Hunting the Cockroach
'This cockroach bastard... So guys who delusionally think they're the protagonist really have to be killed off to avoid any loose ends, huh?'
After the Daphne incident, he'd even ditched the party, and I'd seen him scraping by at the Adventurer's Guild with nothing but shit-tier party members—no one worth a damn. I'd just ignored him, not bothering to waste brain cells on it. But the fucker was still clinging to life, somehow enjoying his own happy isekai life. It pissed me off; my brow furrowed in annoyance.
'Well... honestly, no matter how fucked his party is, blowing a chance like that—one most people couldn't even touch—isn't easy...'
I got it a hundred times over. A guy lost in his fake memories, convinced he's the protagonist, suddenly exposed to something like virtual reality straight out of sci-fi in his worldview thanks to some unknown dark route. Of course he couldn't just let it go. But 'you little bug... you think you can eat my pussy?' Understanding his mindset and letting him splash shit all over my happy fantasy world were two entirely different things.
If he'd kept playing the clown like before, staying in my memories as comic relief, fine. But this was an event castle dungeon, wasn't it?
'Events mean new characters, new characters mean events... And this motherfucker dares sniff around my future fuckhouse?'
A shit-tier villain like Zeke? Even if he was a total scam character, I could share out of magnanimity and morals. But for my cuties—the geniuses who pissed off my dick? No need for words; he'd pay the proper price. I curled one corner of my mouth and started toward where I sensed the roach's presence.
"Huh? You know where to go?"
"Yeah, I can sense Leon's presence that way. Figured since someone's already beaten us there, we should check it out first."
"Eek..."
"What? Didn't know? I figured Tier would've sniffed it out."
"The metal stench here's too strong... My nose is numb."
She'd been wrinkling her face and rubbing her nostrils since earlier. The vibrating metallic reek from every direction had paralyzed her sense of smell. Aside from me, she was the assassin/scout, so her getting a ability debuff sharpened my senses even more, spreading them out finer than I'd been bothering with.
'Guess I'll have to put in some effort here.'
Not a tower, so no overwhelming power-ups per fight, but as an event castle dungeon, it'd give experience like the tower. My still-clumsy pup looked pitiful in my eyes.
"Hehe."
I habitually stroked her head, and she grinned like that, oblivious to how she was pure genius at cock-teasing.
"Anyway, priority one: catch up to Leon."
"Yes."
With Daphne's soft, alluring reply, Tier's nod (nose pinched), and Plang wildly scanning around, I started tailing the four-man party including Leon.
Thanks to Leon's party clearing the path ahead, fresh monster corpses I'd never seen littered the floor. Normal monsters were greenskins like goblins or orcs, but these roadside bodies were totally different.
"Whoa... kinda like goblins but ugly as hell."
"Yeah... but more surprising than the ugliness is their weapons and armor, right?"
Daphne and Tier poked the corpses with their wands and swords, chatting.
"Feels... kinda dwarven? Nah, not really... Why though?"
Plang muttered beside me, pulling in a totally unrelated race. My eyes widened.
'Dragon traits making her sharp? Smarter than I thought.'
These were gremlins, famous for mechanical contraptions. Like Plang said, in the "smashing stuff to make shit" department, they kinda overlapped with dwarves—the artisan race. Her head-tilt was amusing.
"Gremlins don't make dwarf-level stuff, but they've got some skill at cobbling things together."
"Ah... makes sense... hehe. They look easy to boss around."
"..."
"Catch a few, and it'd be super convenient. Right?!"
"Y-yeah."
Seemed Plang's gremlin vibe was the "bully the weak" instinct dragons pick up. 'Like a bully's radar for losers?'
Discovering this new side to Plang unintentionally, how much farther did we go? A growing presence finally brought the long-awaited cockroach into view.
Same as my senses: four figures.
'Lemme see, that loser-back head's gotta be Leon... Kid's got decent skills, so he's still dragging the shit-gay warrior around?'
Leon looked annoyingly content next to the ass-muncher warrior I'd seen before. Scary as fuck, but his ass was at risk, not mine. I clenched my cheeks unconsciously, brushed off the goosebumps, and focused mana in my eyes to ID the last two.
Even from afar, curves and hair screamed pussy, and the distinctive look.
'Nah... no way. World full of cunts...'
One female party member was clearly trash-tier from a glance. My nerves spiked at the cat beastkin silhouette.
Intense focus sharpened the woman's image in my eyes. Unforgettable pink fur, timidly swishing tail. Petite but busty for her size, scholarly glasses framing her face. No outdoor vibe.
Unlike before, glasses or not—this familiar face made my blood boil.
'This fucking cunt Merdi...!'
She was the pink bitch from the adventurer city I'd been grooming as a sugar baby. I'd dumped cash for cheap hair growth potions, snowballing into this. Laughable.
"Hah... Figured she wasn't ordinary-looking for a reason..."
Unique and cute, but guild fly-chaser? Thought she was just a pretty local. Nope—event new character.
Pretty ones? Better ram dick in quick from now on.
'This is why no slacking... Kids don't drop from the sky... Ugh, no wonder the roach looked so smug.'
Gay-shit and trash-cunt aside, Leon's vibe matched joining our party first time. Classic slutty pinky appears; she ditches alchemy guild for event dungeon, so her real talent's probably magic engineering from dungeon travels, not potions.
Even a dense fuck could spot the event and her role.
'Almost let this cunt slip.'
Leon yapped at her nonstop, flashing gross smiles like ditching the others for duo party. Made me wanna puke.
"Urk...!"
"Ah! It's Crybaby!"
"Huh...?"
"He's the crybaby, right? That time in front of the guild! Tears and snot everywhere, total mess!"
Not approaching yet—far off—but Plang spotted Leon too, grinning. Recalling dragon eyes as top-tier, I nodded. Her blunt, clueless sass felt like it'd cause big trouble; my lip curled.