#019 – My streamer power grows!

#019 – My streamer power grows! Since it was supposed to be another ‘floor’, I expected stairs going down beyond the door, but nope. I instead found myself inside a regular old locker room you would typically see in a water park. Except twisted. Tiled floor, lockers that were about ten storeys tall, and an occasional bench. The whole place smelled strongly of chlorine. I carefully looked around without entering the place yet and I couldn’t help but grimace. “...Chat, I think this is another maze.” The lockers were clearly the walls of said maze. If they were as sturdy as the furniture in the first ‘floor’, I wouldn’t be getting through them, and climbing up and over them might as well be impossible. My only chance was to go through the irregular gaps in the rows of lockers. Thinking about it, this would probably be a non-euclidian nightmare just like the first floor. I couldn’t help the groan that escaped me. “I hate this already. Why can’t I get something more straightforward? C’mon, dungeon...” I whined. KaiEbikoOfficial: well time for mapmaker Ebiko to make her return I breathed out, still annoyed, but at least having a smidge of hope now. “You are the best, Ebi.” KaiEbikoOfficial: I know “So humble too.” I raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help the way my mouth curled up. KaiEbikoOfficial: right? My grin was back at full force at this point. She really was the best. “Alright! Time for floor two...!” I declared before stepping inside. “Even though this doesn’t feel like another floor. Just another area. Are these really called ‘floors’?” KaiEbikoOfficial: non-euclidian physics KaiEbikoOfficial: they can call it another floor if they wanna “Heh, true I guess.” I began walking between the walls of lockers, taking the first left turn and continuing from there. Of course, the good old maze rule of hugging the left wall wouldn’t help at all if the spacial physics were as screwed up as the first floor’s, but it couldn’t hurt to try. “This place is kinda wet...I guess it makes sense. Lockers are usually next to showers,” I mused before perking up. “Ooh, maybe the third floor is showers! I hope I can actually use one of them...” I slowly continued for a few minutes, watching my surroundings for more zombies, when I stepped into a slightly wider puddle of water than the others. The moment I did, I knew something was wrong because my foot got stuck and I jerked to a stop. “Wha–?!” Before I could do anything, the freaking puddle converged around my foot and began climbing up my leg, making me drop my bucket as a shiver went down my spine. I let out a very high-pitched shriek. And then subsequently spat out fire right under me on reflex. It burned a little without the inherent protection Fire breath gave to my throat, but I managed to keep myself from putting too much power into it and searing my leg off – not that I thought I could do that considering I’d survived the robot’s flamethrower. Luckily, my panicked move paid off and I could feel my leg being released. I used the chance to jump back out of the small cloud of steam. I stared at the puddle with wide eyes as it shifted and shied away from the remaining wisps of fire covering the floor. When they were gone, the thing seemed to almost stand up before launching itself at me. I let out another Fire breath while backing up further and drawing my sword. The fire hit it head on and it burst into even more steam with a sizzle, obscuring my view a little. I didn’t let my guard down, and automatically took the brief moment of respite to scan my surroundings for any other sentient puddles wanting to eat my legs. Then the puddle was back – though smaller than before – launching itself at me once more. I could feel Fire breath’s inherent cooldown creeping up on me, so I instead swung my sword overhead and fed it Ether. The sword passed through it like it was just water – which I suppose it was – but as it did, I could see the lightning course through its watery body, halting its leap and stunning it. It fell to the ground with a little splash and I prepared myself for another lightning slash... but then it poofed into mist. I stood there for a second before letting out a weary sigh and relaxing. Which irritated the mild burns on my legs, making me wince. I briefly wondered why the heck my own Fire breath had hurt me more than that robot’s giant tsunami of flames but I didn’t dwell on it much. I quickly looked around one last time before plopping down on the ground where I stood. “...Chat. There are sentient puddles around here!” I whined. “What’s up with that?!” KaiEbikoOfficial: Nana?! KaiEbikoOfficial: you okay? KaiEbikoOfficial: was it corrosive or something? I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. I was just startled... Don’t want any tentacles climbing up my legs, you know?” KaiEbikoOfficial: oh KaiEbikoOfficial: kinky “Don’t even say that, Ebi!” I groaned. “No, but seriously. What’s up with this? Sentient puddles? Puddle slimes maybe?” KaiEbikoOfficial: sorry sorry KaiEbikoOfficial: better than zombies though? I huffed. “Not so sure about that... I’m pretty sure they are immune to physical attacks. My swing just went through it and probably wouldn’t do much if I didn’t use the circuits... And Fire breath isn’t great either, it just blinds me with steam...” KaiEbikoOfficial: that’s true KaiEbikoOfficial: you still have lightning though I hummed. “Yeah that’s probably the way to go... Which sucks because if my only option is zapping, I’m gonna run out of Ether if I keep running into these things.”Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com KaiEbikoOfficial: or stepping into them “Or stepping into them,” I repeated, deadpan. KaiEbikoOfficial: well you have your bucket I frowned. “Then, close it...?” KaiEbikoOfficial: it’s apparently for your poll though? I blinked and remembered the special website people had talked about yesterday. “Uh, is it something like streamerskill dot out? That’s apparently the website dedicated to my stream specifically.” KaiEbikoOfficial: wtfff KaiEbikoOfficial: seriously? KaiEbikoOfficial: this is so involved I rolled my eyes. “Really? That’s what strikes you the most? A separate website? Not the whole isekai thing?” KaiEbikoOfficial: well that too obviously KaiEbikoOfficial: I’m just shocked I hummed noncommittally and finally zeroed in on the thing I’d gotten this upgrade for. The group chat. Once again, I felt a little guilty, since using this probably meant I would be ignoring the vast majority of the people in chat, but there was no way I could read everything anyway. Not if the number of people kept growing. Which it probably would, considering I couldn’t stop the stream. Well, I also had the polls now, so it wasn’t as if they couldn’t interact with me at all, but still... Yet another small window appeared, prompting me to create, sort, or delete a group chat. I selected create and stopped for a moment to think about its name and who I would even invite. In the end, I decided to name it ‘OGs’ and then began inviting all my regulars from back on Earth before the popularity surge today. JamieWasTaken3: sup SpoOo0oOon: hello! KaiEbikoOfficial: oh I’m here too now GonguuH: that was strange GeorgeDoshington: I liiiiive! Jeofffff: heya thanks for the invite Irid123: this is not an ARG is it? DecadentLawyer: hello there “Hey, everyone! Nope, not ARG,” I confirmed. “I’m guessing you got a popup to join this like for the poll? Oh, yeah! And thanks for donating the subs earlier, Lawyer!” JamieWasTaken3: yea I feel like I’m being hacked I snorted. “Well, anywho, it’s nice to have more people around that I can actually talk with. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Ebi! You’re cool and all, but the more the merrier, you know?” KaiEbikoOfficial: hmph KaiEbikoOfficial: I’ve been replaced “I would never!” I gasped in an exaggerated manner. “You’re the only one for me, Ebi!” KaiEbikoOfficial: uh huh sure KaiEbikoOfficial: I’m filing for divorce “Noooo!” I yelled dramatically in an obviously fake wavering tone. GeorgeDoshington: divorce stream when “Never! I shall conquer this dungeon for my beloved!” I said in the most dramatic tone I could muster before devolving into giggles. I checked over my legs again. Thankfully, the burns and the pain were both slowly disappearing. Nowhere near as fast as with the refined ooze, of course, but it was good to know that the diluted one could also help me heal. If only it would satiate me too. “Alright... Oh, how’s our poll doing?” I glanced over to the poll and my expression warped in disgust. Poll: ‘Pineapples on pizza?’ Heck yes: 52,3%(1476) Heck no: 47,7% (1348) Close poll “Really, chat? Why is ‘yes’ winning here? I didn’t take you all for absolute heathens.” I scoffed and closed the poll, while idly thinking about the crazy number of people who had participated in that poll. Just how many people were watching me at this point? “Whatever. Let’s keep going. At least I know what to watch out for now. These stupid puddles won’t get me again!” I said as I heaved myself up. As I did that, my eye caught the bracelet still on my wrist. “I wonder what exactly this thing is for, though? Wasn’t it supposed to help me navigate this place? What does it do?” Irid123: it’s called key bracelet Irid123: so maybe it opens something GonguuH: find the scanner for it JamieWasTaken3: maybe there’s a hidden keyhole I hummed and narrowed my eyes to scan my surroundings more carefully as I walked. KaiEbikoOfficial: try feeding it ether KaiEbikoOfficial: maybe it spawns a key I blinked, mentally shrugged, and did as Ebi suggested. The thing resisted my attempts even more than the sword had and no matter where I touched it, I couldn’t find any spot that conducted Ether better. “...Nope, I don’t think I can. Ah, well.” With no clue on how to use the thing, I continued on, reading the group chat and looking out for death puddles as well as anything that might require the key bracelet. Obviously, my mimic-paranoid self couldn’t help but poke every puddle I found with my sword. Chat made fun of me for it, but my insanity was eventually rewarded when one of the puddles did react to my prodding and wrapped around my sword. I immediately shocked it and splashed back down before vanishing into mist. I slowly breathed in and smiled in satisfaction. “Who’s crazy now, huh?!” I shouted into the empty halls of the dungeon. And then I realized that... I was completely alone in this dungeon – possibly the entire world – walking between skyscraper-sized lockers, on the lookout for sentient puddles that wanted to smother me, capable of shooting lightning and breathing fire... arguing that I wasn’t crazy. After that sobering thought, I didn’t feel like talking much for the next few minutes.