In the original work, there was an element that wasn’t portrayed much: dungeon streaming.

At first, it was included as one of the features typical of Naro-style works, but eventually, the story shifted towards intense ability battles, and the streaming aspect was no longer depicted.

So, I’m not very familiar with streaming or streamers.

“Hey, you two, come over here! Peace sign to the drone camera!”

Said Joka-chan, casually putting her arms around our shoulders.

Toa-chan, completely bewildered by the presence of someone so different from herself, was in a state of total confusion.

“Come on, Tsukimiya Toa-san, peace!”

“????? …Y-Yeah?”

“Kyah, so cute!”

Totally agree!

“So, what do you want from us?”

“Let’s make a deal.”

Standing before the drone camera, Joka-chan spoke clearly. Comments from viewers seemed to be flowing on the window floating near her, but from here, the letters were reversed and unreadable.

Oh, but I can see “LOL”.

“There are still many things I want to learn about Fectom General Academy. So, I would like to officially interview you next time. In return—”

Surrounding Joka-chan, frogs appeared. An overwhelming number that I gave up counting from the start.

Now that I knew each one was a high-powered bomb, I understood what she was implying.

“I’ll help you get rid of the nuisances over there. It seems they’re causing trouble using the name of Kisou Academy… Killing two birds with one stone, right?”

“I’ll let our student council president know about the interview.”

“Great, negotiation settled! Viewers, the next stream will be from Fectom General Academy!”

Joka-chan laughed and jumped around cheerfully. Just then, a flame shot past right in front of her.

“…Tch, missed.”

Looking over, the flame was thrown like a ball from his body.

Is that strong? Seems a bit weak, doesn’t it?

“I recognize your face. You’re the fugitive being chased by the disciplinary committee and enforcers of Kisou Academy. I’ll crush you along with them and get an extra reward!”

Don’t you remember what just happened to you? You were getting blown up.

Seeing the student confidently declaring he’d defeat us and his lackeys A and B following him, I sighed inwardly.

Hmm, I guess we have to beat them up once.

“Joka-chan, could you please—huh?”

“…Sigh.”

Looking towards Joka-chan to ask for help, I noticed she was giving the students a cold stare. The brightness from earlier had vanished, and she even clicked her tongue.

But noticing my gaze, she quickly changed her expression and nodded with a smile.

“Yeah, let’s do our best! Now, let’s crush those jerks—let’s duel.”

“Duel?”

“Us?”

A duel is a contest for the right to explore a dungeon, usually fought by small groups. When the fight involves more than five people, it shifts to a war between academies.

“Three-on-three. The duel will take place in the phantom city dungeon. It ends when someone concedes defeat or everyone is dead… Is that okay?”

Joka-chan smoothly outlined the most standard rules for a duel.

It’s a mock battle within a fifty-meter-radius artificial dungeon modeled after a city block. The key feature is that everything resets after the duel ends.

In other words, death in a duel does not mean the end.

In the age of modern dungeons, death was no longer something to be feared as much. What should be feared is the eternal end that comes after death; dying in a duel merely determines the loser.

“We’re fine with that. If it’s a duel, you must have the dungeon core, right, fugitive?”

“Of course. It was really expensive, you know.”

The dungeons used for duels are regulated by the Apis Board of Directors. Duels in any other dungeon are prohibited, and resurrection is difficult if someone dies in them.

Also, these dungeon cores are expensive. Even the smallest ones cost at least ten million.

Usually, students who find dungeons own them, but it seems she owns one personally. Streamers must make good money.

“Alright, let’s deploy the dungeon!”

Joka-chan threw a mechanical cube. The space around us distorted, and in the next blink, we found ourselves in a city somewhere.

In the middle of a large road, with an intersection between us and them.

Under the blue sky, the duel start lamp attached like a traffic light at the intersection began to flash from left to right.

During this, Joka-chan looked at us and spoke.

