A/N: Last Eriko

A/N: Heavy

There’re multiple ways to perform the rescue but, the most effective one is probably just slicing with my sword.

With that, eventually the person inside will be revealed.

The person’s voice was heard when I activated the spear of light, so if the person is within the bear, then it should be in the stomach. Before that, we just stabbed at it with no regards, intending to defeat an Enemy as soon as possible, not knowing of a person inside but, since that is what had already happened, I can only pray that the person inside is still alive.

「Here I come! 」

Holding the sword vertically, I charged.

Naturally, being resolved to take some damage, as long as I can move all my body parts, then there’s no problem.

「Toryaaa! 」

At the very least, I know the arm is 100% bear meat, so it’s fine to just cut it off.

That’s what I thought but, the bone was unexpectedly tough, and severing it was impossible.

「《Magic ・ Defense Down》」

Saki-san casted a DEF debuff but, isn’t that an elementary class magic……?

Maybe it was asking the impossible from her to cast spells out of her specialism, sorry.

「Kuuuuh! Hyaa!? 」

Since my half-assed attack only proved to provoke its combat instincts, I ate a counter from its claw in the face.

『She took the entire thing』

『Looks painful (Shredded)』

『Hang in there! 』

『Still have HP, return the attack』

The three gouges on my chest were pulsating in pain, and the bleeding didn’t stop at all, but this much can only serve as a medal for a fighting maiden, only until it is healed though. Think of it as a diet that involves shedding not just sweat but blood too.

「My spirit! Can still continue! 」

Encouraging myself, I attacked again.

It would be quite the extreme danger but, I can only try to start slicing at its abdomen now.

「Mada mada mada madaa! I will help you slim down until your bones appear! 」

T/N: mada – there’s more to come. But since it didn’t fit to tl it like that, shrugs.

Being rough, but careful, I was slowly removing material like an excavation work.

No matter how much I scraped off, I doubted my eyes when I saw no blood flowing in its organs but……, I can only proceed while slicing carefully.

The color of the flesh is slowly becoming lighter, I wonder if the person inside will soon show their figure.

「Mada ma…… iiic! 」

The moment I felt lighter from the hope becoming visible――, the claws that were swung down at face range gouged off my right eyeball and cheeks.

「No, Eriko-san! 」

The vision of one of my eyes wasn’t darkness but entirely red.

By the time I noticed, I was being stuck by a series of claws, as I felt various things kept inside myself popping out.

「Aaaaaa…… uuuaaaaaaaaaa!! 」

Suddenly, an intense pain as if burning half of my face assaulted me, as I raised a scream.

At the thoughts that even my brain might’ve been scooped out from that one, the thoughts of retreating and recovering my HP overwhelmed me.

「Eriko-san can’t hold out at this rate! I should use my attack magic and turn it into lumps……」

「Don’t look down on me! I’m still standing……! 」

I’m not an adventurer that gets heartbroken from just some pain.

Since I still have HP, recovering leisurely to stop the bleeding or regaining calm will only make an opening for the opponent.

If you were to ask, why do I feel this intense pain. I would say that it’s for the sake of a more worthwhile stream, and a proof to myself that I’m betting my life even with a temporary body in this world, despite the viewers worrying for me, I have set my pain sensory setting to MAX!

「Guh……」

Mere sensation of pain that anyone would experience if they were not of a demon race like RIO, it wouldn’t bother me as much if I just think about what my desire is.

That’s right, just by thinking about my important Rio, and just by fantasizing my guhehe moment meeting with RIO.

「Guhe. Kieeeeeee! 」

I swung my sword.

I continued to slice at it skillfully, and eventually, I could see a non-bear skin within.

With another slice, I saw a person’s face, a face of a little boy with his eyes shut, giving of an impression that his life has yet to begin at all.

I knew it, a little boy like this that isn’t even an adult is…… made into an Enemy…….

One last breath!

「I can do it, sooooooii! 」

Stabbing my hand straight into the slimy looking flesh, the moment I felt my grip on his head, I pulled out at full force.

Gross sounds reverberated in my ears, the moment when I managed to pull the boy’s foot out, the bear’s body suddenly weakened like drying up, and then turned into polygons.

『Oggheee』

『A person is……』

『Was he swallowed whole inside……?』

『He sure stuck inside good if he was swallowed whole』

『Unexpected development』

『Is it something like becoming a tit○n?』

『Yugen World enemy so gross』

The boy that I pulled out forcefully was just unconscious and was still breathing.

Since my wounds are already healed, there’s nothing to do but to wait for the boy to wake up for more progression.

「Hurray! I saved him somehow without him dying! 」

I almost forgot the boy’s condition from my joy but, I pushed back the joy in my heart so that the boy can rest calmly.

With this, it’s another case solved, that’s another addition to my story of investigation~

However, Saki-san seemed to have quite the difficult face.

「It’s unthinkable that he doesn’t have any injuries other than the stab I made through its body but, in the first place, why is there a person inside……」

While muttering, I looked at Saki-san.

Saki-san is a top-class player. If she knows something that can be a hint, then it would be a lucky moment.

