WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈
Chapter 23: Why Is the Virgin Succubus Real?
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Charlotte shook her head as she watched Balutak and Isabella loaf around.
“Kirik. Vampire talks amusingly. Talk more.”
“No, it’s just because you listen so well, Balutak.”
“Kiririk. Vampire lived in forest. Balutak lived in forest too. We look different. But same.”
“Hehe.”
“Balutak is in a good mood. Vampire can drink Balutak’s blood if she wants.”
“Ah, I’d rather not.”
While the other Insects worked and the Vampires stood guard on each floor, those two had the time to loaf around.
They were supposed to be officers, yet neither seemed particularly reliable.
Charlotte was hardly in a position to criticize anyone when she made so many mistakes herself, but she still thought she was better than those two.
Was this really one of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss?
Despite its fearsome reputation, this dungeon would be easily conquered by a Hero Extermination Party if the Boss were absent.
‘All we can do is wait for the Boss to return.’
It was embarrassing, but until they grew stronger and could pull their own weight, they had no choice but to rely on the Boss.
The dungeon was defenseless without the Boss.
Charlotte alone could fend off most Extermination Parties, but a Hero Extermination Party was another matter.
Bzzz.
A faint vibration came from inside her clothes.
Charlotte froze. There was only one thing it could mean.
An intruder had tripped the security Mana Thread set up at the entrance.
Pushing aside her unease, Charlotte took out a crystal ball.
It couldn’t be. It had to be a wild animal, or perhaps just an advance party.
How could they know the Boss was away and choose this exact moment? It made no sense.
“Ah...”
The crystal ball showed paladins entering in formation.
Holy Armor glinted beneath their cloaks, and the old man at the front carried a sword that shone brilliantly enough to light up the darkness.
Why now, when the Boss was gone...?
Despair would only waste time and emotion.
Charlotte remained calm as she watched the Extermination Party through the crystal ball.
“Everyone, this isn’t the time to play. Hurry and get ready.”
“Kirik?”
“Why? What is it?”
“An Extermination Party has entered the dungeon. A Hero Extermination Party, no less.”
At those words, Isabella’s face went pale.
Balutak merely scratched their head as though they didn’t understand, while Isabella began making a fuss beside them.
Leaving the explanation to her, Charlotte summoned Golgoli and Balm Monk, then called forth every undead under her command.
She considered asking the Merchant Association for reinforcements, but that would mean taking on more debt.
They had already exceeded their limit after borrowing one hundred million Cell.
They had repaid it immediately, but there was no way the Merchant Association would lend them another enormous sum less than a month later.
Even if it did, relying on the Merchant Association again and again would damage the prestige of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.
That meant they had to hold them off with their current forces alone.
‘Boss. I’ll pass the test I failed back then.’
A crisis was also an opportunity.
Balm Monk and Wilhelm were both Heroes. This was the perfect chance to make up for her mistake.
The odds were slim, but they weren’t nonexistent.
If she could prove her abilities to the Boss through this, perhaps the Boss would indulge her for a while.
‘If I fail again...’
She would probably die at the hands of a Hero.
Even if the Boss appeared and saved her, she had no right to remain here if she was useless.
Charlotte vowed that she would make up for it this time.
* * *
The Castle Full of Lust had established its stronghold in the Demon Realm, more precisely in the second hell, the Grand Duchy of Kallasutra.
As was typical of the Demon Realm, the environment itself did not permit ordinary life to survive.
Some Grand Duchies, for example, had lava intermittently erupting from the ground.
The very air was dangerous, so what more needed to be said?
Among the Grand Duchies that divided the Demon Realm into seven regions, Kallasutra was also called a hell without sunlight.
Even now, black and gray clouds filled the sky, leaving not a single ray of sunlight visible.
At the summit of the tallest mountain in the Grand Duchy of Kallasutra stood the majestic, lofty Old Castle.
The Old Castle, where only night lasted forever.
