3 bar menu

Chapter 427 part 2

Still, the wall at Lv 25 is tough. We’ve already wiped out a good number of Dungeons, but I’m not leveling up. There might be some condition, but I honestly can’t think of any that I don’t meet at this point. I’ve killed Dungeon Masters, both King-class and Emperor-class ones. The number of kills is pretty high too. If that’s still not enough, then no one should be able to pass Lv 25 ever.

For my stats, HP, ViT, and PoW, which could even be called my weak point, are actually going up nicely. At this point, even when I level up, ViT and PoW only go up by about 10 per level. So I’ve basically gained the equivalent of 11 levels there. HP didn’t even increase by 20, so that’s like 8 levels’ worth. The rest is maybe 3–4 levels’ worth, but since my level doesn’t go up, I’ll take whatever I get. However, Body Refinement affected only my stats, since it’s not an actual level up, it didn’t do anything for my skills at all. But that’s fine too. For now, my physical stats are boosted thanks to the refinement, but since my level issues haven’t been solved, eventually, skills and equipment will catch up to them, and I’ll hit the point where I can’t fight due to self-destruction again. It’s just a temporary fix, not a solution, but it bought me some time. If I can keep putting temporary fixes constantly, it will work out somehow. Sooner or later, even my skills and equipment will hit their peak… and that’s when I’ll hit my true limit.

For a moment I was wondering where did Holy Magic go, but a bunch of others is gone too, everything merging into 『Compound Sorcery』. No idea if it’s affected by the number of magics or combining them on purpose. Mechanics of this one are very unclear.

Biggest jumps『Limit Break』『Lewd Arts』 and 『Sex King』 all got 2-levels. Then there’s 『Regeneration』 at MAX~, how straaange~, I do totally have the idea how this happened, how surprising?

Since I learned Holy Magic and became a 『Great Sage』 my 『Archmage』 title vanished. 『Swordmaster』 went up two levels, but it’s still below Fish Girl’s『Sword King』, If I don’t catch up, I might end up having to call her Fish Girl-sama!

I’ve been careful not to increase my gear too much to avoid triggering self-destruction, but somehow I’ve got tons of new items, how strange?『Panacea Anklet』 『Earcuff of Weal and Woe』 『Aegis Shoulder Link Guards』 , and also my items with slots. No wonder effects go out of control and trigger self-destruction.

『Demon Beast King’s Bracelet – Increase All Abilities, PoW 81% UP, SpE 77% UP, ViT 41% UP』 It’s a fusion of the item that had forest monsters’ armlets to which『Demon Beast Bracelet – Increase All Abilities』 got attached. They fused and now they can’t be separated, so it’s just one item now.『Demon Beast King’s Bracelet』. This thing looks very suspect like a culprit for the self-destruction, but at this point there are too many suspects, so there is probably more than one culprit, or maybe it’s the case where everyone is a culprit. A perfect crime committed in the open sight. Which means they aren’t even trying to hide?

And my mastery of Path of the Staff seems to have evolved to Ultimate Staff Mastery. I haven’t gotten any complaints from the alternate-world branch of the Shinto Musō-ryū Staff Arts school either, so this should be fine.

After a quick scan of the status I’m now sure of it. Yep, this is bad. Just when I was about to head over to the Theocracy, my abilities are a complete mess. I don’t self-destruct anymore, so I can push myself harder, but my techniques can’t keep up at all. I mean, if your stats suddenly change by hundreds of points, your body becomes something else entirely. The change’s been so sudden that it totally caught me off guard.

「Hey you, staring at me from over there, come out and I’ll give you some snacks? C’mon, I’m heading to do morning calisthenics and then off to Taikyokuken training, wanna come with me? I mean… I’m totally screwed if I don’t practice, aren’t I?」

(Nod-Nod, Nod Nod, Jiggle-Jiggle)

No, Armored Pres-san and other repeatedly warned me against using『Orb of Life – Transmutation, Body Refinement through Alchemy and Arts of Bedchamber, Requirement: Alchemist, Great Sage』, like, they would go 『Don’t use it』『Don’t use it』『Don’t you dare』over and over. And so, naturally, I tried using it, and turns out, it was actually a big deal! T-This was a trap!

