Shiro stared at her dark blue MP bar as she eked out this sentence—but. “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Sora waved his pointer finger—intrepidly. “Here’s the other thing: I figured out how to replenish our hope.” ?! The entire party stared wide-eyed at their leader, whose intrepidness deepened as he continued. “I want all eyes on my MP bar!! Notice anything interesting?” They shifted their gazes up, and after a few seconds— “…………! Your…MP…hasn’t, gone down…?” “Comparison: …Master’s MP…is the same as before arrival at the spawn point…?” Shiro and Emir-Eins were the first to notice, and what they shared shocked the rest of the group. The trap the party had set off earlier sent them into a horde of mobs, which they fought their way out of. Not only that, but Sora even used a mysterious ability toward the end to help get them out—and yet his MP was unscathed! In other words, the combat earned him enough MP to match what he lost in the battle! The six other members stared at his MP in awe while they waited for him to tell them the long-awaited reason why. “Yeah… We gotta play this game using our hope as our only weapon—if our HP, MP, and weapons are all visualizations of some vague concept of hope, then let me ask this question one more time.” It was the heart of the game and something that didn’t make much sense from the very start, and that was: “What even is hope?” “…Repetition: …Part of the ‘heart’ and ‘soul’… A general idea.” In this world, there was a concrete definition for hope— It was Sora’s third time asking the question, and the third time he received the same answer. It seemed to be common sense in this world. But with a smirk, Sora declared: “Nope. If that’s this world’s concept of it, then this world is wrong.” What was considered common sense in this world was utter nonsense, Sora suggested with a big smile. His claim left the party speechless. Sora began walking back and forth, proselytizing to them in a professor-like fashion— “What is hope? This is something that remains unknown even in my own world. The same goes for the soul, which we have yet to measure in any tangible way—but the mechanism behind hope and its principles are something we understand.” He stopped pacing and turned to the party. “In other words, hope is a highly physical and measurable substance!!” Sora said this with utmost confidence—could it be…? That hope, a feeling, an idea… Existed without the soul, and as a measurable substance? Not only that, but Sora even had proof of this? This was hard to swallow, even for a scientifically advanced being such as Emir-Eins, who stared wide-eyed at Sora as he explained wisdom from another world. What Sora was getting at clicked for one other member first: “…Oh…” Shiro seemed to pick up on things. Sora welcomed her realization with an enthusiastic nod. So what is hope? I have the answer for ya right here!! “Hope is nothing more than chemicals in your brain!!” BZAAAP!! Shiro imagined lightning flashing behind her brother as he said this. But. ………? The other five members—well, four, because Izuna had fallen asleep already—stood together utterly dumbfounded by what Sora was getting at. But he didn’t leave them in a daze for long as he enthusiastically continued!! “Lemme put it this way!! It’s not just hope, but your mental fortitude, and all your feelings that derive from the exact same thing!! It’s all an illusion caused by chemical physiology in your brain!!” “…That’s…it…! Is that…really all there is…?!” Shiro seemed to be convinced as she, too, joined in on his fiery passion. The other four, however, were even more confused now. Sora needed to continue his explanation before the difference in temperature between their cold stares and the flames in his and his sister’s eyes started a hurricane. “That’s right! Serotonin is a good example! Or dopamine, endorphins, adrenaline, oxytocin—take your pick! Any of these pleasure-inducing science-based hormones can induce excitement or tranquility within a person—they are what make happiness tick! What make people wanna get up and go! In other words—these are what we call hope!!” Shiro, his only comrade in the eye of the burgeoning storm, added her two cents! “…Conversely…an excess or lack of…or the addition of a substance with the opposite effect…makes us depressed and anxious…throwing us into despair…!” Were this the case, the mechanics behind the game would indeed make more sense! Sora could sense what his sister was thinking and nodded with excitement as he continued!! For instance!! “Our red HP bar is a passive value—our capacity to handle stress! It reflects the amount and or combination of chemicals in our brain that keep it healthy! Our blue MP bars are our active values—or our aggression!! It reflects the chemicals that make us proactively work to remove any sources of stress from our lives!” “…That’s why…when we defeat an enemy…the sense of, accomplishment…makes our brains…produce chemicals, that make us happy…and heal us a bit…! You did it…Brother…!” “Ha-ha-ha!! Right? Right?! I only wish I could’ve figured it out sooner!” Shiro’s eyes showed a full understanding and a deepened sense of respect for her brother—but meanwhile… “I-if I may, Master… Perhaps such logic pertains only to your original world…” Jibril cautiously tried to argue against Sora, but he met her retort with a nod. Yeah, this is all based on our own world’s science. It’s not even fully understood yet, particularly the significant difference between individuals and how the substances interact with each other at different quantities… My world isn’t close to quantifying the human mind. We probably can’t apply everything I’m talking about to this world, where each being has a concrete soul. Not perfectly, at least… Yet after a year’s worth of experience in this world, Sora could speak with confidence. For his discovery was not without evidence in this world, either— “B-but that would mean…that the Spirit Theory is true after all, it would!!” Til suddenly blurted out this comment. And a smiling Sora urged her to explain herself with a prodding look. “Um…it was a theory that an Elf came up with a long, long time ago, it was. Basically, feelings and mind power are the results of converting spirits absorbed into the body into two categories: positive spirits—a group of spirits that make you feel good—and negative spirits—a group of spirits that make you feel bad. Both of which impact your soul, they do… Thinking of these as the passive and active values you mentioned before matches up perfectly with the theory, it does!!” I knew it. The logic of this world matching up with his own caused Sora to show a wry grin. Jibril, however, didn’t seem so convinced, and she responded with a scoff. “…How idiotic. The Elf you’re talking about from four thousand years ago was a meat-headed fool who thought muscles solved everything. This Elf spent their life honing their body, leaving behind a legacy that consisted solely of silly ramblings.” …An Elf like that actually existed… Maybe the Elves are more diverse than we thought… Sora was impressed. This certainly explained why Elf had a few-thousand-years-long