Welcome to the Slave (2). #14. Slave.

The familiar beginning. Before the helper fairy could even finish her welcome speech, Yoo Dahui was already standing right beside me. She was getting bolder with each round. Honestly, there was no real reason for us to keep our distance anyway.

“Did you get discharged today?”

While listening to the helper fairy, Dahui leaned in and whispered the question. She spoke so softly that I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t been paying attention to her.

“Yeah, well…”

We kept trading quiet whispers, dropping formalities completely. At this point, Dahui was moving so fast that we could probably skip over this whole phase.

“…Yoo Dahui?”

One moment she was there trying to act like we were just casual acquaintances, and the next she had vanished. Where did she run off to? What was she planning to do alone? Nothing immediately came to mind.

‘Info.’

Truly beautiful stats, all things considered. It was still far from enough, but compared to the past when everything was at level one, this was successful growth. My magic power was still stuck at level one, though. The kind of enlightenment that appeared in novels didn’t let me use mana. It meant I had to grow through hidden pieces, but moving around without Dahui noticing was no easy task.

‘She’s not here right now.’

This round, Dahui had declared she would solo. The fact that she wasn’t babysitting me proved it. If I didn’t stick with a regressor, I could pick up the hidden pieces myself.

─ Survive and defeat the field boss. Any means or methods are permitted.

Once the fairy finished speaking, the players were given freedom. First, I decided to look for Dahui. If I knew which way she went, I could roughly predict what she was aiming for.

‘Huh?’

Dahui was heading out through the southern exit. In the novel, she had never played in the south. Aside from the time she obtained Light Steps there, she mostly stayed in the north. The author had conveniently clustered most of the 0th floor hidden pieces in the north, so there was no reason for her to head south.

‘It must be because of the elves.’

I spotted the elf party slipping out toward the south. The elf princess, the elf knight, and the elf strategist. Without a regressor’s help, those three were guaranteed to die today. They’d be slaughtered by the second-rate warriors.

It looked like Dahui had gone south to prevent that. She was willing to let the dwarf Poreng get killed but rushed to save the elf princess because of her rape sensitivity. ‘Well…’ If I had to choose between the two, I probably would’ve saved the elf princess too.

“Excuse me.”

Someone called out to me again. It was the woman in the suit, now overly familiar. She had come to recruit me into the Korean party.

“Yes?”

“You’re Korean, right?”

“That’s correct.”

The woman in the suit looked me up and down. My visible specs weren’t bad for a man. At least within the Korean party, I was top-class. From their perspective, I was someone they absolutely had to cast.

“We’re ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gathering all the Koreans right now. Come with us.”

She pointed toward the Korean party. Without a regressor’s power, this group would be wiped out and disbanded within three days. In that case, maybe I should just use them as my nourishment.

Since I could only extract residents’ life force inside the safe zone, I’d have to start sucking it the moment we stepped out of the gate.

I followed the woman in the suit and joined the Korean party. A suffocating feeling washed over me, like I had returned home.

“Looks like we’ve gathered almost all the Koreans?”

There were originally eight, but with Dahui gone, there were seven including me. It had been a while since I last categorized them. The leader, the skinny guy, the fat guy, the guy with glasses, the girl with glasses, and the woman in the suit.

“Let’s head outside. Everyone else is already going.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

Thanks to the leader actively accepting my suggestion, we quickly left the Colosseum plaza.

“You seem to know a thing or two.”

“Well, I’m a man. A big sword is only natural,” the fat guy whispered as he sidled up beside me.

This round, I had chosen to use a greatsword. I wondered what excuse I’d have to give Dahui. I trusted she would understand on her own. The butterfly effect, or something like that.

The Korean party headed out through the northern gate. Using the keywords game, securing the lead, and growth, I completely drained the Korean party’s souls.

[Absorbing life force.]

“M-my body feels strange…!”

“It must be because we came outside!”

“Ugh…. Is this the trial the Tower of Struggle is giving us…?”

When I shouted roughly, they finished the interpretation themselves. This was when the fat guy and the skinny guy proved useful. Reliable. Although the Korean party was pathetic, I didn’t kill them with my own hands. I simply sucked their life force away sweetly.

Of course, they were already weak humans. If I drained their life force on top of that, they had no future. But that wasn’t my problem.

