Chapter 196: An Unexpected New Member
"Spent a fortune again… I think the amount I've spent at Ichiraku alone could probably buy a fifth of a floor in a Konoha apartment building. The owner probably considers me more family than his own daughter at this point."
Back home, Ryū muttered this to no one in particular.
Good thing Minato's payment had been generous. Otherwise the ramen habit would have been genuinely untenable.
Konoha at night was remarkably quiet. Peaceful in a way that wouldn't last — somewhere down the line, the village was going to get destroyed on a fairly regular schedule. Orochimaru's attack. Pain's assault. One disaster after another.
But that was years away. For now, the quiet was just the quiet.
He opened the Chat Group.
Street-Corner Illustrator: The new manga started serialising on Jump! I didn't expect a regular slice-of-life series to get accepted, but the editor says the sales numbers are looking pretty solid.
Street-Corner Illustrator: I think I'm actually going to make it! The pivot worked!
My True Form Is Cola: Obviously it's popular — one of the female leads is me, after all.
Crazy Diamond: Pfft… Umaru's shamelessness is genuinely approaching Yukari-senpai levels at this point.
Eternally Seventeen: Hmm? Little Josuke, what was that?
Crazy Diamond: …Ahaha! What beautiful weather today, skies completely clear! The sun up there is like a hard-boiled egg that exploded in someone's oven—
Kaguya-sama: There it is. A JoJo simile in the wild.
Kaguya-sama: Also, it's been over a month since anyone's seen the Admin. Nothing bad has happened, right?
Eternally Seventeen: Relax, Kaguya-chan. The Admin's strength is absurd — aside from whatever the Arena generates, who could actually defeat him? Well. If the Wandering Earth committed to a direct impact, maybe there'd be a chance.
RawrSoFierce: Your magnificently handsome Admin emerges, impervious as ever.
Kaguya-sama: ADMIN!!!
My True Form Is Cola: The Admin who's been lurking for over a month suddenly appears!
Terrible Tornado: Surfacing +1
Eternally Seventeen: I poke him (?????)っ→
RawrSoFierce: Deflect (￣??￣?)
Roar of the Evil Dragon: So this is the Admin?
"…"
Ryū stared at the handle.
Roar of the Evil Dragon.
First thought: someone changed their username.
Second thought: new member.
Both had roughly equal probability. The monthly free rename was available to all members; premium members got more slots. And the recent join rate had been fairly high — Umaru and Eriri had both come in last month.
He'd been in the Arena for over forty days. Completely disconnected from group notifications. If this was a new member, they'd joined while he was grinding.
Roar of the Evil Dragon. The handle was generic enough that he couldn't immediately place it. Unlike Umaru's "My True Form Is Cola" or Whitebeard's name, which were dead giveaways.
RawrSoFierce: Roar of the Evil Dragon — is this a… new member??
RawrSoFierce: I've been in the Arena grinding for over a month, completely lost track of time. Did I miss something important?
Eternally Seventeen: Tohru-chan is indeed a new member~ And she's a Western dragon!
RawrSoFierce: To… Tohru? Dragon?
RawrSoFierce: …I think I just figured out who the new member is.
Kaguya-sama: As expected of the Admin — two clues and he has it. Admin is incredible!! (voice crack)
Crazy Diamond: Admin is incredible!! (voice crack)
Roar of the Evil Dragon: RawrSoFierce — does the Admin actually know who I am?
RawrSoFierce: More or less. Your anime was pretty popular for a while. Are you on Earth right now?
Roar of the Evil Dragon: Yes! I'm on Earth — I met a girl named Kobayashi!
RawrSoFierce: That confirms it completely.
"…"
So "Roar of the Evil Dragon" was genuinely a new member. And the handle actually suited her identity perfectly — he just hadn't made the connection immediately.
Tohru. Dragon. Kobayashi. The three elements together, only one conclusion.
Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. One of the two female leads. A green Western dragon.
His dormitory neighbour had described this show as essential viewing for a certain category of man, and Ryū had watched the whole thing in one sitting. Genuinely good. A bit light on overarching plot, but the execution was warm and the character work was strong.
And now that he'd made the connection — his own handle was "RawrSoFierce." Her handle was "Roar of the Evil Dragon."
Reading them next to each other in the chat list was completely natural.
Combat ability: significant. As a dragon by nature, her baseline physical strength was formidable, and she had access to various high-tier magic on top of that. Which meant the Chat Group's high-end roster had just gained another entry.
Current high-tier combat members: the Wandering Earth, Yukari, Whitebeard, Ryū, Tatsumaki, Kizaru, Wolffy, Tohru.
That was getting to be a fairly long list.
Kaguya-sama: By the way, Admin — were you doing your daily sign-ins while you were in the Arena?
RawrSoFierce: Sign-ins…
RawrSoFierce: …I think, possibly, perhaps, likely… did not.
RawrSoFierce: Oh no. I completely forgot.
Kaguya-sama: The Admin is just like me, then — I was in the Arena for five or six days once and forgot to sign in the entire time.
Eternally Seventeen: Poor Admin. Pat on the head.
Eternally Seventeen: Poor little Kaguya too. Pat on the— chest.
Kaguya-sama: Why does mine change when it gets to me!!
"…"
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you