「It is, your own fault. Equipment, can be taken, off. But… body refinement, is permanent.」

「That is a body of this world…
The body you obtained, is not the one you had in your world.
You barred from going back, unless you find a way to revert the effect.」

(Bounce-Bounce!)

Slime-san crashed into me in an angry tackle lecture. Armored Pres-san and Dancing Girl-san are on the verge of tears too, so I pat their heads. I have sweets too, so I’m totally prepared.

「Yeah, no, I’m your master. I’m not going anywhere? You said we’d always be together, so I’m staying right here. So my body doesn’t matter. I mean, I’m still a proper, legitimate, ordinary, human… person, so I’ve got a finite lifespan, but we’ll be together until then, so it’s fine. I told you from the beginning I had no intention of going back? I just want to send Pres and the others back. And also launch the Geeks and Idiots into another dimension? That’s it? Because they’re annoying? If there is some sort of a dimensional rift or something they’d be perfect to plug it up? Or clog it?」

Apparently, I’ve got a body with which I can’t return anymore. It’s like I’ve eaten the food in the land of the Dead and can’t leave. But we’ve been devouring food of this world on a scary scaled, absorbing its nutrients, I wonder if that’s okay? Well, I guess that’s why they were telling me not to use the 『Orb of Life』.

But still, if I could refine my body once, I’m pretty sure I could also re-refine it too? I mean, I even took a pre-refinement backup with Wisdom-san? Yeah, backups are the most fundamental of fundamentals for Highschool Boys from my world… Everyone’s had their share of painful losses and learned the hard way, with tears in their eyes. If you’re a Highschool Boy from over there, that trauma’s carved into your soul. We all grew up losing our precious data (p**n). The culprit’s usually the hard drive, you know? It’s tragic?

Armored Pres-san and Dancing Girl-san were bawling… Did their hard drive break too? Even if you can’t give up on recovery, sometimes it’s just impossible?

Well, I don’t need to tell them about backups. They probably figured I’d disappear someday anyway. If that’s the case, it’s better they think I can’t go back anymore, it’ll help them feel more at ease. After all, I made my decision back when I brought Armored Pres-san up from the depths of the great Dungeon. Then I brought Slime-san with me, freed Dancing Girl-san, and now there’s the Demon Scythes, Rafflesia-san, and Master Golem too. The Bitches should go home already though. They are the arch-nemesis of my Affection Rating-san. 『He is still enslaving a high school girl!』If we went home like that, the police would get involved. I can’t go back like that!

I soothed them, fed sweets, stroked their heads, and finally got them to calm down. They didn’t want me to leave, but they still wanted me to be able to go back, that conflict must’ve been tearing them apart. That’s what made it so painful: both were genuine feelings. It’ll be lonely if everyone goes back, but I’ll still be here, you know? That’s exactly why I used the 『Orb of Life』.

After wiping away their tears and blowing their noses with a loud honk, we headed for the training grounds. It’s actually pretty dire.

First, I learned yoga from Dancing Girl-san. Matching breath and body, regulating the flow of energy. Then it was my turn, I taught them Taikyokuken. Slowly, gently, but with precision and intent. And gradually, we started with accelerando, going faster and faster.

Maybe it’s because my INT stat went up and I acquired Wisdom-san, but I can clearly recall even things I didn’t know before so it’s incredibly convenient. Even stuff I’ve never consciously memorized, just glimpsed or heard once, it’s all there in my memory. And now I’ve got the skills and stats to physically recreate it. But for now it’s still just knowledge, I need to put it into practice, internalize it, make the body remember it too.

Trace the forms, operate the body. Taikyokuken includes weapons, so it adapts well to swordplay, and its martial movements can be broadly applied. That’s probably why Armored Pres-san and the others liked it so much. But then one by one, more and more Spats Girls started joining in, and the thiccness just kept escalating.

The high school girls, their faces still retaining the innocence of youth, were earnestly practicing Taikyokuken with pure and serious expressions. But despite those faces, their curvaceous bodies wrapped in tight spats and sleeveless halter-neck tops radiated a mature sensuality, the fabric pushed up by their ample curves, straining with every motion. Their supple thighs gave way to voluptuous hip lines, showcasing their incredible figures as they went through their routines. Yeah, the showcase was closely captured by my『Rajingan』.

