Chapter 8: A Repopulation For This Dungeon!

  Part 1

  After my cafe date with Rin, I went to 'Sunshine' smoothie to claim my weekly 'Stamina' bonus.

  I was expecting to get a 'Charisma' bonus as well, but…

  This store is no longer considered trendy! No 'Charisma' bonuses will be awarded!

  Trends come and go, after all.

  I used the money I stole from that delinquent to buy a blueberry banana smoothie.

  While enjoying my smoothie, I thought about my stat increases.

  Although I was making steady progress, my physical stats were only just reaching those of an average person's.

  There was still quite a long way to go.

  The only stat that was truly improving at a fast rate was my 'Cunning' skill.

  If it wasn't for my atrocious 'Speed' and 'Dexterity', perhaps I would have been better suited for the Thief class.

  While bemoaning my lack of innate talent once more, I headed home once I finished my smoothie.

  In terms of weekly stat bonuses, there were also Kazuto's lessons on how to pick-up girls.

  If it wasn't for the stat bonus, I wouldn't bother going to that brat for lessons.

  When I got home, I found him playing on his Nintendo Switch.

  …Did this guy actually have a girlfriend?

  "Hm? Nii-san wants a lesson again? It can't be helped…"

  Acting so smug about it…

  "Listen, nii-san, girls like it when you're a bit mean to them…"

  He then proceeded to give me the most generic pick-up artist advice ever.

  Your 'Charisma' has increased by +1!

  It still ended up raising my charisma somehow.

  After getting the weekly lesson from Kazuto, I went up to my room to do homework.

  It was almost the end of the month, meaning that I would soon see the rewards for my hard work at school.

  Since the dungeon was out of commission for a few days, I had a lot of free time to work on trying to raise my stats and learn new skills.

  However, just like before, simply doing a bunch of random tasks around the house didn't do anything.

  I remembered what Mitsurugi said, about how only meaningful practice and outcomes will trigger an improvement in stats.

  If it came to meaningful training, I remembered that early on, I gained some points in 'Speed' after I ran for 30 minutes straight.

  "...What a pain."

  Although I didn't really want to do exercise outside of what I was already doing in the soccer club, I put on my tracksuit and headed outside.

  With my improved stamina and training, I didn't struggle anymore when it came to jogging for 30 minutes.

  I even lasted an hour of jogging around my neighborhood before I needed to take a break.

  You broke your previous jogging record! Your 'Speed', 'Stamina' and 'Willpower' increased by +1!

  Pushing past my limits increased a lot of my stats.

  If I could raise my physical stats this way, I wondered if it was the same for the other stats.

  Would the same work for magic?

  I tried it out, going to my backyard.

  I set up some used cans in a line and pointed at them with my finger.

  "[Tinder]!"

  With the newly improved [Tinder], I noticed that the bolt of fire that shot out of my finger had more power behind it than before.

  It knocked the can over and left a burn mark on the surface.

  I proceeded to knock over the rest of the cans until I was low on mana.

  Your 'Magic Power' increased by +1!

  It really did work.

  Although I'd have to keep increasing the intensity of the practice to see actual results.

  "Nii-san, what are you doing here? Dinner's ready."

  Kazuto called out to me from the house.

  After eating dinner, I went up to Aqua and said,

  "Since you made the app, can you tell me what kind of practice I need to do to raise each stat?"

  Aqua, who was eating ice cream in the living room, said,

  "...Isn't it obvious? Best way to increase your physical stats is to exercise. Best way to increase your intelligence is to study and to perform intense mental tasks. You get faith by praying and doing good deeds. You increase magic stats by practicing magic."

  "I'm asking for specific things I can do… For example, with 'Intelligence', studying is more of a long term thing. Is there anything specific I can do to raise the stat right now?"

  "You can try learning about a subject you're not familiar with. I don't know, maybe watch a documentary or something."

  "Alright, sounds good."

  I took the remote and changed the channel she was watching.

  "Hey! I was watching that TV drama! If I don't watch it, I can't talk to the housewives in the market!"

  She had too much time in her hands.

  I ignored her and switched to a documentary channel. There was a documentary on about the theories behind dark energy.

  "Oh, this is actually pretty interesting."

  I said, watching the program. I didn't really watch documentaries before because I thought they were boring. If someone mentioned 'dark energy' to me, I'd assume it was an RPG thing.

  Something Megumin would make a chuuni speech about.

  "...This is lame. I'm going to my room."

  Aqua said, getting up and going upstairs.

  After watching the hour long documentary…

  Your 'Intelligence' increased by +1!

  By the time I finished the documentary, I found myself feeling really tired.

  It was as if exhaustion filled my body all at once.

  Warning! Your 'Stamina' is dangerously low! Overtraining might result in physical and mental fatigue!

  I didn't notice it before, but it seemed that stat training actually took up a fair bit of stamina.

  Even though it was listed as a physical stat, 'Stamina' was also affected by mental training.

