Vol. 1 Chapter 10 – ……Ah

“Now then, I believe all of you have been challenging the dungeon on your own, but……”

Touma could take ordinary subject classes in a perfectly normal way, but the specialized subject classes still felt detached from reality.

Even when he opened the textbook for specialized subjects, it felt like he was looking at a strategy guide for an RPG game.

That tendency was especially strong in Introduction to Labyrinths, taught by their homeroom teacher, Midori-sensei.

Content-wise, it was probably something like a comprehensive study of dungeon exploration and conquest.

In the first lecture, they were given an explanation about the facilities related to the dungeon.

The central focus was, as expected, the 『Rashoumon』 located beneath the academy.

On weekdays from Monday to Saturday, it opened at noon and closed at five p.m.

The timing for entering the dungeon was up to the students, but at closing time, they would be forcibly returned.

The most crowded time was at closing, and apparently upperclassmen commonly shifted their timing by using an item that allowed them to escape the dungeon at will.

The item 『Return Bead』 was sold at the purchasing department, and at one hundred thousand『sen』per person for one bead, it was expensive, did not keep for long, and could only be used on the same day.

Given the price, it could be called an item meant for advanced users.

When students returned alive from the dungeon, they needed to bring the monster crystals, which served as a source of income for students, to the purchasing department.

They were charged onto their『sen』cards through a machine like a cashier at the register, and naturally, this also became crowded.

Apparently, crystals had 『freshness』, and they began deteriorating the moment they left the dungeon.

Earning crystals, which were converted into the unique currency known as sen, might feel close to a part-time job.

If dungeon diving were compared to something in an ordinary school, it would surely be like an athletic club activity plus a part-time job.

Thinking of it that way, Touma started to feel like there was not that much difference between life at an ordinary school and life at the academy.

Although he did feel there were some differences, especially in terms of public morals.

“As important elements in conquering dungeons, there are special abilities known as 『skills』. These are……”

Rather than calling them skills or magic, Touma personally felt that calling them psychic powers fit better.

At first, he had been told that they could only be used inside the dungeon but he felt like he had used Spatial Storage outside too.

Actually, it was convenient, so he had been using it constantly.

It seemed like some kind of dead space with a dangerous smell to it but it was just right as a trash can.

Tissues he had blown his nose with, tissues he had wiped his penis with, tissues he had wiped his butt with…… though he did flush those down the toilet, as expected.

Come to think of it, how much storage capacity did it have?

He felt like it had easily fit three guys inside.

It might be a good idea to test how many goblins could fit in it.

They were planning to attack the dungeon again after school today, so he should probably also verify his other skill, Information Viewing.

In fact, he was using it even now but he thought this was probably what they called a constantly active skill.

As for what kind of function it had, it turned his field of vision into a first-person shooter game screen.

A bar graph labeled SP appeared in the upper right of his vision, and in the upper left, the party member list and their SP displays were lined up.

In the lower left, Touma’s own status display was shown.

When he moved his eyeballs, the interface display automatically shifted to a position where it would not obstruct his vision, which made him feel pretty sick.

Also, the classmates within his field of vision had ▼ marks over their heads and their names and such were displayed too.

He had thought it was convenient since he could learn the names of people he did not know, but for some reason, when he called someone by their full name, they became so frightened they looked like they were about to cry, so it had become a dead function.

Incidentally, Touma’s displayed level was 29, while Seiichi and the others had all risen uniformly to level 14.

Touma stretched his fingertip toward the display frame in his vision and adjusted its position slightly.

It was a convenient design that could be operated with touch-and-drag, like a virtual window.

The guy in the seat beside him was looking at him with frightened eyes but from an outsider’s perspective, it was probably suspicious behavior.

Then, Touma suddenly noticed that the word 『Class』 had been picked out on his own status display.

The current display was 『None』.

When he tapped it, a list box showed a long row of words that seemed to be candidates, but there were a bit too many, leaving him unsure how to deal with it.

He would ask someone like Seiichi about it later.

＊　＊　＊

“You mean class changing?”

Seiichi, who had been comparing long weapons in the purchasing department, turned around.

The previous dungeon had proven how useful weapons that could secure distance were.

Being able to strike from outside the range where the opponent’s hands could reach was, unsurprisingly, powerful.

This time, they were choosing items in the purchasing department so each of them could carry a long weapon.

“Indeed.”

Since Touma was in a 『None』 state to begin with, it felt less like a change and more like a get.

“True, it might be better to start thinking about it now, but that’s still something for later, you know?”

“Okay, okay. I want to become something cool like a magic swordsman!”

