Lewd skill in a filthy world

Some moments later...

The red soil began spitting the girls up from the ground like it was vomiting them. All three of them were unconscious, but still alive. Not just because they'd suffocated under layers of dirt, but because of something far more insidious.

Just before being dragged to the ground, Gegee had realized something at the last second. Their squad mate Sylvia, who was unconscious, wasn't affected by the fungal gas that caused people to accept death. It all began affecting her right after she gained consciousness and awoke. And when her undead knocked her out again, she couldn't say a thing. Couldn't accept death anymore. Just got swallowed by the soil.

Gegee, quick-witted and tiny but never to be underestimated, had her other undead knock Lilian out cold—not hard enough to kill, just enough to shut her brain down temporarily. Then, without skipping a beat, it turned its gun toward the flower Tsukuma hovering ominously in the air and unloaded every bullet it had into the core.

The tsukuma screamed, black petals falling everywhere, its limbs also disappearing as if it was made of those black petals leaving its body. But it didn't want to go alone. It wanted to go with its enemies. The mushrooms began emitting an intense cursed gas, trying to hypnotize the girls into saying these cursed words: "I accept a satisfying death!"

But Gegee wasn't about to let herself become a tragic monologue. Just as her mind started to slip, she gave her undead one last command: "Knock me the fuck out."

With zero hesitation, the undead turned the butt of its gun and clocked her square in the face as it also fell down to the ground.

Then, the battlefield grew silent!

The wind whispered across the land, sweeping away the poisonous air. The flower Tsukuma was no more. And slowly, like some hellish digestive system reversing itself, the earth began coughing up its victims.

They didn't know how long they'd been out.

Gegee stirred first, blinking as a familiar system ping buzzed in her head.

[System Notification!]

[You have successfully defeated an S-rank Tsukuma!]

[Trial Completed: Player can proceed to the next-tier Safe Zone!]

She groaned, brushing off the dust and soil clinging to her bare, tiny body before she stood up. The other corpses were buried back down to the ground. Only those alive were on top: Lilian, and Sylvia.

Gegee stood up and hobbled toward Lilian. Climbing over the unconscious girl was like scaling a soft, slightly sweaty mountain.

Once she reached Lilian's shoulder, she cupped her tiny hands around her mouth and screamed directly into her ear:

"WAKE THE HELL UP, YOU USELESS NPC!!!"

Lilian jolted awake, flailing, which promptly launched Gegee off her perch. Gegee landed with a loud yelp, her entire leg throbbing in pain.

"Ch…ch…ch…!" She clutched her ankle. "Can't you wake up like a normal person?!"

Lilian blinked groggily, completely ignoring the angry ant-sized warlord beside her.

"Master!!" she gasped, leaping to her feet like a woman possessed. "Where's Master? We need to find him!!"

Gegee narrowed her eyes. "So your brain's back on, huh? Great. Fantastic. Exactly what we needed: a panicked maniac with a sense of loyalty."

Lilian started frantically shouting her master's name, pacing in wild circles.

Meanwhile, the land around them began to morph—red skies fading into a calming blue, cursed soil giving way to blooming flowers, rivers carving themselves from cracks, and cherry blossom trees sprouting as if the laws of time had taken a coffee break.

Gegee side-eyed it all with suspicion, just as a shimmering portal opened up.

"Come on, guys!!" Lilian called. "This way!!"

Gegee raised her tiny fists. "Hey! At least carry the dwarf girl, or wake her up or—HELLO?!"

Lilian barely heard her. She immediately entered the portal without hesitation and disappeared into it.

Gegee groaned. "She's calm and calculative one minute, and then completely brainless when it comes to that 'Master' of hers. Typical simp."

With a sigh, she turned toward Sylvia, limped over, and began climbing her like. Using her dungaree straps as makeshift ropes, she hauled herself onto Sylvia's stomach and collapsed.

She wheezed, her lungs having an asthma attack. "Let me…take…a break…"

After two long minutes of dramatic suffering, she pushed herself up and crawled toward Sylvia's face.

Grinning wickedly, she lifted her soil-crusted foot and shoved it straight into Sylvia's nostrils.

It took two seconds.