“This duel is just a prelude for me. So, let’s finish this quickly. I’ll confuse the enemy with explosions. You, look for an opportunity to strike with your dagger. And Tsukimiya Toa-san, I’ll count on you to finish them off. You can do it with your weapon, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Oh, um, I’ll do my best.”

Toa-chan readied her massive cannon, larger than herself. It seemed forcibly attached with handles, something meant to be mounted on a giant robot’s shoulder.

I’ve only seen her use the beam cannon as a warning shot, but how powerful is it really?

Or rather, how does this student named Joka-chan know so much about us?

Why did she need to investigate us?

But there was no time to ask, as the lamp flashed red for the last time. Simultaneously, a buzzer sounded throughout the dungeon.

“I’ll win in ten seconds.”

With that laid-back voice, still streaming, Joka-chan dashed forward.

Following her was a swarm of frogs. I ran closely behind.

“Coming straight at us, huh!”

“Maa-chan’s!”

Ignoring the enemy’s spirited words, Joka-chan spoke indifferently. The frog swarm moved like a wave behind her.

They surrounded the three enemies and exploded in no time.

“Argh!”

“Yu-kun, this is bad!”

“We’re gonna die!?”

Pointing to the explosion and the anguished screams of the explorers, Joka-chan gestured for me to jump in.

Seriously?

“It’s fine. Maa-chan only hurts enemies.”

“I’ll trust you on that.”

With the assurance of resurrection, I jumped into the explosion with my dagger ready. The flames parted to create a path for me.

“Amazing.”

I dashed through, emerging in front of the three caught in the blast.

“!? This guy—”

One noticed, but too late. I swiftly cut through them one by one, paralyzing all three.

Almost simultaneously, the flames cleared, and visibility returned. The three lay collapsed at my feet.

…Looks like I should just finish them off myself.

As I thought this and gripped my dagger, a frog jumped at my feet.

“!? “

The red bracelet-enhanced thought speed immediately ordered my body to dodge. Adding magic power to my explorer’s physical abilities, I jumped away just as the frog exploded.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

“…Yeah, I’m fine.”

Joka-chan rushed over and dusted off my uniform.

“…This uniform is really big, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

Now’s not the time to say that? Well, it is big, but.

“Alright, time to finish them off!”

Before I could voice my doubts, Joka-chan raised her hand.

Understanding the signal, Toa-chan nodded and aimed her cannon at the three paralyzed students. The mechanical body began to converge the light.

Light rose from around Toa-chan, all absorbed into the weapon. Watching this, Joka-chan spoke.

“That’s a convergence shot.”

Wait, can Toa-chan use convergence shots!?

Even in the story, only a few could do that! Is Fectom full of monsters? Does that mean Miroku-senpai has some extraordinary skill too…?

“Absorbing magic power from the air through the user, recalculating it into usable magic power via the dive gear’s computation, and bundling it into a single shot—that’s the convergence shot.”

Joka-chan’s words matched the process unfolding.

Multiple magic circles appeared around Toa-chan, spinning like gears. Her heavy cannon, previously marked by its cold steel, now hummed and glowed at the muzzle.

Standing amidst the particles of light, wielding the massive cannon, Toa-chan looked like a beautiful girl, quite the spectacle.

Eventually, Toa-chan exhaled deeply and spoke.

“Fire.”

With a roar, the shockwave whipped up the wind. The golden light tore through the asphalt and shattered nearby building windows.

In less than a second, it engulfed the students.

Magnificent. That’s all I could think.

Having always been the one to fire shots, I didn’t realize how powerful it was from the other side.

In fact, it might even surpass the power of the Star Reading Staff I’ve used before.

“This is… convergence shot.”

“Isn’t it amazing? One of humanity’s strongest techniques inherited from the early days of exploration. An attack with raw magical power that still can’t be surpassed today. Impressive, right?”

“Yeah, it is.”

I responded, still in awe.

Above us, under the clear blue sky, the buzzer signaling the end of the duel sounded.