Chapter 59 The Victim
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Twenty-four days into tester life. 7th Floor. Sanada Yakumo.
”Phew, it’s finally starting to fill in,” I muttered.
It had been four days since I began my trek into the 7th floor. I was making progress, albeit at a pace slightly slower than my time on the 6th.
This floor was mercifully free of traps. However, the opposition had upgraded. Even if their gear was rusted, I was now facing Goblins armed with knives and swords. I occasionally took nicks to my head or joints—areas Rock’s armor didn’t cover—and the subsequent first aid inevitably slowed my stride.
The deeper I went, the more frequently they appeared in groups of four. Often, reinforcements would swarm in, forcing me into a chaotic melee against eight at once. At those numbers, some managed to slip past Rock’s charges or my magic. One had even managed to pelt me with daggers from a blind spot; I failed to dodge perfectly, and a blade grazed my cheek.
Goblins weren’t exactly marksmen. Usually, they just threw things out of sheer desperation. But that desperation made them unpredictable. It was like a pro boxer getting clipped by a lucky swing from an amateur. Dealing with a crowd was always a headache.
Still, the wounds were minor enough for a Grade-5 Potion¹ to handle. Both Rock and I stayed topped off, so it wasn’t a crisis. I was more concerned by the way Tsukigase Sayaka had stared at the bloodstains on my leather armor when I returned to the safe zone. Her eyes had been uncomfortably sharp.
As for the loot, it was the same old story: nothing but wooden chests. However, Grade-5 Status Recovery Potions had finally entered the rotation. These cured poison, paralysis, and disease.
I hadn’t encountered any venomous monsters yet, and the Goblins weren’t coating their blades. Most likely, the floor boss used poison, or it would become a mandatory requirement for the floors ahead. The drop rate for these recovery potions was low; I’d only gathered seven in the last four days. Depending on how often I got poisoned, I might need to buy a stockpile from the Shop. I made a mental note to grab some Grade-4 versions just in case.
In terms of exploration, I’d finished the outer perimeter. Now, it was just a matter of systematically clearing the side paths I’d skipped. At this rate, I expected to find the boss room within forty-eight hours.
My Mana Capacity² remained stuck at D+. Since my primary targets were E-Rank Goblins, the ‘experience’ gain was sluggish. Rock was still at E+ as well, but I figured we’d hit a breakthrough eventually.
Evenings were spent the usual way: gaming or watching movies and dramas with Tsukigase and Sheena. The shelves in the living room were now packed with a massive collection of DVDs and software.
After the entertainment came the sex. It was a constant rotation—watching the tapes we’d filmed of ourselves in the living room while we went at it, dressing Tsukigase in a maid outfit, or putting Sheena in a school uniform. I’d even spent a chunk of DP on a collection of slutty lingerie.
I’d bought a competitive swimsuit for Tsukigase to wear, too. Between the shopping and the equipment, my savings had dipped to 750,000 DP, but I had no regrets.
Sheena had become surprisingly proficient at handjobs and using her hips during cowgirl. Between the two of them, they could get me to go eight rounds. Whatever energy I had left, I vented on the Wall-Butt.
Two days ago, things had taken an amusing turn when the bratty Aria appeared. She’d shown up with ‘Weak Dick’, ‘Yakumo is a Lolicon’, and ‘Pervert who gets off on kids’ written on her ass in what looked like ink. She had clearly seen the marks I’d left on Lilith’s thighs and tried to use it as a taunt.
Naturally, I had to break her. After washing the ink away with my own seed, I’d taken a permanent marker and covered her butt, thighs, and stomach with ‘Bratty Bitch’, ‘Trash Pussy’, ‘Yakumo’s Servant’, ‘Cum Toilet’, and ‘Meat Slave’.
She probably wouldn’t be showing her face in a public bath anytime soon.
Yesterday, Sheena’s Crotch Crest finally transitioned to Total Submission³. Unlike Tsukigase, who had high affection from the start, it had taken Sheena five full days. I confirmed it on the Slave Management Screen.
To my surprise, the Soul-less Doll⁴ was indeed categorized as a slave. Even more shocking was the fact that her Mana Capacity rank was higher than mine.
