Chapter 75: Welcome to the Ero-Trap Dungeon! "Dammit… where the hell am I?"
Sara grumbled as she scanned her surroundings.
The passageways, crudely carved and devoid of any decoration, looked identical no matter which way she turned. Walking for ages without a single change in the environment was enough to drive anyone insane.
The sensation of walking in circles sapped her motivation, and the tension that naturally seeped into her body from the eerie silence left her exhausted.
The dungeon maze must have been massive, as Sara had only run into a few other students on her way here. However, because of the teacher's earlier warning, the students were wary of one another rather than cooperative.
A vicious cycle took hold: a lack of trust led to isolation, and isolation led to heightened tension, steadily grinding down the students' mental fortitude.
This was exactly what the teachers intended—to test the strength of their mental state and see how they overcame stress when pushed to their limits—but almost no one realized it.
Even the claim that the teachers weren't watching was a lie. Since they placed great importance on character evaluation, they were checking every detail of how the students behaved when they thought they were unobserved.
"What is this even supposed to mean?"
Sara scowled at the numbers written on the walls at every fork in the path. She tried to mobilize all her magical knowledge to interpret them, but her grades at Yggdrasil weren't exactly top-tier.
In reality, the numbers had nothing to do with magic at all; they were just another trap set by the teachers. Unaware of this, the students grew increasingly stressed by the hopeless lack of answers.
Feeling like she was looping through the same area, she clung to the numbers again—her only lifeline—but still found no solution. She scratched her head irritably.
"I wish I could at least run into someone from my team."
Except for that guy.
Recalling Yeon-woo's face as he smirked at her mother, Sara furrowed her brows and started walking again. The fact that she was talking to herself more often was a sign of mounting stress, but people are rarely objective about their own state.
Just as she was beginning to flag, Sara reached a dead end.
"Argh!! Blocked again!"
As she vented her frustration, a treasure chest caught her eye. This was the second one she had found.
They said the contents were random, but she'd been lucky the first time; the item she found had lit the way toward the center. The problem was that it had lost its power and shattered in less than three minutes.
Even if it only lasted three minutes, Sara, having experienced the item's power, ran toward it with a face as joyful as someone discovering an oasis in the desert.
Click—
"Kieeeeeek—!!"
"Waaaaagh!"
The moment she opened the chest, tentacles shot out and coiled around her body. Having never expected a trap, Sara failed to react in time.
"Tch, let go! Ugh...!"
It would have been better if she were being attacked, but the tentacles focused entirely on binding her, leaving her completely suppressed.
Caught and unable to move, Sara struggled to break free, but the more she squirmed, the tighter the tentacles gripped her.
"This is so annoying! Urgh...!"
She reached for the stick at her waist, but the tentacles clinging to her wrists wouldn't allow it. Forced into a vulnerable position with her limbs spread wide, Sara realized how she looked and struggled even harder.
Just as she was thinking she'd die of shame if anyone saw her like this, she sensed someone approaching from a distance.
"Uh... what's going on?"
"...I'm sorry... but could you help me out?"
Seeing Sara bound by tentacles, the male student scanned the area. Wary that it might be a trap, he eventually approached her at her desperate plea.
"So there were treasure chests with traps, huh?"
"Thanks for help—hey, wait, that's..."
"Hmm? What?"
Her breasts, squeezed by the tentacles, were thrust forward as if begging to be touched. The male student pretended to pull at the tentacles while subtly rubbing his wrists against her.
He wore a face of feigned ignorance, but his wrists didn't stop rubbing against her chest.
"Get your hands off my chest."
"And here I thought you wanted help."
Even as Sara scowled, the male student sneered. He pulled his wrists away, only to start groping her openly with his hands.
"I said get off! I'll kill you! You're from Class D, right?! I'm seriously not going to let this slide!"
"How are you going to kill me? Besides, you're on the Red Team. Why should I help you?"
"If you're not going to help, then get lost! Ugh—!"
