Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Pathetic Stamina That's Beyond Belief. Master Did Six Hours Straight Without Rest.
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The warehouse the captain guided us to was packed full of treasure chests.
But I had zero interest in a normal warehouse like this.
A passage hidden behind the treasure chests.
That's where the real prize was.
"Hey! There's a door here, isn't there? Hand over the key!"
Clatter...
The collar made the skeleton submit in an instant.
The guy was terrified of the great demon inside, but he still handed over the key.
The skeleton's job ended here.
Now it was time to borrow the power of the flashlight Constellation.
"Hey, Sparkles."
"......"
"Sparkles!! Can't you hear me?!!!"
"A-Are you talking to me?"
"Is there anyone else here that's shiny?! Huh?!!"
The Lightbringer, Luminous.
He's a Constellation in the form of a floating flashlight.
He looks like total garbage, but even without transforming into a female form, his power is pretty strong.
Especially against darkness-attribute foes—he's pure poison to them.
"You can feel it too, right? There's a great demon in here!"
"Yeah... I sense it."
"I brought you along to take this bastard down, so do it right! Drop your stigma now!"
"Of course I'll do my best, but as you know, I can only act according to the contract. Normally, I can't grant a stigma to a hero who's not bound to me."
The Constellation contract item states it can only lend 100 mana worth of power.
That was more than enough.
This contract item practically existed just to take down the great demon Melquises.
"One shot. Put everything you've got into a single stigma. After that, go back to your original master or whatever—I don't care."
"Hmm... Got it."
A glow enveloped the flashlight.
At that moment, Luminous's light flickered.
"Ah...! Wait a sec. My batteries are about to die...!"
"Hah? Are you an idiot? A Constellation relying on freaking batteries?!!"
This pointless event played out exactly the same in reality...
It was identical in the game too.
After beating the spankers with great effort, dragging Luminous all the way here, the damn flashlight's line was always, "My batteries are gonna die!"
If you hadn't stocked up on batteries beforehand, game over right there.
Meticulous players always carried random junk in their inventory, so it wasn't an issue.
But who the hell carries batteries in real life...?
'Me, that's who!!!!!!'
Luckily, as a game veteran, I'd prepared.
I'd brought spare batteries.
I popped open its battery cover.
"Ah... Don't pry it open so rough...?"
Luminous shuddered with what sounded like a lewd moan.
For a flashlight, that sensitive reaction was just pathetic.
"Quit screwing around and spit out the batteries! I'll put new ones in!!"
"Urgh...?! At least handle me gently...!!"
"......"
Suddenly, I got curious about its female form.
A Constellation's attributes usually stay the same regardless of form.
So it could probably swap batteries in female form too.
Wonder where it puts them, though?
They go fully inserted, and it takes two batteries, so probably...
'That hole' and 'that hole,' huh...?
Couldn't hold back my curiosity, so I rubbed the battery slot with my finger.
"Ahhhnn...!! W-What are you touching, you pervert?!!!"
Hmm.
Definitely 'that hole' and 'that hole'...
"Hah? I'm putting in batteries!! You think I wanna do this crap?!!! It's your fault for having batteries jammed in such a filthy spot!!!!"
"D-Dirty?! It's not dirty!!!"
I shoved the new batteries in quick and slammed the cover shut.
Luminous let out a "Kyooooot—" moan, then the light came back on.
"Hey. Snap out of it. We're going in."
"Y-Yeah..."
Click—
I kicked open the door and stepped inside.
It wasn't a big space.
Just a massive treasure chest in the center.
But the aura prickling my skin was sharp as a blade.
"Grrr... Woof!!"
"Bendy-Bendy~ Be carefulll... I sense an enormous evil aurraaaaa..."
Pomi and Bendy, who'd been quiet until now, issued warnings.
Meaning the thing lurking in the room was that powerful.
"My name is the Supervising Great Demon, Melquises... What is yours?"
"Hah? Kim Taeyang."
"Kim Taeyang. A demonic name... I have a proposal. Sever your bonds with your Constellations and become my bound hero."
Melquises.
This guy was a Constellation too.
Not all Constellations are goody-two-shoes.