**Sheena**
Age: 19
Race: Beastman (Rabbit)
Mana Capacity: C
Subjugation: Sanada Yakumo
Status: Complete Subjugation
Items: None
Notes: Soul-less Doll
She was a C-Rank. There was no doubt she had been a high-level combatant before she was turned. If she weren’t a dazed doll, her abilities would have been invaluable in the dungeon.
It made sense why the submission took so long. The Crotch Crest of Subjugation was designed to sink in faster when the master had a higher Mana Capacity. Since I was lower ranked, it was actually a miracle I’d achieved Total Submission in just five days starting from such a faint mark.
Submission hadn’t changed her outward personality much. She still had no ego to speak of. The only differences were that she now shadowed me constantly and would occasionally initiate a kiss during sex. There was no dramatic transformation like there had been with Tsukigase, but that was to be expected.
In the mornings, I gathered intel from Yuki’s party while swapping out power banks. This gave me a much clearer picture of the other testers’ progress.
Yuki and his group had successfully established friendly ties with most of the front-line ‘Capture Groups’. According to their info, about 60% of the testers had reached the 3rd Floor, and the place was becoming a bottleneck. Yuki’s team was staying ahead of the curve by exploring the deeper zones, but even they were worried about the dwindling resources.
I hadn’t given them any hints yet because they hadn’t cleared every passage. Unlike me, the other testers didn’t run everywhere, and they took frequent breaks, so their mapping was sluggish. The 3rd floor’s ‘Monster House’⁵ was a riddle where the hint was essentially the answer, so I decided to keep quiet a little longer.
The guys from the Kickboxing Club had moved up as well. They were acting like thugs—starting fights over kill-steals or barging into other parties’ battles to demand a cut of the Magic Stones. The Soccer Club and a few other groups were doing the same on the 2nd Floor. Trouble was constant.
The surge of people on the 3rd Floor had also led to a massive spike in casualties. Unlike the Horn Rabbits, the monsters here played for keeps. Anyone who wasn’t critically wounded was usually sidelined, using Grade-5 Potions to slowly recover.
I’d provided several potions for testing and discovered that the cooldown for healing major injuries was twelve hours. Drinking them any sooner only helped with minor clotting. Effectively, a broken bone could be mended in two days. If I could smuggle this stuff back to the surface, it would be worth a fortune.
However, the potions had limits. One student had a fingertip bitten off by a Kobold, and it didn’t grow back. Grade-5 Potions couldn’t regenerate missing limbs.
Most of the vanguards were now prioritizing Physical Reinforcement after seeing its utility. It was a smart move; the Kobolds were fast, and the boss would be faster.
As for Oida and the other teachers, their influence was crumbling. The Capture Groups had begun refusing the ‘Daily Tax’, and the other students were following suit. The 2nd Floor groups had the easiest excuse: “We barely made enough to cover our own food today.”
There was still a faction too scared to defy authority, but the Magic Stone tax had dropped to about 60% of its peak. This meant the ‘Shut-ins’ were likely going hungry. Oida and the faculty were probably subsidizing the group from their own earnings, cutting their personal income in half compared to the other 3rd Floor parties.
*You should have thought of that before you started embezzling,* I thought.
Reflecting on the chaos of the last few days, I set back out into the depths with Rock by my side.
* * *
After filling in the majority of the 7th Floor map, I decided to investigate a few suspicious-looking sectors the following morning. I recalled Rock into the Magic Sealing Crystal and took the Teleportation array back to the 1st Floor.
The teleportation room was eerily empty. I usually returned later than the rest, but there was usually at least a few stragglers.
Puzzled, I left the room and headed through the dungeon exit toward the Grand Plaza. As I reached the safe zone, I found a massive crowd gathered near the central fountain. The sound of someone wailing pierced the air.
The smell of blood was overwhelming. A thick, red trail led from the dungeon entrance all the way to the center of the plaza.
*So, it finally happened,* I realized. *The first death.*
I hoped it wasn’t Yuki’s group. I shoved through the crowd toward the center.
Laid out by the fountain was a student. His throat had been savagely ripped open, his eyes frozen wide in a final, glassy stare. Another student was clinging to the body, sobbing hysterically, while others watched through a blur of tears. Their uniforms and leather armor were shredded, their limbs caked in dried blood.
