Chapter 140 – Youth Power!

Тhе high sсhоol grouр wаs а fivе-рerson teаm сalled thе Shake Strikеrs, соnsisting оf thrее girls and two bоys.

Aррarеntlу, thеу mаinly оpеrate оn РiсkРock.

Whоa, а whole differеnt wоrld.

From an old man’s реrspective, Guard Маsk was easier to hаndlе.

But I havе to tеаm uр with а streamer I discоvered lосаlly to tасklе this Stampеde.

I psуched myself uр аnd transformеd intо Spiсe.

“Mеtamorphоse! Sрiсe!”

“Ah, there’s a blаck-аnd-whitе sрiral сoming from thе stаtiоn bathroоm!”

Spiсе mаkеs his еntranсе!

In frоnt of mе аre the Shake Strikers, with whom I had scheduled an appointment in advance.

They’re dressed in street fashion, and they’re all wearing hats.

Haha, I see—the girls share a common outfit of black oversized shirts and hot pants, with hats and sneakers in red, yellow, and pink.

The boys, on the other hand, wear blue shirts with baggy bottoms, and their hats are black and green.

They’re like a sentai team!!

But how should I talk to these teenagers?

When you’re an old man, you don’t have any common topics with young people, so I was really nervous.

What should I do…?

Spice approached them with a troubled expression.

Then, the girl who seemed to be the leader of the Shake Strikers—the one with the red hat—stood up.

She’s walking toward me.

Hmm, here we go—!

“Ah, um!! A-are you Black Pepper Spice!? We’re truly honored you reached out to us!!”

“Huh—!?”

Spice was completely caught off guard when she called out to him in an incredibly nervous yet somehow excited voice!

“Is it really you!? Wow!!”

“He’s cute!! So cute!! He’s tiny!!”

“This kid is really an old man!? Whoa!!”

“Ugh… damn… this is gonna ruin my preferences.”

Seems like one of them has the makings of the Meat Brigade.

The five of them are a group of students from the comprehensive high school in our city.

They were apparently part of the street dance club, but after learning that becoming famous could help their dancing reach the Dungeon, they started their activities.

That’s a good thing, isn’t it?

“In today’s world, not everyone is a streamer. Didn’t you think, ‘We don’t have to do something this dangerous ourselves’?”

“No, we didn’t.”

The red-clad leader shook her head.

“It’s not someone else’s problem. It’s our problem. We’ve had Dungeons since we were born. So, we’ve been living in fear, knowing that kind of danger is always right beside us. But once we found out we could fight it, we had to do it, right?”

“Even so, only the five of us joined the club.”

The pink-clad girl giggled.

“Maybe they lack the spirit of a warrior?”

The yellow-clad girl shrugged.

The black-hatted boy poked her.

“Who’s a warrior!?”

“You got me~!”

“Ugh, Little Spice, I had no idea you were this cute in real life…!”

The green-clad boy kept glancing at Spice, didn’t he!?

“I see! Then you’re perfect! Listen—Spice came to give you all a big mission! The Ikaruga Grand Thanksgiving Festival is coming up soon, right?”

“Yes! Kiraboshi Hazuki! She’s the same age as us, but she’s saved the world so many times! Thanks to her, high school streamers like us have exploded in numbers!”

Ohhh, so that’s how it is!!

She truly is the hope of young people her age.

Well, from my perspective as someone who’s actually met her, I didn’t get much of that “active high school student!” freshness or sparkle from her personally. Instead, she gave off this mysterious sense of being a veteran or a tricky character…

“I see! So, when the world’s attention is focused on the Ikaruga Grand Thanksgiving Festival… a nationwide Stampede will occur. This is Spice intel. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but I hope you do—because it’s 100% going to happen.”

Tension ran through the five of them.

“A Stampede…!? Is that the thing we saw in a video before?”

“The one where tons of monsters come out, right!? Fighting one-on-one isn’t fair.”

Yellow, are you taking the bushido spirit too far?

“We’re going to fight that!? Well, the five of us could easily handle a Goblin or two, but…!”

“…Little Spice.”

The green-clad boy looked up.

He was probably the one with the most potential for the Meat Brigade.

“What is it?”

“Do we have a chance of winning? Everyone’s acting tough, but honestly, we’re just average even when we try our best. It takes all five of us just to take down a Goblin.”

“We do, actually.”

“We do!?”

The green-clad boy and the others all murmured in surprise.

“Listen. During the Ikaruga Grand Thanksgiving Festival, Kiraboshi Hazuki will probably do something big. The aftermath of that will flip the balance of power between here and there. But even a weakened Stampede can’t be pushed back unless there are streamers stationed in several locations. In this city, Spice only knew about you guys and the two from Guard Mask.”

“I-I see…!!”

“Then let’s do it! Let’s reach out to all the streamers we know! We’ll announce it on PickPock!”

The pink-clad girl stood up and then pointed sharply at Spice.

“A promotional video! Little Spice, you’re joining in too!!”

“Eh, Spice is dancing too!!!!”

And so it was decided.

Well, if it weren’t for the overwhelming sharpness of this Spice Body, it would’ve been a mess.

The dance they taught me didn’t go well, but I overpowered it with raw physical talent!

“Oh, I see. Spice didn’t know about PickPock, so he hadn’t noticed the streamers spreading from there. Thanks for telling me.”

I shook hands with each of the five in turn.

On their smartphone screens, a video was already posted of Spice dancing with the five of them and then panicking, shouting, “This is bad—!”

“All you streamers with free time during the Ikaruga Grand Thanksgiving Festival—! The city’s defenses are thin! Let your guard down, and it’s a Stampede! If nothing happens, you’re super lucky! But if something does happen~…? You’ll save everyone and get noticed! No one can call it disrespectful! The more attention you get, the more people you’ll save! Let’s prepare—!!”

I think it turned into a pretty good PR piece, don’t you?

After that, Spice treated the five of them to a meal at a hamburger chain.

Huh, so only two of them are locals, and the other three came from outside the city!?

“Ah—, but it was great getting to talk so much with Little Spice! Once we talked, we could tell you really are an old man.”

“Eek! I guess the content of the conversation gives it away, huh—”

“But such a cute old man is cheating.”

“Just based on appearances, we’re high schoolers being treated by a little kid.”

They chatted excitedly like that…

And so, X-Day was finally approaching!