Chapter 40: Diana Conquest Strategy (1)

Chapter 40: Diana Conquest
Strategy (1)

I
searched every inch of the inn.

‘I
don’t feel any sign of life inside.’

All
the long-staying guests seemed to have left.

Then
I felt a strange sensation. The room felt empty and unrecognizable
but I knew what was there.

‘Diana’s
room, off to the side of the dining hall⋯’

I
wondered if there was some kind of special barrier since Diana’s room
was not caught in my perception.

I
stopped scanning the inn with my perception and thought for a moment.

‘There’s
nowhere else to go but here.’

I
could find another inn, but I would have to pay a ridiculous price
since it was late.

I’ve
spent a lot of money preparing for the Labyrinth, and now is the time
to save it. I won’t get paid by the Joy Hog’s party until tomorrow
night.

Besides,
lately, my position at the inn has been that of a guest of Diana’s.

I
paid for my room and board with the silver I received in change from
Zirnier at the table.

–
I’m not going to make you pay for your room and board, so you can
stay here. Consider it employee benefits.

That’s
what Diana said, and she let me stay at the inn.

‘In
the first place, closing means that we’re not accepting any other
guests, not that we’re asking our staff to leave.’

Since
I’m one of her employees, it doesn’t matter if I walk into the inn
and stay as usual.

Surely,
everything will be fine.

But
my thoughts drifted to other things.

‘Diana’s
curse, runaway, female, sex toy⋯’

I
don’t know exactly, but based on the information I’ve gleaned from my
conversation with Idelbert, I suspect that Diana has a curse of some
sort that causes her to have strong sexual urges.

She
seemed to call it a runaway urge.

“Haha.
Aww. No way.”

I
smirked.

In
all the time I’d been with her, I hadn’t noticed any such signs.

Even
if Idelbert’s words are true, I believe in her.

She
saved me from those damned beggars.

Is
that all? This is the same Diana who apologized for causing a major
accident with her breasts, saying it was her fault.

It
was hard to imagine her being defeated by a mere sexual urge.

I
opened the door to the inn and saw a darkened tavern.

The
usual festive atmosphere of chattering, eating, and drinking was
silent.

Even
though the lights were off in the tavern, Diana was always present in
the kitchen.

Today,
however, the kitchen lights were off.

As
a result, the entire inn was dark and it was strangely eerie.

‘⋯Yes.
It’s a holiday, and it’s late, so she’s probably sleeping in her
room.’

It
would be quite sad not to see her after two weeks in the Labyrinth,
but I’d have another chance tomorrow.

I
went straight up to my room, looking forward to tomorrow morning.

I
was tired and I wanted to get some rest today.

I
climbed the stairs to the second floor, taking as few steps as
possible to avoid waking Diana.

Room
201. My room is right in front of me.

Squeak.

I
immediately turned the knob and opened the door.

Thump!

“⋯⋯?”

The
door opened ever so slightly, then slammed shut from the inside.

After
a moment of bewilderment at the strange phenomenon, I heard a
familiar voice from inside the room.

“Ba,
hmmm, ba, Balkan, is it Balkan?”

The
panic in the voice was palpable. At the same time, the voice was
filled with worry.

It
was Diana’s familiar voice.

‘No,
is this really Diana’s voice⋯?’

But
I felt a strange unfamiliarity in her voice.

It
was different from her usual relaxed and soft voice.

It
sounded more like a hot, sticky, molten, sweet chant than anything
else.

‘Why
is Diana here in the first place? She shouldn’t be in my room.’

Something
was wrong with the situation.

How
and why was she in my room?

‘Oh,
she was changing the bedding?’

Thinking
about it that way made sense. Maybe I couldn’t sense her presence
because Diana’s level was too high.

“Okay,
wait⋯
just a minute⋯
hmmm⋯
just a minute, please wait⋯”

Diana’s
voice was strangely dazed.

I
stood at the door, waiting for her to open it.

In
the meantime, I examined my body.

Fresh
from the labyrinth, unwashed and dirty.

The
smell of sweat vibrated through me.

I
should probably clean myself up and lie down to sleep, since I’m sure
Diana would have made a clean bed for me, and I’d be dirty in a day.

The
door to my room creaked open so I stopped thinking and looked
straight ahead.

The
view of a two-meter tall person was high, and the scenery of the room
immediately came into view.

“⋯⋯?”

The
room, which I thought would be clean and organized, was a mess,
especially the bed.

The
white mattress cover was visibly drenched in water, and an
unidentified liquid was splattered all over the floor near the bed.

‘Did
she just try to clean it up? Did she spill something?’

