Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society
chapter-307-30041322

“Peika, what does this look like?”

[A horn?]

“Damn it…!”

I asked Peika just in case I was mistaken, but Peika’s answer didn’t change. Dortu then sensibly created a metallic mirror. I saw my reflection in the silver mirror, and I could clearly see a dark-red horn protruding out. Not only that, but my skin had also turned snow-white, while a part of my hair had turned red. It was as though I had taken Lilith’s characteristics.

“Dear God…”

I realized that the portion of her power I couldn’t completely accept had fused with my mana to form this horn. Should I cut it off? I couldn’t help but consider the possibility, but I immediately decided against it. I knew that once I could accept all of Lilith’s power, the horn would disappear naturally.

In other words, just because I absorbed Lilith’s Horn, it didn’t mean I could fully use her power. Of course, I checked my stats and saw that my charm stat had shot up by almost 300 points, but it wasn’t to the point of being able to charm inanimate objects.

If I process the remaining power in the horn, would I be able to do it? I wasn’t sure. But with my charm increased, several of my other skills had also become stronger.

Naturally, Evil Eyes were affected by charm as were skills like Provoke and Overwhelm. If the difference between me and opponent was big, I could now kill him with my presence alone. I wouldn’t have even imagined such a thing had I not obtained Lilith’s Horn.

“Lilith’s power can’t become my primary ability, so I’ll have to be content with this. If I get greedy for more, I’ll only end up doing myself a disfavor.”

[Master’s charm is already amazing!]

“I think so too.”

I replied to Peika with a bitter smile. 300 points. Although I didn’t want to admit it, my charm had long since surpassed the realm of a human. Considering one of my skills doubled the effect of charm against those of the opposite sex, I might even be able to use Lilith’s Temptation on Lilith herself. Of course, since Lilith was dead, this could only stay a theory.

I looked in the mirror once again and realized that I was still naked. I thought about putting my armor back on, but thinking that I wouldn’t need to fight in the dungeon for the rest of the day, I just put on light clothes. Wraith Queen Set or Vampire Lord Set was the best for such occasions.

In truth, Incubus King’s Set was cooler than either of these, but it was just too flamboyant for any sane person to wear. On the other hand, Wraith Queen Set and Vampire Lord Set were comparable to luxury brand designer clothes. Not only did they look the part, but they also had decent functionalities. Since Wraith Queen Set was older and came from a lower-level Floor Master, I mostly used Vampire Lord Set.

But when I changed into the Vampire Lord Set and looked at the mirror, someone resembling a dungeon Floor Master was there.

“I only got a horn and had my skin color changed, but this… No, that’s a pretty big change.”

Damn! If only I could get rid of this horn!

It was yet another reason to focus more on training.

“Let’s get out for now. Good job, everyone.”

[You did well too, Master!]

[It’s an honor to be of help, Master.]

[I am Dortu. Dortu can now make orichalcos.]

I left Beyond along with my three elementals. I made sure to check for any leftover orichalcos, but it seemed they disappeared along with Lilith’s death. Since Dortu said he could make them, I planned to make some when I had mana to spare.

“Shin-nim, welcome back… Eh?”

I felt bad about leaving Loretta behind and jumping straight into Beyond, so I planned to stay with her for a little bit. But Loretta’s expression seemed a bit strange.

“Loretta? What’s wrong?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask. Shin-nim, do you know what state you’re in?”

“State? … Ah.”

Shoot, because I was fighting Lilith, I had my charm raised to its limit! Not to mention, after I obtained Lilith’s power, I left without properly restraining my charm..!

I didn’t even have time to reply. Loretta’s approached me stealthily and grabbed my hands.

“Shin-nim, I think I know who you fought in Beyond’s 35th floor. Shin-nim’s appearance changed a lot and it’s so obvious too. Huhu.”

“Loretta’s smart as expected. So in that sense, I have something to ask you.”

Loretta smiled like there was nothing more to be said. She stuck her body onto mine and whispered in my ear.

“Don’t worry, if it’s only for a little while, I can isolate us from Lord’s view.”

“I’m not worried about Sherafina’s voyeurism fetish!”

I yelled, but Loretta suddenly tightly squeezed my hands. Her eyes were shining fiercely. She pulled on my arms as if to say she’d never let go.

“Come on, let’s go to my cabin. Quickly.”

“Loretta, let’s just talk this out!”

“Shin-nim, I like talking with my body more. We can talk with our mouths later.”

“Uwaaaaaak!”

I screamed and twisted my body. But because I wasn’t wearing my armor, I couldn’t use my full power! Loretta opened the gate to Fairy Garden and murmured in a happy voice.

“Huhuhu, what should we name our thirteenth daughter?”

“That’s how far we’ve gone in your head!? Isn’t that too many!?”

From then, it took some time for Loretta to let me go. I felt like I had to use more energy than the energy I spent fighting Lilith before I could finally escape. I’ll just say that it almost made me cry.

With Mother entering the dungeon, there were some days when dinner wasn’t prepared, and today was one of those days. I considered going to Marianne’s Garden, but scared that Loretta might be waiting for me, I decided to just eat instant ramen. When I was boiling water in the kitchen, someone sauntered in.

“Kang Shin, fulfilling your promise?”

“Why are you in my house!?”

Daisy sat down casually wearing a dress shirt and loose shorts. She acted like an old man tired of the harshness of the real world. Plus, her clothes were too defenseless.

“Can’t you wear something proper? Otherwise, button up your shirt more.”

“Comfy clothes, good clothes. When you’re not fighting, it’s good to let loose.”

“So why are you in my house?”

