The Darkness Was Comfortable for Me

Author Note: Management warned me that ‘you are using an actual person’, so I have changed the character. Please keep that in mind. <Most likely referring to how Ikakin was changed to Worigami>

——

The exploration of the 3rd Floor was going well. The Garden Panther didn’t show up, but it served the objective of Jeanne to ‘level up’ just right. 

Our teamwork is somewhat possible now. 

However, because the 3rd Floor is in a way not suitable for training, the more involved training will be once we go down to the 4th Floor. We defeat almost all monsters of the 3rd Floor in one hit after all. The monsters that die become Spirit Stones, so we can’t practice combos. 

The morning of the 4th day repeating that, we went to the guild as usual, and we were called by a staff member.

“Hikaru-san, Jeanne-san, congratulations. You have been promoted.”

They told us that from the get-go, and brought out a tray with brand new black rank cards on it. 

“Isn’t there supposed to be a promotion exam?” (Hikaru)

“The Spirit Stones you two have sold has already passed the required amount, so you are exempted from the exam.” 

“Is that so?” (Hikaru)

According to what they say, the explorers who have surpassed 20 times the amount required to take the promotion exam are exempted from it. 

However, explorers getting exempted is a rare occurrence, and only explorers who could fight to begin with or those who use noble-suited loopholes are the ones who would take this route. Most explorers can’t reach that number. 

Well, it is true that, after teaming up with Rifreya and Jeanne, we have been hunting monsters as if we were laying waste to the dungeon. This is the result of using the God cheats so, in a sense, we are cheating here. Can’t really feel like it is a deserved skip, but no point in saying that. 

“Then, from here on, you two are Dryad Rank. At this pace, you will be able to get promoted to Sylvester Rank really soon, but let me congratulate you here.” 

“Thank you very much.” (Hikaru)

“…Same.” (Jeanne)

Jeanne gave a strangely low response. We have been together for a decent amount of time, but she fits the bill of a person that is open at home but doesn’t speak when outside. She can speak normally with the dwarf old man, so it is not like she is bad with muscles, but with tall men. 

The Dryad Rank card is made from jet black wood; Ebony Rank. 

The Sylvester Rank has a silver rank card, and it is called Silver Rank. Rifreya is in this rank. 

Honestly speaking, I don’t care one bit about ranking. 

There’s apparently a variety of benefits in having a higher rank, but I doubt it has anything to do with our current lifestyle. 

We changed the bronze rank cards Jeanne and I had, and hung the new rank cards on our necks. 

“Hmm, the black rank card looks pretty cool.” (Jeanne)

Looks like Jeanne has taken a liking to it. I am wearing black clothes and now I have a black rank card, so I am finally completely in black. 

“The rank of you two has increased, so the guild will be buying your Spirit Stones at a slightly higher rate. There’s no limitation to the floors we buy the stones from, but you won’t be able to sell stones from the 1st Floor once you are Silver Rank, so please keep that in mind.” 

“Eh, really?” (Hikaru)

“Yes, it is a preventive measure to ensure explorers won’t monopolize the shallower floors.” 

“I see.” (Hikaru)

If you are silver, the 1st Floor is off-limits; gold is the 2nd Floor; at mithril, the guild won’t be buying stones from the 3rd Floor either. 

Well, it is a long time before that applies to us, but being barred off from the 2nd Floor would be painful for me. It might be a good idea to not aim for Gold Rank. 

…No, we are aiming to conquer the dungeon, so I shouldn’t have such a weak mentality. 

I have to become stronger, to the point where I can walk around the 4th Floor while humming. 

“Ah, also, someone has come saying they want us to tell them when you are here, Hikaru-san. Over there.”

“Eh?” (Hikaru)

I was startled by what the staff member said. 

The 2nd Chosen group didn’t make contact with us until now, but it has finally come, huh…

We look at the direction where the staff member faced.

The chances of them shooting a gun here are low. Or more like, there’s no point in them going out of their way to greet us before attacking. They could just aim for our head the moment they find us. 

Then, what’s their objective?

A whole lot of things swirled inside my head in an instant. 

“Heya heya, you are Hikaru-kun? Man, I so wanted to meet you! And now you are finally here! Hello~, all viewers, are you seeing this? It is the real Hikaru-kun! He is far more handsome than I imagined! Wait, the viewers should already know that, huh. Am I the only one who didn’t know? Or more like, even Jeanne-san is here. And the beauty here must be Rifreya-san. Uwa, truly a beauty! Life is unfair!” 

The man trotted his way here and suddenly began talking a storm.

A-Aah! I have seen this face before…

“What’s with this noisy man? So rude all of a sudden.” (Jeanne)

“That’s right. Who is he calling a beauty? Me?” (Rifreya)

“W-…W-….” (Hikaru)

“Oh? What’s the matter, Hikaru? Making a face as if you have seen a ghost.” (Jeanne)

“It is Worigami Channeeeeel!!!” (Hikaru)

Why? Why? Ah, right, Worigami-san was also selected in the 1st group. 

Why is he here of all places???

“Hoho~, I am happy that you know about me. Hello konnichiwa, I am Worigami.” (Worigami)

Worigami-san spun his arm two times and made a silly bow. 

If I remember correctly, he is around 30 years old. He doesn’t break his gentle expression ever, and that figure of him always smiling is like that of the kind neighborhood brother in manga. 

He is a guy that has been a Youtuber since I was a child, and there’s no Japanese person who doesn’t know about him. In his early days, he would upload his origami creations, but as he did a variety of other things, he eventually became a nationally beloved Youtuber. 

