The Mad Rat's Lab

"I'm free! I thought this day would never come, but at last, I'm free! Free!" I jump around like a kid with a lollipop. "Hahaha! Free at last! I never thought this day would come, day after day suffering under Marta's 'guidance'… But I survived, and now I'm free!"

It's just until tomorrow, when the tournament starts for real and I won't have much free time anyway… But hey, there's no way the tournament can be as bad as my sister's training, can it?

While training, I thought there wouldn't be an end to it. Seconds felt like days, and days felt like eons. But now, I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's beautiful!

"I'm free! Fufufu! Hahaha! FREE!"

My shout attracts everyone's gaze, even when I'm alone. But for some reason, I feel as if the Lab Assistant and four Panicky Spitters are glaring at me as if I were crazy… I must be imagining things.

Now that I finally have some free time, it's time to do what I've been looking forward to for a very long time: to share my pain and suffering with my dear dungeon invaders, ensuring they'll have as much of a bad day as I did in my previous weeks.

"It's time to create some new slime monsters! To the laboratory!" I shout, but immediately after, I start scratching my cheek. "Ah, yeah. I'm already there…"

I fake a cough and pretend as if I didn't say anything foolish. For starters, I open the list containing all the captured units and scan them to know what I have at hand.

"Hahaha… my precious, disgustingly gooey, red, green, and blue slimes… Hehe. So cute. So many– Ugh! What's a human doing here!? I thought I got rid of all the trash the other day…!"

I suddenly remember that I forgot to do something crucial if I didn't want to get more humans. I forgot to remove the Silent Kidnappers from the dungeon.

"Oh, well… More garbage for the Waste Disposal Unit," I shrug my shoulders and refocus on the other units. "But there aren't many useless humans yet. The most numerous right now are the slimes, as it should be."

My eyes scan the list as I start thinking of possible combinations with the non-slime units I have. Those units I'm missing, I'll have to go capture as soon as possible.

"Now then, what shall I create…? Fufufu! Hahaha!" I rub my hands as I laugh in my usual epic pose, lightning flying in all directions.

"I've found paradise."

Ana's sudden smug proclamation makes me tilt my head. "Eeeh… sorry, what?"

She leans forward, her head getting so close to me that I can count her eyelashes. "I've said, I've found paradise."

"Aha…"

Ana starts panting, recalling something. She rubs her thighs and hugs herself, her eyes starting to get wet. Coming from one of the Mad Cultists, nothing surprises me anymore.

"It was… It was paradise. Haaah, I could feel His touch all over me, haah, squirming under the clothes. He was ravaging every inch of my body, haaah…!"

Her moans grow in intensity, and for a moment, it feels like she's doing it on purpose, to incite me. But then, I remember she's obsessed with that player they call Evil Mastermind, whom she has never met in person.

I try to step away. But before I can, Ana grabs me by the wrist. "Spy, let's go. I'll share the joy with you."

My whole body is covered in goosebumps, imagining infinite possible scenarios. What could Ana be talking about? I'm curious, but also fear it at the same time.

"Eeh, no, thanks. I'm happy you want to share, but you know I'm more into other stuff… You know. Being eaten by a worm and all that."

To blend, you must lie. To blend into a mad-filled group, you must pretend you're as crazy as they. But Ana doesn't fall for it and keeps holding my wrist. She pulls me close, placing my arm next to her large cleavage, covered in tightly fitting clothes, and seductively smiles at me.

"I need your help, Spy. You'll come, right?" Ana raises her head to look at me, eyes upturned and slightly wet. She looks very sexy… but I know her well. She's a venomous apple I should never, under any circumstances, bite.

"Eeh… I'm sorry, but I had a previous arrangement–"

Ana interrupts me by moving even closer. She whispers next to my ear in a sweet tone. "You won't leave me alone, right? You'll come with me because I said so, right?"

"Aha…"

I understand. It makes no sense, that's why it makes sense… It's a bit confusing, I know. After spending so long with the Mad Cultists, if there's one thing I've come to understand, it's this: there's no use trying to understand their thought process. It's a waste of time and a source of headaches. You just have to accept it and go with the flow.

After a bit more 'convincing', Ana starts dragging me away, her breath still rugged.

