Nudity Isn't Shameful (1)
In front of my eyes stretched a massive temple. A sanctuary untouched by any intruder, unapproachable by any demon. The headquarters of the Goddess Church, home to the largest statue of the Goddess, and the origin point from which her power spread across the earth. Countless demons had thrashed about, desperate to sprinkle their corrupted blood upon it, but the sanctuary had never once permitted their invasion.
Until that day.
Kiyaaak!!
A colossal wyvern swooped down from the sky. Atop it, headless dullahans leaped from its back.
"Bombs!!"
The dullahans plummeting from the heavens clutched massive backpacks. The holy knights on the ground fired bursts of holy power, shooting them down. An aerial mass bombing.
But as dullahans—beings infused with demonic energy—the holy power held the advantage in the mortal realm, at least.
Kiyaaak!!
The dullahans screamed in agony as they turned to ash and vanished. Even though their heads remained attached to the wyvern, the pain of their bodies melting and evaporating under the radiant light was so intense it felt like a second death for the undead.
But even if the dullahans died that way, the backpacks they carried did not.
Thud!!
The backpacks crashed to the ground. Holy knights in heavy plate raised their cruciform shields to block them, catching the packs like live mines on the verge of explosion and clasping their hands together.
"In the name of the divine!"
Whirr.
A golden barrier unfolded around the heavy-armored holy knight. The priests nearby quickly scattered from the barrier centered on him.
And then—
Boom!!
A massive explosion erupted inside the golden barrier. Not a single scratch marred the barrier, but the blast devoured everything within it—the ground inside, and the holy knight who had conjured it.
"......."
A nightmare.
I had no idea why this particular dream was surfacing, but it was undoubtedly a nightmare through and through. Because what happened next was one of the three worst events in my hero's life.
"Si-woo!!"
"......!!"
A woman with brown hair came running toward me. Dressed in priestly robes just like everyone else on the battlefield, she was an utterly ordinary priestess with nothing particularly standout compared to the others.
I think I yelled for her to evade.
But she couldn't. My memory was crystal clear on that.
Splat!
Not just her—all of us in the sanctuary.
Crimson spears rained from the sky like arrows, piercing everyone. Her, me, and every angel on the battlefield.
How did I survive?
Oh, right.
"Please... live—"
Even as the stake from the sky pierced her shoulder and pinned her body to the ground, she used her miracle on me in her final moments. A miracle she could have used to save herself, one she could invoke only once—she used it on me.
Shhh.
The world flipped. Not the blood-soaked sanctuary, but a humble church like one in a rural village.
"......."
"Gah, what the— Hiiik?! H-Hero?! What the hell is...!!"
That day. The day the sanctuary fell.
I lost the person I loved.
"......."
A lot had happened over the past ten years, but dreaming of that past was definitely not a good sign. You could end up sleep-talking and causing weird shit, and more importantly, who knew what you might do to those around you while asleep.
So I wondered if I'd shouted anyone's name or babbled nonsense during the nightmare—
"...Guess it's a relief."
Snore, snore.
Shin Yu-hee was asleep. Not lying straight on the barely-big-enough-for-two bed, but curled up on her side, huddled as small as possible.
Let's see.
About 19 hours left on the key. She'd been out for just under five, so Shin Yu-hee was definitely in deep sleep now. No faking it or peeking around.
The ordeals in this arena had worn her mentally to the bone.
Rustle.
Shin Yu-hee stirred. I laid her out straight on the bed so she could sleep properly, then headed straight to the bathroom.
Didn't expect this. Even a showerhead.
Click.
I reached for the device—different from modern ones—and cold water began cascading down like a spring. No hot water, obviously. For that, you'd need a room costing 10 exchange vouchers.
Still, being able to use water freely to some extent is something.
Whirr.
Next to the button I'd pressed, a mana stone-like object began dimming blue. Indicating the limited water amount—even without soap, just rinsing my hair and body cold used it up.
Invest more in lodging, or rack up 5 wins fast and bail.
What to do. Leaving this honey stage early over no hot water would suck.
Harsh as it is, nowhere's better for grinding experience.
Not for me—for Shin Yu-hee.
Not in the RPG sense of EXP farming, but from the perspective of 'raising' her, this place was pretty damn good. Especially now, when she half—no, fully—relied on me.
If you're gonna drag a girl around anyway, better an onahole that can auto-hunt.