Grraaawr—.

Deadmen appeared, and I smashed their heads. I repeated the process until the Korean party, terrified by the strengthened deadmen, returned inside. The sun hadn’t even set yet.

“We came back too early. I don’t think I can keep going. It’s too hard.”

The leader declared surrender. It was because of the life force I had extracted.

“See you all tomorrow.”

I didn’t think I’d actually see them tomorrow, but I still said my goodbyes. As everyone went their separate ways—

“Kim Jinwu!”

I ran into Yoo Dahui. She naturally walked toward me. Behind her followed the elf princess, the elf knight, and the elf strategist.

The elf princess looked at me and muttered, “Is he one of the knight’s companions? There’s something unpleasant about him…”

“Elysha, shh. I told you to pretend you don’t know.”

“Ah! Sorry, s-sorry! Dahui!”

The world’s greatest beauty, Yoo Dahui, and the princess of the elves, a race where everyone was beautiful. My eyes feasted on the two women whispering to each other. It was a pleasure to watch.

“What were you doing?”

“Just… looking around the city.”

I gave a suitably vague answer.

“You didn’t go outside?”

“I did go out and came back.”

“Alone?”

Dahui asked with a face full of worry. Was this look really from the same woman who had raped me? Was this the same person as the masked woman who had tried to rip my balls off just a few hours ago?

“I went with some other people. They said they were tired, so we came back early.”

I answered in the gentlest tone I could manage.

“Really? You’re not hurt, are you?”

“…I’m fine.”

For a second, I almost called her “Mom.” She wasn’t my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mother, so why was she worrying so much? The gap between when she wore the mask and when she didn’t was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quite significant. If our positions were reversed, was this how Dahui felt when she was half-convinced that the masked man was me?

“That’s a relief.”

Through Dahui, I was introduced to the elf party. We had crossed paths several times before, but I couldn’t remember their names, so I decided to memorize them starting from today’s meeting.

“This is Princess Elysha, Knight Eloin, and Professor Elbaren.”

“I’m Kim Jinwu.”

The way they looked at me wasn’t much different from previous rounds. The fundamental disgust caused by Black Magic filled their eyes. They just didn’t show it outwardly. Maybe because Dahui had saved them, they were clearly forcing themselves to endure it. A round where that bastard Eloin didn’t bark at me. It felt incredibly fresh.

“Can we go hunt some more?”

“Sure. Not a bad idea.”

“Then let’s go.”

Hunting began with Dahui in the lead. We earned coins every single day. We hunted nonstop for an entire week. Having tasted the 1st Floor Academy, Dahui didn’t slack on coin farming. The coins we had earned so far totaled a whopping 30,000. It seemed she planned to gather even more.

She also took care of Kang Hana separately. They didn’t hunt together, but Dahui appeared to be keeping in touch with her, building an appropriate level of friendship.

During breaks, I secretly searched for hidden pieces without Dahui noticing. Thanks to that, I managed to raise both my agility and magic power by two levels each. Excluding magic power, further growth through the 0th floor’s hidden pieces was now impossible.

I also met Pluto. He said the black energy that indicated whether life force could be absorbed was generated according to the target’s mental state. The more unstable they were, the easier it was to absorb. The only regrettable thing was that I could no longer receive Black Magic from him. Thanks to Pluto, I had easily raised my Black Magic level before, but now he said he couldn’t pass it on at my current level. So my Black Magic level stayed the same.

Two weeks had passed since we were summoned to the tutorial. My coins had surpassed 70,000. The elves had nearly recovered their original strength. By the numbers, their physical specs had all exceeded level 5 on average. As my magic power grew, the level of spirit magic rose as well. Elysha, who had been little more than baggage, was now pulling her own weight. It felt refreshing.

“Want to go catch the field boss?”

While we were simply having a drink to end the day, Dahui made the suggestion. Full of confidence, none of us refused.

I had been waiting for this moment—when we would finally ascend.

“Great! Dahui, that sounds like a wonderful idea!”

Elysha nodded her head vigorously.

The next morning, we headed straight for the field boss. The dark knight that once radiated overwhelming pressure was no longer intimidating. We had grown as strong as we possibly could on this floor, so it wasn’t scary at all. I dealt with the dark knight moderately. The important thing here was for the elves to reach 2-Star.

