The next morning, when I went to school, my classmate Sakakibara immediately approached me.
“Burao! Have you heard about Mr. Sagara?”
Hearing Sakakibara’s words, my heart skipped a beat.
“Uh, no… What happened?”
“He’s quitting teaching and returning to being a Dungeon Diver!”
“Huh?”
Sakakibara’s words were unexpected. At least it wasn’t news about his death, so I breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s so sudden.”
“Apparently, according to rumors, his level has skyrocketed, and he’s become really strong! They say his level shot up after he retired… So, you know what that means… Mr. Sagara is really something, huh?”
“Hey, don’t let your imagination run too wild.”
There’s only one way to level up after retiring as a Dungeon Diver, and that’s by gaining experience points. Yes, the only way is to absorb experience points from men. And that method involves ‘physical sexual contact.’ To borrow Mr. Sagara’s words from yesterday, it’s ‘intense sexual intercourse involving mucosal contact.’
It’s not great to think about this after warning Sakakibara, but Mr. Sagara is beautiful and has a great figure, so she must have been working hard every day with many men to gain experience points. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to level up enough to return to being a Dungeon Diver.
“…Ah.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, nothing. It’s nothing.”
No, no, no, that massive amount of experience points is almost certainly because of me yesterday. When Mr. Sagara grabbed my arm yesterday, a huge amount of experience points must have flowed into her.
Well, anyway, I’m really glad Mr. Sagara is alive.
◇
“Burao, are you there?”
Right after the evening homeroom ended, Mr. Sagara showed up at the classroom. Being summoned by Mr. Sagara, who’s currently the talk of the school, all eyes in the classroom turned to me.
“It’s about the reflection paper from yesterday, right? I brought it.”
Even though there’s no reflection paper, I waved a randomly folded handout in response. The gazes from the class scattered.
I don’t want any weird rumors spreading.
“Ah, yeah. Follow me to the nurse’s office.”
Whether she understood my intentions or not, Mr. Sagara played along and started walking.
“Hey, Burao, what’s this about a reflection paper?”
“It’s about the summon from Mr. Sagara that’s been the talk of the school. If weird rumors start spreading about me, what am I supposed to do? So, it’s insurance, insurance. This way, it’ll just end with ‘Burao must have done something wrong,’ right?”
“…Sorry. That was careless of me.”
“It’s fine if you understand.”
We walked down the hallway, talking in hushed tones, and headed to the nurse’s office.
“Come in.”
“Okay.”
Prompted, I entered the nurse’s office and sat down on a chair.
—Clang, click.
“Clang? Click?”
A strange sound echoed, and the lights in the room went out. The setting sun streaming through the window dyed the white nurse’s office in an orange hue.
“Uh… Mr. Sagara?”
I turned my head toward the entrance of the nurse’s office and saw Mr. Sagara, who had turned off the lights, slowly turning toward me. Her profile was illuminated by the sunset, exuding a red, bewitching aura.
“Now, no one will come to help.”
“What do you mean?”
“I always say it in health class, don’t I? ‘You men are the ones who get eaten. Never let your guard down, even with someone you trust.'”
“…Mr. Sagara?”
Mr. Sagara, who is always dignified and cool, looked at me with feverish eyes.
“You weren’t paying attention in class, Burao. Ah, Burao, it’s your fault. It’s your fault for not listening properly in my class. That’s why a bad student needs to be punished.”
With teary eyes, Mr. Sagara muttered as if convincing herself.
“Mr. Sagara. I have zero experience points, right? There’s no need to be careful, is there?”
“Hehe, don’t play dumb, Burao.”
Mr. Sagara slowly approached me.
“It’s impossible, it has to be you. Yesterday, you came to this nurse’s office, and I lost consciousness at some point. When I woke up, I had leveled up an unbelievable amount. I can only think that I got experience points from you.”
“…Mr. Sagara, you suddenly fell asleep, so I just left. Maybe someone did something weird to you while you were asleep? Like rape. Maybe that’s how you got the experience points.”
