Chapter 44
Chapter 44
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Sub-Event
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After the Iron Golem was defeated, a commotion broke out over who should get to keep its corpse.
But by then, I had already stuffed it all into my inventory, and it was gone. When I told them to come at me if they had a problem, no one dared. They just shot me wary glances before slinking away.
After that, we went to the Count, who seemed busy with the cleanup, to inform him that our missing person request was complete.
Since we solved it in a day as promised, we were able to receive triple the reward.
For the record, Yui herself was the proof.
By displaying her blood magic, she proved she was a vampire and testified about everything that had happened, which served as our evidence.
And as a reward for completing the missing person request and helping to subdue the Iron Golem, the Count arranged for us to stay at a nice inn for a night. So, we decided to rest for a day before returning to the Empire.
After all, the only thing waiting for us back there was more monster hunting.
While we were at it, we came to the sea, which was famous as a resort destination.
In a world without things like fireworks, the sandy beach was immaculately clean, without a single piece of trash to be found.
The ocean, too, was clear and pristine, not murky like the seas back in Korea.
Given the location, we couldn't just walk in wearing our grimy, worn-out armor, so we bought some comfortable clothes and changed.
Being the fastest to change, I was the first one out, fiddling with the sand.
Besides us, there were many other people on the beach. Among them, a boy who had been playing excitedly ran up to me and asked.
"Hey, mister! What's that you're making?"
"This is called the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon. I modeled it after the real thing."
"Woooow! It's so cool!"
"Heh heh. You've got a good eye, kid. You're going to be someone great when you grow up."
To recognize the magnificence of this creation, he was surely destined for great success.
"What strange things are you teaching a child..."
"Luna, don't you know better than anyone? The magnificence of this object."
"A-Ahem..."
It was a privilege known only to the experienced, something the uninitiated could never understand.
A terrifying artifact capable of turning even the purest maiden into a harlot.
So much so that it should be sealed away and not wielded carelessly in normal times.
When I turned around, Yui, in a frilly one-piece dress, and Luna, changed into the clothes of a commoner, were standing there.
It was a shame there were no bikinis or swimsuits, but beautiful people look good in anything.
And both Luna and Yui were certainly beautiful, not ugly in the slightest.
"Hmph... Damn. I continue to be impressed by my own brilliant eye for selecting slaves."
"Th-Thank you..."
"...More importantly. You came all the way to the sea, so why are you doing this here instead of going into the water?"
Why wasn't I going in the water?
I was just observing the situation for a bit.
I'd messed him up pretty badly, but I had a feeling that bastard wouldn't just let an event like this slide.
And not long after.
Just as I expected.
That bastard really did show up.
Wrapped head to toe in bandages, with crutches under both arms.
And a string of heroines trailing behind him.
"Extra. You really did a number on me yesterday. But I'll forgive you with a generous heart. The value of you and me as men is on a different level, after all. Hahaha!"
What's with this guy?
Did he come here just to show off his heroines?
"Ah. Is that so?"
Let's see if he can forgive this, then.
I shot up from my spot.
And I approached Tia, not Arthur.
"Hey, Tia."
"What is it? I have no desire to speak with you."
"Have you kissed Arthur yet?"
At my question, she blinked a few times before her face turned bright red.
"Wh-What?! Wh-Wh-What are you talking about?!"
"Judging by your reaction, I guess not."
I grabbed the blushing Tia's chin.
And then.
*Smooch—!*
"Mmph, mmph!?"
"Wh-What...!"
I planted a kiss on her.
As the struggling Tia pushed against my chest, our lips parted.
"Your first kiss wasn't with Arthur!! It was with me, Luke!!"
"You, you crazy bastard...!"
She looked like she was about to slap me, seething with anger, so I made my move first.
I reached out and grabbed Tia's breast.
"Kyaa!!"
"Wait...!"
"Your first breast wasn't Arthur's either!! It was mine, Luke's!!"
Immediately after, I groped her butt.
"Hgyak!!"
