MTLNOVEL Chapter 20
Whether it was out of consideration or not.
Instead of covering my eyes and nose with a steel gauntlet, a soft, bare hand gently shielded them.
Hmm, the level of physical contact is too intense.
Just let me see.
No, show me!
……I couldn’t bring myself to shout that out loud.
What if.
What if I get labeled as a pervert or something here?
If I get blocked, the heroes leave, the shop goes to hell, the world ends, and I’m left regretting, devastated, obsessed—ugh, men should beware of three ends, they say……!
Such a horrifying tragedy could happen, you know.
So, for now, I’ll stay quiet.
I swallowed the words I wanted to say.
“Uh, uh, uh, what’s with this disrespectful outfit, no, this natural state? Even if you’re a demon, there are things you should keep covered……!”
Natural state…….
Is there a forest? Probably not, right? I prefer the side without one.
And, Saint.
You don’t have to keep that up…… please…….
Let’s go for a bit of a lawless vibe with our fashion…….
“This humble servant is merely here to guide the true conqueror to their rightful place……”
“Hmph, Master! Don’t be fooled! Elith is a deceitful demon! She’s the one who set the trap, that big-breasted wench!”
“Shut up, you brat!”
“Eek!”
The two demons started a childish argument.
Me? The true conqueror?
“Arc? Since you can’t see, let me explain the situation.”
“……Uh, could you just move your hand, please?”
“Ugh……! That wicked thing……!”
The sound of Saha grinding her teeth.
At the same time, the pressure on my eyeballs increased slightly.
No, move your hand, please!
Flail flail!
Huh.
Am I really bewitched?
By the deceitful demon and her… assets?
Has all the resistance I built up with Lumi become useless?
Feeling a bit more composed.
I opened my mind’s eye and began to observe.
I see…… I see…….
“Sniff, you don’t trust this humble servant…… but it’s alright. If I perform the pure dance of submission that I’ve honed for so long……!”
……!
Dance of submission……! What’s that……!
“In, in, indecent!!!”
“Lewd, woof!”
“Eek……! Shaking those lumps of fat like that……!”
“……Can I shoot an arrow? I’m shooting it.”
“On behalf of Arc, I command you. Burn that wicked thing to ashes.”
“Kyaaaah!”
……In the end.
Before my eyes were freed.
Elith was exorcised…….
“Kuh, kuh, this humble servant hasn’t given up yet. I’ve opened the path to the 10th floor, so please come and meet meee……!”
I want to see the pure dance of submission too!
Why do only you guys get to see it……?
“Now, Your Holiness. You may open your eyes.”
“……Don’t call me ‘Your Holiness’ so stiffly, just call me Arc……”
“B, b, b, but…… if I call you by your name, we’ll get too familiar and then──”
“Arc? Should I finish off the boss?”
Whoosh!
As my vision cleared, the already tattered orc warrior breathed his last.
With a heart full of sorrow, I purified the rift.
[7th Floor of the Tower of Wishes – Orc Village Entrance Area 10 Clear!]
[You can now enter the 8th Floor of the Tower of Wishes.]
[New Feature Unlocked: Dimension Arena]
There will be better days ahead…….
Anyway.
“……Sigh. Let’s head out of the tower for now. Let’s grab some food too.”
Now.
It’s time for the heroes to earn some divine stones!
* * *
“……Is this really okay to eat?”
“Ugh……”
“Woof……?”
“Oh almighty sweet goddess, protect me with eternal light, guide me with your holy wisdom……”
Hey, Yo-Hena.
It’s great that you’re speaking in tongues, but isn’t that a bit plagiarized……?
“Chew it well.”
I went all out to cook a ‘magnificent orc sirloin steak,’ but the heroes’ reactions were less than enthusiastic.
Orcs are just bipedal pigs.
Even their cries sound like oinks or grunts.
“If you don’t like the sirloin, next time I’ll make sweet and sour pork with the tenderloin.”
“Eeeek……!”
……Honestly, even I’m not too keen on the tenderloin.
The sirloin is within acceptable limits, so let’s just eat quietly.
After returning to the guild house and filling our stomachs, we headed back to the tower.
Next to the rift leading to the daily dungeon, another new rift was shimmering with dazzling light, as if adorned with LED lights.
“Alert! Anomaly detected!”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Naturally, the knights were controlling the unusual situation.