  Making sure to take that into account next time, I went to bed early and went to sleep.

  Part 2

  "Good morning, senpai!"

  "Morning, Rin."

  Walking to school with Rin had become a daily routine.

  Since my relationship with Rin had good momentum…

  "Say, Rin, I heard that 'The Magic Tanuki Girl' has a movie adaptation coming out this week."

  "Oh, yes! I'm gonna watch it when it comes out, of course!"

  "Do you want to watch it together?"

  "I was actually going to ask you, senpai, but you beat me to it!"

  A good mood really was forming between us.

  At this point, it wasn't strange if I actually ended up dating Rin.

  Since the movie was coming out on Sunday, we made plans to meet up at the movie theater.

  Your 'Bravery' increased by +1!

  Asking her out on a date increased my 'Bravery'.

  I was in a good mood throughout the day.

  During soccer practice, I was still in a good mood.

  "Whoa, Satou… You're playing inspired today."

  Mitsurugi said, once he saw me finally pulling off a cross that was halfway decent.

  "Well… Life is better when you have something to look forward to at the end of the week."

  "...I don't want to kick you down while you're feeling good about yourself, but it's kind of creepy to see you acting like this."

  During practice, I focused on practicing my passes and finding open teammates during the practice matches.

  I also made sure to play with more intensity than before.

  Your 'Dexterity' and 'Intuition' increased by +1!

  Soccer practice took up half of my stamina points, lowering it to 25.

  Since it was a Tuesday, I headed to my part-time job at the convenience store after soccer practice.

  It was a straightforward job and I could afford to go on autopilot while still performing well.

  "Good work. Here's your pay."

  The boss handed me 3,000 yen.

  I'd need this money for the movie date with Rin.

  Although, I'd have to pay 1,000 yen to my parents…

  Your 'Willpower' and 'Bravery' increased by +1!

  Going to work decreased my stamina points all the way down to 10.

  I figured that I could train one more stat for the night before I became exhausted.

  When I got home, I went to the backyard and practiced my magic again.

  This time, I filled the cans up with rocks and tried knocking them over.

  It took two shots to knock the cans over this time.

  Your 'Magic Power' increased by +1!

  Aqua was watching me train my magic midway through.

  Once I was done, she said,

  "I'm glad you're taking things seriously for once, Kazuma!"

  "Why don't you train your stats, too?"

  "Hmph. Unlike you, most of my stats are already incredibly high! Only my 'Intelligence' and 'Luck' have low scores!"

  Was that really something anyone could admit enthusiastically?

  Magic training took up the rest of my stamina points. After doing my homework, I prepared to head to sleep.

  Before I could tuck myself in, I got a text notification. It was from Darkness.

  "Hello, this is Darkness. Chris and I went to the dungeon, but it seems that something terrible happened in the Giant Toad area. There are also no monsters on the first floor. Chris seemed really upset about this, and I want to help her somehow. If you know anything about this, please tell us. Thank you for your assistance."

  Why was her texting style so formal?

  Even though she was like that in real life.

  I felt bad since I had a hand in the destruction of the Giant Toad area.

  I didn't know why Chris was upset about it, but she did seem to take her duties as Eris's hero candidate seriously.

  After sending a text back to Darkness telling her that I'd meet up with them to help tomorrow, I went to sleep.

  …

  …

  The next day went about the same as the last.

  Since I promised to head to the dungeon with Darkness and Chris, I didn't spend too much energy in soccer practice.

  "And I thought Satou started taking this seriously…"

  Mitsurugi had this to say as I phoned it in during practice.

  "We have a game on Friday. You better be in your best condition by then."

  "Yeah, yeah."

  I ignored his nagging and continued to lazily practice.

  I went to the dungeon after practice was over.

  Darkness and Chris were waiting for me inside the entrance. I waved to them as I saw them when I entered the dungeon.

  "Yo."

  "I'm glad you agreed to help, Kazuma-kun… This is quite the crisis."

  "I think I got the gist of it from what Darkness told me."

  I said, acting as if I didn't know exactly what happened.

  Your 'Cunning' increased by +1!

  It made me feel like an asshole everytime that particular stat improved.

  "Darkness and I have been investigating and we found a bucket near the Giant Toad area."

  She held up the bucket that Megumin left last time.

  It was filled with rotting carcasses. I pinched my nose.

  "...I wonder why a bucket is here in the dungeon."

  Darkness said, while peering at the bucket.

  "I have a theory. Inside the bucket, there's something written there with a marker. It says 'Container of Madness'. I believe that this is a tool that the Demon King army used to gather the creatures in this area, in order to drive the monsters to extinction."

  "They already infiltrated the dungeon?!"

  "Perhaps…"

  Chris actually thought that Megumin's chuunibyou nonsense was part of the Demon King army's plans.

  I almost wanted to apologize.

  Darkness went on to say,

  "I dug up some of the debris in the Giant Toad area, but we couldn't find any clues aside from the bucket. The Demon King army probably left that there to taunt us. What despicable demons… Hehe…"

  She grinned, as if she was excited to meet these same demons she described as despicable.

