Chapter 28: 24 – I can’t win, I surrender

This chapter is from two POV and alternates between them. The first is Andreu’s POV and the second is A Lil’ Demoness's progress in third person.

 

**Andreu**

 

The Dungeon Battle starts and I need to set what rooms, traps, hazardous terrain and units I’m going to use.

As the last dungeon battle, we have a 1500 cp budget instead of the 1000 cp we had on our first challenge. It was me who asked to increase the limit, otherwise I couldn’t have put the Lab Assistant on the second challenge, because it was too expensive. And we are keeping the same cp budget for this third challenge.

Even if it didn’t work the last time, I do believe that the tunnel filled with traps was a good idea as the first room. So I’m repeating the same idea. Only that this time the tunnel has a different shape and the traps and mushrooms are placed in other spots.

“I also made sure not everything can be skipped with the Blink skill. There is more than one place where the tunnel is filled with mushrooms, and it’s longer than the distance you can travel with Blink.”

The trapped tunnel leads to a partially collapsed cavern. From the collapsed ceiling, sunlight pours in and grass and vegetation grow on the cavern’s floor. It looks like those ‘secret sanctuaries’ from fantasy worlds.

Here and there, you can see little and innocent rabbits grazing on the vegetation. I put all five Curse Rabbits and the two Not A Rabbit here.

Since the cavern is partially collapsed, lots of rock rubble obstruct the vision everywhere. It’s easy for the rabbits to surprise the enemy from behind. And the rubble also makes this zone difficult to traverse and make it somewhat labyrinthine.

“If I’m frank, this zone looks amazing. Regardless of how the challenge ends, I’m going to replicate it into the normal dungeon. I’m sure invaders are going to love (hate) it!”

Here, several more tunnels can be seen. Further in, they interconnect chaotically, leading you to the rabbit area again.

“I admit I copied the idea from A Lil’ Demoness. But instead of multiple similar rooms, here’s only one room and all tunnels return to this room. Except for one that leads to the final room with the dungeon core. But the tunnel is hidden quite well, very hard to see.”

I don’t put any mushroom or trap here, because they could work as landmarks if the enemy has good memory. So this is only a bunch of rocky dark tunnels, with no remarkable features. Well… that’s a lie. There’s something else in these tunnels apart from rocks. There’s the Tunnel Mimic too. And in this chaotic mess of interconnected tunnels, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to know which one is the fake tunnel. Or even impossible.

And just in case the enemy reaches the last room, four Demonic Swarmers are there to kill the (hopefully weakened) invader.

“I didn’t have enough cp remaining to put the Lab Assistant in this last room, after putting the two Not A Rabbits. Because it’s incredibly expensive. So I had to put the next best units from my remaining pool of units.”

I also added some mushrooms in the room. Because why not. And the Demonic Swarmers are immune to them, so it’s doubly effective.

In case you want to know, my current units, ordered by how dangerous they are, go like this: Lab Assistant > Not A Rabbit > Tunnel Mimic > Demonic Swarmer > all the Creepy > normal Stitched > Kidnapper.

“Yeah… the Stitched are weaker than all the Creepy that I have. Not in stats nor direct combat, but in how useful they can be at dealing damage or crippling the enemy. Stitched are definitely the ‘basic unit’ of this faction. How useless can you be!? Don’t you have any shame?”

By the way, I haven’t removed the rooms from the previous dungeon battle with A Lil’ Demoness yet. I want to test them against other opponents to see if the ideas are good or not for Dungeon Battles… In ‘normal’ dungeon battles, I mean. One where the opponent doesn't know everything before it starts.

So, now that everything is ready, it’s time to confirm the settings and start the actual Dungeon Battle!

 

---

 

**A Lil’ Demoness**

 

As the Dungeon Battle starts, the succubus looks around. She is in a dark and narrow underground tunnel.

“I’m not sure if I can win this Dungeon Battle… Until now, I managed to get the advantage either by removing those elements that were dangerous for me, or by knowing everything beforehand. But now… I’m on equal terms with him.”

She looks forward while squinting, trying to see if there’s anything hidden. Something like a trap. Or a mushroom, or maybe a hidden enemy. Literally, anything.

“It’s also very possible that he brings something new and unexpected to this dungeon battle. I must focus and try to find the traps and dangers!”