grip on this world. “Y-yes, that’s right… This Elf called the physical body a vessel for the soul, which is now the established theory, it is. The part about positive and negative spirits, though, was laughed off by contemporaries because the spirits that make these up only account for less than a percent of your entire spirit-body, they do.” Til admitted the theory was not without its flaws—however. “But! If what King Sora says is true, it falls in line with the theory, it does!!” For example!! “You are a magical being, Jibril. And Emir-Eins is a machine, she is. You both live by slowly consuming spirits as energy, you do!! Then why, in the Tower—where we can only use hope to fight—do you think you were losing HP and MP without doing anything?!” ““!”” The pair was dumbfounded by this realization, and Sora grinned. The answer is simple… Hope is a type of spirit—and they’re called positive spirits! “That’s not all! It would also explain why your magic output inside the Tower is reduced to less than one percent—because the only spirits you have access to are the positive energy spirits! It all adds up, it does!!” In this game, hope was the only weapon they could use. But for some strange reason, they could also wield magic. The reason wasn’t so strange when hope was the same spirit energy that they used to cast magic in the first place!! ……, ………, “Indeed…this doesn’t leave much room for retort—nor should it, as it is Master who proclaims this to be true. If the entire world has been incorrect about hope up until now, then so be it. I apologize for my stubbornness.” Jibril, kneeling before Sora to ask for his forgiveness, appeared satisfied with the new definition. Emir-Eins wasn’t convinced yet, though. She muttered a statement that suggested she’d been thrown even deeper into despair… “…Confliction/Anguish: …The ‘heart’ the Preier shared with Ex Machina…was merely a spiritual reaction? Mere physiology? Confusion/Disappointment: …This unit…doesn’t know what to think…” Her despair, however, was a bigger mystery for Sora than the initial question of hope. She was a machine with a “heart.” That in itself was proof enough that any “heart” was merely a physical compound. Whatever the principle behind it may be—even if the “heart” of both Ex Machina and all other Ixseeds was simply ecological programming. Being so did not preclude said “heart,” and the hope it felt from being legitimate. “…Um, honestly, none of what any of you are saying makes any sense—but…” Steph was unabashed about her lack of comprehension on the subject at hand, but she did understand one thing, which she dubiously confirmed with a question of her own: “So the reason for Sora’s and Shiro’s lack of HP is because they have the mental fortitude of a wet paper bag…?” “Heh…sounds like you know exactly what we’re talking about for once, Steph… And you’re exactly right!!” “…We wouldn’t be…recluses if…our mental health was better…” “And yet the both of you are bursting at the seams with MP. It’s quite fishy, I must say…” “Don’t treat us like we’re the weird ones with those three fat HP bars of yours.” “…Steph…have you ever…even felt depressed…?” “I’m stuck with you two, who can dish out mental stressors but can’t take them—I suppose the fact that I can put up with that makes me just as weird as you! We’re two sides of the same coin!!” Steph conceded that both types were uniquely strange, and Til asked a question. “B-but, King Sora—how did you realize all this?” Til knew it most likely happened back in the cave when Sora fell into deep thought, got ambushed, and then started laughing just in the nick of time. Something happened in that brief exchange that led Sora to this conclusion. He looked into his fellow party members’ eyes—Til’s included—and with a bold grin, he named sacred things that brought about his divine revelation. And those were!! “No point in hiding it, eh?! It happened when I was sandwiched between your belly and Steph’s jugs!! In that moment, I saw my MP rocket back up to full!!” Figuring it out from there was super easy! And the reason for that was!! “Basically, my horny thoughts—and the endorphin rush in my brain—turned into MP!!” This means we need to spend time rebuilding our MP reserves here in the safe zone by doing things that make us feel good!! We can recoup our hope reservoirs and run this dungeon as much as we need to—!! “…You—you really are the most despicable person!!” “Huh? What’d I do?!” Sora, who’d been basking in the glorious moment ever since it happened, watched Steph cover her breasts and blush as she disparaged him for it. “Is that really all your sex-addled brain thinks about?!” “I thought we went over this the other day—but it really is!! In fact, I’d wager that just about any man on the face of the planet would cheer up if you let him cop a feel!” “Maybe it would for you, Sora!! But not for all men…right?! Say it isn’t so!!” Steph looked to the other members for opinions, but Sora cast that aside for the time being. “Anyway, it looks like my instincts were right.” “…………Oh? What do you mean, Sir?” Sora met Til’s orichalcum eyes and smiled. Why did Sora bring Til instead of the Dwarf race’s strongest member—Veig—let alone Steph, who should’ve never even been considered? Though he had no justification when asked this before, he knew that defeat in this game was related to despair. So it only made sense that the two party members who were the farthest from that state would be the key to winning the game… That was what Sora’s gamer senses told him. With those vague senses of his being validated by reality, Sora felt proud of himself. Though maybe not as much as Veig, I guess I can be a pretty sensible guy, too, eh…? “It’s not just Steph, Til. I knew you would be a key to winning this, too.” “Huh?” “Well, for starters, you sure knew a lot about Spirit Theory for it being written off as some Elf weirdo’s ramblings lost in history, yeah?” “Oh. Oh, no! It’s not like that, it’s not!!” Sora grinned roguishly at the Dwarf girl, who scrambled to defend herself. Just like Steph, Til was another person who lived in a state that was the polar opposite of despair— “I knew that all of us, even Jibril and Emir-Eins, could rely on you to teach us how to tap into the positive spirits around us effectively. Actually, you’re probably the only one in the world who can do it.” “……What makes you say that, Sir…?” “What? I mean, that should be obvious. It’s your eyes.” Til’s orichalcum eyes were timid and yet always aflame with red-hot passion. She was trying to overcome her uncle Veig, a once-in-ten-lifetimes genius. All while understanding her own ineptitude. Her arms were called garbage. But she stood on top of that pile of garbage. Alone. With her hammer, she forged and would continue to forge for as long as she needed to. It could all be seen in her eyes. She used every conceivable tool available to her—even studying obscure Elf magic theory on spirit-based mental care—to eventually achieve her dream. In other words, a Dwarf girl who should’ve spent her life in utter despair— —went more than fifty long years trudging through the despair without ever