The Hidden Stage (1)

"This is the place."

"Hmm..."

Aquaril led me into the secret passage the black-market merchants had used. It connected to the sewers, and the stench of filth hit like a wall. I wrinkled my nose at the reek, but if we wanted to slip into Indigo without being seen, there was no other way.

Aquaril smashed through the wooden boards blocking the passage with a sharp crack, as if they were nothing. Even with her stats reduced, a few thin planks were hardly going to stop her.

"This way, Master."

"Right."

At least my shoes are still in one piece. Small mercies.

If those had been wrecked too, I honestly would have asked her for another way into the city. The filth underfoot had piled up for so long it clung like chewing gum. Every time I lifted a foot, the muck stretched from my sole in a glistening strand before snapping free with a wet pop.

The black-market merchants had turned the sewers into a smuggling route, so the tunnels were a maze. Walk a few steps and another branching passage would open up, leading god knew where.

"This way."

But Aquaril led me without the slightest hesitation, as if she'd walked these tunnels before. Once again I was struck by what a stroke of genius it had been to take her as my fairy instead of summoning a new one.

If I hadn't claimed Aquaril—if I'd scraped together three hundred gems and summoned something from scratch instead... I would have been completely screwed.

But still...

As I followed her, I kept glancing around. This was definitely my first time in these sewers. And yet something about them felt familiar.

What is this? Why does this feel so familiar? I feel like I'm missing something.

If I was feeling déjà vu, it had to be tied to the memories of my previous life. I had no recollection whatsoever of how this body had spent the last twenty years.

Was there some kind of event in Indigo? Or a linked stage, maybe...

"...Huh?"

"Is something the matter, Master?"

"Ah—no. Nothing."

Raking through the memories of my past life, I finally understood why a sewer I'd never set foot in felt so familiar.

That's right. There was a hidden stage in Chapter 1.

Beneath Indigo, there wasn't a dungeon—but there was a hidden stage. It showed up in Chapter 1 of the game, which was why I hadn't thought of it right away.

To find it, you had to talk to the NPCs that appeared in-game and piece the clues together. That was why so many players never even knew it existed and just walked right past it.

I milked the hell out of the view counts with this one.

I couldn't claim to be the first person to discover the hidden stage, but I was the first to upload a discovery-and-guide video to YouTube. Fairy Masters was a game played by people all over the world, so the views had exploded.

The thing that shows up here is... no, you couldn't really call it a monster. In this place...

That was when I heard it—footsteps, echoing from somewhere in the dark, drawing closer one measured step at a time.

"...Master."

Aquaril, walking ahead of me, stopped dead. Her face went grave as she apologized and drew her sword, ready to start dancing with steel at a moment's notice.

But sound carried strangely in the sewers, and we still couldn't pinpoint exactly where the footsteps were coming from. She scanned every direction with a deadly serious expression.

"My apologies, Master. It seems Hwaryongwang stationed soldiers here without my knowledge."

"No need to apologize, Aquaril. They are soldiers, yeah. Just not Hwaryongwang's."

"Pardon?"

She looked at me, baffled.

"And at this point... it shouldn't be all that dangerous."

"Ah... Master, do you know who those footsteps belong to?"

When I spoke with that kind of certainty, my fairy asked the question as if she couldn't make sense of it. There was no way she'd believe me if I told her about my past life, so I answered with a meaningful smile instead. Then again, a fairy believes everything her master says—so maybe she would?

Either way, I couldn't tell her about my previous life. Fairy or not. Secrets only grow more valuable the fewer people know them.

Until I had the power of at least five stars, I had no intention of sharing my greatest secret with anyone.

My secret was, without a doubt, the most valuable treasure in this world. You needed the strength to protect a treasure before you could afford to show it to anyone else.

"Get ready, Aquaril. The second it shows itself, we kill it."

"Yes, Master."

I pulled a sword from my inventory, and Aquaril resumed her grim watch of our surroundings. The footsteps drew steadily closer, until we could finally tell which direction they were coming from.

As if we'd planned it, Aquaril and I both pressed ourselves behind a pillar. Then the owner of the footsteps stepped into view.

Aquaril's eyes went wide when she saw it. I already knew what kind of enemy appeared here, so I didn't react.

Fuck... seeing it in person is way more disgusting.

I did, however, curse inwardly.

"...Squeak?"

The thing tilted its head—and it made a rat's cry as it did.

It was a grotesque hybrid. A human body topped with a rat's head. The head alone was nearly twice the size of mine or Aquaril's.

Its body was covered in stitch marks. Look closer and you could see the skin tone shifted slightly on either side of each seam. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't wearing so much as a scrap of cloth.

In its hand it held what looked like a two-meter spear carved from bone. Bloodstains and bits of flesh clung to the shaft.

A truly hideous hybrid. No—a monster.

The name was... Chimera Rat, right?

Seeing the creature in the flesh, the name came to me on its own. That thing was called a Chimera Rat.

I jerked my chin at Aquaril, who'd frozen solid. Aquaril!

...Yes, Master!

She snapped back to herself at once, nodded, and lunged at the Chimera Rat.

The moment Aquaril revealed herself, the Chimera Rat let out a thunderous shriek and swung its bone spear. Her sword met the creature's weapon with a ringing clang.

"Kh!"

Fairy and monster locked blades and strained against each other—and the monster had the upper hand. Aquaril's Strength stat had dropped significantly since becoming my fairy, and she was forced backward by the Chimera Rat's raw power.

