MTLNOVEL Chapter 2 - The Rise of Dungeon Streamers
One of the latest trends in both dungeon exploration and modern society is dungeon streaming.
A dungeon streamer is someone who records and broadcasts their dungeon expeditions, using magic stone-powered cameras designed to follow a designated target.
Recently, dungeon streaming has evolved to resemble video game livestreaming, with streamers broadcasting their dungeon raids in real time while interacting with an audience.
Dungeons have long been an essential part of human society, yet very few people actually know what they look like from the inside.
Although dungeons provide crucial resources, exploring them means risking one’s life.
Even the most skilled magic users can die from a single mistake.
And only a small percentage of people have the courage—or recklessness—to step into such a deadly place.
That’s exactly why dungeon streaming became a massive hit among the general public.
Even though dungeons are covered in mandatory education, people rarely get to see what’s actually inside them.
After all, even news media can’t freely enter dungeons.
That’s why dungeon streamers—who capture dungeon interiors in detail, showcase fights, and share exploration strategies—have seen skyrocketing demand.
For many people, watching thrilling dungeon content is a way to escape from the monotony of their own dull lives.
As with any new industry, once one person found success, countless others rushed in, hoping to strike it rich.
With dungeon streaming offering ad revenue and donation features, many people saw it as a dream job and jumped on board.
However—as the number of streamers increased, competition became fierce.
With more people fighting for views, streamers had to find ways to stand out.
Instead of coming up with new angles or formats, streamers competed to see who could dive the deepest into dungeons.
At first, people streamed from the uppermost floors.
Then they pushed to the upper floors, then the middle floors, then the lower floors, constantly trying to go deeper for more viewership.
This competition eventually led to disaster.
The reason was simple—
The difference in difficulty between the middle floors and the lower floors is staggering.
One day, a popular dungeon streamer,who had comfortably handled middle-floor monsters, recklessly descended to the lower floors and died on stream.
It wasn’t even a close fight.
The moment he entered,
he was instantly torn apart, reduced to a pile of flesh.
Since then, dungeon streamers have stayed in the middle floors, unable to progress further.
Initially, governments welcomed dungeon streaming, since it boosted resource collection from dungeons.
However, after a high-profile death, stricter regulations were imposed.
That’s when Explorer Ranks were introduced, restricting how deep an explorer could go based on their skill level.
With the ranking system in place,
dungeon streaming stagnated—and remained that way for years.
Today, Asagao, a popular dungeon streamer, has reached the deepest level of the middle floors.
For a dungeon streamer, this is the absolute limit.
Ever since the famous death incident, streamers have been banned from entering the lower floors—
both due to rank restrictions and for their own safety.
“As of today, I have officially reached Explorer Rank C!
So, to celebrate, I’ll be taking on the lower floors of Shibuya Dungeon for the first time!”
Brushing a hand through her black hair, Asagao glanced at the live chat displayed on a wrist-mounted device.
Even though many viewers expressed concern, the truth was—everyone wanted to see what lay beyond.
Statistically, over half of all explorers never go beyond the uppermost floors.
For most, the lower floors were just a distant dream.
With millions of subscribers,
Asagao’s audience was massive.
But thanks to her inhuman reflexes, she kept up with every comment and grinned.
“See? Everyone’s curious!
That means no backing out now, right?”
Asagao had gained immense popularity thanks to her natural charisma, good looks, and overwhelming strength as an explorer.
Most streamers needed teams to survive the middle floors.
She cleared them solo.
Even professional explorers struggled to match her feats.
With her skills, she made more money directly from dungeons than from streaming itself.
For most dungeon streamers, the real reason they never entered the lower floors wasn’t just the danger—
It was money.
If you’re strong enough to handle the middle floors, you already earn enough to live comfortably.
There’s no reason to go deeper.
But when Asagao thought about it, she just smiled.
“But where’s the fun in that?”
Risking her life just to chase her curiosity, only a lunatic would do that.
But even so, her dedicated audience knew how serious she was.
That’s why—no matter how dangerous things got— they never stopped watching.
Until—
“As expected of the lower floors…!”
Her breathing grew unsteady as she clutched her weapon.
The air felt thicker, and the shadows around her moved unnaturally.
Something was there, lurking beyond her vision.
The camera feed shook as she took a defensive stance.
