Chapter 58: Nagae YukikoNagae Yukiko was a plain girl. Compared to the many distinctive girls of cla.s.s 2-7, young ladies positively br.i.m.m.i.n.g all with their own individual charms, in such a box of gems, Yukiko could be described as very ordinary. Her face, despite being slightly on the prettier side, wouldn’t turn any eyes.
But that was fine. Yukiko didn’t want to be an idol or anything. Standing out wasn’t fun, being stared at wasn’t fun either. If she could live out a calm, quiet, peaceful school life, that would suffice. No, as of late, Yukiko’s life had already undergone a very exciting change. She had been feeling happiness the likes she’d never felt before.
But on the morning of September the 21st, that joyful student life of hers came to a sudden and abrupt end.
“Uuu… What’s, where, am I…”
She opened her eyes in a dim stone-built room. If she were to believe the mysterious announcer, she was likely already inside a dungeon in a parallel world. That would certainly be the case… But one could not expect Yukiko, the normal high school girl she was, to suddenly have a grasp of the situation. That would also be the case.
Having wept in despair for a time, Yukiko ultimately started moving according to the man’s instructions.
“Job... Cryomancer?”
With her three starter abilities, Eis Sagitta, Eis s.h.i.+eld, and Eis Mist in hand, Yukiko, with nothing better in mind, decided to look for her scattered cla.s.smates. Mustering up her courage, the girl began her search into the eerie pa.s.sages interlacing the dungeon.
“Hii-i, Wh-what, what is, that...”
Attack, defense, and additionally, magic that could release a mist so as to confuse the opponent or allow the caster to escape. Yukiko had all the components necessary to put up a decent fight, but that never meant that she actually could. Even if you had a gun and knew how to use it, it didn’t mean you could shoot with it accurately in deadly combat.
Yukiko would waver even when shooting her ice arrows at the monsters called red dogs that were no bigger than stray dogs. So there was no way she could handle a goma, that vile creature that was exceedingly uglier than a human, but also exceedingly close to one in shape.
Yukiko could only shake in fear, silencing her breath as she progressed through the dungeon. The only magic she could bring herself to use was the one that would hide her from enemies, her Eis Mist.
“Uuu, sniff… I hate this… why, how much longer do I have to do this...”
She would spend more and more time in the fairy squares, crying to herself. But wait as she may, no one would come to her rescue. All her cla.s.smates must be ahead of her, making good use of the powers granted by their Jobs. So she must keep moving. To once again meet her good friends, her reliable cla.s.smates, and most of all, that person she held dear.
With whatever courage she could still muster, Yukiko relied on the cold mist that would hide her as she dove once again into the dungeon. And naturally, her control of said Eis Mist had progressed. She could now release it freely and control its thickness. She even learned a new spell.
Eis Mirage: Can project the caster’s image while inside Eis Mist.
Numerous times did Yukiko pa.s.s around packs of monsters using her adept control of the mist and her ghostly decoys. She had grown a knack for being unseen.
But like all things, there came a limit. The dungeon wasn’t so sweet as to let one survive simply by running and hiding.
“Hah, hah... No, help...”
Shrill beastly grunting followed behind her. It was the cry of goma. A savage cry symbolizing their exaltation and s.a.d.i.s.tic ecstasy from hunting down a helpless prey.
At a corner of a certain forested dome, Yukiko was soon discovered by the horde of goma.
“No... No no...”
Once seen, Yukiko’s powers of visual deception were halved. And with their numbers, the goma would eventually run into her in the fog, no doubt.
Yukiko ran desperately. She wasn’t a fast runner. She wasn’t good at sports at all. But she ran. Even if she was out of breath, even if her legs broke, she ran.
They were goma. She already knew of the cruel, gluttonous nature of these creatures from her notebook. But even if she wasn’t aware, she needn’t make a big guess on what these hideous demons would do once they captured her. She didn’t have to guess, her instincts were screaming.
That she would die once caught. That, after seeing the depths of h.e.l.l, after experiencing excruciating pain, she would die.
“NO... Please help... Somebody—”
She had no choice but hope for rescue. Anyone would do. It didn’t matter as long as they saved her.
“Somebody, HEEEEELLPP!!”
And sure enough, someone did indeed come to her rescue.
“HYA’HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
A large, black figure suddenly appeared on the scene. It carried in hand a large s.h.i.+ny sword and—
“—SLAAAAAASHHH!!”
With a single swing, the horde of goma, that were almost at her neck, were all sent flying.
“Hiii!?”
Head, arms, legs, all flew. Human shaped creatures were chopped into pieces in cold-blood. But unlike in movies or anime, the scene wasn’t toned down in the least. The gory deaths of those living creatures were burned into Yukiko’s eyes.
Goma were monsters, sure. But at this moment, Yukiko saw for the first time how their blood was the same red as her own.
“Bufuh, FUFUFUH, DIE!”
Reluctant to let go of their prey, the goma roared as they trampled over their fallen comrades to face their new enemy. Seeing which, the man with the greatsword gleefully continued his ma.s.sacre.
“Die, DIE! Diiee, ya f.u.c.king mobs!”
He swung everywhere like a chaotic storm. No Style, no form, nothing that could be called technique. But the oversized blade, swung around with the might of a giant, was more than apt for the task at hand.
“f.u.c.king, won’t even make EXP, these s.h.i.+t a.s.s mobs! Die, DIE, ORA!!”
It was a fight akin to devastation. Seeming as a unilateral slaughtering of the enemy, and at the same time, like the ch.o.r.e-some work of crus.h.i.+ng red fruit in a mixer.
“Buhyahyahya!! DIEE!! DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, ORORORORORAA—”
At this point, it was a mere calculation of absolute difference in status. Simply, Artless Extreme (bullying of the weak).
“— I’M f.u.c.kINNGGG STROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!!”
And then, no more goma remained as far as Yukiko could see. They may have all been slashed into slabs if meat, or perhaps a few survived to run away.
At any rate, the only thing reflecting in her eyes now was the man who had saved her. The man who stood in the middle of a lake of blood, garnished in pieces of meat and garbage… Doused red in blood, stinking of rotten fish, and with a figure uglier than a even a goma, there stood her savior.
“Bufuuuh, fuu, fuuuh...”
The man heaved his shoulders up and down in large strokes, wheezing like a pig as he slowly calmed down. In fact, his body was obese enough to make his semblance to a pig almost uncanny. His height was a standard 170 cm (5’7), but his abnormally swelled gut and girth made him look much larger.
For the pet.i.te Yukiko, it would be no exaggeration to call him a giant. She felt such a pressure.
This man then swayed with a swing of his body and turnd himself to Yukiko’s direction. From beyond the lenses of her thick spectacles, a pair of muddy black pupils stared at her.
“Hii!?”
She couldn’t bring herself to express thanks.
Young women like her were generally not good with blood. Let’s take an example: say there was a man obstinately hitting on such a woman, and say another unknown man jumped in, in an attempt to save her. But, it turned out that the 2nd man was too strong, or rather, that man had gone into a frenzied storm with his fists… How pitiful, the flirtatious first man now had his face smashed in, bleeding profusely from his nostrils, his front teeth broken off. All in all, a terrible sight to behold.
Having been shown such a live performance of gruesome violence, any normal woman would think like so: ‘I’m scared.’ She wouldn’t feel anything other than fear. Her heart skipping to make her say, "Thank you, I’ve never met a strong and handsome man like you", wouldn’t even be the last thing on her mind.
Nagae Yukiko was only an ordinary high school girl. It wouldn’t matter that she was on the verge of death. In no possible way could she have her heart burst into love and affection surrounded by a scene of senseless slaughter. The colors dying her small chest were not too dissimilar to the ones she had as she was being chased down by ravenous goma. Blood red fear, and pitch black despair.
“Gufuh... A, Ahh, Uhhm, Nagae-san, are you Alright?”
His blood-soaked face grinned crookedly. Yukiko instinctively looked away.
