Chapter 152: Miss Dungeon (Part 3)
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/
Author: Hirukuma
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
Everyone had been really busy lately.
I don’t usually get many visitors at night, but today was oddly busy.
Even though it was close to midnight, people were still running about busy setting up the stage and other various preparations. Seeing them all busy like this made me feel like I should keep an eye on them and not fall asleep.
Ramis and the others also seemed to be working hard every day. While it felt a little lonely not seeing them all the time, I must bear with it and look forward instead to the contest.
Perhaps this was not really the time to engage in some frivolous activities. Maybe all of this energy should be used to try and send relief or rescue to the other floors.
[1] Isn’t it normal to set out as soon as possible? Once everyone had had a couple of days’ rest? Were they worried about me who had been working without rest lately?
Director Bear mentioned that he had sent some ‘trusted subordinates’ to check out the situation. Which meant that the rest of us were all on standby until they returned.
Wow, here I get the impression we had to solve everything on our own, but it looks like there are other hunters we could rely on. If that’s the case, I’ll take Director Bear’s word for it and focus on enjoying myself~
After having gathered my thoughts together properly, I suddenly realised I had some free time of my own. Maybe, I should take a look at the fashion magazine that I had given to Ramis and the others.
Using my <Telekinesis> I floated the magazine up and, under the light from my vending machine body, I began turning the pages.
This <Telekinesis skill> is really handy. It’s really great to be able to read newspapers and magazines in the middle of the night during my downtime.
If this was Japan, a vending machine reading a floating magazine in the middle of the night would almost certainly become an urban legend. However, this is an ‘Other World’, so there was no need to worry about these things.
Ah, there’s a special feature on high school student fashion. Age-wise, it was just right for Ramis and the rest. Hm, I’ll just skip the clothes bit. It would not do to spoil the surprise on that fateful day.
Still, there are plenty of other things to look at, such as cute accessories, nail art, make-up… hm, hm, how interesting. Since there were plenty of other things to read in Japan, I had never really looked at women’s fashion magazines.
I do subscribe to a published manga magazine, but only the one weekly shōnen manga magazine, so I’m often stuck reading the few stories that I was really interested in over and over again while waiting for the next issue to come up next week. I got to the point where I almost memorised the characters’ lines. That was how obsessed I was.
What should I do next? Guess I should put in my daily effort to study the local language.
Kikoyu had given me something like a ‘young children’s guide to writing’ which I had been studying. I have also been practising my writing skills with a notebook and pen through <Telekinesis>.
By the way, the notebook and pen came through <Auto-vending Convenience Store>. in fact, the <Auto-vending Convenience Store> sells all kinds of sundry goods that could be found at any regular convenience store. However, I just haven’t bought too many things from them.
While it was convenient to buy things from these kinds of vending machines, I could also easily buy these things from a proper convenience store. However, if it had been a vending machine limited item, I would have pounced on it immediately.
I could probably make a killing selling all these miscellaneous goods to the locals here, however, bringing an influx of these unknown high-culture items might cause problems, so I had only been offering them to close acquaintances.
“Oh? Studying, eh? How diligent of you.”0
It was Carios and Gorus. I had been so lost in thought that I had not realised that they had come up to me. They must be starting their night shift. Thank you for your hard work, guys.
“I’ll have the usual.”
“Same for me.”
These two always know what they want. While they will try out new products when offered, they always settle back to their old favourites. It had become something of a pattern.
“Thank you. Oh, and by the way, my girlfriend has decided to enter the Miss Dungeon Contest, so do us a solid when the time comes, alright?”
So, Carios’ lady love is also entering? Her all-red ensemble did make quite the impression.
That’s right, she was quite the refined beauty type. So, her presence should cause quite a stir. Looks like Ramis and her friends have another great rival to contend with.
This event was shaping up to be quite exciting. Thinking objectively from the point of view of a spectator, the line-up for that day’s event is shaping up nicely.
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The morning of the Miss Dungeon Contest arrived even as various thoughts and ambitions swirled within the minds of the participants.
Well, I may have exaggerated a bit, but it was true that the ones with the keenest eyes on the prize are those who are the most… enthusiastic about winning.
The stage was splendidly arranged. It was hard to believe that it was all built on a whim just barely a week ago. I guess that their experience from the previous impromptu event was put to good use.
In the audience area, long benches had been set up. It could probably seat over 100 spectators. The people involved in the project were wearing blue happi [2] coats. It was at that moment that I realised that the colour was supposed to represent the colour of the lake of this Clearflow Lake Floor. I could understand why they would choose this colour to represent themselves since that astonishingly beautiful lake was the first thing I laid eyes on when I first awakened in this world.
“Good morning, Hakkon~”
“Hey, morning…”
“Gimme something to wake me up…”
A vibrant Ramis, a sleep-deprived Hyurumi and an unusually not-chipper Shui stood in front of me.
“The clothes… are finally done. I’m so glad I managed to finish it in time.”
“Sorry, Shui~ if I happen to win, I’ll pass you the prize. I promise!”
“Ugh, I probably won’t win, but, on the off chance that I do, I’ll hand over the items to you.”
“Thanks, girls.”
Had Shui been working on the costumes until this morning?
I had the fleeting thought that making three people’s worth of outfits, especially in a fashion that you’re not used to would be kind of difficult. To think that the other girls considered it to be such a great feat to this point… well, I guess the deal makes sense if I think about it that way.
