Chapter 80 Training End
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Sanada Yakumo: “Here it comes!”
”E-Everyone, fall back-it is!” Gozaru-Megane barked.
At my warning, the four-eyed geek sent his party members scrambling. They didn’t just run; they dove into the dirt, head-sliding in opposite directions to clear the kill zone.
A Big Horn Rabbit charged through the space they had occupied a second before. The massive beast thundered forward, but the students’ evasion was perfect. With a bone-shaking crack, the rabbit’s spiraling horn drove deep into the stone wall, pinning the creature in place.
”Now-it is!” Gozaru-Megane yelled.
On his signal, the students scrambled up from the ground and swarmed the beast with their weapons. Gozaru-Megane lunged at the rabbit’s neck, clinging to it with everything he had to ensure it couldn’t wrench its horn free from the masonry.
The others fell upon the creature with desperate violence. Their faces were twisted with a mix of terror and adrenaline as they rained club blows onto the rabbit’s skull and drove their knives into its flank over and over. Without a chance to fight back, the Big Horn Rabbit dissolved into a cloud of black static and vanished.
”Well done,” I said, stepping into the room with Tsukigase Sayaka and Sheena. “You guys might actually pass for real testers now.”
I’d been watching the whole thing from outside. Even if the strategy was a known quantity, seeing that much muscle and fur charging at you for the first time is enough to paralyze most people. The fact that they stuck to the plan without freezing was a big deal.
”Uoohhh! We did it! We actually did it-it is!” Gozaru-Megane roared. “No more begging for scraps-it is!”
”Haha… we really killed it…” another student wheezed. “But honestly, after having Sheena-san’s rapier at my throat during practice, that rabbit wasn’t even scary.”
”Huff… huff… It’s weird,” a third added, rubbing his backside. “I’ve got scratches all over, but my ass still hurts way more from when Sheena-san poked me.”
”My back is killing me from where she kicked me, too,” a fourth groaned.
”It was truly Spartan training, degozaru na,” Gozaru-Megane sighed.
”Would you like another round?” Sheena asked, her hand resting on her hilt.
”Gyaaah! No! We’re good! Thank you!” the group shouted in unison, their hands flying up in a frantic ‘no’ gesture.
They’d spent the last few minutes low-key complaining about Sheena’s methods, but one look at her drawing that blade sent them into a panic. It was brutal, sure, but their skill and courage had spiked in a matter of hours. I felt a bit of pity for them initially, but for cowards like these, a boot to the rear was the only way forward. Sheena is a natural instructor. I’ll have to make sure she’s properly rewarded tonight. I haven’t had a release all day, and I’m climbing the walls with how much I want to get laid.
A glance at the clock showed it was already 18:00.
Sheena’s “education” had turned these guys into such efficient Horn Rabbit hunters that I figured they could handle the Guardian. We ended up staying later than I expected. I’d already had a word with the groups waiting outside for their turn to farm. I told them that while farming was fine, the new guys got priority. They’d grumbled, but they went along with it. In a game-like environment like this, unwritten rules are the only thing preventing total chaos. If they’d argued, they would have just looked like bullies to everyone else.
I’d made sure they knew to yield even if someone other than Gozaru-Megane’s group showed up, so the people Kisaragi Yuki is looking after should be fine later. I’ll have to get Yuki to spread the word to the other testers.
As Sheena sheathed her rapier, the students finally relaxed. Their eyes caught the bronze chest that had appeared in front of the black gate. They rushed toward it, eyes shining.
”Jackpot-it is! An iron tower shield and leather armor-it is!” Gozaru-Megane shouted. ¹
He pulled the gear out of the chest and held it up. That shield was the same model Oida used to carry; it would cost at least 15,000 DP in the shop. For guys in their position, it was a massive upgrade.
”There’s a potion, too! It’s a dark color-that’s a Grade 4!” one of them yelled.
15,000 for the shield, 5,000 for the armor, and 10,000 for the Grade 4 potion. That’s a 30,000 DP haul. Considering some chests only drop gear worth 25k or less, they’d definitely come out ahead.