Sylvia's eyes popped open, and she bolted upright—sending Gegee flying like a ragdoll.

Gegee screamed again, bracing herself for another bone-snapping impact—only to be caught mid-air.

Sylvia squinted at the wriggling goblin in her hand.

"…Talking toy."

Gegee's brow twitched. "Toy? Who the hell are you calling a—!"

She tried to thrash, but yelped as pain shot up her leg again.

Sylvia looked around at the blooming terrain. "Where's the hostess girl?" she muttered. "Not safe to be stuck in wonderland with only a noisy plushie…"

"You—!" Gegee clenched her fists, but stopped when she noticed a girl standing beneath a cherry blossom tree in the distance—young, serene, and glowing with an unnatural beauty.

Gegee's voice dropped. "Forget it, dwarf. Portal's that way. Let's bounce."

Sylvia nodded slowly, glanced toward the shimmering exit, and without warning, stuffed Gegee into the front pocket of her dungarees like loose change.

With that, she walked into the portal and disappeared into it, the portal closing shut behind them.

Just after they walked away, another portal shimmered into existence, and another group of players stepped through.

The little girl behind the trees smiled softly.

"Time to give them a satisfying, beautiful death…"

**

Meanwhile, in the dense air of the Frog Fiend territory...

Laying unconscious beside Yuki, Shin's breaths were shallow. If he were someone else, he would have died after all those injuries and the blood loss. But thanks to the little martial arts knowledge he'd gained after slaying Ado, the guy with the baby oil, he was able to stay alive. Using a forbidden technique that channels inner energy (Qi) to cauterize wounds from within—using the body's own life force as fuel—he had placed his hands over his wounds before passing out, and channeled small energy into them just enough to stop the bleeding so he wouldn't die out from blood loss.

Then he passed out, tucked into the dim corner of the dungeon.

Almost half a day later, Yuki stirred. Her body had absorbed enough natural mana to awaken—barely. In a normal world, she would've recovered faster, but down here in this cursed dungeon, even the air resisted her.

She sat up, her bones aching from her last transformation. She ignored the pain and turned to Shin. She pressed her fingers to his neck.

Theres a pulse. He's alive... good!

She glanced at her system interface. She had gained enough mana for a transformation that could last less than a minute before she passed out again. She didn't like transforming into her demon form because every time she did, she could feel herself losing control to demonic instincts, almost forgetting herself. But for her master, she'd do it! Just enough to be able to cross through the demon fiend swamps.

"Demonic Surge, Activate!"

She muttered and her transformation rippled through her, changing into a grotesque, massive demonic form. She looked down at her master. Now she could feel the scent of his blood more powerfully than ever—it smelled delicious. Her mouth was salivating! Feeding off humans was a demonic instinct, and doing so could increase the duration of her transformation. Fortunately, she managed to hold those instincts back and picked Shin off the floor, then had her wings sprouting out on her back as she lifted off the ground and began flying at an incredible speed.

Reaching the swamps, the demon fiends tried to snatch at her, but holding her master like a fragile egg, she spun around like Falcon the Winter Soldier, her slightly metallic wings piercing through a few demon fiends before she passed through them, and eventually arrived at their hideout. She placed Shin to the floor and Ayaka immediately came out of the cave to check on him.

"Oni-chan…" she whispered, trembling as she touched his shoulder. "You'll be okay, right?.."

Yuki dropped to the ground with a thud, her transformation fading. She let out a cry, curling into a naked human form.

Ayaka gritted her teeth, dragging both of them into the cave with all her strength one after the other.

And waited for the next day.

**

[Spiritual Healing Skill Has Successfully Been Unlocked!]

[Analyzing...]

[Host is in critical health condition.]

[Healing the host...]

A soft, warm golden shimmer enveloped Shin in the tiny cave, making both Ayaka and Yuki widen as they looked at him in awe, startled by the sudden glow.

His wounds began healing up and stitching together again slowly.

Moments later, Shin's eyes fluttered open.

"Oni-chan!!"

Ayaka's tearful jade eyes met his. She smiled through her sobs.

Shin blinked slowly, disoriented.

But he smiled back.

"Hy… kiddo."

TBC