Kapitel 54: Leaving Her Mark
ICDS Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
The next morning, at about 5:30 AM, Tatsuo woke up, and he was surprised to find that he was not alone in his bed. AT some point during the night, Sumire had snuck into his room without him noticing and climbed in bed with him.
"The hell, how did she get in here without me noticing anything?" Tatsuo muttered to himself while he looked at Sumire from over his shoulder. "And why the hell is she hugging me like this? Shouldn't I be the big spoon? She's so much smaller than me."
As Tatsuo said, he was currently lying on his right side. And Sumire was also lying on her right side with her arms wrapped around his waist. And the feeling of being the little spoon was making him a bit uncomfortable. So, he tried to separate himself from Sumire's arms.
However, when he started moving, he felt a soft, heavenly sensation against his back. And that caused him to stop moving, immediately.
"You know, now that I think about it, being the little spoon isn't so bad." Tatsuo said with a somewhat lecherous smile.
He then decided there was no need to get up. Then, he snuggled back into Sumire's embrace, enjoying the feeling of her rather large breasts against his back. At that moment, he noticed a problem, though.
"Oh, damn… I'm getting hard." Tatsuo muttered. "I should probably get away and take a shower before Sumire wakes up and notices this."
At that moment, as if he had called in a calamity on himself, Sumire groaned. And it was obvious she was about to wake up.
"Hmm? Where am I?" Sumire asked sleepily as she let go of Tatsuo with one of her arms to wipe her eyes.
"Oh, you're awake, good morning, Sumire-San." Tatsuo said, trying to sound as unbothered as he could.
Immediately, all of Sumire's movements came to a complete and utter halt. Then she realized she was hugging Tatsuo. And finally, she remembered going into Tatsuo's bedroom last night so that she could see his sleeping face, since she had never seen it after that one time he fell asleep on her shoulder.
However, while she was watching him sleep, she, too, got sleepy. Then, she climbed into his bed while telling herself: "I'll just make sure I get up before he does. Then, I'll leave his room as quietly as I came in." After that, she fell asleep.
Unfortunately, she did not factor in how early Tatsuo woke up into her plan. So, she ended up in this situation.
"Oh… Um... Good morning." Sumire said with her eyes spinning in their sockets. "Well… Um… I think it's time to get up. Plus, I have to… Um… Oh, that's right! I have to go home and pack some stuff. I've decided to live here most of the time, after all. So, I'll get going. See you later, bye!"
With that, Sumire shot out of the bed, ran out of Tatsuo's bedroom, ran into the room she claimed for herself, then left the apartment as quickly as she could. In fact, she was so fast that by the time she pressed the button for the lobby in the elevator, Tatsuo had just climbed out of bed.
"She runs away really fast." Tatsuo muttered. "Well, I guess she won't be back until she calms down. So, I probably won't see her until tonight at the latest."
After that, Tatsuo shook his head. Then, he looked down at the bulge in his pajamas and sighed.
"She could have at least helped me with this before she left." Tatsuo muttered.
As soon as those words left his mouth, Tatsuo froze again.
"What is wrong with me?" Tatsuo asked himself. "Since when did I start thinking with my dick like that? Not only that, but I've felt less and less about the lives of people. As if they are all beneath me. Just what is happening to me?"
Unfortunately, Tatsuo had no way of knowing that his increasingly powerful [Energy] had the effect of stimulating his soul, which was that of a dragon. As a result, his behavior and physique were slowly taking on the traits of a dragon, as well. However, because physical changes are not so easy to make, his mentality was changing first.
Since he had no answers to the questions in his mind, Tatsuo could only shake his head before pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind. Then, he went over to his computer, went to a certain website, and handled his little problem. After that, he went into his bathroom to take a shower.
Once he was done with his shower, Tatsuo got dressed. Then, he made his last trip into the Dungeon before he went back to his world. However, he did not climb higher. Instead, he went back to the 20th Floor Shop.
ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 20th Floor Shop.
"Tatsuo-Sama, why did you come back down here?" Loretta asked curiously. "I thought you were done with your Lizard Knight grind."
"I am." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "But I need the boss room for something. I hunted a pretty big monster yesterday. But I don't have anywhere big enough to dismantle it."
Loretta's eyebrow could not help twitching when she heard that. The only reason Tatsuo came into the Dungeon was to dismantle a monster? Just what did he take the Dungeon as?
"I wanted to say goodbye to you and Lin-San, too." Tatsuo said with a smile. "You probably won't see me for a while after today."
"Huh?" Loretta made a dumbfounded sound while blinking her eyes in confusion. "what do you mean? Why wouldn't you be coming back?"
"That's' a secret." Tatsuo replied. "I'd tell you if I could, but there are people in the Dungeon that I don't' want to know."
