Chapter 19: Unnamed Grave
I did not realize how badly I needed a break until I took one. Even if I still had my usual nightmare, I woke up with more energy and drive to succeed.
“Status.”
Name: Ash
Class: Novice
Level: 1/10
Personal Skills (2/3): [Weak Bladder], [Summoning Magic I]
Racial Skills: [Contract I]
Class Skills: [Novice]
I grinned from ear to ear every single time my eyes fell on the skill [Summoning Magic]. I didn’t know why I had not thought to try using magic earlier.
The Novice class was a cheat code that allowed me to learn something in half a day that usually took people years of effort. For the first time since I became an explorer, I was grateful I reincarnated as a Novice. Otherwise, I would never have been able to experience using magic.
“Ah…”
I exclaimed in surprise when I noticed my lack of a third skill. Once I thought about it, I realized that I hadn’t bound my chest yesterday. The reason the pizza delivery guy was stuttering when he took my tip was because of how loosely clothed I was. I wasn’t even wearing a bra.
My hand reached up to scratch the back of my head. Strangely, I didn’t really care. As long as people were not giving me funny looks, why should I care if they saw my chest or not?
I had an open skill slot. [Summoning Magic] had already shown me how precious each individual skill slot was. It was a waste to use it up to make my breasts disappear.
“To begin with Black and White are the only two people who have watched me in the dungeon.”
White was quiet and kept to themselves and Black loved boobs. I didn’t see either one of them making fun of me for my appearance. Additionally, it had been over a month since my peeing incident. I doubted anyone remembered me, especially with all the exciting news as of late.
Once I sat down and thought about it, I realized there wasn’t really a need for me to go to such great lengths to cover up my appearance. Explorers peeing themselves in fear wasn’t exactly an unusual development. It had happened to a good number of beginner explorers when they first started out.
When I placed [Breast Binding] and [Shadow’s Refuge] on a scale in my mind, the scale clearly tilted towards [Shadow’s Refuge]. To be honest, I was addicted to the idea of using more magic. Additionally, the thought of surprising a foe with an army of my contracted monsters appearing from my shadows tickled my heart.
“Come here, Lime.”
I snatched up Lime and then began the strange task of trying to store Lime in my shadow. Much like with [Summoning Magic], my impossible and vague goal eventually gained clear guidelines. After a few hours, something shifted inside of me and Lime slipped into my shadow.
It was definitely a strange feeling. I suddenly became aware of a dark space that was opened up inside of me where Lime was stored. This space had no entrance and exit, so there was no clear way to bring my contracted slime out.
“Summon Lime!”
Lime disappeared from the shadowy space inside of me and reappeared in my hand. Additionally, it took very little out of me to summon Lime. Emboldened by my success, I experimented some more with my skills.
As I had read online, I could not bring store items into my shadow. I could, however, have Lime envelop a pen and then bring Lime and the pen into my shadow. My mind spun with new ideas on how to take advantage of this fact.
Lime would be able to divide into mini Limes once it got a little stronger. Then, I could have those mini Limes envelop whatever items I wanted to store and bring them into my shadow space.
Not only would I have a space to store my contracted monsters, but I could also have a functioning [Item Box] through this method.
The summon location also didn’t need to be my hand. I could summon Lime from any spot my shadow touched and it took the same negligible amount of mana. That opened up a lot of possibilities. I did not have any skill slots left to manipulate my shadow, but I could form a contract with a monster that served a similar purpose.
I played around for the rest of my time while I waited for the clock to hit 2am. I pondered what I wanted to do while I waited. Even if I no longer had the [Breast Binding] skill, I could still bind my breasts with bandages like usual.
The only time I had worn a bra was when I reincarnated in the beginner explorer outfit on the first day. Every day since, I’ve either gone without wearing one while inside or bound my breasts with bandages.
While my resistance to the idea had certainly lessened, I didn’t want to wear one if I didn’t have to. Lime could freely harden its form in a way that offered far superior support to what a bra could offer.
I had Lime support me. At this point, I was so used to wearing Lime on my body that the contracted slime felt like a second layer of skin to me. I put my usual explorer outfit back on.
