Chapter 89

"Raa!"

Nana's sharp cry accompanied the swing of her Shadow Seam, shattering the body of the defenseless Petit Golem.

This was indeed the third time we had cleared a Monster House.

The treasure chest that appeared where the Petit Golem had vanished, having lost all its HP, proved that it was the last monster in the Monster House.

"Phew~"

Nana plopped down on the ground with a thud, collapsing like a well-used bean bag.

While clearing a Monster House can be very rewarding, Nana's brute-force approach inevitably takes a heavy toll on her.

Clearly exhausted, Nana spread her arms wide and began to lie down. Though she wasn't asleep, her closed eyes clearly showed her fatigue.

Leaving the treasure chest for a moment, I approached the fallen Nana.

"Good job. You've really gotten more stable."

"Yeah, I guess. It's a lot easier when you can hit them with a big attack right from the start."

This was my third time, and Nana's fourth, including the first large-scale Monster House, so it was true that we had become much better at planning our strategy.

According to Nana, "the smell is different," though I don't really understand what she means, she always discovers the Monster House as soon as we enter a floor.

Once she does, we start the incantation before entering the room, and then cast a Thunderstorm or something similar to take out the monsters that spawn inside.

After that, Nana charges in and wreaks havoc among the confused monsters, while I support her.

Our strategy for clearing Monster Houses has generally become a rough outline of this process.

Incidentally, as the term "large-scale" suggests, the difficulty of Monster Houses varies depending on the size of the room.

The large room Monster House that Nana first cleared has yet to be reported as cleared by anyone else.

It's that difficult. The sheer number of enemies due to the room's size makes it stand out.

On the other hand, the small room Monster House we just cleared only had about 30 monsters, so it wasn't particularly difficult. In fact, it's a size that has been cleared by many others.

"Well, the reward is a bit lacking, though."

While Nana lay down, I opened the treasure chest to check its contents. Inside were fragments of stardust and a Full Potion.

A Full Potion is an advanced potion that can fully restore HP. It becomes more useful the higher your level, but I don't really need it. I'll give it to Nana, who has high HP.

We each got 1000 fragments of stardust. While it's more efficient to earn than just rushing through the dungeon, considering the fatigue and wear and tear per floor, it's not necessarily a profitable venture.

"Mmm~... gurrr"

"Hey, no sleeping."

"Ugh"

I forcibly pulled up Nana, who was making a lazy sound and getting into a sleeping position. She let out a croak, perhaps because the movement was a bit forced.

She seemed to have recovered a bit, as her eyes were a little more open.

Nana, who had slipped out of my arms, stood up with a hop and started stretching, as if checking her body's condition.

In any case, since the last time we cleared that Monster House, Nana's exhaustion had accumulated to a concerning degree.

We took a break about five hours after the stream started, but Nana's expression still showed signs of fatigue.

Well, it's been almost five hours since then, so it's no wonder she's at her peak of exhaustion.

Still, I didn't stop Nana because she didn't show any signs of slowing down.

In fact, the more tired she got, the more precise her movements became. It was as if she was sharpening her skills, becoming stronger and sharper.

She's improving, or something.

Maybe even growing.

Perhaps I and Rong-nee were a bit mistaken.

Nana is growing.

The experience of being able to remove her own shackles in this world, the rapid growth in just under three weeks, is unprecedented.

Nana's abilities, which were originally inhuman and given to her without effort, faced their first trials when she encountered Amber and Apocalypse.

In this world where she can fully utilize her powers, Nana has been given her first opportunity to grow.

"Are you not going?"

"Hmm, let's go."

In response to Nana's usual voice, I shook off a slight feeling of unease and agreed.

Whether it was the opportunity to grow or the need to do so, the back of Nana, who walked ahead, seemed to waver as it had since yesterday.

☆

"…Damn, this far…"

One of the Siren knights, Rinne, kneeled, exuding an atmosphere of defeat.

In reality, she had been beaten down by us, but she seemed to be somewhat enjoying the role of a dramatic knight.

And above all, I decided to listen to her because of her determination to leave a message even with all her HP gone.

"You have done well to defeat us, the knights of Siren. …But do not forget. We are merely numbers, false knights appointed by the true knight."

"Dead Wind!"

"Gwaaaaaah!"

Rinne disappeared with a somewhat comical sound effect as she was hit by my advanced wind magic, Dead Wind.

"Is that okay, Rin?"

"Yeah, sure. It's probably just about the difficulty increasing again, and all the knights seem to say similar things."

"Oh, the information is already out?"

"That's right. We took too long, though."

By the time we defeated the ninth knight, Rinne, the information about the "true knight" had already been revealed on the first day.

We had taken 12 Mirages and 3 Hashes, and the knights that appear in Server IV had overlapped quite a bit, so it took us until the end of the second day to finally hear it.

Actually, Mirages are appearing too much. If they don't come out more evenly, it will get boring.

"Well, besides the true knight, there's also the Monster House as a difficulty increase. There are still plenty of tricks, I guess. Thanks to Nana, we can clear Monster Houses more efficiently, so let's call it a day for today."

"Sure thing"

I was surprised to hear an unusual response from Nana and stopped in my tracks.

"What's that?"

"It's a response that the listeners often use."

"Hmm… it's cute, so it's okay."

When you pick up comments from listeners, you end up with all sorts of unnecessary knowledge. I didn't expect Nana to pick up on such things, but she seems to enjoy her streaming life, reading comments from listeners during the stream.

Recently, I've been streaming, so Nana hasn't been streaming herself, but it might be good to let her stream from her perspective tomorrow.

My listeners and Nana's listeners are close yet distant. Because we, the streamers, are close, our listeners naturally overlap, but there are still many who only watch one of us.

For example, in a professional team for a team-based game, a specific ace player might be very popular, while the rest of the team has a steady but moderate following.

However, there are also passionate fans of the other members. Maybe they use the same weapon in an FPS, or they like the weapon the member uses.

For Nana, there's her Oni appearance, her use of melee weapons, which is somewhat rare among streamers, her inhuman fighting style, her skill with throwing, her slight inexperience with streaming, etc.

It's the combination of these elements that creates a regular listener base.

I am a gamer with a large number of listeners, both from myself and others, but my play style is not as free-spirited as Nana's.

Listeners who want that kind of play might enjoy Nana's perspective more.

"Phew~... I'm tired."

"Of course you are. How about pizza tonight?"

"Hmm... sushi!"

"Sure, sure."

In any case, seeing Nana return to her usual self, compared to yesterday and this morning, I felt relieved. I decided to order some premium sushi to celebrate our solo clear of the Monster House.

Rinne isn't very interested in food.

We don't actually spend much on food.

Nana, on the other hand, is a child who prioritizes calories.

Most of our expenses go to food.