Chapter 2
Was the quest I gave her too reckless?
Elena was only just an adult.
She'd only been swinging a sword for a day or two. A sane thought slowly crept in: maybe I'd asked too much of someone like her.
In the game, Elena is a genius blessed with innate talent in swordsmanship and magic.
The harsher the trial, the greater the growth it guarantees.
Though still a fledgling, women had an advantage in that respect in this world.
Monsters are so gentlemanly that it's extremely rare for them to kill women.
Just what you'd expect from adult-game monsters.
Their default mindset is to kill men and rape women.
Genius that she was, Elena benefited from the conveniences of such a world; even after making several mistakes against monsters, she didn't die and went on to challenge the next one.
'It's a shame I can't pop her cherry... Maybe I'll look for a chance later... No, what am I thinking... That would make me Eck...'
Let's pin down Elena, who's still undeveloped and weaker than me, and rape her.
In my mind, I pinned Elena's head to the table, pulled down her pants, and pressed my hips against her buttocks. Elena let out a plaintive moan.
Elena is beautiful.
I swallowed at the thought of gripping her curvaceous waist and looking down at her.
...I banished the thought.
'Damn... Even with memories of my past life, am I becoming Eck too...?'
Having become the adult game's thug boss, I was influenced much more by my past life, but Eck's influence was no small matter either. No, the reason I was still in my right mind at this very moment was thanks to my experiences and memories as Eck.
If I existed solely as my past life's personality, there was no way I'd be as calm as I was now.
A world teeming with monsters and where hygiene had been thrown into a cesspit—even if Eck's life guaranteed a fat wallet, life on Earth, even with a thin wallet, had been a million times better.
They say even a modern-day part-timer eats better food and lives more conveniently than a medieval king.
Looking back through Eck's memories, that was unquestionably true.
'Thinking about it makes me bitter.'
I toyed with my empty glass.
Calluses had formed on my palms.
How many people had I killed with these hands? Eck's memories surfaced: a trashy thug who beat people up in back alleys over pocket change and bullied newcomers while throwing his weight around.
But even so, the guild hadn't kicked me out because, tutorial or not, I possessed the skill befitting a boss.
'How much fighting can I do right now?'
I could still feel the combat instincts etched into this body, even now while drunk.
Despite undergoing this phenomenon, which was closer to possession than reincarnation, I hadn't lost any of my combat sense. I could feel it clearly enough to be certain.
With my past-life memories and the tutorial boss's physique, maybe I could fight monsters even better than the original Eck—or possibly even the game's protagonist.
'Well, that's only a feeling.'
I won't know how well it works in practice until I experience it firsthand.
This body was so damn lazy it couldn't even be bothered to stand up.
My alcohol-soaked body felt heavy.
Even so, I kept gulping down liquor.
"Urgh..."
This body was addicted to alcohol. Even the slightest drop in intoxication made every muscle ache.
Creak.
Just then, the guild door opened.
Elena entered.
She looked even worse than yesterday. One side of her cape had been torn away, and her cheek was covered in a dirt-caked scrape.
I'd half expected her to return with her lower half all sticky, but she had come back safe and sound.
Plop.
Elena set a pouch down on the table.
She untied the cord.
A goblin's right ear.
"Exactly ten. It wasn't too hard, was it?"
"This much is nothing."
Elena spoke with force in her voice.
"I brought them as promised, so now you need to hand over what you promised."
"Yeah."
I rose from my seat.
"Follow me."
"Yes?"
"Don't ask stupid questions. If I tell you to follow me, then follow me."
Elena blinked, then obediently followed me.
We stepped outside the guild.
Sunset slanted beyond the rooftops, dyeing the alley dark. The market was winding down for the day, one merchant at a time.
I turned into a back alley along a familiar route.
Eck's memories guided my footsteps.
There was only one decent smithy in the neighborhood.
'Bordeaux's Smithy.'
A dwarf blacksmith famous for personally chasing down guild-affiliated adventurers who skipped out without paying and bopping them on the head.
A con-artist bastard who pilfered enhancement materials and rigged the odds while claiming to enhance equipment.
We'd known each other since before Eck became an adventurer, back when he lorded it over the back alleys.
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
I knocked on the smithy's door.
There was no response.
Clang!
But since the hammering continued without pause, he seemed to be working.
If I'd been my old self, I'd have been considerate and avoided interrupting his work, but Eck wouldn't be Eck if he cared about that.
Thunk, thunk, thunk!
"Open up before I break it down!"
There was a brief silence.
Eventually, the door creaked open. A bearded dwarf looked up at me. His bear-like forearms were covered in soot.
With a drunken look on his face, he glared at me as if I were a nuisance.
"What do you want at this hour? I already gave you money. What are you trying to extort from me now?"
I said we knew each other; I never said we were friends.
The victim who'd been fleeced by me so often couldn't hide his fear of me despite pretending to be tough.
"I'm here to buy a sword. I'm a customer, so open the damn door."
"You're buying a sword? You?"
"Yeah. See the girl behind me? I'm buying one for her."
Bordeaux's eyes shifted to Elena.
He looked her up and down, then wrinkled his nose.
"You're fitting a sword for a woman? You?"
"What do you mean, 'me'? Shut up and open the door."
I shoved my hand through the crack, forced the door open, and barged inside.
Inside, I found the swords Bordeaux had made. I picked them up one by one, searching for one suited to Elena's build.
"Fuck. Bitch. What the hell are you?"
"What?"
"What are you to that bastard Eck?"
"I'm just... a sucker that man took advantage of..."
