Dungeons appeared in the world. However, the dungeons themselves only affected half of humanity.
This was because only women could enter the dungeons.
No, that’s not entirely accurate. Men could physically enter the dungeons as well. But men didn’t have levels.
Defeating oncoming monsters, gaining experience points, leveling up, and becoming stronger—such game-like mechanics only applied to women.
Without leveling up, one couldn’t grow stronger. In other words, men were incapable of becoming stronger.
A few years ago, sports like baseball and soccer were dominated by men, but the emergence of dungeons flipped everything upside down.
Men simply couldn’t compete with women who had leveled up by challenging the dungeons.
Instead of gaining levels, men had a unique concept that only applied to them—”experience points.”
When boys reached puberty, a number would appear somewhere on their bodies—sometimes in the thousands, sometimes in the tens of thousands, or sometimes just a single digit. That number was their “experience points.”
Of course, it wasn’t some brutal system where women killed men to gain experience points.
“… In solutions of salt or sugar, water moves from the lower concentration to the higher concentration. The same principle applies to other substances…”
Rather than being brutal, it was something quite… erotic.
The way women gained experience points from men was through acts like holding hands, kissing, or hugging—intimate physical contact typically shared by romantic partners.
“There are also types of semipermeable membranes. For example, slugs. Their bodies are wrapped in semipermeable membranes, so if you pour salt on them, the water leaves their bodies. The same happens with sugar. And yes, the same kind of thing can happen with humans.”
In dungeons, one had to risk their life in battle to gain experience points. However, women could also gain experience points through intimate interactions with men.
It was safe, without any life-threatening risks. It even felt good. And they could still gain experience points. It was a win-win situation.
“… As such, drawing an exponential graph reveals that the volume of transfer increases. Now, apply this knowledge and calculate.”
Naturally, the more experience points a man had, the better. A man with over ten thousand experience points would be quite popular, while a man with a hundred million experience points would be like a super idol. In fact, he’d be at risk of being outright chased.
Men with over a billion experience points were swiftly taken into government custody for protection. Such men were said to live enviable lives.
“Now, use your own experience point values to calculate how much experience point transfer would occur during specific actions… Hey, Murata Tatsuya, are you listening?”
“Ouch!”
Before I knew it, the teacher was standing beside me, smacking my head with a textbook. Her ponytail swayed as she looked down at me with sharp, almond-shaped eyes.
Incidentally, the hand she hit me with was her right hand; her left hand was missing. She’d lost it to a monster during a dungeon raid years ago. After retiring, she became a teacher, though she was only 25—still quite young.
“Sensei, that’s corporal punishment, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, you gonna report me?”
Unbothered by my words, she smacked my head with the textbook once more before returning to the podium.
This wasn’t chemistry class—it was health education. And since it was a health class, only the boys were in the room, the teacher excluded.
Why was a female teacher conducting a health class for boys? It was almost impossible to take it seriously.
“In other words, intense physical interactions, like the exchange of mucous membranes during passionate acts, transfer larger amounts of experience points to women. The influx of experience points proportionally increases the pleasure women feel. Got it, Murata? Stop being embarrassed and do the calculations. It’s important.”
Important, huh?
“Hey, Sagara-sensei! Murata doesn’t even have experience points, you know!”
One of my classmates teased, calling out Sagara Chie-sensei, nicknamed Sagaratche.
“… Is that true?”
Men without experience points were exceedingly rare. The teacher turned a suspicious gaze on me. I rolled up my shirt sleeve and shifted my arm cover. On my right upper arm, the character for “nothing” (無) was visible. Even from a distance, it was clear.
Seeing this, the teacher’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh… my apologies. There are indeed people like that. Well, don’t let it get to you. Experience points aren’t everything. Just make sure to pay attention in class.”
“Sure.”
When I was a child, the character “nothing” appeared on my arm. While my friends displayed numbers ranging from hundreds to thousands, and sometimes tens of thousands, mine was “nothing.”