  Also, she casually said that she dug up the debris… How strong was this girl?

  "It seems you two already did most of the investigation. I suppose you don't need my help…"

  I was eager to turn around and leave.

  "You can still help, Kazuma-kun! I actually have a plan to repopulate the first floor. After all, it's bad if this area doesn't have monsters in it for new hero candidates to train on."

  "Ah… Sure. I'm glad to help."

  I really wasn't.

  Chris led us to the Giant Toad area. Along with the dungeon repairing itself and Darkness cleaning the debris, there was a pathway to the second floor door now.

  "Alright, let's head to the second floor! I'm sad that we couldn't beat the Giant Toads, but what's done is done."

  "I'm going to miss those Giant Toads…"

  Darkness seemed genuinely remorseful that the Giant Toads were no more.

  I didn't know what they planned to do on the second floor, but I still followed them, unable to refuse.

  Along the way, I saw the corpse of a Giant Toad, buried underneath some rubble.

  I also saw the dungeon floor siphoning off the rotten flesh of the Giant Toad, absorbing it within the dirt.

  What a gruesome sight.

  Part 3

  The second floor led into another maze-like area with torches along the wall.

  It seemed that, aside from the wide area boss room that had unique biomes, most dungeon floors had a labyrinthine, cave-like environment.

  "There's an enemy around the corner."

  Chris said, using her [Enemy Detection] to find the enemy.

  Since we both had similar skill sets, I felt a bit redundant.

  "Hah…!"

  Darkness tried to cut down the big eared monster known as a gremlin, but she missed badly with her greatsword.

  "Kyiii!"

  The gremlin let out a loud shriek and jumped at Darkness, attempting to bite her.

  "...Its bite is not that strong."

  Darkness said, sighing in disappointment as she held her hand out for the gremlin to bite.

  "[Bind]!"

  Chris threw a rope at the gremlin, tying it up.

  "Alright, let's bring this to the first floor."

  Their plan was to repopulate the first floor by bringing down low-threat monsters from the second floor.

  As for the monsters who were too strong for the first floor…

  "Kazuma-kun…! Shoot down its core!"

  A purple slime came out and attacked Darkness.

  "Ah…! This one actually hurts a little! Is that poison? It's trying to poison me… Kuh!"

  "[Snipe]."

  I put an end to Darkness's fun by shooting the core of the slime, making it disperse.

  It was my job to take care of monsters that could harm beginners on the first floor.

  With Darkness as the frontline, all I had to do was follow it up with an attack.

  As for the monster loot, we didn't make much money since we were splitting it three ways, although I did get 15 EXP from taking monsters down.

  Still, the 350 yen I earned was a paltry reward for all the effort we were putting in.

  So far, Chris had captured a gremlin, a pair of kobolds and a pair of goblins.

  Although gremlins were a bit stronger than kobolds and goblins, they were still low-class monsters that weren't a threat to beginners.

  "What do we do for food? All the creatures on the first floor have also disappeared."

  I said, after we left the gremlin on the first floor. Thankfully, since the environment was similar, the monsters didn't panic too much when they were relocated.

  "Since the monsters feed on regular creatures, I suppose we can just bring some from the outside world. There are also monsters that resemble food, but they just use that appearance as a disguise to hunt other monsters that try to feed on them."

  She was probably referring to food-based monsters like the Flying Cabbages and Lettuce that I encountered before.

  Speaking of food-based monsters, the next one we encountered fell in that category.

  Green Onions came out from the ground and attacked us once we got close.

  "...! A-Amazing! They're whipping me! Although it doesn't hurt that much, this is…!"

  Darkness cried out in ecstasy when the green onions started using their shoots to whip her.

  I glanced at Chris, who weakly chuckled and said,

  "S-She has strange hobbies, but I swear she's a nice girl!"

  We defeated the Green Onions and brought them to the first floor.

  Surprisingly, those things gave out a lot of EXP.

  I got 30 points just from taking down 2 of them, while Chris took down some herself.

  "Let's see… I think this will do."

  We planted the bulbs of the green onions near the pond on the first floor.

  "Let us pray to Eris-sama for the growth of these green onions…"

  Showing a serious side for once, Darkness put her hands together and prayed.

  We joined her in prayer, wishing for the growth of these green onions.

  Your 'Faith' increased by +1!

  "I'm sure Eris-sama is happy with your prayers!"

  Chris said, after we stopped praying.

  "...Since these green onions give out a lot of EXP, won't the monsters who eat them become too powerful for beginners?"

  I said, the thought just occurred to me after I remembered what happened to the Giant Toads.

  "Is Kazuma-kun worried about the monsters evolving? Don't worry, for low-threat monsters, they don't have the capacity to evolve. The only ones we brought down that can evolve are the kobolds, who can evolve to kobold heroes, but there's a specific requirement for them to evolve that doesn't involve gaining a lot of EXP."