「That was a Demeet-type enemy, it was discovered that it clings onto the body of someone that is in despair. Once that happens, it will be sent to a place cut off from this world, and then, until the outer body dies and rot away, it will spend eternity as a demon. 」

However, Saki-san didn’t just know about it, she explained the entirety like an expert.

In other words, it’s the Enemy-ization phenomenon. The unresolved case of a large number of missing people more than a year ago was perhaps caused by this.

Rather than transformed into another creature, it is similar to a state like encapsulating the person’s body, since they are not actually united as one body, it’s a partial Enemy-ization phenomenon where separation is still possible.

However, what scared me the most wasn’t the Enemy-ization phenomenon.

「Saki-san, did you know from the start? 」

「Yes, I’ve gotten information from the adventurer’s guild beforehand. 」

Waa, as expected of a professional, her prior preparations are flawless.

However, my fearful imagination is becoming more concrete.

「I don’t really want to say it but, did you still intend to use that spell even after knowing there’s a person inside? 」

「Nnhu, that’s……」

She was stuck for words for once, unlike the usual Saki-san.

Because my guess is on the mark, she can’t try to get through with a lie.

She tried to crush the Enemy using Moon Fall, I could only think that she intended to crush this boy inside alongside the Enemy too.

My impression for Saki-san felt like they had degraded to the level of an adventurer guild staff, almost enough for a disqualification as a human being.

「Why? Are you going to say that the person inside is also an Enemy? If it’s me, that’s right, you must’ve known that I have a method to save that boy. Still, you tried to go for a kill without any restraints nor care but, can you tell me why? 」

My tone was slowly getting rough, even I was surprised at my words that are spat out like a machine gun.

Despite the surprise towards myself, in front of my heated-up emotions akin to fever, it was discarded like the dust swept up with a broom.

「Is it because you thought that everything is fine as long as you kept quiet until the Enemy is defeated? Or perhaps for the experience points? I won’t be angry, so please answer me honestly. 」

Even when the battle is finished, my breath was still ragged, and my cold sweat didn’t stop at all, I wanted to think that all of it is just my misunderstanding from start to finish.

However.

「It’s their own fault to simply be despaired and simply turning into a Enemy」

I felt like I heard a sound of my admiration for Saki-san basically turning into nothing.

If it’s Saki-san, if with her high rank, if she had played this game so much, she must be the opposite of those many ill-mannered players, it was my mistake for admiring her outwards appearance.

Honestly speaking, the situation only worsened with me calling her out. But, to break my relationship with a person that hides her true self like that, truthful words at this much are enough.

「I will bring this boy back to the capital, let’s disband the party here. Later. 」

Carrying the boy that was rescued, towards the exit, I sprinted as if I was distancing myself from the stink.

『Investigation finished already ww』

『Result is not so bad』

『Satsuki Saki…… it was a short while』

『Today’s Eriko is cloudily cloudy』

『That was a skillful maneuver to not have it spiral out of control』

『That part’s a display of Eriko’s comms ability』

『Is this what they say by even a hundred year’s love will cool off』

Love huh…….

▲▲▲

「Princechu Eriko-sama, thank you for your good work for completing the investigation quest for Yugen World. Here would be your rewards. 」

「Unn, thank you as always. 」

Reporting everything without hiding anything, I received 60000 Iris and some karma from the guild staff.

That little boy quickly recovered and could even speak without any visible aftereffects by the time I managed to find his family. But the moment I introduced myself as an adventurer, their eyes turned into fearful ones as if looking at a monster.

In short, it had only happened because they despaired from adventurers.

I wanted to say that I’m different from other adventurers but decided not to. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m an adventurer, and if I were to say that, I could see that my streamer career would be in flames from misspeaking.

But, like how Saki-san said 「Simply」, it basically summed up the entirety of adventurers in BWO.

Under the ruling of selfish adventurers, they had lost their rights to even despair. What ridiculousness.

I found out at some point later but, the reason why the adventurer guild was investigating the Yugen World was not because of any countermeasures against unconfirmed threats, it was because they wanted more territory.

For that sake, they had invested S rank adventurers like me as vanguards. Not content with being just the king of this world, they even wanted to extend their hands to another world.

Even though they aren’t willing to issue any personnel to deal with the occasional pleasure murderer, or even a nationally destroying class vampire like RIO.

But it isn’t like the adventurer guild’s ambitions are anything new, my feelings of tiredness were already washed over, as only a feeling of emptiness remained.

Eventually, I wonder if I would become like the others and graduate from the game…….

「Ri~o, Ri~o」

I’m not depressed.

Compared to the story that I want to accomplish personally, this much is as much as no problem.

「Quickly come to the capital please. I’m always waiting. 」

I wonder, the person that will eventually appear in front of me, will it be the arrogant without fears streamer RIO, or is it the Rio that has a personality of always being reserved and not taking a step forward at all.

Even if it’s the troublesome one that came, I won’t cut any corners in our sparring. Guhehe.

A/N: Eriko = not rank 1st

A/N: I wrote to put an excuse of Eriko won’t get rank 1st

A/N: Soon hospitalized