Growth (4)
Yu Dahui was smiling at me. She already knew everything, as if saying with her eyes that I shouldn't try to deceive her. She was staring intently, waiting for my reaction.
'Just give up.'
Her eyes were telling me that. Despite the stubborn look on her face, I couldn't help but smile back. I couldn't stop the smile that naturally came to my lips. No more excuses would work.
The corners of Yu Dahui's mouth lifted higher. Her eyes narrowed into slits. There was no trace of hostility or anger. It seemed the words "I forgive you" were true.
“Dahui? Why are you doing this? Are you in pain?”
“No. I’m not in pain. Actually, I feel lighter than ever.”
The elves kept glancing back and forth between us with strange expressions. From their perspective, we must have looked like crazy people.
“Hehe, let’s go.”
Yu Dahui avoided the elves’ gazes and walked ahead. The goblin monsters she encountered were crushed without effort. I hadn’t even spent much time on the 1st floor yet, but dealing with ordinary goblins was easy.
'First City.'
Other players were scattered around. “Those huts seem to be the accommodations. Dahui, let’s share one.”
Elysha called for Dahui and started examining the huts.
While she was still pondering, Yu Dahui snuck up beside me.
“Dahui…?”
Elysha called out desperately. Yu Dahui waved her off, saying to wait a moment, then whispered right next to me.
“We need to separate from the elves. Got it?”
“Why?”
“That tiger beastman Horin. We have to challenge her for her stats. I saw you take her tiger head and level 2. That’s how aggressive Return by Death works. The faster you use it, the faster you grow. Since you know we’re regressing together, she’s decided to use the duel for an advantage.”
Even the novel version of Yu Dahui grows this way. In the early part, everyone happily accepts duels, so this is the perfect timing. After becoming quite strong and climbing higher floors, no one would risk going all-in on slave bread. That’s insane.
“You, how many stats do you have right now?”
“Me? Strength 6, agility 5.”
“Let’s only level strength to 8 and agility to 7. It’d be nice to level magic too, but it probably won’t work. Right?”
I kept my mouth shut because I was still hiding too much.
“You’re planning to regress here again?”
“Yeah. We have to grab everything we can. If you want to follow another race, you have no choice.”
Yu Dahui started speaking properly. The direction her masked self had been heading was finally correct.
“Your current level might be a bit low. Well, we can just try again. How about it? Sounds good?”
She asked for my opinion. I pretended to think it over, then nodded.
'This is the right way.'
The easiest way to level up. Later I’d learn swordsmanship or magic to master techniques, but right now, growing the hardware and hitting the numbers was the fastest. Learning skills with stats this low would be horribly inefficient.
“Then I’ll see you later, Dahui!”
We made a believable excuse and left the elves behind. Elysha waved at Dahui as she walked away.
Honestly, I didn’t care what happened to Elysha, but since Elena was with her, it probably wouldn’t be too dangerous. Losing to Horin meant she was already destined to regress, so her future didn’t matter much.
“They’re coming.”
After the elves disappeared, a beastman party approached from afar. The beastmen—more precisely, Horin. She was drawn to us because of her ancient elf made shadow spirit.
I didn’t know why she cared about ancient elves.
“Hey, human male!”
“Get out.”
Horin pointed at me. Yu Dahui pushed my back hard. I couldn’t resist. I ended up standing in front of her.
Horin looked between me and Yu Dahui, then asked.
“You! What’s the relationship with this human female?”
“We’re not related at all!”
Yu Dahui pinched my side. I felt like my flesh was tearing. I glanced back. Yu Dahui was glaring at me with narrowed eyes.
“So you’re promised for the future? Whatever. You smell familiar.”
“Familiar? I bathe every day, so I don’t smell.”
“Like the beastman hero Hugo.”
Horin was already mentioning known things. Hugo was skilled with ancient elves. The common point between us was that we were both learning ancient elf magic. The familiar scent could only be from ancient elves.