She starts walking forward. Three little imps follow closely behind her. She looks behind and says to herself.

“To think I had to give them poison resistance, just in case there are mushrooms, so that they don’t die from the poison damage… What a shame. A wasted skill point! But they are my meat shields, so I can’t let them die before their turn comes…”

As she walks, she encounters the first trap. A falling corpse trap. But since she’s looking for traps, she manages to react on time and uses Blink to teleport away.

“Haha! As long as I can see the trap, I can avoid it…” Interrupting her, *Plof!*, something falls on top of her.

“Aaaah! What’s this?”

She looks around, panicked. And sees two corpses on the ground, near her position. She also notices that her HP has been reduced.

“Shit! You put a trap just after another one!? Furthermore, at the same distance as Blink’s range!? Fuck you! And you were complaining before about using previous knowledge!? What’s this if not previous knowledge?”

While complaining and spouting profanities, she continues to move forward.

“I can’t let this demoralize me, and can’t waste time either. So let’s continue!”

 

“I finally reached the end of the tunnel… That took longer than I wanted.”

As she comes out of the tunnel, she relaxes a little. She’s in a partially collapsed cavern, and light is shining through the gaps. Grass is growing from the ground.

“At least now I don’t have to worry about traps. In this open field, traps are mostly useless. But what a letdown! To think that I lost one imp to the traps, even before combat started…!” She shouts, making an angry face.

Surely enough, only two imps are following her now. She calms down a little and properly looks around.

“Wooow! This is one beautiful scene! There are even little rabbits munching on the grass! It’s the first decent mob I’ve seen in this dungeon! The rest are all gross…” She shudders, remembering how awful the Stitched are. “Uugh!”

She suddenly stops a short time later.

“Waitwaitwaitwait… Something’s wrong… It’s impossible that he has used those harmless creatures in a Dungeon Battle. So something’s definitely wrong with those rabbits!”

She slowly approaches the closest rabbit. Wary of surprise attacks.

“Hmmm… it looks like a normal rabbit.” She says, closely inspecting the rabbit. She even pats it on the head. “The inspection screen also says so…”

She continues to pat the little rabbit while thinking.

“I’m sure something is definitely wrong! Though I don’t know what…”

With one hand still on her chin, in a thinking pose, she stands up. Then she walks towards the closest tunnel entrance.

“Nothing I can do about it if I don’t know what’s up with the rabbits. As long as nothing unexpected happens… Aaaagh!”

Interrupted again, A Lil’ Demoness turns around and sees an enemy that wasn’t there previously. Also, the game shows her a warning alerting her she has low HP.

“The hell’s going on!? Why did I take so much damage? And where did this guy come from?”

Without wasting time, she quickly activates her Charming Eyes and charms the enemy. At the same time, the two imps start attacking it.

“It’s… an orc with bunny ears…? Oh, it also has furred paws and a short and fluffy tail!” She comments while continuously using the whip to attack the enemy.

Maintaining the Charming Eyes skill activated only prevents the user from using other skills, and does not impede attacking with normal attacks.

After she recovers her composure, she deactivates the Charming Eyes and, together with the two imps, quickly finishes the enemy.

“Hah! Dead at last! You fucker!” She spits at the orc’s corpse. Or she tries to, because this is a game and you can’t actually spit.

She then inspects the corpse. “So it’s a wererabbit and orc hybrid, huh? And it looked and acted like a rabbit until I looked away. Then it launched an incredibly powerful attack… Fuck! I already knew something was wrong with the rabbits, but I didn’t expect this!”

At that moment, another rabbit starts to get closer.

“No you won’t surprise me again, you little shit! I’m gonna send you to hell before you finish your transformation! GO TO HELL!” She shouts. At the same time, the whip goes flying in the rabbit’s direction.

Then the rabbit takes the whip’s damage. And dies.

“... What? Why didn’t it transform?”

She comes closer to the rabbit’s corpse and inspects it.

“So it was a normal rabbit? Waaaaait a moment… It cursed me!? What the hell’s going on!?”

 

---

 

**Andreu**

 

As the two previous times, when the dungeon battle starts I find myself in a luxurious banquet hall. Numerous portraits and statues adorn the walls, and the floor is covered in an expensive carpet.

