The next day.
My channel had passed five million subscribers.
Even though it had been at zero until yesterday.
The notifications on my phone wouldn't stop.
TV stations, companies, guilds—
Requests for collabs and appearances were flooding in from all over the world.
As I stared blankly at my phone, the doorbell rang.
"You're Haruto Amano, right?"
Standing at the door was a cool, silver-haired woman.
"I'm Rin Shirakawa. I'm a scout for Astraea, the strongest guild in the world."
"Astraea...!?"
Of course I knew the name.
The guild ranked number one in the world in the dungeon clear rankings.
"I watched your stream yesterday."
Ms. Shirakawa looked straight at me.
"No one in the world had ever found the weak point of that secret boss, the Hellsteel King. And yet you saw through it on your very first encounter. That wasn't luck."
"N-no, I'm, uh... just a bottom-feeder..."
"Your eye for observation. That's a talent found only in the very best explorers."
Ms. Shirakawa went on quietly.
"'After it brings down its right fist, its left shoulder is wide open for just half a second'—someone who'd stake everything on that one instant. I've been searching for ten years, and you're the first I've ever seen."
Ms. Shirakawa smoothly held out her hand.
"Come with us. I'll take you to the top of the world."
That was when it happened.
Bang, bang, bang! A different sound.
"Harutooo! Open up, man, we're best friends, right!?"
That voice sent a chill down my spine.
Takumi.
When I opened the door, Takumi was standing there out of breath, grinning from ear to ear.
"Man, yesterday was insane! That's my best friend for ya!"
"..."
"Hey, let's do a collab! You and me teaming up, we'd be the strongest channel out there! And what happened yesterday—c'mon, let's just call it a little misunderstanding!"
A misunderstanding.
Leaving me behind in the sealed zone and laughing about it—that was a misunderstanding.
"Takumi."
I spoke quietly.
"You said you'd tell the admins I 'got separated,' didn't you?"
"Uh... y-yeah, 'cause I was worried..."
"So what did you actually tell them?"
Takumi's face twitched.
"Yesterday's stream was recorded. All of it. Including the part where you shut the door and said 'bottom-feeders are in the way.' All of it."
The clips had already racked up tens of millions of views.
The comments were on fire, in a whole different way.
"Takumi Kuroki is the absolute worst"
"so HE'S the one who left him behind"
"unsubscribed"
"this popular streamer's true colors are WILD"
"Amano, can't believe you made it out alive..."
Since last night, Takumi's subscriber count had been plummeting.
"Th-that's not... That was edited to take it out of context...!"
"It was streamed live to the whole world. Uncut."
"...!"
Takumi was at a loss for words.
I let out a small laugh.
Strangely, I wasn't angry anymore.
"About that collab."
"Y-yeah! You'll do it!?"
"I'll pass."
Takumi's face froze.
"Wh... Why...! We're best friends, aren't we!?"
I looked at Ms. Shirakawa, standing beside me.
She gave a small nod.
"I'm joining Astraea."
"Astraea...!? The number-one guild in the world!?"
"Someplace you'll never get into, even if you spent your whole life trying."
I took out my phone and pressed the stream button.
The red light came on.
In an instant, the viewer count shot past five million.
What happened yesterday wasn't a fluke.
As if to prove it, the comments filled up with cheers.
"Starting today, this place streams to the whole world. If someone like you is in the shot—"
I gently eased Takumi out of the camera's frame.
"—it drags my rep down."
The very words this guy had once said to me.
I gave them right back to him, word for word.
"You're not in the shot anymore."
The door quietly closed.
Ms. Shirakawa's lips softened into a smile.
"That was a fine parting shot. Now, shall we go?"
This time, I firmly took the hand she held out to me.
On my phone, the comments flowed by like a waterfall.
"LEGENDARY episode"
"serves him right LMAOOOO"
"Amano you're the best!!"
"I'll follow you for life"
I looked up at the sky.
Dad must have known that stone was a rare ore deadly to monsters.
To me, the guy everyone kept laughing at as useless, he'd left a single card to play.
Only now did I finally understand what that meant.
No more living with people looking down on me.
I could hold my head high, face forward, and keep walking.
"Let's go, Ms. Shirakawa."
"Yes."
The sunlight was dazzling.
Me—the guy who'd always been stuck backstage, the guy nobody ever expected anything from.
I'd finally become the lead in my own life.
And that was more than enough.