And
then the door swung open all the way.

Whoosh.

Immediately,
a rush of hot, humid air rushed in, tingling strangely, and it was
rust-colored.

The
room was filled with Diana’s scent. My nostrils were filled with
Diana’s scent, even my brain was invaded by Diana’s female
pheromones.

It
was a scent so stimulating that it made my head spin for a moment.
The scent of a pure, beautiful, superior female.

At
the door stood Diana, the owner of that scent.

[■■
Diana ■■■■
LV.6■]

[■■
Axis■■
curses held by ■■
Diana■:
6]

[Current
most influential curse: Curse of Decadence from the Black Moon■,
about ■■]

‘⋯Level
down?’

The
level’s leading digit has changed from 7 to 6.

Is
this possible? Considering it’s a curse, it’s not impossible.

“Balkan⋯
really Balkan⋯”

For
a moment, I’m distracted by the status window, but my attention is
immediately drawn back to the gravelly voice.

Diana
was a far cry from her usual organized self.

Her
sweat-drenched hair was stuck to the nape of her neck and all over
her face, her gray dress was disheveled as if she’d thrown it on in a
hurry, and her skin was soaked through in places.

Most
noticeable of all, though, was Diana’s lower belly.

I
couldn’t help but notice it.

Every
time Diana took a breath, her lower abdomen quivered, with a pinkish
hue and pitch-black darkness gathering there.

‘That…’

The
darkness was eerily familiar.

‘That’s
the darkness I saw when I met that being.’

The
darkness that threatened the [being] in the light was gathering on
Diana now.

Then,
an obscene symbol appeared on Diana’s lower belly, like a woman’s
uterus and heart mixed together.

‘…Is
that a filtered curse? Curse of Decadence from the Black Moon?’

What
the hell was the filtered word? I couldn’t tell from my quick
judgment.

“Balkan⋯”

Diana
breathed out hotly.

Her
eyes, always tightly closed, were half-open, unfocused, and she
stared at me blankly.

A
thin stream of saliva dripped from the corner of her mouth, soaking
the floor.

There
was something odd about the current Diana.

“Diana?”

Still,
I tried to figure out what to do.

Kao-ok

“I
was worried about you⋯”

Diana
quickly came over and hugged me tightly. She sounded so relieved and
grateful that I was alive.

My
iron breastplate rubbed against her breasts.

I
stiffened at the sincerity and intensity of the embrace, then
carefully placed my hand on her back and patted it.

I
don’t understand the scene before me, and I’m bewildered, but I know
she cares about me.

“⋯Thank
you for your concern, I’m safe, Diana.”

“⋯⋯”

I
still hugged her safely.

It
felt like the third labyrinth had finally come to an end.

We
hugged each other tightly for about 10 seconds.

Then,
just as I was about to pull away, Diana didn’t let go.

She
wanted to hug me a little longer? I was happy to oblige. I ended up
hugging her for another minute or so.

Ko-o-o-o-o-o-o.

Ten
minutes passed like that.

“⋯⋯?”

Thirty
minutes passed.

“Diana?
Kwak⋯”

What
the hell, I can’t get out of this. Diana hugged me with all her heart
and wouldn’t let go.

The
overwhelming disparity in power meant that no matter how hard I
tried, I couldn’t fight off her simple hug.

She
pressed our bodies closer and closer together. Her large breasts
pressed gently against my breastplate.

Her
arms wrapped around my neck, across my obliques, down my back, and
around my neck, holding me tight.

Diana
raised her hips slightly and whispered in my ear.

“I’m
not letting go, I won’t⋯not
now⋯”

“Diana!
Ew, wake up!”

I
heard the sweet voice and the ragged breathing, and realized things
were getting out of hand.

Diana
buried her nose in the nape of my neck and breathed in. I should have
smelled like sweat, but she shuddered as if she’d caught a whiff of
something ecstatic.

Her
breasts rubbed against my breastplate as she breathed heavily.

She
pressed her sweat-drenched body against me, her eyes locked on mine
as she drooled as if she had a delicious meal in front of her.

The
pupils I could see through the slits of her eyes were pink instead of
shimmering amber, and worst of all.

Mmmm.
Koooowwww.

Diana
thrust her pelvis out, pressing her lower belly hard against my hips.

I
could feel the lower abdomen, marked with a heart and the entrance to
the womb, pulsing and vibrating.

I
couldn’t keep my composure. My middle biceps cramped slightly. I
gritted my teeth and desperately persevered, though I should have
reacted as soon as I entered the room in the first place.

Diana,
now, is clearly out of her mind.

