Ch.12Request, Dungeon Exploration (2)

When you think of a dungeon, what image comes to mind? Naturally, you’d imagine hidden treasures, various monsters, and rooms filled with traps and gimmicks.

But this dungeon has none of that. Just straight paths and forks in the road—only these two things.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

“I don’t know. Leo would probably know.”

“Then what should we do?”

We don’t know the geography of this dungeon, and we don’t even have any food. To make matters worse, there’s no signal, so we can’t even call for help with our phones.

The only consolation is that I can use my phone as a flashlight and that I’m not trapped here alone.

“Well, would you like to study the pleasures a woman’s body can experience? I’m really confident I can teach you well.”

“…You’re making jokes even in this situation?”

“Does this look like a joke to you?”

Agath’s eyes were deadly serious.

Let me revise what I just said. I think the situation would have been much more positive if I were alone.

“Let’s just do it once. Then you might get post-nut clarity and think better.”

“…”

I’ve heard that if you say something ridiculous and then add “it was summer” at the end, it somehow becomes plausible.

I want to kill myself.

…It was summer.

***

“Can’t we rest a little before continuing?”

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

“No. My legs feel like they’re about to break.”

Thanks to wandering around this crazy dungeon for over two hours, my legs are trembling like mad.

“You’re complaining after walking for just two hours?”

“Do you know how fragile this body is?”

I get tired easily with minimal movement, I’m slow, weak, and have absolutely no stamina. Walking for two hours with this garbage body is actually impressive.

“Then should I carry you on my back again?”

No matter how difficult it is, I don’t plan to abandon my pride completely. So I let Agath carry me.

If I walked on my own strength for two hours, I’ve preserved my dignity enough.

While being carried, Agath suddenly blurted out something outrageous.

“Your legs are so smooth, perfect for pregnancy.”

“Please stop saying such horrible things.”

I absolutely have no intention of forming relationships with anyone. Me, falling in love with a man and having a child? I’d rather choose death.

“Then are you interested in yuri?”

“No.”

I don’t know if it’s because my mind is still male, but I don’t feel repulsed by the idea of women being together.

But that’s only when I’m a third party. There’s no chance I’d ever be a participant in such acts.

There’s no particular reason. It’s just a vague fear.

What if I accidentally touch that side of myself and truly become female? What if I end up seeking greater pleasure and go looking to get penetrated by a man?

So I have no intention of engaging in any sexual activity with this body, ever. That’s my pride as a man.

“You’re making life so difficult for yourself. It would be easier to just accept it, so why resist?”

“Because running away is much easier.”

“Are you trying to seduce me by suggesting we run away together? Do you really want to see me go crazy?”

“…What happened to you being a holy knight?”

It really seems like there’s nothing in Agath’s head except lust. How did she become a holy knight? Aren’t clergy supposed to try to live righteously?

“I’m as pure as holy knights come.”

“Don’t lie. How can someone who makes sex jokes every day be a pure holy knight?”

“Hey, I don’t take bribes like other clergy, and I follow all the doctrines. If that’s not a pure holy knight, what is?”

“Clergy take bribes too?”

“…This stays between us.”

A sacred group serving God. Their leader is an atheist, the person right below is devoted to desire, and the other clergy take bribes.

The world is truly going to hell.

***

There’s one element that can’t be missing from a dungeon: monsters. Especially undead monsters, which are symbolic of underground dungeons.

Among undead monsters, zombies are the classic example. Anyway, during our dungeon exploration, we encountered about a dozen zombies.

“Alright, you fight this time too.”

“I have to fight alone again?”

“Yes. They’re C-rank monsters, so you should be able to subdue them easily.”

“How strong is C-rank?”

“About as strong as a blonde, tanned delinquent going all out?”

So these zombies are about as strong as a well-built man giving his all. Then I should be able to subdue them more easily than that villain from before.

And this time, my opponents are monsters, not people. So I don’t need to worry about what happens if they die.

With that thought, I could draw my gun without hesitation, just like when I tried to kill that villain before.

…I should probably restrain my impulsive actions from now on.

First, let’s not use 10% of my mana like last time. If I do, this place might collapse and we could be buried alive. About 1% should be appropriate.

Bang!

The power was reduced, but the bullet still made a deep hole in the wall, showing its terrifying power.

Now I can shoot freely without worrying about being buried alive.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

About 10 shots were fired from the gun.

“You controlled your power well this time. But why didn’t you hit even one?”

“…Aren’t you expecting too much from someone who hasn’t served in the military?”

“Weren’t you a high school girl who completed military service?”

“I’m a high school boy who hasn’t served yet.”

“Now you’re an adult female.”

For some reason, when my body changed to female, my age also changed to 20. I would have been an adult in three months anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter much.

“But do we have the luxury to chat like this?”

Agath pointed at the horde of zombies rushing toward us fiercely.

Still, I’ve almost got the hang of it. Just a few more shots and I should be able to handle them.

***

It took about 70 shots, or 70% of my mana, to take down 10 zombies. As a result, I have absolutely no motivation left.

“You should practice your shooting skills later.”

“I really should…”

A 14% hit rate is pretty bad. How did I manage to hit that villain last time?