“Human male, abandon that female and come to me.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll drag you by force.”
“Here?”
I scanned the surroundings and mocked her.
“How?”
“...Like this.”
Horin glared at me and declared a duel.
[Player 'Horin' has requested a duel.]
“If I win, you’ll become my slave.”
“...Slave?”
“Yeah. Once you’re my slave, you’ll tell me everything about ancient elves.”
[Player 'Horin' demands compensation 'Kim Jinwoo'.]
A horrifying compensation. The moment I lost, I’d become Horin’s slave. As we climbed higher floors, more and more battles were decided by life as the prize rather than stats. If you chickened out and died, you’d never be able to hold your head up again. From that perspective, Return by Death was an insanely ridiculous power. Yu Dahui would never become a slave, no matter what.
“Slave, huh…”
“I won’t treat you harshly. I’ll even be cute, won’t I?”
My nape went cold. I didn’t even need to look back to know what was coming.
“Then I’ll only take strength level 3.”
[Player 'Kim Jinwoo' demands compensation 'Strength Lv.3'.]
I pretended to think it over and bet the reward. Since she was a bit weaker than Yu Dahui, this should be enough. After all, she was demanding my entire life. This was still a tiny bet.
—
Kim Jinwoo vs. Horin
Victory: Player Horin’s Strength Lv.3
—
A semi-transparent barrier spread out, separating the duel from the spectators. I took out my sword and shield. The moment I lost, I’d regress thanks to Yu Dahui. I’d loop until I caught Horin.
'This is going to be annoying as hell.'
I had to finish this quickly and move on. We were still barely in First City. When would we reach Second City? Third City? And after that, we’d need to recruit more players for the Temple of the Sea. When exactly were we going to do that? The joke was over. It was time to return to being the reader who knew everything about this novel—Kim Jinwoo.
[Return by Death has activated.]
“Kiiiaaaaaaaaah!”
Horin’s tiger fang came flying toward my face. I barely blocked it with a broken shield. If Yu Dahui hadn’t activated Return by Death with the Blessing of Suicide, my head would have exploded right there.
“Are you crazy?”
Elysha was looking at me like I was a bug. Yu Dahui patted her head and soothed her.
“...Elysha, there are times when I get like this. We have to understand each other.”
“Understand that? Dahui, your understanding is just too good.”
The two of them clicked perfectly. I looked at my only ally—Elena. Elena twisted her head awkwardly to avoid my gaze.
Vibrator ON.
Elena’s hand was trembling as she rubbed between her legs. It was the only part turned off; the vibrator was still inserted in her anus. Thanks to Elysha and Yu Dahui’s bickering, Elena had been able to turn it on without them noticing.
“Uuuuugh…!”
Elena stomped her feet, clearly upset about the punishment. But what could I do? When she stayed silent, Elena took out equipment from her inventory.
“U, um, let me give you some appropriate gear. Wearing this will make it less dangerous… ugh…!”
“Elena Captain?”
“Yes, Princess Elysha.”
“Elena Captain, you look uncomfortable. Are you hurt anywhere?”
Elysha was concerned. Behind her stood Yu Dahui. Yu Dahui was puzzled by the strange expression on Elena’s normally composed face.
“No… I’m fine…”
Her face was flushed with embarrassment. Anyone could tell something was wrong, but Elysha seemed to decide to let it go and moved on.
“Let’s go.”
The first challenge had failed. Horin was stronger than I thought. That meant Yu Dahui, who defeated her, was even stronger. I didn’t know what kind of blessing she carried. Because of me, Yu Dahui’s own path was twisted, so she was set up completely differently from Sodahui.
We arrived at First City. I stuck close to Elena. Of the elves, she had the most vitality.
“Relax.”
“Huh?”
“Loosen up.”
Elena was Pluto’s slave. When I wasn’t paying attention, she didn’t show it, but the moment I tried to drain her life force, black energy appeared above her head.
