Chapter Fourteen
Dungeons & Dates
I had a simple mission in mind for the day.
Clear the rest of the starter dungeons.
I wanted my armor set. And, because it was one of the “general dungeon” sets, it didn’t really require specific items.
So, there were the normal armor sets based on dungeons that required specific items from their respective dungeons, and then there were the “general dungeon” sets. The “general dungeon” sets required rare drops from any dungeons of their category, but the same material could not be used twice.
I already had three of the five materials needed for the whole set. The level 1 – 5 and 4 – 9 dungeons shared the same set, so that meant I only needed to go get the boss materials from two more of the 1 – 5 dungeons and I’d be good to go.
I was also going to need a nice surplus of monster drops from those dungeons in general.
While most armor sets required specific amounts of specific items, some sets, even the non-general sets, required X number of items from a “category.” Like, requiring ten drops of any kind that came from monsters at least level twenty.
The general dungeon sets were all like that for each piece.
So, I needed five unique boss materials and then five more random monster drops per piece for a total of thirty items. The five boss materials and the twenty-five random drops.
Then I could get out of the cheap armor I bought.
However, when we made it to the guild after breakfast… the atmosphere was even more intense than it was the previous day.
“Hey, is that him?”
“It has to be. Tall, white hair.”
“Is that the guy who gave a legendary drop to a crying girl?”
“Oh my gods, oh my gods, it’s, it’s him, he’s totally here. I didn’t dress up at all!”
“Did you hear he took a bunch of homeless kids out to eat? Is he a saint? Did one of the goddesses gift us with him? Do you think we should start worshipping him as a new god?”
There was a… strange sort of reverence in the air. The way girls looked at me was less horny and more full of awe.
“Gods, I need to milk him dry.”
But still horny.
“It’s weird in here,” Rosie said. “I’ve seen girls go crazy over guys before, but… nothing like this.”
Lupa nodded. “Mm. Even the girls in my birth pack didn’t get like this during heat.”
I blinked when I heard that and had to ask, “Lupa… do you go into heat?”
Lupa’s ears drooped a little as her tail went still. “Can’t.”
I could tell I brought up something sensitive, so I placed my hand on top of her head to pet her. “Nothing wrong with that. My Lupa is perfect the way she is.”
That brought her tail back to life as she nuzzled up against my hand. “Mm… Master is the perfect one.”
Seeing me and Lupa caused the women around us to slide further away from revering me and more into lusting for me. Unfortunately for them, there was only one woman in the guild I was interested in seeing.
“Ah! Sev!” Stella shouted after making it through the line she had.
Unfortunately, by her shouting my name… everyone else learned it.
“His name is Sev? That’s so cute!”
“Sev? Like Seven? That’s how many hours I’ll need with him, minimum.”
“I don’t even want kids, but I’d had seven of them for him.”
Stella must have figured out what she did going by the expression on my face, so she held her hands together in front of her with one eye closed while offering a mouthed apology.
“Lupa,” Rosie said. “I think you’ll need to be even scarier today. The humidity in here is intense…”
“Mm. Got it. I’ll protect Master’s purity until we can take it tonight,” Lupa said, causing both me and Rosie to blush.
I ignored their conversation to go up to Stella.
All that shyness she showed me the previous day was gone.
Instead, she was fully in character now.
The energetic, cheerful, gal-type of girl who acted far more like a modern girl than one in a fantasy setting.
“Sorry about that,” she said, still smiling.
“I was just too excited to see you. Forgive me?” And just as she asked that, she not-very-subtly pushed her breasts forward as if offering them to me for forgiveness.
“Hey, Stella, are you actually an angel in disguise?” I asked.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m only a felid. Buuuuuttttt, I’ll totally wear a cute angel cosplay if that’d make things better.”
“Sorry, I meant to ask if you’re actually a goddess.”
“If I say yes, will you worship me and spoil me?”
“That comes included with the basic package even if you say no.”
“Oh, right, I forgot to ask how much the basic package costs.”
“It’s a monthly subscription with a pretty steep price. I’m not sure if you can afford it.”
“Oh? Well, now I’m curious. I have a nice savings account, so tell me.”
“Well, you see, the base package costs fifteen hugs, ten cuddles, five kisses, and one ‘I love you’ a month.”
“Do I get some sort of refund if I overpay?”
“Sorry, we can’t offer any refunds, but we can carry any excess pay over to future billing cycles.”