succumbing to it. “You know better than anyone else in the world how to deal with despair, Til.” “” The extent of Sora’s trust and the depth of his respect could be heard in his tone as he said this. Til’s pale-blue eyes widened. She looked down and thought: So… All that failure…all the disappointment…is about to amount to something…? You gotta be kiddin’ me… Please, say it ain’t so. ’Cause this—this isn’t something you ever wanna get used to, it isn’t—!! “Hehheh-heh-heh!! You’re right about that, you are!!” Til lifted her gaze, and puffed out her small chest as much as she could… “All this talk about losing and recovering hope never made any sense to me, it didn’t—but if getting back up when you feel down in the dumps is the name of the game, I’ve been playing it for fifty years, I have! And I’m not gonna lose to anyone, I’m not! I’m a pro!” Til exclaimed, loud and proud, almost as if she was copying Sora— “I’m a pretty strict teacher, I am. Don’t go thinking I’ll go easy on you just ’cause you’re my li’l bro!!” Til grinned with fierce tenacity as she said this. “Um…you know, you always ignore us when we point this out, but what is with the whole brother-sister thing—?” “So you better eat up and get a good night’s sleep!! And we’ll need booze, we will!! But wait—we only brought the bare essentials, didn’t we?! What are we gonna do about beds?!” As per usual, Til brushed aside Sora’s remark and continued her spiel. She remembered that the party had ventured into the Tower with the plan to speed-run it, and they’d brought as little as they could afford with them. Til’s confidence evaporated and her eyes filled with tears upon this sudden realization. Sora responded with a sigh. “Oh, yeah… You don’t gotta worry about that— Hellooo, Schira Haaa?!” he shouted, and once more, a few seconds passed before the elegant voice spoke over the intercom. “Mweh-heh…? Is there something you need…?” “Yup. I want you to get everything Til asks for, and bring it here, chop-chop. Thanks. ” “Mweh-heh…? My apologies, but I am not one of the selected heroes, so I am unable to—” Schira Ha, a literal possession of the hero’s party, didn’t have the option to say no; but since she herself wasn’t a hero, she was forbidden by the rules from entering the dungeon—or was she? “O RLY? Would that mean you broke the rules when you showed up to the preparation room after we Aschente’d and all that? I guess since you broke the rules, that means this game is over—” “I’ve just now registered Schira Ha the Wise as a temporary member of our staff!!” “I will be right there!! What is it that you would like me to bring?!” Forgetting their evil laughs, the skeleton and Schira Ha rushed to get everything in order. With that, Til began her stringent lessons in recovering hope As Til stated, she was a strict teacher in every sense of the word. “The secret to getting back up when you’re down is very simple, but impossibly difficult to actually do, it is!! And that includes: sleeping well, exercising well, eating well, and laughing a whole lot! That’s all there is to it, there is!!” It truly was a simple concept. Til had spent half a century realizing that true technique lay in mastering the basics. First, in order to sleep well, she had Schira Ha and the Demonia staff prepare them a nice tent and set of beds. This included a bathroom with a shower and a hot bath, as well as a toilet. Within a few hours, the barren preparation room turned into a nice place to sleep, which was what they did the first night. Next on the agenda was exercise— “King Sora, Queen Shiro—you two are wildly out of shape, you are!!” The following morning—Til, waving her Great Hammer around like a baton, announced this to the duo. “You can’t produce positive spirits without putting your body through enough physical stress, you can’t! You also need to keep yourselves limber!! Forget spirits—you can’t get air or nutrition properly distributed throughout a tense body, you can’t! So you guys need to move!!” She handed Sora a strength-training regimen that would push him about a half-step past his limits. Shiro, who didn’t have muscles to build in the first place, would be working on her flexibility. With Emir-Eins’s help to scan their bodies, Til was able to create perfectly tailored workout plans for both gamer siblings. Up next was eating well— “…D-do you really want me to cook this much food…?” Steph asked. “That’s right! By the way, this is a full day’s worth of ingredients, it is!!” Schira Ha and the gentlemanly skeleton brought a large quantity of cooking utensils to the Tower, but even more impressive were the several wagonloads of ingredients they delivered via multiple trips. Speaking on behalf of the group as they gazed upon the mountain of food in awe was… “…I-I’m goddamn starving, but…I don’t think I can eat that much, please…” Sure, eating well may have been important, but all the food had Izuna worried about overeating. “Oh, yeah. Most of this food is for Jibril and Emir-Eins, it is!” “…Pardon? You do realize that I am a Flügel, yes?” “Report: Ex Machinas do not require ingestion of food to produce energy. Demand: Reveal your intentions.” But Til, in an unusual move for her, hit them with a sharp look. “The two of you are constantly consuming hope—positive spirits—just to stay alive, you are!” Though they did create positive spirits on their own, hope was consumed more quickly than they made it. Which meant that any effort they put into creating more spirits would be outpaced by their consumption. That was why: “Positive spirits are produced in all living beings—which means you can absorb them directly by eating, you can!! You two are going to stuff your faces with food to absorb their positive spirits, you are!! We don’t know how much food it’s gonna take, so you’re gonna keep eating until your HP and MP start regenerating! I want you to eat, eat, eat! All day long!!” “” The group was at a loss for words after hearing about the severe regimen, except Til wasn’t finished yet! “Oh, but don’t eat so much that it becomes a pain, obviously. That would defeat the purpose, it would!! Enjoying what you eat is the whole point—and it’s what makes your positive spirits, or MP, heal! Lady Steph! I’ll need you to cook a wide variety of meals so things don’t get monotonous, I will!!” “Ah…I’m starting to understand why I don’t have a training regimen planned out for me—” “That’s right, Lady Steph!! You’ll probably be so busy cooking all day that it should be a workout for you, it should! It’s two birds with one stone, it is!! Now, you better hop to it! Jibril and Emir-Eins are losing hope by the second, they are!! Let’s go, go, go!!” Each of the members could accept the various regimens, but when it came to the last one, laughing a whole lot… After a good workout, some nice stretching, and a delicious meal—the team had finished the bulk of their training regimen. The sun in the red sky peered through the window at the group, which was ordered to take a break they could spend as they wished, whether by playing games or reading a book. They looked a little happier than they had the day before as they went to bed that