Chapter 81
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Next Schedule
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The flustered me pretended not to react at first, but Sia—who was hiccuping and sobbing while relentlessly licking, stroking, and shaking my cock—looked so pitiful that I finally pretended to wake up.
"Umm.... Sia?"
"Ca...Cain!! Hweeeeng!!!"
Her enormous breasts, big enough to smother my upper body like a blanket, squished against me as she clung desperately. I gently patted her back.
"Hmm? Why are you crying, Sia?"
"Hic! Sniff!!! Hic...! I...I... Hic!!"
She was crying so pitifully that she couldn't even finish a sentence. For now, I just pulled her into my arms.
"Sia, sometimes when you drink too much, the bad stuff just won't come out easily."
"Really?"
"Look, my dick isn't even getting hard. And see? Your head hurts like hell, and nothing's coming out of your pussy either, right?"
"Huu... Huu.... Huu..."
After hearing me out, she seemed to calm down a little. With teary, trembling eyes, she gazed up at me.
"Then Cain..."
"Hmm? It happens sometimes. Even with someone you love right there, you might not react."
"Really..? Huh??"
"I told you. Come on, let's kiss, Sia."
"Ah! It's dir— Mmph!! Chuu!!!"
She might've thrown up before passing out last night, but after sucking my dick all morning and slathering it in saliva, there wasn't any foul smell on her tongue at all.
"What do you mean, dirty."
"Hii..!"
"Lauren got even drunker than you, and Claude looks like he'll sleep in late too. Wanna roll around in bed?"
"Yeah!!"
Now back to her bubbly self, Sia plastered herself right against my side. I spent the morning leisurely groping her body.
Come lunchtime, she spotted my dick getting hard again and gave me a special hangover-relief blowjob as a treat. I returned the favor by sucking out just enough of her "bad stuff" with my mouth, and then we headed downstairs to the restaurant together.
Claude was already at the table on the first floor, scarfing down food in light clothes. Lauren sat across from him, but the two weren't exchanging a single word.
The moment Sia and I appeared, though, their faces lit up as they turned toward us.
"Oh, you finally awake?"
"Yeah. Good morning, Lauren."
"Claude, hi! Siiiister!!!"
"Eek!! Go...Good morning. Cain, Sia."
Sia bolted straight to Lauren, smothering her head between her massive tits while squealing in delight. Lauren sneakily kneaded those breasts in return, flashing a faintly creepy smile.
"Soup for hangovers—kuh!"
Claude had a few cat hairs stuck to his head, but thankfully, he didn't look like he'd crashed outside again like last time.
"Mmm!! Nom nom nom!!"
"Sia, it's cute how you eat like a little squirrel, but ladies shouldn't chow down like that."
"Why noooot~?"
Lauren—who'd already fallen head over heels for the innocently affectionate Sia—chatted warmly with her over breakfast. Claude, apparently satisfied from last night, wasn't leering at either of them with his usual sleazy gaze.
"After we finish eating, meeting time. Head to me and Claude's room. Got it?"
With that, we wrapped up breakfast and gathered the party members in our room.
"Today's already the 15th. We originally planned to tackle the third layer just the three of us next month, but..."
I trailed off, glancing at Lauren. Her ears drooped slightly.
"We brought Lauren on board with the future in mind."
"Mi...m-sorry, it's because of me..."
Now she was even blaming herself. Sia reached over and gently stroked her back as her expression turned gloomy.
"Huh? Because of sis? Why?"
"Well..."
"Cut it out. Sia, keep petting Lauren."
"Yeah!"
Stroke stroke stroke—
I cut her off before she could spiral into digging her own pity pit again.
"Lauren, do you know why explorers who set foot on the fourth layer are called mid-level explorers?"
"N...no..?"
The guild only gives basic info on the early layers—first through third. Anything deeper? They don't bother.
By the time you're hitting the third layer, you've either heard the rumors or you're dead. One or the other.
"No layer reshuffles happen past the fourth."
"Eh..... Huh? But don't reshuffles happen every month on the first at dawn...?"
"Yeah, up to the third layer."
From the fourth onward, you just can't cross portals during reshuffle periods—but the reshuffles themselves don't happen anymore.
Think of it like instance dungeons up through the third layer. From the fourth, it turns into an open-world server where you can run into other parties or solo explorers. The layers themselves expand into massive, world-sized realms.
The catch? Return portals shift positions in real time.
Get lucky, and you find one in under half a day. Get unlucky, and you're wandering for up to six months before stumbling on one.
The three days before and after reshuffle dates? Those portals go absolutely berserk with their movements. So even the fourth layer isn't a day you can slack off on.