Loretta immediately thought about Sherifina when Tatsuo mentioned people in the Dungeon he did not want to know. Then, she looked at Tatsuo skeptically, while wondering if he really knew about her, and what she was capable of.
"Oh, and I forgot to show Lin-San the weapons and artifacts I made with the drops from the Floor Masters." Tatsuo said as if he just remembered. "Do you think you could call him over? I don't wanna break my promise."
"No problem." Loretta replied with a smile. "He's been bugging me about when you're going to show him why you were being so mysterious, after all."
Saying that, Loretta could not help chuckling after remembering the annoyed expression Lin wore every time he asked about Tatsuo recently.
"But if he's busy, it might take a while for him to come here." Loretta said.
"That's fine." Tatsuo replied with a smile. "I'll just kill the Lizard Knight real fast. Then, I'll be in the boss room dismantling that big tiger I hunted. We're already on each other's friend list, just message me when he gets here, okay?"
"As you wish." Loretta replied.
ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 20th Floor.
With that, Tatsuo went back to the 20th Floor, made quick work of the Lizard Knight, and took the Giant Sword Tiger out of his [Inventory].
"I didn't really get a good look at it when I was in China, but this thing is bigger than I thought it was." Tatsuo muttered while looking at the large beast that was cut in half, right down the middle. "Oh, and it has a mana stone in its heart, too. Nice."
When standing up, the Giant Sword Tiger would have been more than 25' tall. Meaning, there were a lot of materials to be harvested from its corpse. He would be able to make equipment for himself, his mother, Sumire, Kasumi, Mai, and the Sumire in this world and still have some left over.
"Unfortunately, I don't really have the time to make something for Sumire before I go back." Tatsuo muttered as he started stripping the hide from the tiger. "Well, I'll just come back and give it to her when I finish making it back home."
With his strength and skill, it only took Tatsuo about an hour to strip all the skin off the tiger's corpse. However, he was disappointed when he finished.
"Isn't there a dismantling skill?" Tatsuo muttered. "Actually, now that I think about it, I never saw one in the shop. So, I guess the [System] doesn't have one. If I were to ever go to Everyone Else Is a Returnee, I wonder what level mine would be at."
The [Inventory] had already separated all the blood for him, so, Tatsuo only had to worry about separating the meat, bones, teeth, claws, tendons, etc. However, when he checked on the strength of the bones, Tatsuo noticed that they had metallic elements.
"Oh, I'll be able to do some proper blacksmithing with these." Tatsuo thought aloud. "The weapons I make will be even better than if I were to just carve them into weapons shapes."
Actually, Tatsuo didn't even plan to use the regular bones to make his own weapons. Instead, he would be using the claws and fangs. He would be using part of the fangs to make a wakizashi for Kasumi, as well. He would have to ask his mother what kind of weapons she wanted, though.
As for Mai, most of the bones would go into making weapons for her. The fur, which also had quite a bit of sharpness, would go into Mai's weapons, as well. Since she could store a nearly unlimited number of fans, Tatsuo planned to use all the Giant Sword Tiger's bones and fur to make fans.
By the time Tatsuo was finished dismantling and dividing everything, it was about 9:30 AM. And at that moment, he received a message from Loretta, letting him know that Lin was at the Floor Shop.
"Perfect timing." Tatsuo muttered as he put away all the useful materials.
As for the things he did not need, Tatsuo left them on the floor of the boss room. He was sure Sherifina would break them down and use the tiny amount of mana left in them for the Dungeon's operations.
ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 20th Floor Shop.
"You better not disappoint me, Kid." Lin, who was standing behind the shop counter with Loretta, said as soon as Tatsuo walked into the Floor Shop.
"It's good to see you, too, Lin-San." Tatsuo said with a smile. "And I promise you won't be disappointed."
After saying that, Tatsuo stepped up to the counter. Then, he reached into his [Inventory] and took out his weapons and accessories before laying them on top of the counter.
"Go ahead, have a look." Tatsuo said in a prideful tone. "Let me know what you think."
Seeing the pride on Tatsuo's face and hearing the pride in his tone, Loretta and Lin exchanged glances. Then, after a moment, they both picked up one of the pieces of equipment lying in front of them. While Loretta picked up one of the earrings, Lin picked up the [Thunderclap Daggers] and when they saw the information the Dungeon provided they were both completely shocked.
A moment later, after getting over their shock, both Loretta and Lin scrambled to check the descriptions on the rest of the items in front of them.
"50,000… No, 75,000! I'll give you 75,000 Gold for each of these accessories!" Loretta exclaimed loudly.
"How? How did you do it?" Lin asked in a dumbfounded tone. "How is it possible to imbue a Floor Master Skill into an accessory?"