Ones with titles like great demon tempt heroes into evil paths,
or bind to monsters and cause terror.
Having stolen some Constellations with Kim Taeyang's skills,
I figured I could tame evil ones too.
But not this one.
He's strong, but early-game limited with low potential.
7-star rank says it all—no need to bother.
Plus,
he has no bound hero right now, so I can't use NTR Solution.
That skill only triggers on ones that already have an owner.
"Hah? I already have two smoking-hot Constellations!"
"Woof!"
"Bendy-Bendy~♡"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Glacis's favorability increases.] ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Rasha-ra's favorability increases.] Turning down the evil Constellation made both of theirs go up.
If I'd taken Melquises, theirs would've tanked.
Compatibility between Constellations matters too.
This game is needlessly complicated.
"Foolish mortal... Then death it is...!"
Whooooosh—!!
Black smoke swirled, manifesting Melquises's form.
It was an 'eye' blacker than anything in this world.
A massive eye formed, its pitch-black pupil staring right through me...!
The Supervising Great Demon Melquises.
True to his name, he's a giant eyeball Constellation!
And the Lightbringer Luminous is a flashlight Constellation...!
"Hey. Ready?"
"Yeah."
"Here we go."
Click—
The reason Luminous counters Melquises is exactly—
"Eye drops!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
—this matchup!
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!!!!!!!!!
I flipped the switch, and a massive beam shot from the flashlight.
A wave of light instantly engulfed Melquises's eye.
"Gaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!! My eye!!!!!!!!!!"
Melquises scattered pathetically amid the intense eye drops.
The man who defeats a great demon with eye drops.
That man is Kim Taeyang...
I immediately opened the treasure chest and pulled out the broken holy sword.
⚔ ITEM ACQUIRED ⚔ [Planchel's Broken Holy Sword]
• - The sword used by the ghost knight Planchel in life.
• - When Planchel's stigma is infused, the sword and Planchel become one.
• - The holy sword, now an ego sword, shares senses with its user as one body.
Finally got it...
Planchel's holy sword.
The reason it's so broken is right there: it becomes 'one body' with the user.
With just her stigma, I can wield her insane swordsmanship immediately.
An essential item in the game...!
"Woo-hoo~ Super cheaty item get!"
Business here was done.
Just find Seol Harin and Kang Ju-hyuk, then we're out.
Then the floating Luminous beside me spoke up.
"Um, hey..."
"Hah? Didn't you leave?"
"The batteries I had in... Can I have them back...?"
He sounded mortified.
No idea why he was acting like this.
He didn't in the game.
"Why would I give back dead trash batteries?"
"Because they're Michaela's batteries... They might look like normal ones, but we've been using that rechargeable since Michaela and I first met..."
Bonding over batteries?
If it's a cherished memento, no helping it...
I'll smash it to bits and farm some NTR coins!!!!!
"Rechargeable? Who uses that crap anymore?!! No wonder your battery's premature!"
"I-It might be old, but it's still good..."
"Sparkles!! Keep 'em in!!! Go back to your master with the batteries I stuffed in you!!! Let my scent waft all over you!!!! Kekeke."
"You're a real scumbag..."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Luminous's favorability decreases.] Luminous left those words and zoomed off.
Favorability dropped a bit due to the coins...
But I'll steal you later anyway, so whatever?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile.
Seol Harin and Kang Ju-hyuk were fleeing from a monster.
Kwajijik—!
A force that casually smashed the ship's hull.
Chasing them was a massive octopus monster, the Kraken.
"Run!!"
Seol Harin shouted.
They'd been chased by the Kraken for 30 minutes already.
"Hah... Hah...!"
Kang Ju-hyuk breathed heavily.
He was holding on through sheer willpower, but his legs were giving out.
His panicked Constellations yelled.
"I told you to run! Why'd you show off and make it this bad?!!"
"Hero. A foolish choice. When the future was so clear..."
"Cut that woman's ankle and run now. It's your only shot at survival."
"Hah... Hah... You're... no help... at all...!"
The Constellations had demanded he flee the moment they saw the Kraken.
But Kang Ju-hyuk confronted it.