"A sucker?"
Bordeaux cleared his throat at Elena's words as if incredulous.
"Ahem! This is unbelievable. Eck, of all people, buying a sword for a sucker... Whoa?!"
"Don't say useless shit."
Bordeaux flinched in surprise when a sword came flying at him.
"Bring out a scabbard."
"Tch. Wait a moment."
"Will this cover it?"
I counted out silver coins from my pouch and pressed them into Bordeaux's palm.
Five silver coins.
Bordeaux accepted them with a sour expression and went to fetch materials for the scabbard.
"Wait a minute."
Behind me, Elena tugged at my clothes.
"That isn't, by any chance, my payment, is it?"
"What are you talking about?"
"That's not my payment, is it?"
"So?"
"Not 'so'! That's my money. The five silver coins you promised me. Why are you giving them to the dwarf?"
"Were you planning to take the sword for free? What kind of thief's mentality is that?"
I tapped Elena's forehead with my index finger.
"Consider yourself lucky you can get a sword for five silver coins. Even if you demand that I hand them over to you, I won't."
"What?! How is that fair?!"
Elena's eyes went wide.
Bordeaux, who'd been eavesdropping, glared at us and said, "Bullshit."
I pressed a hand over Elena's glaring eyes, forcing them downward.
"Your esteemed senior is going out of his way to help you, and instead of thanking me, you dare get angry? Do you think five silver coins would buy a sword? How dare you glare at me?"
"Eek...!"
Elena ground her teeth.
"Just to be sure, let me ask you something."
I knew Elena's actions well.
Whether it's a main quest or a side quest, quests unfold exactly as I know they will. They're practically predetermined fates.
For example,
"The three silver coins you took yesterday. Tell me what you spent them on."
"...."
"Answer me."
"...Medicine."
Well, that was obvious.
She had come to earn money for medicine in the first place.
"Who's sick?"
"What do you care? It's not as if you're going to pay for my medicine, mister."
"It's not as if I can't."
"...What?"
I stared intently at Elena.
Elena was beautiful, as befitted the heroine of this world. No wonder the males she would encounter in the future would go crazy over her.
Just as she'd been designed to be beautiful, strong, and kind to serve as eye candy for the player,
when the game starts, the player is faced with a choice.
"Become my lover."
"L-lover?"
"I'm telling you to devote your body solely to me. Then it's not as if I can't pay for your medicine."
"...."
The heroine of an adult game.
When the player starts the game, they are faced with the option of selling her body.
Probably every single player chose to sell her body to earn money, receive a pardon, or smooth over a crisis.
I did too.
In the normal story progression, the tutorial boss took her virginity, but in gameplay, her first time could be with anyone, whether it was Citizen 1 walking by or a monster, as long as it was male.
I went to all sorts of lengths to unlock different sex positions.
'Well, later I became focused on clearing the game, and it faded from my mind...'
At least, that was my purpose when I began. The first time, I put the heroine through all sorts of things before getting down to the actual game.
Elena pressed her lips tightly together.
"That's your problem."
"Yes?"
Leaning against the display shelf, I said,
"If all you wanted was money for medicine, there are easier ways than becoming an adventurer. Like the offer I just made. With your face and body, that line of work would have been much easier."
"What are you talking about?"
"And yet you chose to become an adventurer. You don't just intend to earn money for medicine."
Money alone wouldn't get her younger sister the medicine she needed.
I pretended to have deduced that.
"Whatever it is, you must need something that forces you to become an adventurer yourself. Something rare. Something valuable enough that you couldn't readily accept even when I offered to get it for you in exchange for becoming my lover."
The part of Eck's personality left in me knew what that 'precious thing' was, and it was horrified.
Because my head contained information Eck could never know—and must never know—I had already guessed how valuable it was right after I possessed this body.
I also knew how absurdly difficult the thing Elena wanted was.
"If you're going to be an adventurer, do it properly. If you take up adventuring with halfhearted resolve, you won't make it out safely—let alone earn enough for medicine."
"....Well."
"Well?"
Elena's expression stiffened.
She was flustered.
It had been too dark inside to see clearly, but now I could tell her face was red too.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"Huh?"
"D-do you really like me? Is that why you're being so kind to me?"
"...."
I went back over what I'd just said.
I must have forgotten to stay in character for a moment.
"I'm not interested in your circumstances. I just don't want you to become useless. Look at you—a hopelessly softhearted sucker who knows full well I'm using you, yet still wags her tail in delight."
"Urgh..."
"I need someone who'll keep bringing me money even after I retire. Spend your whole life repaying me for my kindness."
"...."
Elena stood silently for a long while.
She lowered her head, her expression becoming conflicted.
"What a load of bullshit."
"That was fast."
"Here."
Bordeaux, who'd been watching with his arms crossed, handed over the sword in its scabbard.
I drew the sword and tested its feel, then returned it to the scabbard and handed it to Elena.
Elena looked over the sword.
A plain, straight sword.
There was no ornamentation.
But its blade was even, and its weight was concentrated toward the hilt, making it possible for even a weak user to make quick slashes.
Bordeaux's brows rose.
"Is she your...?"
He raised his pinky.
"You're asking something obvious. So keep your hands off her. Touch a single hair on her head and you're dead."
"Huh..."
"What? Why?"
"I've never seen you talk that way about a woman before. This one... Rebecca's going to be jealous. I'll go ingratiate myself with my future sister-in-law."
Bordeaux approached Elena, suggested she try the sword, and set up a straw dummy.
Elena's exceptional talent let her cut the straw dummy in half with a single stroke.