  Monsters apparently had a limit on how many levels they could gain. I suppose there was no such risk of a goblin god variant emerging.

  "May these goblins grow big and strong…"

  I didn't even want to know what Darkness was muttering about.

  Part 4

  Chris said that she'd try and bring some normal creatures and animals from the outside for the monsters to hunt.

  "Thanks for coming to help, Kazuma-kun!"

  I waved goodbye as I saw her off.

  I turned to Darkness and said,

  "Well… I should get going, too…"

  "Please wait."

  Before I could slip away, Darkness asked me to stay.

  "What is it…?"

  "W-Why are you looking at me with those eyes full of suspicion?"

  Did she give me any reason not to suspect her?

  Collecting toad slimes, getting off on monsters beating up on her, muttering about wanting goblins to get big and strong…

  This girl clearly had several screws loose.

  I didn't want to bother talking to her if Chris wasn't around.

  Darkness was the hot girl's weird friend you pretend to get along with.

  "...It's not much, I just need Kazuma's help to complete a quest I have."

  "I refuse."

  "P-Please let me finish!"

  Because of her usual behavior, even that sentence seemed lewd to me.

  "Fine. What's the quest?"

  "Well, one of them requires a man to slap me on the face…"

  I wound up my arm and slapped her clean on the left cheek.

  "..."

  She stared at me in shock.

  "What? You asked for it."

  "Y-Yes, I did… But to think that you wouldn't even hesitate…"

  "Listen, I'm a man who values the concept of 'gender equality' greatly. If you think I'll hold back just because you're a female, you're dead wrong."

  Besides, she asked for it.

  "A-As expected! I had high expectations of Kazuma… but you've far exceeded them!"

  She looked at me with bright eyes full of admiration.

  "Right… Well, I gotta get going now."

  "Thank you for helping me! I hope I can rely on your help again in the future!"

  Just leave me alone already.

  She went back into the dungeon to the entrance she used to get in.

  She was clearly a foreigner who lived in a different part of the world, but I didn't know which country she came from.

  Your bond with Darkness has deepened!

  Darkness (Masochist Crusader), Bond Rank: 2

  At Rank 2, Darkness has decided that you have what it takes to be an excellent sadist. She will seek you out whenever she wants to receive your punishment. She also thinks that you have the face of a scumbag who likes to abuse women, and that your abusive slap is commendable. She believes that you can be the S to her M and would like you to proactively abuse her more in the future.

  Bond Reward: +5 Health.

  …The reward itself was good, but everything else wasn't.

  She was clearly a girl I needed to stay away from.

  …

  …

  Since I used a lot of stamina in the dungeon, I didn't have any energy to train my magic or do any exercise.

  I wanted to watch a documentary to try and raise my 'Intelligence', but Aqua learned her lesson from last time and kept the remote away from me.

  Thanks to her, I was stuck watching a show where a mix of idols and experts in various fields were reacting to trending shops.

  I was surprised to see the cafe I went to with Chris and Rin featured in the show.

  "This cafe has drawn in many young people! It is recommended to order their specialty lattes and cheesecakes!"

  "Wowww~! That's amazing~!"

  "It is always inspiring to see small businesses like this thrive, even during our slow economy."

  "Ahhh~ Is that soooo~?"

  An idol and an economics expert provided their opinions on the cafe.

  While watching this segment, a notification popped up on my phone.

  The 'Sakura Cafe' is now considered a trending store! Weekly bonus of +1 Charisma increases to +2!

  I felt bad for 'Sunshine Smoothie'.

  The public's interest shifted away from them.

  I vowed to remain as a loyal customer.

  Mostly because of the stamina boost.

  While slouching lazily on the couch, Aqua said,

  "A trendy cafe, huh? I bet Kazuma will never step foot inside it, being a HikiNEET and all."

  I smirked and replied,

  "Actually, I went there with Chris and Rin before. Not only that, I'm going on a movie date with Rin this Sunday…"

  Aqua stared at me and blinked,

  "You know, I don't appreciate you using me to raise your 'Cunning' stat…"

  "I'm not lying."

  I tried to convince her, but she couldn't believe that I actually managed to score a date with a girl.

  Frustrated by Aqua refusing to believe me, I went upstairs and texted Rin.

  "Hey, just making sure, you remember that we have plans on Sunday, right?"

  I only just realized after I sent it how desperate-sounding this message was.

  "Of course, senpai! Let's sneak in some snacks, OK? Theater food is too expensive…"

  I actually got a flutter in my stomach from that.

  Even though I kept insisting to Aqua that I really was going on a date with a girl, maybe a part of me also didn't really believe it.

  Getting a cute reply like that from Rin not only confirmed it, but it gave me a rush of excitement, too.

  "..."

  And then the anxiety came.

  Going on a date with a girl… It was something I hadn't done before.

  Not to mention that my 'Charisma' was at a 30 and my 'Attractiveness' was just about average.

