Chapter 40
I ate crab hotpot with Grandpa and Grandma, who had just come back from gateball, bathed Shimaenaga-san and Gii-san, stayed one night, and the next morning, carrying a cardboard box packed with skill nutrients, I took the train back home.
"I'm home."
"Huh? Ahhh!! Big bro?!"
Even my foolish little sister reacts like that when her big brother returns from a two-month disappearance. Wait, did Grandpa and Grandma not tell them I was alive? As expected of funky monsters, or FunMon for short. Can't be helped.
"Are you real? Are you really real?"
"I'm real."
"But my brother died, didn't he?"
"Don't go killing me off on your own."
After getting poked all over by my sister to confirm I was real and answering a few questions, I was finally accepted as the real deal and allowed to enter the house.
"Heave-ho."
"Whoa, Shimaenaga-san, you've gotten huge!"
"Chii chii chii."
"So cute! What is this fluffy thing—amazing!"
"Chii~"
"No way, this is too much. Is it even legal for something this cute to exist? Maybe I'll go pick one up in Gunma too......"
My sister started snapping tons of photos.
As expected of my little sister. She's got taste just like mine.
In that case, she'll probably love this one too.
"What is that slug?! Gross! Keep it away from me!"
"Hey, stop it, don't badmouth Gii-san."
"Gii."
Dang, didn't work. I thought she might go along with the flow and say it was cute.
Hey hey, Shimaenaga-san, don't poke Gii-san with that smug look on your face.
"Gii-san? Wait, you named that slug?"
"Yeah."
"Big bro, what happened to you...... Why'd you even bring back a slug...... Oh! Is it Shimaenaga-san's food?"
Cut it out! That's way too rude!
This little guy is a proper Calamity, you know!
"Hey, little sister, come over here and try touching Gii-san. You'll love him."
"There's no way I'm doing that."
"He's smooth to the touch."
"You mean slimy, right?"
"No, really, he's smooth. And warm too."
"Too gross, no thanks."
My foolish little sister ran off to the kitchen just like that.
"Gii."
"Exactly, there are things that can and can't be said, right? Gii-san, let's punish that rude girl with your tentacles. Now then, how should we discipline that cheeky high school girl? Let's study using some cultural reference footage......"
"Chii!"
"Huh? You're saying humans should live according to moral values? That's quite the sudden justice stance, Shimaenaga-san."
Actually, now that I think about it, Shimaenaga-san was always a good-natured type.
But once experience points are involved, they become greedy and turn into End-of-the-World Legend Shimaenaga-san, stealing, looting, and doing whatever they want.
"If you're a person of character, I'd like you to level up with sportsmanship in mind."
"Chii chii chii."
"Whenever it gets inconvenient, you just act like a cute Shimaenaga again, don't you, Shimaenaga-san?"
"Chii chii chii."
Nope. Too cute.
I forgive them.
"Oh, that reminds me......"
It's a weekday, so it's normal for my high schooler sister on spring break to be home, but that guy might be here too.
"Did bro come back?"
"Yeah. He just came back like it's no big deal."
"Where is he? I need to collect the 2 million plus the extra 300k, so 2.3 million total."
According to my sister, he's in his room.
I quietly climbed to the second floor and silently opened my bro's door.
"Lag! Damn it, where the hell do you live?! Stop playing on Wi-Fi!"
"......"
"Hm? ......Eh?"
As I silently stared at my bro, who was absorbed in his FPS, he finally noticed me.
"Welcome back. So you survived."
"H-Hideo......! Y-You bastard, I swore I'd never forgive you!"
My bro flung his controller aside and grabbed the wooden sword in the corner of the room.
With sword skills honed to the level of national tournaments, he stepped in and slashed.
"Take this blow forged in the Bering Sea! Secret Sword: Raging Waves!"
"Quit messing around and pay me back."
I caught it with my bare hands, crushed his grip, and snapped the wooden sword in half.
"Wha?! I-I thought I got stronger in the Bering Sea......"
"Don't underestimate explorers."
"You really did get stronger...... I can't beat you with brute force anymore......"
"Money. 2.3 million. If you made it back from crab fishing, you've got money, right?"
"......Yeah, I've got it. I'll transfer it later."
Huh, he's being oddly compliant.
Well, if he says he'll transfer it, then fine.
After that, I went out to get a new smartphone contract.
I signed up for the latest model in Kawagoe and headed home. By the way, Kawagoe is one of the most prosperous cities in the great metropolis of Saitama. Among all the places in the illustrious Saitama Prefecture, the heart of Japan's economy, Kawagoe stands out as especially dazzling. A city boy like me visits KAWAGOE at least once a month.
When I got back, Dad and Mom were moderately surprised. Just moderately?
"I figured you were still alive."
"You'll graduate from college properly, right?"
They're not worried about me at all.
What's going on with my family? My sister is the most decent one.
But thanks to a rare word from Mom, they threw me a welcome-back party—a feast we normally wouldn't have. As I munched on my beloved red tuna, I suddenly remembered my bro.
Maybe I went too far this morning.
That wooden sword was his favorite, bought during his school trip.
