Chapter 30: Ryo and Dia and the Scolding Collab

Two weeks after the Great Leek Mage, Drake battle—

“—Welcome to my kitchen!
Dia’s Kitchen!

Today, we’ll be doing a cooking stream together with a guest!”

[It started.]
[I’m excited since there’s been no movement since the Named battle.]
[Are your injuries okay?
You were bleeding from the mouth, weren’t you?]
[You got blown away pretty hard, yeah?]

“Thank you for worrying about me!

But my injuries were nothing serious, and I made sure to fully recover before streaming today, so please don’t worry!”

[That’s a relief.]
[Glad to hear it.]
[Depending on the content, I might k*ll Ryo.]

“So, without further ado, let me reintroduce today’s guest!”

[It’s been quite a while since the Named battle.]
[There’s something scary here.]
[Shh!
Don’t touch it!]
[There were probably adjustments on both sides.]
[What kind of relationship do these two have?]

“As announced beforehand, today’s guest is—

Ryo from Ryo Channel!
Clap clap clap clap!”

[Knew it.]
[Ryo’s here!]
[88888888]
[That collab happened fast.]
[Depending on the circumstances, I might kll Ryo.]
[Do agency streamers really show consideration to indies?]
[At minimum, they do.]
[Figured she’d invite him as a guest sooner or later.]
[Depending on the content, I might kll Ryo.]
[Some dangerous stuff mixed in there.]

“Hello everyone.
For most of you, it’s nice to meet you.
I’m Ryo, the one you were introduced to.”

[That’s some stiff delivery.]
[Classic Ryo, formal as ever.]
[That deadpan greeting feels like home.]
[Is he always like this?]
[Yeah, always.]
[What a cute person.]
[Is this person a guy or a girl?]
[Beautiful and cute, but kind of boyish?]
[If she’s a girl I’ll kll him, if he’s a guy I’ll kll him harder.]
[Mods, get rid of the dangerous ones.]

“For those of you who follow my Warbler, this should be familiar—
this person here is my favorite, Ryo!”

“…I was being favored by Dia-san?”

“Yes!”

[Look at Dia’s clear, cloudless eyes.]
[That glossy smile.]
[Ryo, seriously d*e.]
[It’s getting messy after all.]
[Dia looks happy, so anything goes.]

“And the person who’s mostly stayed behind the scenes until now—
this is my filming assistant and manager, Shirona-san.”

“Everyone, allow me to properly introduce myself.
Please remember me as Shirona, written in katakana.
I don’t plan to appear on camera often, but I appreciate your continued support for both Ozumi Dia and myself.”

[Shirona-san is beautiful.]
[She looks like a capable woman.]
[So that glasses lady really was Shirona-san.]
[I feel like I’ve seen Shirona somewhere before.]
[Spiral Flare was awesome.]
[I want her to whip me.]

“Now, I’d love to start cooking right away for Ryo, who loves chicken dishes—”

“…Huh?
We’re not starting yet?
Is this a tease?”

[Lol.]
[That shock is real.]
[Is it really that serious?]

“Ryo-san, we talked about this before the stream, didn’t we?”

“I was too focused on the fact that I’d get to eat Dia-san’s chicken cooking, so I didn’t hear anything.”

[LMAO.]
[Didn’t hear a thing.]

“For today, I went and gathered Lake Consommé—”

“Got it.
Let’s start cooking immediately.”

“Dia-san!?”

[She actually got it, lol.]
[Dia-chan, seriously…]
[Lake Consommé??]
[Thought this during the Named battle too, but these two are the same kind, lol.]
[Someone explain Lake Consommé.]
[It’s the water from a golden lake in a dungeon.]
[Golden water????
From a lake????]
[Why are they so obsessed with it?]

“Both of you, first, let’s talk about the recent Named battle.”

“Eeh.”

“Eeh.”

[Shirona-san, please do your best holding the reins!]
[Moka P!
Moka P, are you here!?
Rein in Ryo!!]
[Both of them pouting is cute.]
[Moka P, hurry and save us!!]
[Who’s Moka P?]
[Ryo’s manager.]
[Then he needs to be here right now.]

[Moka P] I’m on site.
No face reveal or voice, though.

[Moka P] I’ve been showing cue cards this whole time, but neither of them is looking.

[He was already trying to manage them, lol.]
[Please look at the cue cards.]

“Ahem!”

[That’s a deep throat-clear!?]
[Way too deliberate.]
[Whose voice is that?]
[There’s a guy on site?]
[It sounded deep but also kind of feminine?
Which is it?]
[Of course there’s someone.]
[Studio streaming is basically TV production.]
[That jealousy is gross.]