night. ……… The next morning, the party emerged from their tents after a good night’s sleep. It was hard to remember what they’d been so depressed about only a day or two before… Til’s training regimen had an effect more tremendous than they could’ve ever imagined. With that, Sora and the group faced the entrance to the dungeon, ready for their second attempt. But it was Til, the strict teacher, who stopped them in their tracks. “No matter how much you rest, you can only recover physically in a single day, you can!! In order to rest our minds, we must ease our tension and stress, we must!!” The party looked at the status bars on their wrists and above each other’s heads. It was true; their HP and MP were not yet completely full… “Hmmm…I guess it’s pretty hard to tell whether you’re tired…” “…Can we…have these bars…outside of this game, too…?” Having convinced her party members to stay, Til nodded before continuing. “First of all, King Sora’s muscles should still be sore from yesterday, they should. We need another day of light exercise and stretching, and after that, we’ll do nothing for the rest of the day, we will!!” The party wanted a little more info on what exactly that meant, but Til shook her head. “I can’t be giving you orders ’cause there’s no fun in that, there’s not. I want you guys to think about how you’ll spend your day off, I do. What makes you feel relaxed? What makes you feel fulfilled?” Their strict teacher spoke in a gentle tone. It was like a good-cop bad-cop routine, and Sora obliged her with an answer. “A good handful of Steph’s, Jibril’s, or Emir-Eins’s milkers would prolly fix me right—guh?!” The euphoria Sora had felt only two days earlier seemed to linger in his mind, but his sister cut him off with an elbow to the stomach. “…Brother…you wanna…cuddle with Izuna and…play games…and have your ears cleaned…and rest your head…on Jibril’s and Emir-Eins’s thighs…right?” “Yeah, you got it! I’m just happy if I’m together with my lovely little sister, whoo-hoo! ” Sorry, Brother… I know you wanted a little sister with a larger chest…!! Sora had replied at breakneck speed under his sister’s gaze, which was fiendish enough to end a small mammal’s life. Thus, Shiro also asked for her brother to clean her ears. And perhaps jealous of her, Jibril and Emir-Eins, too, timidly asked for the same treatment, all three of them laying their heads on his lap while he did the cleaning, one at a time. Afterward, they ate a delicious meal before snuggling up together and playing video games for the rest of the night. The party ended up sleeping as a group…with the exception of Steph, who opted to sleep on her own in the corner. …Another day passed—it was the morning of the fourth day since entering the Tower dungeon. “Whew…my body hasn’t felt this light in…forever…?” In fact, this may be the first time in my life I’ve felt so great. Sora thought this as the sunlight from outside shone in on his face—something that would normally annoy him, but it actually felt good for once. Ah…another morning, another day I get to wake up in a bed full of diverse nonhuman babes. So warm…so beautiful… If this ain’t heaven, then I don’t wanna go there. It was a good morning, to say the least. And so the day began— “Mmm, you guys did a good job these past three days enduring my training, you did!!” The party was lined up next to Sora—their previous stress was now completely gone from their faces. To top it all off, Til thoroughly checked each of their HP and MP bars before giving them a happy thumbs-up. With their strict teacher finally giving the go-ahead— “Okay, it’s been three days. Who wants to beat a dungeon?!” “““““““We do!!””””””” —the entire group was raring and ready to go, with all six members joining Sora in raising their fists in the air. Jibril and Emir-Eins went back into the bag, and with a forceful hup, Izuna shouldered the siblings, and Til picked up Steph. The two squatted down and prepared to kick off the ground at full power, when— “Hold up. We’re changing our strategy. I want you two to forget how we ran this the first time.” —Sora asked the two runners to stop. They looked up at him in confusion, along with Steph and Shiro, and he shared the new plan. “We’re still gonna stay mounted on you two and avoid any unnecessary conflicts the best we can—that much is the same, but…this time we’re gonna explore each floor entirely before we progress.” “Oh…? And why would we do that?” “Entirely? There were corners of the dungeon where monsters were grouped up, there were?” “Our MP won’t last long against every damn one of ’em, please?” Sora was hit with a series of fair questions, but he answered with a smile. “You don’t gotta worry about that. We can always come back to the starting room if things get sticky. Right, Jibril? I want you to always have Evac…er, shift ready to cast.” “Yes, Master. As you wish.” A polite bow could be felt from outside the inventory bag. However— “But…Brother…can we afford…to do extra fights…if it means going slower…?” “Yeah, things have changed since we entered. I’m thinking fighting might not be as wasteful as we initially believed.” Shiro tilted her head in confusion, and Sora held up three fingers. “First, I want you guys to try and focus on unlocking your skills during fights.” “…Skills…?” “Yeah, like the one Steph used to pull hate, or like how I stunned the enemy with an attack.” This was the other mechanic that Sora figured out along with the definition of hope. This was a game where the party members had only their hope to fight with. The game system had their hope take on the shape of weapons that they could use to fight with— “Watching Steph’s skill unlock after she showed a strong desire to protect us all, I figured that we can unlock our skills by having a strong awareness for how our hope-based weapons are meant to be used. I already proved this concept by doing the same: focusing on what my hope would look like, which unlocked my skill for me.” Under the status bars on each of their left wrists was a blank space. Steph’s UI showed the following text: You’ll have to get through me first! And for Sora: Flashbang Shot Sora unlocked this skill by being conscious of his own hope, meaning this ability emulated him. The rest of the party looked at him with asking eyes, but he ignored them. He still had two remaining fingers’ worth of reasons that needed explanations. “Number two, you guys should figure out on your own soon enough, and number three—let’s make it a surprise for later. ” Sora said this with a teasing look, but then his face took on a more lighthearted expression. “Y’know, I’m thinking the reason we got MP back by defeating monsters is because this is fun.” It was something the party forgot along the way… “This is a game, after all…” Games were meant to be fun; it was the basic of the basics. And the party must’ve agreed, because they ran into the dungeon with smiles on their faces— “That’s all that really matters!! So we should have fun with it!!” Only twenty minutes passed before the party’s second expedition into the Tower dungeon revealed the answer to Sora’s second reason, though it was sooner