「Okay, time for breakfast. I feel like going any further would be dangerous for a Highschool Boy, so let’s shift gears into peaceful breakfast mode, moving out! These frustrated thoughts of mine are already turning into a sandwich, stuffed and squished and pressed tight like a repressive, overfilled Sandwich-san!」

「「「Sandwiches!」」」 「I want egg.」 「Ahh, me too!」 「No cucumber for mine!」 「For good luck, I want a pork cutlet sandwich.」 「Eek! A cutlet sandwich!」 「Hey hey, is bacon-lettuce okay?」 「Wait, we could do hamburgers too!」 「…A hamburger?」 「With tomato slices.」 「What kind of jam do we have?!」 「Alright, to the dining hall!」 「「「Let’s gooo!」」」

And so, another lively, noisy morning begins. Ah, I still have to distribute the upgraded armor. With this they should be fully protected against status ailments up to the 90th floo. On the flip side, it also means the 90th floor is still a no-go. To enhance status ailment resistance beyond this point would require lowering defense and sacrificing other effects. I couldn’t come up with a solution overnight, maybe some special material or technique would help, but nothing came to mind.

「「「「Itadakimaaaasu!」」」 「Where’s the egg one~」 「Te-te-teriyaki! So gooood!」 「Wait, me too! I want some!」 「Wha—there’s teriyaki, you say?」 「「「It’s delicious~❤」」」 「Ah! There’s corn potage over here!」 「「「Kyaaaaaaa!」」」

Last night, I relaxed during my sage time by quietly flipping through『How To Magic Tools!』 , then reread 『Know-How Magic Tools!』, and finally did a deep dive into『Let’s Go Magic Tools!』, while quietly complaining about the silly titles. It’s secretly one of my favorite reads, but I just can’t ignore that title. Afterward, I reviewed 『The Book of Forge-Alchemy』 and mulled over『Skill Analysis』 and this is as far as I got. But wait, I’m a Great Sage now, so was that 『Sage Time』 appropriate?

As for 『Transcendents’ Techniques』I still don’t even know what they do, so obviously I can’t apply them yet. Maybe I need a higher skill level in Transcendents’ Techniques? Or maybe the approach is fundamentally different from Alchemy? It could be that it’s purely internal-energy-based and doesn’t have an output component, I’m not sure. There are too many unknowns. But it should help with healing and resistance, at least.

Still, I couldn’t help thinking, this morning’s destructive power is off the charts. Turns out they’re wearing light makeup. When someone’s already beautiful, even a hint of makeup launches their charm into clouds, adding a layer of tension to the breakfast scene. And since the Bitches did everyone’s makeup and hair, the usual morning view had been transformed into something that looked like another world entirely. Just visually though, though.

「Hey, no hoarding the eggs!」 「Hey, that one’s mine!」 「First come, first served! Amm, ammm!」 「Give back my teriyaki!」 「Why are you tugging the plate like that?!」 「I haven’t even had a bite of hamburger yet!」 「Wahhh, who ran off with the jam?!」 「You’re hogging too much, share already!」…

Their beauty stat might be through the roof, but their girl power still seems to be replaced by pure greed. I mean, isn’t it a waste to put on lipstick and gloss before eating in buckets?

That said, the results are impressive. These bitches are basically semi-pros in the field. Apparently, they turned down idol scout offers and only accepted modeling gigs, studying fashion coordination, design, makeup, and hair styling, real professional display models. They deliberately refused any exclusive contracts, choosing only jobs that matched their personal taste, and even though they claimed to be just 『reader models』 they ended up actually influencing the fashion industry. A terrific charisma squad for the girls… or so the girls in the fashion club passionately explained. But honestly, they were probably just terrifying and prone to biting things. Yeah, even now, the monster world is being overwhelmed and pushed to the brink of extinction. Just look at the way they are chomping on those sandwiches. Despite already having one in each hand, she still took a bite out of a third. That’s our Bitches, could probably become a monster-world icon at this rate?

「「「Thanks for the meal~! That was delicious!」」」

With lips freshly touched up in vibrant rouge and glossed to a dazzling shine… they put on their helmets. Yeah, they came wearing armor, after all? Even after all that, only the people here are going to see it. So doesn’t that kind of defeat the whole point of dressing up to go out?