Final Chapter: Toward the Next Stage Let me talk a little about what happened after that. The negotiation went well. With Hachioji Guild, at least for that part, anyway. Hachioji's branch chief turned out to be a reasonable person and took on the job of securing a top-tier asset named Suzukaze Touya, then negotiating on my behalf with Association headquarters and by extension, the Japanese government. From there, though, it sounds like things got pretty messy. Various factions, greedy individuals, plenty of people apparently made moves trying to claim me for their own benefit. So, I went full black-robed-sorcerer mode inside a dungeon, fought at full power and had the footage distributed. Shimotsuki-san's idea. The video, packed with even more brutal attacks than the Stampede footage, apparently did more than enough to make the point. On top of that, I had someone deliver a not-so-subtle message: if push came to shove, I'd walk straight into the American embassy and defect...
Chapter 32: Status, Half a Year Later Hachioji Dungeon, Floor 36. This has been my current workplace for the past two months or so and I've practically been living here. The monster that spawns here is the High Orc which is a stronger variant of the Orc that first appears on Floor 21. Both are huge, standing at around three meters tall along with fearsome vitality but as the higher-tier variant, High Orcs are also considerably smarter. They hunt Explorers down through coordinated teamwork so most parties either take them on in numbers or blow them away in one go with heavy firepower. Since they're needlessly tough without dropping anything worth the trouble, most Explorers skip this floor entirely, opting to push on to 37 or falling back to 35 instead. In other words, the classic unpopular monster. But that's exactly why Floor 36 is nearly empty outside the area around the teleportation circle. Which means I get to hunt here uninterrupted, with next to no risk of anyone se...
Chapter 34: An Ordinary Day, Shattered The next day, once I'd finished getting ready in the morning, I sat on the couch drinking coffee. On the table in front of me sat a half-eaten chocolate. The one Yui had given me yesterday turned out to be homemade. She'd kept insisting it was because "you helped me out before" and "I owe you" over and over but how many girls actually go out of their way to hand-make chocolate for someone over that? Guess she's just not the type who can lie convincingly. Then again, playing dumb and accepting it anyway makes me just as guilty. Right now, I have no intention of spending my time or headspace on romance. Besides, in love, whoever falls first loses, the one who's fallen for has all the leverage. I'm not about to give up that leverage. Not that it's ever really mattered — I've never once fallen for anyone in my life. Better she just chalk it up to falling for a lousy excuse for a man and move on. "...
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