That was why the Minions of the Night could roam freely throughout the year, and why Rose Sha was called the Queen of the Night.
‘It’s exactly as I remember.’
After arriving, I saw that the Old Castle had no windows at all, not only on the first floor but throughout every floor.
Old-fashioned chandeliers gave off only the faintest light, as if merely for show.
Red carpets stretched endlessly through the corridors, and the pillars lining both sides were imposing.
There was no reason to make the place threatening, yet the stuffed heads of beasts as large as houses had been mounted on every wall.
‘That’s Living Armor.’
Decorative suits of armor stood everywhere, but they were actually Living Armor, souls dwelling within empty shells.
When newbies raided the Old Castle, Living Armor was usually what killed them first.
They looked like ordinary decorations, but if you passed by without suspecting anything, they would suddenly attack from behind.
Lastly, there was that fountain in the hall that drew the eye... a fountain of blood.
The color said it all, and the thick scent of blood clung to the tip of my nose.
The Old Castle’s first floor had the same layout as in the game, but its scale was on a completely different level once you looked at the details.
Of course, it would have been nearly impossible to recreate something this massive with game graphics.
Mixed with the scent of the blood fountain was a familiar fragrance, the scent of chestnut blossoms.
Why did an undead corpse even have a sense of smell?
-Aah~!
“...”
The Castle Full of Lust was truly full of lustful moans, just as its name suggested.
Moans leaked from every room on the first floor, and human corpses lay here and there.
Their vitality had been completely drained, leaving them looking like tuberculosis patients. It was obvious they had died during sex.
At least they hadn’t been torn limb from limb like in other dungeons. If that counted as a good death, then it was a good death.
‘Brother. This bastard’s smiling.’
I couldn’t bear to look at any more corpses that had died with smiles on their faces.
I looked away and followed behind Gerold, staring only at the back of his head.
Then Gerold stopped.
“I greet the noble Lord.”
A Vampire I hadn’t seen approach bowed deeply before me.
Gerold gave me a slight bow, then departed. The gesture made clear that the Vampire would guide me from then on.
[Lv. 81]
The Vampire’s level was far lower than Gerold’s.
Of course, that was true of level alone.
Only after I nodded did the Vampire straighten.
“I am Valentine Dravule, the adjutant who serves Her Majesty the Queen. I have been granted the honor of guiding the new Lord.”
“If that was the case, why didn’t you come from the start?”
“I am bound to the Old Castle, so I cannot leave without Her Majesty. Forgive me, but I had to rely on Gerold’s help.”
I knew him well: Count Dravule, Rose Sha’s masterpiece doll.
He might have been weaker than a Keeper, but he was never someone to underestimate.
Other than Rose Sha herself, he was the most troublesome opponent in the game.
Cunning, sly, and skilled at making the most of traps, he was a cerebral villain who relied on schemes and traps.
After that, Dravule and I silently climbed the stairs.
Maybe Dravule simply liked silence. As for me, the atmosphere was so overwhelming that I couldn’t speak.
‘This is one of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss? Then what the hell is our dungeon...?’
The gap was so vast that I felt infinitely small.
The difference between the real thing and a fake was beyond words.
I worried that we might run into a Keeper on every floor, but thankfully, it never happened.
There was no grand reason I was worried. I was just scared.
In the presence of powerhouses so strong they made me feel less than a bug, I couldn’t help getting intimidated just by standing there.
“I greet the Lord of the new Abyssal Palace.”
[Lv. 84]
I encountered a Keeper for the first time on the seventh floor.
The Keeper’s face reminded me of Jekyll and Hyde, as well as Count Ashura.
As I remembered it, the Keeper was a fusion of a Succubus and an Incubus.
Remembering the setting that the Keeper was a hermaphrodite filled me with instinctive revulsion.
I waved my hand dismissively and went upstairs.
We were about to pass through the ninth floor without incident when it happened.
“I greet the supreme Lord.”