Like that, the two continued to talk at the same time. And Tatsuo's smile got wider and wider as time went on. Eventually, Tatsuo declined all of Loretta's offers to buy his accessories and weapons. Then, he told Lin about [Enchanting] and its sub skill, [Skill Extraction], surprising the Draconian greatly.
Then, while Lin was lost in thought and Loretta was begging him to reconsider selling, Tatsuo left the Dungeon for the last time… Until he came back to this world, anyway.
ICDS Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
*Ring!* *Ring!* *Ring!*
As soon as Tatsuo stepped into his apartment again, he heard his smartphone ringing. And that made him remember that he had not brought it with him into the Dungeon, where, for some reason, his phone got a signal.
"Hmm? Did Yoshikawa-San plan on coming over early?" Tatsuo muttered while looking at the clock on his night stand after hearing his phone ring. "Well, I guess I don't mind. But I need to take another shower. I smell like monster blood after dismantling that tiger."
With that, Tatsuo walked over to his night stand. However, when he picked up the phone, he saw that Noriko wasn't the one calling. Instead, it was a British number calling him.
"I never saved her number, but I already know this is Mastiford-San." Tatsuo said. "I guess Sumire told her already."
Shaking his head, Tatsuo answered the phone call and put the smartphone to his ear. However, before he could even say anything, he jerked it away from his head.
{"Sumire told me everything!"} Hwaya shouted. {"How is this possible? Are there really other universes out there? What are they like? How many have you been to? Can you take me to another one?"}
"Stop yelling!" Tatsuo shouted into the phone. "I'm not deaf! But I think I will be soon if you keep yelling like that."
Hearing Tatsuo's shout, Hwaya finally realized that she was overly excited. So, she took a few deep breaths.
{"Sorry."} Hwaya said softly. {"I guess the fantasy loving little girl inside of me got too excited when I heard Sumire's story."}
"*Sigh* It's fine." Tatsuo replied tiredly. "I'm just surprised that the two of you believed my story so easily."
{"Well, I don't think you're the type to lie."} Hwaya said confidently. {"You have too much pride for that."}
"Sumire said the same thing last night." Tatsuo said while smiling wryly.
{"Oh, speaking of that."} Hwaya said, her tone turning serious in an instant. {"Just because she's living in your house, you two shouldn't take things too far. You're only fifteen, after all. I really don't want Sumire to become a statutory rapist. Besides, I don't' think either of you are ready for any consequences that could arise. So, you really need to…"}
As Hwaya lectured him about abstinence, Tatsuo remained silent with a lifeless expression on his face. He really had no idea what to say. And because of that, Hwaya went on for nearly an hour.
{"Hey, are you listening?"} Hwaya, having worked herself into a frenzy, asked in a strict tone.
*Boop!*
Hearing that sound, Tatsuo's expression lit up instantly.
"Yes, I'm listening." Tatsuo replied. "But I just got a call I've been waiting for. So, I have to go. Talk to you later. Bye. Oh, and I'll be using my Dungeon Explorer appointment right. See ya."
{"Wait! Save my number!"} Hwaya shouted before her voice cut off when Tatsuo answer the call waiting. {"Hold on! What did you---"}
"Hello, Soramoto here." Tatsuo said in a relieved tone after switching to the incoming call.
{"Soramoto-Kun, it's me, Noriko."} Noriko replied. {"But why do you sound so happy? Were you really planning to confess to me? I thought I told you---"}
"Nope!" Tatsuo said, forcefully cutting off Noriko's teasing. "Your call got me out of a conversation that I didn't want to be a part of. That's why I sounded so relieved when I answered."
Noriko could not help laughing at how quickly Tatsuo denied her.
{"Anyway, I'm downstairs."} Noriko said. {"Come down and let me up."}
"Alright." Tatsuo replied. "I'll be there in a minute."
Not long after that, Tatsuo had gone downstairs and brought Noriko up to his apartment. Currently, they were sitting across from each other on the couches in the living room.
"So, what was so important that you needed to tell me in person?" Noriko asked.
"Before I say anything, can I really trust you?" Tatsuo asked solemnly.
Noriko was taken aback when she heard Tatsuo's words and the tone he spoke them in. Then, her expression turned solemn, as well.
"Your mother was one of my best friends." Noriko said seriously. "Now that she's gone, I would do anything to protect her child."
"Not that I really need your protection." Tatsuo said. "but I get what you mean, I think. Anyway…"
When Tatsuo got to that point, Noriko could not help rolling her eyes. However, she remained silent and listened to what Tatsuo had to say.
"… do you want to get stronger, more quickly?" Tatsuo asked as he continued.
"You have a way to do that?" Noriko asked skeptically.
"I do." Tatsuo replied. "And it's a power that I can pass on to others. Consequently, the person I pass it on to could pass it on, as well. Provided they grow to a certain point."
