"Ren? Breakfast is ready, sweetie?"
The meal was simple: bread lightly toasted over a fire, cheese, soup seasoned only with salt and pepper, and milk to drink. It was unvarying but sufficient for beginners in this world. Since they had neither electric nor gas stoves, she had to start the fire, a feat she silently congratulated herself on before going to wake her roommate.
A few days ago, she—Fuuri—had left the previous party with Ren.
To be precise, Ren was kicked out, so she unilaterally decided, "Then I quit too," and fled. The former mixed-gender party of five was now a men-only group of three, and they were surely struggling. Good riddance.
Their newly rented house was small but sturdy, big enough to comfortably house four or five people. It kept the rain out and the wind to a minimum. Since it was just the two of them, they each had their own room.
"Come on. Don't just lie there, get up—"
"Idiot, don't just open the door!"
When she walked in without knocking, Ren was in the middle of changing.
The beautiful, gender-ambiguous youth—who had dark purple hair and eyes—glared at her with a resentful look, covering his front. The "cute thing" (as he called it, which he claimed was "smaller than before this happened") was something she had seen before, and it didn't bother her.
Besides, the little bat wings on his back and the heart-tipped tail on his butt were actually quite endearing once you got used to them.
"Were you thinking about something pervy?"
"No! And what are you wearing?"
"Huh? Isn't this normal?"
A camisole and short shorts. Even before the transfer, this was common loungewear. Of course, she never dressed like this when they lived with the others, but now it was just Ren and her.
"Listen, I keep telling you, I am a—"
"A boy? Yeah, yeah, I know, I know."
She nodded vigorously as she approached.
In the meantime, Ren quickly pulled on his unsexy boxer briefs and threw on a shirt. His small, budding chest, which was quite cute, was now covered.
As their distance closed, the boy (tentative) took a step back. Since the bed was behind him, his escape was limited, and Fuuri managed to get close enough that they were almost touching.
"But still. You keep saying that, yet you never do anything to me."
"You'd freak out if I did, wouldn't you?"
"Hmm? What if I said, 'You can'?"
When she looked up at him provocatively, his face immediately turned bright red.
This was the thing.
The three boys in their former party were typical high schoolers with a high interest in sex and had become brazen after arriving in a new world. They drank, smoked, and even paid older women for "instruction." That had only made them even more uninhibited, and afterward, they started giving Fuuri unapologetic looks.
Ren was different.
He would glance at Fuuri's (not particularly large) chest, and he would sometimes blush if their eyes met, but that was the extent of it. In fact, he had been the victim of blatant sexual harassment from them, with demands like "Entertain me." He was their main target, so she deeply sympathized with him.
A month had passed since they arrived, and they had met many senior transfer students. Now, neither of them held much hope of returning to their original world and having a normal romance.
I might as well find a boyfriend here, she thought, and Ren wouldn't be a bad choice.
"Besides, shouldn't we, you know, get some experience before you level up too much?"
She took the final step and touched Ren's cheek with her right hand.
Gulp.
She could practically hear the sound of him swallowing.
"...If you push me that far, I'll take you seriously."
"That's a bit surprising. I thought you'd chicken out, but... okay. Go ahead."
She felt a slight flutter of excitement when he gripped her shoulders.
The current Ren was extremely good-looking.
Furthermore, his charm ability worked, albeit less strongly, on males as well. Since we're alone, I might as well see how far this goes, she thought, closing her eyes.
She felt his face approaching.
When their lips met, her body instinctively trembled. She grabbed the fabric of the boy's shirt to stop him as he tried to pull away fearfully. As they continued to kiss, her feelings began to surge in that direction.
Breakfast will get cold, but oh well.
She accepted the embrace as he pulled her closer. She felt his body heat and anticipated what he would do next when—
"Hello? Fujisaki-kun and Shiina-san, are you awake?"
The voice of their homeroom teacher, which they had heard almost daily a month ago, completely destroyed the mood.
--------------------
"Too bad. We were interrupted. I'll go greet the teacher, so hurry up and change."
Seeing Fuuri pull away instantly as if nothing had happened, Ren felt a strange sense of reluctance.
Could it have gone further? Did she just stop it right when things were getting good? Yeah, that was probably more likely.
He watched his partner (?) quickly patter away to greet the teacher, sighed, and hurriedly put on his clothes and robe.
Incidentally, the soft feel of a girl's lips was something he wouldn't soon forget, even if those lips belonged to Fuuri.
--------------------
"I'm relieved you both look well. The other three were worried about you, you know?"
"Haha, hardly. They're just disappointed that the girl they were targeting is gone."
While showing up at someone's house unannounced in the morning would be rude in Japan, it wasn't uncommon here, where some people headed to the dungeon early, making it necessary to catch them when you could. To avoid sending the teacher away after only a brief chat, Ren and Fuuri decided to share their breakfast for two among the three of them.
Their lives here depended on the money and spoils they gained from conquering the dungeon, which they used to buy or trade for goods in the town. Their teacher, one of the few adults, was not living an easy life, either, and shamefully but happily began to eat the bread and soup.
"Well, it can't be helped in a place like this, but a co-ed living situation does cause various problems. If possible, it might be better for you to team up with only girls next time."
That was a fair point. However, Ren looked at Fuuri, who was sitting next to him, and then back at the teacher.
"Um, sensei? You remember I'm a boy, right...?"