  Even the app was saying that I had no chance.

  The bond description did say that I could ask Rin out on dates, but that didn't necessarily mean that we were dating yet.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Ah… Who knew that these sort of normie matters were this complicated?

  Back then, I would scoff at guys who desperately tried to woo girls.

  Now here I was, panicking over a simple date.

  It wasn't that easy living as a normie, huh?

  After worrying about the date for a few hours, even staying up until midnight, I sent a text to Mitsurugi,

  "I'm sorry for being prejudiced towards you before."

  I thought that normies lived on 'Easy Mode', but even guys who were successful with girls had their own worries.

  After a while, he replied,

  "Satou, I'm telling you this as your teammate and acquaintance… It's not good to drink at a young age. Wait until you're older."

  He thought that I was drunk texting him in the middle of the night.

  Part 5

  After an ordinary day at school, I headed over to soccer practice.

  Since there was a game on Friday, the coach had us do a series of skirmishes against each other.

  "Good, Satou-kun! Your passes are getting crisper!"

  Ever since Mitsurugi started getting me to work on crosses, my skill regarding them got better.

  I focused especially on early-crosses, since I was playing a Midfield role.

  Your 'Dexterity' and 'Intuition' increased by +1!

  Speaking of Mitsurugi, after practice was over, he approached me and said,

  "...Listen, Satou… I know it's stressful having to balance soccer, school and all the dungeon stuff, but…"

  "I wasn't drinking last night."

  I set the record straight with him before he got any weird ideas.

  After soccer practice, I headed over to my part-time work.

  "Hey, boss, do you need me to work an extra shift today?"

  I said, trying to get more money from my boss.

  "Hah? Are you trying to buy a new game, or something?"

  Even those outside my family thought that I was the kind of guy who'd spend all my money on video games.

  "I'm going on a date with a girl this Sunday."

  "Ahh… You buying an eroge, huh? Well, since I'm only having you work 2 shifts a week, I think it's fine to give you a few extra. I'm pretty sure the legal limit is 28 hours a week for students, right?"

  After I convinced the boss, I managed to work extra hours.

  That drained all of my stamina for the night, though.

  Still, it was worth it since I earned 6,000 yen.

  That left me with 8,900 yen in total.

  After I accepted the sealed envelope with my pay from the boss, I headed home.

  I enjoyed the night chill as I walked along the city streets.

  It was occasionally nice to take such walks during the night. Since I was hungry after skipping dinner, I stopped at a ramen stall to get something to eat.

  Since I needed to recover the calories I lost from soccer practice and working an extra shift, I ordered a substantial pork-broth ramen with extra chashu slices and half-boiled egg.

  The whole thing cost me 650 yen, but it was worth it since I needed to fill my stomach.

  While enjoying the salty pork broth, firm noodles and the tender slices of pork belly, I saw out of the corner of my eye that the guy next to me was trying to slip out without paying.

  The store keeper was busy dealing with another customer, while this shady guy slowly stood up and tried to escape.

  He had blond hair, which didn't look like it was dyed, meaning he was likely a foreigner like Darkness.

  His shabby clothes and attempt to dine and dash led me to believe that he was a down on his luck foreigner, who couldn't afford a meal.

  If this guy did this around me when I didn't have extra cash on me, I would have ratted him out to the shopkeeper.

  Instead, I took out some money and said,

  "Shopkeep, I'm with that guy over there."

  The shopkeeper turned around and glanced at the both of us before shrugging and accepting the money.

  The blond guy sat back down on his seat and patted my shoulder,

  "Whoa! Dude, thanks for treating me!"

  I finished up my ramen and turned to look at him.

  At first I thought that he was speaking in perfect Japanese, but I noticed that there was a difference with the way his lips formed words, compared to the perfectly accented Japanese I was hearing.

  Could it be… Was the app translating what he was saying to me?

  From what I understood, only fellow app users and those from the so-called 'other world' could activate the language translation feature of the app.

  Your 'Intuition' increased by +1!

  I knew it.

  "Oi… You're an app user, aren't you?"

  I said, holding out my app title screen to show to him.

  "Eh? Ah… You're one of those guys. I don't really have an app, though."

  He took out a card from his pocket and showed it to me.

  It showed his stats, although unlike mine, his were restricted to 'Strength', 'Health', 'Speed', 'Dexterity', 'Magic Power' and 'Luck'.

  "Huh? What's this? You don't have a phone?"

  I said, when he showed me the card that looked like it functioned like my app.

  "...What's wrong with having a good old fashioned Adventurer Card, huh?! All you weirdos with apps are what's strange to me. The original is better, that's what I say!"

  What a weird guy.

  Even though he was around my age, he was talking like some bitter old man who was scared about technological advances in the modern age. I said,

  "I'm Satou Kazuma. What's your name?"

  "Hm… Call me Dust."

  He really was a weird guy.

  Even if he was a foreigner, I didn't know any foreigners who had the name 'Dust'.

