kscans

Chapter 40 - Live Chat Comments

Three days after the rescue of Saionji Hisato, the trophy of Western Japan.

Hayate's Booth, which had shown no activity until then, started streaming without any prior announcement on social media or elsewhere. Despite this, people from all over the world came to watch Hayate's stream. Even viewers who had been watching other explorers' booths immediately moved over when they learned that Hayate had started streaming.

The stream's comment section was buzzing with excitement.







People who had been eagerly awaiting his stream posted voices of joy.

"Is it streaming? ...Well, I'm sure it's happening automatically."

"Hello, everyone."

Hayate was inside a dungeon with Rena.

Viewers could hear their conversation on the stream. However, Hayate and his partner could not see the comments posted by the viewers. At present, all means of communication between the inside and outside of the dungeon were still disabled, and there was no way to know what was happening inside the dungeon from the outside, other than through the forced stream.

Viewers posted their comments with this understanding.







It didn't matter if they didn't get a response from Hayate's group. If the comment section got lively, it felt like a festival. Viewers posted comments for their own satisfaction, as they could gain a sense of empathy by confirming that others had similar impressions of Hayate's group's actions.

On the other hand, Hayate, who used to stream while watching the comment section during his FWO days, was feeling a sense of lack.

"I'm sure a lot of comments are being posted… But not being able to see them is still boring."

"That's true. But I'm here, so you're not lonely, are you? Let's talk a lot while we clear it."

"Yeah! I'm counting on you."

"Okay. Ehehe."

Hayate patted Rena's head with a familiar gesture, and she blushed, a happy expression on her face.

"So, for this time too, I'll be clearing this with Rena!"

"We'll be clearing it!"







Since Hayate and his partner cleared dungeons with maximum efficiency, their stream was strongly supported by hardcore dungeon explorers. However, now, many people other than them had come to this booth. The interactions between Hayate and Rena had a sort of romance reality show feel to them, so the booth had become popular with housewives and female students as well.







The other day, Hayate and Rena had rescued Saionji Hisato, who had been captured as a trophy in a Western Japan dungeon. On that occasion, they defeated the four-sword-wielding swordsman-type monster that was the dungeon's mid-boss, an individual that viewers had come to call 'Fake Hayate', in a mere ten seconds.

Hayate had blocked Fake Hayate's four swords, and Rena had aimed her bow just over his slightly ducked head to destroy Fake Hayate's core. Many explorers challenged it, thinking that if they could imitate this, clearing Fake Hayate would be easy, but there were only a few successful cases.






As the analysis progressed, the difficulty of the coordinated attack they had pulled off on their first try became clearer. Successfully executing a coordinated attack that could defeat the mid-boss in ten seconds required strong trust in one's partner and overwhelming skill. In a situation where suffering a fatal wound could mean losing consciousness forever, not many people could be as reckless as in a game.

Conversely, because Hayate and Rena could do it, viewers around the world watched their stream with absolute trust.

This pair is fine, there was a sense of stability that made them think that.

"By the way, we're in Thailand right now."

"Sawatdii kha. This is the Spring Dungeon in Bangkok."

<…Huh?>




As the viewers predicted, Hayate had initially planned to head for the rescue of the American trophy. However, since Rena had said she wanted to accompany him, he decided to change his plans.

America had previously sent special forces to Japan to kidnap Rena in order to use her as a bargaining chip to make Hayate clear their country's dungeon. Although that itself was prevented by Hayate's master, the Iga ninja Hattori Juuzo, and no harm was done, they decided there was no need to go to a country that would target them, so the plan to go to the US was cancelled.

However, the influence of the great power America is significant. Furthermore, the person who has become a trophy is said to be the president's daughter, a famous actress who is also active in Hollywood. It was thought that if they succeeded in rescuing her, they could gain fame and popularity abroad all at once. Therefore, if the US president's daughter had not yet been rescued after the Thai trophy rescue, the next destination was scheduled to be America.

Of course, that was on the condition that the US side properly apologized for the previous incident of sending special forces, and that their freedom of movement within the country was guaranteed.

Predicting that the viewers would have questions, Hayate and his partner answered.

"This time, we'll clear this place and,"

"We'll rescue the popular singer of Thailand!"

The one who caused dungeons to appear in this world was an entity who called herself the Goddess. To increase the number of people challenging the dungeons, the Goddess kidnapped popular figures from around the world and turned them into commemorative dungeon clear items, or trophies.

To rescue a person who has been made a trophy, it is necessary to clear the Grade 3 'Spring Dungeon' located in various parts of the world. However, at present, clearing the Spring Dungeon was not easy.

In addition to needing considerably enhanced equipment just to climb to the final floor where the boss and mid-boss are, the mid-boss, Fake Hayate, whose specifications had been changed from the FWO days, was too strong. One of the few parties that could consistently defeat Fake Hayate was Hayate and Rena. Since the specification was changed to allow foreign nationals to enter dungeons as long as they were in a small group, requests for trophy rescues had been coming to Hayate's group from all over the world.

Hayate had been told by Rena's father that he would approve of their marriage if the whole world recognized him as a man worthy of Rena. For that reason, he was trying to increase his fame by rescuing trophies from various countries.

And the reason why Hayate and his partner came to Thailand before America this time was—

"Among the countries with people who have been made into trophies, Thailand is the most pro-Japan country."

"And a rescue request came directly from the king. So, we have to help them."

Thailand, a country with a large population that holds favorable feelings towards the Japanese, and is considered to have high influence in Asia. The person who had been made a trophy this time was a young girl related to the Thai royal family by marriage, and Hayate and Rena, who had come to this country, were warmly welcomed by the Thai royalty.

"We were treated with incredible courtesy."

"The Thai royal palace was amazing."

"Yeah. It was seriously amazing. We have to repay the kindness they've shown us."

"That's right. So, we'll do our best on this rescue mission!"

Hayate and Rena began their clear of the Spring Dungeon.