You are reading story The Mad Rat’s Lab at novel35.com

And as expected, it soon turns into a battle with waiter-hellspawns and imps popping from behind the portraits. As I already knew, there’s little trouble here for me.

The trouble comes later, with the sets of identical rooms and interconnected passages. But this time I’m prepared for it! Hahaha!

“You, Braindead Marker Number 1, go stand in that corner!” I order.

Then, one of the six stitched that are coming with me, moves to the corner and stands there. Not a single pixel of its 3D body is moving.

“Hahahaha! I outsmarted you this time! With the stitched working as markings, I can know where I am even if I get lost! I only need to find one stitched to know where I am! Hahaha!”

The six stitched have the same name except for the number. Going from 1 to 6. And they also have the same AI: stand where I tell them to, and no combat.

I’m going to use them as breadcrumbs, to know the path I already took. Except they are living beings. Living-non-living beings? Hmm…. they are just Stitched. So yes, I’m going to use them as breadcrumbs, but they are Stitched beings. Whatever… you got the point, right?

Even if they are killed, it is no problem, because the corpse will remain where they are, and the name can be seen even when dead. They are the perfect markers for this labyrinth of identical rooms!

“It’s the first time I feel so proud of you since the Kidnapper! Who are nice boys? You! You are nice little boys!” I say in the same tone of voice people use to talk to babies.

By the way, just in case you wondered, stitched have no gender. They don’t have anything ‘there’. Like a doll. Well, worse than a doll, because they don’t have anything either at the chest area, nor a muscular body. Not even a beard, or earring holes. Hell, they don’t even have hair!

“...then… aren’t you only empty husks!?”

 

I’ve already used the six stitched-crumbs to mark the path, and I think I finally know where the door to exit this ridiculous maze is.

“If I’m not wrong, after I cross this door, I should reach the next area. Since this series of rooms was so big, maybe the next area is the last one…” I ponder with a hand on my chin. “If so… Boss room, here I come!”

I open the door and see a short passage. Unlike all the previous passages that connected the identical-looking rooms, this one is decorated with the same luxury as the banquet halls. There’s a door at the end of this passage.

“Yeeeees! Finally! Out of this damned labyrinth! Hahahaha!” I start jumping in joy. “The stitched-crumbs strategy worked! I’m so happy that they were useful! Hahaha!”

I hurry towards the door, open it, and cross to the other side. I’m now in another luxurious room. This time it looks like a bedroom? There’s a huge bed in the middle, with someone on top of it.

“Wait! Isn’t that a succ…”

I can’t talk anymore. Shit! It’s a succubus! And she already charmed me! I can’t do anything until the charm status goes away… Luckily, it can only last up to five seconds against Champions.

Then, I hear the door I just crossed slamming shut. The Champion can’t turn away, but I, in my phantasmal form until the charm ends, can. So I turn around and see… another succubus!

Both take out whips and start to hit me with them.

‘Aaaah! Aaaah! Please stop!’ I shout. Not like my champion can talk, so I’m the only one who hears the shouts.

‘Aaaah! Don’t hit me anymore! Aaaah! Aaaah! It’s too strong!’ I don't forget the Aaaaah! shouts every time one of the succubus strikes me with the whip.

By the way, they aren’t the ‘I’m taking damage’ type of shouts, but the ‘Please hit me more’ kind of shouts. You know what I mean.

Every time a whip strikes me, I take some damage. Luckily, I was almost at full HP before entering this room. I hope I’m not going to die before the charm wears off…

‘Aaaah! Aaah!’

“Aaaaah! ...huh? …Oh! The charm time has finished! What a shame! I was so~ close to…”

I stop myself from thinking about weird and lewd things, and focus on combat.

“I can’t die here! I must overcome this trial! Like a real man should!”

Behind the bed, I take a glimpse of something shining with purple light.

“The dungeon core! Yees! So close! Let’s finish this and win this Dungeon Battle!”

 

---

 

**A Lil’ Demoness**

 

After dealing with the first two rabbits, A Lil’ Demoness decided what to do with the rest of them.

“Here’s the plan. Since I can’t kill them unless I don’t care if I get cursed (and I do care), and I also can’t ignore them because they could attack me from behind… When a rabbit gets close, I will run away while keeping an eye on it. If it transforms into the orc hybrid, I’ll kill it. Otherwise, I’ll ignore the rabbit and keep moving forward! Fufufu! I saw through your tricks already! I’ll only fall for them the first time!”

