Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Bloody Trap Planned the Moment I Saw Ruby's Traits
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The moment I saw Ruby's traits, I planned this bloody trap.
Just in case, I'd secretly prepared with Magic Tower shields instead of Codex parts for any vital spots like the neck or torso that would spell doom if severed—keeping it from Kane and Luna—and that's why I went through with it.
[Piyan—Blood-Scented Villain Adventurer]
Main Traits: [Charm (A+)] [Severance Fetish (S)]
Hidden Traits: [Submissive (C)] [Pottery (E)]
Her name wasn't even Ruby to begin with. Plus, that Charm trait—no matter how I thought about it, it worked on her fellow party members as expected, and even that swamp troll felt like her handiwork based on suspicion alone.
Still, it was a trait fitting for a secret dungeon, so I took a bit of a risk.
If Ruby hadn't had Severance Fetish, I'd have had to tailor the plan around blade traps and such, which would've been a huge hassle.
The gains made it worth gambling on. But still.
'I figured it'd cut, but I didn't expect it to lop off my leg right away.'
Curled up on the ground where I'd collapsed, I grumbled inwardly.
Thanks to downing a sensory numbing potion beforehand, there was no intense pain, but a faint lingering ache remained—and more than that.
'The severed part's way too big.'
It'd nearly sliced my leg off below the knee, so the blood loss rate right now was insane.
I'd half-expected something like this, but I figured it'd just pin me down or indulge Ruby's tastes by slicing off a hand to disrupt my spellcasting at worst.
'Yeah. No good. Gotta drink a potion.'
Sorry, Luna and Kane, but I'd planned to fake fainting and show a bit of a pitiful struggle as a mild shock treatment.
Faking it now might lead to real excessive blood loss and a bad end, so pass.
With my back to Kane and Luna as I lay collapsed, I couldn't tell if they were watching me or not, but just in case, I shakily acted out pain with trembling hands, pulled out a potion, drank it, and lifted my body slightly.
Seeing my leg flung way over there made it feel even less real.
Potions wouldn't reconnect nerves or anything—it'd just attach messily and be useless—so for now, I'd crawl over, grab it, and...
"Haa..."
No pain, but act like it hurt.
I furrowed my brow, groaned, and with shaking hands swept back my robe to detach the living metal I'd fused there.
Talk about good luck. I'd brought it just in case, and now it was coming in handy.
I pressed the detached living metal against my severed leg and morphed it into a prosthetic.
The metal slithered and clung like slime.
To staunch the bleeding, it tightened around the bottom like a clamp, and when I raised my head, I saw Luna finally rushing over while Kane held off the homunculus.
"Young master, young master! Huwaaaang!"
Luna was bawling her eyes out hardcore.
Ugh, my conscience... my conscience hurts.
But I swear on my life, I didn't do this lightly, so cut me some slack, really... If I don't toughen them up bit by bit like this from now on, who knows what'll happen later—with me footing the bill.
I grabbed Luna's hands, which were groping all over my body as she wailed, and stopped her.
"Luna. I'm fine."
At my words, her pink eyes—swollen red from crying—glared at me fiercely.
"Fine my ass! You're not fine at all! I... I... I'll kill all those bastards later."
Wait, hold up. That doesn't sound like berserk mode kicking in, right? Right?
Feeling a chill, I shook my head, feigning extra pain, and Luna—who'd had her eyes bloodshot with rage—burst into tears again and hugged me.
"First, first, let's get out of here, young master. The door locked earlier, right? I'll hurry up and take that thing out, get the blood to open the door. Just wait a bit. Got it?"
An angry Luna spoke smoothly without stumbling.
I felt a strange sense of déjà vu watching her hand me a corked potion and earnestly plead.
'This sounds just like what my sister says to her kid...'
But for now, I played up the agony and said I got it, and Luna dashed off again with a resolute expression.
I sipped the potion to replenish some of the lost blood and watched as Luna disrupted the homunculus's vision, allowing Kane to finally sever its head.
And the moment my blood-soaked eyes met Kane's.
'No way I can meet that gaze...'
Pretending to hurt even more, I leaned against the wall with eyes gently closed.
The situation being what it was, I probably wouldn't get caught, but if Kane got suspicious even for a second, who knows what'd happen—so better safe.
"We need to head to a temple first! Hang in there just a bit longer, young master."
"Before that, that thing..."
Seeing Luna and Kane rushing to retreat because of me, I hurriedly opened my mouth while feigning agony.
Before I could even subtly hint further, Kane grabbed the homunculus's head for the blood to open the door, and at the same time, Luna scooped me up effortlessly.
Holy crap.
Not Kane, but getting princess-carried by the smaller Luna dealt some mental damage...
"I'm going fast. Please, young master... you'll be okay..."
Luna wailed like a child, ears roaring with wind as she sprinted at breakneck speed.
For the greater cause, I sacrificed my male pride and let myself get crumpled in Luna's arms, smaller than mine.
'But Luna. We still can't leave yet...'
Secret dungeons need clearing.
They took down that ragtag homunculus for the price of my leg—leaving empty-handed?
'Gamer instincts won't stand for it.'
"We're here! Kane, open the door quick."
She'd dashed so fast that we covered the distance it'd taken an hour to traverse even while fighting monsters, arriving at the door in moments.
At that, I subtly smirked without letting Kane or Luna notice.