“There’s no class like that.”

Mai, who was holding the same spear that had been included in the New Student Recommended Equipment Set (D), got shot down.

Among the spears sold at the purchasing department, this one was the cheapest.

It was cheap, but it was solidly made, and as expected of a recommended item, it was orthodox, easy to use, and had no strange quirks.

There were also so-called pole weapons lined up, such as Japanese-style naginata and Western-style glaives and halberds but Touma figured those could not be mastered without a fair amount of training.

Ease of use was important.

“……Yeah. That kusarigama you’re holding looks super easy to use.”

“It definitely suits Touma-kun…… but maybe it suits him too well, so it’s scary.”

“Actually, where the hell was that thing even placed? That weapon’s way too minor.”

Even though kusarigama techniques were counted among the eighteen traditional martial arts, Seiichi’s jokes were as witty as ever today.

For some reason, they were on sale, so Touma bought one immediately.

What he really wanted was a weighted chain but apparently they did not carry those.

Since it could not be helped, he tried buying up all the kusarigama instead.

“Uwaa, I don’t really know why, but that’s super scary.”

Maybe they had little stock, because Touma managed to get about three of them.

He wanted Shizuka to carry one too but she seemed like she might tie herself up with the chain or cut her finger with the sickle, so he decided against it.

In the end, Seiichi and Mai bought spears, and everyone bought cut-resistant gloves.

While they were still not used to handling blades, there was a high risk of cutting their own hands, so they were recommended.

They were also convenient for punching.

Shizuka was imitating shadowboxing but her stance was terribly awkward and cute.

Perhaps Seiichi had been struck by inspiration because he bought brass knuckles.

The end-of-century style, complete with spikes, had a very chuuni flavor.

Seiichi already had an established reputation for looking like a slightly bad delinquent boy.

With a spear carried at an angle over his shoulder and those rugged knuckle guards fitted on his hands, he gave off such a dangerous feeling that when he walked down the hallway, people averted their eyes and the path opened before him.

“Just so you know, it’s not me.”

Since they decided to adjust the timing of their dungeon dive, they took a tea break at the vending machine corner in the entrance area before the stairs leading down to Rashoumon.

There were no vending machines inside the dungeon, so it seemed many students bought drinks to take with them for hydration.

Come to think of it, there had been what looked like a street stall but apparently its location was a random POP, so they probably should not count on it.

As a test, Touma bought a bottled carbonated drink and a canned coffee, then put them into his item box.

He was a little worried that the drinks he put inside might undergo some strange change, but he thought he would share some with Seiichi later.

“Hmm. There’s no need to be modest. As men, we should wear at least some intimidation.”

“Yeah, some, sure. But when not a single person can lift their face, I think that’s way too much.”

Fair enough.

They had talked about avoiding anything that would make them stand out and there was also the possibility that someone might take strange notice of them and pick a fight.

In other words, Seiichi probably wanted to say that Touma could not suppress his bloodlust before a battle in the dungeon.

Seiichi really was a passionate guy.

“……You definitely don’t get it. I feel like you’re pinning this on someone else super naturally.”

“It’s all right. Touma-san is cool.”

“As long as he’s not holding a kusarigama. Also, I think swinging it around is dangerous.”

Mai gave him that warning but if Touma did not get it accustomed to his hand, he would not be able to use it in actual combat.

The chain seemed sturdy enough too and its weight balance was better than his homemade version.

Incidentally, the blade part of the sickle had a proper cover fitted over it, so it was not dangerous.

At Toyoashihara Academy, where every student carried weapons around, the school rules established a ban on drawing blades inside the school.

“I only just learned this too but the scary part of a kusarigama isn’t the blade or anything, huh……”

“Well, I guess it’s better to try anything at first but if you keep using nothing but weird irregular weapons, you’ll mess up your class change, you know?”

Seiichi, holding a demitasse cup of unsweetened coffee, sat down on the bench.

“What do you mean by mess up?”

“Ahh, apparently if things go smoothly, you’ll usually become able to class change around the second term, but……”

Toyoashihara Academy used an orthodox three-term system.

The first term ran from April to July, then after summer break, the second term ran from August to December, and after winter break, the third term ran from January to March.

“When you class change at the『Cathedral』, if you’ve built up weird experience, apparently you get assigned a weird class.”

“Um, what do you mean?”

Mai, who had naturally secured the seat next to Seiichi, tilted her head slightly.

“The one called the basic class is 『Warrior』, right? After that, there’s 『Thief』, 『Mage』, and stuff.”

