Chapter 3 My Room
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
I twisted the brand-new wooden doorknob and stepped inside. The interior was a cramped space, roughly the size of a four-mat room.
There were no windows; the floor, walls, and ceiling were constructed entirely of stone. Much like the main hall, the ceiling stones emitted a faint-ssu luminescence. It was just dim enough to make me wonder if it would be a struggle to read a book.
A bed sat directly across from the entrance, and to the left was a sliding door. Opening it revealed a Japanese-style floor toilet. It appeared to be a flush model, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief that it wasn’t a primitive pit latrine.
Thinking that this place would look exactly like a prison cell if the entrance were an iron gate, I shifted my gaze toward the back-right corner. There stood a large wooden desk and chair. Resting atop the desk was a black crystal, exactly as the Succubus Queen¹ had described.
A black flagstone about B4 in size lay in front of the crystal, engraved with what looked like a silver Magic Circle². I reached out to touch it, wondering if this was the Magic Crystal³.
”!?”
Suddenly, the Magic Crystal erupted with light, and a translucent window manifested above it like a holographic display. The screen was roughly the size of a laptop, populated by icons for ‘Shop,’ ‘Monster Stone/Item Buyback,’ and ‘Appraisal.’
”Whoa, startled me… I see. So this is where I’m supposed to do my shopping,” I said.
I suppose even the demon world has its own version of an online store. Assuming I just needed to interact with the display, I started by tapping the ‘Shop’ icon.
The initial icons vanished, replaced by a new set: [Food], [Daily Necessities], [Weapons & Armor], [Various Items], [Martial Arts Manuals & Magic Books], [Slave Purchase], and [Facility Expansion]. In the upper-right corner of the screen, ‘2,000 DP⁴‘ was displayed.
”So my starting balance is 2,000 DP,” I muttered.
Unsure if this was a generous sum or a pittance, I tapped the [Food] icon. The menu listed Drinks for 20 DP, Breakfast Sets for 50 DP, Lunch Boxes for 60 DP, and Dinner Sets for 100 DP. Selecting the Breakfast Set revealed a sandwich meal equivalent to about four slices of bread, served with either coffee or tea.
Going by these prices, 10 DP is likely equivalent to about 100 yen. That would mean my starting allowance is 20,000 yen. As far as food costs go, it’s a standard market rate, but it only covers ten days of sustenance. Even if I skip a meal here and there, it won’t last much more than two weeks.
Self-catering might save money, but the lineup didn’t include staples like raw rice, bread, or meat. It seemed I could only purchase prepared meals, much like a family restaurant. The message was clear: if you don’t want to starve, you have to fight.
”Hmph. It’s a system designed to tighten the noose as time goes on,” I said.
Fighting monsters requires weaponry. Since the Queen mentioned testing the strength of Earthlings, I doubt she’ll be throwing anything at me that I can take down with my bare hands. This means I can’t afford to sink all my DP into food.
I started by purchasing a Lunch Box for 60 DP. As soon as I did, the black flagstone engraved with the Magic Circle on the desk glowed. In the next heartbeat, a fried chicken bento—housed in the exact same container used at the academy store—appeared alongside a plastic bottle of tea.
”Incredible… How does this even work? And it’s a bento I recognize, too,” I said.
Did the dungeon absorb and replicate the ingredients and containers when it swallowed the school? Well, if they can manifest a room like this, I suppose anything is possible. It’s standard fare in manga, after all.
I set the bento aside for the moment and tapped ‘Back’ to exit the food menu. Now that I had a handle on the value of DP, I moved to the tab I was most curious about: [Slave Purchase]. Two more icons appeared:
”Ho…”
The screen was suddenly filled with bust-up photos of female students, arranged like a graduation yearbook. Above the top row, it read [Rank 1 Slave] 2,000,000 DP, followed by fifteen portraits. Beneath each photo were the girl’s name, age, measurements, and cup size. They were all labeled as ‘Virgin.’
One girl in particular, at the very top of the list, caught my eye.
”Oh. The school’s top beauty from the swimming club, the one who greets me every morning, is up for sale. So her name was Tsukigase Sayaka. Just as I suspected, she’s definitely an E-cup. Hm? And she’s still a virgin? To think a girl like her has been turned into a s*x slave with a Crotch Tattoo⁵,” I muttered.
Seeing a beautiful, familiar face and knowing that a virgin girl has been branded with a Crotch Tattoo… it fills me with a sudden, surging motivation. I continued to scroll down the screen.
The rest of the girls were categorized from Rank 2 down to Rank 5, with prices gradually dropping from 1.5 million DP to 200,000 DP.
”I see. So they’ve ranked the students by grade. Makes sense, I guess,” I said.
There’s no way the academy’s most beautiful virgin would be priced the same as some non-virgin mob character. Rank 1 costs 2 million DP—that’s 20 million yen. Even Rank 2 is 1.5 million DP, or 15 million yen. If this weren’t a dungeon, being able to buy a beautiful high school virgin as an absolutely submissive sex slave would be a steal. However, I have no idea how much DP I’ll earn from killing monsters. In the worst-case scenario, the monsters will be so strong that I’ll be lucky just to earn enough to eat.
