Ch.188July’s Dungeon, and Terror (11)

“Alright!! Day 3!! The barrier is shrinking rapidly now!!!! We can’t just sit around like cowards!!”

Rahitan shouted loudly.

It was exactly as he said. Now the barrier only covered the central area. Participants who had been circling the outer perimeter of the central zone without luck or skill had all met their deaths. The battle was in its final stages.

Ziiiiing-!

We couldn’t afford to hesitate either. The barrier’s predicted shrinking location was… the fortress where the Master was located. Before that happened, we needed to quickly occupy the fortress and help Kirtan obtain the ancient weapon.

“Let’s go.”

I said to everyone. They all nodded with trust in their eyes. While I couldn’t give credit when it came to relationships, it seemed I had earned their trust as a combatant.

“Well then, I’ll be expecting good news.”

Kirtan said with a grin.

“Ah. Just wait for it.”

I smiled back at Kirtan.

“………”

For some reason, Kirtan’s face turned red every time I smiled.

Even someone as dense as me could tell. Kirtan… she had fallen hard for me. Once again, I had committed a sin against a woman.

“Hmph. Such is the fate of a popular man…..”

I muttered to myself without realizing.

“Shota… while you might be entitled to that kind of self-indulgent monologue… saying it out loud makes it rather disgusting.”

Sasith said.

“Seriously… he’s nothing like Prince Sasith. This guy’s just an animal. An animal.”

Frill said.

“Wait!! Our Shota IS an animal, that’s true?! But I don’t need to hear that from you! Pink-hair!”

Umi jumped in immediately.

“Right! It’s irritating when someone else says it!”

Tai chimed in.

“Heroes are naturally womanizers!!!”

Tina somehow tried to cover for me. But… was it just my imagination? It seemed less like covering and more like twisting the knife under the guise of defending me?

“Sasith only has eyes for me, you know? Jealous?”

Frill felt a strange sense of superiority about that point.

“Hmph. That’s because… Sasith isn’t a hero.”

Tina said.

“No, he is!!!!”

Frill immediately flared up. Everyone started comforting her with tremendous energy.

“Hey!!! Everyone quiet!! We’re entering the Master’s territory now!”

I shouted loudly.

“Master… what an impressive naming.”

Sasith muttered.

Well, that’s true. It did feel a bit excessive.

The Master was quite a formidable opponent even in the game. Not just because of his specs, but because his AI algorithm was designed strangely.

Among users, he was known as the embodiment of “waiting it out.”

Once he occupied a location, he would never initiate an attack unless provoked. He would only go on the offensive in truly unavoidable situations—when only two teams remained or when the barrier was closing in.

Until then, he put 100% into defense. That made it awkward to attack him first.

Among users, he was even mockingly called “Gongson Chan” (a reference to a historical figure known for defensive tactics).

Anyway, facing the Master head-on was tricky. When someone goes all-in on defense, the attacker is at a disadvantage.

So what should we do?

“Let’s split into two groups.”

I said.

“Hey. I don’t know much about this, but… we’re already short on people. And you want to split up?”

Sasith said.

“Right! Right!”

Frill was just mindlessly agreeing. She’s cute so I’ll let it slide. Plus, she’s my friend’s girlfriend.

“Come on, Sasith. Do you want to end up with the ‘execution of the entire household’ ending?”

I immediately replied.

“E-execution of the entire household…!”

Sasith seemed to understand the reference. As expected, Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a common topic among men.

“If we all go together, we’ll be spotted more easily. Sasith and Frill, go around that way.”

I said.

“Wait, if we go that far, how will we communicate with each other?”

Frill asked.

“I’ll send Pinocchio. He should relay messages well enough.”

I replied.

I had discovered an unexpected function of Pinocchio during this survival game—he could be sent surprisingly far. Normally, psycho-robots can’t stray too far from their owners. But Pinocchio was different. He could cover quite a wide range.

If I said he was more like a long-range manipulation Stand rather than a close-range power type, that might make sense. My otaku friends, you all understand, right? I don’t need to explain further, do I? It would be troublesome if you couldn’t follow this much.

Pinocchio was basically a wooden messenger.

“Pinocchio. This is a simple message relay game. If you mess up, I’ll snap that nose of yours, okay?”

I said with a smile.

“Y-yes! Master!!”

Pinocchio replied, clutching his trademark nose.

“I’ll take Umi, Tai, and Tina to infiltrate the main gate area. The courtyard outside the fortress is our responsibility. Meanwhile, Sasith and Frill, you sweep the inside of the building.”

I explained.

Despite appearances, Sasith is quite perceptive. When I explain something, he understands immediately.

With luck, they might clear a path to the underground laboratory without encountering anyone inside the building. They might even eliminate key officials.

“Got it. It’s risky… but I’ll do it.”