Since it was getting late, I gathered the group to tally the day’s earnings. We had 93 Horn Rabbit stones at 2,790 DP total, plus the boss stone for 90 DP, bringing us to 2,880. We’d also found three wooden chests on the way in containing a Grade 5 potion, some copper coins, and a club.
If we kept the club as a spare and the potion for emergencies, selling the coins brought the profit to about 3,000 DP. Split six ways, that was 500 DP each. After buying a dinner set, they’d only have 100 DP left. If they hadn’t been such babies earlier, they could have saved a fortune on food, but Oida’s “charity” had made them soft. Oida really screwed the pooch on that one.
But then there was the 20,000 DP Guardian reward. That added 3,300 DP to each of their pockets, bringing them to 3,800 DP total.
With that, they could afford three meals a day for four days. If they were smart-buying breakfast sets for both morning and night and a cheap lunch-they could stretch it to six. It was enough. I was glad I pushed them into the Guardian fight, even if they looked like they’d been dragged through a hedge.
Tomorrow, they’d hit the 2nd floor. More rabbits, more stones. They wouldn’t starve.
”Guard-dono… is it really okay for us to take all of this-it is?” Gozaru-Megane asked, sounding guilty.
”I don’t need it,” I said. “You guys fought for your lives. That amount doesn’t mean much to me.”
I’m clearing 50,000 DP a day. The first-clear reward goes straight to their crystals anyway; taking a cut of a few hundred DP felt like stealing from a child.
”That might be true for you, but… we were literally going to starve,” he said. “You whipped us into shape, taught us to fight, gave us gear, and now you’re letting us keep the stones. You even lost a day of your own farming to help us. We feel terrible about it.”
”Call it adult responsibility,” I replied. “You’ll understand when you grow up. If it bothers you that much, consider it a loan. Pay me back once you’re rich.”
I had some sympathy for them-they reminded me of my own messed-up childhood-but mostly, this was about my own skin. When we finally get out of here, I want a group of students ready to tell the world I was the hero who saved them after the teachers ran away. Plus, having loyal pawns in a place like this is never a bad thing.
”We won’t forget this-it is! We’ll remember this debt for a lifetime-it is!” Gozaru-Megane vowed.
”I won’t forget either! Thank you, Mr. Guard!”
”Sheena-san was scary, but I can’t believe I actually held my own,” another said. “It’s all thanks to you guys.”
”Fufufu, just you wait, Mr. Guard,” a third student added. “I’m going to get strong and pay you back.”
”Does this mean… we can save Leticia-chan now?” the quietest one asked.
”Not yet,” Gozaru-Megane sighed. “We’re still way behind-it is.”
”I heard that name this morning,” I said. “A classmate?”
”She’s a junior in the Animation Department-it is,” Gozaru explained. “Leticia-chan is a genius artist. She moved from France to Japan at thirteen just to study anime.”
”We all doted on her. For her to end up in a place like this…”
”My dream was to produce an anime using her character designs one day,” one of them added sadly.
”Master,” Sayaka whispered, leaning in. “She is a first-year international student. She is registered as a 1st Rank Slave. She was in the same room as me and Sanae.” ²
”1st Rank, huh?” I mused. I recalled seeing a girl who looked way too young for this place, but I’d ignored her.
”She was in the same room as Tsukigase-dono?” Gozaru asked. “Was she… was she okay-it is?”
Sayaka hesitated, looking at me.
”Tell them,” I said. “They need the motivation.”
I knew what the training facility was like. There was no way a thirteen-year-old girl was ‘okay.’
”She was very depressed,” Sayaka said softly. “She couldn’t eat anything sweet, and the physical training was breaking her. Karen-san was doing what she could to protect her, so the succubi haven’t punished her yet, but…”
”I knew it… dammit!” Gozaru-Megane slammed his fist into his palm. “While Leticia-chan is suffering, we were just hiding like cowards…”
”We’re pathetic. I’m sorry, Leticia-chan.”
”I want to get her out of there! Now!”
