Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster - Chapter 24

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈

Chapter 24: A Heroine Flag?

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The space beyond the door was an ordinary bedroom.

A single candle illuminated the vast, dark room.

“You’re here, honey?”

A woman sitting on the edge of the bed swung her legs back and forth.

Two demon horns rose from her head, and bat-like membranous wings spread from her back.

Her pale skin stood out against the darkness, while her red lips and eyes were enough to captivate anyone.

Rose Sha approached with a seductive smile, dressed in a sheer nightgown that revealed more than just her figure.

It was so like Rose Sha that I wasn’t particularly surprised.

The aura she gave off was different from Kalandas’s.

Unlike Kalandas, whose chilling presence made it hard to even look at him, Rose Sha drew in the eyes of others and tempted them simply by existing.

Still, if I simply gave in, I would surely become Rose Sha’s possession.

I might have fallen for it if I weren’t undead, but I was an undead eunuch now.

At least I wasn’t as tense as I had been with Kalandas.

Rose Sha stood before me with her hands behind her back.

Without warning, she wrapped both arms around the back of my neck and pulled me toward her.

As she rose onto her toes, our faces came close enough to touch.

Just as we had during our first meeting, our foreheads pressed together as we looked at each other.

“I missed you.”

“....”

I couldn’t say anything.

Too many questions were swirling through my head.

[Lv. 73 (?)]

The sixth-ranked boss of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss was only level 73.

She looked exactly like she had in the game graphics, so I nearly let myself be fooled.

‘Are you still putting up walls?’

Rose Sha distrusted me.

Otherwise, there was no way she would greet me with a double after bringing me into her bedroom.

This was a problem.

My purpose in coming here could only be achieved with trust as its foundation, yet it looked like everything would fall apart from the start.

Even if I trusted her, she distrusted me.

Forget a temporary alliance, even reliable support was starting to look impossible.

Her current level color was light green.

Did that mean she held some goodwill toward me, mixed with distrust?

I calmly raised my chin.

“Didn’t you say you would meet me in your true body next time?”

“Hehe. Just as I thought, you didn’t fall for it. I prepared a lot this time, too.”

She really had.

Judging by her appearance alone, it would’ve been fair to call her a replica.

“There are reasons for it. I’ll show you my real face later, when I get the chance. Okay, honey?”

“Rose Sha. Though it was our first meeting, I had a rather good impression of you.”

I couldn’t back down here.

A double meant distrust. Trying to talk with Rose Sha like this was flawed from the start.

It would’ve been different if I had come for some trivial errand, but this wasn’t that kind of situation.

Rose Sha parted her lips slightly, looking flustered.

Soon, she clasped her hands behind her back and bent forward at the waist, smiling seductively with her eyes.

As her face drew close, I nearly turned my head away without thinking.

“Hmm... A good impression? What do you mean by that?”

“If there were no trust, I wouldn’t have come here on my own. I came all this way because I wished to form a friendly relationship with you. So what is this obvious trick?”

Rose Sha stared at me without a word.

Her gaze seemed to be weighing my intentions.

“Honey, aren’t you moving a little too fast?”

“You were the first to show interest in me. You even gave me support without asking for anything in return. Rose Sha, I’m not as closed-minded as the other Bosses. I settle both favors and grudges clearly, and I still remember the kindness I received from you.”

“It wasn’t much of a favor on my part. What if I only decided to do it on a whim?”

“Then I wouldn’t be here right now. You called me here because you were interested, didn’t you?”

“Hehe. Honey, you have manners, don’t you? That’s right. A man and a woman can’t be alone in the same bedroom unless they have a special relationship.”

Fortunately, she didn’t play the push-and-pull game I had worried about.

“So in the end, you want to see my true self, right?”

Her sudden remark caught me slightly off guard.

I cautiously nodded.

“I know why you want to see me, too. That’s it, isn’t it? I didn’t know you had a naughty side, honey.”

I didn’t know what she was thinking, but she had gotten the wrong idea by a mile.

Still, things were going well.

Going by the flow of the conversation, Rose Sha seemed likely to return to her true body soon.

After that, I only needed to continue the conversation amicably and get a positive answer. Then everything would be settled.

“I’m sorry, but I still can’t.”

“....”

Was she really not that easy?

Judging from her attitude so far, she had seemed like such an easy woman, but she turned out to be an impregnable fortress.

No wonder she was a virgin Succubus. Her guard was no joke.

“I told you. There are reasons.”

“What reasons?”

“If I tell you, they won’t be private circumstances anymore. There are things like that.”

For a moment, I wondered if she meant some kind of sexual innuendo by those circumstances, but that wasn’t it either.

The smile vanished from Rose Sha’s face, leaving behind only a serious expression.

But if I backed down here, everything would turn to dust.

“I have no strange ulterior motives. I only wish to have an honest conversation and build trust.”

“....”

“But it seems you don’t feel the same. If you continue to place a false doll before me, I see no room for conversation. I shall be leaving now.”

If she absolutely wouldn’t show me, then I would play hard to get.

I turned away coldly, as if I truly had no regrets.

Inside, I desperately prayed for her to stop me.

“Honey, you’re a very difficult man. Fine. Wait.”

The light vanished from the Succubus doll’s eyes before me.

Contrary to my expressionless face, I cheered inside.

I didn’t know what it was, but if she was willing to meet me despite her personal circumstances, then there was enough trust between us.

“Over here.”

I turned at the voice behind me.

A Succubus stood there, gently waving a hand.

[Lv. 90]

I knew it was her true body from her level rather than her appearance.

Rose Sha grabbed my wrist and raised my hand toward her face.