A moan escaped Sara's lips as the student roughly twisted her protruding nipple.
"Look at how hard your nipples are. You must be pretty excited. You can even see the shape through your clothes. Is bondage your thing?"
"Fuck! I'm not excited because of you! I'm really going to kill you!"
"Ahahaha! Cute. Go ahead and try to ki—"
Thwack—
The male student's head vanished in an instant, cutting off his sneer. Even in death, the headless corpse continued to grope her chest for a moment before slumping sideways. The man who had been hidden behind his back came into Sara's view.
"How dare you lay a finger on a meal someone else prepared."
Dazed, Sara didn't hear Yeon-woo's muttered words.
Of all people, the man who saved her in her moment of peril had to be him.
In game terms, Sara was an extra whose name wouldn't even appear. It wasn't that she started with -100 affinity, but she hated Yeon-woo because she had been humiliated by him during every exam.
She'd been hit by a suicide attack during the entrance test and had been submerged during the deserted island exam. To make matters worse, her mother kept praising him as a "good young man," which made Sara feel compared to him. Her pride wouldn't let her like him.
"You got here faster than I thought. You're good at finding your way."
Sara stared blankly at Yeon-woo as he looked down at her nonchalantly. Since she wasn't a potential companion character to begin with, she couldn't help but be affected by Yeon-woo's appearance.
Thump-thump—
Her heart began to race. Unable to meet Yeon-woo's eyes, Sara looked away and hung her head low.
A woman bound by tentacles is beautiful.
...No, that sounds too perverted. Let's rephrase.
A woman bound by tentacles is sexy.
...Is that any different? Anyway, tentacles are just inherently lewd objects by their very existence.
Just look at Sara right now.
The vulnerable, spread-eagle legs, the tentacles coiling around her as if milking her, the hair damp with sweat from her resistance—every single thing is a turn-on. I can almost understand why this prick tried to jump her.
The corpse had already vanished, likely having been disqualified, so I transformed my stick into a dagger and sliced through the tentacles.
By the way, I didn't expect Sara to be the first one here. Her grades are bad, but is she the type who's strong in practice?
Once freed, Sara kicked the shredded pieces of the tentacles, seemingly still fuming. If I told her I was the one who made those, she'd probably try to murder me, right?
I'd better keep my mouth shut.
After finishing her huffing and puffing, Sara noticed my gaze and quieted down. She spoke with her head lowered.
"Thank... you."
"Hmm? We're on the same team, so it's only natural to help."
"... ..."
"What? Did I say something weird?"
"You said you were going to wreck us on the first day."
"Ah~ I'll wreck you, but I'll also make sure you win. I'm going to wreck Black and White too. Anyway, want to follow me?"
I led the strangely subdued Sara toward the center. Since the tentacles were my magic, I could sense the area around them to some extent. This could be quite useful as a detection spell, couldn't it?
Of course, it's only to a certain degree, so I can't tell exactly what's happening or what's there, but I can sense that someone is present. For someone like me with zero detection abilities, this is a godsend.
Though right now, everyone is stuck in boxes, so I don't feel much.
As we reached the destination, I pointed to a door.
"Go through there and you're at the finish. You'll probably be in first place."
"Huh? You already found it, so why didn't you go in?"
"I told you, I'm going to wreck Black and White. I'm helping the Red Team as a side gig. Thanks to that, I saved you, too."
When I gave her a dashing smile, Sara avoided my gaze. I expected her to start swearing immediately, but what's with this submissive bitch move?
Maybe it's because she's her daughter, but she looks a bit like Yume-san. Her face is surprisingly cute and her chest is plump, so it's a turn-on when Sara acts shy.
But I have a lot to do right now. I want to play around with the Yume-lookalike, but I'm a man who gets his work done, so I hold back.
"Go on in. Congrats on first place. Your grades should go up a lot."
"But... you should be the one in first."
"The points and grades given to the team are similar up to fifth place. Don't worry about me and just go."