than even Sora expected. “And there it is…I mean, it wouldn’t be much of a dungeon if it didn’t have these… I knew they would be here.” It was something that caught Sora’s attention during their first trip into the dungeon. Every now and then, there were mobs that noticed the party but refrained from attacking them. It was a group of skeletons—they were blocking the path, and it wasn’t one that led to the stairs. Though the party didn’t have the leisure to investigate during their first run, Sora had an idea of what those mobs were there for. And it was the biggest reason he wanted to investigate each floor in its entirety. Well, it was, but… “Uh…Schira Ha?” “Mweh-heh… Yes, O Heroes? Is something the matter?” “I just wanted to double-check that our eyes aren’t lying to us… Is this a treasure chest?” The roads these enemies were blocking had to lead to something…but what? The party soon learned after defeating one of the groups of mobs that—assuming the box wasn’t an illusion—were there to protect treasure chests… “Mweh-heh… Your eyes are quite all right, for that is indeed a treasure chest.” “Okay…and lemme guess… There’s items, like weapons and armor, in there that will help us…?” “My apologies, but the only weapon you heroes may use is your own hope. Inside the treasure chest, however, there are other pieces of equipment and tools that you may use. Mweh-heh…” Mm-hmm… Is that right…? “Then do you mind answering a question that’s been on my mind for many, many years?” Sora gave an exaggerated nod, then took a deep breath before shouting his question back at her. “Who the hell’s leaving these treasure chests here?! And inside the Devil, for cryin’ out loud!! With gear that just screams: Here, use this to deck the literal Devil, tee-hee!! Why don’t you guys keep your shit in an armory like normal people?! Huh?!” This video game trope always bothered Sora—but: “Mweh-heh… Inside the chests you find is the lingering hope of heroes who have fallen to the Devil.” “Lingering hope…?” “Yes. The heroes who perished before they could reach the Devil entrusted their manifested hope to those who would attempt to defeat him in the future. In other words, these hopes are an inheritance—a donation to other heroes. Such treasures are subject to protection from the Ten Covenants; our staff cannot collect them since that would be considered theft. Mweh-heh…” Is that right? Huh… Much to Sora’s surprise, Schira Ha’s answer actually made sense. It’s true… Treasure chests are always hidden in mazes or paths with only one exit. So these treasures must be left over from heroes who ran away or hid until they ran out of either their HP or their MP. And yet they still wanted to pass on what little hope they had left to the next heroes—that seems to be the story here. The staff can’t collect or move the treasure, so they have mobs guard the chests to make things more difficult for the heroes… That explanation doesn’t work for all RPGs, but it makes sense here! “…It doesn’t smell like a damn trap, please…” Just to be sure, the party had Izuna check the treasure chest before opening it. She gave her okay, and nervously, Sora opened the chest— “It looks like…some kind of outfit? Maybe it’s armor?” He looked at the treasure—an amorphous object that glowed faintly—with confusion. While the shape wasn’t distinct, there was something about the light that made it clear that it was meant to be worn— “…Hypothesis: Remnants of someone else’s hope. May take shape upon being equipped…?” Emir-Eins interjected from within the bag, prodding Sora to think for a few moments— “Hmm… Welp, let’s have Steph try it on.” “Huh? Why me? Seeing as I have the most HP, wouldn’t it be better for you or Shiro to wear it?” “Nope. We don’t know if this even gives any defense.” There was no way of knowing whether Sora and Shiro would die in one hit even with the armor on. “Since you’re the one who takes the most damage, we need you to test out how effective the armor is before deciding whether me and Shiro can wear it. It’s just safer…” “Ah, I suppose that’s true.” With a nod, Steph took the dim light that was thought to be armor from Sora’s hands. She then wrapped it around herself—and just as Emir-Eins had predicted… The amorphous faint light began to take on a distinct form, covering Steph’s body. The party watched, and… “Wh-wh-wh-what kind of armor is this?!” Steph screeched. “I-it looks like the legendary armor used by a powerful female Dwarf warrior, it does!!” Til answered, her eyes lighting up. Oh, that’s legendary armor, all right…in the sense that you don’t see it much nowadays. It protected little to nothing and covered only spots that needed to be covered for a different reason… It was none other than legendary—bikini armor!! “Legend has it that the armor protects its wearer from all attacks, it does!!” “Protects what?! My dignity?! It’s not even protecting what little of that I have left!! This isn’t armor; I think my regular clothes offer more benefit!!” “Don’t worry, Steph!! Protection and coverage have zero correlation when it comes to ladies’ armor—it’s common sense!!” “Maybe in your world it is!!” Steph screamed back at Sora as she ran away from him; he was trying to take pictures of her with his smartphone. “…Same goes…for men, too… The strongest characters…are always…practically buck naked…” Which begged the question of what kind of armor Sora would be wearing. Shiro’s comment appeared to pique the interest of the party members in the bag. Sora, meanwhile, shook his head. “Calm down, O sister of mine… That logic only applies to a handful of games, where player skill is not represented by armor. Taking off any more than I’m already wearing won’t make me roll any farther, and I don’t have any invincibility frames to extend.” “I don’t know what you’re trying to frame, but could we at least stay on topic about whether or not I should wear whatever this is?!” It was true that the so-called armor only covered…well, almost nothing… Thus, Steph’s concerns were warranted—however. “I don’t think you gotta worry about that anymore, ’cause there’s a good chance we’re about to find out,” Sora muttered. Steph turned to where Sora was looking and saw eight skeletons running down the hallway they’d just passed… There were four with spears and armor and four with bows. They covered the only way out of the hall. Steph took up her shield and joined Izuna and Til, both of whom had realized long before that something was coming. “Steph! Catch their attacks with your shield! Once we know how powerful the armor is, we’ll strike back!!” Shiro, Izuna, and Til all responded with an “Okay!” but— “Argh! I suppose I’m already wearing this thing, so I may as well roll with the punches!!” Steph shouted as she convinced herself to move forward. She jutted her shield toward the charging enemy, who took the attack as an opportunity to focus fire on her—but… ……, “Huh? Th-they’re attacking me, right?” Steph let slip her surprise at the situation. While the attacks did hit her shield, the chip damage that went through was nearly nonexistent— “…Whoa… Does her armor…give a fifty percent damage…reduction…?” “Between her