Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Japanese Slaves
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Hidden behind the shelves and stacks of books, they weren't immediately visible, but it was easy enough to tell that four Japanese people had fully entered the shrine.
Who would've thought the precious slaves needed to open the box in the shrine would come right to us? Perfect timing.
Eun-ji had already melted into the darkness, targeting their rear from the ceiling, while Ha-rin was ramping up her excitement, asking my permission to pounce at any moment.
Hee-sun Noona was sticking close to the Buddha statue, worried they might snatch the box in front of it and run if a fight broke out.
They can't see in the dark... Even if one of them can, not all of them.
That made sense—they were carrying lanterns. Strolling so casually through a forest teeming with ghosts, yokai, and beasts. They might be stronger than they look.
What's more, none of them seemed to have presence detection skills. This was our chance. Grab them all before they spotted us.
"Something's definitely here..."
"Yeah..."
The Japanese even split into pairs to enter the warehouse. Splitting up made them easier to capture. What gave them the guts to scatter like that? Confidence in their skills?
I lowered my voice to a whisper, mouthing to Ha-rin to back up Eun-ji. She'd handle the two that went right, and I'd take the other pair.
I crouched low, waiting for them to pass. Soon, two oblivious Japanese walked right by the table I was hiding behind, heading toward the back where the Buddha statue—and Hee-sun Noona—waited. If I let them go, she'd be exposed.
Now was the moment to strike. We weren't here to kill them—we wanted slaves. Who knew when we'd find another landmine squad?
By the way, my targets were a woman in shrine maiden garb and a man with a katana at his hip.
"Ryue!!"
"Eek!!"
"What the hell are you!!"
The katana guy whipped around just as I fired my tentacles, sensing my presence. The shrine maiden behind him shrieked in panic at the sight of me.
The swordsman yanked her behind him and slashed at the incoming tentacles.
Her bodyguard, maybe? Didn't matter. He couldn't sever all the tentacles sprouting from my hands. In the end, his limbs were bound, and he was captured.
He fought to keep his grip on the sword to the last, but when I twisted his wrist backward, he screamed in agony and dropped it.
"H-Hiiik..."
The shrine maiden, too stunned to flee, just backed away dumbly.
"Hmph..."
Her terrified face was surprisingly cute. Not that it would save her from my tentacles. I blasted them at her. She thrashed wildly as they ensnared her in seconds.
"Done here! What about over there?"
The fight on their end seemed over too. Eun-ji replied.
"Got 'em!! But... she's hurt!!"
"Who?!"
"The Japanese girl!! Her arm's torn open—blood's gushing everywhere!! Hwa-young would be drooling. Right, Unni?"
Good, the two of them were fine.
"Tie them up for now. I'll slave these bastards and head over!"
"Got it!!"
"Yep!"
"Jun-ah! We have gags and collars... take your time!"
We'd brought suppressor gags to seal Awakener abilities and beast-taming ropes bought from a merchant. Two sets were enough to neutralize any Awakener easily.
The two Japanese I'd captured couldn't understand us, so they figured their friends would save them and started hurling insults.
Stuff like "baka" and "kuso." I didn't know much Japanese, but I knew "kusoyaro" meant something like "shithead." Tired of it, I squeezed the swordsman harder with my tentacle.
💥 CRUNCH! 💥 "Kiiiiaaa!!!"
I gagged his screaming mouth with a tentacle and turned to the shrine maiden. She'd been calling me "baka" seconds ago, but now she clamped her mouth shut, eyes brimming with tears, shaking her head. The gruesome sounds from the man's breaking joints had broken her will.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [The opponent has submitted to you.] "Submitted without even needing torture."
Lately, people hadn't been folding so easily—I'd been seeing blood every time. But this Japanese girl immediately gestured surrender.
"Good."
I set the shrine maiden down and was about to tell her to kneel, but realized we couldn't communicate. I pondered.
How do you say 'kneel' in Japanese...?
The only word I could think of was "dogeza." Fine, that involved kneeling anyway.
"Do dogeza."
"W-What...?"
"Dogeza, I said. Dogeza. You know? Dogeza!"
"A-Ah... I understand... P-Please don't get mad... S-Scary..."
"Fuck, what'd she say..."
I couldn't understand a word. Any survivors would learn Korean by force. Eun-ji knew some Japanese, but she wasn't fluent. Why should we learn Japanese? Slaves learn Korean.
"Hic..."
Soon, the shrine maiden knelt properly on the floor, bowing deeply with tears streaming like chick peas. When I told her to stand—in Korean—she peeked up at me from her dogeza position.
Her face looked at me like I was insane, as if she had no clue what I wanted. Trying to tug at my heartstrings with cuteness?
I grabbed her hair to force her upright while kneeling—needed her forehead for the Slave Brand.
But for some reason, this Japanese girl started tugging at my pants with tears streaming. The watching swordsman gnawed at his tentacles in rage. Lovers, maybe.
Poor communication led to misunderstandings like this.
Anyway, I pushed the would-be blowjob shrine maiden aside and stamped her forehead. Not slaving her for fun, and definitely not trusting her at sensitive spots like Ha-rin.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Player 'Nanase Sora' has been made a slave.] "Hieeek..."
She rubbed her stamped forehead for a while, feeling the binding. Innately cute, or just seducing me? Hard to tell.
Anyway, I smacked the glaring swordsman a few times, then pressed a ritual dagger to his throat.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Player 'Nanase Hiiro' has been made a slave.] Same family name—siblings, probably. Looks didn't match. She was pretty; he looked like a typical Japanese thug.