Still, Rank 5 is 200,000 DP, which is 2 million yen. That’s quite the gap from Rank 1. Rank 5 has the highest numbers, with about 100 individuals. Skimming through, I saw a school clerk in her late thirties and a woman of a similar age who worked part-time in the cafeteria. There were also plain-looking students and girls who were overweight.
Judging by the ages, most were second and third-year students. The non-virgin rate was high, too. The only real commonality was that they all had small breasts. I suppose since a succubus is doing the ranking, they’re likely very strict about physical proportions.
Rank 5… If I can earn 2,000 DP a day, it’s a goal I could reach after three or four months of hard work. I don’t personally care about virginity, but if I’m going to build a slave harem, I want it filled with the beauties of Rank 1 and 2. That’s what I call motivation.
It was the same back when I was a child soldier. When you distinguished yourself in the war against the government forces, you’d be rewarded with a girl kidnapped from some village. It was a way to make us develop attachments so we wouldn’t desert. Sometimes we shared the women with other soldiers, but I never let anyone touch my favorites.
I suddenly found myself remembering one girl in particular. I wonder how she’s doing now? Did the government forces protect her? It should be fine. When I made my escape, I gave her back the ID she had when she was taken and left her confined in a safe location. The government troops must have rescued her. After all, she was the daughter of a high-ranking bureaucrat. Even though her parents initially abandoned her during negotiations, she wouldn’t have been mistreated. Though, I suppose it’s rich for me to say that, considering I was the one using her as my (sexual) caretaker.
* * *
Enough of that.
I snapped my train of thought back to the present and closed the catalog. I now knew the general market price for slaves. To get them, I needed to prepare for war. I tapped the icon for weapons and armor—the absolute essentials for monster hunting.
A variety of weapons appeared with accompanying illustrations. I looked for firearms or grenades, but there were none to be found. Everything was medieval, and everything was expensive.
However, there was a clear safety net. There was exactly one budget-priced item for every category of weapon. Even a succubus wouldn’t expect a regular high schooler to fight with his fists. After some deliberation, I purchased a Dagger⁶ for 300 DP and a Machete⁷ for 800 DP.
The machete was a familiar tool from my days in close combat. The one I used back then had a much more refined design, but I wasn’t about to complain. A machete is basically just a heavy cleaver. Since my time fighting government forces mostly involved guerrilla warfare in thick jungles, I often found more use for a machete than a rifle during sudden skirmishes.
I hit the buy button, and the flagstone glowed once more. This time, a dagger with a 20-centimeter blade and a reasonably good 40-centimeter machete appeared at my feet. I had now spent 1,160 DP, leaving me with 840.
With my weapons secured, I checked the armor, but there were no tactical vests or modern protectors—only leather armor, iron breastplates, and suits of mail. There were no discounts here either; everything started at 5,000 DP, putting them well out of my reach. Ah, so that’s why the Succubus Queen said she cast strengthening magic on our uniforms. I wonder if this can actually stop a knife? For that matter, did she count my guard uniform as a ‘school uniform’?
As a test, I tried to slice the hem of my trouser leg with the new dagger, but the blade wouldn’t bite. I punched my own thigh, and it hurt just as much as usual. It’s only blade-proof, then. That’s good enough. No need to check my safety shoes; they were built to be sturdy from the start. I would have preferred some discounted leather armor that could dampen impacts, but I guess I can’t have everything.
Once I was done checking the basics, I tapped [Martial Arts Manuals & Magic Books], the other tab I’d been eyeing.
A list of manuals and magic books filled the screen.
[Martial Arts Manuals]
*First-time offer: One for 500 DP
Subsequent purchases: 5,000 DP each
- Swordsman’s Manual
- Spearman’s Manual
- Archer’s Manual
- Scout’s Manual
- Taijutsu Manual
- Physical Reinforcement⁸ Manual
[Magic Books]
- Earth Magic
Sand Ball: 30,000 DP
Earth Wall: 30,000 DP
- Water Magic
Water Ball: 30,000 DP
Water Wall: 30,000 DP
- Fire Magic
Fire Ball: 30,000 DP
Fire Wall: 30,000 DP
- Wind Magic
Wind Cutter: 30,000 DP
Wind Wall: 30,000 DP
- Light Magic
Light: 30,000 DP
Heal: 50,000 DP
Cure: 50,000 DP
- Special Magic
Mana Detection: 100,000 DP
”I see… Only the martial arts have a discount,” I said.
With this, even students without combat training could hold their own. It might be different if the opponents were human, but if they’re just video game monsters, the mental hurdle for killing them should be low. The magic books seemed to be limited to basic spells, too. I would have loved to try magic, but 30,000 DP is an impossible sum right now. I’ve always wanted to blast things like in an MMO. That raised a question: can just anyone learn magic?
”Hm? Is there a help file?” I asked.