shield and the armor, she’s taking next to no damage, she is!!” “St-Stuch, you’re freakin’ invincible, please!!” The entire party was in utter shock, including Sora. “Wow… Who woulda thunk it…? Bikini armor…actually works…?” “You’re the one who said it would!! Why are you acting like it might not have worked?!” But! In any case!! “Never mind what this armor looks like! I can use it to defend you all!!” Never mind what this armor looks like! Steph said this more for herself than anything else before touching her left wrist! “You’ll have to get through me first—!!” Without waiting for her party members to join the fray, Steph activated her skill and focused all aggro on herself. She called out to the party, holding her shield as she ran forward with the mobs all focusing on her. “We can get out of here without wasting MP! I’ll push the enemies out of the way, and once there’s an opening, we can flee!” It was a good idea, something rare for Steph. Maybe she wanted to justify the armor she was wearing by making it useful for the party. The group of skeletons continued to whale away at her shield—until all of a sudden: Shatter… “? ……??? …………! AAAAAAAAAHHHH?!” The bikini armor that (barely) covered her body had shattered into pieces and disappeared into thin air. Steph needed about five seconds to process what the sound was before she screamed at the top of her lungs, triggering Sora, Shiro, Izuna, and Til to go in and kill the skeletons ganging up on her. And while they came to her rescue— “…I see…the armor…broke because it was hope…left behind by previous heroes…!” “It doesn’t reduce the damage, but the lost heroes’ hope instead takes a portion of the damage until whatever hope left over runs out, it does—” “And when it does run out, it breaks!! Hot damn, what an incredible system!!” “It’s a terrible system!! Where are my old clothes?!” —Shiro and Til analyzed the armor, and Sora made an impassioned conclusion. Steph was more preoccupied with looking for her clothes that had disappeared. She was searching frantically when two voices could be heard from the inventory: “Report: Previous clothes are assumed to have been swapped with the armor upon being equipped and automatically deposited within inventory.” “Yes. Little Dora’s outfit appeared inside this bag when she put on the armor.” “Oh! Perfect!! P-please, lend it here—” With tears in her eyes upon hearing the news, Steph pleaded for her old clothes—when: “Jibril! Emir-Eins! Are you sure that was really Steph’s outfit?! I want you to be really, really sure!!” “What?” Sora’s sudden question caught Steph completely off guard. She stared blankly. A few moments passed. “Oh, I understand… What’s this? I can’t seem to find Little Dora’s clothes anymore. ” “Restriction: Temporarily unable to identify Object X… Wherever did it go?” “Y-you twoSoraaaaaa?!!!” “Never fear, Steph!! We’ll make sure nothing hits you!!” “…We got…your back…Steph… Izuna and…Til do…too…!” “That’s not what I’m worried about!! I don’t think my old clothes offered any protection anyway!! It doesn’t matter—somebody give them to me this instant!! For the sake of my dignity!! Hand them over!!!” Steph continued to bear the brunt of the attacks like a true tank, all while suffering harassment from the two siblings behind her, who refused to give her back her clothes. “Steph…those who lose their cool are the first to die on the battlefield. You must calm yourself.” Sora took on a calmer and more collected tone as he said this. “Nobody can see you from the front so long as you have your Great Shield. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, am I wrong?” “I’m more worried about my behind! I can hear you and your sister snapping photos with your cameras!! What can you see—? No, it doesn’t matter—just stop taking pictures!!” ……… …… Steph’s plea was ignored. Sora and Shiro skillfully picked off the enemies while also capturing shots of Steph’s bare bottom. They joined Izuna and Til in clearing out the enemies and eventually securing their way out of the closed-off path. “Okay… We’re going to search the entire dungeon, just like we planned.” Atop Izuna’s back, Sora looked behind him to make sure the coast was clear, and he addressed the party. “The lost heroes’ hope—if there’s armor that absorbs damage, there might also be equipment that amplifies MP to our attacks, maybe even allows us to attack without using MP.” These items might end up being necessary for the bosses on the higher floors. The party agreed with Sora, who nodded before continuing. “Any armor we find, we’ll make sure to give to Steph. I feel bad that she has to stay naked for so long.” “…If you truly felt bad, you’d give me back my clothes! And I still think that you and Shiro should be the ones who wear the armor!!” Steph shouted, looking utterly resentful. Til’s back was covering the front of Steph’s body while the Great Shield covered her rear. They were able to test the armor, which absorbed damage from a few dozen attacks. While Steph agreed to test it, she insisted that it was the siblings who should rightfully wear it. But shaking his head heavily, Sora responded… “Sorry, Steph, but that’s gonna be a no… We don’t know how much durability any given set of armor has, and if it leaves the wearer naked when it breaks, we can’t have Shiro or Izuna wearing it… Though maybe Til might, if she’s okay with it…?” “Why does she have the right to be okay with it and not me?! And what about you, Sora?!” “Uh…Steph? Where exactly is the demand to see a naked me?” Sora brushed off Steph’s assertion like it was nothing, but… “…? There’s…plenty of demand…for that…” “Obvious: There is only demand. Warning: Master should equip the armor for his protection. Strongly recommended.” “Pardon me for saying this, but I would like to call into question how you believe there is no demand for such a sight, Master. Geh-heh-heh. ” Sora cringed at the idea his sister and their two companions in the bag had in mind— “Uhhhh… Oh! Right!! We can’t let a guy get naked in front of Shiro and Izuna!!” “……Fine… Til and I will wear any armor we find…” Sora used every brain cell available to think up a new excuse, which was accepted by a defeated Steph and met with a loud Tch by the other three…… A little under two hours had passed since entering the Tower dungeon for the second time. The party was standing before the boss room door, a point that they’d reached in just over ten minutes on their first attempt. “Welp…I guess this is what happens when you check every corner of every floor?” Compared to the first day, when the party reached this spot with full HP and MP bars, each member had currently used about 20 percent of their MP on average. It was a good chunk of MP, but the sacrifice did not go unrewarded. The party found multiple chests, each with valuable gear along the way. Just as they had predicted, they found an item that improved their attack power by 20 percent in the form of an armband. There was also a ring that reduced MP cost by nearly 50 percent. That said… “We don’t know when these items will break like the armor from before… I’d rather save them for the higher floors if we