“They did say 『Warrior』 was recommended.”

Touma felt like that had indeed been written in the Introduction to Labyrinths textbook.

In a class change, the class one was suited for would be automatically granted.

Apparently, the facility for that was the 『Cathedral』.

The class granted automatically was chosen at random from among the classes whose qualifications one met, so if there was a class someone wanted to become, they would have to try class changing over and over.

However, one’s level reset with every class change, so it was probably a kind of gamble.

In exchange, once one became an advanced class, apparently the physical ability corrections would also increase.

Touma would not know what it was actually like unless he tried it.

For now, what could be said was that this was not a skill-system RPG, but a class-system RPG.

“If you’ve been doing weird stuff, apparently you end up drawing a dud class. Like 『Gadabout』 or something.”

“……Uwaa. But I’m kind of interested in what kind of skills it can use.”

“I can’t say it too loudly, but apparently the Enjoy Group usually end up becoming that kind of thing.”

It seemed students who had given up on conquering the dungeon were called the Enjoy Group but since it was also a derogatory term, his voice naturally grew quieter.

Touma folded his arms while looking at Shizuka’s status as she sat neatly beside him.

He had opened it from the party member list in the upper right, and he could view it the same way as his own status.

When he tapped class 『None』, a selection candidate list box appeared in the same way.

Its contents differed from Touma’s list, and there were not that many choices.

There were also quite a few dud classes, according to Seiichi’s standards.

There was a suspiciously large lineup of things like 『Gadabout』, 『Prostitute』, 『Service Princess』, 『Srx Slave Princess』, 『Doll Princess』, and 『Toilet Princess』.

The 『～Princess』 types had an SR mark attached, but just because something was rare did not mean it was good.

For the more harmless-looking rare types, there was 『Spearman』, and then perhaps 『Shrine Maiden』 from the 『Mage』 lineage.

The corrections on the 『～Princess』 types seemed fairly good but Touma had a feeling they were landmines.

That said, while Touma was looking at candidates like 『Sex Slave Princess』 that seemed nicely erotic, Shizuka, who had at some point hugged his left arm as if holding it close, was looking at the same spot with moist eyes.

When he moved the cursor over things like 『Doll Princess』 and 『Toilet Princess』, she seemed sad, but it definitely felt like she could see it.

She seemed personally fine with 『Service Princess』 or 『Sex Slave Princess』, but Touma would not recommend types like these that did not seem to have any future branches.

He was not Mai but he was a little curious about what kind of skills they could use.

Touma stopped Shizuka as she timidly reached her fingertip toward 『Service Princess』.

Though he did not think Shizuka could operate it.

Apparently, rather than Shizuka herself activating Information Viewing, it seemed more like she was sharing the information in Touma’s field of vision.

If she were actually going to class change, it should probably be something fantasy-standard like 『Shrine Maiden』, not a type that seemed likely to apply corrections to nighttime activities like these.

“Ahh, sorry to interrupt while you two are off in your own little world, but……”

“It’s not just that you stand out, it’s more like we’re the ones getting embarrassed……”

Touma understood. Since he was in a posture that looked like he was holding Shizuka’s upper body down, it could also look like he was about to force himself on her.

It seemed like they were going to be misunderstood again.

“I’ll hold back from pointing out that it’s not a misunderstanding. Well, should we head to the dungeon soon?”

“Okaaay.”

“……Ah.”

His hand slipped, and Shizuka’s class was confirmed as 『Shrine Maiden』.

Looking at Shizuka, nothing in particular seemed to have changed and she did not seem dissatisfied with the class either.

However, the fact that her level had dropped from 14 to 1 was probably what they called level drain.

Her SP value also seemed to have fallen slightly along with the level down, but to begin with, was the SP display supposed to be something like HP in an RPG game?

It was too late now but this did not seem like something he should mess with on his own.

“It’s all right. Please use me to test it.”

“But……”

“I belong to you, after all.”

“Geez, come on already. We’re going. We’ll leave you behind, okay?”

＊　＊　＊

──Interworld Labyrinth 『YGGDRASILL』, Connected Branch World 『Underworld Pass Area』────Third 『San』 Layer, 『Kichigai』 Region──

[参（san） is an alternate/formal kanji for 三, meaning three. It is often used in formal numbering, old-style writing, financial/legal documents, or fantasy-style labels.]

“Gegigii!”

A goblin clutching a club attacked the intruders who had stepped from the corridor into the chamber.

Suuu, the boy standing at the front drew his right arm far back and threw the weapon in his hand.

A weapon that left one’s hand became mere matter.