Sara hesitated before walking toward the door. I'm getting a reaction from my tentacles, so could you please hurry up and go in?
Unaware of my inner thoughts, Sara opened the door, hesitated for a moment, then looked at me and gave an awkward smile.
"Thank you."
She must be really grateful for the rescue. Sara left one last word of thanks and stepped through the door.
Once I confirmed she was inside, I immediately headed toward the source of the reaction.
Things worked out well, but it's a bit of a shame I had to use the Magnum. Frey told me that whenever I use the Magnum spell, I must kill the opponent to keep the fact that I have offensive magic a secret.
I've learned counter-magic, tentacle magic, and other annoying spells, but if people just openly ignore "Seo Yeon-woo," I'll have no way to deal with it. As I become more active, enemies will analyze me and find my weaknesses. I suppose that's the fate of a famous mage.
The Magnum is my trump card for such occasions. But I ended up blowing off the head of the pervert who was accosting Sara, exposing it.
...Well, but that bastard tried to lay a finger on the meal I prepared first. Neither the pervert nor Sara saw how I attacked, so it should be fine... right?
I should stop acting cocky just because I learned offensive magic and exercise some restraint.
As I got closer to the reaction, I peeked around a corner to see a literal hellscape.
"Dammit, hey! Untie this!"
"I'm caught too! Shit, if only my hands were free."
Ugh—seeing two men tied up and rubbing against each other is truly horrific.
Right. The Ero-Trap Dungeon had a way to exclude men, and I was too stupid to realize it. A girl who likes BL might have been excited, but for me, it's so gruesome I want to look away.
However, I need to clear them out so others won't know there's a mimic here.
"Hey, you! Help me out!"
"I'm sorry, Senior, but I'm on the Red Team."
"Does that even matter right now?!"
Doesn't it? From the perspective of this senior who is passionately rubbing bodies with another man, his team probably isn't the issue.
Ugh, seeing it up close makes my eyes feel like they're rotting. These tentacles, since their attack function is disabled, are forcing people into perverted positions regardless of gender.
I used the net I brought to bundle the seniors and the tentacles together, dragged them to the center, threw them into the soundproof barrier I'd set up earlier, and headed toward the next reaction.
The fish are biting the bait perfectly.
"You bastard! You did this, didn't you?!"
"Untie this! Untie it!"
"Doing something like this is so unfair!"
"Kyaa! Close your eyes! Don't look!"
Every time I added a fish to the tank, the insults directed at me grew louder. It's a full haul.
As expected, despite what people say, Yggdrasil is kind. The reason the students fell for it so easily is that they placed enough treasure chests in the dungeon for everyone to find at least one, and the items' abilities were genuinely good.
That's why they went crazy and rushed in as soon as they saw a chest. If this were a real battle, probably less than half would have been caught by a mimic.
Regardless of gender, the people bound by tentacles were all shouting something at me, but thankfully, I couldn't hear them because of the barrier.
"...Is that... going to be okay...?"
"It's fine. Please, go on in."
"Uh... thanks. For helping even though we're on opposite teams."
"Hey~ people should help each other out."
"I-I guess so?"
The senior from Blue Lagoon glanced at the people bound by tentacles before entering the door. My enemies are only Black, White, and Red, after all. I have no ill will toward Blue Lagoon.
Does that make eight people who've gone in? Five Red, three Blue. If I fill one more spot and then go in myself, that'll make exactly ten.
As long as I'm in the top ten, I can rake in the points. I don't need to worry about grades. Yggdrasil values the process as much as the result. The claim that they aren't watching is definitely a lie.
Even if they really aren't watching, tenth place is pretty good. My goal isn't first place anyway; it's getting a request license. As long as I'm in the top tier and can get the license, it doesn't matter if I'm 1st or 100th.
Oh, another reaction.
Humming a tune, I ran over to find our Mr. Pervert Tentacle lewdly binding a woman.
Blonde ponytail, sharp eyes, and a well-toned body.
Wait, Chika?
What are you doing there?
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