”But we’re so far behind,” Gozaru said. “The other guys from our department haven’t even made it past the early floors.” He looked at me, his eyes wide with desperation. “I know this is incredibly selfish-it is-but Guard-dono… if it looks like someone else is going to buy her before we can reach her… could you save her? For us?”
”My priorities are Sayaka’s friends first,” I said. “And I’ve already got a list after that. If I have the spare DP, I’ll consider it.”
It was a shitty situation for a kid, but if I got a 1st Rank ticket, it was going to the Twenty Knights and Karen. After that? Sure. If Karen was already looking after the girl, she’d probably nag me to buy her anyway. I’d already told the top-tier groups to stay away from the girls I wanted in the 2nd Rank, so I had time.
”That’s enough for us-it is,” Gozaru said. “We know we have no right to ask after we abandoned her. But you already have Tsukigase-dono and Sheena-dono. We thought… maybe.”
”You guys call her your sister,” I said. “Are you really okay with me being the one to buy her?”
If someone told Kisaragi Yuki I was ‘buying’ his sister, he’d try to gut me.
”We hate it-it is,” Gozaru spat. “But anything is better than the trash from the soccer club or the kickboxing team getting their hands on her.”
”Those jerks harass us every time they see us,” another student growled. “They kick us, call us eyesores… yesterday, one of them dropped a half-eaten sandwich in the dirt and told us to eat it if we were hungry. Absolute scum.”
”If they bought Leticia-chan… God, I can’t even think about it. If it has to be someone, I’d rather it be the Guard who has Tsukigase-san.”
”Yeah, those guys sound like the type,” I muttered. “They wouldn’t pull that shit around me, but I knew the types. Jocks and rich kids who thought they owned the place.” I wasn’t going to tell the students about the registration process-that you had to sleep with the slaves to finalize the Crotch Crest. ³ That would just send them on a suicide mission.
”Fine. I’ll put Leticia on the list after Karen.”
”Thank you-it is!” they shouted.
I told them to get strong fast if they wanted to buy her back themselves. The stronger they got, the more useful they’d be when I came to collect on that loan.
I watched as they filtered through the black gate. We moved to the 2nd floor, stepped onto the Teleportation Array, and blinked back to the 1st-floor hub.”,
—
Summary:
Yakumo and Sheena finish training Gozaru-Megane’s group of Animation Department students. The students successfully defeat the floor Guardian, securing enough DP and gear to survive independently. They reveal their concern for a young French international student, Leticia, and ask Yakumo to rescue her if they cannot.
—
Trivia:
- The students are earning only about 500 DP a day each before the Guardian bonus.
- Oida’s previous ‘charity’ (giving food) actually hindered the students’ growth.
- Leticia is a 13-year-old ‘genius artist’ and a 1st Rank Slave.
- Karen is currently protecting Leticia in the Training Facility.
- Yakumo is clearing nearly 50,000 DP a day, dwarfing the students’ progress.
- The ‘Crotch Crest’ registration requires a s*xual act, which Yakumo keeps secret
—
Character Insight:
Yakumo shows a rare side of ‘adult responsibility,’ helping the students for his own future social insurance, but also out of slight pity. The students evolve from cowards to survivors, driven by their ‘brotherly’ love for Leticia.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The mention of anime industry tropes (French genius artist) reflects the author’s background/interests in otaku culture.
—
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.
• Sana – Black ponytail, hooded/sharp eyes, kyudo practitioner, average height.
• Gozaru-Megane – Leader of the animation department students; 170cm tall, formerly chubby, now medium build due to dungeon diet. Wear glasses.
• 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.
• 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.
• Leticia – French exchange student, animation major 1st year, silver hair, small stature, slim, large breasts, 13 years old.
• Sanae – She struggles with the sexual training and often shows frustration. Vice-captain of the Archery Club. Described as tall with a model-like build and sharp features. She has approximately C-cup breasts and is ranked as a 1st Rank Slave. She is Sayaka’s best friend. Black ponytail, hooded/sharp eyes, kyudo practitioner, average height.
• Karen – An international student from America who often runs to school late with bread in her mouth. Considered a ‘main target’ by the protagonist. Voice acting major, huge breasts, same height as Sana.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply