“How could you do this to my friends?!” a young soldier screamed.
What do you know about “friends” in your fuckboy brigade?
Revenge and counter-revenge is legal in this world, right?
This is revenge for me and Shequraso. If you don’t want to die, ya better counter me.
“Flame, five rounds, fire!”
Everything in front of me turned red, enveloped in flames.
But the spells ran into an invisible barrier in the air and were neutralized before hitting my body.
“It...didn’t work?”
Immunity to Attack Magic—that was Chiba’s skill.
And yeah, I have his 16x Experience Points and Immunity to Status Effects, too. No magic attacks work on me.
Cheating is unfair. I got the experience points everyone spent years grinding for off a dude in a single night. And I even got paid on top of it. It was really sneaky.
Plus, I don’t have that level cap restraint. Sumo’s insanely rare Unlimited Levels skill allowed me to level up infinitely.
At first I didn’t understand what “unlimited” meant, but when I heard that Chiba’s levels stopped at 91, I laughed so fucking hard.
I said a short spell that I heard a customer say once.
Cold light began to spread from my palms.
Ice Magic.
“What? No way...! She can use magic?!”
I froze the water on the ground, trapping the soldiers’ feet.
Then I used Wind Magic and hit them with the Koyama Cutter.
“Don’t stand still! Spread out! If we bunch up, we’re done for!”
Even the professional army casters were no match for my magic. It’s not as if I ever learned it, but I had borrowed Dragon Quest from my boyfriend before, so it was easy for me to figure out.
After all, I had the skill Sage’s Wisdom, too.
One of the customers I’d fucked and tossed away while I was busy with Kickin’ the Can had it.
No matter how many soldiers came at me, I didn’t get so much as a scratch. It was a one-sided fight where I just kept knocking them down.
Chiba said skills were important in this world. That seemed right to me. It was important to be strong in order survive here.
“...I never would have guessed you were so strong, Haru. What a surprise.”
Bisque came slowly forward with a smile. He seemed so relaxed, like none of this had anything to with him.
“You’ve killed half of our squad now. Are you satisfied yet? We’ve experienced the same pain now. Shouldn’t we talk the rest out?”
He approached me with his sword in its sheath, saying we should talk.
I forced my sword hand not to tremble.
“I think what we did to Shequraso was horrible. And of course, what we did to you, too. But I want you to understand our position. As you can see, our work keeps us close to death. On the front, you can only rely on your squadmates. Your unit is your family. In our world, orders from the top are absolute, and as a mid-level member, I put solidarity first. Sometimes I have to sacrifice my personal happiness for the good of the unit. She understood that. Truly.”
He looked straight at me with a face that contained not a shred of guilt.
I used to not be able to believe this guy, that he was like this.
But now, I understood. After he had sex with me, I learned.
He meant it. He wasn’t at all frightened of this situation. He didn’t feel any guilt or regret for what he’d done. Those lines that seemed so superficial were his true feelings because he only lived in the superficial.
“We’re here because we genuinely want to protect the people of the city. But our enemies are horrifying monsters, and there is already tension and fear among us. We’re fighting at the very end of our wits. It’s the same for you sex workers, and Shequr—”
Without letting him finish, I stabbed him through the chest.
For just a moment, he frowned, but his usual smile reappeared almost immediately. “Too bad,” he said.
Emotion Killer.
From the beginning, Bisque never had human emotions like pain or sadness. If any unpleasant emotion did pop up, he would promptly shut it down. He could leave only the pleasurable ones.
It was a handy ability, but the worst. I swore I would never use it again.
And you’re going to die only after you lose it.
“Ngh...ahhh!”
Skill Killer.
I wiped that creepy smile off Bisque’s face and pulled my sword out of him.
“Ahh, shit, the pain... Ah, ahhhh!”
He fell into a puddle, writhed around, suffered, and finally reached weakly toward the rain.
“...She...quraso...”
His hand fell into the mud, having grasped only air.
Shequraso’s singing in my head faded away at that point.
He was a bastard.
This whole world was nothing but stupid idiots.
“I hate you! I fucking hate you all!”
I pressed on through the rain crisscrossed with swords and spells.
I screamed and went on a rampage. If I wasn’t being angry, my chest hurt and I felt sick, like I was going to throw up. So I just went nuts on them.
Soon I realized what that sick feeling was.
I was already one of them—I belonged to this world.
“I hate this... I hate it!”
I would never have an “after school” ever again.
I would never again exchange stupid LINEs all night, either. Never again would I fight with my big sister over the hair dryer and be late. Never again would I get scolded by my mom and dad. I couldn’t cheer on my boyfriend at his soccer games, either.
Covered in blood, I went berserk. Drenched in sweat, I slept with men.
Haru Koyama became just plain Haru, and she would live in this world.
“Heegh! Eeeeeeegh!” In the deepest part of the forest, the hectosquad commander was hiding in a tent right next to the front line.
When I set it on fire, he came stumbling out, shrieking just from the furious gaze of this little girl.
Yep. I know what you really are because you slept with me. I can see it.
You’re a level 15 wimp. That’s the truth of you.
“S-Stop it! Anyone?! C-Come protect me! Eeegh!”
I formed magic eggs in my hands.
A blue one in my right and a red one in my left.
This was a dual cast of that Chiba-resenting blue-bearded man’s skill, Summon Ice Elemental: Sivyl Unico, plus that cat-person blacksmith’s skill, Summon Fire Elemental: Ganegudey Drago, using that kinky bard guy’s skill, Dual Spell.
The two magic eggs were like the Sun and the Moon as they expanded and grew brighter. As I froze and burned the surrounding area, relying on Immunity to Attack Magic, the hectosquad commander inched toward me.
He was so terrified he could hardly stand, and magic started cracking through the eggs right over his head.
“N-No! Yaaagh!”
“You’re a man, aren’t you?”
The magical creatures spread their wings, and their battle cries made the forest tremble. The sky widened as the trees melted away.
“Don’t scream in such a sexy way!”
“Nooooooooo!”
The blue and red lights collided and blurred white. I swallowed the light, and scene after scene of my old world flashed before my eyes.
When the light disappeared, the hectosquad commander was gone, and I was the only one standing in the dark forest.
When I exhaled, I choked, it hurt so much. My whole body was in pain, and the sword I leaned on felt heavy.
But the rain was still falling.
There was a stirring in the forest, as if it were breathing, and a hateful presence lurked in the darkness.
This was the front line, where the monsters appeared, and I had wiped out the unit guarding it. I could smell the sour breath of hungry beasts.
But from farther back, I felt a sharp gaze.
Icy eyes stared right at me from way off in the darkness. In front of that gaze, I could sense countless creatures.
A cage the moment before it was opened.
They were all breathing hard, they wanted me so bad.
...Fine. Come. You won’t be able to sleep like that, anyway, right?
I’ll fuck you. I’m a sex worker. I’ll stay with you ’till the morning comes.
But I won’t let you go to Heaven.
The only one who gets to rest in peace tonight is Shequraso.
The presence deep in the forest swelled up huge and then faded away. The piercing cold gaze softened.
The rain abruptly stopped.
Suddenly, war cries and a stomping of feet—the horde of demons had been released.
Thunder in my left hand, a bloody sword in my right, I screamed too, at the top of my lungs.