“I’m a virgin. I didn’t feel any discomfort between my legs when I woke up.”
What kind of sudden confession is this beautiful teacher making?
“That ‘Zero’ character on you. That’s a tattoo sticker or something, right? There are guys who stick fake stickers on their bodies with numbers like ‘ten thousand’ or ‘a hundred million’ to trick women. Well, I’ve never heard of anyone using a low number like that. But after leveling up yesterday, it all made sense. Burao. You have an insane amount of experience points, don’t you?”
“…”
Not exactly, but close enough.
“Please, Burao. Have sex with me.”
“Mr. Sagara, do you understand what you’re saying? You’re talking about making a move on a student?”
“I don’t care if I get fired. I’m going back to being a Dungeon Diver. That place is full of shady characters. Having a criminal record is just an accessory there.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m asking if it’s okay for someone as serious and upright as you to do something that would sadden a powerless student.”
At my words, the teacher’s face twisted.
“That’s…”
“You hate doing the wrong thing, don’t you? You’ve been so passionate about teaching us so that we wouldn’t feel sad. But now, for that same teacher to do something that would sadden a student… I don’t want you to do that…”
Perhaps my emotional appeal worked unexpectedly well, as Mr. Sagara hung his head.
“…I’m sorry. I got carried away. I’m such an idiot. I’m not fit to be a teacher.”
Mr. Sagara began to speak in a fragmented manner.
“The dungeon… it was my dream since I was a child. Standing on the frontlines with my comrades, carving out a new world. That was my dream. Well, it was shattered pretty quickly, though.”
The teacher gripped his left shoulder, the one that had been lost.
“When I woke up yesterday, I felt a surge of energy in my body. I couldn’t believe it, so I checked my level, and guess what? It had gone up an unbelievable amount. I couldn’t believe my eyes. And my heart raced. If I could gain that same amount of experience points again, I could return to the frontlines. Even with only one arm, I could become strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with other Dungeon Divers. I could stand on the frontlines again with the comrades who left me behind.”
Tears welled up, and the teacher quietly wiped his eyes.
“Burao. I’m sorry. I did something stupid. It’s unforgivable for me to make a move on a student for the sake of my own dream. Before being a teacher, I’m a failure as a human being. Well, whatever. I don’t know the reason, but the fact that my level went up hasn’t changed. I’ll just work hard again, as a Dungeon Diver. Burao, you can go now…”
“Mr. Sagara.”
I stood up and approached the teacher.
“You really are a good teacher, after all. I respect you, Mr. Sagara.”
“Stop it. Don’t respect a failure like me.”
“I won’t stop. And I don’t want a teacher I respect so much to die.”
If Mr. Sagara were to return to being a Dungeon Diver, it would undoubtedly be because of me. And Dungeon Divers are constantly risking their lives.
“Mr. Sagara, I want you to become strong. Strong enough not to die easily. Strong enough to fight even with one arm. Strong enough to come back alive to the surface.”
“Burao, you…”
“Mr. Sagara. This is the last time. And it’s absolutely a secret.”
“B-Burao…”
As I got close enough to touch him, the teacher’s eyes wavered with desire.
Mr. Sagara was a good teacher who sincerely cared about his students. I didn’t want such a teacher to carry the guilt of making a move on a student.
So, if anyone was going to make a move, it should be me.
“Mr. Sagara, don’t die from the pleasure, okay? Hang in there.”
“B-Burao… Ah…”
Before the teacher could say anything, I took off my glove and touched his cheek.
His body jerked in response.
※I’m just placing my hand on his cheek.
“Mr. Sagaraaaaaaaa!! Hang in there, hang in there, Mr. Sagaraaaaaaaa!!”
※I’m just placing my hand on his cheek.
“M-Mr. Sagaraaaaaaaa!! Hang in there, hang in there, Mr. Sagaraaaaaaaa!!”
The birth of the Dungeon Diver known by the nickname “One-Armed Berserker” is a story for a little later.