I tapped the ‘?’ icon next to the manuals.
○ Martial Arts Manuals
[Manuals containing the fundamentals of combat. Created by extracting the memories of common soldiers. They manifest as parchment scrolls; opening one imparts foundational knowledge.]
○ Magic Books
[Created by the Demon God Zazard⁹. Concepts are woven into divine script; not even a Demon King can replicate them. Any member of the human race is capable of learning them.]
”So the combat manuals are sourced from the memories of ordinary soldiers, and the magic books are the handiwork of a Demon God. And any human can learn them… but it says ‘Human Race,’” I said.
Not ‘humanity,’ but the ‘Human Race.’ That choice of words implies there are other races out there. If I’m following fantasy manga logic, these are combat memories from humans who lived alongside elves and dwarves. I wonder what happened to that world, and how they managed to extract those memories… Well, it doesn’t matter right now. More importantly, which one to pick…
”Physical Reinforcement. It’s the only choice,” I said.
I don’t need to learn swordsmanship or taijutsu at this stage. Trying to learn a set manual would just conflict with my own training and cause confusion. Besides, physical reinforcement is the bread and butter of isekai stories. Even a basic technique should be invaluable. These things usually run on mana. I don’t know if I have any yet, but I’ll likely gain some as I level up by killing monsters… hopefully.
I tapped and bought the Physical Reinforcement manual. The flagstone glowed once more, and when the light faded, a parchment scroll tied with string appeared. I picked it up and unrolled it. The parchment flared with light and incinerated in an instant.
”Hot!? …Wait, it’s not?” I said.
I nearly dropped it in a panic, expecting a burn, but I was confused to find no heat at all. It looked like it burned, but there was no fire. Does this mean I’ve learned it?
Feeling a bit skeptical, I searched my mind for knowledge of Physical Reinforcement. Sure enough, the concept of the skill and the sensation of manipulating mana to bolster the body were firmly rooted in my memory. I tried to activate it according to those memories… but nothing happened.
Searching my memories again, I found the culprit: a lack of mana. It seems I don’t have enough mana to actually trigger the reinforcement. Did I just waste my points? I considered it for a second, but they wouldn’t sell something that’s literally unusable. I’ll just have to trust that my mana will increase as I level up.
That left me with 340 DP.
Assuming I couldn’t buy anything else of importance, I checked the [Various Items] icon for future reference. A long list of potions and magical artifacts appeared. However, the cheapest potion was 2,000 DP—completely out of reach. Magic items were in an entirely different league. I turned to [Daily Necessities] instead. A portable first-aid kit was 200 DP, so I snagged it just in case. A sports towel was another 20 DP. There was also a simple backpack made of a leather sack and a drawstring, which I bought for 100 DP.
Thinking the tea from the bento wouldn’t be enough, I added a 20 DP sports drink to the list. That brought my balance to exactly zero. I’d spent every last point.
I opened the backpack and packed the first-aid kit, the towel, and the sports drink along with the bento. I tucked the dagger into my belt and took the machete in hand. Alright. I’m ready for battle.
”Heh… hehehe. A dungeon test? Monsters? Who cares. To me, this looks like the perfect chance to build the slave harem I’ve always dreamed of in eroge. And if it helps people in the process, there’s no reason not to do it,” I said.
I have no idea if that Succubus Queen actually intends to let us go. But now that we’ve been captured and imprisoned, fighting is the only way to survive. Forced to fight, with women as the reward for success… it’s exactly like when I was kidnapped by terrorists and turned into a child soldier. This is nothing new.
Realizing that my mouth was curved into a grin, I shouldered my pack, gripped the naked blade of the machete, and stepped out of the room.
—
Summary:
The protagonist explores his assigned room and discovers a Magic Crystal that functions as an interdimensional shop interface. He carefully manages his initial 2,000 DP, purchasing basic food, a machete, a dagger, and the ‘Physical Reinforcement’ skill. While he lacks the mana to use the skill immediately, he views the dungeon’s brutal ‘Ranked Slave’ system as a golden opportunity to fulfill his dark fantasies. Prepared for combat, he leaves his room with his weapons in hand.
—
Character Insight:
The protagonist’s past as a child soldier is the defining lens through which he views the dungeon. He doesn’t see the horror of the situation; instead, he feels a nostalgic comfort in the cycle of ‘violence for rewards.’ His obsession with the ‘Ranked Slave’ list—particularly Sayaka—reveals a man who has completely decoupled morality from survival, viewing the students not as peers but as potential prizes for his upcoming ‘merit’ in battle.
—
Behind the Scene:
The shop system used here is a staple of ‘Dungeon Master’ or ‘Survival’ sub-genres in light novels, often used to bridge the gap between modern knowledge and fantasy settings.
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T/L:
Notes:
• Succubus Queen – The sovereign of the Succubus race and servant to the Demon God Zazard. She possesses a voice described as蛊惑的 (alluring/bewitching) and maintains a stance of absolute superiority over humanity.
• 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.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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