Chapter 155 The Flag-Raiser
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
When I stepped outside, Yuki, Sonoda, and the others were waiting with smiles. They thanked me again for letting them use the Isolated Island¹.
I asked about the other testers’ movements. Apparently, the recruitment war for the guilds has begun in earnest. The “Capture Group” members are being bombarded with invitations from all directions. Smaller outfits have managed to scrape together about three parties, while the larger organizations have gathered eight. One of those big players, predictably, is White Knight².
”So, Oida’s guild is making moves,” I mused. “Their reputation was in the gutter. I’m surprised they’ve regained enough trust to recruit anyone.”
Was it because they saved those students from the “Monster Train” incident?
”Well… they did technically help the students who got caught in the train,” Yuki said, her voice trailing off.
”You sound like there’s a ‘but’ coming,” I noted.
”It feels like a total ‘match-pump’³ scheme,” Yuki replied. “The soccer club guys who started the train in the first place? Most of the victims ended up joining White Knight. The soccer coach-who’s been seen whispering with those club members for weeks-supposedly stepped in to ‘mediate’ a reconciliation. We suspect they were in cahoots from the start.”
”I see. Ten to one it was a staged rescue,” I said. “Typical. Even their schemes are small-time.”
And sloppy. If it were me, I wouldn’t have let the soccer club into the guild. I would have kept them as external assets to avoid the obvious connection. Oida and his cronies must be terrified of me; they’re clearly prioritizing raw numbers over optics.
”It’s honestly pathetic,” Yuki sighed. “I’m embarrassed I ever called that man ‘Sensei’.”
She wasn’t wrong. Instead of reflecting on his embezzlement, the man was hiring students to attack other students just so he could play the hero. Calling a group like that “White Knight” was a bad joke.
Still, a man of his caliber isn’t a threat, even with fifty people behind him. If they ever grow a spine and attack, I’ll just put a hole through Oida or Kume first. The rest will scatter. I just need to make sure the various guilds don’t start forming a coalition.
Yuki mentioned she wanted the other Capture Group members who owned Soul-less Dolls⁴ to experience the Isolated Island. I promised to approve the requests if they applied tomorrow morning.
”We might be back in three days at the earliest,” I warned her. “I’ll likely disband the party on the third night. This is our second run through the floor; we’ll be much faster this time.”
I didn’t care who used the island in the meantime. As long as they cleaned up afterward, they could have all the Soul-less Doll orgies they wanted.
* * *
”Alright, let’s start the second lap,” I announced.
We took the teleportation array to the 12th Floor. After a final equipment check, we began the trek toward the start of the town-road.
”Alright! Let’s do our best! Right, Lucy?” Karen cheered.
”An-an!”
”Hmph. Even if we don’t find a pass, I’ll just use this bow to level every settlement in our path,” Sanae declared.
”Sanae… you really need to be more aware of your own luck,” Sayaka sighed. “You just raised a massive flag⁵.”
”What?! No, I didn’t! That was just a ‘what-if’ scenario! A hypothesis!”
”Ahaha… I’m starting to get a bad feeling too, Sanae,” Karen added with a nervous grin.
”Not you too, Karen! It’ll be fine! We’ll find a pass in the very first settlement! We’re clearing the 12th Floor this trip!”
”Don’t get worked up, Sanae,” I said, patting her shoulder. “Just stay calm and process the mobs. We’ll get the drops eventually. Let’s move. I want to clear four settlements today.”
I gave their backsides a light, playful swat to get them moving, and we stepped onto the main road.
Our first run had a late start. This time, I wanted to push through the first five settlements quickly while the monster density was still low. If we kept the pace, we’d be home in three days.
We reached the first settlement ahead of schedule. As expected, they had added a watchtower that hadn’t been there during the first lap. Fortunately, our strategy was already optimized.
As soon as Sanae’s arrow pierced the Orc lookout, Rock and I charged. I used Fireball to melt the gate and the guards while the Green Wolves howled in the distance. Rock and I held the chokepoint at the entrance.
”Stone Spike⁶!” I barked.