I've seen her diving into hordes of monsters to get herself killed on purpose. I've seen her plunge into deadly traps, happily laughing. Where normal players would despair, she moans in pleasure. But so far, regardless of how crazy she has acted, I've never seen her as excited as right now.

What did she find? Why did she get so obsessed over it that she wants to drag me, whom she doesn't like that much, with her just so she can enjoy it another time?

I feel a dark impulse coming from within, demanding answers to my questions. At the same time, my brain warns me of the danger. I know it's a bad idea to follow her, but my curiosity wins, and I relent.

Nothing good will come out of this, I'm sure of it.

Right after agreeing to her demands, Ana, still dragging me by my arm, suddenly stops and turns around. Her previously excited face nowhere to be seen, she glares at me and says in a quiet but eerily powerful voice.

"Oh, and don't you dare tell her about this."

"Her? Do you mean–"

Ana covers my mouth with her hand, stopping me mid-sentence. "Sssht! She has ears everywhere! If you say her name, she'll appear, like the devil!" She anxiously looks around, but quickly calms down at the sight of the cathedral's empty passage. "She doesn't need to know, alright? Only you and I will ever know."

She must be talking about Fer, her self-proclaimed competitor for Evil Mastermind's love. Instead of love, it's more like a one-sided obsession, because I'm sure he doesn't even know about their existence, but they don't care. Their fighting and bickering never stops.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Promise me you won't ever tell her."

Ana's icy tone makes me shiver, prompting a quick response. "Sure. I won't tell anyone. Not her, not anyone else."

Rule number one: never make enemies while infiltrated. Especially if those players aren't right in their heads.

"Nice!" With a happy gait, Ana turns around and leaves me behind. The change is so sudden that it leaves me wondering what's going on. Soon, Anna's moans fill the passage once more. "Haah, haaah…! My darling, here I come again. Feel free to ravage me anyway you feel like, I'll receive it with glee, haaaaaah…!"

I feel the impulse to run away. If I follow her, I will regret it. But curiosity is killing me. What could make her so excited? Knowing Ana's personality, she won't tell me until we're there…

Unknowingly, I take a step forward.

"So it's here, eh? Uh… Ana?" Receiving no response, I look around me, only to realize Ana has vanished without warning. "Where the fuck did she go now…?"

As expected, Ana was talking about The Mad Rat's Lab. The reason she dragged me with her is that she needed me. She needed me to create a path to safely reach this place; that's the only reason she wanted me to come. She didn't care about me or my feelings; she just wanted to use me and throw me away after I did the job. Now that we've come here, she has immediately left me alone, without even a warning.

These Mad Cultists… They obsess over everything the Evil Mastermind creates, discussing every detail with absolute fervor, arguing between themselves, and ending in fights over who has the 'absolute truth'. The atrocities committed in holy wars look like a joke compared to what they're willing to do to impose their 'absolute truth' upon their comrades.

Thanks to this, the Mad Cultists are the players who know this dungeon better, but even then, they're incapable of surviving for long once they come inside. It's because they lose track of their objectives as soon as something catches their attention.

Take Ana as an example. She should have had the knowledge and skill to come here alone. But she still dragged me with her. The reason? So I could stop her before she got herself killed before reaching this place.

Everything is so stupid! If she's so eager to come here, why not ignore the rest!? It makes no sense!

"No, Spy. Don't let them drag into their pacing…"

The few exceptions to this are the Leader and the highest-ranked members. They keep their desires hidden and charge ahead without constantly asking for death. But they don't do so because they're sane; they do it like that because of faith. 'It's a sacrilege to die before you can fully experience His teachings in person', in their own words.

I shake my head to dispel my thoughts and approach the metal railing, searching for the missing Ana. My eyes wander around, slowly analyzing my surroundings.

Below the platform I'm standing on, the ground takes a funnel shape, collecting a mountain of meat towards what can't be anything other than the largest incinerator I've ever seen. Outside the area illuminated by the incinerator's fire, the only source of light comes from the pipes transporting a suspicious glowing liquid. As if it were magma, the liquid lazily passes through the transparent pipes, changing colors as it moves.