The simple school uniform, short shorts, and white hoodie had not changed at all, but my figure had changed drastically. Two very obvious hills pushed against the white fabric of the hoodie. Still, I didn’t look bad or weird.
I thought my face was pretty and my body was rather cute. I looked like a small animal one could cuddle. My short ice blue hair was soft to the touch and my cheeks still maintained a childish squishiness. It didn’t bother me that I wasn’t as tall or rugged as I used to be.
I left for a new dungeon a little before the clock struck 2. I was a little nervous going to a new place, but my trip passed uneventfully. Alas, my peace and quiet ended the moment I stepped into the administration building for the dungeon, Unnamed Grave.
The eyes of a bored demon girl stood behind the front desk lit up.
“You are such a cutie!”
She crossed the gap between us in an instant. The next thing I knew, a pair of breasts were shoved into my face while a set of hands hugged me tightly against her.
“How can an explorer as cute as you come to such a dreary, old dungeon like this. Big Sis will not allow it.”
“Miss—”
“Big Sis!”
I tried to call out to the receptionist, but a cold voice interrupted me. H-Huh? Did such a cold voice really come from the smiling girl that was hugging me?
“Big Sis, please let go of me.”
My heart couldn’t calm down under the demon receptionist’s enthusiastic embrace. I had never been welcomed in such a familiar manner from a girl before.
“Anything for a cutie like you.”
The self proclaimed Big Sis released me with a big smile. I had to avert my eyes when she licked her lips while looking at me. Ah, maybe it wasn’t only men that I had to watch out for.
“I would like to enter the Unnamed Grave dungeon.”
Big Sis’ smile disappeared and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on her lap behind the front desk. Teleportation!? Her arms were wrapped around me, preventing me from escaping.
“That is no good. You will get hurt.”
She was treating me as a kid.
“I am an explorer.”
I looked up at her in protest. Something about my actions caused the firm look in Big Sis’ eyes to waver.
“Don’t give me those puppy dog eyes. Big Sis will not be able to hold herself back!”
I tilted my head. What the heck was this receptionist talking about?
“Kuh, fine. I’ll give you permission, but only to the first floor.”
“Thank you, Big Sis.”
I let my happiness show on my face and for some reason, I was met with a familiar reaction.
“Kyaaa!”
The self proclaimed Bis Sis, a mature looking woman with an apparent soft spot for cute things, fainted in happiness from my smile. No way. That sort of thing only happened to Leah or Cecilia.
“Hey, Big Sis. Wake up. I need you to complete my admission process.”
After a few minutes, I managed to wake up the receptionist and complete my forms to enter the dungeon, Unnamed Grave.
Unnamed Grave was a strange dungeon because each floor was one giant open cavern with a staircase that led to the next floor. The size of the open space increased the further you descended. Additionally, there was no natural lighting in the dungeon.
Instead, a bunch of monsters called Will-o-The-Wisp floated in the air. These small balls of flames were the lowest level of ghosts that were formed from remnant negative thoughts. They were the equivalent to a slime for ghost type monsters.
Within seconds of entering Unnamed Grave, I got hit by a comment.
Everyone’s Big Sis: Cutie, I’ll be watching you. Keep your promise to me and stay on the first floor.
“Big Sis?”
Everyone’s Big Sis: That is right. It is me, your Big Sis.
I was strangely restless knowing that someone I met in person was watching me dive into the dungeon. Another flood of messages popped up before I managed to put my feelings in order.
Black: Hey, hey, hey.
Black: You are finally back.
Black: I’m still waiting to hear your answer.
Black: What part of Cecilia excites you the most?
“Black, it is nice to see you again.”
Black: Wait a second.
Black: Something about you looks different.
I awkwardly laughed at Black’s message. I wasn’t surprised that the boob loving Black would immediately notice that my chest’s attack power had increased several times over again. I braced myself for a snarky comment, but it never came.
Everyone’s Big Sis: If we are talking about Cecilia, it has to be her cute butt.
I was so surprised that Black remained silent, even after Big Sis’ comment that I checked the number of viewers. It had gone back down to 1. Black had abruptly left after noticing my chest.