I don’t know what fate brought upon him being selected as a Chosen, but even with that, I saw several times before the transfer that he was pretty positive about the isekai transfer. 

“Hikaru, is he an acquaintance?” (Rifreya)

“No, not an acquaintance. He was a super popular person in my world…” (Hikaru)

“Hm, now that you mention it, I feel like I have seen him somewhere before the transfer… His looks have changed quite a lot though.” (Jeanne)

The 1st Chosen group has gathered once from all across the world. Jeanne spoke with Nanami a little bit since they know english, so she must have seen or been told about Worigami-san then. 

He looks a bit more wild than the time when I saw him in the videos at the time when we were still in Japan. 

Just like Jeanne says, his trademark red hair is dulled, and he isn’t wearing his glasses.

“Why did you come to meet me? Barely any Chosen from the 1st group know that I have been transferred, right?” (Hikaru)

Worigami-san has a lot of luggage, and judging from the dirt and the turban wrapped around his head and overcoat, I can tell that he has done quite the dangerous adventures. 

Is it possible that he would go through the trouble of having such adventures to meet me? 

“About that, the place I was transferred to was close, and I intended to travel this world to begin with, I guess. Meeting you was my first objective, Hikaru-kun.” (Worigami)

Worigami-san smiles brightly as he answers.

Judging from how he acted just before, he probably still has his stance of ‘content creator’. Even when sent to a world like this with no acquaintances, he still doesn’t break that style which is truly impressive. 

I have tried acting like a content creator for a bit, but it was truly difficult to keep in mind that I am always being watched and to act in order to show off myself. 

“I see, the blue dot that was approaching this city was you, huh. Origami…was it? What a strange name.” (Jeanne)

“Not O but Wo; Worigami. I arrived here just yesterday, so that blue dot you refer to was probably me. Worigami is my content creator name, and my real name is…well, there’s no need to.” (Worigami)

“You said you came to meet Kuro, but…what’s your objective? Did you approach him knowing his circumstances?” (Jeanne)

“O-Oi, Jeanne, there’s no need to be so aggressive…” (Hikaru)

“Oooh, Jeanne-san, you are scary. It is mostly a coincidence. There’s also because the messages asked me to… Of course, if I were to make contact with the hottest Chosen of the moment, Hikaru, I might be able to increase my own viewers…is the kind of thought I might have had as well!” (Worigami)

Worigami-san furrowed his brows while pushing out his chest. 

What a truly honest guy.

“You are trying to use us?” (Jeanne)

“No way! I swear I have no such intention. I simply came here to meet him.” (Worigami)

“I can’t find myself trusting you… Smells fishy… That’s right, you are a fishy guy.” (Jeanne)

“Oi, Jeanne, that’s rude.” (Hikaru)

Worigami-san isn’t that different in height from me, and has a kind atmosphere around him, so that must be why Jeanne is saying whatever she wants. 

“I was planning on leaving soon after if I was a hindrance. It was through messages, but I did hear about your situation to a certain degree… But I am glad to see that you are doing a whole lot better than I thought.” (Worigami)

“Eh, t-thanks.” (Hikaru)

The messages must have been sent by Celica. 

I was moping for the longest time after all.

“You are surrounded by such beauties, so you must be getting an infinite amount of hate messages, right?” (Worigami)

“Uhm…I wonder about that. That might be the case.” (Hikaru)

I push away the casual words of Worigami-san. I haven’t opened up my messages yet. 

“Oi, you said your name is Worigami, right? …Come here for a bit.” (Jeanne)

Jeanne suddenly pulls Worigami-san away. 

They spoke for a bit slightly further away, and then they returned.

It is not like I am not curious about what they were talking about, but there’s no way I can just ask ‘what were you talking about?’.

And so, I asked Worigami-san what bothered me from what he said before. 

“You said you were asked to do this by messages, but did you get a message from my little sister?” (Hikaru)

“That’s right. I was close in terms of distance, and I was asking the viewers where I should go and what I should do.” (Worigami)

“Is that so… I apologize for my little sister.” (Hikaru)

“No no, thanks to that, I managed to have a fun journey.” (Worigami)

It is the same situation as Jeanne. 

Even if Celica sent him a message, knowing him, he must have had several different interesting ideas aside from that one. And yet, he came to my place.

Just like Jeanne, he came here because he was worried about me. Just because we are both fellow Japanese. 

“Since you went through the trouble of coming, if there’s anything I can help you with, I will.” (Hikaru)

“Really? That would be a great help. Actually, tadah! I registered as an explorer just now and have become an explorer!” (Worigami)

Worigami-san shows us the brand new bronze color tag. 

I see, there’s no doubt one of his objectives was dungeon exploration.

If he is going to be streaming, there’s no more interesting content than this. 

“If it is okay with you, Hikaru-kun, I would like you to teach me for a bit. I have tried my hand at fighting, but I am a coward at root, so it isn’t going well, you see.” (Worigami)

Worigami-san says while slapping the sword at his waist. 

Being someone from Earth who can fight like Jeanne is not normal. I can only fight because I have the Spirit Abilities. It is mostly attributed to the fact that I am an anomaly among normal people.

“I don’t mind, but you will have to do your best in the 1st Floor in the beginning. Is that okay with you?” (Hikaru)

“I am fine with that. Totally fine. Man, thanks.” (Worigami)

“Wait wait wait, if you are going to use our Kuro, you will have to get through me.” (Jeanne)

“That’s right. If you are going to use my Hikaru, you have to get through me.” (Rifreya)

Jeanne and Rifreya stepped in, and it ended up with it being okay in the free days once every 3 days… 

I would like Jeanne and Rifreya to help out too, but…I figure it would be impossible for Jeanne.