It was the Baseball Club’s party. I recognized the victim—the kid had been the catcher for the team during the Koshien⁶ tournament last summer. I couldn’t recall the name, but I remembered cheering for him on TV with the other old guards back at the station.
Oida and the teachers stood nearby, their faces grim. The Baseball Club’s coach was on his knees, completely broken.
I spotted Sonoda, a student from Tsukigase’s class who was part of Yuki’s group. Sonoda had been listening to the Baseball Club captain’s report to Oida and filled me in.
The deceased was a 3rd-year named Noda. On their way back from the 3rd Floor, they had stumbled upon a group of 1st-year club members being swarmed by twenty Kobolds.
”How did twenty of them get together?” I asked.
Apparently, another party had triggered a Monster House and fled. The Kobolds had followed them out. I hadn’t known the monsters would pursue targets outside their spawn zone since I always wiped them out. It made sense, though; otherwise, people could just ‘cheese’ the room by popping in and out to fire off spells.
The 1st-year party had the misfortune of crossing paths with the pursuing pack in the dark tunnels. They were quickly pinned against a wall. Noda and the other 3rd-years had dived in to save them.
Most of the 1st-years had taken leg injuries and couldn’t run. The seven 3rd-years were forced to hold the line while protecting the wounded. They had managed to thin the pack, but a 2nd-year named Matsuki—the one currently wailing over the body—had been tackled and bitten. Before the Kobolds could finish him, Noda had thrown himself over Matsuki to shield him.
It was over in seconds.
Two Kobolds had torn into Noda’s neck from both sides, ripping his throat out.
The sight had sent the rest of the club into a blind rage. They managed to slaughter the remaining Kobolds despite their own wounds, but Noda was already gone. Matsuki had survived, though his arm had been gnawed down to the bone.
They’d used their remaining potions to stabilize the survivors, then carried Noda’s body back under the protection of a Karate Club party they met on the way.
”I see,” I said quietly.
Noda had died protecting his own.
I looked at the corpse one last time, gave a short, sharp click of my tongue, and walked away without another word.
—
Summary:
Yakumo nears the completion of the 7th floor while managing his household and slaves. He achieves ‘Total Submission’ with Sheena, revealing her superior Mana Capacity. Upon returning to the surface, he witnesses the aftermath of the first tester death—a student from the baseball club killed by a Kobold swarm.
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Character Insight:
Yakumo continues to balance his cold, pragmatic survival instincts with his sexual desires. However, his reaction to the student’s death—a clicking of the tongue—suggests a complex mixture of annoyance at the changing dungeon atmosphere and a flicker of recognition for the boy’s sacrifice.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The introduction of Soul-less Doll stats indicates a shift toward party-based management. The death of a student signals the end of the ‘safe’ period for the testers, introducing real consequences.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Yakumo – A 25-year-old human male. He has facial scars, stab wounds, and gunshot scars from his time in a war zone. He works as a school guard.
• Rock – A male Kobold summoned from a Magic Sealing Crystal. He has grey fur, round eyes, and a face resembling a Shiba Inu. He wears a leather jacket and a pilot’s cap
• Sayaka – The academy’s premier beauty and a member of the swimming club. Currently classified as a Rank 1 Slave. She is seventeen years old and a virgin. E-cup. She has blue, short, boyish hair. Her best friend is Sanae.
• Sheena – Beastman Soul-less Doll with rabbit ears and a large chest. Flawless face, approx 165cm height, F or G cup, narrow waist, large hips, and a fluffy tail longer than a rabbit’s.
• Lilith – The pink haired maso succubus.
• Aria – The mesugaki succubus.
• Yuki – A third-year high school student and leader of the Battle Sports Club. He is a national champion in medieval-style combat using swords and spears. He has a severe sister complex. He has hawk-like eyes and a polite but determined demeanor.
• Oida – A PE teacher with a large build and a plain, non-intimidating face. He was formerly an Olympic developmental athlete for Judo. He uses a greatsword in the dungeon and wears tattered jerseys.
• Noda – Vice-captain of the Baseball Club party. Catcher and tank.
• Matsuki – Second-year baseball club member. Known for having no filter and a lack of situational awareness.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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