Then she poked her cheek with my fingertips. Even through my finger bones, I could feel how soft her skin was.

“This time, it’s really me. I’m not fake.”

“...It seems so.”

“You should know this, honey. I made a really big decision by showing you this, okay? Even the other Bosses of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss don’t know. I’m only showing you because I have a personal interest in you.”

At a glance, I had no idea what her reason could be.

Was she bare-faced? Was her face swollen? Women could be sensitive about such things, so who knew.

She looked like a goddess I had never encountered before, so I didn’t suspect anything like that at all.

If I weren’t truly undead, I might have had some bad thoughts.

“Hm? Don’t tell me you don’t recognize it?”

Rose Sha asked with an uncertain look.

It seemed to carry the meaning, ‘A Boss of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss can’t even recognize this?’ and I flinched for a moment.

As I searched for a way to change the subject, I spotted an ornament attached to Rose Sha’s chest.

“The jewel is beautiful.”

“I knew it. You would recognize it, honey.”

...I was only changing the subject, though?

Rose Sha sighed deeply and touched the jewel.

“That’s right. Because of this, I haven’t even met with the other Bosses. It’s probably been over fifty years now?”

Naturally, my gaze remained fixed on the jewel.

My hearing filled with Rose Sha’s voice, while my vision filled with a status-window message that had suddenly appeared.

[Kallasutra’s Binding Amethyst (S)]

[Enhancement Success Rate: 3%]

[※Warning! If Enhancement fails, the item will be automatically destroyed!]

[If Enhancement fails, the cooldown will reset.]

[Would you like to enhance Kallasutra’s Binding Amethyst (S)?]

[YES/NO]

What was this? It was an item I had never seen before.

If it was an S-rank item, it had to be quite good, but it was disappointing that there was no information window.

“Honey. Do you know what this is?”

“Kallasutra’s Binding Amethyst.”

“You know this too. You’re right. This amethyst seals my Trait.”

I nearly asked her what she had just said without thinking.

I was startled once when I learned it wasn’t an ornament, then a second time when I learned it sealed her Trait.

Wouldn’t a Succubus Queen’s Trait be Dream Mana? In other words, the power to interfere with dreams?

“I wish I had realized it the moment I saw it, like you did.... Well, it’s a regret that came too late.”

Over thirty thousand hours, I had never seen this setting, or even a hint about it.

Thinking back, Rose Sha hadn’t used Dream Mana even after reaching Phase 3.

I had only seen Rose Sha’s line about letting her guard down and assumed she died before fighting at full strength because she had underestimated the player.

“It was about fifty years ago.”

Rose Sha seemed to interpret my vacant stare differently and continued.

“At the time, the Grand Duke of Kalasutra offered me tribute. He said it was a valuable jewel, gave it to me, and told me to try wearing it.”

Rose Sha poked the amethyst on her chest.

“He said it would attach on its own if I placed it around here, above my chest. I thought that sounded interesting, so I tried it right away. Then his attitude suddenly changed, you know? He said we should sleep together once, and he would remove the amethyst’s seal.”

“...The seal.”

“So do you know what I did? I got pissed off and killed him. I purged the Grand Duke’s entire bloodline, too. Ah, the current Grand Duke of Kalasutra is a puppet I put in place.”

I was beginning to understand her situation.

“After killing the Grand Duke, there was no way to resolve it?”

“Yeah. That’s right. Since then, I haven’t been able to remove it no matter what method I tried. Magic, racial Trait, anything. Even Elder... Ah, you wouldn’t know. Even Elder from the Tenfold Abyss, ranked second, said they couldn’t solve this. They said I would have to live like this forever or something....”

“....”

“You were right. I put on an eternal Sealing Stone with my own hands. It was the biggest mistake of my thousand-year life. I regret it just as much.”

Rose Sha smiled self-mockingly.

That powerless smile was far removed from Rose Sha’s usual self.

Now that I thought about it, Kalandas was level 93, while Rose Sha was level 90, despite their ranks being only one apart.

That was a tremendous level gap.

I had thought Rose Sha was simply a Boss who relied on her subordinates, but that wasn’t the case.

“Because of this jewel, my Trait is completely sealed. I can’t interfere with any dreams anymore. Isn’t it funny? A Succubus Queen who can’t interfere with dreams. With my original power, I could even show undead a good dream... Isn’t that disappointing for you too?”

Rose Sha gave a faint laugh, smiling with her eyes.

It was obvious she was trying to cover up the weakness she had shown with a joke.

“Without the ability to handle dreams, I’m weak. Someday, someone will kill me. One of the Four Heroes, or that skeleton. Mm, in a few years, maybe you and I will switch places in the rankings?”

“And you’re fine with that?”

“Yeah. I think it would be fine if it were you. You’re exactly my type. I could never stand to see another skeleton surpass me in rank, but you’re fine. Until now, only my adjutant and Elder knew my secret. Now you know too. You’ll keep my secret, won’t you?”

The face that had been smiling all along suddenly looked completely detached.

Rose Sha hadn’t distrusted me. She truly had reasons she couldn’t tell me.

I felt pity for her. The guilt of feeling like a bad person for suspecting her kept me from even thinking about negotiations.

[Enhancing Kallasutra’s Binding Amethyst (S).]

[Enhancement failed. Kallasutra’s Binding Amethyst (S) is destroyed.]

I looked at her chest and tilted my chin.

Rose Sha stirred as though she sensed something had changed.

By the time she looked down, the jewel that should have been there had disappeared without a trace.

“...Huh?”

Rose Sha looked back and forth between me and the spot with a blank expression.

[Lv. 91]

[Lv. 92]