[Lv. 88]
This time, a black knight was holding their own head, with a faint light flickering from the severed neck.
Just from the level alone, I could tell the Dullahan was far stronger than any Keeper.
If Dravule was Rose Sha’s left hand, this Dullahan was her right hand.
Officially, the Dullahan was the dungeon’s mid-boss. According to the Dullahan, they were the Queen’s most loyal sword.
For the record, this Dullahan had once been one of the Empire’s original Four Heroes. Now, the Dullahan had become the Queen’s sword and lived on eternally.
‘Of all people, why did I have to run into this one?’
The moment I saw the Dullahan, I looked away as though I hadn’t.
If I got on this Dullahan’s bad side, I wouldn’t even be left with bones.
“New Lord, if it would not offend you, could we cross blades for even a single exchange?”
I’d somewhat expected this, but I was still flustered when it actually happened.
This was a sword-crazed Dullahan who had dedicated their life, both alive and dead, to the sword.
And I just happened to be a Death Knight.
If the Dullahan had heard about me, it was only natural that they would ask, even at the risk of being rude.
As I wondered how to refuse, I signaled Dravule with my eyes.
Quick-witted as he was, Dravule stepped in front of me.
“Sir Carleon. This person must go see Her Majesty now.”
“Hm... Would ten seconds not be enough?”
“Time is not the issue. How can your first thought be to spar with Her Majesty’s guest? If you truly have nothing to do, patrol the floors. The Keepers’ discipline has grown quite lax.”
“Is that so? Then it is time for me to step in.”
It seemed Carleon also served as the discipline officer.
Thankfully, he waved his hand and headed down the stairs.
We, on the other hand, climbed toward the final floor. Partway up, Dravule stopped and bowed.
“From here on, only the Lord may proceed.”
“Understood.”
From what he said, Rose Sha seemed to be waiting beyond that door.
Leaving Dravule bowed behind me, I walked alone across the red carpet.
The door to the Boss Room was faintly visible in the distance.
It looked as though I would have to walk over a hundred steps to reach it.
Perhaps because of both the distance and my tension, each second felt like a minute.
My opponent was Valentia Rose Sha, the boss of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.
This time, I wasn’t meeting a doll like before. I was going to meet her true body alone.
I vividly remembered the first time I had met Kalandas. The memory made a chill run down my spine.
‘Don’t chicken out.’
Being undead meant I wouldn’t show it, but I was still shaken inside.
If I couldn’t even speak properly and started stammering, I would reveal everything.
Even aside from that, it would be a problem if my visit went awry.
A temporary alliance and full support. If possible, I should also carefully test whether I could get the Necronomicon.
I reviewed my goals as I reached the door and grabbed the handle.
“...This is driving me crazy.”
The hand holding the handle was trembling.
I had never known that even an undead could react like this when their inner turmoil was severe.
To shake off this tension, I needed to fill my mind with something else.
Something unexpected enough to drive away my nerves.
What came to mind was one of Rose Sha’s character settings.
A setting about Rose Sha that had once been a hot topic in the community.
-Is Rose Sha a virgin?
It began when Unicorn players argued with people online that Rose Sha was a virgin.
It was contradictory for a Succubus Queen to be a virgin, but Rose Sha had a line where she called herself one, and it kept the community heated for quite some time.
It got so bad that the developers officially addressed it.
-Rose Sha really is a virgin. She has only had sexual experiences in dreams, so she is a virgin in reality. Please play without concern.
By the body-mind-spirit theory, only her body was a virgin. In every other way, she was no different from a prostitute.
The hardcore Unicorn players screeched that this didn’t make her a virgin, but most people thought it was even better that way.
I was in the latter group too.
‘Right. She’s a virgin Succubus.’
Thinking that actually worked.
The tremor in my hand eased, then stopped completely, and the turmoil in my mind vanished as well.
I exhaled something like a sigh, icy air escaping me, and opened the door.
Footnotes:
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