can, ideally the last boss, even.” These items could be particularly effective when paired with Jibril and Emir-Eins’s abilities. If they could halve the cost of Jibril’s shifting, it could help to get her back on her feet afterward— Sora mumbled to himself, and Steph interjected with dubious eyes. “Then why am I the only one forced to wear my armor…?” “What’s that, Steph? You’d rather fight naked?” “…It’s time…you admit…you have, a voyeur fetish…Steph…” “Give!! Me!! Back!! My!! Clothes!! I can’t believe you made me run around the dungeon buck naked until we found the next set of armor!!” “Oh, how strange! I could have sworn it was right here. ” It took an hour after finding the first set of armor to find the second. During which Steph was forced to strut her stuff throughout the dungeon. When they eventually did find a new set of armor, it still covered barely any of her skin, though not quite as little as the bikini armor. Sora and the others kept refusing to return her original outfit, so Steph eventually gave up. “Um, I don’t disagree with saving the equipment, I don’t—but we should probably use it on the boss, shouldn’t we…? If it’s the same boss as last time, we’re probably going to lose around ten percent more of our MP, we are.” That would leave them with 70 percent…which was when their mental health started to show signs of deterioration. If that did end up happening, they could just warp back to the beginning like it was planned. Til knew this but timidly made her suggestion nevertheless, which was met by a grin from Sora. “Well, if my best guess is right, we might not even have to worry about that—” “Whatareyou—?!” “K-King Sora?!” Sora finished his sentence by leisurely walking into the boss room. The rest of the party scrambled after him, but… , “…? Where’s the giant cow guy, please?” The Minotaur from the first day was absent. The party stared at the stairs to the next floor, which were left unsealed like when they’d first cleared this floor. “…Bosses in this game…don’t respawn…?” “I guess you could consider it a part of the game, in a way. ” Sora seemed to know that the boss wouldn’t be there, leaving his sister to tilt her head in question. This was his surprise that he’d talked about before they left the safe zone— “And that, ladies and girls, is my third reason. We’ll press on with the same strat, searching every corner of every floor along the way!” Though not without their questions, the party agreed to Sora’s strategy. With Steph on Til’s back, and Sora and Shiro on Izuna’s— “Our goal for today is to beat the boss on the thirtieth floor. We’ll head home after that.” “Not having to beat this boss indeed makes this easier…but will we even be able to make it to the twenty-sixth floor at the rate we’re going?” Steph spoke for the party in questioning the goal Sora had set. He happily waved her comment away. “Oh, we’ll make it, all right. Til, Izuna—we’ll be relying on you guys to take us there. ” With that, the two makeshift mounts made a break for the next floor. And then, after the third hour had passed… “We really made it to floor thirty…” “Things are going way smoother than our first attempt, they are…?” “Even though we’re running around like hell, please. Maybe ’cause there’s no damn boss to fight, please?” The party fully cleared every floor in search of treasure and to unlock new skills. Despite taking the enemies in combat, the team was able to pass the twenty-sixth floor, where they were forced to give up pretty easily. And thus, having cleared the twenty-ninth floor—the party stood before the stairs that would lead them to the thirtieth floor, where a boss was assumed to be awaiting their arrival. It wasn’t just Steph, but Til and Izuna, too, were confused by how smoothly things were going. Sora forced himself to smile as he told them why this was happening. “It’s ’cause we’re winning this time… We’re recovering MP by beating the enemy.” “…? But…I thought that happened the first day, too?” said Steph. “Yeah…it did, but things are different this time around, aren’t they…?” Unlike their first day in the dungeon, the party knew that they could recover their MP. They also had a more realistic goal for themselves this time around—defeat the thirtieth-floor boss. Not only that, but they had in their possession various treasure and skills… Now they knew that defeating enemies wasn’t so pointless. In other words—they were enjoying the game… And of course, they were recovering more hope than when they went in blindly. Though the rate they gained it at was still an overall loss— “But I don’t think we can beat this next boss like this. Shouldn’t we return to the safe zone for the day?” Steph looked anxious—it wasn’t just her; the entire party was beginning to show signs of fatigue. The MP bars above Til’s and Izuna’s heads were at a little over 50 percent each, and Sora’s and Shiro’s were already under 40 percent… On the way to the thirtieth floor, Shiro unlocked two skills… And Sora obtained four more. They both tested their new skills to learn their effects, and doing so naturally consumed MP. As such, Shiro looked down at her flat chest with empty eyes. She opened and closed her hands, motioning to grab something that just wasn’t there—and a tear ran down her cheek. Sora, on the other hand, tried his best to make it seem like nothing was wrong, when he, too, was very clearly distracted by something. Neither of them were in any shape to fight a boss, let alone a regular monster. And it could spell the end for them should Izuna and Til end up losing more than half of their MP pools midfight. We should turn back now, no matter which way you slice it, Steph thought—however. “No…we can still fight… Til thought of a way to restore our MP. It’s our secret weapon.” “That’s the first I’ve heard of this… If such a method exists, then why haven’t we used it yet…?” Steph asked. Sora shook his head heavily, and the rest of the party nodded. Evidently, Steph was the only one who didn’t know about this so-called secret plan. “Because it takes time…and we need somewhere safe to do it…” “That’s right! When we enter the boss floor, there’s always a room where there aren’t any mobs before the boss, there is! We can use that room to recover King Sora’s and Queen Shiro’s MP before we fight the boss, we can!” Even if that is the case, it still stands that Til and Izuna might lose more than half of their current MP. Steph wasn’t entirely convinced that this was the right thing to do that day, even after hearing Sora and Til’s idea—but. “We’ll be fine, we will! Just as long as we have enough MP to use our skills—” “Mm-hmm! Sora and Shiro can lock down any boss and kick their asses, please!” Til and Izuna seemed sure of the party’s ability to win. The silence from the bag suggested that the two inventory-bound members agreed as well. With that, the group walked through the door and up the stairs to the thirtieth floor. “Fine! I’ll just have to believe in us, too, then!!” Steph, too, nodded firmly before steeling her nerves and running up the stairs— Something she would soon regret. “See?! Sometimes I’m right, too!! I’m not happy about it, though!!” “I