Chapter 28: To Go to the Labyrinth (3)
Chapter 28: To Go to the Labyrinth (3)
The way a succubus gains power is through sex. To be precise, they extract a man’s essence and make it their own, a practice people refer to as "Sex Magic."
Ruji Fermaton cannot personally descend into the Infinite Labyrinth.
All I can do is give orders to those who go down or warn them of danger. In the end, the actual combat—at least for now—will be carried out by the knights, including Laura.
Thinking simply, combat experience is something gained through fighting.
However, as is the case with most gacha games, "experience items" for leveling up do exist.
"Astarotte. What is this?"
"...It’s a 'Lunastone.'"
Lunastone.
It’s one of the magic stones that can be farmed in the Infinite Labyrinth. On the surface, it looks like a simple cubic zirconia, but it’s an object imbued with mana.
In-game, these were experience items; in this world, they are known as "gems for mana enhancement."
"What happens if you dissolve this through a special method and drink it?"
"It won't taste very good—it'll be quite bitter—but the mana within the Lunastone will be absorbed into the body."
"Exactly. Theoretically, if you consume Lunastones like crazy, you’d gain enough power to breeze through a floor. Even if a single one costs hundreds of gold."
I did some rough math.
I compared the amount of Lunastones needed to level up in-game with the monetary value of Lunastones used here, converting it to cash.
The result: it costs roughly ten thousand won to increase experience by 0.01%.
In other words, one hundred million won to gain a single level.
And that’s only for the lower levels. As the level increases, the amount of Lunastones—and thus the money—required naturally grows exponentially.
To reach Level 100, one would need funds in the trillions.
Since we haven't even cleared below the 50th floor yet, if I were to estimate the financial value of "High-tier Lunastones," which are far more expensive than the "Lowest-tier Lunastones" I just calculated, we’re talking about spending trillions.
Raising a character is expensive.
Even for a Fermaton, attempting to invest such a staggering sum into a single person would arouse suspicion.
—I will invest the entire annual national defense budget into one woman to create a hero!
If anyone blurted out something like that, people would call them insane and try to strip them of their rank.
‘To invest all of Fermaton’s resources, I need a proper justification. If I told them I was doing this for Laura right now, they’d surely kill me and try to replace the Fermaton line.’
The budget was there, but it wasn't money Ruji Fermaton could use for his private whims.
"Astarotte. There’s a limit to increasing mana through Lunastones, isn't there?"
"Yes. To use an analogy, even if you eat a hundred Lunastones, they aren't all absorbed at once. It’s just like food."
"So, if you don't want to throw it all up, eat only as much as you can digest?"
"...You understood immediately. That’s right. There is a limit for every individual when it comes to drinking Lunastones and absorbing them as mana. You can't just gulp them down all day and expect it all to turn into mana."
Just as Astarotte said, there was a temporal limit to growth using Lunastones.
"And besides..."
"Besides?"
"Rather than stacking mana with Lunastones, wouldn't it be better to just conquer the labyrinth and build the strength needed to descend to the next floor...?"
"That’s true."
That was the story for leveling up through combat experience.
However.
"Until the preparations to descend into the labyrinth are complete, I will feed Laura Lunastones. I will also drink them to increase my own magic power. Then, Laura will absorb the surplus remaining in my body through Sex Magic."
"......My head hurts for a moment. Young Lord, why are you investing so much in Miss Laura?"
"Because she’s the Knight Captain."
Because she became my favorite character.
And because I have things to test.
"Astarotte. If you were to challenge the Infinite Labyrinth, how far down could you go?"
"...Alone, the 30th floor. If I gathered people of similar skill, the 35th floor would be the limit."
Roughly Level 32.
Since she probably hasn't leveled up since she was cursed around Level 32, that sounded about right.
"Then, did you ever experience something like this? A point where your growth just... stopped. Or perhaps you could only get stronger after performing a special ritual or offering a sacrifice to a god."
"...Are you referring to 'Awakening'?"
"Is that what it's called?"
"Yes. I’ve never experienced it myself, but I’ve heard that everyone feels their own limit. Usually around the 20th floor, and then again at the 30th."
The Level Cap.
1-Star characters up to Level 20.
2-Star characters up to Level 25.
3-Star characters up to Level 30.
When first pulled from the gacha, there was a "limit to the level one could grow to."
"Some realize it while repeatedly defeating a specific beast, while others awaken while practicing swordsmanship outside the labyrinth. I’m not quite sure exactly how one achieves Awakening."
"I see."
Correction. It seemed Astarotte was Level 30.
If she hadn't gained that realization herself, she had stopped once at Level 30, the initial level cap for a 3-Star.
—Wait, is it for real that I can't just sprint to max level? Are you kidding me?
—You just need to farm material items and awaken them! ^^
—Where the hell am I supposed to farm the materials?!
—For someone like you, we have the 'Daily Dungeon'!! And look, there’s a 'Daily Package' in the shop! A gem package that includes extra tickets for the Daily Dungeon, which you can normally only enter twice a day, for just 9,900 won...!
—Sigh. Dammit. ...But why are there two packages?
—They are the Mon-Wed-Fri and Tue-Thu-Sat packages...!
—Son of a bi—
‘I’m glad I don't have to farm Daily Dungeons here.’
The existence of a growth limit was a part of the system, similar yet different from the actual in-game mechanics.
‘They’ve turned the need to farm items into personal mental growth.’
In-game, you had to collect specific items at the level cap to break through, but fortunately, thanks to reality correction, the hurdle had been lowered significantly.
‘It’s easier, yet also more daunting.’
Whether it was realization or awakening, the conclusion was the same.
‘The more experience points you have, the more you grow regardless.’
Just as Laura, who was a virgin, gained techniques that would put an AV star to shame the more she had sex, one grows by experiencing more combat and labyrinth conquest.
Experience equals growth.
The floors of the labyrinth were a yardstick to measure that growth numerically.
‘No need for complicated calculations.’
Yes.
It was simple.
"Astarotte. Why don't you conduct a study using me? A study on accelerating human growth using Sex Magic."
"Pardon...?"
"You can even use the data for a thesis at the Magic Tower. If a man drinks Lunastones and a woman takes his essence through Sex Magic, will the mana absorption from the Lunastones be doubled?"
Let's keep it simple.
—Laura levels up through sex alone!
She gets stronger just by having sex with me.
‘You get stronger by doing anything.’
Level caps, stars, awakening, whatever—if I can convert Ruji’s powerful libido and essence into magic power, isn't that basically leveling up?
"What do you think?"
"No, I mean... to put it bluntly, you’re saying Miss Laura will absorb your essence, Young Lord?"
"Exactly."
"Is there a reason to make Miss Laura that strong...?"
"Of course."
There was obviously one reason.
"I can't have the dick house I’m going to use for the rest of my life stolen or lost to someone else."
A piece of trash who looks at a person and calls them a dick house!
That’s me.
"Laura is my woman. There are all sorts of monsters in the Infinite Labyrinth, and all sorts of unknown monsters outside of it. Like tentacles, or tentacles, or... tentacles."
Those were monsters that appeared even within the first 50 floors.
If we went below the 50th floor, even more horrific things would show up.
‘That’s the best material for people who make lewd art.’
Goblins.
Orcs.
Tentacles.
And so on.
—Ugh. Do you like drawing them getting violated by monsters? Is this some RPG Maker porn game?!
—I strive for gender equality.
—What kind of bullshit is that?
—I’ll be drawing monmus from now on too!
—Then I’ll allow it.
...Among the beasts, there were the commonly called "monmus," and there were cases of the opposite.
Naturally, I didn't want my knight order, my woman, to be violated by such monsters.
It’s shitty enough to have her taken by another man (NTR), but to have it happen by a goblin or a beast?
I would never be able to forgive myself.
So, I will raise my women myself.
In the easiest, fastest, and most frequent way I can.
Sex while eating (Level Up).
Sex while walking down the street (Level Up).
Sex while sleeping together at night (Level Up).
All these acts were ultimately for leveling; it wasn't because I simply wanted to have sex. Definitely not.
"What do you say? Won't you teach us?"
"...Learning Sex Magic might impose restrictions on learning other types of magic."
"So it is possible."
"...Yes. It’s not that I don't know how."
It wasn't because the Succubus Transformation Curse was progressing; she was just a woman who knew about Sex Magic.
"Is Miss Laura okay with it? If she learns Sex Magic, she might become a bit... lewd."
"Puhahaha!"
I burst out laughing.
"Laura, becoming lewd? That’s impossible."
She was already a mass of obscenity.
She was walking sex; what difference would adding one to infinity make?
"...The biggest problem is this."
Astarotte stood up from her seat.
"Those who master Sex Magic... become like succubi. Like this."
Rustle, rustle.
Astarotte unbuttoned the bottom of her shirt and pulled the hem apart to the left and right.
"......Oh, wow."
On her lower abdomen, a faintly shimmering pink tattoo.
It was unmistakably a womb tattoo.
"Are you alright with this?"
"Ah..."
A womb tattoo.
"Does that... always appear if you learn Sex Magic?"
"Pardon?"
"I’m asking if it’s always there."
A womb tattoo.
It was an erotic element.
However, if it was always there like a real tattoo, it actually killed the mood.
What’s truly erotic is—
"...It should only appear when absorbing essence. If one is simply learning Sex Magic."
"......."
Then I approve.
In the middle of coming, as she reaches her peak and I give her a creampie, the womb tattoo glows?
"...Gulp."
In this day and age, just slapping a womb tattoo on mindlessly is uninspired.
‘In the end, the peak of tuning is the original factory setting.’
Laura herself was erotic enough; why would she need a permanent womb tattoo?
"Then today, the Sex Magic..."
"Young Lord. A guest has arrived."
"A guest?"
"Yes. ...A 'woman' who came to inquire about the knight order."
"......."
Splurt.