“Right, please watch the contest closely, and cheer for us!”
“Let’s go,”
“Well, I’ll just do my best.”
“Ta-ke ca-re”
As a final farewell, I handed out sports drinks to all three of them and watched as they departed for the backstage.
Now then, while I would very much like to watch from the audience area, I… ah, I should have gotten Ramis to carry me over. While I could technically get there using the <Cardboard Vending Machine> form and balloons, it felt kind of over the top. Not to mention, I can’t really control my landing. If I accidentally wrecked the stage that everyone had so painstakingly set up, it would be disastrous.
“What a great weather, eh?”
Oh, Director Bear had just stepped out from the Hunter Association office to look at the sky with narrowed eyes.
It’s great that the weather is cooperating, right? It’s the perfect day for a festival.
“You won’t be able to see much of anything from here. How about I carry you over to the best viewing point?”
“Thank you very much”
Thank you, that would be a great help. Just when I was wondering what I should do, Director Bear came up with a solution. I guess this fits the saying ‘crossing a bridge when you come to it’.
Director Bear picked me up with minimal difficulty in his arms and placed me in the front middle section of the audience area.
Erm, while this is a great place to be in, what about the people around me think…
“Oh, Hakkon’s here too! I guess even Director Bear of Clearflow Lake can’t bear to stay away from these unbearably beautiful beauties, eh?”
So, you’re starting off the day with bear-related puns, eh? Are you sure you want to poke the bear on this? Well, that has nothing to do with me.
“Director of Darkness, you are as chatty as ever. Speaking of chatting, something similar happened to me yesterday. After coming to Clearflow Lake Floor, I really wanted to properly learn the rules and customs of this floor and went to say hello to the person living in the test next to mine. As soon as he saw my face, he frowned and said ‘which one’ under his breath. I reckon he must be so captivated by my beauty that he could not tell whether I was married or single, yes?”
On the left, we have the Director of Darkness and his punny jokes, on the right, we have the beary chatty Director of the Labyrinth Floor. It was going to be unfortunately noisy here, I can just imagine it.
Director Bear was seated on the other side of Director of Darkness. He should really come over to this side. Sir, you cannot deceive me with that apologetic look on your face.
“Oi, keep the chatter to a minimum, yeah? It’s about to start. You’re judges, so act like it and judge the contestants properly.”
“Understood. Leave it to us.”
“Got it, gotta anjyou it!”
As I understand it, ‘anjyou’ meant something like ‘good’ or ‘do well’. A chatty uncle of mine used to use ‘anjyou’ quite frequently. I had to wonder just how this weird, region-specific Kansai dialect managed to make it to this other world.
Well, region-specific slangs aside, what am I doing here at the judges’ seat?
“I was thinking of having Hakkon be one of the judges here. The Director of the Beginning was supposed to be here, but due to some circumstances, they can’t be here.”
“So, you’re appointing Hakkon? Well, he seems like the type who would be impartial even with his friends participating. I guess it should be all right. The Director of Clearflow Lake really does have a good eye for people.”
It was nice to hear them say this about me, but is it really all alright for me to be one of the judges?
If I recall correctly, each contestant starts out with 10 points each… and wow, this is quite a heavy responsibility.
I’m just a vending machine, to think they would entrust me with such an important task, I must live up to their expectations.
I had intended to watch as a casual spectator, but now I must judge each contestant seriously. I must pay attention to every move, and try not to miss any of the charm points each person has to offer.
The scoring system this time doesn’t give all the authority to the judges. The audience could also raise the points for each person, so appealing to the audience is an important job.
As the start time drew near, the seats in the back filled up quickly. This alone was enough to convince me that holding this event was really worth it.
Everyone really is hungry for entertainment. Everyone had been hurt by the recent turmoil, and although they seem cheerful on the surface, their hearts must be deeply wounded.
I hope that today, at least, they can forget about unpleasant things and enjoy themselves.
As I pondered such things, a woman stepped forward from the side of the stage.
It was Munami, dressed in what looked like a maid’s outfit. I had thought that she was participating in the contest too, so I asked, but she had responded with, “I can see myself objectively, you see. I don’t partake in matches I’m bound to lose.”
She appeared somewhat plain in terms of looks. While it may be rude to say so, I understand her sentiment. It is also pretty intimidating to stand in a competition that focuses on looks when everyone around you is stunningly gorgeous. I, too, would refuse outright if asked to participate in a handsome man contest.
In fact, I am more confident in my looks now that I’m a vending machine than when I was alive!
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your patience. We are about to begin the first-ever Clearflow Lake’s Miss Dungeon Contest !”
“Whoooooooooa!”
Deep voices and cheerful shouts fill the venue.
Surprisingly, it’s not just the guys who are excited – the girls seem to be having a good time as well. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be a smashing success.
This delighted miscalculation almost made the machine inside me let out a strange noise, but I held it in, waiting for the contestants to appear.
[Gumihou: I never really get the appeal of beauty pageants?]
[1] ‘Were they having a fun event because they were worried about me overworking’…
Isn’t kind of self-aggrandising?
Although, it’s probably not impossible to imagine someone who devote all of their time to vending machines and ignoring societal norms to have a certain degree of selfishness and lack of societal awareness.
[2] Happi coats – A Japanese happi coat is tube-sleeved jacket made with lightweight cotton, generally blue with the logo or emblem of a company printed on the back
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happi
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