Trials(5)

Kathlyn.

She was a prideful person ambitious and incredibly driven.

One of the few students from Class C who, by skill alone, should've been placed in Class B. If the academy had ranked students on actual ability instead of raw data and pedigree, she would've already been halfway up the ladder to Class A.

And that's exactly what she wanted.

To ascend.

To climb.

To stand shoulder to shoulder with somone like Eugene or June

Or better yet above them.

That ambition led her straight into the Underground Relic Prisms—special dungeon-like anomalies created by the Demon God of Games and Trickery a million years ago. These relics they stole information spells ect to make death game inheritances

Depending on the prism's rank, it could be an inheritance vault, a death trap, or a treasure room that turned its user into a walking power fantasy.

A rogue teacher offered the starving, resource-deprived C and D rankers a taste of forbidden fruit.

Kathlyn didn't hesitate.

She was one of the first to take the offer. She didn't just want to rise she needed to her pride would not accept being supressed

In the end, of course, June had to save everyone. That golden-haired protagonist with his arrogant smile and plot armor thicker than enchanted dwarven steel.

Kathlyn was forced to accept her place. Again.

But even so, she became one of the breakout characters of the series. Fan art, fan theories, fan wars half the forums were dedicated to her at one point.

And now?

Now she was…

Wrapped in webs.

Mana drained.

Humiliated.

Enslaved.

And currently staring at a guy who was shaking silently in front of her like he was having a seizure in slow motion.

Kai.

He had enslaved her.

And was now silently, violently, laughing.

Not a chuckle.

Not a laugh.

Not even a wheeze.

Just pure, soundless madness.

To her?

He looked like a delinquent who'd just sniffed the inside of a cursed sock drawer and found God.

A pervert.

A silent, terrifying pervert.

Halfway through, Kai realized how it looked.

He coughed, straightened his spine, tried to act cool, and failed miserably.

"Don't worry," he said, in a tone that absolutely did not inspire confidence. "I will not harm you."

Kathlyn's eyebrow twitched like she wanted to impale him through the skull.

Kai added, trying to sound normal:

"But I do need your help.

Well… it's not like you can refuse."

Her face twisted with visible revulsion. Like she'd just found out her noble blood was 5% mold.

"You scum," she spat. "I'm not gonna answer to a weirdo like you."

Her tone had that signature 'I'm a noble and you're a bug I just stepped on' cadence. A real classic.

Kai blinked.

Then brightened.

"Awww… it's a real tsundere," he said with a grin.

"All the girls at school—just cosplay amateurs. But you? You're the real deal. Ten outta ten. Tsundere certified. I'm honored."

"Stop saying strange things!" she snapped. "You've enslaved me! So just—just do whatever it is you're going to do already!"

Kai shrugged casually.

"I'm not gonna do anything like that. I'm a gentleman."

He paused.

"...Most of the time."

He began brushing nonexistent dust off his coat like he was preparing for a ball instead of sitting in a spider-infested forest.

"But I do need you to carry me out of here. My legs? Gone. My will to walk? Also gone. This is a rescue op now, and you're the truck."

Kathlyn squinted.

"Carry… you?"

"Yes."

"You want me to put your filthy, bug-crusted body… on me?"

"Exactly. You learn fast."

She stared at him, horrified.

"What are you, a child? Want me to feed you warm milk too? Should I burp you? Or tuck you in and read you bedtime stories about how not to be a degenerate?"

Kai was unmoved.

"If you're offering your breast to me, I will not reject."

"WHAT?!?"

"Strictly for milk purposes," Kai added, raising both hands innocently.

"I've been emotionally malnourished for seventeen years, I deserve this."

Kathlyn looked like she was about to combust.

"You. Are. Disgusting."

Kai nodded solemnly.

"Yes. But at least I'm honest about it. That's gotta count for something, right? One virtue down

"....

"Tough crowd."

She gagged.

"You don't speak to me like that, slave," Kai said, voice flat and dry, poking her shoulder like he was testing how far her disgust would go.

Kathlyn glared at him so hard it was a miracle he didn't burst into flames.

Then—without warning—she crouched, grabbed him like a sack of radishes, and hoisted him onto her back with a grunt of sheer regret.

"You're heavier than you look," she muttered.

Kai sighed theatrically.

"Be gentle. I used to be fat. It's still a sensitive topic."

"Your body is trash," she growled.

"And yours is amazing."

"I swear I will drop you."

"You're an amusing slave," Kai mused. "First offering to treat me like family, and now casting me aside like a used dish sponge. It's complicated. I like that."

"Shut. Up."

"Kyaa~ Senpai, your back is so firm!"

"Say that again and I will use a rock as a pillow and drop you headfirst onto it."

"Kink unlocked."

"DIE."

They walked.

Well she walked.

Kai simply rode along like royalty on a personal Kathlyn-powered sedan chair, arms crossed behind his head like he was sunbathing.

Until—

His eyes widened.

Something horrible clicked in his head.

"Fuck.

FUCK."

He jolted upright so violently, he nearly sent both of them tumbling.

"What now?!" Kathlyn snapped, stumbling under his sudden shift.

Kai's brain went into panic mode.

"June. He should be in the middle of the Branch Guardian fight—Level 20 elite mini-boss. The one with the exploding bark armor and the dumb 'sacrifice trial' gimmick. That fight is pivotal!"

Kathlyn blinked, panting.

"You're delirious."

Kai wasn't listening.

"If I was out cold for two days… the timing… oh gods, if I'm late someone else might steal the kill."

He paused.

"...And that someone wouldn't be me."

The horror set in.

Kathlyn narrowed her eyes.

"Are you saying you want too rob somone"

"Rob? No. Reallocate."

Kai sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Uhhh… can you run faster?

Kathlyn stared.

"You enslaved me. You're riding on my back. And now you want express delivery?"

She stopped walking.

"Do you want me to just yeet you in that direction and hope for the best?"

Kai blinked.

"...Honestly? At this point, that might be more efficient."

kai had decided to stop aura farming and trying to cold.. okay he was not gonna stop completely but being a slave owner for two days wore him out and this was technically his second life so he had to enjoy it to the max and...no matter what happened he was still a neet at heart