The F-rank Adventurer, Who Was Supposed to Be Just a Helper, Accidentally Goes Viral for Blowing Away an S-rank Monster – It Seems the Home I've Been Living in Was an Unusually Powerful Dungeon Inhabited by the Strongest Species - Chapter 22

“I can do it too…!”

Nanami was well aware that Erika was making Hoshi’s favorite hamburger. Nevertheless, she was determined to compete with her cooking.

Both dishes were finally ready.

“Here you go, Hoshi-kun!”

Erika was the first to present her dish – her signature “Erika’s Hamburger.”

The comment section went wild, recognizing Erika’s renowned dish, which had become almost legendary in the streaming community, thanks to Hoshi’s infamous phrase, “The sin of the hamburger is heavy.”

“Be careful, it’s hot♡”
“Alright.”

Erika, with a cheerful smile, watched as Hoshi casually tried her hamburger.

“How is it?”
“…It’s delicious.”
“Yay!”
“Hey, get off!”

Erika’s face lit up with joy, and she hugged Hoshi in her typical sweet-sister manner.

Nanami, with a determined expression, then presented her dish – an omelet rice. However, it was visibly imperfect, revealing its contents.

(Why couldn’t I get it right like yesterday…)

Nanami wasn’t skilled in cooking, having focused more on streaming than domestic skills since her middle school days.

Despite her lack of cooking prowess, Nanami’s desire to impress Hoshi had driven her to participate in this collaboration, well aware of the popularity of Erika’s dishes.

“If you don’t want to eat it, it’s okay…”
“Let’s eat.”

To Nanami’s surprise, Hoshi began eating her omelet rice without hesitation.

“It’s good!”
“…!”

Nanami’s face brightened up at his approval.

“No, really, it’s tasty.”
“…Hoshi.”

Nanami’s eyes welled up with relief and happiness.

“Now, which one do you prefer, Hoshi-kun?”
“Nanami’s.”

The comment section erupted with surprise as Hoshi chose Nanami’s omelet rice.

“Erika, it seems I’ve won this time.”
“But…!”

However, the real winners were Melon and Cotton Candy, who had chosen Erika’s hamburger. But Erika seemed indifferent to their opinion.

“Your opinion doesn’t count, you’re just a lizard and a puppy.”

Melon and Cotton Candy were taken aback by her dismissive remark.

Despite the official result, the stream was a success for both Hoshi and Nanami, attracting over 200,000 concurrent viewers.

Afterward, Nanami couldn’t help but exclaim at the trending topic, “Wife Wars.”

“What’s with this ‘Wife Wars’ thing!”

The stream had ended, but the excitement and buzz it generated continued.

Meanwhile, at the guild in the same town as Hoshi.

“Sigh…”

Leaning on her desk, Chief Sekino sighed. She was the woman who had moved next to Hoshi’s house as his ‘neighbor’.

But now, she was diligently working at the guild.

“It’s as I thought.”
“It appears so, Chief.”

What she and her staff were repeatedly checking was the recent stream of Hinata Hikari, where Hoshi intervened. Initially, they were distracted by Hoshi’s heroics, but after repeatedly viewing the footage, they noticed something.

“This Skeleton King, the ‘Undead Swordsman’, it possessed a ‘Magic Core’.”

The monster that Hikari was fighting had suddenly become stronger, and its strength that exceeded an S-rank indicated that it was a ‘Magic Core’ bearer.

“So, does that mean Hinata Hikari would have won originally?”
“Likely so.”

Chief Sekino nodded in agreement. The knowledge about Magic Cores was still new, and much remained unknown, but this incident provided them with new insights.

“A Magic Core bearer doesn’t start off strong. It becomes noticeably stronger when the power of the Magic Core is unleashed.”

One of the staff members then added a hypothesis.

“So, if Hikone Hoshi possesses a Magic Core, he might have unleashed its power due to some trigger, allowing him to move supernaturally outside the dungeon.”
“That would be the case. Though he himself might not be aware of the Magic Core’s power.”

Their conjecture was accurate. At that time, Hoshi had unconsciously unleashed the power of the Magic Core, allowing him to exhibit his strength outside the dungeon and travel to Hikari’s dungeon.

“But what could have triggered him to unleash that power?”
“I don’t know… wait, no way!”

Chief Sekino suddenly thought of “Erika’s Hamburger,” the food Hoshi had been angry about.

“No, no, that can’t be it.”

However, she dismissed the possibility that Hoshi’s unintentional release of the Magic Core’s power was triggered by his anger over “the sin of the hamburger.”

“Sigh…”

Chief Sekino sighed again and looked up, sensing something amiss with the recent unprecedented events in the town.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

This intuition was unique to Chief Sekino, who had spent years studying dungeons. And her premonition would soon prove to be eerily accurate.