A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 111
Jolt-!
“Heok… heok… heok…”
Gasping for breath, Loxy sat up and let out a sigh.
Hooo-
Several days had already passed, but ever since entering U-jin's dream, Loxy had been having nightmares every single day.
It was some comfort that as the days went by, the memory faded and the intense fear from the dream gradually lessened.
Still, the terror she experienced upon waking from the dream evoked a dramatic emotion that went beyond mere unpleasantness.
Well, as a Succubus who used to enter others' dreams to weave nightmares, she also felt a sense of rejection at the very fact of experiencing a nightmare for the first time.
Swish-
Turning her head to check the deep dark circles under her eyes, Loxy muttered softly.
“…This damn human.”
『…What? The Demon King?』
On the day U-jin left for the Darkest Dungeon.
Loxy had confessed to him exactly what she had experienced.
It was something she had deliberated on, but in any case, if not for U-jin, she wouldn't have been able to explain the phenomenon.
And, well.
As time went on, she felt an increasing urge that she had to tell him.
And her feeling was not wrong.
U-jin had been quite surprised by Loxy's confession that she had seen the Demon King and something like strange tentacles.
It was a level of intense bewilderment he had never shown in front of her before.
At that reaction, Loxy thought that U-jin must know something and would give her a solution, but.
“…As if knowing is all that matters.”
He didn't give her any explanation or solution that could shake off this terror.
He just.
『Tell me if it happens again.』
『…Pardon?』
『Why did you come into someone's room in the middle of the night anyway? You got what you deserved.』
『…….』
Spoke like that and gave her instructions.
“I mean, whose dream do you think I entered to end up like this…?”
Ugh-
Shivering once, Loxy checked the mirror again and pulled down the skin under her eye with her finger.
Her fully revealed iris was glowing with a murky color.
A chaotic mix of purple and brown, her irises looked distinctly different from usual.
“……”
Of course, it was something she could have easily overlooked.
Literally, only the color of her eyes had changed.
But Loxy looked at those eyes and muttered in annoyance.
“…I don't like a single thing about this.”
The reason was simple.
Because along with these eyes that had changed after entering and leaving U-jin's dream, she kept feeling a ‘good heart’.
Feeling a sense of duty to help U-jin.
Her heart ached seeing a trampled flower.
Compared to her past self, they were the complete opposite—unfamiliar feelings that were unbearably uncomfortable.
Disgusting thoughts she had never once felt while living as a Succubus.
But while she was actually feeling those emotions and acting on them, she didn't think it was strange.
It was only now, recalling it in hindsight, that she realized something was wrong.
“……”
Of course, it wasn't that there were no signs.
Come to think of it, it was strange back on the Shandong Peninsula when she visited the back alleys with Jerry.
Slaves were everywhere on the continent, and there was nothing strange about employing them.
Did it make any sense for her to feel disappointed that Jerry—of all people, a member of the Vampire Clan who was once part of the Demon King's Army, not even someone from The Order—was buying a slave?
Haaa-
“Just what in the world is going on.”
What's more, the phenomenon had grown even stronger since hearing that strange word with the Demon King in U-jin's dream.
How should I put it? It wasn't that her spirit was chipped away, but it felt like the whole pie had gotten smaller?
Anyway, back then, the disappointment she felt toward Jerry was at least confined to her head, but now, seeing a trampled flower, her hand would move first.
Shake shake-
Shaking her head once to try and dislodge the strange thoughts that had taken root, Loxy soon covered her face with her right hand and muttered.
“I just have to look out for myself.”
There was nothing to believe in from the start.
She had said she would be on the good side, but it was obvious that U-jin didn't trust her either.
And she herself was only aligned with this side because she had no other alternative at the moment; she had never once thought she could genuinely become one of the good guys.
“As long as I survive.”
In the Demon King's Army, and here.
She wasn't particularly welcomed anywhere, but that was always a given.
Even as an uninvited guest.
Surviving came first.
***
The Madman's Mine was adjacent to the outermost region of the dungeon, and even by the standards of the entire explored area of the Darkest Dungeon, it was located quite deep inside.
Ordinary people would naturally have no reason to approach it, and as a place with its own name, it was so notorious that unless you were extremely confident or had a screw loose, you had no business going near it.
Even Tom, who had lived here for decades, had only seen it once or twice while passing by.
The fact that this was his first time actually entering the mine spoke volumes.
Trudge, trudge-
“…Hey.”
On the way to the Madman's Mine.
The man walking in front asked without looking back.
“Hm?”
“Why do you need that red stone?”
“…I told you earlier. I need it to get out of here.”
“Is that so.”
As if thinking for a moment, the silent man muttered.
“I didn't know it had such a function. I've seen it a few times, but I thought its only function was to bewitch Mutants and humans. To think it had a warp function.”