When this was revealed, I was mercilessly teased by my male friends and avoided by the girls.
While the boys were learning about experience points in class, the girls were in dungeon training. It was just basic instruction on the first floor of a dungeon, or so I’d heard.
If I had been born a girl, could I have gone on grand adventures with swords and magic like the protagonist of a light novel?
As I pondered such meaningless thoughts, the bell signaling the end of class rang.
“Remember, you boys are the ones being ‘consumed.’ Women who level up cannot be defeated by men. No matter how trustworthy someone may seem, don’t let your guard down. That’s all for today. Murata, come to the infirmary after school. Dismissed.”
After the teacher left, the classroom buzzed with crude chatter. That was typical after health class, especially with a beautiful, well-endowed teacher.
“‘Intense physical interactions,’ huh!”
“Man, I’m already fired up!”
“She said we’re the ones being ‘consumed!’ I wanna be consumed already!”
“You’re only at three hundred experience points, right? Nobody’s consuming you.”
Listening to the chatter behind me, I let out a sigh.
◇
“Excuse me for intruding.”
“It’s excuse me, not ‘intruding.’ But fine, sit down.”
When I entered the nurse’s office after school, the teacher spoke without even looking at me, engrossed in something on her computer.
She focused on the screen, moving the mouse with her right hand, while using her foot to nudge the chair in front of her desk. It wasn’t the most polite gesture, but I suppose that’s just how ex-dungeon divers are.
“Is this about me not paying attention during class? Am I getting scolded?”
“I’d like to lecture you about that, but no, it’s something else.”
As I sat down, she turned her body toward me and looked me straight in the eyes.
“Murata. I didn’t know you lacked experience points, and I said something inappropriate. First, I’d like to apologize for that. I’m sorry.”
She bowed her head deeply. In this day and age, it’s rare to see a teacher willing to face their students so sincerely.
“You don’t have to apologize. Everyone knows about it, and I don’t even care anymore.”
“Even so, I am sorry.”
“…Okay. Thanks for being considerate, though.”
When I answered, she lifted her head and smiled slightly.
“Now, I know it’s a bit rude to ask this after apologizing, but… can I take another look?”
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
I rolled up my sleeve and pulled down the arm cover, just as I’d done during class. The word ‘無’ (“nothing”) was still clearly visible on my arm. The teacher stared at it for a while before turning her gaze back to the computer.
“It really is ‘無.’ But it’s strange. As a former dungeon diver, I’m somewhat familiar with male experience points, and I’ve never seen the character ‘無’ before.”
“Well, that’s because there are hardly any men without experience points.”
“No, that’s not the point. Look at this.”
She pointed at the screen of her computer.
“For men without experience points, the usual notation is either ‘零’ or the numeral ‘0.’ I’ve never seen or heard of ‘無.’“
“Huh. I guess that’s just how it is. Not many people like me exist, after all.”
“…Murata, are you sure you truly have no experience points? Have you ever tested it?”
“Teacher, isn’t that question a bit inappropriate? Sounds like harassment.”
“Ah! I… I’m sorry! That was an improper question to ask…”
Asking if I’d “tested it” was basically the same as questioning whether I’d had a romantic or physical relationship with someone.
“Well, it’s fine. Besides, whether it’s ‘無’ or ‘零,’ it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have any experience points. Anyway, I’ll get going now.”
As I stood up, the teacher quickly reached out to stop me.
“Wait, Murata! Let me look at it more closely, just one more time!”
“Hey, stop—!!”
Before I could pull away, the teacher grabbed my arm.
“This is bad! Let go!!”
“Huh? …Ah, ah, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡”
The teacher’s eyes suddenly filled with heart shapes as she arched backward.
“Teacher!!”
“♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡”
(Note: The teacher is only holding Murata’s arm.)
“Teacher!!!”