“Ah… right.
I forgot—today, someone important from the agency is here on site!”

[Dia-chan, lol.]
[So that was the exec’s voice.]
[She messed up.]
[Boss’s angry cough, lol.]

“My position will become very bad if we don’t proceed as planned, so may we continue according to the agenda?”

“Yes, sorry.”

“Yes, we’re sorry.”

[Shirona-san’s serious face.]
[Dia and Ryo reflecting.]
[Both of them looking down is cute.]

[Moka P] That really took years off my life.

[Moka P] Ryo Channel is indie, after all.

[Moka P] You don’t want to get on an agency’s bad side, lol.

And so, the collab stream started off in a messy way, but from here on, Shirona took the helm, and they were finally able to talk properly about encountering the Named monster.

“So after being rescued, we’ve been getting along really well!

He eats dungeon ingredients without hesitation and gives honest feedback on the food with no sugarcoating at all!
That part is the most important!”

[That’s what matters most to Dia, huh.]
[But now it makes sense why they were together in the dungeon.]
[They hit it off and are close in private.]
[So it really was just coincidence they met in the dungeon.]
[How much of this should we believe?]
[You totally waited knowing Dia would be there, didn’t you.]
[Like you would—no way.]
[Mods, please block or kick.]

“This follows the cover story that Shirona and Moka P prepared beforehand.

And it seems most people were satisfied with it.”

“Since Ryo isn’t used to internet culture, Moka P was concerned about him suddenly going viral or getting flamed, so I refrained from appearing in Ryo Channel’s comment section.”

[True, Ryo feels completely new to internet culture.]
[Moka P’s consideration was the right call.]
[There were plenty of pigeons, though.]

“Even aside from that, I really admire Ryo’s exploration style.
It’s cool.”

“Even professionals have trouble copying it, so please be careful.”

“I know that without you telling me, Shirona-san.”

[That’s true.]
[It’s impossible.]
[Ryo’s style really is one of a kind.]
[What kind of style is it?]
[Sneaking assassin.]
[What even is that?]
[It’s basically accurate.]

“Ryo-san, do you have anything to add?”

“Uhh… I don’t really have anything, but…
Moka P, do you have something?
If you do, just write it on the cue card already.”

[Still rough on Moka P as always.]
[He ignored the cue cards earlier, lol.]
[Same cool face, but that sudden low voice is making me shiver.]
[If you’re hooked, come to Ryo Channel.]
[I’ll come next time.]
[Me too.]
[Same.]

“It looks like some kind of brainwashing ritual is happening in the comments.”

“What kind of ritual?”

[Look at Dia next to him.]
[She’s melting.]
[She got hit point-blank by her favorite’s low voice.]

“…Dia-san?
What’s wrong?”

“I wuv Ryo’s wooooow voice… meltiiing…”

“Huh?
Your words are slurring!?
Are you okay!?”

[Ryo is genuinely worried.]
[Ryo’s poker face broke!]
[She’s fine, just leave her alone.]
[Don’t touch Dia, that’s guilty.]

“Ryo-san, Moka P is showing a cue card.”

“Isn’t that kind of irrelevant right now?”

“It’s not irrelevant.
Please read it.
And Dia-san is just melted, so please continue the talk.”

“Ah, okay.”

[When a beauty gets angry, it’s scary.]
[Ryo backed down instantly.]

“…Do the listeners have any questions?
It looks like Moka P will pick about two.”

[Oh.]
[Hmm.]
[In that case—]

Questions flooded the comment section.

Watching that, Moka P quickly wrote down selected questions on the cue cards, along with suggested answers.

“Umm, the first question Moka P picked is—

‘Do you know why a Named appeared in a safe zone?’

To be honest, I don’t know.”

[That’s an interesting question.]
[Yeah, figures.]
[Dungeon Agency and the Guild said it was unknown too.]

“But if one possibility—
just my personal speculation is okay—”

[You have an idea?]
[I want to hear even a guess.]
[Is a non-pro’s opinion useful?]
[Ryo is a pro.]

“I think it was probably on the verge of becoming a stray monster.”

[Ah.]
[That makes sense.]
[Thinking about it, that’s possible.]
[Stray?]
[If that’s true, then killing it there was the best option.]
[That’s a blind spot.]
[If so, seriously GJ to all three of you.]
[Considering how strays get out, that checks out.]
[That’s what Ryo mentioned in a previous stream.]
[Thinking about that Named going outside the domain is terrifying.]
[Domain????]
[Someone explain the technical terms please.]

