Chapter 66

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 66

Chapter Title: Savoring Shark Dismantling

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The interior felt just like an aquarium.

The map itself was underwater, but rather than the pitch-black, threatening murk of a real ocean depths,

it was a sunlit underwater dungeon where sunlight brightly illuminated everything.

Non-cave-like walls restricted our movement range,

and clusters of star-like, glowing corals resembling stalactites from a cave delighted our eyes here and there.

The Sea God has to be a woman.

The mise-en-scène—from stage design, lighting, and all—was completely different from that place I'd gone to with Stella.

"...It's pretty."

Hena and Yuuna marveled as they looked around.

"I've never seen such a pretty dungeon before."

I tensed up, on the other hand.

Even if it felt like a dating spot, this was still B+ rank.

Nothing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would be surprising no matter what jumped out.

'Kushina. You're so reliable in times like this.'

Back when she'd unleashed a jelly barrage of Personality Excretion martial arts right in the middle of a residential neighborhood, I'd thought she was some pathetic villain.

But the calm, dependable side she'd shown so far

naturally painted a picture of what she must have been like as an academy student.

"Monsters ahead, Master."

Yuuna spotted the merfolk covered in green scales and seemed a bit tense.

"Green Merfolk. Way tougher fighters than Herringfolk, so be careful."

Green Merfolk?

Named that because of their green scales?

The thing charged us far more aggressively than a Herringfolk.

"Duck your heads! Cover your ears too if you can!"

I immediately drew my Glock.

"No, bullets won't pierce the scales. I'll handle it!"

She was right—the green scales deflected them without a dent.

Were guns useless, then?

At least against B+ rank monsters like Green Merfolk, maybe.

'But!!'

If you've got Personality Excretion,

you can land ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠critical hits as long as it doesn't completely nullify the impact.

I advanced instead, closing the distance before dropping to one knee and unloading every round into the approaching Green Merfolk.

Bang bang bang bang!!

The slide flew back at tremendous speed.

Kim Sanghyeok's ultimate technique!

「Personality Excretion Full Burst」!!

As the rounds ran dry, I pulled my Python and kept firing.

"Greeek!? Bu-gweek!?"

"Excrete nicely!!"

The Green Merfolk collapsed in a jelly excretion just as it reached us.

"...You took it down with a gun? A Green Merfolk?"

"Become an onahole..."

"How's that."

"...When did it get so big, Kim Sanghyeok?!"

"Thanks to that magic beast potion you gave me."

"Kyaa! What are you saying!"

Yuuna blushed and playfully punched my side with her cute little fists.

Whap whap.

Where's the next section?

"Sanghyeok. Over there..."

Hena pointed at the ceiling with her Wall Wood Staff.

About 6 meters up, a tunnel leading to the next area was visible.

Climb the walls?

I could probably manage, but what about the girls?

Something told me it'd be hardest for them in order of bust size.

"What do we do...?"

"How about Master puts us all in his Onahole Inventory, and climbs up alone?"

"Yeah. Kushina, you're in."

I stored Kushina in the onahole inventory.

"Us too?"

"Let's look for another way first."

Putting the heroines in the Onahole Inventory should be a last resort.

Maybe she sensed my feelings on that—Yuuna quietly scouted the surroundings without a word.

"Hena?"

Hena just stared toward the tunnel.

She seemed about to do something with her Wall Wood Staff.

"...New spell I learned. Wanna try it?"

Floating magic or something?

We watched openly to see what Hena could do.

Hena's boob form is insane!

"......"

"......"

Nothing happened.

Hena pressed her staff right against her ample chest and hung her head.

"If... if you're staring like that... it's embarrassing and I can't do it......"

"......OK."

I slung an arm around Yuuna's shoulders and dragged her to a corner.

"Let's see what Hena tries."

"Mm. Hena's gotta earn her keep too, after you raised her up, Sanghyeok."

"Pretty strict, huh?"

"You bet. A squad where one person drags everyone down can never be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a good squad. I've seen it way too many times."

A squad where one person drags everyone down.

I could totally picture it.

But had Hena ever held us back in her first dungeon? She'd outperformed me.

Assuming she'd be the same timid, gloomy type from the academy in dungeons too? Big mistake.

From our home dates, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠knew her bright side well, and that she always worked hard diligently.

She was never the type to ride the bus.

Hena would show it.

"...Got it!"

Yuuna and I exchanged glances and rushed back to Hena.

I'd half-wondered if she'd used some floating magic

to climb into the tunnel...

Hena had created stepping platforms we could climb one by one.

Impressive?

"Impressive! Hena!"

Yuuna recognized its value and praised her right away.

"Th-this is nothing special..."

"Nothing special?! Mages usually only learn attack spells and do poke damage... Ahem. Wait. Let me rephrase."

......Poke damage.

I got the picture of how mages were viewed.

"It's huge! Utility construction magic like this is super helpful for dungeon crawls. Mages who can do stuff like this are always welcome in squads!"

"...Really?"

"Our squad won't need climbing gear anymore. Imagine how light on our feet we'll be."

"...Hehe."

Hena smiled shyly.

Brushing back her bangs was the right call. It let me see her pretty green eyes and lovely face even better.