  "I take it you regularly explore the dungeon, then?"

  "Not really. Not since the first time I arrived here. Say… I know a way to pay you back, Kazuma. You looking to have a good time tonight?"

  "Sorry, I don't swing that way."

  "That's not what I meant. You see, there's a certain service that opened up in the city recently and they serve guys like us."

  "Guys like us? You mean dungeon explorers?"

  He nodded and took out two tickets and handed one to me.

  The ticket said 'Succubus Shop' in fancy cursive.

  It clearly referred to some kind of red-light district service.

  "I'm interested."

  "Hoh! I knew I could get along with you! Come with me and I'll show you the way. Hehe…"

  Even though this whole thing was shady as hell, I allowed Dust to lead me to this so-called Succubus Shop.

  Part 6

  When I tried searching up the Succubus Shop in the Service Locator app, it said that there were no matches.

  That could mean that the app wasn't aware about this service, or it was blocking information about it as a form of censoring.

  I found myself even more intrigued.

  "Here it is…"

  After dragging me to the red-light district, Dust pointed to a dark alleyway. I said,

  "Just so you know, I have a trained hitman who will come look for me if I don't call him every 30 minutes."

  "...What's up with that obvious lie? And I already told you that I'm not up to anything suspicious."

  I suppose not all of my lies worked.

  I used [Night Vision] and [Farsight] to look ahead in the alley.

  Instead of finding a group of thugs waiting to ambush me, I found a floating door, similar to the dungeon entrance.

  "Seems you were telling the truth…"

  "You're one paranoid guy. Let's go already."

  I followed him to the door expecting [Enemy Detection] to activate at any time, but it never did.

  Dust never really explained what this Succubus Shop was. I could only guess until the moment we reached the door and he opened it.

  "Welcome to the Succubus Shop! Ah, Dust-san, welcome back! Oh, did you bring a friend?"

  All my worries and doubts disappeared.

  The scantily clad girl in front of me was clearly not human. She had erotic features that looked like they came out of an eromanga, as well as monstrous features like a tail and wings.

  Without a doubt, she belonged to that famous classification of devils called a succubus.

  "Bwehehe! Yeah, I came back right away~! I get a discount for bringing this guy, right?"

  "Of course!"

  He was just using me to get a discount. I wasn't too surprised.

  Another succubus came out to take Dust to one of the many private booths set up around the shop.

  Looking around, I saw that there were other guys in here. From what Dust told me, they were fellow app users like myself.

  It was my first time seeing a large group of app users. I was a bit curious about their identities, but they hid themselves well in the privacy booths.

  Completely understandable.

  "Well, then, sir…"

  "I'm Kazuma."

  "Kazuma-san! Please follow me!"

  I gulped as the succubus turned around and started walking, leading me to a booth.

  My eyes naturally gravitated to her butt and the tail that wagged behind her.

  I gave a silent thanks to Dust, as I followed this real life succubus.

  Once we were in the booth, I said,

  "Should I take my pants off now, baby?"

  "...Eh? Did Dust-san not tell you? We don't provide those kinds of services here…"

  "Thank you very much. I'll see myself out."

  I stood up from the chair as soon as I sat down.

  "At least let me finish my sentence."

  The succubus's hospitable smile started to become thin and forced.

  She explained to me how this succubus shop worked.

  The succubi that worked in this shop were migrants from the other world.

  Once the Demon King army managed to open portals to our dimension, some accidental rifts opened up in the other world.

  Humans and devils alike found themselves stumbling into our dimension.

  Without a way to return to their dimension, since the Demon King army's portal opening capabilities were also limited, they had no choice but to stay in our dimension and try to make a living.

  And of course, as succubi, they decided to go into the sex trade.

  There was a catch, however.

  They didn't offer sexual services directly, as they were concerned about how devils from the 'other world' and humans from this world might receive unforeseen diseases, and other complications, if they were to engage in intercourse.

  That was how they came up with the idea to use their dream manipulation powers to give humans hyper-realistic sex dreams, one that they could customize however they wished.

  "Genius… What a genius idea…"

  I said, once the succubus explained how the services worked.

  "I'm glad you think so! And all we ask for is a bit of vitality and a 1,000 yen fee!"

  "That's more than reasonable."

  I hurriedly paid for the service.

  "Thank you very much!"

  She happily accepted my money.

  I wanted to save money for the date with Rin, but this wasn't an opportunity I could pass up.

  "Now, let's get to the fun part! You can customize your lewd dream by filling out this form!"

  She took out a form and gave me a pen to write with.

  "Hm…? Why does it say 'preferred name' here?"

  "A lot of our customers want to try living as someone else in their dreams! A famous celebrity, an eccentric billionaire, a historical icon… There are some who even wanted to try switching into the body of their own relative!"

  That was more information than I wanted to know.

  I looked at the fields and they included a lot of customization options such as body specs, age and gender.

  It was almost like a customization menu in an RPG.