“... Y-yeah... al, right...”
She answered in tears, words somehow mixed in.
“Ahhhh, I, I See, Great, AAh, that’s GREAT! You Loo-looked like you were in Trouble!”
“!?”
He edged forward. Yukiko s.h.i.+vered as if by recoil. But she somehow managed to hold down the scream that was right at her throat.
“A, Ahrr, Are you still Scared?”
“Ah, uu... It was... r-really scary”
“It was, was it, it Suuure was! Buhahahah! But rest a.s.sured Nagae-san! You’re Safe as long as I’m here! I can swat away Goma like Flies, and most Other monsters can’t do much against my Awesome strength—”
“Hi-, ii...”
As if a tap had burst, Yukiko, having reached the limit of her endurance, devolved into a weeping mess. Gotta stop crying, gotta answer him now, she thought. But in spite of her will, the tears once let set loose would no longer stop.
“E-Eh? You’re Crying!? why, Why the h.e.l.l! I saved You, I beat all the Goma, SEE!?”
“S-sorr... I’m, sorry... It’s s-still scary... I was, so scared... I can’t, calm down yet...”
Her head was turning strange from terror and despair. But Yukiko still managed to muster up every inch of her survival instinct, for a final, desperate act of resistance. This act was, to lie. A woman’s lie, purposed to deceive a man.
“Ah, AAAhhh, got it, I totally Got It! Yup, that’s Right, I’m not the Dense MC type, so I get what you Actually mean, I totally actually got your Message!”
“Y-yea... So, I think, I can’t stop… A little, more...”
“Bufuh, fufuh, don’t Worry, Fuhii, don’t worry your pretty little Head, Nagae-san. I will, proh-Protect, yuuu”
His repulsive wheezing snared in her ears. Yukiko’s crus.h.i.+ng dread didn’t even allow her to raise her head to look. The man was already at arm’s-length.
“Nagae-san, I will, Always, protect You! Fuhih, Fuhihi...”
She feels something slimy touching her head.
“!? Nn, kuh...”
Her head, was being stroked. By a greasy, blood-smeared hand.
She was psychologically repulsed to the brink of losing consciousness. Mortified to the point where she was considering instant suicide, Yukiko gritted her teeth, and painstakingly answered,
“Y-yeah… Thank you… Yokomichi, kun…”
“Buhih! Don’t sweat it! And you can just call me Hajime! And I’ll call you Y-yuhi-Yukiko alright!”
Had she fallen into some cruel G.o.d’s s.a.d.i.s.tic game?
Nagae Yukiko. The savior sent down for her in a moment of crisis was— The single most loathsome boy in Cla.s.s 2-7. It was Yokomichi Hajime.
“Somebody, help—”
I heard it. It’s Yukiko.
I thought it was destiny.
“Bufuh, fufuh, don’t Worry, Fuhii, don’t worry your pretty little Head, Nagae-san. I will, proh-Protect, yuuu”
Our fates were practically entwined.
When I saw her, Yukiko was being chased down by goblins and driven into a corner. If she’s caught, I’ll get to see the plot-line of a dounjin played out.
And, that’s where I come in!
This, is literally happening... Is this, legit light novel-tier plot, is seriously gonna be happening!?
Being OP as f.u.c.k feels too good already. But now, Yukiko’s watching me, my sweet, sweet Yukiko is laying her eyes only on me. And I showed her alright. The coolest, most epic thing a man can do. I had her witness how I can and will protect the girl I love.
She’s pretty much in the bag now. Yukiko Route, full steam ahead.
“Nagae-san, I will, Always, protect You! Fuhih, Fuhihi...”
Would you look at that. Yukiko looks so d.a.m.n happy with me stroking her head. Her shoulders are trembling and she’s sobbing quietly. This has gotta be because, after being almost crushed by fear, she is relieved to the point of tears from being rescued by her ultimate savior. That’s me.
It’s okay, Yukiko. I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you, babe. I won’t let ‘em touch a hair on your body.