“I see. So like, if I give you five hundred kisses in one month, does that mean I get to stay subscribed for the next hundred months?”
“In theory, but I’ll be honest with you. Upper management can be pretty bad at math sometimes, so it’s very likely that they’ll add an extra zero onto that, resulting in you staying subscribed for a thousand months instead.”
“Nice! Consider me sold! Where do I sign?”
“Anywhere you want.”
“In thaaaaat case.” Stella grabbed an ink pen, beckoned for my hand, and then gently held it with her left while her right hand signed, ‘Stella’s?,’ on top of my hand. “Does that count?”
“I’ll never wash this hand for the rest of my life.”
“That’s cute, but please do.”
“Alright…”
With the banter dying down, that meant it was time for Rosie’s and Lupa’s commentary.
“Mm, don’t they get along even better than us?” Lupa whispered to Rosie.
“I don’t think so,” Rosie whispered back. “But he does act extra dramatic with her.”
“Is it the boobs?”
“I can’t think of what else it would be…”
It was not, in fact, the boobs. I just knew the kind of humor that Stella liked and was basically code switching for her.
It felt a little manipulative, but… it was really fun talking to her and messing around like that.
Plus, I planned on telling her about me being from another world where she was only a romanceable game character anyways.
“So!” Stella said. “What can I do for you three today? Going to the dungeons again?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “I plan on going through the four other starter dungeons I haven’t done yet.”
“F-four dungeons? In one day?”
“It should only take us a few hours since we don’t need to grind. I’ll do a more thorough clear of them to collect everything on my own sometime.”
“Still, that’s…”
I made the exact same gesture that she did to beckon for her hand.
Surely enough, she offered me her hand, blushing once I actually took hold of it, and then I took her pen from her.
Next, I wrote, ‘Sev’s?,’ on the top of her hand.
“Show me the quests for the Forest, Ruins, Dunes, and Mountain of New Beginnings, please?”
“I’m not washing either of these hands for the rest of my life.”
“That’s cute, but please do.”
Stella laughed before letting out a sigh. “Alright, fine. If you managed all those quests in one day yesterday, then there’s no way you can’t handle those newbie dungeons. Here.” She pulled out a stack of quests. “They don’t pay well, but they’re easy.”
“… I just realized that if I accept these, I’m taking opportunities away from the newest adventurers who still need the money.”
“Profiteering off dungeons is cutthroat. It’s first come, first serve.”
“So whoever comes first has to serve the other? I’ll keep that in mind.”
Stella’s eyes went wide, her cheeks went red, and…
she must have choked on her own spit since she started coughing.
“Tha—that surprised me! You can’t just say that all of a sudden!
” Even though she was coughing while saying that, she was still smiling and trying not to laugh too much.
“Gods, you weirdo. I’ve never heard a guy talk like that before. Seriously, that was shocking.”
“You didn’t say no.”
Stella leaned in and smirked. “I didn’t. Buuuut, let’s pause the flirting there, because those two behind you are telling me with their eyes that we’ve done enough flirting for the morning. You want to look these quests over?”
“Are there any like yesterday’s? With the sword?”
“Nope. Just basic stuff. If you don’t take them, they’ll be gone by the end of the day, and a new batch will be in tomorrow.”
“Then it’s fine. We’ll kill some extra monsters for loot to sell if we want the money. Let the people who can only handle these quests accept them.”
“You’re way too sweet, you know?”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Nah, you’re def too sweet. I’m totally gonna get a sugar high just from listening to you.”
“Speaking of sugar highs, how much does a phone cost?”
“The heck does that have to do with sugar?” Stella laughed. “The newest, nicest ones are like, usually around fifty gold, but you can buy pretty nice used ones for as low as twenty silver.”
“Then, after the dungeons, can you help me and Lupa buy some phones? Also, before you answer, make sure to ask what’s in it for you.”
Stella smirked again and asked, “What’s in it for me?”
“I’ll take you out on a date afterward.”
“Hey, Sev.”
“Yeah, Stella?”
“Since I’m obviously dreaming since there’s no way any of this is real, that means I can jump over this counter and do whatever I want to you right here, right now, and it’ll be okay, right?”
“Sorry to ruin your fantasy, but you’re awake and all of this is real.”
“One fantasy might be dead, but another is still alive.” She held up her hand with my signature on it. “I’m looking forward to you paying your subscription fee. That’s how it works, right?”
“I’ll have to find a way to stay alive forever to make sure I get all the months I’ll be earning.”