"Stop it!!"
"And your first butt wasn't Arthur's!! It was mine, Luke's!!"
At that, Tia, burning with shame and on the verge of tears, raised her hand as if to cast a spell at any moment.
But I was one step ahead, kicking off the ground.
"Not a chance! Shoulder Tackle!!"
"Kyaaak!!"
Who in their right mind would wait for someone to prepare a spell right in front of them?
Arthur stumbled forward and stood in front of Tia, who had fallen on her butt from my shoulder tackle.
"What do you think you're doing!"
"You came to show off your heroine, so I thought I'd have a taste."
Isn't that why you brought her?
Arthur seethed, but with crutches in both hands, he couldn't do a thing.
Honestly, even for a protagonist, it was more amazing that he could even move in that state.
Well, I could understand showing off his heroines.
In a world that revolves around the protagonist, his heroines would naturally be among the most beautiful people in existence.
But the recent trend isn't to make everyone but the main heroine look like a squid. Instead, even sub-heroines or uncapturable heroines are designed to be incredibly beautiful.
A common example would be something like, 'My Lady! Please give me your mother!'
As proof, Yui, who was supposed to be dead, and Luna, who isn't even mentioned in the story, don't lose out in looks to main heroines like Liche or Tia.
And if he came here to brag, he shouldn't have been sneaking glances at Luna's chest while he was talking.
Even calling him a beta male is a waste. He's a gamma-male-tier bastard.
I looked around and saw that everyone was looking at me like I was a piece of trash.
I bowed deeply like an orchestra conductor greeting the audience from the podium.
"Thank you for the compliment."
As they say, the best compliment for a gamer is, 'You play like a total asshole.'
Their scorn was a reward in itself.
"You crazy bastard... If my arms weren't like this, you'd be dead."
"Now that I see it, your arms aren't in good shape. What happened?"
"You did this to me!!"
"Did I?"
Actually, I knew. I just said it to be an ass.
In the end, Arthur couldn't do anything and disappeared in the direction of the sea, taking Tia, who looked ready to self-destruct, and his other heroines with him.
"Luna. I told you there was a reason I wasn't going into the sea, right? You'll see in a moment."
-Kyaaaaaaah!!
The moment I spoke, a scream rang out.
We all turned our gazes toward the source of the scream.
A predictable event, a cliché monster.
A Junior Kraken.
A giant octopus monster, about three meters in size, was holding three women with its tentacles.
Those three were, of course, people I knew.
"I didn't go in because I knew that would happen."
Since it was a sub-event for the protagonist and his heroines, it was unlikely that I or anyone else would be targeted.
Still, if I were stupid enough to knowingly walk into a situation where I knew something would pop out, I wouldn't have burned down the mansion to catch the vampire; I would have gone in myself.
"Lord Luke, do you possess foresight...?"
"Luna. The author is invincible, and the reader is a god."
"......?"
But since the author sent me here, does that make the author a god too?
I don't know.
I'll just check my status until the sub-event is over.
[ Information ]
Name: Luke
Sex: Male
Age: 20
Mana: 0 / 0
Level: 59
[ Skills ]
Inventory (F)
Superhuman Strength (B)
All-Attribute Resistance (A)
[ Stats ]
Strength: 49(+24)
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 0
Vitality: 10
Stat Points: 10
Oh. I think I was level 42 before coming here.
It went up a remarkable amount after this request was finished.
Between the vampires and the Iron Golem, this was growth of an epic proportion.
Maybe the One Piece was hidden here all along.
I invested all my stat points into Strength.
Now my Strength is 59.
With the bonus from Superhuman Strength, it's a total of 88.
My strength is completely imbalanced with my other stats, but if my vitality is low, I just have to kill my enemies without getting hit once.
If my low agility makes me slow, I can just get a buff from Luna or kill my enemies in one shot while they're busy hitting me ten times.
"U-Um... Mr. Luke...?"
"What is it, Yui? I'm busy right now."
"Those people... they look like they're in danger..."