Plus, from the fourth layer on, there's a solid chance of developing madness—a whole different beast from debuffs. Mental weaklings crumble fast.
That's the brutal hellscape of the fourth layer. Anyone who makes it that far earns the 'mid-level explorer' title.
"Monsters get insanely stronger, the environment turns vicious. And..."
"A...and...?"
"The mana stones they drop are way higher grade."
"Eh?"
"Rough estimate? Earnings jump 200-300%. Like, we cruise the second layer for a week, no sweat, pull in 12 silver easy."
"Hu...huh!!"
Monsters up through the second layer drop the lowest-grade mana stones.
Each one cashes out at 10 bronze from the guild.
Third layer has a slim shot at low-grade stones. Fourth layer? Low-grade's the baseline—unless you're cursed with bad luck, then it's lowest-grade trash.
Drop rates: third layer, 95% lowest-grade, 5% low-grade. Fourth layer: 90% low-grade, 10% lowest-grade.
Low-grade stones? 30 bronze apiece.
That's why so many parties get wrecked chasing that flood of low-grades from the fourth layer.
Hawk's a temp-party vet who tops out at third layer, then circles back to first for fillers.
Monster numbers and strength are similar up to second, but the labyrinth loves screwing people over. Even third-layer vets can eat dirt in the first layer if RNG hates them.
Hit level 3, grind 5-10 years moderate? You can scrape by in this city without ever diving again.
Uncle Frank? Word is he pushed past fourth once, but his team got wiped. Switched to shopkeeping instead.
Lauren—who'd gotten a taste of capitalism's spicy kick over the past month—lit up with excitement before hitting me with a curious question.
"Ja...jackpot! Um... Leader, Cain, Sia—why'd you guys come to this city?"
Her acting was stiff, but she stuck to the bit. I played along.
"Claude over there? Got hooked on adventure stories as a kid. Still chasing 'em at his age. Me? His parents begged me to keep the idiot from dying like a stray dog. I owed 'em big from when I was young, so I tagged along. Sia..."
"Sia, don't tell me..?"
"Ahem!"
"Ehk?"
Lauren smirked knowingly at their vague reactions.
"Sia just sees us as family-precious and tagged along."
"Oh, childhood friends?"
"Y...yeah! Both super important!"
Lauren dove headfirst into her delusions—two guys, one girl, childhood friends... gasp!—her ears twitching wildly. Sia let out a relieved sigh, knowing I hadn't spilled anything extra.
Couldn't say yet if it was better I didn't mention her crush on Claude... or whatever's going on between us.
"Anyway, back on track. Lauren, no need to beat yourself up. We ran the numbers before recruiting you. Don't feel guilty."
"N...numbers?"
"Yeah. Lauren, that tutorial correction of yours? Two gold."
"Ugh!"
"Means until you snag extra blessings, you're basically swordless affinity-wise."
"Right..."
"And that two-gold spend? No guarantees it'd even improve your skills."
"Eh! Why!!!"
She straight-up yelled, forgetting her act in the shock.
"Two gold's just the base fee. Results? Vary wildly person to person. No refunds. Straight merchant hustle."
"Ah....."
I had no clue how elf master-apprentice bonds worked, but seeing those tutorial hacks with full merchant mode hit her hard.
"Lauren, you wanna swing a sword and make your dream real? Means getting into the labyrinth somehow, right?"
"Yeah!"
"And us? Once we bust through third layer, we'll wanna recruit more later. Taking you saves on those costs."
"Cost savings..?"
"Your physical stats blow past your average explorer. Lets us run more stable dives using that."
"Ah..."
"For you? Party up with us, levels go up, odds of snagging sword blessings rise. Plus you bank your cut—if all else fails, hit the tutorial later. Win-win. No need to walk on eggshells."
"Cain...."
Lauren had started out thinking just comrades! Woo! Thanks!!! Hearing me lay out the pragmatic reasons—and why she didn't need to shrink—brought the light back to her eyes.
"First up: till month's end, training and drills. Check your stamina, see if swordplay's viable, tweak as needed."
"Training!!!"
Her eyes sparkled like a pup hearing "walkies?" Body bouncing with hype.
"Lauren, teach Claude muscle workouts and conditioning. Sia's stamina's still baby-level weak—cheerleading from the sidelines works fine."
"I'm not a baby!! Hmph!!"
Sia puffed her cheeks and shot me a glare at the tease. Meanwhile, Lauren was already petting her head.
And Claude? Grimacing like he was chopping logs at the word "conditioning."
"Next month? Goal's punching Lauren's clears to second layer. Got it?"
"""Great!!"""