In battle inside the dungeon, that meant it could not inflict damage.

As the depth of Tokoyo, the world depth, approached the root, the influence of matter and astral reversed.

Mind and flesh, soul and body, heart and body.

The『Soul-Binding, Body-Controlling』technique, which formed the core of the Rashoumon System, swapped matter and astral.

In other words, one wore the mind, used the flesh as the core, and defeated monsters that were manifestations of miasma.

It was a system designed to efficiently strengthen the soul, which was difficult to train as a creature of Tokoyo.

[Tokoyo = the eternal world, the everlasting world, the otherworld, the realm beyond ordinary reality]

A level was the rank of the soul, and an enhanced mind would make the body obey even in Tokoyo.

The mind transcended the body.

Once one exceeded level 10 by level standards, the astral was already at a stage where it was almost unaffected by matter.

In other words, against Third Layer monsters with a layer regulation value of 20, ordinary projectile weapons were no more than distractions.

Precisely because it understood that, the goblin charged without any caution, only for a chain to wrap around its legs and send it tumbling headfirst with force.

The kusarigama, used not as a thrown weapon but as a hunting restraint, stopped the goblin in its tracks exactly as intended.

When the fallen goblin raised its face, it saw, beyond the spearheads thrust toward it, the faces of two girls gritting their teeth. Then it was stabbed to death with thrusts.

A weapon held in the hand became unified as part of the astral.

In the hand of the boy holding a second kusarigama, the weight spinning hyun hyun struck hard against the arm of a goblin holding a short sword.

As the goblin reeled backward, the sickle sank sakuri into its neck, and blue bodily fluid scattered horizontally with a pa.

The kusarigama was then used as a thrown restraint to trip another goblin, which was finished off by the two spears serving as the follow-up.

“Shi!”

At the same time Seiichi stepped in, he exhaled, and his fist slammed into a goblin whose posture had been broken by a feint.

The short sword gripped reverse-handed in his left hand was for parrying the goblin’s attacks, while the brass knuckles fitted over his right fist punched through the goblin’s jaw.

If he viewed it not as a killing match with weapons in hand, but as a ring fight or a street fight, then to him, the goblin’s movements were nothing more than an amateur’s telegraphed punch.

Even if his strikes did not have enough killing power, a goblin that was staggering and swaying was already no longer a threat.

Although they were monsters manifested from miasma, as long as their materialization imitated living creatures, their bodies were also physical organisms.

The goblin, whose jaw had been punched through and whose brain had been shaken, dropped to its knees with a sway and then had its windpipe slashed open.

“……Shh, not bad. I feel like I’ve found my style.”

Seiichi, after letting out a deep breath, stared at his own right hand.

“Haa, that was scary…… The feeling of stabbing really is gross.”

Beside Mai, who was leaning on the spear planted against the floor, Shizuka nodded while still gripping her own spear tightly.

“But that was because Touma-san prepared everything for us.”

“Yeah. If it’s just going from somewhere the fallen goblin’s hands can’t reach, then maybe even we can do it.”

“I’m just barely managing one-on-one too, I guess. Actually, I had this preconception that projectile weapons wouldn’t work, but using them to stop movement…… I can’t believe you thought of that…… wait.”

Touma, carrying a six-sided six-shaku staff on his shoulder, went around retrieving the kusarigama left behind where the vanished goblins had been.

Seiichi, who had his arms folded, narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

“What’s wrong, Seiichi?”

“No……That thing. It’s the club we picked up yesterday.”

Just as Seiichi was about to say,『right?』the six-sided six-shaku staff vanished as if slipping and melting into space.

He pressed a finger against his temple and looked diagonally upward.

“Hey…… Touma, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“You able to use some kind of weird skill or something?”

“Yeah.”

Leaving Seiichi, who was massaging his own temples, aside, Shizuka gathered the goblin crystals in little choko choko movements and handed them to Touma.

Touma tossed them straight into Spatial Storage with a jara jara clatter.

“Shall we go to the next one?”

“No, wait. Hold on a second. At least let me react to that.”

“Um, are we doing it already?”

“No, that’s not it. You don’t need to take anything off. It’s not fellatio either.”

Mai, who had plopped down at his feet, puffed out her cheeks.

“You want to do it with Shizuka more than with me?”

“Um, no, thank you.”

Shizuka muttered that as she smoothly escaped, hiding behind Touma’s back.

“Seiichi. I think that’s insincere toward Mai, who devotes herself to you.”

“You got tired of me……”

“No, you’ve got it wrong! I want to do Mai too, no, that’s not what I mean.”