After slaving him, I healed his swollen, broken wrist. Once fixed, he yammered in Japanese and fetched his dropped katana reverently.
Treasured like a family heirloom, maybe from grandpa. It'd snap against my Ghost Cry. Checked it—no item. Just a memento.
"Follow me, both of you."
No communication, but orders worked. Good. They trailed me with world-ending despair. Half-automated bodies probably convinced them it was over.
"Oppa. Here. This one's hurt."
"Lemme see... Damn..."
At the Buddha statue where Hee-sun Noona, Eun-ji, and Ha-rin waited, a glasses guy with his left arm torn open—bones visible—sobbed, biting his lip.
Beside him, a gyaru lay paralyzed, her body trembling from the effects of a paralysis dagger. She rolled her eyes toward me, then shot a venomous glare at the shrine maiden and swordsman bowing behind him, grinding her teeth in helpless fury.
Real gyaru: tanned brown skin, yellow-dyed hair... Big chest, but face was meh. Shrine maiden was way better.
"Alright, let's see."
I treated the pale glasses guy's arm with Rising Flesh—he'd lost too much blood.
"Gaaah! Stop! Mmph!!"
I quickly gagged his screams. No need for noise leaking out. This safe zone wouldn't stay safe if we attracted trouble.
Meanwhile, Eun-ji and Ha-rin sealed the warehouse door. I recalled the Ebony Cockroach from recon, sticking it to the outer wall. Now we'd get early warning.
Then I slaved the glasses guy and gyaru. When Eun-ji pressed a sword and asked if they wanted to die, they shook their heads frantically and submitted.
"Whew. No wonder they had the confidence to enter the forest."
"All strong?"
"Not sure about strong, but they're all special classes."
"Ooh..."
First capture, the shrine maiden: Miko Shaman. Dealt in barriers and spells—fitting her look. Swordsman: Samurai, Japanese special. Korea probably had nationals too.
The gyaru was the plainest among them—a Thief.
The one with glasses was an Onmyoji—Eun-ji had called it an Onmyōji, a yin-yang sorcerer. Another Japanese-exclusive class.
No wonder they wandered peacefully with lanterns...
With a shrine maiden and onmyouji, yokai and ghosts couldn't approach. Only one fighter, but they neutralized the forest's biggest threats. Solid classes.
"These two are lovers. Those two are stepsiblings."
"Ah... Explains why that guy foamed when they touched his sister."
Glasses and ugly gyaru: couple. Classic otaku-gyaru pair. Both ugly. Stepsibs: bro crushing on sis.
No more eternal love for them.
"Hey. Open the box."
I ordered the gyaru immediately. No time to waste.
She stared, gulped.
"W-Wait! L-Let me do it. I've appraised tons."
"This bitch knows Korean?"
"L-Little bit."
Glasses, tensed at making his girlfriend open the mystery box, begged in broken Korean to do it.
I refused.
"No. Hey, what're you waiting for? Open it."
"Hng..."
Among these four, she was the most expendable.
Onmyouji glasses and shrine maiden Sora were valuable assets for their spells—keep to the end. Samurai was better than a basic Warrior.
Ugly Thief gyaru? Shoddy combat outside stealth, worse than Eun-ji. Looks sucked too. Perfect discard. If she died, samurai next.
Click.
The gyaru lifted the box and opened the lid.
"Oh..."
Inside the small wooden case: a glowing green curved jade.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Eight-Shaku Curved Jewel: A curved jade imbued with holy energy.] No dangerous aura, as described. Instead, a pure, clear energy—almost like the scent from Hee-sun Noona's chest.
Holding it reduced my fatigue. Blocked the forest's chill?
Suddenly, the ground shook.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [The shrine's sacred relic has been stolen by an unidentified player.] [The shrine's barrier weakens ever so slightly.] [The slumbering colossal evil stirs.] [2 relics remain.] [Gather all relics and enter the shrine.] "Shit."
Shrine and relic info leaked.
"Now everyone's hunting relics..."
"Competition's gonna get fierce... Crazy."
According to glasses, clues came randomly from killing missing persons. I got lucky with full info in two kills. Others might miss shrines entirely.
But the quake broadcasted it to all players. Relic theft war starts now. First to three enters the shrine.
Kill or be killed. The forest craved more souls.
And that stirring colossal evil... Unsettling.
My theory: Acquiring relics weakens seals, empowering the shrine's mystery monster. Collect three, open barrier, fully awaken it.
God idols help it regain power fast. Or maybe enough player souls eaten triggers timeout unsealing.
Either way, boss in our shrine.
"I have a hypothesis..."
Glasses spoke Japanese; Eun-ji translated.
"Oppa. He thinks the three relics are the Three Sacred Treasures."
"Three Sacred Treasures?"
"Yeah. Bronze sword, bronze mirror, holy curved jade. But... it feels like we're meant to fight the colossal evil with them?"
"Same vibe... Use treasures to beat the sealed evil and claim the god idol."
Hee-sun Noona paled, rubbing her dry face. Low combat power—understandable panic. Stressed just getting here; now a colossal evil?
I was rattled too. "Missing persons' forest"? Devs engineering player disappearances.
"Whatever. To escape, we kill it. Right?"
"Yep."
Ha-rin perked up, eager to flee this ghost-haunted hell.
"Rest here first. Safe zone."
"Yes!"
Long trek here. No sun—monitor fatigue via watch. Others low on mana from fight. Recover now.
We piled old books for fire, boiled ramen from mart stock. Inventory full despite extra mouths. Japanese slaves chugged water—it was too spicy.
During ramen and rest, I approached the huddled shrine maiden Nanase Sora.
Something personal to check.
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