“I’ve received an oracle from the sanctuary, so Saint and I will check this out. It might be dangerous, so please refrain from approaching for now, members.”
“Yes, Captain!”
“As expected of the Captain!”
Thanks to the captain spreading false information, we could neatly shoo away the members.
As expected of Light Saha.
Great Saha.
You’re the first protagonist of the separation skin.
I’ll free you from that heavy armor soon.
Only after confirming that everyone around had disappeared did I finally gain the ‘freedom to remove my hood.’
“…….”
“Ha.”
“As expected of the master…!”
Cold but refreshing air flowed down the back of my neck, accompanied by mysterious sound effects and reactions filling my ears.
“Shall we go?”
Taking the lead.
I threw myself into the sparkling, shimmering rift.
* * *
“Welcome! Welcome to the Dimension Arena!”
Listening to the announcer’s welcome message, which sounded quite cringy and awkward in voice form.
For the heroes, this place might seem “unrealistic.”
But for me, it felt like stepping into a “realistic” location.
Thump thump.
Until now, I had only been playing the BGM in my head.
But the club-style music that used to flow from Direna during gameplay now vibrated through my eardrums, making my heart go boom boom!
“Ugh.”
“Huh?”
“Where on earth is this…?”
Ah.
They don’t know, huh.
Everyone was slightly dazed, blinking their eyes as they took in the scenery, but my steps were unwavering.
The scenery looked like it was ripped straight from the original UI.
It felt a bit awkward switching from a flat view to a “3D mode,” but the space itself still felt familiar.
We arrived at the portal in the center of the Dimension Arena lobby.
From where we entered, straight ahead was──
“That must be the place to prepare for battle.”
Oh!
As expected of the knight captain and main tank.
Unlike the other flustered rookies, she was so composed!
“Saha, you’re amazing! So smart.”
“Ehehe, hehe… Ahem. It’s nothing.”
…Composed, huh?
Anyway, Saha was right.
Even for the heroes from a primitive fantasy world with little understanding of modern mobile games, the design was intuitive.
In the place labeled “WAITING ROOM” in the language Yo-Hena calls “the language of the goddess,” there was a space to set up──
What combination to use for attacking── Attack Deck, Atk Deck.
What combination to use for defending── Defense Deck, Def Deck.
Before formulating a strategy, there was something I needed to check first.
Rankings, let’s check the rankings!
Are we in the lower group? All newbies? A goldmine?
Looking around.
Tynia and Lumi running around exploring.
Yo-Hena with a dazed expression.
Ari whispering something to Saha.
Passing by our heroes──
Three statues.
And below them, a panel that seemed to display the rankings.
The reason Direna was mockingly called “the grind war.”
The glorious spot displaying the top three rankings based on the 5 AM reset, showing their nicknames and representative characters.
…How much effort had I put into securing that spot?
Staying up all night to maintain my rank, and if I wasn’t first, hooking in at 4:59:50 to snatch the top spot…
It was a past glory.
And the path I had to walk now.
…Was it really glory?
Probably not.
Just a one-time thing, hit first place once and quit.
Anyway, seeing the top rank gives you an idea of the group’s level.
I slowly moved my steps toward the statues.
Following my steps, the heroes’ gazes also turned this way.
“Huh? Saha, huh?”
Right.
The statue for 1st place was Saha.
And not just any Saha.
It was Saha (Swimsuit)!
“Wha?! A, a noble knight like me would never wear such disgraceful clothing…!”
“Oh my. Saha! What’s that? What’s that outfit?”
“A, A, Ari. What’s with that tone…!”
“…Saha, this is disrespectful. I’m disappointed.”
“Yo-Hena? Even you…?!”
Saha’s voice, sounding utterly flustered, desperately trying to explain.
Hmm, delicious.
When the swimsuit skin was actually released, the interaction lines were truly top-tier.
Hehe. I’m looking forward to it. Hehe.
Anyway, the top ranker seemed to be a pro.
If they understand Saha’s strength.
Maybe this group won’t be easy?
Wrapping such delusions in my mind.
As I approached the statue and read the nameplate.
“Huh…?”
I felt a slight sense of dizziness.
[✨1st Place✨][Flame Bird Lover Saha Lover]
[Representative Character: Saha (Swimsuit) (LV.100)]
[ ? ][ ? ][ ? ][ ? ][ ? ]
What the, damn.
This.
This is my main account.
Why is this here…?