A two-meter square section of the ground erupted into dozens of jagged stone spears. The Orcs rushing out were impaled through their feet and calves. The spell wasn’t a one-hit kill, but as a crowd-control tool, it was devastating. It was too slow for the open road where enemies could dodge, but in a narrow gate? It was like shooting fish in a barrel.
Rock used his tower shield to bash back any Orcs that managed to avoid the spikes. Within seconds, Sheena and Saizou moved to the front to finish them off. Karen and Lucy took up positions between the vanguards and the casters, picking off stragglers with rapiers, poison daggers, and mana-guns.
In fifteen minutes, the settlement was silent. We headed to the main hut to check the loot.
”A dud,” I muttered, looking at the empty table.
”Aw, man! No treasure chest in the first one?” Karen pouted.
”I have a very bad feeling about this,” Sayaka whispered.
”I-it’s just a fluke!” Sanae stammered. “The next one will have the chest and the pass! I’m sure of it!”
”It’s only the first one,” I said with a dry chuckle, catching Sayaka’s eye. “Let’s take ten and head to the next.”
We pushed on. After carving through three squads of Orcs and Green Wolves on the road, we found the trail to the second settlement. The Stone Spike spell continued to be the MVP of the trip. It cost as much mana as a Physical Reinforcement cast, but immobilizing ten Orcs at once made Fire Bullet sniping effortless.
Inside the second hut, we actually found a chest. I let Lucy do the honors.
”An! An!”
”Way to go, Lucy! It’s a grimoire!” Karen cheered.
The book had a white cover with a geometric palm design.
”White cover… looks like Light Magic. Probably a Heal spell,” I noted. It looked identical to the ones in the DP Shop. Those went for 50,000 DP. It seemed the copper chests dropped loot regardless of the market price.
”Most likely,” Sayaka agreed.
”Should one of the rearguards learn it? Sayaka? Sanae?”
”Actually, can we save it for Leticia?” Karen asked.
”Leticia? Is she going to start exploring?” I asked. I’d heard she wasn’t exactly the athletic type.
”Yeah. She’s been watching you guys train at the facility and said she was jealous,” Karen explained. “She wants to be useful. She said she wants to be a healer so she can take care of everyone and earn some praise. Right, Sanae?”
”Yeah, she did have that look in her eyes,” Sanae admitted.
”Heh. Fine. If she’s motivated, I don’t mind. We’ll save it for her.”
A basic Heal spell was only slightly better than a Grade-5 Potion anyway. We were swimming in potions, so we weren’t in a rush. If it had been a high-tier regeneration spell, I would have insisted a vanguard learn it, but for a basic heal, it could wait.
We took a lunch break. I enjoyed a quick, risky tryst with Sheena behind some bushes before we resumed the hunt.
The third settlement was another dud. By the time we hit the fourth, the sun was dipping below the horizon. We hurried the assault, finishing the last Orc just as darkness set in. Under the glow of Sayaka’s Light Sphere, we searched the final hut.
”Gah. Just a potion and some silver…” I paused, digging deeper. “Wait, I got it! The pass fragment! That’s four.”
”Finally!” Karen sighed in relief.
”Sanae’s curse is powerful indeed,” Sayaka teased.
”It’s not a curse! It’s math!” Sanae barked. “Tomorrow we’ll probably get three in a row!”
”Another flag?” Sayaka groaned. “Give it a rest, please.”
”It’s not a flag! Stop blaming me, you mean rabbit!”
”Enough,” I cut in, sliding a hand onto Sanae’s waist. “It’s dark. Let’s set up camp. I want to wash off the grime and spend some quality time with Sanae.”
Sanae turned bright red and went quiet, nodding meekly. Sheena immediately clung to my other arm. I gave her a quick kiss. They might bicker during the day, but they were perfectly synchronized in bed.
We moved off the main path and pitched the Magic Tent. Since everyone was exhausted, I let them turn in early. I summoned five of the Wall-Butt girls to help me burn off some steam, then finally fell into a deep sleep.