Someday, Shin Yu-hee would spread her legs for me. But I didn't want some bitch who just offered her body in exchange for food and survival.
I wanted someone who could survive alone in this hellhole without whoring herself out, then return to me and boost my mana from the spot beside my bed.
Shin Yu-hee was practice. New data to collect, so worth the investment to conquer properly.
Splash.
I shook off the water and stepped out of the bathroom.
"Hm?"
On the table in the room sat a basket of sandwiches, and beside it, under a canteen, lay an open survival log. Not mine—Shin Yu-hee's.
I peeked under the basket lid. One sandwich missing.
"Heh."
I moved the canteen and checked the survival log. Long story short—
-I couldn't stand the hunger anymore.
"......."
I quietly ate a sandwich and waited for Shin Yu-hee to wake.
Nearly 16 hours had passed on the key, well past sunset into evening.
"Ugh...."
Shin Yu-hee stirred and woke.
"Where...?"
"You with it?"
"Ah."
Shin Yu-hee, still dazed, gaped in shock the moment she saw me. Her eyes flicked somewhere for a split second, but I wasn't gonna say anything about—
"Can't you put on some clothes?"
—that. Guess I needed to educate her mentally after all.
"Why clothes?"
"Well..."
"Showered quick earlier, rinsed 'em with the leftover water, hung 'em in the bathroom."
"......."
"And even if not, no plans to wear any. Told you, right? Clothes are a durability resource."
"But..."
"Everything—food, shelter—runs on exchange vouchers right now. Lowest priority's obviously clothes."
"...Don't tell me."
Shin Yu-hee sat up on the bed, staring me down.
"You're doing this on purpose to make me go naked too, right?"
"Not on purpose, but yeah, I recommend going naked. At least when it's just us two in this room."
"......Well, everyone else's clothes are trashed anyway."
Nude living.
Impossible to imagine back in the Tutorial Goblin stage, but Chekhov's Arena was different.
"Streets full of guys and girls fucking for vouchers, after all."
"Yeah."
"Still, people who wanna cover up do, though."
"They're minimizing cloth in their rooms too. So it doesn't shred into rags."
"Ugh...."
"And listen, you gotta get used to being naked in front of others."
"...Is this 'cause you're worried some pervert in the arena'll target clothes?"
"Partly."
My first opponent was a psycho who gutted men and women alike on sight.
"Survival logs mention it, right? Guy exploited torn clothes exposing tits to stab vitals."
"......."
"Fight mid-battle covering your exposed nipple with one hand? Fine if you got the skill. But you? Can you fight like that?"
"That's..."
"Or use your last voucher on prisoner garb? Probably trade for one peeled off a corpse."
Buy bread to eat.
Or preserve human dignity.
"Alright. Put that dilemma on hold. Gotta decide something right now."
"What?"
"When you hitting the arena?"
"Ugh...."
Shin Yu-hee averted her eyes.
"Don't forget. Food and clothes are immediate problems, sure, but our endgame's escaping this arena. With 5 wins. Not planning to live here forever."
"...But opponents are killers or fighters. Best I did was club goblins from behind when they slipped, or swing a dagger in a frenzy."
"That's plenty."
Killed goblins? Multiple?
"You're scared of humans, not fighting itself. Simple fix."
I stood, taking a sparring stance toward her.
"Fight me now. Here."
"......Huh?"
"Don't worry. Won't kill you, make it hurt as little as possible. Unless..."
I picked up the basket to help her up.
"...you land even one punch on me. Then this basket of sandwiches and a voucher are yours."
"......You didn't eat any?"
"Lose, we split. No fight, I eat 'em all. Good deal, huh?"
"No, even if you say that..."
Shin Yu-hee scratched her head and approached the table. Visibly conflicted.
But in that brief moment, I clearly saw where her eyes went.
Whoosh!
"Nice try."
"...Ugh."
Her fist aimed at my gut was blocked by my hand.
"My turn?"
"Turn? What—"
Thwack!!
"Guh...?!"
One quick, precise punch to her gut. Shin Yu-hee clutched her stomach, stumbling back onto the bed.
"Ugh, urk...!"
"Get up."
"Th-this...!"
"Fold at this? Gotta survive and get out."
"You, fuck...!"
And so.
Not a one-sided beatdown, but sparring to build Shin Yu-hee's combat experience began.