  "For now I'd like to play as myself…"

  "That's the recommended option for beginners! We once had a customer who asked us to make him a school girl in a non-consent tentacle play. He never recovered psychologically. Ah, I almost forgot, please sign this waiver…"

  I really didn't want to hear what the other customers asked for.

  After I signed the waiver, I looked at the rest of the options past the customization part.

  "Let's see… Sensation levels, moral filter, realism, time span… There's a lot of options here."

  "We aim to provide the most satisfying experience for customers! Time span probably needs a bit of clarification. You see, time can work differently in a dream, especially with the assistance of us succubi. We could make your dream scenario last for several years, even an entire lifetime, even if you've only been sleeping for a few hours. Or we could design a sexual encounter that lasts for only five minutes, even if you've been sleeping for much longer."

  I wasn't sure if I could handle living an entire simulated lifetime, only to wake up to my own reality.

  "For now, let's keep the sensation levels, moral filter and realism at a 'moderate' level. For time span… A one hour encounter will do."

  I wrote down my preference and moved on to the next part, which was similar to the customization field earlier, but this time it focused on the partner in the dream.

  "Oh… It says that I can have multiple partners?"

  "Yes! Not only that, you can customize everything about them, their appearance, personality and even age! If you'd like, you can even choose someone that you know, or a famous figure."

  "...E-Even their age. Isn't that kind of… dangerous?"

  "It doesn't matter. It's just a dream after all!"

  "...And you said that I can even pick a famous figure… Aren't there legal and ethical issues surrounding that?"

  "It's fine since it's just a dream!"

  "I-I mean… Let's say that I wanted to request an idol… Or an anime character. Aren't there legal issues concerning that?"

  "There's no issue if it's a dream!"

  "That's bad… Isn't it? I mean… What if, for example, I requested some seiyuu… If I asked for Takahashi Rie, Amamiya Sora and Kayano Ai at the same time… T-That's an invasion of privacy and an ethical issue, isn't it?!"

  "...I keep telling you that it's fine since it's a dream."

  I leaned back in my chair, amazed by the possibilities of this service.

  "Amazing… Truly amazing…"

  "Um, Kazuma-san… I do have to serve other customers…"

  She was telling me to hurry up.

  I opted to go the simple route for the first time and wrote down 'very beautiful girl' as my request for a partner. As for body type, I wrote down 'medium sized breasts and perfect, fit body'.

  It was my first time using this service and I didn't want to overload myself.

  The last option asked me to list my preferred scenario.

  I left it blank. I had too many fantasies to pick from and I didn't want to keep this succubus receptionist waiting.

  "Alright, you're all done! Just some instructions before you go. Please give us the address of where you're staying for the night and leave a window open, so that our staff may freely enter and leave. If you're going to drink liquor, please make sure not to drink too much, as this may interfere with your sleep patterns."

  "Roger!"

  I saluted her as she gave me the instructions.

  After giving her the address to my house and directions to my room, I headed out and saw Dust leaving his booth at around the same time.

  "Bwehehe… How is it, Kazuma? What did you ask for?"

  "It's a secret of course…"

  "Ahh… I asked to bang this hot girl I saw earlier who looked at me as if I was trash. I'm looking forward to putting her in her place tonight!"

  If it wasn't for Dust, I would have never found this place…

  Just like the crane from that legend, he repaid the favor he owed me.

  "Dust… Thank you for showing me this place."

  "Anything for my pal!"

  We exchanged a manly handshake.

  You have established a bond with 'The Blond Delinquent', Dust!

  Dust (The Blond Delinquent) Bond Rank: 1

  At Rank 1, Dust will remember that you bought him a bowl of ramen. You two share a common interest as patrons of the Succubus Shop. He views you as a fellow man of culture. Buying food for him and settling his many debts will deepen the bond between you two.

  …He had many debts?

  "Eh? Kazuma… Why are you backing away like that?"

  "Ah… I should head home soon. I want to experience that dream as soon as possible, after all…"

  "The night's still young! Let's get some more ramen! Or maybe some booze? Ah, you'll pay for me again, right, buddy?"

  This guy was trouble.

  Part 7

  "Hm? Kazuma, why are you so late?"

  Aqua was in the living room, enjoying a late night snack while watching TV.

  "...None of your business."

  "You probably just took an extra shift at work or something. You don't have a social life, so you can afford to work a lot of hours, huh?"

  Once again, I noticed that she was surprisingly perceptive.

  She was right about me taking extra shifts, but there was no way she could know about my visit to the Succubus Shop…

  "Wait… Sniff, sniff… Kazuma, you stink!"

  She started sniffing me. I backed away from her.

  "...I told you that I was working, didn't I? I'll take a bath, just leave me alone."

  Even though I didn't care at all about Aqua, having a beautiful girl say 'you stink!' over and over still did a bit of mental damage to me.

  "It's not that! This is not an ordinary HikiNEET stink… It almost smells like a devil's stink…!"

  "...?!"

  She was way too perceptive!