"Should the heaviest one—me—go first?"

"I-it should be fine if we go one at a time..."

"Duration's two minutes?"

Better hurry.

I leaped up the platforms to the tunnel entrance.

Yuuna followed.

"Jump, Hena!"

"O-okay!"

Hena was slow and clumsy even on platforms she'd made herself, climbing one step at a time.

She nearly fell behind at the end...

"Hena!"

I grabbed her hand and yanked her into a hug.

Squeeze...

"S-Sanghyeok..."

"Goal."

"...Ehehe..."

I stroked her head like praising a good girl.

"You can come out now, Kushina."

"Busy flirting, Master?"

"Now we'll be busy fighting."

This had boss room written all over it.

In the center, a house-sized pink star coral sparkled like a real star,

and behind it loomed something far bigger than Green Merfolk...

Two shark giants over 4 meters tall.

One carried a massive harpoon like a siege ballista,

the other shouldered an anchor like it was for mooring ships. The intimidation was no joke.

"Blue Shark Giants... This won't be easy."

"B+ rank?"

"Yeah. Even three entry-level A-rank hunters would struggle."

Yuuna fiddled with a return scroll—her escape item—from her inventory.

"We could bail here."

"But the rewards look huge, right? Two of them guarding that."

Kushina pointed at the giant star coral.

Definitely.

"Heard this dungeon drops special magic beast potions. Worth a shot."

"......"

But Yuuna still looked lost in thought.

"Let's skip this one. Someone could get seriously hurt."

"Leader's call?"

"Yeah. Even if Kushina and I go first, marking two of those would be rough."

Yuuna's estimate, from her solo B-rank runs.

Probably spot-on.

She figured Hena and I couldn't handle combat against them yet.

Hard to swallow when an way-more-experienced Yuuna flat-out said no.

Want those magic beast potions? Gotta sell onaholes to the devil merchant for cash?

Sure, that was part of it...

But subtly, it felt like Yuuna was saying, "Kushina and I are fine, but you and Hena are at risk."

"Yuuna. You said it yourself: a squad where one person drags the others down can't be good."

"Knowing when to avoid danger is what makes a good squad."

"What if we don't need to mark them?"

"Huh?"

"What if you two could fight all out?"

Yuuna blinked.

She didn't get what I was driving at.

"If you didn't have to protect me and Hena, could you fight?"

"We could fight, but..."

"Then let's do it. Hena can't back down like this either, right?"

Hena nodded vigorously.

"I don't wanna be the reason we can't..."

"It's not about that. Once those things start attacking, this tunnel won't matter. They'll chase us back to the entrance like demons."

"......"

4-meter musclebound shark monsters...

wielding weapons that could crush a person flat?

Yeah, scary.

"My fault too. Don't have the tanking skills to stop Blue Shark Giants."

Kushina raised her hand too.

"Me neither. Can only draw aggro for a bit."

"So if that sounded like the mage and gunner are holding us back,

that's a misunderstanding.

A mage who could wipe those out in seconds wouldn't team up with a swordsman at my level to begin with."

"I've got a way to escape where they can't follow."

Everyone looked at me.

The hint was Hena's skill.

"The ceiling."

I pointed at the aquarium-like ceiling enclosing us.

"Using Hena's Void Platforms, we can make those shark giants a real pain."

I explained the plan.

In this dome-shaped space centered on the giant star coral, first make tiered platforms so Hena and I climb up.

Then from there, make more Void Platforms...

Until her magic power runs out, we stay airborne.

Meanwhile, I support Kushina and Yuuna from above, and they fight without holding back.

That was my proposed optimal strategy.

Yuuna rubbed her chin, rethinking it.

"Hena. How long do the platforms last?"

"Can't use attack spells, but... squeezing every drop of magic power, about five minutes..."

"Per one?"

"Gotta test, but thick enough for two people: three minutes... sounds right."

We needed to reach 8-9 meters up,

so she'd run low on magic. Our final hang-time at height: about six minutes.

"Six minutes..."

"Worst case, I stuff Hena in my onahole inventory, and bolt straight down the tunnel. That buys up to eight minutes."

"Worth trying?"

Kushina said.

"With you here too, Kushina. Maybe..."

"To me, a truly good squad is one that makes the impossible possible together, lifting each other up."

"Master's all about ideal teamwork, huh."

"Reality'll be even easier."

I applied the onahole buff to Yuuna.

"Ack...!"

"Fists might not cut it—better with a blade, right?"

"......Treating me like an onahole. This."

Yuuna blushed, but gave a small nod of acceptance.

"Only 'cause it's necessary. No choice."

「This onahole's the one.」

Buffed with onahole power, Yuuna gained the strength of a frontline A-rank hunter.

"What about me, Master? I'm an onahole too, no buff...?"

"Support Yuuna. Got nothing?"

"I have an aggro skill..."

"Perfect."

"......Hiiing."

Don't worry. If anything happens, I'll rush right over.

...But saying that in front of two girlfriends, to an onahole? I cut it short.

A real man shows it with actions, not words. Yeah.

"With the stage set like this, no backing out now."

Yuuna drew her sword.

"Time for a sword dance. Let's all savor some shark cuisine."