Introverted Archer 18

Test

18. Rational Exploration!

"We might continue living together like this forever... and that might be okay."

"I'm not giving up! There's still a way to escape!"

Huh? Is there still a way to do it!?

"No, but... this method might be difficult..."

"Don't act like it's a big deal; just tell me."

"There's a monster in the dungeon that drops items to escape. The drop rate is 50%, so if we defeat it, there's a good chance it will drop the item."

What, there's a monster like that!?

So, if we defeat it, we can return to the surface immediately!

"...However, there's one problem. The monster spawns on the 5th floor."

Mirei muttered in frustration.

"I can't face the monster on the 5th floor alone. Plus, I have to protect Eimu while moving. So, waiting here is the best option."

"Well, what if I can defeat the 5th-floor monster alone?"

Upon saying that, Mirei sighed as if she were exasperated.

"Listen, that lie isn't funny. There are only a handful of people who can fight the 5th-floor monster properly."

"Well, I'm one of those handful of people. Think rationally; I guided you through the path earlier, right? Instead of sitting here chatting, it's better to quickly defeat the 5th-floor monster and return to the surface."

Mirei gave me a skeptical look, but it seemed she wasn't entirely doubting me. In fact, she had seen me defeat enemies with a sure hit.

Silence lingered for a while, but eventually, Mirei gave in.

"...Alright. Let's head to the 5th floor together. But if I think you're slowing us down even a bit, we're turning back immediately!"

"That's fine. So, for now, we're partners."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself! First of all, I haven't completely trusted you yet!"

We already knew the location of the staircase to the 2nd floor from the previous exploration. We started walking in that direction.

"Here, the staircase is here."

"You really found the location of the staircase in one go. No, you found it earlier, didn't you? I'm not falling for it. I'll praise you if you can keep that attitude until we find the next staircase."

As Mirei tried to descend the stairs, I stopped her with my left hand.

"If you go down like that, the monsters will notice. If you're going to do it, do it like this, before going down!"

I shot arrows toward the 3rd-floor monsters detected by the <Observer>.

"...Alright, you can go down now."

Encouraging her to go down the stairs, Mirei had a scornful smile.

"Eimu... do you always explore like this?"

"Yeah. Search and Destroy is the basics."

"There's no such basic! Normally, there are more unexpected encounters and uncertain elements leading to battles!"

It's better without uncertain elements. Especially in the shallow layers, you should progress with the least effort.

Once we descended the stairs, all we had to do was walk leisurely.

Since there were monsters within the range of the <Observer>, I shot arrows from a distance. 

We didn't encounter monsters by chance, so it was boring.

"Hey, speaking of which, I've been talking casually to Mirei, but... how old are you, Mirei?"

"How casually rude. I'm 19. I'm older than Eimu."

"Older, huh? Being a famous streamer at 19 is amazing."

"You can talk casually; it's fine. Besides, people just gathered because of the momentum, so I'm not really that amazing."

She's quite straightforward. Despite her tone, she seems to have a straightforward personality, especially considering she continued to move forward even after she had a serious injury in the previous stream.

"Why did you decide to become a streamer, Mirei?"

"It's obvious. To fulfill my dreams. I want to become stronger, and wealthy, and make everyone smile. By streaming, I want to make as many people happy as possible."

Nice. Although thinking about making many people smile is irrational, I generally agree with the first two points.

"If I become a streamer, will I become popular? I'd like to try if I can make money just by making videos of my usual game strategies."

"It's impossible."

Don't answer so quickly!

"The 'presentation' is crucial for dungeon streaming. Cool battles, cute gestures, interesting talks. The list goes on. Streaming requires that 'excitement'."

"Oh, is that why you had that greeting? 'Forever and ever' something?"

"I'll kill you! If you come out of here, it won't be free!"

Scary. Or if you're embarrassed about it, just quit.

"...Ahem. Besides, becoming a streamer is a personal choice. Eimu, you don't want to rise through streaming, right? Why did you decide to become an adventurer?"

It's a deep question. But my answer is simple.

"I wanted to test my own rationality."

In front of us, there was a staircase leading to the 3rd floor.