That meat mountain is very suspicious. There's danger there for sure.

"Is this why Ana wanted to come here?" I squint my eyes, but I can't see her anywhere. "What now? Do I have to search–"

"Aaaaaaah∼!" A sudden moan makes me jump. "Aaah∼! Yes! Give it to meee! More∼! Harder!"

"...Found her."

Ana's voice bounces on the irregular terrain and walls, making it hard to track. But when I pay close attention to her moans, I quickly identify their origin. The sound comes through a passage on the side, hard to see from my current position. Several glowing pipes, emitting their peculiar light, congregate around that area, making everything not directly illuminated by them seem even darker.

Slowly, keeping an eye on my surroundings for traps and hidden monsters, this dungeon's specialties, I approach the dark passage. There's light at the other side, but in the middle, there's nothing. An empty hole in the abyss filled with darkness and silence.

"This is just a game, Spy…" I say to myself, "Just a game."

Just as I hesitate, Ana's moans come from the other side of the dark tunnel with renewed intensity. "Mmh∼! Aaah∼! Yeeees, that hits the spot…!"

I want to know what's happening to her. No, I need to know.

Without hesitation, I step into the empty darkness. It's just me and nothing else, desperately running towards the square hole at the end of this nothingness. The roaring sound of the furnace's fire fades away as I advance, replaced by the intermittent sound of dripping water droplets. At the same time, the stench of decay and ash gives way to another, even more perturbing smell, masked by the intense scent of medicine.

Light finally clears the oppressive darkness, and I find myself surrounded by tubes and machines of all kinds and sizes.

Although lots of wide columns make it hard to see properly, I follow the tubes coming in and out of the machines with my eyes. Some machines constantly work, producing a faint rumble, while others beep and shake before suddenly activating.

I start following the glowing tubes, for lack of a better idea. They congregate in a single place, from where an enormous amount of light comes, as if it were a beacon calling for me. Ana's moans come from that direction too.

As I approach, the light momentarily blinds me. But when I open them again, what I see makes me think I'm dreaming.

There's a large pool, the source of the light. The magma-like liquid from the pipes enters a large machine, and that machine pours the liquid into the pool, as if it were a fountain. The liquid then flows from one side to the other, rippling in infinite colors.

And then, floating right in the middle, there's Ana, completely engulfed by what I can only describe as 'slimes'.

"Aah, yeees∼! More∼!"

"What the fuck is going on here?" I frown, realizing that Ana's HP bar is flickering at an unbelievable speed. It falls very fast, only to climb back up almost as soon as it's depleted, as if it were bugged.

A sudden thought crosses my mind, watching the ripples on the pool's surface. "Wait, is that…?"

"...Yes, it is."

For a moment, I observe Ana, frozen by shock. She's letting the slimes eat her on purpose, making use of the healing fountain's effects to negate their damage, so she can 'feel' the Evil Mastermind's touch all over her. The slimes are his creations, so she has deluded herself, believing they're an extension of him.

"This is so messed up…" The horrifying sight makes me shudder, but then, a sudden idea crosses my mind. "...How would it feel, being eaten by a slime?"

I've been eaten by a giant worm in this same dungeon, but not a slime. I should… I should try, right? Will I ever have a better chance than I have right now?

Before I can talk myself out of it, I sit on the pool's edge and dip my feet inside. Then, I wait until a roaming slime approaches and allow it to get close to me. I can feel its slimy body suck my arm inside it, slowly crawling up until half my torso is inside it.

It's then that I can feel it. The pressure the bubbly body gives, the slight shaking produced when it moves, the cool and wet sensation… The sound of water…

At the same time, my whole body is covered with goosebumps. "It feels… It feels nice. Almost like a massage."

I let the slime do its work a bit more, until a second slime approaches and latches onto the left side of my body, covering most of the remaining free space around my body.

"Aaah…!" A moan escapes my mouth. "It feels– Surprisingly great?"

I close my eyes and let the slimes do their 'magic'. Thanks to them, I quickly reach a stable state of peace, enjoying the feeling of the slimes crawling over my body.

"Mmh∼! A-aah, AAAAAAAH∼! …I came a little." Not even Ana's crazy shouts can disturb my peace.