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 3.2

Watching this unfold, my little sister, Ayane (14), gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

With a kind smile, she whispered, “Don’t worry, Eri-san. You’re a wonderful person. I’m sure you’ll find someone special.”

At that moment, I was genuinely in awe of my incredibly mature 14-year-old sister.

“I’m sorry. Thank you, Ayane-chan. Ahem. I lost my composure.”

“It’s okay, Eri-chan. If you need to cry, just cry.”

“That fake comforting smile of yours is pissing me off. Could you cut it out?”

Today really feels like a Let’s-All-Gang-Up-on-Kuma Day.

“Here, have some barley tea. So, Eri-chan, what brings you here?”

We moved to the living room, and I got straight to the point.

“As you know, Kuma-kun, your cringe-inducing video from your streaming days has gone viral worldwide, and you’re in the middle of yet another scandal. The government and the Dungeon Bureau want to contain the situation as quickly as possible, so we’re holding a press conference this evening.

The press club will be sending over a list of questions around noon. We’ll prepare answers for you, so make sure you memorize them.”

Did she really have to call it cringe-inducing?

“Who’s apologizing?”

“You, of course, Kuma-kun.”

“Why?”

Sure, I get that some people might find the video offensive, but I didn’t spread it.

Someone dug up a deleted archive and thought it’d be fun to share, and now it’s everywhere.

And come on, all I did in the video was say ‘I’m looking for a girlfriend’ when I was fifteen.

Any reasonable adult would just shrug it off and say, “Ah, kids are dumb.”

“Here. Read this.”

“Hmm?”

Eri-chan slammed down a thick stack of A4 paper on the table.

“You actually printed this out?”

“Yes. Took the liberty of preparing a hard copy.”

“Uh-huh?”

The cover read:

“S-Class Seeker: The Undying – Scandal Report”

Stamped in red next to it were the words: “Classified Document – Do Not Remove”

“Can I look at it?”

“Go ahead. Ayane-chan, you too.”

Ayane and I flipped through the pages.

It was a full list of all my past scandals.

Unfortunately, I vaguely remembered most of them.

Worse, there were records of social media reactions for each one.

I had to physically stop myself from covering my eyes.

“Big brother, why do people hate you so much?”

“Probably because he thinks it’s funny to taunt anyone and everyone, regardless of who they are,” Ayane answered without missing a beat.

“…”

I had no comeback. She was right.

“Listen carefully, Hayama-san. Right now, the most important person in the world is Valkyrie Shia Kusakabe.

That’s a fact.

Completely conquering a dungeon was an achievement every nation desperately wanted to claim first.

Of course, we’ve received congratulatory messages from world leaders and high-ranking dungeon officials.

But let’s be real—none of them actually mean it.

From here on, other nations are going to band together in the shadows, looking for ways to undermine Japan and take us down a peg.”

“…I see. So, this scandal was orchestrated by another country—”

“No, it wasn’t.

This is the natural result of all the resentment that’s been building against you from within Japan.”

“…What?”

“Do you get it now?

Japan needs to rally around its symbol, Valkyrie Shia Kusakabe, to maintain our lead and extend our dominance.

And yet, the man standing beside her is widely despised by the public.

That cannot continue.”

!?

“…Eri-chan.”

“Kuma-kun, do you understand now?”

“…No. I’m just hurt that you said the whole country hates me.”

“Goddammit.”

I curled up on the sofa like a pill bug.

Go ahead, everyone. Just keep kicking me while I’m down. I’m less than a pill bug at this point.

“Eri-san, leave it to me.

Big brother? You can do this, right?

I know you’re trying your best.

People who don’t know anything about you can say whatever they want—it doesn’t matter.

You’re doing great, big brother.”

Twitch.

“…Really?”

“Yeah. It’s true.

My big brother is the coolest in the world!”

“…Seriously? The coolest?”

“The coolest! No, the coolest in the universe!

And I just know you’re going to turn this into the greatest press conference ever!”

“Heh. If you’re gonna hype me up that much…

Guess I’ve got no choice but to show my adorable little sister what a badass press conference looks like!”