“By the way, where do the bullets come from?”

“I think I can use anything related to me as bullets.”

“So can you use your hymen as a bullet?”

“…”

Disgusting. Utterly disgusting. I want to say more, but “disgusting” is all that comes out. How can such thoughts even form in someone’s head?

So I silently expressed my disgust with my face.

“Let me rephrase the question. Can you use memories or lifespan as bullets?”

“I think that might be possible.”

If abstract concepts like emotions can be used as bullets, then memories or lifespan should be usable too.

“Then what happens if you shoot all your memories of being a man?”

“I don’t even want to imagine that.”

The memory of being a man is the only thing that remained when I reincarnated. If even this memory disappears, then my existence would completely vanish, and only Lite would remain.

I absolutely cannot allow that. The idea that my 19 years of life would meaninglessly disappear—such a thing must never happen.

I want to remain myself forever. Not as Lite, but as me.

“But how powerful would bullets made from memories or lifespan be?”

“I’ve never tried it, so I don’t know.”

“Then let’s try it right now.”

“No.”

You only have one life. Last time I was lucky… or unlucky? Anyway, I gained another life, but life is still precious.

I don’t want to waste such a precious life carelessly.

I’ve attempted suicide a lot recently, but I probably wouldn’t have gone through with it. Maybe it was just my way of expressing how difficult things were.

…Or maybe I really did want to die then.

“But sacrificing just one day of your lifespan should be fine, right? How much difference could living one more day make?”

“…Then should I try using just one day?”

Honestly, I am curious. Usually, techniques that require sacrificing lifespan have powerful or game-breaking effects.

So sacrificing just one day should be fine, right? It’s not like I’m sacrificing a year or two, just one day.

With that thought, I felt something enter the gun.

“But what if the bullet is too powerful and the dungeon collapses?”

“It’s just one day, how powerful could it be?”

“I guess you’re right?”

As I fired the gun with anticipation, a deafening sound echoed, and a huge, deep hole appeared in the dungeon.

“…You only sacrificed one day, right?”

“…Yes.”

The bullet fired by sacrificing one day of my lifespan was several times more powerful than the one I shot at the villain before.

While I was marveling at my own power, countless zombies rose from the ground. There must be at least several dozen of them.

“Why are they suddenly coming out in hordes?”

“Because you just made a huge commotion?”

“…I didn’t know I was this powerful.”

“So can you fight them?”

“Yes. I can still fight more.”

“Don’t use your lifespan. If it’s that powerful, there might be serious side effects.”

“…Then what should we do now that I can’t fight?”

If I squeeze out the remaining mana, I could use about 30 shots. But then I’d completely collapse from exhaustion.

Then shouldn’t I sacrifice something else? But I can’t think of anything with low risk and decent return.

“What else can we do? Now we’ll be surrounded by zombies and gang-raped.”

“…I’ll just use my lifespan.”

“No. I’ll handle them all.”

Agath took a stance with her massive mace.

“Just wait a bit.”

And Agath began moving at a speed far superior to the villain I saw before.

She moved so fast that several zombies would disappear between blinks.

In less than a minute, all the zombies were gone.

“You owe me your life now, right? So next time we go clothes shopping again…”

“I’d rather die than do that again.”

I’m not joking; I’m serious. Rather than experiencing that horror again, I’d prefer to die right here.

Suddenly, a zombie jumped out from the floor and stabbed a dagger into my side.

“Aaah!”

I collapsed to the floor, vowing to be more careful with my words. So this is what they mean when they say words become reality…

“Lite! Are you okay?!”

Agath quickly dealt with the zombie, but the dagger was still stuck in my side.

“No… it hurts so much I think I’m going to die…”

Even speaking is difficult. The pain is making me tear up. I just want to lose consciousness.

Agath looked at me thoughtfully and said:

“I’m sorry, excuse me for a moment.”

Agath suddenly pulled out the dagger from my side.

“…Urgh!”

“Sorry, just bear with it a little longer.”

Then she removed my top and placed her hand on the wound, and a warm light gathered around it.

After about two minutes, the wound disappeared without a trace.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yes… I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry… I’m not very talented with healing…”

“No, thank you for healing me. But I can’t move my body, so can we rest a bit longer?”

“Sure, I’m fine with that, so rest comfortably.”

As I continued lying down to recover, Rebecca emerged from the hole I had created.

“Ah, I finally found you. Is everyone okay…?”

Right now, my top is off. And we’re both sweaty from the intense battle.

“It’s not what it looks like!”

“It’s okay, I’ll keep it a secret. I’ll come back in an hour. Enjoy your time together.”

“No, really, it’s not like that!”

I desperately tried to explain, but Rebecca ignored me and quietly went back into the hole.

“…How am I going to explain this?”

“Want to just do it for real? Then we wouldn’t need to explain anything.”

“…Just help me put my top back on.”

“Let me admire your underwear a bit longer.”

This isn’t a joke; Agath is really staring at my underwear.

I want to get up and put my clothes on right away, but maybe due to the aftereffects of the injury, I can’t muster any strength.

I want to kill myself.

…It was summer.