[Life Force absorbed.]
“Hiiik…!”
Elena’s eyes widened as she stared at me. She was protesting with her eyes. I ignored her gaze and continued draining her life force. High-quality life force piled up inside my body.
'As expected. 8-star. Mmm, delicious.'
I thought I’d be the one who got tired first. As I felt my body about to burst, I pulled out the straw I’d stuck in her.
“What are you doing…!”
“I just borrowed some life force. Thanks.”
“Y-You…!”
Elena couldn’t say anything and looked miserable. Even I felt like I’d be pissed, so I didn’t drag it out.
“Hey, Kim Jinwoo.”
“Elena Captain. It’s fine, right? The human wasn’t doing anything weird, was he?”
Elysha and Yu Dahui were giving me strange looks.
“No. I’m not weak enough to just stand by while someone does something weird. Thank you for your concern.”
Elena answered boldly. The vibrator was still vibrating deep inside her butt.
“Anyway, today we’ll rest. Let’s move tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Whatever Dahui wants.”
Using rest as an excuse, I sent the elves far away.
“...You, what’s the relationship with Elena?”
“What do you mean?”
“Yeah. Like before, that woman’s eyes are weird. She looks at you like she wants to eat you up. Annoying.”
Yu Dahui scratched her head vigorously. Her obsession was unexpectedly strong.
'Sodahui wasn’t like this…'
Sodahui was tolerant of colors. She’d built a harem, but it didn’t matter to her whether the fish she caught went out to spread seeds or not. Half the world was male, a third male, and she hated being tied down. The only thing that mattered was the son or daughter she’d give birth to. She only needed one man to plant his seed and become her family.
'She didn’t find anyone and the story ended.'
But she still had to repeat regression. That meant every loop, the connections changed. Even if she gave birth, the chance of meeting that child again in the next loop was almost zero. Since she’d regress even after giving birth, the connection disappeared. That’s why Sodahui delayed pregnancy until after clearing the Tower of Struggle.
“It really isn’t anything.”
“...When I catch you later, I’ll fill that virginity in your pussy, so figure it out.”
“Huh?”
I heard something insanely creepy…
“Hey, human male!”
Before I could answer Yu Dahui, Horin naturally appeared and the duel resumed.
—
Kim Jinwoo vs. Horin
Victory: Player Horin’s Strength Lv.4
—
I secretly raised the reward by one level. Even though it still wasn’t corrected, it seemed she considered it fair. Of course, if I lost, I’d become a slave.
'Thanks to Return by Death, I didn’t even think about losing.'
She was treating the victory reward she set too lightly. It was a life-or-death duel, but strength level 4 felt a little stingy.
'I’ll win and then think.'
In the previous loop, I hadn’t used black magic because I didn’t have life force. But this time it was different. I filled myself completely with Elena’s life force.
[Body Reinforcement activated.]
“Hoooli sheet.”
The effect was on another level. Even after life force drained away, more than half remained.
[Black Magic Lv.4 ▶ Black Magic Lv.6]
I was so thrilled by the high-quality life force that black magic leveled up too. At this point, I couldn’t lose even if I wanted to.
I gripped my sword and swung it. The force in the blade was far stronger than before.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Horin twisted her waist to dodge my sword, then rolled over me like a tiger.
It was a simple strength contest. I didn’t budge.
[Pluto’s Hand activated.]
Invisible black hands shot up. Because my black magic level had risen or the life force quality was better, Pluto’s Hand created three hands. Now I had five fists. She couldn’t win.
“Oraoraoraoraoraora!”
I pounded Horin mercilessly.
“H, surrender! I surrender!”
Her pretty face was now so swollen I could barely recognize its shape.
—
[Player 'Kim Jinwoo' wins] [Reward — Strength Lv.4]
—
“I’ll be going now, Kim Jinwoo. Next is agility.”
[Return by Death has activated.]