"Really? Luna, what do you think?"
"The monster itself doesn't seem very strong... but it looks like there's some kind of problem."
For Luna, who had grown accustomed to most things, to say that...
Wondering if something interesting had happened, I closed the status window.
And the scene that entered my eyes was...
"Wow, that's really something. Amazing."
It was pathetic.
So pathetic it made me shake my head just looking at it.
A sub-event at the sea is supposed to be where the normally super-strong heroines are rendered helpless by an obvious, wimpy event-type monster, leading to a lot of moaning and suggestive sounds.
Giant octopuses, in particular, are a staple.
In the original story, Arthur, not knowing where to look at the explicit scene, would hesitate before finally rescuing them after the octopus had its fun.
But there were two problems. One, Arthur was currently a cripple wrapped in bandages.
And two, the idiot wasn't even thinking about rescuing them. He was just watching the heroines get molested by the octopus tentacles as if he were watching an adult video.
No wonder an event that should've ended with a few swings of a sword was still dragging on.
"Let them handle it."
If they're enjoying it, who am I to interfere?
It's not like that octopus is a man-eating monster, and the heroines and protagonist can't die even if they wanted to. If I leave them alone, they'll figure it out.
From the looks of it, Stella's face already seemed like she'd climaxed once.
"Aren't you going to fight that? What was it you're always talking about, experience points? Don't you need those this time?"
"Nah. That's a small-fry monster. It doesn't give much EXP."
It was written in the author's TMI notes.
That it was a small-fry monster.
Logically, unleashing a vicious monster in the middle of a beach like this would be a massacre, not an event.
The heroines would have been half-eaten the moment it appeared.
I didn't really want to help, but seeing that annoying bastard Arthur's body being occupied by an even more annoying bastard who was enjoying himself, the desire to mess with him welled up inside me.
I reached into my inventory and took out an item.
"...Hk!"
Luna, recognizing the item I pulled out, let out an involuntary gasp, grimaced, and took a step back.
In contrast, Yui, who didn't know what it was, looked full of curiosity.
"What is that?"
"If you're curious, it wouldn't hurt to open it yourself."
It was a flask I had made to use against the War Wolves a while back.
Even though I used so many, I had made too many, so I still had some left.
And our innocent Yui made the same mistake as Luna.
*-Pop!*
"Hiek...!"
Like master, like subordinate.
When I told Luna to open it if she was curious back then, she actually did it.
If she had any sense, she should have realized something from Luna's reaction.
I took out another flask.
This time, it wasn't from my inventory, but from a pouch tied to my waist.
"Kyaa!"
Yui scurried away.
Inside this flask wasn't a liquid, but a living creature.
Mr. Roach.
They kept escaping when I put them in the pouch, so I stored them in a flask.
They're so resilient they can survive for days without food or water.
"Um... Mr. Luke, why do you carry things like this around...?"
"To torment people."
"Pardon...?"
"Listen well, Yui. People have their own areas of expertise. Even if someone is a total failure in other fields, there's always that one area where no one can match them."
Mine just happens to be specialized in tormenting people.
If I said I enjoyed tormenting people, you might criticize me for having such a trashy personality, but what if I were a dark hero?
Those frustrating, cancer-like characters, or those villains who are obviously trash.
If I were a dark hero who tormented those kinds of people, I would be praised for teaching them a lesson.
"So, are you going to throw it or not?"
*Shake, shake.*
Yui shook her head from side to side, vehemently refusing.
They say a strong denial is an affirmation.
"Alright? Then I'll do it."
*Whoosh.* First, I threw the flask of stinky vinegar at Arthur.
The flask shattered as it hit his head.
-Urp!!! Bleeaargh!!!
As a buy-one-get-one-free special, I threw the flask containing the cockroach as well.
-Aaaaaaaargh!!! What the fuck is this!!!!
Unfortunately for the person possessing Arthur, it seemed they hated bugs.
"Gyehehe. Messing with the protagonist really is the most fun."
"......"
"......"