“Comfy house, good house. When you’re not fighting, it’s good to let loose.”

So my house was comfy. It was my fault for letting her in here so easily. Complaining internally, I took out another bag of ramen from the cupboard. Daisy then casually added.

“I eat two.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I was somewhat expecting it. Even though we used mana to fight, we both had superhuman muscles. As such, we had to eat at least twice as much as normal people. Since boiling three or four ramen was more or less the same, I took out another bag without hesitation.

When I was pouring more water into the pot, Daisy suddenly asked.

“Kang Shin, you got a horn?”

“Ah, yeah, I defeated someone called Lilith and this is what happened. It might look weird now, but it’ll disappear when I can fully control it.”

“Horn, okay. Horn is a symbol of the powerful. If weak demons have horns, strong demons will break them. Dragons, they have the most beautiful horns. Elves who like strong people, also like horns.”

“Yeah, I learned that today too.”

“… You mated with the Elf Queen?”

“No!”

I turned around and shouted back. Daisy then narrowed her eyes and glared at me.

“Elf Queen, perfect woman. Not mating with her, is it because you like me?”

“I’ll be serious. I don’t plan on troubling other women. I can’t do much about the ones I said I’d accept, but I don’t…”

“… You don’t want to pursue, your feelings for me?”

“Your unfound confidence surprises me every time! I meant to say, I don’t plan on liking you romantically!”

Even though I said that Daisy looked at me with pitiful, all-understanding eyes. Feeling like there was nothing I could say that would convince her, I gave up and went back to quietly boiling water.

When I stopped talking, Daisy nodded with a satisfied face, then began swinging her feet as she hummed melodies I didn’t know. Now she was like a cheery elementary school kid.

Suddenly, Daisy widened her eyes like she realized something important.

“Is this… a newlywed atmosphere?”

“What a lame newlywed.”

“No money to eat proper food has to make do with ramen. House is small but full of love.”

“Such poor people won’t each eat two bags of ramen. This house isn’t small and there’s no love between us.”

“Kang Shin, water’s boiling.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I quit picking on her words and started opening the ramen bags. Out of nowhere, Daisy softly spoke.

“Kang Shin, thank you very much.”

“I should be the one thanking you.”

“At times like this, you should pretend to have not heard anything.”

“If you want to whisper to yourself, you should just say it in your head.”

When I retorted with a snicker, Daisy snorted. Seeing a smile on her face, I couldn’t help but think about how much everything changed. Knowing that I had affected her, I felt somewhat proud.

At that moment, an archangel I wasn’t expecting to see peeked her head into the kitchen.

“Oppa, if it isn’t too late, can I eat ramen too?”

“Of course it’s not late. Wait just a bit.”

“Kyak, Oppa, there’s a horn on your head! And… You look more bewitching.”

Don’t call a man bewitching, Yua.

“It’s nothing much, so don’t worry about it. This horn is like a G**dam builder part!”

“Okay! If that’s what Oppa says, hehe.”

Yua was wearing light clothes as though she just got out of a shower after being in the dungeon. In her arms was a small dragon fuming a fiery yawn. It was the baby dragon born from Lava King’s egg.

Since I didn’t add ramen into the water, I could still add more water to the pot. With this, I had to wait for more until the water boiled.

Seeing Yua slump down next to her, Daisy tilted her head, then exclaimed in her delusional realization.

“Sister-in-law, disrupting newlywed couple… Annoyed.”

“Daisy-ssi, can you say that a little louder?”

“Sister-in-law, disrupting newlywed couple… Annoyed.”

“Uk.”

Even Yua couldn’t do anything about Daisy’s my-pace attitude. Daisy had a talent for making her jokes not sound like jokes. Seeing Yua become flustered by her words, Daisy smiled bashfully and hit the chair next to her.

“But we can’t starve you. Sister-in-law should eat ramen with us.”

“Don’t call me sister-in-law, Daisy-ssi.”

“Kang Yungoong said, I can call you that.”

“Thank you for letting me know, Daisy-ssi.”

It seemed Father would have to avoid Yua for a while. I mean, just what was this old man telling everyone! Is he trying to make a soccer team with daughters-in-law rather than grandkids!?

“Kang Shin, when’s ramen?”

“Wait 5 minutes. Sorry for making you wait.”

“We have more people, it’s okay. I can wait. Grey Elves are very easygoing.”

“Are they?”

“Un. They’re easygoing and relaxed about everything. So although everyone is very talented, we don’t get many outstanding warriors. Because we’re easygoing.”

“This is the first time I’m hearing this.”

“Of course, when they need to, they get serious. Still, they’re very patient. That’s quicker in the end.”

The topic went from ramen to a rather interesting subject. I threw five portions of ramen into the boiling water and thought back to when I first met Daisy. Daisy lying down on her bed really seemed to resemble her description of Grey Elves. Just when I was thinking that Daisy added a final comment.

“So Grey Elves’ courtships are easygoing. Love and relationship are also easygoing.”

“Daisy-ssi?”

“Hungry.”

When Yua called her name, Daisy feigned ignorance and bit down on her chopsticks. I couldn’t help but laugh seeing her child-like manner.

“Like I said, if you want to whisper to yourself, you should say it in your head.”

“Like I said, at times like this, you should pretend to have not heard anything. But since you already heard it, it’s okay.”

Daisy spoke with a wink.

“Even after we defeat the Demon Lord, Kang Shin should make me ramen forever. Kang Shin and I can both spend time leisurely. I’m sure it will be fun.”

The ramen we had that night was extremely delicious. Unfortunately, Yua’s angry kitten-like stare continued to scratch me.