Mai reached out and placed her hand softly, against Seiichi’s penis.

“Sorry for teasing you. But, it’s starting to ache a little around now……”

Seiichi scratched his head and looked up at the ceiling.

＊　＊　＊

While staying alert to his surroundings inside the dungeon, Touma had chosen a rear standing position, taking the removal and re-equipping of gear into consideration.

With Touma leaning his back against the wall, Shizuka, who was resting against him with her back turned, went limp with a soft, exhausted slump.

Since he was holding her around the stomach with one arm and also hooking her from below, she did not collapse or sink down.

When he stroked the area around her navel with his right hand, which he had slipped inside her blouse, she arched back and rubbed herself against him like a spoiled puppy begging for affection.

Unlike at the beginning, Shizuka had been finishing first more often lately, so Touma felt a little bad about it.

He had wondered whether she was being considerate and pretending to have gone over the edge but while they were still joined, something rather sticky and thick clung around him from the inside and even the sounds had an erotic feel to them.

“So, if it’s a skill you can use even without class-changing, that means it’s an innate supernatural ability you were born with, right?”

“I think that’s probably different, though.”

“Mmm… Seiiichiii.”

Mai, who seemed to have been pleasantly overcome by level-up intoxication, clung to Seiichi from the front and spoiled herself against him like a kitten.

Her cute butt was completely exposed beneath her skirt, and as Seiichi held up one of her legs, she restlessly swayed it while rubbing her cheek stickily against his chest.

“Did she pick up some weird habit from all those consecutive battles yesterday?”

“I came properly prepared today… so, do it more?”

“What a hopelessly lewd girl.”

“I thought I’d be rape with every battle but you keep teasing me, Seiichi.”

“I’m not planning to finish every single time and are you really fine with being treated like a tool to calm my arousal?”

Mai, whose ear was being nibbled, trembled her small butt and nodded.

“If I’m being used by you, Seiichi, then it’s fine. …At night, make sure you love me properly, okay?”

Touma was impressed by how Mai, unlike the impression she had given at first, had become completely devoted and earnest but since Shizuka was getting strangely stimulated by it, he thought it would be better in moderation.

To be specific, she was appealing with her attitude and her eyes, as if saying,『Me too』.

Well, Touma’s side had no intention of backing down.

“A Gift, huh. I suppose there are people like that too.”

Was it what they called a so-called psychic ability?

“There’re rumors that there are people like that in the Hana Group too. Maybe you’d call it bloodline inheritance. Those guys have apparently been leveling up here for generations, after all. Rather than atavism or mutation, the manifestation rate is probably higher, y’know.”

“Hmm. Then Spatial Storage really is something different after all.”

“…What’s that?”

“Apparently, it’s some mysterious space you can put almost anything into.”

The spirit Suke-san had also said it was a newly made skill.

Touma himself did not really understand it either but he gave them a rough explanation.

Incidentally, since it looked like the meeting time was going to drag on, Shizuka happily stayed in service mode, continuing to sway her butt.

In fact, a mysterious class like 『Service Princess』 seemed like it would be the perfect match for Shizuka.

“You traded with a Rare… wait, 『Shop』!”

As Seiichi raised his body in excitement, Mai, clinging to his chest, went all loose with a melted expression, as if the inside had also risen up with a tight twitch.

“One of the Seven Wonders of the Dungeon. The Dungeon Shop that sells anything.”

“By the way, the place where the shop was before had turned into a wall.”

“Y-yeah, figures. They say that thing is like a mirage in the desert. There are sightings a few times a year, but it’s not something you can just search for and find.”

Mai seemed to have had her switch flipped again and started tugging with little kui-kui motions. As Seiichi stroked and adored her, he looked up at the ceiling.

If it truly sold anything, then there was no way Seiichi, who had been searching for a method, had not looked into it.

“Well, if it really exists, then I’ll just keep searching until I find it. So, Touma.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you tried that outside?”

If he meant outside the dungeon, then the answer was yes.

“I see… I see, I damn well see. So it really is like that, huh? Damn it.”

“Ah, ah, ah, amazing, amazing, Seiichi, you’re amazing!”

Seiichi twisted the corners of his mouth upward into a distorted smile, then held Mai’s legs and began thrusting his hips with heavy motions.

Touma understood getting excited because a hypothesis had been proven but at this rate, Mai was likely to pick up even more strange habits.

Since Shizuka, watching enviously, looked like she might do something reckless, Touma lightly scooped up her leg and lifted her into the air.

He really wished she would not sulk and shrink into herself like that.