To show something to Seol Harin.
"I just can't understand it! If you hadn't jammed your sword into the tentacle sucker, none of this would've happened! Got it?!!"
Planchel was right.
Kang Ju-hyuk swung first and thought later.
With three Constellations, he figured they'd drop stigmas in a pinch.
They did.
But it wasn't enough to beat the Kraken.
'These damn Constellations... 9-stars hyping it up, but they're all trash...!!'
It hadn't been long since the Constellations chose Kang Ju-hyuk.
So he'd been overly cocky.
A hero chosen by 9-star Constellations!
Three at once!!
But hero and Constellation growth is painfully slow.
Even 9-stars can't output much without high bond levels.
"Ugh...?!"
Then his foot caught on a raised floorboard.
Kang Ju-hyuk face-planted with a thud!
"Ugh! H-Harin...!"
"!"
Seol Harin, who'd been ahead, turned back.
She hauled him up roughly and kept running.
Unlike Kang Ju-hyuk, her breathing was steady.
"Don't tell me you're tired already?"
"Hah... A-A little..."
"Already from this? You don't work out normally?"
"Hah, hah... I train swordsmanship... but stamina training, separately... no... Hah... We always did it like that...?"
"What era are you living in? Pathetic stamina beyond belief... You really don't even use a treadmill? Master did six hours straight without rest."
"Ugh..."
"Run faster. Your weak stamina's putting me in danger too."
"S-Sorry!"
Seol Harin's soft face.
Breathing stable enough to talk fine.
She was practically jogging...!
'Harin has this much stamina...?'
Her lower body caught his eye.
Legs a bit thicker than before.
Hamstrings visibly splitting into three when she pushed off.
'No wonder she looks so healthy... Way more than when training with me...'
A heavy sense of defeat settled in.
Even her figure seemed molded to Kim Taeyang's tastes.
'That bastard... Turned my Harin into...!'
Lost in thought, he slipped up.
Shururuk!!
A tentacle grabbed him.
"Gaaaaah...!"
"Kang Ju-hyuk...?"
Seol Harin gritted her teeth, drew her sword, and charged.
She wanted to ditch him, but...
They'd spent time together; she had to at least pretend to save him.
Sgak—!
Even without Pomi, Seol Harin's sword was sharp.
It severed the thick tentacle in one stroke, freeing Kang Ju-hyuk.
"I can't carry you. If you can't run anymore... I'll leave you."
"Hah, hah... H-Harin!!"
"?"
Terror filled Kang Ju-hyuk's eyes.
She turned—the Kraken's massive head had climbed onto the deck.
Chwaaaaa—!!!
Green liquid spewed from its mouth.
Seol Harin got drenched head to toe.
"Y-You okay?"
"Ugh... Just stings a bit. Hurry...?"
Kwajijijijik!!
'Tentacles from everywhere...?'
They attacked from every direction.
Maybe the Kraken hadn't chased them.
It'd lured them to a perfect hunting ground.
Sgak...!
Seol Harin slashed incoming tentacles.
One per swing.
But they regrew instantly.
She couldn't catch her breath amid dozens of swings.
And that wasn't all.
'My clothes are melting...?!'
Her uniform was dissolving.
From the green liquid—soon her cow bikini would show.
"Gaaaaah!"
Kang Ju-hyuk got grabbed again mid-chaos.
Weak stamina was the issue.
Seol Harin needed to flee alone, but...
'This guy's got no openings...'
Too many tentacles to fight.
"Hoo. Hah..."
Even Seol Harin's breath grew ragged.
She lacked experience against monsters like this.
Couldn't last much longer.
Only then did it hit her—
'Am I... dying here...?'
Death felt real.
Emotions dominate the body.
Seol Harin's movements slowed drastically.
Top-tier swordswoman moments ago,
now just prey in terror's grip.
"Eut...!"
She lacked the courage to slash the incoming tentacle.
Her body froze solid.
'This is real danger...!'
Sensing death, she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Urut─────────!"
'That shout' echoed.
Paaaaang!!!!
An ear-splitting explosion.
She couldn't tell what happened.
When her eyes opened,
the world's most reliable back was all she saw...