  "I don't know what you're talking about…"

  "Is it my imagination? Hmm…"

  Thankfully, she didn't start interrogating me about why I smelled like a devil.

  I hurriedly went upstairs and headed to the bath, scrubbing myself off from any devil scents.

  After taking a bath, I went to my room and prepared for the succubus visit.

  Even though it was chilly, I opened the window for the succubus.

  I changed my clothes, laid in bed and anxiously waited for the succubus to come.

  Eventually, the extra shifts from work started to take its toll on me and I began to sleep.

  …

  …

  "Begone! And don't ever come back!"

  When I opened my eyes, I assumed that I woke up prematurely.

  However, I remembered what the succubus told me, that it was hard to differentiate what was real from the dream.

  The fact that I was conscious meant that I was in a dream.

  I looked around for the beautiful girl I requested, only to see a familiar figure standing by my open window.

  It was Aqua.

  "...Damn. I should have been more specific."

  I said, regretting the fact that I only wrote 'beautiful girl with medium sized breasts and a fit body'.

  The description matched Aqua perfectly, but I didn't even have her in mind when I made the request.

  "Kazuma, you're finally up! There was this intruder and… What are you doing?"

  She said, as she saw me get up from bed and start taking my pants off.

  "You should know by now. Hurry up and strip."

  She stared at me for a while, before pointing at me accusingly.

  "Y-You finally lost it! I knew I was in danger living with a pervert like you! You can't help lusting over my divine body!"

  Even though this was a dream, she was just as annoying as she was in reality.

  "...Is there a way to tone down the bitchiness a bit? I guess not… Oh, well. I suppose this is fun, too, putting that useless goddess in her place."

  "Kazuma, you've been acting weird for a while now! Wait, don't tell me that… Hey!"

  I got up and grabbed her arm, pulling her to the bed.

  She looked up at me in surprise as I laid over her.

  "Despite your personality… I guess you are a bit of a looker. And your body is decent, I guess. Alright, let's do this."

  "Y-You really have lost it, huh?! Although it's not bad to hear Kazuma admitting that I have good looks…"

  "Yeah, yeah, I admit, you're kinda hot. That's the only thing you have going for you. Now shut up and just let me do it already…"

  "Are you that backed up?! As if I'd go all the way with you just because you said 'let me do it'! Kazuma… I didn't know you were this pitiful… I almost feel bad for you. Hmm… I suppose if you're that backed up, I could humor you a bit."

  I clicked my tongue. There was too much dialogue. When was the ecchi scene gonna start?!

  Despite my frustrations, this was part of the setting the succubus provided. It was rude not to play along.

  "Hah? Humor me? What do you mean?"

  Aqua gave me a smug smirk and said,

  "If you beg me, I suppose I can give you a bit of service, but don't expect me to go all the way!"

  "A bit of service? Like what?"

  "Like I said, don't expect me to actually give up my sacred maidenhood to you, but if you're that desperate, I suppose I can give you a 'helping hand'. Oh, you'll also have to pay me 2,000 yen."

  Even in a dream, Aqua was still greedy and opportunistic.

  "Fine. I suppose we can start with that."

  "...How did you get this arrogant? Did you always have this kind of confidence? Pay up first!"

  Since this was just a dream anyway, I didn't care about giving her my money. I took out the 2,000 yen she asked for and gave it to her.

  "Heh. You're so easy, Kazuma! You really are desperate for this, aren't you?"

  After putting the money in the pocket of her blue pajama bottoms, she pushed me off her and lifted herself up, hovering over me this time.

  "Pushing me down like that… Kazuma you really fell for my otherworldly charms, huh? Not that I blame you at all!"

  "Just skip the dialogue already and get to the foreplay. I don't have all night."

  I pulled down my pants, revealing the boxers I had on underneath.

  When I did that, Aqua blinked, then glared at me.

  "Why are you taking your pants down so easily?! Shouldn't you hesitate a bit first?!"

  This was just a dream. Why would I care about getting embarrassed?

  If this was real life, I wouldn't even think about this kind of thing with Aqua of all people.

  I was only going along with this since I already paid for the Succubus service, and I was curious about how it'd turn out.

  "Don't you ever just shut up?! You already accepted the money, so get to it!"

  I started to pull my boxers down.

  Just as I was about to whip my son out, I noticed something in the corner of my eye.

  Outside the window, there was someone waving their arms.

  She was flying outside my window, waving her arms around in a panic.

  A girl with light, pink hair, a tail and wings.

  "..."

  This was undoubtedly the succubus who was supposed to visit me.

  "..."

  Silently, I stopped pulling my boxers down and got up.

  I took my pants and put them back on.

  "Huh? What are you doing, Kazuma? Don't tell me you're chickening out."

  If this wasn't a dream…

  That meant I actually asked Aqua to…

  "Kazuma… Why are you crying?!"

  Tears ran down my cheeks.

  Warning! You received the 'Traumatized' condition! You will receive only half EXP while you have this condition!