“We explorers only become superhuman within a limited range called the dungeon domain.

A stray monster is when a monster leaves that domain—
in other words, exits the dungeon.

Outside the domain, we explorers are just normal people, while monsters retain their dungeon-level strength.”

[What.]
[Seriously?]
[That’s bad.]
[Strays are terrifying.]
[I don’t want to meet even a low-rank monster outside.]

The comments grew restless at Ryo’s explanation.

Likely, explorers who weren’t fans of either channel but came because of the Named battle had mixed in.

Because of that, combined with the question and answer, the comments grew more serious and stiff.

That may have further fueled anxiety among those unfamiliar with the topic.

So Ryo tried to reassure the viewers by saying that strays were extremely rare.

“One of an explorer’s jobs is thinning out dungeon monsters to prevent strays from occurring.

Dia-san as well, and likely other streamers too, probably do monster thinning during private, off-stream dives as part of their responsibility as licensed explorers.

That’s taken into account during the annual license renewal.”

[Didn’t know that.]

“Generally, strays come from dungeons where thinning hasn’t kept up.

In my personal opinion, it may have been an irregularity unique to the unpopular Musashi Kokufu Ruins Dungeon.”

[Who cares about strays, you should’ve just ded, Ryo.]
[You should’ve been klled by the Named.]
[Other explorers would’ve handled the stray anyway.]

Mixed in with the serious discussion and thoughtful comments, remarks like those began to increase.

[Why were you fighting together with Dia, seriously f* off.]
[Just because you can explore a bit and have knowledge, don’t get cocky.]
[Don’t bait Dia with weird stuff like Lake Consommé.]

Not the usual “de” or “kll” comments, but phrases like these struck a nerve—
not just with Ryo, but with someone else as well.

“Some truly unacceptable comments are appearing.”

“Personal insults toward me don’t matter, but there were comments that can’t be ignored.”

From both Shirona and Ryo—
voices so low that even those who knew them well were startled.

[Ah.]
[Hii.]
[Oh… I see.]
[Wait, why are both of them suddenly mad?]

“Everyone, let me apologize in advance—”

Dia said, her face stiffening at the two of them.

“Before being streamers or managers, these two are hardcore explorers.”

[Huh?]
[Oh.]
[That connects to why they’re mad?]
[It really does.]
[So both of them lean hardcore.]
[Then yeah, they’d be furious.
I’m mad too.]
[There really was an unforgivable comment.]
[Are the angry commenters also hardcore explorers?]
[Yes.]
[Yep.]
[Absolutely.]

“From my perspective as someone in between—
a hardcore-but-enjoys-it type—I think it’s probably an unbridgeable gap.

But there were clearly comments that crossed a line, so… yeah.”

[Dia is really stuck in the middle.]
[Just understanding that makes her great.]
[If you enjoy it while understanding, no complaints.]
[Don’t talk down to Dia.]
[She’s way better than you.]
[What now?]
[The ones who stepped on the landmines are probably clueless.]

“People commenting can always leave the stream—
so this might be pointless, but…”

“Yes.
Even so, as hardcore explorers, there are things we must say.”

“Everyone, please give Ryo-san and me a little time.”

[Too scary to even enjoy the low voice and scary faces.]
[That’s true.]
[Stop getting mad over stupid stuff and hurry up and cook.]
[Ah.]
[I just saw a comment pouring gasoline on the fire.]
[Oh no.]
[I think I get what they’re mad about now.]

“…Everyone, it’s probably going to turn into a scolding stream for a while.
Just accept it.”

[Moka P, pleeeease!
Come save us!!]
[Is Moka P the last line of defense?]

[Moka P] I’m not an explorer, but I believe I understand explorers’ pride.

[Ah.]
[Oh no.]

[Moka P] So yeah, I’m a bit mad too.

[This is bad.]
[Uh, Mr. Executive!!]
[Please do another cough cancel!!]

[Moka P] By the way, that executive is also an active hardcore explorer.

[Seriously?]
[Then this won’t stop.]

[Moka P] He’s actually giving them an enthusiastic green light.

[Oh boy.]
[But maybe this is a good opportunity.]
[Yeah, people who only enjoy the streams should hear this too.]

“To Ryo Channel viewers, this will overlap with what you heard in the previous chat stream, but—”

“I’d like to give a short lecture on what explorers’ real work is, and how dangerous dungeons truly are.”