First Impressions (2)
The final encounter on the first floor of the dungeon was a group of six goblins, including a shaman. In game terms, it was the tutorial section that taught you about buffs, debuffs, and status effects. But in reality, there was no reason to deliberately eat those status effects. The moment the shaman started acting suspicious, I smashed it first and foremost. After that, cleaning up the remaining five goblins was a breeze.
“The monsters that show up at the end are stronger than the ones we fought before. They look identical on the surface, but there must be something different about them, right?”
“Aren’t they just elite versions or something? We can’t tell the difference because they’re a different species. Bet they can’t tell us apart either.”
“No, even so, you’d think they could at least tell male from female.”
“Ah. Yeah, that makes sense. Did you see how all five of those goblins charged straight at me? Made tanking way easier, honestly.”
Theo is a mage, and I’m a fighter who uses my hands and feet as weapons. Naturally, I have to stand on the front line and keep enemies from reaching the backline. But thanks to all five goblins rolling their eyes back and rushing only at me, the tanking felt almost effortless.
“I was sweating bullets watching you, you know. Hey.”
“Why? Because I’m a girl?”
“As if. Who the hell looks down on a beastman just because she’s female? I meant your dodging.”
“This?”
I shifted my upper body side to side in quick, fluid motions. Simple weaving and sway back. This body apparently had an insane talent for movement; even techniques I’d only seen in videos and never practiced myself came out naturally. Of course, compared to the real pros from those old clips, it was still sloppy as hell, but against goblins it worked like a charm.
“Yeah. That… um…”
“…?”
Theo’s reaction was a little weird. He was staring hard at the way I moved. Did he want to learn it too?
“What? You wanna learn? I can teach you if you want.”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing. I was just surprised that you could dodge everything by moving only your upper body. That’s all.”
Really? The motions might differ slightly, but anyone with decent physical training should be able to pull off minimal movement to evade attacks. Maybe it just looked amazing to a mage. I decided not to overthink it and moved on.
The stairs leading to the second floor had appeared, but we called it a day there and returned to the hideout.
“Welcome back.”
“We’re back, Goddess.”
“We’re back.”
“I’m relieved to see you both safe. How was the dungeon?”
“The monsters inside were stronger and tougher than the ones outside. I realized we need to prepare thoroughly before stepping foot in there again.”
“It was fun!”
“……?”
Theo’s gaze snapped toward me. What? What’d I do?
“That’s your entire impression after clearing a dungeon?”
“What more do you want?”
“…No, that’s enough. Yeah. I’ll just prepare even harder.”
I had no idea what he was imagining, but it clearly wasn’t anything impressive. Annoyed, I kicked him. This time I really took it easy—just a light tap, almost a pat.
The goddess watched our playful bickering and let out a small laugh.
“Hehe. I’m glad you enjoyed yourselves. Just say the word and I’ll send you to the dungeon whenever you like.”
“Got it. I’ll ask once we’re properly ready.”
I wondered how long “later” would actually be. With my Korean mindset, the sooner the better. Of course, now that this was reality, I couldn’t pull the same all-day dungeon grinding sessions I used to do in the game.
- Rustle.
“Hm?”
My rabbit ears caught a faint sound outside the building. Finally. Took her long enough.
“What’s wrong, Luna?”
“Looks like we have a visitor.”
“Here? This place was missed even after the guards tore the academy apart looking for it.”
“Yeah, exactly. But the fact that someone’s here is real enough.”
Creak. I opened the door while speaking.
“Ah…”
My eyes met those of the woman hesitating right outside. She looked like she’d been debating whether to knock or not—her hand was awkwardly stretched toward the doorknob in mid-motion.
“Hey there.”
“Ah, h-hello…?”
“Come on in, come on.”
“Huh? Um, wait—kyaa…!”
I gently pulled the awkwardly greeting girl inside the building.
…….
The first condition to release the Goddess’s seal is for two or more Soul Fragment holders to make contact with her. Now that this world had become reality, Theo and I had become those two. Which meant that in the original game, someone other than me had unlocked the seal alongside the protagonist.
And that person was none other than the first heroine and saint candidate, Claire.
The girl who should have unlocked the Goddess’s seal with Theo and joined the party as an equal partner was currently…
“Please order me to do anything at all, Sir Theo, Lady Luna!”
…kneeling on one knee on the floor.