"I see." Noriko replied, though there was still some skepticism in her tone. "And you asked if I could really be trusted because you're afraid of who I'd give this power to once I grew to a certain point, right?"
"Exactly." Tatsuo replied with a nod.
Hearing that, Noriko took a deep breath. Then, she looked Tatsuo in the eyes.
"And what would I have to do to make you trust me?" Noriko asked seriously.
"Make a promise." Tatsuo replied. He then continued in a chillingly cold tone. "A promise that if you break, know that I'll come and kill you, no questions asked. The fact that you were friends with my mother won't save you from me."
Noriko could not help but shiver when she heard Tatsuo's tone and felt his killing intent. Even so, she nodded solemnly.
"What is this promise." Noriko asked.
"Once I give you this power, you can't give it to anyone else without the permission of the people you'll come in contact with after you get it."
Although the cryptic way Tatsuo explained things confused her, Noriko eventually decided to make the promise. However, she had a condition before she did so.
"I can make that promise." Noriko said in a solemn tone. "But I have a condition. Trust goes both ways, after all."
Though he was annoyed that Noriko wanted to negotiate for terms, Tatsuo decided to hear her out.
"And what's that condition?" Tatsuo asked.
At that moment, Noriko's expression turned into a mischievous smile.
"Call me, Oba-San." Noriko said playfully. "Noriko-Obasan. Oba-Chan will do, too."
Immediately, Tatsuo's mind did a hard shut down. In no way was he expecting her condition to be something like that. In fact, he was so confused and taken aback that he remained silent for quite a while with a stupid-looking expression on his face.
Meanwhile, Noriko was laughing hysterically after seeing the lost look on Tatsuo's face. However, she had no intention of withdrawing her condition.
Eventually, Tatsuo came back to his senses. Then, although reluctantly, he accepted Noriko's condition. In return, Noriko made the promise to Tatsuo.
After that, Tatsuo appointed Noriko as a 1st Dungeon Explorer and she came in contact with the other Dungeon Explorers via the Communication Channel. Then, the two had lunch together before Noriko left.
Tatsuo did remember to tell Noriko that he would not be easy to contact after a couple of days, though. And she was not particularly happy about that. Especially since Tatsuo refused to tell her what he would be doing or where he would be going. However, there was nothing she could do about it. So, she begrudgingly accepted it.
After Tatsuo made Noriko a Dungeon explorer, two days seemed to pass in a blink. During that time, Tatsuo spent all his free time either making the frames for Mai's fans or spending time with Sumire. Eventually, there were only five minutes left until Tatsuo would be forcefully teleported back to his world.
"It's almost time." Tatsuo said as he watched the timer count down in his [System] Interface.
"Do you really have to go?" Sumire asked while clutching Tatsuo's shirt in her hands. "I don't want you to go."
At this point, Tatsuo had changed into the pajamas he was wearing on the night he was first teleported into the ICDS Universe. His mother had a habit of coming into his bedroom to check on him ever since she rescued him from DOATECH, after all.
"Yeah, I have to go back." Tatsuo replied in a gentle tone while stroking Sumire's hair. "I've been away from my family for so long, and I miss them. Besides, I told you, I can come back, right? It's not like this is the last time you're going to see me."
"I still don't want you to go." Sumire said with tears brimming in her eyes.
Seeing that Sumire was about to start crying at any minute, Tatsuo gently wiped away the tears that were forming. Then, he spoke softly.
"Come on, Sumire-San." Tatsuo said. "Don't make this harder for me than it has to be. I promise I'll be back. So, just wait for me for a little while."
In response, Sumire shook her head. Then, she looked up at Tatsuo with a struggle in her eyes.
This situation lasted for almost the rest of Tatsuo's remaining time in this world. Finally, when there were only five seconds left on the timer, Tatsuo sighed.
"I promise, I'll come back as--- Mmph!" Tatsuo began to say, thinking of consoling Sumire one last time.
Before he could finish his sentence, however, Sumire gripped Tatsuo's pajamas tightly. Then, she pulled him down. At the same time, she stood on the tips of her toes. Lastly, she pressed her lips against Tatsuo's while her tears began to fall.
Naturally, Tatsuo was taken completely aback. Therefore, he was slow to react. Unfortunately, just as he was ready to reciprocate Sumire's kiss, he was covered in white light. Then, he vanished from the Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society Universe.
Meanwhile, Sumire, after feeling the sensation on her lips disappear, pressed her fingers against her lips. All the while, she stared at the empty space that Tatsuo used to occupy with her tears continuing to fall.
"Hopefully you won't be able to forget me now." Sumire muttered as she collapsed to the floor in fatigue with a bright red blush on her cheeks.
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