A portal appeared. Without hesitation, we stepped toward the 1st floor.

The grand auditorium greeted me. Thanks to the transcendent God adjusting the time ratio, all players who had cleared the 0th floor were summoned to the 1st floor simultaneously. Of course, the System had already measured the tutorial clear rankings. Since the academy’s purpose was to find promising seedlings, the System provided that much convenience.

The message pointing to Elena appeared. Upon reaching the 1st floor, Elena would stand on the platform and give a stern speech to the newbies. That was the obvious repertoire for this floor.

Clank. Clank.

With her armor making a loud racket, Elena ascended the platform. She introduced herself into the microphone enchanted with sound amplification.

“Nice to meet you. I am Elena, the education director in charge of your training… Hngh.”

That obvious repertoire had changed because of me.

“Why does it feel like that woman is only looking at you?”

“…Because I’m handsome?”

“…Sigh. You know I really want to beat the crap out of you every time you say that, right?”

Maybe I should have beaten her more thoroughly before coming here? Dahui muttered to herself.

“This place is the 1st floor, an institution called the Academy. Hngh. It’s similar to the Beginner Village on the 0th floor. The difference is that there are far ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stronger seniors lined up compared to all of you… Ahn.”

“Lady Elena, what’s wrong with you?!”

“I don’t know. I don’t know either…”

Elena kept letting out moans. Her face was flushed red as if she were aroused. Like a deposed queen, she was helped down from the platform by other players. Once she descended, Elena bolted out of the grand auditorium. She was so fast that no one could catch her. No one could stop her.

A brief silence fell. With Elena running away, the proceedings had halted. A senior player approached the massive ogre.

“…Lord Boldax. In Lady Elena’s place, please give the players a speech…”

The player who stepped onto the platform in Elena’s stead was the academy’s second-in-command, the ogre Boldax.

“Kuhahahahat! You want me to give a speech? You want this Boldax to chatter with just his mouth?”

Boldax was a belligerent player. Dahui, who had regressed repeatedly on the 1st floor, had learned of his notoriety through the rumors circulating among the senior riders. The fact that such a guy had stepped up to take charge of our group meant things wouldn’t proceed normally.

“For this batch, I’ll filter you all in the way I want!”

“Lord Boldax? If you suddenly change the process, Lady Elena will…”

“Shut up! This is all that bitch’s fault! She failed to properly perform her role!”

Boldax lightly ignored the player trying to dissuade him.

“Now! We will begin the ‘Ant Shaking’ immediately!”

I took a weapon out of my inventory. I discarded the greatsword I had picked up for the concept and went with an ordinary one-handed sword and shield.

“All of you, kill each other! Fight until exactly half remain!”

Only Elena held system admin rights in the academy. Boldax was simply running wild with pure malice. However, to the newbies and other players, it was an enormous threat. They had no choice but to obey.

They raised their weapons against one another. At this rate, the grand auditorium would become a sea of blood.

Elena, you fucking bitch. It’s an order, so get back here right now…!

‘What the hell is this? What is happening to me?’

In front of Pluto’s black magician, Elena felt a desire unlike anything she had experienced before. Afraid she would lose her mind and start masturbating in front of countless players, she pretended to be in poor condition and cut her speech short.

‘Ah.’

She had barely managed to escape, yet her womb throbbed. The Submission Oath tattoo engraved on her lower abdomen emitted a purple glow.

Her body had realized first that Pluto’s black magician had given her some kind of command.

‘This is bad…’

If she went to the grand auditorium, she would get closer to Pluto’s black magician. The bizarre chastity created by Pluto meant she could only feel pleasure when masturbating in front of her master. The desires that had piled up because she couldn’t relieve them for so long seemed ready to explode in front of Pluto’s black magician.

‘I have no choice… I just have to endure it.’

Steelng her resolve, Elena headed toward the grand auditorium. The auditorium was five minutes away from complete chaos. The newbies were attacking each other.

“S-stop thiiis!”

Barely ignoring her itching pussy, Elena squeezed out her voice. Everyone’s eyes focused on her. Her gaze met Pluto’s black magician’s.

‘Ah, ah…’

Trickle—.

Her love juices flowed down in streams.