Sasith said.

“I’ll definitely protect Sasith.”

Frill said with honey dripping from her eyes.

“Good. Let’s go then.”

I immediately moved according to the formation.

The fortress had a massive garden doubling as a training ground near the main gate, and a tower-like building in a fantasy-style castle design.

The courtyard was, of course, full of people teamed up with the Master.

“Hut!! Hut!!!”

A bald man was doing push-ups while supporting himself with just one finger.

Another was meditating on a floor covered with thorns.

Yes, this was the concept of the Master’s party. They all had the setting of training to become the strongest.

“Wow… it smells like sweat.”

Umi made a disgusted face.

“Umi… don’t you like athletic men? You’re a gyaru, after all.”

I said.

“Drop your prejudice about gyarus!!”

Umi shouted loudly. Of course, since we were infiltrating, it was more of a whisper, but her high-pitched voice played in my mind.

“The only one whose workout looks good is… Shota.”

Umi delivered a devastatingly powerful line.

“Great. Since these guys are all training, let’s do some ‘sex training’ too.”

The crazy words just naturally came out of my mouth.

“This bastard… hehehe. Look at him becoming a slave to his dick again… ‘sex training,’ seriously… pfft.”

Tai was desperately trying to hold back his laughter. He had a taste for lowbrow humor.

“Shota! Get a grip!”

At Tina’s words, I came to my senses.

“Anyway, there are three guys up ahead, right? When I give the signal, we all approach and hit them from behind. If things go well, we can get past quietly.”

I said.

“Will it work… will a guy doing one-finger push-ups fall for that?”

Umi asked.

“It’s nothing special. I can do it too.”

I did a quick push-up with one finger raised. The key was reinforcing the finger with the Blazing Stance.

“Right… this guy was a freak too.”

Tai said with a smirk. Well, that helped lighten the mood.

“Let’s go.”

I immediately brought out Pinocchio.

Pinocchio’s passive ability was “Overwhelming Presence.”

Even without trying, he would draw aggro from monsters.

It worked on Grandpa Geppetto too, drawing all the aggro from his retirement funds and making them evaporate. The talent nurtured by Pinocchio’s filial impiety… that was his Overwhelming Presence.

That aggro-pulling ability that kicked over Grandpa Geppetto’s cart—it was time to show it now.

I launched Pinocchio like a drone.

Swoooosh-!

Pinocchio flew through the air, extremely tense.

Thwap-! Pat-!

That immediately drew the attention of the training men.

As soon as their heads turned, I gave the hand signal.

Pat-!!

We all sprang into action.

Shunk-!

I pierced one monster’s head with my sword.

“Guh… hrk…”

Because I had stabbed his throat, he couldn’t make a loud sound. Only the antenna on top of his bald head trembled. It was strangely tempting to lick it. But I restrained myself.

Whack-!

Tai simply smashed a baseball bat into the back of a monster’s head. His strange proficiency was actually scary.

Crack-!

Tina simply broke the neck of her target to subdue him.

Umi did surprisingly well too.

Shunk-!

She stabbed a dagger into the neck with her eyes tightly shut. However, mistakes happen when you’re not a trained killer.

‘The muscles and flesh of living beings are surprisingly tough…’

I had come to know such information all too well.

“Kack!”

The monster immediately tried to turn toward Umi.

Can’t be helped. A boyfriend has to help (how sweet).

Shunk-!

I stabbed the monster’s vital point with my sword. That ended the situation.

“Now. Let’s hide the bodies quickly.”

I said as I dragged the bodies.

Thud-!

I hid the bodies in some bushes.

But… there was no way to hide the bloodbath.

Unfortunately, a monster came to where we had been.

“……….”

And the monster immediately stared at the blood-soaked ground.

Shit. Were we caught? Just as I was feeling the tension—

“Hahaha! These guys! Spilling so much protein supplement! Did they run off to take an emergency dump?”

He just laughed and went into the fortress.

My god… mistaking blood for protein… how obsessed with training are these guys?

——-

At that time, it seemed Sasith and Frill were also doing their job properly. Phew… if they had trolled, would we have faced the “execution of the entire household” ending?

Sasith and Frill had apparently climbed the wall and reached the watchtower at the top of the fortress. They were going to take care of the watchtower guard first. As expected of Sasith. He has good sense.

Shunk-! Slash-!

Sasith skillfully wielded his sword to subdue two guards. His swordsmanship had definitely improved compared to before.

Immediately after, Frill brought out her psycho-robot.

Whoosh-!

She used the Pink Teddy’s only long-range attack, Button Shooting.

The button attached to the teddy bear’s stomach flew off and pierced through the head of the guy who had been wiping up the protein (blood).

With that, phase one was cleared.

At this rate, things seemed to be going well? That was my expectation.