When I returned from exploring the dungeon to save the world, I found out that my lover had been stolen, and I was blamed for the failed expedition. Enraged, I quit Japan's strongest party—only for them to self-destruct on their own. - Chapter 33

A long time ago, in the realm between gods and demons, Effie and her kind lived happily under the protection of the Fallen God, the Demon God.

Though disputes arose between them and the monsters due to differing roles, the Demon God’s rule prevented any major conflicts.

Then, one day, the Demon God grew bored of that world.

And so, he created dungeons.

That marked a turning point.

Both monsters and Effie’s kind grew stronger as they conquered dungeons.

At the same time, conflicts escalated.

At some point, Effie’s ancestors managed to persuade the Demon God into granting them a skill—

The power to purge demons.

Honestly, I can’t imagine Effie’s kind being particularly persuasive.

Most likely, the Demon God just found it amusing and handed over the power for fun.

Regardless, they obtained that power.

Enraged, the monsters escalated their disputes into all-out war.

Both sides were ultimately exiled from the realm by the Demon God himself.

This wasn’t news to me—I’d heard about this history before.

But now that the Demon God had appeared in person, I had to ask—

Why hadn’t she mentioned him before?

“I don’t know,” Effie admitted. “The Demon God was definitely there, but… for some reason, it never felt important enough to mention before. Maybe because Koichi and the others learned about him? Or maybe he only allowed me to remember it now?”

She rattled off possibilities, but the last one seemed the most likely.

Somehow, he controlled what she could reveal.

Not that it mattered to me.

Frankly, this war between monsters and Zanma Spirits had nothing to do with me.

They could fight or make peace however they wanted—just don’t drag me into it.

The real issue here was that the Demon God had sent the Tokyo Dungeon’s boss monster.

If he did it just for fun, I could understand.

From what I’d seen, he seemed like a pure chaos-loving bastard.

But he said it was his ‘role.’

Which meant he was following some kind of rule.

So…

Does that mean there’s something even higher up than him?

Or is this just a set rule of the dungeon itself?

Either way, it meant that high-level monsters could keep randomly teleporting into cities.

Are you kidding me?

How the hell am I supposed to report this?

…Wait.

Not my problem.

There’s a team from the World Dungeon Association here.

They can handle the report.

And as for the inevitable confusion and panic?

Not my problem either.

Honestly, that makes me feel a lot better.

By now, the World Dungeon Association and the various national dungeon associations were probably going into full-blown panic mode.

“Koichi, lunch is ready!”

“Oh, thanks, Haruka! Smells great!”

“It’s just pasta. Eat while it’s hot.”

“Yay! Haruka is gonna be a good wife someday!”

…Where did she even learn that phrase?

I considered calling out Effie’s random remark, but then I saw Haruka in an apron.

And imagined how cute she’d look if I told her the food was delicious.

And remembered that Haruka was already cute.

Yeah, let’s eat.

“Alright, time to hit the dungeon.”

“Yes, Koichi.”

“Yup~.”

We arrived at a floor that looked like prehistoric Earth, filled with molten lava.

[Live Stream Comments]

: First!
: Koichi, hey!
: Koichi-sama is so cool today too! ♡
: Koichi, thank you for saving Tokyo from the monsters!
: That was seriously inspiring.
: Wait… Koichi is Ransetsu’s son?! Dude, I was one of the people he saved back then!!

Comments flooded in.

Too fast to keep up with.

“About Tokyo—I appreciate the gratitude. As for Ransetsu, that was his doing, not mine. But if you remember him, then I’m glad.”

“Alright, let’s move forward.”

: I was expecting Santa cosplay this time. Why aren’t you wearing it?!
: Not yet! Haruka hasn’t shown up on stream!
: My heart is racing…

“Fufufufufu…”

I played along.

“?!?!?!”

Haruka started panicking.

What a sight to behold.

Thank you, life.

: Wait… if Koichi isn’t denying it… does that mean…?!
: No way?! Really?!
: If this is real, I’m throwing my entire bonus at this stream.
: FIRST DONATION WINS!

“Fufufufufu…”

: KOICHI, STOP LAUGHING AND SHOW US HARUKA ALREADY!
: HURRY! HURRY! HURRY!
: Wait… what if Haruka never appears on screen?
: …Wait, WHAT?!
: You MONSTER!

“Alright, I see it—Flame Golem.”

“Let’s do a tutorial on how to take it down.”

: Wait, WHAT?!
: We were in the middle of something!!
: I mean, yeah, I wanna see this, but still!!
: WHICH DO I CHOOSE?!
: A Flame Golem can’t compete with Haruka in Santa cosplay!!!
: Wait… didn’t Koichi say before that if Haruka ever wore Santa cosplay, he’d keep it to himself?
: Yeah! He even said he wouldn’t stream it because we’d lose our sanity!
: WAS THAT A LIE?!
: KOICHI, YOU TRAITOR!!!

“I never said Haruka was wearing a Santa outfit, did I?”

: …Damn it.
: HE BAITED US.
: THIS MAN JUST BAITED THE ENTIRE COMMENT SECTION.
: You know what? Fine. Let’s actually learn how to fight a Flame Golem.
: Yeah. Let’s be serious adventurers for once.
: But wait—aren’t Flame Golems super resistant to water magic?
: Yeah, they just evaporate it instantly!
: Flame Golems are insane. Even A-rank adventurer teams struggle against them!
: …Hey, why did everyone stop talking about Santa outfits?
: (Shut up. You saw what happened. We lost one. You wanna die too?)
: …Wait. That guy DIED?!
: (NEVER challenge Koichi. He can kill through the screen.)
: No way.
: (I’m serious.)

And so, today’s stream ended on a peaceful note.

As for the Flame Golem?

I grabbed it and ripped it apart.

Turns out, because of its intense fire aura, its physical defense is actually trash.

Naturally, the comment section was immediately flooded with:

“WHO THE HELL CAN REPLICATE THAT?!”

And with that, I ended the stream.