**Tester Life: Day 60, Morning. Inside the Magic Tent.**
I woke up the next morning to the rhythmic sensation of Sanae and Karen taking turns with a morning wake-up call. I finished in Sanae’s mouth, and she swallowed every drop without hesitation. She didn’t even flinch at the taste anymore; she’d actually gotten quite good at making sure she got every last bit.
I patted her head, let Karen finish the “cleanup,” and headed to the bath to start the day.
I got out of the bath first and headed over to the Crystal Tablet⁷. Nearby, Sayaka-san and Sheena-san were busy getting breakfast started.
I tapped the [Party] icon and found five join requests from other testers. I didn’t recognize any of the names, but since you can’t even use the party function unless you break through the 5th Floor in the first place, there was no doubt they were part of the top-tier “Capture Group.” I approved them all.
Almost immediately, a thank-you pinged through the party comms. I kept it brief, telling them to treat the gear well and keep everything charged, then I cut the call.
While I was at it, I checked the current Food prices. Just as I feared, they’d spiked again. A breakfast set was now 350 DP⁸, a bento was 420 DP, and the dinner set had hit 700 DP. That’s 1,470 DP a day – roughly 15,000 yen just to keep yourself fed. At this rate, who’s even going to bother with the dinner sets anymore?
The cost of raw ingredients hadn’t changed, so I was fine, but the lower-floor testers were really getting squeezed. The guys struggling on the 3rd Floor won’t survive unless they switch to three “breakfasts” a day. Maybe the 4th Floor guys can still manage, but only just. I heard the numbers on the 3rd Floor have dropped significantly anyway, so maybe it won’t be total chaos.
After eating, I rested for a bit before geared up. It was time for Day 2.
We were hitting the back half of our second lap today, so I planned to take it slow. At this pace, we’d finish the full circuit by tomorrow. Two hours in, we reached the fifth settlement and wiped it out.
We found a chest inside the main hut. Everyone cheered, thinking our luck had finally turned.
”Please be a pass,” I muttered.
But when I opened it, it was just a Black Iron Spear. No transit pass. Since no one in the group used a long spear, it was headed straight for the stockpile. Rock-kun used a short spear, so it wasn’t even useful as a spare. I’d end up offloading it at the Weapons & Armor Exchange eventually.
We shook it off and headed back onto the main road. The monster density had increased, which slowed us down, but we eventually fought our way to the sixth settlement. We cleared the place without any close calls and found another chest in the large hut.
”See?” Sheena-san said, looking at me. “Yesterday was just a fluke. My luck has nothing to do with it.”
”Haha, fair enough,” I replied. “Probability always converges in the end. You have your dry spells, and then you have your streaks.”
I remembered a gacha once where I pulled three top-tiers in the first ten-roll on a 2% rate. I thought the devs had rigged it. Then the next event, with the same odds, I went 300 rolls without a single hit. Talk about convergence.
Lucy-chan seemed to have developed a taste for the thrill of the hunt, so I let her open this one. Inside was a Gray Wolf Breastplate – identical to the one Sheena-san was wearing. But there was no transit pass. Lucy-chan’s shoulders slumped, and Karen-san looked just as disappointed.
Sheena-san glanced at Sanae-san, who pointedly looked the other way.
One pass out of four chests. Rough. I could only hope the odds would swing back in our favor for the final stretch.
As for the breastplate, it looked like a fit for either Lucy-chan or Saizou-kun. Saizou-kun would likely refuse anything that wasn’t shinobi-ware, though. He already had chainmail underneath his gear anyway, so I decided to give it to Lucy-chan.
When I told her it was hers, her tail started thumping against the floor in a frenzy. She went from depressed to ecstatic in half a second. Talk about fickle.
I watched with a smirk as Sheena-san struggled to strap the armor onto her. “Stay still!” Sheena-san snapped, but Lucy-chan couldn’t stop wagging. She definitely lightens the mood, just like her master. Then again, she’s like Rock-kun in that regard – always looking for approval. Though I’d like to think I’m not quite that desperate for a pat on the head.
Once the armor was on, it looked a bit loose. Lucy-chan wasn’t exactly muscular, and she was flat as a board. Standing at barely 150 centimeters, the plate swallowed her a bit. Well, she’d grow into it once she ranked up.