–
With her curse running wild, Diana is the most dangerous female in
the Labyrinth City.

–
If you willingly choose to live the rest of your life as her sex toy,
I will not stop you.

Suddenly,
Idelbert’s words made perfect sense.

Right
now Diana was the most dangerous female in the Labyrinth City.

“Hmph,
hmph, Balkan, Balkan.”

“Thump!”

-Pfft!

Diana,
whose eyes had turned completely pink, pushed me roughly onto the
bed.

I
flew all the way to the wall and tumbled onto the bed, as if I were a
slender virgin, with one light shove from Diana.

Diana
crawled closer and closer to me.

“Every
day, I keep getting more and more aroused…staring blatantly at my
cleavage…brushing against me to touch my chest…giving off that
male scent, acting like a pervert, taking off your shirt in front of
me…Why on earth are you doing this?”

“That’s⋯
that’s⋯
Diana. Get a grip!”

I
didn’t know what to say. Honestly, I think it’s because Diana is too
generous, but it’s not like this-

“Ugh!”

“Do
you know what I’ve been holding back⋯
every time I see you⋯
huh?”

Diana
muttered that and promptly climbed on top of my waist.

Her
large ass, which was barely covered by her dress, pressed down on my
hips.

Still,
her lower stomach was throbbing.

“This
is annoying.”

With
her bare hands, Diana ripped off my 40 silver coin breastplate.

I
had no choice but to shut up as I witnessed the absurdity of it all.

The
problem was, I wasn’t wearing anything but my underwear inside the
breastplate.

“Hahaha.”

Diana
looked down at me from my waist for a moment, as if taking in the
view.

Past
my abs, the world’s most recognizable sore spot, to my pectoralis
major, to the nape of my neck, and then…my helmeted face.

Diana’s
expression instantly crumbled when she saw it.

She
grabbed her head and screamed, as if in agony.

It
was as if her reason was suppressing her instinct to pounce on me.

Diana’s
eyes, which had turned pink, began to regain their original amber
color, proof that she hadn’t been completely consumed by the curse
yet.

‘Good.’

This
is my chance.

Now
is the time to help Diana with her curse.

Suddenly,
a thought crossed my mind.

Is
this really a chance?

If
I don’t do anything now, can I have a relationship with Diana in
peace? Let’s be honest, Nam Soo-jin. You have feelings for her, and
they’ve been building up for a long time.

If
you get f**ked in this situation, she’ll feel guilty and take care of
you for the rest of your life. If you think about the future, don’t
you think it’s better to get f**ked once now? Let’s enjoy each other!

It
was a devilish idea but it made sense in a weird way.

‘No,
no, no.’

But
I immediately shook my head. I couldn’t do that.

It
would ruin not only my future, but Diana’s. Looking at her now, she’s
still reeling from the blow to her uterus from that mysterious sigil.

What’s
the point of Diana raping me in this situation? Honestly, it’s a
win-win. I can shed a few tears and do a quick victim cosplay and my
future will be so much easier if I parasitize on her.

But

‘What
about Diana’s heart?’

The
good-hearted Diana will carry the guilt of raping me for the rest of
her life, and she’ll be tormented every day by the reminder of what
happened.

No
matter how much I tell her it’s okay, she’ll never forgive herself
for being consumed by the curse and harming others.

I
never wanted her to spend the rest of her life beating herself up.

Having
made up my mind, my actions were simple.

“Huh,
hhhh!”

Diana
let out a ragged breath.

The
darkness in the tattoo on her lower belly throbbed even louder, as if
to tell her to f*ck the man beneath her right now.

In
response, Diana’s eyes turned a perfect shade of pink but I was a
little faster.

‘I
was holding a hand, too.’

A
mysterious glow enveloped my arm.

It
was the same blinding brilliance that enveloped my entire body when I
met [that being] and fell from the fountain.

My
new blessing from this journey.

[◆
Blessing of Radiance]

–
The light of the beginning of time is imbued in you.

–
It has an absolute effect on the darkness.

I
focused all my attention on dealing with it.

With
this light, I can defeat the darkness that has consumed Diana but it
won’t be easy.

I’ll
have to be prepared to pass out for days, and I’ll have to push the
blessing to its limits before I can affect Diana’s curse by a hair’s
breadth.

A
brilliant light, so beautiful, so somehow sacred, filled my right
hand.

“Hang
in there, please Diana.”

“⋯?”

I
pressed my light-encased hand firmly against Diana’s lower stomach.

“Nghiiit?!”

The
pink and dark sigil is swept away by the light and shattered.

-Shoot!

A
brilliant light filled the room.