"Eh!? Oh, yes, of course! Fujisaki-kun is a boy, even if he's a succubus."
She nodded earnestly, then asked, "Are you getting used to having a girl's body?"
He had transformed into a succubus, and his body had changed, but he wasn't a girl. The fact that he would probably fully feminize upon leveling up was apparently a difficult concept for someone who wasn't familiar with games. The teacher probably had a vague understanding of, "He's a boy, but he's a girl, right?"
"I can't get used to it at all; it's the worst, being looked at funny by guys. Though, to be fair, the others were quite serious while we were in the dungeon, so that helped."
"I see. You probably don't have time to get used to it with this kind of life."
One month had passed since the transfer. Ren had worked hard to conquer the dungeon with his party members. Fortunately, the senior transfer students had diligently created maps and guides, so there was little danger in the beginner area on the first underground floor, unless they let down their guard completely.
They defeated monsters that somehow automatically revived and sold small items they obtained from similarly reviving treasure chests. By fighting and disarming traps, they gradually accumulated experience, which made them stronger according to their current race and class when they leveled up. The current goal was to repeat these incremental steps and aim for the 'bottom floor,' which was an unknown distance below.
For the seniors, the initial floors were levels they could skip through humming a tune, but the supply of all goods in this world was limited. More hands were always better, and support for beginners was thorough. Inversely, no one said, "We don't need beginners anymore, so take your time; just finish the conquest quickly." Thus, Ren and the others were kept busy slaying monsters.
"Ren is incredibly useful, Sensei. He can use both offensive and healing magic. He can also start fires and conjure water, and the men in town just adore him."
"Yeah, thanks to that, I'm stuck cooking and bathing for others, and they dump errands on me just to get a glimpse."
"It's fine, isn't it? You benefit from being cute."
"Guys don't appreciate being called 'cute!'"
As Ren lightly argued and glared at Fuuri, the teacher chuckled.
"You two get along well."
"N-no, not at all... She just follows me around on her own."
"You can relax. I'll follow you even if you tell me not to, and I'll take care of you. Ren can use magic, but he can't cook or do laundry, can he?"
"Well, I didn't need to learn those things back home."
It was true that washing machines, fast food, and convenience store bento boxes made life easy, but his lack of motivation for studying was a separate issue... or maybe not. The teacher and Fuuri probably knew the truth.
"When do you think we can go back home?"
"I'm sure you'll go back someday."
The teacher avoided a clear answer, looking troubled. The dungeon hadn't been conquered in at least thirty years. There was no guarantee it wouldn't take just as long again. Ren shuddered at the thought of himself at forty-five in this world.
"If you want to go back quickly, you just have to keep trying. I've been talking to everyone, and it seems the number of people delving into the dungeon and their levels directly relate to the quality of life here."
"Leveling up, huh... If I become a complete girl, will I be able to change back?"
"...I wonder?"
"I wonder?"
He received an irresponsible answer from both girls.
This is why those who haven't changed physically are like this. They probably felt that since they only powered up, their abilities didn't need to disappear—or maybe they even hoped to keep them after returning to Japan.
They don't understand my feelings.
"Well, never mind. If you become a girl, just find a boyfriend! I'm sure there'd be plenty of candidates lining up for Ren."
"I'd rather be alone forever than marry a guy."
"Oh..."
The teacher looked distant.
"Such a purist. I suppose that's common for girls your age."
"I told you I'm not a girl... Wait, Sensei, did you just come to check on us today?"
"Ah, that's right."
The teacher clapped her hands and brought up the main topic. Their breakfast was almost finished by then.
"I came because I was worried, but also, if you two aren't planning on reconciling with those boys, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to."
"Introduce?"
"Is it a girl?"
"Of course, it's a girl. However, she's having trouble finding a party that will take her in... and everyone seems to be struggling to help her."
So she has a history.
Ren and Fuuri had met a decent number of people since arriving here, but they still knew more strangers than acquaintances. And they certainly didn't know much about the transfer students from previous years. The teacher, being an adult, actively interacted with them, making her a reliable source of information.
"What kind of person is she?"
"A cute girl."
No, that's not what I meant.
"I want to know what the 'history' is," Ren said, thinking, Is Sensei a little air-headed? He received an unexpected answer.
"Her cuteness is the problem. She's a bit similar to Fujisaki-kun, if you think about it."
"Meaning she's targeted by men? Like Ren?"
"Yes, exactly."
Since the girl wasn't very strong herself, she couldn't always defend herself when targeted. Men who had recently arrived here were especially prone to thoughtless behavior, so caution was necessary.
"Then have her team up with girls."
"Hmm... If she teams up with other girls, then there are the ones who get jealous."
"That's troublesome."
"Ah, so that's why you thought of Ren? If there's another girl who's just as cute, the attention will be divided, and Ren wouldn't get jealous."
"Yes. What do you think? Just meeting her would be fine."
Ren and Fuuri exchanged a look and nodded at each other without a word.
It seemed neither of them had any objections. A two-person party of a mage (succubus) and a thief felt unreliable for dungeon conquest. Having just one more person would make things much easier.
"By the way, what is her profession?"
"An Archer. But she doesn't have a profession or levels in the way you two do."
"That means..."
"Yes. She was born and raised here. They call them the Dungeon Native generation, apparently."
"I see. In that case, we can't just leave her with any party..."
After breakfast, the girl the teacher introduced them to had a beauty that exceeded both Ren's and Fuuri's imaginations.
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