No one had streamed beyond this point before.
For the first time, she was truly alone.
And thus, Asagao’s legend truly began.
Descending the staircase from the middle floors to the lower floors, Asagao entered a territory few streamers dared to approach.
At first, she maintained her usual tone, speaking confidently into her stream.
But as time passed, her composure began to crack, and her words grew fewer and fewer.
By the time she reached the first floor of the lower levels—floor 41—she knew she was in serious danger.
Her beautiful black hair, once captivating to her audience, was now soaked in red, dripping with her own darkened blood.
Her obsidian robe, woven from rare enchanted fabric, was now torn and shredded in several places.
Meanwhile, her stream’s chat was moving at an alarming speed, filled with genuine concern, morbid curiosity, and mocking remarks from those who had come to watch her die.
But in that life-threatening moment, Asagao no longer had the luxury of reading comments.
“…Is it still following me?”
She whispered under her breath, stealing a cautious glance over her shoulder.
Silence.
Only the echo of her own labored breathing filled the dim dungeon air.
Realizing she was momentarily safe, she finally allowed herself to check the chat—only to find a sea of messages urging her to retreat.
Turning her gaze downward, her eyes settled on her broken spear— a weapon she had carried since her rookie days.
It was now snapped in half, completely useless.
And because she operated solo, there was no one to back her up, no one to hand her a spare weapon.
She was alone.
“Can I make it back to the middle floors using magic alone…?”
With a deep breath, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to move.
She lowered her stance, keeping close to the wall, taking slow, careful steps, just as the experienced explorers in her audience had advised.
The blood loss made her stagger slightly, but her memorization of the dungeon layout allowed her to navigate without error.
Soon, she spotted the staircase back to the middle floors.
Her heart soared with relief.
That was when it happened.
The moment she let her guard down, A presence appeared behind her.
Her instincts screamed, and without thinking, she threw herself forward.
A searing pain shot through her back, a burning heat spreading from a deep wound.
Gritting her teeth, she turned her gaze toward her attacker.
Standing there was a half-transparent skeletal knight, its soulless, hollow eyes locked onto her.
Asagao tried to push herself up, only to notice blood dripping from the skeletal knight’s blade.
Her blood.
For the first time, she realized— she had been struck.
The exhaustion that had been building up hit her all at once.
Her legs trembled, refusing to obey her will.
Even if she tried to run, she wouldn’t make it.
She was out of stamina.
She was out of magic.
Desperate, she cast a flame spell—
The fire passed right through the skeleton.
It wasn’t even fazed.
“…Of all times to encounter an unknown monster…
Just my luck.”
Asagao let out a weak, self-deprecating laugh, her vision growing blurred.
She already knew how this would end.
The skeletal knight stepped forward,raising its sword for the final strike.
Asagao reached out toward her floating magic camera
and pulled it close.
With a small, tired smile, she whispered to her viewers—
“This is too gruesome to show… I guess this is where the stream ends.”
Her finger trembled over the button.
She tried to cut the feed, but her body refused to move, her arm falling limply to her side.
A chilling numbness crept from her fingertips, slowly spreading through her entire body.
Her lips curled into a small smile, a strange sense of peace washing over her.
She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
Then—
A thunderous roar shattered the silence.
A golden flash surged through the air, and in the next instant—
The skeletal knight exploded into nothingness.
Asagao’s eyes snapped open.
Standing before her was a majestic golden wolf, its fur crackling with lightning,
a symbol carved into its forehead glowing faintly.
She watched in shock as the beast lowered its head, licking her wounds before letting out a resonant howl.
Its presence was overwhelmingly powerful—but somehow, comforting.
Before she could even process what had happened, a voice called out.
“Jeez, where the hell did you run off to?”
A casual voice broke through the tension, completely out of place in the depths of the lower floors.
A young man appeared, stepping into view.
“Oh. There you are.
Wait—hold up, is that a dying person?
…No, seriously, are you alive?”
He sniffed the air,
his expression shifting slightly.
“Ah. I see.
You followed the scent of blood all the way here, didn’t you?”
The golden wolf let out a short growl,
as if to confirm.
The young man sighed.
“Alright, alright, I get it.
No need to bark at me, I’ll help.
Just stop yelling already.”
The unexpectedly casual words were the last thing Asagao heard before her consciousness faded into darkness.