“……”
His reply made my train of thought stop for a moment.
“…No. What are you talking about, a warp function?”
“…Didn't you say you could get out with it? As far as I know, the only way to leave this place without The Order's permission is by warping.”
…It seemed he had misunderstood, thinking Quark's hidden function was to get out of the Darkest Dungeon.
“If something like that were possible, they wouldn't be using this place as a prison, you moron.”
“……”
“I didn't mean I'd get out directly, I meant I made a deal with someone outside. They'll let me out if I bring that thing.”
“…I see.”
A moment of silence passed.
“A moron, he says…”
For some reason, the man, who showed a satisfied smile, suddenly raised his right arm at a right angle.
And he turned his head to look down at his own back.
“I haven't been working out separately lately, but.”
“……”
“It seems the Sleep-Induced Muscle Growth Method I've been trying recently was effective.”
“……”
“It's been a very long time since my weak points were complimented. Your back can become like this someday too.”
“……”
…Come to think of it.
I'd forgotten.
I’d forgotten that around this time, when he saw no results in his spiritual training, he was researching all sorts of bizarre physical training methods to hone his already maxed-out body.
“Cut the crap. Where in the world is there a workout method like the ‘Sleep-Induced Muscle Growth Method’?”
He was so crazy about working out that even the software in his head had turned into hardware.
“Hmph.”
With a creepy smile, the man now raised his other arm as well, fully contracting and then relaxing his spread lats as he replied.
“The bear-kin of our Beastkin clan have twice the sleep time in winter compared to other seasons, and they use a special method to minimize muscle loss during sleep and instead induce muscle growth.”
“……”
“It maximizes image training, repeatedly contracting and relaxing the muscles to give them the same load without actual movement. It doesn't deviate from the basic principle of overload, so it's not that difficult.”
“……”
“If you want, I can personally teach you how to become a moron—”
“Fuck off, you idiot. I don't need that crap.”
That's right.
He was so obsessed with the words 'muscle growth' and 'overload' around this time that if the final evolved form of a gym rat were to manifest, it would probably look like him.
“……”
At my firm refusal, the man looked somewhat disappointed and tried to add to his explanation, but.
I didn't bother to reply and just walked past him.
Trudge, trudge-
He soon followed behind me naturally, and a brief silence passed.
He spoke to me again.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“Come to think of it, I forgot something.”
“If you say something about protein intake or whatever, I'll kill you—”
I thought he might be trying to continue his damn gym-rat talk, so I was about to cut him off, but.
He shook his head.
“No, that's not it.”
“……?”
“A question. Didn't we agree to take turns?”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it.
“If my memory serves me right, I believe it's my turn.”
We did say we'd ask questions one by one.
It wasn't that I had a plan; it was just a convenient excuse I found to cut him off, but it did seem to be his turn.
Well… even if it wasn't, I could pretty much guess what his question would be. And it was about time to bring it up anyway.
“It's a bit ambiguous, but…”
“……”
“…Let's just say so. Go ahead.”
At my consenting reply, he asked the exact question I had been expecting in my mind.
“…Just who is this 'partner' you spoke of?”
“……”
“No matter how much I think, I can't recall anyone. Someone who knows so much about Moonlight Syndrome and our clan and could still be alive.”
Pfft-
“It's someone you know.”
“……?”
At my short answer, the man's head tilted slightly.
“I don't know them.”
“Yes, you do.”
“……”
At my confident reply, the man furrowed his brow as if searching his memory, then asked as if he'd found a name.
“Is it Bacal?”
“The Cat-kin Guard Captain?”
“…That's right.”
“He's probably dead.”
“Then… is it Kirrlot?”
If my memory was correct, that was the name of the second-in-command of the Lycan Clan, who had been the most promising after Tom.
“You know better than anyone that's not it. That you're the only one left of the Lycan Clan.”
“…I see.”
After another moment of silence, the man shook his head.
“I don't know. Other than them, no other names come to mind.”
“Hmm…”
Shrug-
“Then just come out with me and see for yourself. It's someone you know very well.”
“…What?”
The man's brow furrowed even more. He retorted as if he couldn't understand.
“What do you mean by that? Me, leaving here?”
“Your sentence is over. So you should get out instead of taking up space.”
“…That's not how it—”
It was then.
【Fufut-.】
A sweet, seductive cry tickled my ear, and purple Mana flickered from the bushes ahead.
“……”
“……!!!”
In an instant, our surroundings were dyed in a purple curtain.
【I don't recall inviting any guests.】
Soon, the owner of the voice revealed herself.
A woman.
Long, straight hair.
A scantily clad attire that was as good as naked.
With the corners of her mouth raised, she approached, offering a greeting.
No.
To be precise, the expression 'she' was wrong.
It was a female.
That thing.
Grrrr-
“…A Succubus.”
Because it was a Succubus.