The Otherworld Returnee's Game Streaming: End of an Era

Kyaaaaaaagh!

The moment Yujin cleaved the grimoires apart with the holy sword, a piercing scream erupted from the human-face ornaments affixed to their covers.

In a truly grotesque twist, both the Livre d'Ivon and the Cthaat Aquadingen had been living creatures all along—grimoires that were, in truth, alive.

"So in the end… you have chosen this path. I suspected Master might make such a decision, but to deliberately abandon the easy road and take the harsh one instead…"

Yuria let out a sigh as she spoke to Yujin, yet she never once blamed him for it.

"Even so… I will accept Master's decision. It may be an utterly foolish choice, but your resolve to face the Calamity God with nothing but human strength is something that deserves to be respected."

With those words, Yuria reached out and gently brushed her fingers across Yujin's cheek.

"My master. I shall follow you to the very end. Until the moment your journey concludes… I swear here and now that I will share my life with yours."

"…Oath of Pure Love?"

Yujin tilted his head at the sudden message window. The viewers who read it, however, nearly bulged their eyes out of their sockets.

Judging by the flood of live comments, this kind of oath was clearly an event that only appeared once a character's affinity had been maxed out completely.

Accepting the oath didn't seem to carry any particular penalty, so Yujin nodded without much thought.

"I accept."

"From this moment on, I shall regard you as the true master of my soul and the companion of my life. With this, the contract is complete."

"Then how exactly do we get to R'lyeh? Do we just jump into that hole up in the sky?"

Yuria stared at him as if she were looking at a complete lunatic.

"Have you lost your mind? That hole is not a dimensional passage—it is nothing more than a 'gate' that spews out the toxic miasma and foul energies of the dimension known as R'lyeh. If you walked into it of your own free will, even a Ruler would be unable to find rest and would suffer for all eternity."

"…I was just asking because I didn't know. You don't have to make it so embarrassing…"

"Then what is the way to reach R'lyeh?"

"Ordinarily I would have summoned an otherworldly race capable of traveling hundreds of times faster than light by means of mead. There is no more stable method of crossing dimensions than that."

As she spoke, Yuria shot a pointed glance at the grimoires Yujin had sliced cleanly in half.

"At least until a certain someone decided to smash the grimoires that contained the summoning method. Honestly… this is enough to drive me insane."

"…."

Faced with Yuria's scolding, Yujin could only stand there like a mute who had swallowed honey.

"…But I only cut ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them in half. We should still be able to read the contents, right?"

"And what good does reading the contents do us? We don't possess the magical power required to perform the summoning. If the grimoires had remained intact, we could have used the summoning even without mana of our own."

At Yuria's weary words, Yujin fell into deep thought for a moment before suddenly speaking up.

"…In other words, if something with magical power in its body exists, then that something can use the summoning technique as much as it likes?"

"Pardon?"

"Wait here a second."

With that, Yujin vanished somewhere, leaving only Yuria behind.

"…Just what sort of bizarre scheme is he cooking up this time…"

The viewers watching the abandoned Yuria burst out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠laughing.

A short while later, Yujin returned to Yuria.

In his hand was something neither she nor the watching viewers could possibly have predicted.

"Ghk! Unhand me, you worthless human! Do you even know who I am to dare—!"

Thrashing and flailing.

Yuria and the viewers both went blank-faced as they stared at the "humanoid monstrosity" dangling from Yujin's grip.

"…M-Master?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Just to be sure I'm asking correctly—what exactly is that thing you're holding right now?"

"You can see it and you still don't know? It's a Spawn of the Stars."

Even after Yujin's kindly explanation, Yuria's expression showed no sign of improving.

If anything, it grew even darker than before.

"…I apologize, but I did not ask Master because I failed to recognize its identity. I am asking why—exactly why—you dragged it here—"

"Obviously because this thing has magical power?"

"…Excuse me?"

For a moment Yuria wore the exact face of someone who had just been told a dog had laid an egg.

"You said it yourself just now. The grimoires contain a summoning technique, but we don't have mana so we can't use it. So why not just ask a being that does have mana to cast the summoning for us?"

"…."

Meanwhile the Spawn of the Stars still trapped in Yujin's hand snorted with pure contempt after hearing all that.

"Ha! Listening to the nonsense coming out of your mouth is so absurd I can't even find the words. Human, do you know who I am? This body serves the one who occupies a corner of the great constellation—the Sleeper of Yn'kai! I am Laniqua Ruahuan!"

"Hmm."

Yujin stared blankly at the Spawn of the Stars, then clicked his tongue.

Laniqua whatever-it-was.

Far too long and complicated. He had already forgotten the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠name less than ten seconds after hearing it.

For the sake of smooth mutual communication, Yujin felt the need for a name change.

Let's see. It looked a bit like a goblin, yet its body was translucent and half of it was made of liquid, so…

"From now on your name is Undine."

"…What?"

"I said I'm calling you Undine from now on."

At Yujin's words the Spawn of the Stars' face twisted violently.

Apparently it was not particularly fond of the new name he had so generously bestowed.

What part of it was so displeasing, though?

Considering the creature's appearance, Yujin thought it was a pretty name—almost too good for it.

"That is pure nonse—"

"Looks like we need a little talk."

Sadly, Laniqua-whatever's rebellion did not last long.

Because the moment Yujin raised the holy sword and gave it a few solid thrashings, the creature stopped resisting and hung its head in defeat.

"Undine."

"…Yes."

"Water."

"…Pardon?"

"Water."

"…."

Yujin accepted the water the creature poured from a canteen and smiled as he drank.

Even if it was only inside a virtual reality game, the water tasted excellent.