I gave up on trying to understand my viewers and focused on my current situation. If it wasn’t for the sound of bones creaking and the ghastly silhouettes of Lesser Skeletons wandering around the cavern, the first floor of Unnamed Grave would be a beautiful sight.
Hundreds of Will-O-The-Wisps floated around the dark cavern, filling the air with mysterious blue flames. They were harmless and even if one stuck their hand directly into a Will-O-The-Wisp flame, they would not be burned.
These flames congregated at the very center of the first floor. They spun and floated in a mysterious pattern as if they were dancing to music. The center of that sea of illusionary flames was my destination for today’s dungeon dive.
The Lesser Skeletons on the first floor had brittle bones that easily snapped. I had swapped out my usual daggers setup to carry a wooden club. Being an especially weak level 1 explorer, I needed to use 2 hands to wield the club. Even so, it was worth it.
There was something satisfying about crushing the bones of weaklings that were lower on the totem pole than I was.
Everyone’s Big Sis: Cutie, you have a scary smile on your face. I still think you are cute, though.
Brittle bones gave way to my wooden club. Lesser Skeletons provided a paltry amount of experience, but I did manage to level up once by the time I made it to the sea of Will-O-The-Wisps.
White: Good evening.
Joy welled up from the bottom of my heart. My first viewer was back.
“Welcome back, White.”
Everyone’s Big Sis: Who are you? How did you make my cutie smile like that?
White: You have been marked by a dangerous girl. Everyone’s Big Sis is famous for picking up cute boys and girls and bringing them into her bed.
Everyone’s Big Sis: It is not a crime to give cute things the proper love they deserve.
White’s comment shocked me. Thankfully, I had a trusty viewer looking out for me. It wasn’t my imagination that the so-called Big Sis was a rather dangerous person. Still, I couldn’t help but tease her. I put on a teary eyed expression and spoke up in a pitiful tone.
“Big Sis, was it a lie when you called me cute? Did you see me as just another convenient woman to play with when you are bored of your other little brothers and sisters?”
There was no reply. I still had two viewers, but the receptionist didn’t respond to my words. It was strange, but I put the silly prank I played behind me.
The sea of illusionary flames hadn’t reacted at all to my silly words. I dove right into the middle of it and stood at the center of a vortex of Will-O-The-Wisps. Every now and then, a new Will-O-The-Wisp was born in the center of this cyclone from a nearly blank slate.
These newborn Will-O-The-Wisps burn the brightest with a brilliant blue color before the dark negativity of the dungeon seeps in and dampens their light. Three things happened nearly simultaneously.
A new Will-O-The-Wisp was born. Everyone’s Big Sis left an entire essay length comment that went ignored. Finally, my hand reached out and captured the small, newborn flame.
“Become mine!”
[Contract] activated and forged a link between the tiny Will-O-The-Wisp and me. She may have been smaller than all the others, but her blue flame burned the brightest.
“Your name shall be Pepper.”
Pepper, the Will-O-The-Wisp, didn’t react to my words. As the weakest form of ghosts, a Will-O-The-Wisp had about as much mental activity as a patient in a coma. Pepper followed my mental commands precisely, but the Will-O-The-Wisp floated aimlessly otherwise.
White: Congratulations.
“Thank you, White. It is like my family got a little bigger.”
I took a moment to appreciate the otherworldly sight of hundreds of Will-O-The-Wisps before heading back to the entrance of Unnamed Grave with Pepper.
I did not see the Big Sis receptionist when I returned to the administration facility. That was a problem because I needed to register Pepper as my contracted beast.
“Hehehe. Gladly!”
A happy voice spoke up from somewhere behind the front desk. I followed the voice and was met with a startling sight. Big Sis was sprawled on the floor with a happy smile on her face. On top of the front desk was a laptop which had a window where a stream had ended.
I analyzed the situation. Big Sis was watching my broadcast when she fell from her chair and was knocked unconscious. That fit the situation, but why was she grinning even in her sleep?
I shook Big Sis awake.
“Huh!? What was I doing?”
“Big Sis, I need you to register my contracted monster.”
“Anything for you, cutie.”
Big Sis filled out the forms while strangely being out of it. Thankfully, it didn’t take long. With one last signature, Pepper officially joined my party. I returned home with a spring in my step.