“…What the hell is this?”
The timid impression she’d given off at first glance was gone. The rigid, military-perfect posture left Theo visibly flustered. Honestly, even I was a little shocked.
The first heroine’s class is decided based on the protagonist’s. If the protagonist is a close-range damage dealer, she becomes a pure healer or supporter. If he’s a tank, she becomes a ranged attacker. Since Theo was a mage this time, Claire had to be a tank. And when it came to priest-class tanks, there was only one option: holy knight. So I had expected her to carry a bit of that military scent. After all, holy knights are basically soldiers. I had thought that much, but I never expected her to drop straight to her knees the moment she recognized us as superiors.
“Let’s sort this out first,” Theo said, pressing his fingers to his temples like his head was starting to hurt. “Claire, you’re a saint candidate, and you want to clear dungeons with us?”
“Correct! I can go anywhere if it is for the Goddess!”
“Yeah, I get that part. You’re a priest, after all. Makes even more sense for a saint candidate. But what’s this about ordering you to do anything?”
“Because the two of you are my seniors. You began serving the Goddess before I did, so of course you are my predecessors.”
For the record, Claire had already received the Goddess’s embrace and obtained her ability. That ability was Service. The more she devoted herself to others, the higher her stats rose. It was the perfect ability for a saint candidate like Claire. Of course, considering this world had originally been an adult game, the word “service” hadn’t been used in its pure sense very often.
Theo, still confused, asked again. “But aren’t you a saint candidate? Haven’t you been serving the Goddess since you were a child?”
Claire shook her head. “That is not correct. It is true that I have lived in the temple since I was young. However, what meaning could temple life hold if the Goddess did not exist? I simply lived there according to its rules. The one who first truly served the Goddess was you, Sir Theo.”
“But…”
“Wait, wait, wait.” I cut in as the conversation started getting unnecessarily complicated. “Why are you overthinking this? We’re going to clear dungeons. Claire wants to clear dungeons too. Isn’t that enough? What do you say, Claire?”
“I am perfectly fine with it!”
“See? She says she’s fine with it. Besides.” I walked over and draped an arm around Claire’s shoulders. Despite her crisp military tone, her slender frame felt surprisingly delicate. “When a pretty girl like this says she’ll do anything, you’re seriously going to turn her down? Are you impotent or something?”
Yes. That was the important part. The church? Saint candidate? Those were all just setting details. No—now that this was reality, they probably carried real weight, but the core facts remained: Claire would do anything for the Goddess, and the Goddess poured her full trust and support into the protagonist, Theo.
“Claire. If I told you to strip right here, would you do it?”
“If it is for the Goddess.”
Claire nodded without the slightest hesitation. But the next moment her face flushed and her words stumbled. “B-but I have already offered my body and heart to the Goddess, so… um…”
“She says so. Too bad, Theo.”
“No, no! If someone overheard they’d think I was the one who told her to strip! I haven’t said anything yet!”
“But you were secretly hoping for it, weren’t you?”
“…….”
Theo avoided answering. At least he didn’t lie. That part I liked.
“Anyway, even if it doesn’t go that far. She’s the perfect practice partner for your ability, isn’t she?”
“My ability?”
“Yeah. It’s way better than experimenting with sunglasses on. Having someone who can actually receive it and give you real feedback is much more effective.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Sir Theo, I am perfectly fine with it! Please use me as your practice partner!”
“Claire. Do you even know what my ability is?”
“I do not! But if it is for the Goddess, I am prepared to do anything!”
Claire’s reaction was exactly like it had been in the game. Back then the power dynamic hadn’t been superior-subordinate, so her tone had been a little softer. The reason I’d called the encounter with her the “ero system tutorial” was precisely because of reactions like this. As long as it was “for the Goddess,” she really would do anything.
Of course, normal Claire wasn’t this blindly devoted. She followed doctrine, performed service, and strove to do good deeds, but she would firmly refuse unreasonable demands like telling her to strip. In other words, it was like a normally devout believer had come face-to-face with her god and gone slightly insane.
“Claire says she’s okay with it. Just try it once. As long as you don’t give any weird orders, it’ll be fine, right?”
“…Well, that’s true.”
Theo had been running all sorts of experiments to properly use his ability, so a willing test subject was probably hard to come by.
“Then I’ll use it right now.”
“Huh? Hey. Wait a sec…”