The Reward for the World's Strongest Explorer's Perfect Dungeon Conquest is apparently Marriage to me, who is known as an S-rank Fraud - Chapter 12

“Where the hell did Shia go…?”

I checked everywhere.

The hallway outside the apartment—no sign of her.

The elevator lobby—no sign of her.

The building’s entrance lobby—no sign of her.

I stepped outside and looked around in both directions—still no sign of her.

Damn it.

I had confidently promised Ayane I’d bring Shia back, but now I had no idea where she’d gone.

The sun beat down on me as I pulled out my phone and tried calling her. It rang for a full minute before going to voicemail.

“Damn it…”

Blindly running around wouldn’t help. I needed to stop and think. Returning to the lobby, I sat under the air conditioner, cooling my head while I considered my next move.

“Wait… no, that’s a dumb idea…”

I had just thought of a highly effective way to find her, but I really didn’t want to use it. Before resorting to that, I opened Twinx, the SNS app, and searched for “Shia” and “War Goddess Valkyria.” She was famous enough that someone might have spotted her and posted about it.

“…Nothing?”

Come on, where’s the bottom-tier internet literacy when I actually need it? These people usually post about what she eats, wears, and breathes, analyzing every tiny detail. But now, when I actually needed them, there was nothing.

“Fine… guess I have no choice.”

I sighed, opening my own Twinx account.

Following: 195.
Followers: Over 2 million.

Yeah, I was a social media celebrity. An influencer, if you will.

“…Though let’s be real—it’s all because I keep getting canceled.”

Sad fact: more than half of my followers were haters. They swarmed whenever a controversy popped up, engaged in flame wars, and turned every situation into a full-blown disaster. That had been my SNS life for years.

“Ugh… do I really have to rely on these guys?”

But here was the plan.

I posted:

“Shia lost her phone and got separated. If anyone sees her, DM me. #SpreadTheWord”

With two million followers—and the added virality of retweets—she’d be spotted in no time. If she was still above ground, I’d get an update within minutes.

“…But if I do this, I’m gonna get flamed again.”

Then again, what’s new? I hit post.

After waiting about a minute, I refreshed the page. Dozens of replies and DMs had already come in.

Then I read them.

“Why are you asking on SNS? Call the police, idiot.”

“She can find her way home even if she loses her phone. Stupid excuse.”

“If you really cared, you’d be searching instead of posting.”

“You’re just desperate not to get dumped, huh? LOL.”

“You miserable little gremlins…”

I wanted to fight every single one of them, but now wasn’t the time.

Also… yeah, they had a point. Saying she lost her phone was a stupid excuse.

If I had posted something like “Shia ran away. No contact. DM if seen.” I’d look like a full-blown stalker. Then I really wouldn’t get any leads.

Ignoring the trash replies, I filtered through the DMs.

Then I found one useful message.

“…Shibuya Dungeon.”

Someone had spotted Shia entering Shibuya Dungeon, looking distressed.

I tried calling her again.

There was no ringing. Out of service.

Dungeons blocked outside signals. That confirmed it. She was inside.

But I needed one more thing.

I called Eri.

“Yo, Eri. It’s me.”

“Oh, hey. What’s up, Hayama?”

“Can you check if Shia entered Shibuya Dungeon?”

“…You do know that entry records require legal authorization, right?”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I called you.”

“…I’m not a magic vending machine, you know? Let me at least ask—is this an emergency?”

“Yeah. If this goes bad, Ayane will cry.”

“…Well, that’s a disaster. Fine. Give me a second.”

I could hear her typing rapidly on a keyboard. A few moments passed, then—

“She entered ten minutes ago.”

Bingo.

“Eri-chan, thanks. —Excuse me, to Shibuya Dungeon, please.”

Now that Shia’s location was confirmed, I owed a debt of gratitude to both the anonymous DM sender and Eri. I immediately hailed a taxi and headed toward Shibuya Dungeon.

“…Once things settle down, can you tell me what happened?”

“Yeah, I will. And while I’m at it, this might be a lot to ask, but can you lend me a Master Drone?”

There was only one way to efficiently track someone inside a dungeon: using surveillance drones that establish an internal network, along with a Master Drone to manage them.

“…That’s really not something you should be asking as an afterthought, you know. Just so you’re aware, if it gets out that I lent a Master Drone without proper authorization, I’d be looking at—at the very least—immediate dismissal. Kuma-kun, please don’t make me cry too.”

“…I’ll do my best.”

“Please do. I’ll head to Shibuya now as well. Let’s meet at the portal entrance.”

“Got it. Thanks for everything, really.”

“It’s nothing. Actually, I think this might be the first time you’ve ever asked me for a favor. That alone makes me a little happy.”

Now that she mentioned it, that was probably true.

“Huh. Well then, I’ll make sure to come up with plenty of favors to ask in the future.”

“Good. That way, I can start rejecting them properly after the first one. Anyway, I need to get ready, so I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, later.”

The call disconnected.

“Damn it. Should I have made my first favor something naughty instead?!”

I completely forgot that a thoughtless joke like that was what started the whole mess with Ayane and Shia earlier. But still, what else could you expect from a seventeen-year-old virgin in the middle of summer?

The driver didn’t say a word. Whether he was being considerate or just terrified of the unhinged customer in his backseat, I had no idea.

Then, something else came to mind.

“Oh, Twinx…”

I opened the app. My notifications were a disaster. The actual messages were even worse.

With a deep sigh, I deleted my original post without bothering to check everything.

Before logging out, I sent a thank-you message to the anonymous tipster along with a 10,000-yen electronic gift card.

“Blessings upon the kind informant.”

The driver remained silent for the rest of the trip.