Now!

I'd been hiding behind the pillar until that moment. I slipped up behind the exposed Chimera Rat.

The creature's nose twitched as it caught my scent, and it hurriedly tried to spin around to stop me.

"Squeak?!"

"Not a chance!"

But Aquaril was in front of it, and she slashed at the creature to buy me the opening.

The weak point is the surgical scars!

Remembering the monster's weakness, I swung my sword at the stitch marks running between the rat head and the neck.

The blade sheared cleanly through. The rat head went tumbling through the air, and the Chimera Rat—headless in an instant—crumpled to the filthy stone.

The windows that bloomed in front of my eyes confirmed the monster was dead. And I'd leveled up from killing just one of them.

Khh...! That's the stuff.

I checked the status window, confirmed that my Potential had gone up by two points, and smiled. One of the five effects of my Unique-grade class was an extra point of Potential every time I leveled up.

...Wait.

I was still smiling at the status window when something settled over me, and a low sound caught in my throat.

Had I just thought that was satisfying?

In my previous life I'd been an ordinary Korean. A regular guy who'd never killed anything bigger than a bug.

And now? Monster or not, I could kill without a shred of hesitation. I felt not the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slightest guilt—if anything, the sensation of cutting the thing down had been thrilling. My sex drive had spiked so hard I wanted to strip Aquaril naked and fuck her senseless right then and there.

The way I am now...

I hadn't tried it yet, but I had a feeling that in my current state, killing a person would feel the same. No—worse. Part of me actually wanted to try killing a person.

Could I call this normal? Had the memory of dying broken something in me? Or was this the nature I'd always had?

What the hell am I...?

"Master? Are you all right?"

"...Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for holding it off."

"Not at all. The creature was stronger than I expected, but that was all. It wasn't difficult."

"Good to hear. Anyway, there are going to be more of these things in the sewers. So let's move carefully. Our goal right now is getting into Indigo—we'll come back here after we've regrouped. Got it?"

"Yes, Master."

I started walking again, Aquaril at my side.

Right. The fact ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I reincarnated into this world with my previous life's memories was already something I couldn't explain. If I can't understand it... I should just accept it.

If you can't understand it, you just accept it.

Unfortunately, the me of my previous life was a Korean raised on rote memorization.

We made it into Indigo without further incident and went straight to the nearest inn to take a room.

After tramping through the sewers, we reeked. The innkeeper didn't want to give us a room at all, but in this world there was nothing money couldn't fix.

Tch... 800,000 gold left.

Renting a single room for two days cost a staggering 300,000 gold, but it couldn't be helped. Whether you had a place to rest comfortably—however shabby—or not made a world of difference.

I miss Prisia's place.

The week I'd spent there had been pure honey. Meals appearing when it was time to eat. A soft bed and even softer blankets. It put a five-star hotel to shame.

"Haa... Thank you, Lord."

Aquaril said it as she came out of the bath ahead of me. Her skin was impossibly soft and smooth, as if it had drunk the water right in.

True to her nature as a fairy, she'd offered me the bath first. I'd turned her down and sent her in ahead.

I'd lost a lot of blood myself, but she'd lost far more. On top of that, after I'd come inside her at Greed's Uroboros Nest, her pussy was still filthy with dried semen.

So I'd made her wash first... and I was starting to think that had been a mistake.

"Ngh...!"

"Lord?"

"Ah, it's nothing."

Through the tears in her top, Aquaril's pale, milky skin showed. Look closer and you could even make out the teardrop swell of her round breasts. It was only natural that the sight, so perfectly crafted to stoke lust, made my cock swell.

I grabbed the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bulge straining against my clothes and all but fled into the bathroom.

Fuck, that hurts like hell!

The problem was that it hadn't even been a full day since I'd come three times in a row. Whether it was my low Vitality and Durability stats or not, getting hard in that condition sent a serious spike of pain through my cock.

"Haa... Just wash up first."

Thinking about how badly I wanted to get stronger, I scrubbed the bloodstains from my body.

After a night at the inn, I emptied every last coin I had into Aquaril's hands and sent her out to buy clothes, underwear, healing potions, and armor if she could manage it.

It would have been better for me to go—I was less recognizable than she was—but unfortunately I didn't know the city well enough.

"This is everything?"

"Yes... I'm sorry, Master."

"Don't. You've got nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who didn't have enough money."

Even so, Aquaril kept her head bowed as if she couldn't face me. 800,000 gold wasn't enough to cover everything we needed. Clothes and underwear we could get cheap. Armor, on the other hand, was brutally expensive.

A single 1-star leather chest piece had cost a full 500,000 gold. At least we both already had weapons. If we'd needed those too, we really would have been in trouble.

"I'll wear this. That okay?"

"Yes, that's fine, Master."

I took the leather armor for myself. I was going to have to play tank.

Aquaril's highest stat was Agility, maxed out at 20 points—the cap for a 1-star. Her Durability, by contrast, was a measly 7.

I couldn't put someone with less than 10 Durability on the front line, so the tank role fell to me by default.

On top of that, one of the effects of my skill—Temptation (Lv. 1)—was a pseudo-taunt that redirected every attack aimed at an ally onto me instead.

From now on, every Growth Stone that drops is going straight to her.

I already had a broken trait that gave me +8 to all stats, so I didn't need to raise my own numbers anytime soon. The faster Aquaril could do her job properly, the better—so I intended to funnel every last Growth Stone her way.