"Pomi! Bendy! Female forms!!"
"Woof!!"
"Bendy-Bendy~"
At Kim Taeyang's command, the two Constellations transformed.
The 9-stars' unleashed power overwhelmed the Kraken effortlessly.
Pomi slowed tentacles with a blizzard,
Bendy's hair split into dozens of whips, coiling around them.
The tightened whips sliced tentacles flying everywhere,
and Pomi shredded the regenerating bits with ice claws.
A breathtaking, intense, badass fight.
But to Seol Harin, it was just a blurry backdrop.
The real cool part was right in front of her.
"Hey. Put this on."
Flutter—
Kim Taeyang shrugged off his Hawaiian shirt and draped it over her.
Even the short-sleeved shirt was huge on her, like traditional Japanese garb.
"This is...?"
"Your clothes melted off, dummy? If I hadn't shown up, your undies would've dissolved too? I won't forgive you stripping in front of any guy but me! Got it?!!"
"......!"
Her uniform had fully melted.
The cow bikini was intact.
Kim Taeyang hadn't made her wear it to tease.
'Dungeons melt clothes all the time... He got me a non-melting bikini thinking of me...!'
This man...
Hidden behind his rough looks and speech...
How vast and deep was his heart...?
Her thoughts reached that point, and held-back tears nearly burst.
Seol Harin bit her lip to hold them.
Crying in battle would be a nuisance.
"Hey, sow."
"...Yes."
"You can cry around me. One little cry won't bother this body."
"!"
All the pent-up grievances...
The ones endured as a public celebrity...
The ones forcibly swallowed with nowhere to lean, just to stay upright...
His one line broke the dam.
"You... You're really......"
A man she could fully rely on.
A man from her dreams.
The world's only man.
"Don't just make me feel touched like that on your own... I'll have to depend on you..."
Kim Taeyang had become that man for Seol Harin.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Subduing the Kraken was easy.
With two 9-stars, I barely had to lift a finger.
The problem was finishing it off.
Its insane regen kept bringing it back—annoying.
And Kang Ju-hyuk was still caught...
If he were some extra villain, I'd ditch him without a thought.
But he's this world's protagonist—no can do.
Point is, the power balance was razor-thin.
And the weapon to break it? Right in my hand.
Planchel's broken holy sword.
I walked over to the captured Kang Ju-hyuk with it.
"Bendy. Cover me."
"Bendy-Bendy~ I'll protect Taeyang-nim's jade bodyyy...!"
Tentacles came flying, of course, but Bendy-i's hair whips handled them easy.
"Hey. Ghost."
"You calling me?"
Planchel's ghost Constellation popped out of Kang Ju-hyuk's chest.
Without female form, she looked like a cute ghost character.
"Know what this is?"
"...T-That! My holy sword!! Why do you have it?!!"
"'Cause I found it here, obviously."
"Found it here?"
"Yeah. This body opened the treasure chest personally."
"Hand it to Kang Ju-hyuk now! I can clean this up!!"
That shameless bitch.
Trying to sneak the holy sword back in the chaos?
Not on my watch.
"Hah? You nuts?"
"......?"
"Who are you to tell me to hand over my sword?!! Huh?!!"
"It's the sword I used originally!! Whatever—give it to Kang Ju-hyuk so we can kill this octopus! You can't do it alone anyway!!"
"Haaaa?!! Don't you know who's top dog here?!! Just ditch that wimp and be done!!!"
"Wha...?"
"So get over here, you!!!"
With Planchel's stigma, this sword becomes a complete ego sword.
My body and her soul merge, reaching Sword-Soul Unity.
The issue...
"To use the holy sword right, I need to drop the stigma! You're not my hero, so I can't, you dumbass ghost!!"
Stigmas only go to bound heroes.
Of course, simple fix.
"You bastard!!! Who're you calling dumbass, you virgin ghost bitch!!!! Did you leave your brain behind when you died?!!! Just become my bound Constellation and it's solved?!!!!"
"W-What...?"
Ditch Kang Ju-hyuk and come to me?
Then we slice the octopus, complete the sword, and save the guy.
At least three birds with one stone...!