Now we had everything needed to open the secret dungeon.
This was what they meant by "it's in the bag."
Two or more parties, the homunculus's head. And the time before claiming the normal dungeon's reward.
Seeing my pale face as Luna held me, Kane hurriedly smeared the still-fresh blood from the homunculus's head on the door.
In sync, I groaned like in the game where you'd type it, but now in a low voice, rolling the name of this dungeon's creator off my tongue.
"Aish..."
* * *
"That bunny bitch looked like her eyes were gonna pop out."
"Thanks to her, we bought time to mine the attribute stones."
The knife-user Kal and the gauntlet-wearer Hals—both usually hiding behind masks of kind adventurers—now shed them gleefully, laughing as they used their brought tools to mine the attribute stones embedded at the dungeon's end.
"Yeah, the way she panicked and screamed!"
"Ahh, thrilling."
Watching them, Ruby—no, Piyan—cackled.
The black-haired man. And the golden-haired man.
Faces she'd wanted since first sight. How pretty would they look as decorations after chopping off their heads?
'Well, a bit weird, though.'
She knew her Charm trait didn't work on women by nature, but those two men were off too.
Low-intelligence monsters fell instantly, while humans or Ain fell only to mild fondness like Kal or Hals, letting her manipulate indirectly.
But those two didn't.
The blond who'd subtly met her eyes and smiled without any feedback, and the black-haired one who seemed utterly emotionless.
Piyan felt irked that her trait failed, and figuring they had money or items from their gear, she'd planned to sic the troll on them in a secluded spot—only for their unexpected skill to throw off her plans.
"Well, still, aren't vaguely strong newbie adventurers easier pickings?"
That's what she thought, reeling them in only to get devoured?
They had skill anyway, so she'd trusted them to at least grab that annoying lump monster's ankle.
And sure enough!
By the time she and the men mined the attribute stones and left, that lump monster would've eaten them, gotten full, and come for us.
"How much will these fetch at the Magic Tower today?"
"Time for us to grab a drink and hunt new sacrifices!"
As Piyan laughed, twisting up her red hair that wafted rose scent.
Rumble—
"Huh?"
"What the—! The attribute stones...!"
A sound like the dungeon collapsing shook the floor, sucking the unmined stones back into the walls.
Kal and Hals struck the walls with weapons, sparking wildly, but the worsening vibrations toppled Kal, Hals, Piyan, and Jobi.
"I-Is it c-collapsing?"
Piyan yanked Jobi atop her and shrieked shrilly, but the vibrations halted with a humming pulse, and a figure appeared in the air, illuminating the dim dungeon.
—I am this dungeon's master.
A silhouette floating leisurely with fingers steepled.
Not corporeal—an ethereal body conjured by magic or a recording artifact playing somewhere—hazy in form. Plus, one hand was a full metal prosthetic on the mage's fingers.
At the eerie sight, disheveled Piyan and dirtied Hals gaped.
"Dungeon... master?"
"P-Please, spare us! We'll leave all the mined attribute stones!"
Whether he was truly the master or not, anyone strong enough to shake this massive dungeon deserved groveling.
'A master still lingering in a hidden dungeon?'
You incompetent dungeon admins!
Piyan ground her teeth, recalling the bribe-gobbling bastard who'd taken her money without discount despite her Charm.
If she escaped, she'd claw back every coin.
—You rats daring enter my dungeon is galling, but you've dealt with my unfinished failure, so I'll offer paths to survival.
"What... are they?"
Even through the haze, the visibly smirking lip corner made Piyan's eyes narrow warily.
—First.
The dungeon master extended one metal finger and spoke.
—Become my test subject and endure one year, and I'll let you leave.
"Crazy."
His words pierced Piyan's ears with Hals's tiny curse.
Then another silver finger extended.
—Second. Offer a body part upon my open hand. In return, I'll grant mana stones equal to one-tenth its weight.
Mana stones?
At those three words, Kal, Hals, and Piyan's eyes gleamed.
Even a 1kg mana stone would change their lives.
Their gazes darted urgently between each other.
* * *
—Second. Offer a body part upon my open hand. In return, I'll grant mana stones equal to one-tenth its weight.
Who the hell would go for that?
Still held in Luna's arms, I gestured to be set down, then scoffed.
Even 1kg would be lighter than the mana stone I'd crushed in front of Kane last time.
'Trying to buy me off with cash.'
I forced my bored expression under control.
Before Kane—who'd been glaring murderously at me and Luna—could speak as the words ended, I quickly moved my lips.
"I'll take... one year..."
"Any other offers?"
"Young master! What kind of reckless talk is that? We need to get out now. I'd rather offer my ears and tail...!"
No, what the hell. Startled, I stomped my prosthetic with a clack and reached out to cover Luna's mouth.
You think I woke that guy up for this?
I subtly shifted only my eyes to meet the hologram-like gaze of Aish.
—It may vary by quantity or body part offered.
In the game, normal parties opening this dungeon lost one member or...
'Returned with permanently reduced HP.'
But with even one—the one-armed swordsman NPC Camel—it differed.
Everyone returned intact HP-wise, plus the item I wanted as a bonus.
'And the reason is probably.'
After responding, I slowly detached the living metal from my leg and placed it on Aish's still-smirking hand.
'Because this dungeon's official name is the Dungeon of Defect.'