re still perfectly in sync, huh…”

After Shīshī moved to Tokyo, I started getting left out by those two.

We always ended up as “two and one,” and I started hating my own social awkwardness. So I stopped going to the secret base—we used to play there.

“Well, the current me doesn’t care though.”

Now that I’m an adult, there are video distribution channels, the internet, smartphone games—I can do anything anytime.

If anything, I’m too busy even alone.

Social awkwardness? Bring it on.

『Kou-chan, I’ll take down the next one, okay!』

『You’re still saying that…? Yamada-san’s gonna scold you again.』

『But I need to maintain my dignity as a senior…』

『No, seriously, I appreciate it. A newbie like me being able to do this much is all thanks to you, Otama-chan.』

『R-really? I-I guess if you put it like that, I have no choice…』

“《Yeah yeah, just get married》《At least let him see your b00bs》…and send.”

*Click-clack*, I type and post the comment.

I’ve known for a long time that Tamatama liked Kou-chin.

Back in elementary school, I happened to see Kou-chin’s initials written on Tamatama’s eraser.

It was that superstition: “If you write the name of your crush on your eraser and use it up without anyone noticing, you’ll become a couple.”

I pretended not to see.

Well, it’s not like I had any romantic feelings for Kou-chin. So it didn’t make me feel anything special.

Besides, someone gloomy like me could never be loved by anyone.

I already know I’ll never get married.

However.

I don’t need to get married, but I do want someone to take care of me.

That feeling grows stronger every year.

《I wonder if Kou-chan won’t use teleportation?》

《He probably can’t unless he feeds the caterpillar. Maybe it’s out of food?》

《The caterpillar was cute, huh》

This time, learning that Kou-chin has the [Teleportation] skill was lucky.

Honestly, I got a big zap!—that kind of feeling.

If you have [Teleportation], you’re guaranteed to earn tens of millions a year.

In fact, even during the stream, he was getting what looked like job offers.

Marrying Kou-chin is also one option. But Tamatama is probably aiming for that position.

I don’t think I can win. And more than that, there’s no way Kou-chin would like me as a woman.

So, I reached a conclusion.

I’ll become the adopted child of the two of them.

I’ll have Papa Kou-chin and Mama Tamatama take care of me.

Hey, I was born in February.

I’m younger than the two of them.

“Heh heh… My life has finally begun.”

Therefore.

Those two must not die.

They’re the only friends with whom I’ve ever managed to build human relationships.

The last remaining hope that I might rebuild human connections.

And not only does Kou-chin have [Teleportation], but also some absurd skill like “learn skills with a bug-catching net.”

He’s a talent too precious to ignore.

『Kyaa! What is this!? It’s way too fun!』

…….…And it looked like another weird thing was happening on screen.

《What’s going on?》

《Tama-chan’s using thread!?》

《Isn’t that Kou-chan’s skill!?》

《Did she learn the same one!?》

《Can that even happen?》

『H-hey. Mine really became unusable. What’s going on?』

『So like, apparently I achieved something like “say ‘can I borrow it?’ and get ‘sure’” inside the dungeon. And I could learn the [Rental] skill!! Just like last time!』

『Since that time with [Water User] huh… Wait, I only said “take it if you want” as a joke when you asked for the [Thread] skill… I didn’t mean it. There’s no way you can lend skills.』

『But the joke became real!!』

《What’s [Rental]??》

《Treating skills like toys》

《Too light lol》

《It was just a joke》

《Tama-chan got a rare skill!》

『Wait, is that “achievement” thing valid even outside of the private dungeon? What the hell is that about?』

『Well, who cares! Whoa! So fun! With this, I can beat Red Lizardmen alone!』

『Wait, seriously… [Thread] skill come back. It’s mine, so I’d like it back.』

『H-huh!? I suddenly can’t use it anymore!? Why!?』

『Oh! Mine is usable again. So [Rental] ended, huh.』

《You can learn skills for that kind of reason??》

《I’ll try it too! I’m solo though!》

《You need someone to borrow a skill from first》

《Only skill I can lend is “cooperation”. Anyone want it?》

《Such a sad world》

“Oy oy…!”

No one’s noticed?

How dumb can they be?

No, maybe I’m the only one who noticed.

I thought it was strange—someone as muscle-headed as Tamatama using something as intellectual as [Water Magic].

And this sudden skill acquisition…

No doubt about it.

That was a skill *bestowed* by Kou-chin.

Tamatama didn’t learn it by coincidence.

Kou-chin not only has a skill to *learn* skills, but also one to *teach* skills.

There’s no other explanation.

Otherwise, there’s no way a skill would appear for such a silly reason.

From the way Tamatama was talking, it’s likely that playing with Kou-chin—put simply, “he has the power to strengthen his friends.”

—Play with a bug net and grow stronger.

—Play with friends and make them stronger too.

Probably, Kou-chin has a skill with a name like [Play].

Considering his late start as an explorer, the name must sound like a total trash-tier skill at first glance.

But once you understand how to use it, it’s top tier…

“Damn… If this leaks out, sluts and trashy dudes are gonna swarm Kou-chin…….”

I have to keep this a secret just for me.

Kou-chin is *my* Papa.

I won’t let those sluts touch him.

I need to rescue those two, and quickly become their adopted child.

“Well then, not just rolling up my sleeves—I’ll have to strip down butt-naked for this… Switching accounts…”

I log out of the account I made just to post irresponsible comments. And I switch to my main account: 《Luna_arc_hermit (Moonbow Hermit)》.

This main account is somewhat known in the explorer industry. So it has influence.

“Time to put out some info that might help Kou-chin and the others…”

Though I’ve never explored a dungeon, I’ve written so many fake experience blog posts that I’ve ended up with tons of dungeon knowledge.

Well, I guess you’d call it “book smarts”.

『Hey. Lemme borrow [Thread] again』

『Can’t be helped. Sure, go ahead』

『Yay! Woo-hoo! I can use it again!』

“…They’re so carefree, seriously.”

There’s something I noticed about the dungeon’s pattern.

To Goblins, there’s a Goblin General.

To Lizardmen, there’s a Red Lizardman.

The Ōta Dungeon tends to enhance and reintroduce monsters of the same type.

Many dungeons have this kind of feature.

I noticed this after writing tons of half-assed blog posts.

And the 10th floor’s boss was a big snake.

This floor’s Lizardmen, the Poison Lizard too, Ōta Dungeon has lots of reptiles.

The next boss is probably from the same family.

“Heh, I’m getting the hang of this…”

From past data and the repeated patterns, it’s probably…

I post a comment using my main account.

《【Luna_arc_hermit】The 15th floor boss is probably a Green Dragon. Someone from the Association, teach them how to beat it》

It’s a powerful foe. But I think those two can manage.

—Just like back then, when the two of them worked together to catch lizards.