He was surprisingly honest. I'm sure he's turned over a new leaf.
Thinking about the future, I decided to make peace with the only bro I've got on Earth. I dished out some food and brought it to his room.
I knocked on the door. No answer.
I knocked again. Still no answer.
I called out before opening the door... and a chilly early spring breeze swept in.
The window had been left open.
Looking closer, I saw a note held down by the broken wooden sword.
'To Hideo: Big bro's got no money. After paying off debts here and there, the relief of being debt-free led me to rack up more, and now I owe 15 million yen. The world is unfair. Your big bro is a victim. Pity me. Can you really collect money from a brother like this? The only brother you've got in the world, a man surrounded not just on four sides but on all eight? You can't, right? Forgive your pitiful big bro.'
Like hell I will, you piece of crap.
I showed the note to the old man.
"I see."
"Father."
"When you call me that, it's never a good sign."
"This time, I might actually kill him."
"Hmm. So even the cold of the Bering Sea couldn't change him."
Dad quietly stood up, and even though he'd just come back from work, he tightened his tie.
——A few hours later
We apprehended my bro and escorted him to the appropriate place.
"No way!? Tell me it's a lie, Dad! Hideoooo!"
I and Dad were watching my bro being escorted by the men in black at the night pier, with them holding down his sides, being taken to the luxury cruise ship.
The ship's name is 'Last Hope'——meaning the final hope.
Only hopeless debtors who have taken out enormous debts and cannot repay them on their own can participate in the game held far out at sea.
The debtors gamble by entrusting their fate to the game, and if they win, they acquire a large sum of money, repay their debts, and disembark; if they lose, they will be subjected to decades of underground labor to repay their debts.
It is truly the last, last, last hope for hopeless idiots who are out of control. The last chance.
All you have to do is win. All you have to do is win here.
If you don't win, you're trash.
"Dad! Hideoooo!"
"Masato, adults have to do what's right"
"bro, do your best"
"Chii chii chii"
"Gii"
We watched the luxury cruise ship set off into the night's darkness.
"I have work tomorrow, but you're making me work hard"
Late at night, I came home, and with the rice balls and instant miso soup that my old man had skillfully made for me, I healed the fatigue of searching for my bro and went to bed.
However, it was almost morning already.
Giving up on sleeping, I was stretching Gii-san, and playing with Shimaenaga-san, when the first floor started to get noisy.
The Akagi family are both parents working salarymen, so mornings are very early.
At that moment, my phone vibrated.
It's from Shurado.
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Today's Appraisal
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particularly large Black Swamp boss crystal
11,253,552 yen
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Total 11,253,552 yen
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Dungeon Bank Account Balance 13,420,221 yen
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Shurado Investment 6,090,983 yen
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Total Assets 19,511,204 yen
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The above appraisal results were sent from Shurado.
These are the appraisal results for the crystal dropped from the boss of the metal dungeon that I asked Shurado to appraise. That's amazing. 11.25 million... that's all-you-can-eat beef bowl.
After all, the reward amount for raid boss is different.
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Shurado: That crystal
Could it be
Is it a drop from a dungeon boss?
That's right: Akagi Hideo
Shurado: Why didn't you tell me sooner?
I was going to say: Akagi Hideo
But the timing wasn't right
Shurado: So that's what you say.
I understand.
Be prepared.
Eh: Akagi Hideo
Please forgive me
I'll do anything
Shurado: I understand.
Then
You're going to defeat alone raid boss
To bad bad Akagi
To very bad Akagi
gulp (stamp): Akagi Hideo
Shurado: I'll have you become an A-rank explorer
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That's what she says.
I did it.
I'm A-rank.
"Big bro, good morning, what are you grinning about? Creepy."
"Stop saying creepy. It's the 3rd most effective word for all men"
"What are 1st and 2nd place?"
"Smelly. Dirty"
"Big bro, you're smelly. Dirty"
This brat is kyaa......
Just you wait, once Gii-san's elite training is over, I'm going to use tentacles to punish you in various ways......! Uhehehe.
"Chi chi chi!"
"It hurts, ouch!"
"Big bro, look at this news"
"Wh-what is it, little sister, it hurts, it hurts, Shimaenaga-san, it hurts......!"
While being punished by Shimaenaga-san who sensed evil, I turn my gaze to the morning news.
"There's a big dungeon in Chiba. You're going to make a living as an explorer, right? Don't you have to go?"
"......Chiba, huh"
Chiba......A peanut-independent state with a mysterious prefectural character that mistakes itself for Tokyo.
I hear it's a phantom land inhabited by a race composed entirely of peanut-born aliens born from peanuts......I wonder if it's safe.
Feeling uneasy, I lower my gaze to my phone.
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Shurado: The dungeon I'm going to be assigned to this time
has been decided to be in Chiba
I think it's a dungeon with a satisfying challenge that's perfect for Akagi
I think it's a dungeon with a satisfying challenge that's perfect for Akagi
Please come and conquered it
I'll go right away overwhelmingly: Akagi Hideo
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I replied immediately.
The next destination is......Chiba.