didn’t think the battle would start the moment we entered the thirtieth floor! Normally, they’d work just like the tenth and twentieth floors! You know, with a similar format!! What kinda shitty game is this?!” “…Hic… I hate…boobs… They’re just big…lumps of fat… Brother…tell me you’ll love me…even if I don’t have any…” “Waaaagh?! My sister!! I’d be lying if I agreed with the first half of what you said, but the second half I can say with extreme confidence! Except now’s really not the time for that; couldja just stand on your own, please?!” The party didn’t have an opportunity to use Sora and Til’s secret plan, because the first step they took onto the thirtieth floor triggered a shower of rocks thrown by the golem boss awaiting them. The party was forced to take refuge in the only safe space they had: behind Steph, who was screaming, and her shield. Sora was likewise screaming as Shiro clung to him and wailed from her insufficient MP… The golem boss launched fistfuls of rocks at the party like a giant shotgun. These rocks fanned out, pelting everything from the floor to the walls, where they smashed into pieces—the violent AoE kept on coming at a rapid clip, left arm after right. Though Sora and Shiro were safe behind Steph’s shield, it wasn’t an attack a human could dodge… And on top of this: “?! K-King Sora!! This boss is hard as rock, he is!!” “Our attacks don’t hurt him, please!! What the hell are we gonna do, please?!” Just like the party could acquire equipment along the way, it seemed that their Demonia enemies, too, had access to special armor! This Rock Golem was wearing a big shell, not unlike the armor the skeleton soldiers had worn. The problem was—this shell seemed to reduce the damage the golem took by nearly 70 percent. While Til and Izuna just barely managed to dodge the hail of rocks being slung around, any attacks they landed did little to no damage. And to make things worse—!! “Gahhh! My armor just broke!! At least let me have my shame, will you?!” After taking an onslaught of attacks through her shield—Steph’s armor finally broke. She didn’t have time to lament over an exposed heinie, however—with every fistful of rocks, her HP was depleting noticeably!! It wasn’t just the number of rocks; every shard packed a punch!! Should any of the rocks even scrape against Sora or Shiro, they would most definitely perish! The same went for Til and Izuna… How many hits could both of them take?! This battle… It’s… “Sora!! This is impossible! We need to retreat, now!!” Steph finished Sora’s thought for him—this battle wasn’t one they could win… Shiro could barely move, and that was the least of their problems. Sora gritted his teeth. We came into this under the pretense that we could heal before the fight. We should’ve quit as soon as we realized we couldn’t!! I don’t have the brain power for this right now; we need to— —use Jibril to escape. Before Sora could shout this, he heard two voices. “King Sora! Now! We need to deploy our secret plan now, we do! Here!!” “I’ll distract ’em, please! Hurry up and heal your damn MP, please!!” The two party members were yelling over the rocks smashing against the walls. Sora gasped in a daze. It’s gonna take time. That’s why we need a safe spot to execute our plan… And she wants me to do it now? In a fight? Against that? But…why…? I was the one who made our goal today to beat this boss. But there’s no reason for us to stick to this goal if it puts us at risk… We should just leave and come back when we have more MP—Sora thought. “This guy’s got nothing on you two with enough MP, he doesn’t—!” “You’ll lock the boss down and kick their asses—I know you can, please!!” The voices he heard calling fiercely for him were from two gamers, having fun. Run away? Us…? What was I thinking…? Maybe if there was no way to win, but we still have a fighting chance. And things are just startin’ to get good!! Hearing the two call out to them opened Sora’s and Shiro’s eyes, and they each let out a wry chuckle of embarrassment. Look at us. Who cares if we lost around 60 percent of our MP…? Getting out of a bind like this is what makes gaming fun—and we almost gave up!! “Jibril! Emir-Eins! Switch with me, Shiro, and Steph!!” “What?! Sora, what are you—?!” Steph shrieked in confusion at Sora’s orders, but was sucked into the bag before she could finish. And Sora had more orders for the two party members fresh out of the bag—!! “Make sure you two don’t attack!! I’m pretty sure you guys will lose hope just from moving too much, so focus on unlocking skills for now, and support Izuna and Til!!” “With pleasure: This unit will analyze enemy attack patterns, give commands, and provide support during Master’s absence. I got this.” “You needn’t worry about me. Enjoy your time together in the bag. ” The two bowed—and then they used their OP abilities to elegantly waltz through the barrage of stone, dodging all the projectiles with the minimum movement necessary. Til nodded briefly before calling out to Steph, who’d been sucked into the bag. “Lady Steph!! Sora and Shiro are in your hands, they are!!” “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Steph, however, didn’t receive an answer to that question…… Which brought them to the inventory bag… “Does somebody want to fill me in on what all this talk about a secret plan is supposed to be?! Is everyone going to be all right without me, the tank, in this fight?! And are we even allowed to have three substitutes in the bag at once?!” “A maximum of five members can be active at once. The key word being maximum. There shouldn’t be a problem with us three being in here.” “Okay?! I’d appreciate it if you answered my other questions, too!! And it sure is cramped in here!! I’m pretty sure this bag isn’t built for three people— Wait, I’m naked!! I’m naked, and we’re sandwiched toge— A-are those…my clothes?! I knew they were in here! I need to get changit’s too cramped in here to do that!!” “…Pipe down…Steph…and stop smooshing me…with your oversized boobs…” The inside of their inventory bag was so cramped, there wasn’t much space to move. Steph flailed around frantically at the sudden turn of events while Shiro started getting pissed off from being crushed by her breasts. Meanwhile, Sora pondered— Now that I think about it, this is our first time in the bag. Jibril and Emir-Eins have been in here the entire time…smooshed together like this… I’m surprised they didn’t bicker more. Though he found himself moved by their improving relationship, he had more important things to worry about. He decided to oblige Steph’s two other questions with answers. “Steph, how do you think that Dwarf party cleared this game?” “What?” It was a mystery Sora had uncovered back on the party’s first day in the dungeon. According to Til, the entire Dwarf party that beat this game were in a polygamous marriage… It was an actual harem party—!! So the question remained: How did they clear this game? This much should be obvious; Sora shared the long-awaited answer in the most exaggerated way—!! “Methinks they got into the bag and did you-know-what to fill up their status bars!!”
Chapter 189
51 min read