Lucy-chan bolted outside the moment she was geared up. We followed with wry smiles and decided to take an early, extended lunch break. We only had one settlement left on the docket for the day, so there was no rush.
I took Sayaka-san and Karen-san aside during the break. I led them to the back of the hut, made them lean against the rough wood, and took my pleasure with them both from behind. There’s something about the open air that changes the way they react. Maybe it’s the thrill of knowing the kids back at the Training Facility might be watching the feed.
I’d heard the Succubus operators liked to zoom in on the “junction” during the broadcast. It was probably embarrassing for the girls, but the Succubus certainly knew how to provide fan service.
Once the long break was over, we gathered our things and set out for the seventh settlement. We reached it by evening and cleared the area.
There was no chest in the hut.
Day 2 ended with two chests and zero passes.
Man, the drop rates in this place suck.
—
Summary:
Yakumo and his party begin their second lap of the 12th Floor, aiming for a faster clear. They encounter rumors of White Knight’s ‘match-pump’ recruitment scheme and successfully clear four settlements, obtaining another pass fragment. The chapter ends with a focus on party dynamics and Yakumo’s physical relationships with his harem.
The protagonist monitors a sharp rise in food DP costs while leading his party through a second day of settlement clears. Despite clearing three settlements, the group struggles with poor drop rates, failing to obtain a necessary transit pass. Amidst the grind, the protagonist manages party equipment and indulges in outdoor s*xual activities with his members.
—
Trivia:
- The term ‘Match-pump’ refers to creating a problem to solve it.
- The white grimoire found is a Heal spell being saved for Leticia.
- Sanae’s tendency to state confident outcomes is treated as a jinx (flag).
- Yakumo is wary of guilds forming a coalition against him.
- The protagonist is Earth-born and thinks in terms of modern gacha mechanics.
- Food prices have risen to 1,470 DP/day, which is roughly 15,000 yen.
- The ‘Capture Group’ is restricted to those who have cleared the 5th floor.
- The entire dungeon experience is being broadcast to a ‘Training Facility’.
- Lucy-chan’s physical build is petite (150cm) and flat-chested, making armor fit poorly.
- Transit passes are the primary goal, but current drop rates are roughly 25% (1/4 chests)
—
Character Insight:
Yakumo shows a pragmatic side by managing his harem’s emotions and training, even agreeing to save loot for a non-combatant like Leticia. Sanae’s pride and her ‘unlucky’ flag-raising provide comic relief.
The protagonist shows a pragmatic, slightly detached leadership style, focusing on efficiency and DP management. Lucy-chan’s mood swings highlight her youthful, canine-like loyalty and eagerness. Sheena-san acts as the responsible ‘big sister’ figure, managing gear and Lucy’s behavior.
—
Behind the Scenes:
The ‘Match-pump’ term is a Japanese-English loanword (wasei-eigo) derived from a match used to light a fire and a pump used to put it out.
The author uses gamer terminology like ‘convergence’ and ‘drop rates’ to mirror the experience of MMO players, grounding the fantasy setting in recognizable modern frustrations.
—
TL Notes:
Notes:
• Sonoda – Lover of Nanami. Member of the battle sport party (Tomoya Yuki’s party the siscon).
• 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.
• Kume – An English teacher, suspicious of Sanada. Slicked-back hair, wears a shady expression.
• 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.
• Lucy – A female Kobold familiar resembling an American Eskimo Dog. Now, she evolves into a Kobold Thief. Her height increases to approximately 140cm, her limbs become sturdier/leaner, and she retains a cute face. She wags her tail when happy.
• 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.
• Sana – Black ponytail, hooded/sharp eyes, kyudo practitioner, average height.
• 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.
• 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
• Saizou – A newly summoned Goblin. Intelligent with a small horn on his forehead and jagged teeth. Wears ninja-style clothing (shinobifuku) and uses poison daggers/knives.
• 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. Now, her ego is back.
• Leticia – French exchange student, animation major 1st year, silver hair, small stature, slim, large breasts, 13 years old.
• 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.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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