She finally reaches one of the tunnels and quickly enters it. For some unknown reason, she feels safer in this tunnel than in the open field with the rabbits.

As she walks, she finds more tunnels connected to this one. But she doesn't find any traps. Not even mushrooms.

“How weird… no traps or tricks? Really? Maybe it’s a trick so that I lower my guard and fall into a very dangerous trap? Then you failed! Because I’m not going to lower my guard until the Dungeon Battle is finished! Hahaha!”

She continues to advance, sometimes changing to another one of the tunnels. She tries to remember the path so that she can go back. This continues until she reaches the partially collapsed cave with the rabbits.

“So I’m back to the start, huh? Because this IS the same room, right?” She looks around, just to make sure. “Yes, I can see the orc’s corpse there… So the tunnels connect to this room in multiple places… What to do now?”

One rabbit comes closer to her while she is thinking.

“Oooh, shit! Didn’t see you getting close! Then I should back away and wait for it to transform…” An idea suddenly comes to her mind. “Aha! What if I make the imps kill the rabbits?”

“That’s a good idea! Only the killer gets cursed. This way I won’t have to worry about ambushes from behind, and I don't care if the imps get cursed.”

Without wasting time, she proceeds to order the imps to attack the remaining rabbits. Rabbit after rabbit fall to the imps’ claws. Until one of them transforms into an orc-rabbit and quickly kills one of the two imps.

“Found you! Now: GO TO HELL!” She shouts while continuously attacking the orc.

This time it’s only 2vs1, and she didn’t use the Charming Eyes, to save EP and MP for future fights, so she takes some damage from the orc hybrid.

“I took some damage here, but there are no more rabbits to worry about now! Hahaha!”

She enters the tunnels again, this time not worried anymore. And as the previous time, she continues to walk, and walk. Returning to the partially collapsed cave one, two, three times…

“This is getting annoying! Now I can understand the feeling of those who I play against in Dungeon Battles, because I use the same idea. Well, sooner or later I’ll find the exit to this place!”

She enters the tunnels again, and chooses one of the tunnels at random, one she hasn’t entered yet. But as she enters the tunnel… the tunnel’s entrance closes behind her and the tunnel starts to turn into something different.

“W-what’s this!? Did I step into another fucking trap!?”

She shouts and tries to find an exit, but she can’t. Soon, she notices that she is taking continuous damage.

“A-am I… A-a-am I inside a beast? I can’t see, but it’s warm, and smells weird. And it’s also a little soft to the touch… Uuuugh…. Aaaaaghh… It’s gross! Soooo gross! Fuck! I don’t want this!”

She starts attacking at random, taking damage when using the Hellfire skill. Her HP is starting to get dangerously low.

“Shit! I don’t want this! This is gross! I surrender, ok? Just let me leave this place! I don’t like gross things… Uuugh… I want to puke…!”

She decides that she is going to die anyway, and lose the dungeon battle, so it’s better to surrender now than staying inside the monster’s stomach until she dies..

“I can’t win this… I surrender!” She says as she presses the surrender button.

 

---

 

This conversation happens some time in the past, at a moment when Andreu is not present.

 

“So… when are you going to tell him that it’s you who is playing as A Lil’ Succubus? I know it’s fun to taunt Andreu, but if you continue for too long… he might get really angry.”

“Awww… Just for a little bit more. I don’t want to make him too angry, I just want to have a laugh before he realizes the truth. He is so cute when he gets paranoid! Did he really think we couldn’t notice he was trying to hide the fact that he suspects us from ‘giving his rival the information for the dungeon battle’? He was staring daggers at you. Hahaha!”

“Then I’ll wait until you finish this last match. If you don’t tell him by then, I’ll be the one to tell him...”

 

Soon after, Andreu uploaded another video of the ‘Mad Rat’s Eccentricities’ series. It was a video of him getting whipped by a pair of succubus, while making ‘Aaaah’ shouts, in a sensual voice, every time he was struck.

Inspired by this video, some players (with certain kinks) imitated the setting and created a dungeon specific for this kind of play. A dungeon full of succubus and incubus. And soon after, the number of DMA players spiked. Mysteriously, all of the new players shared a certain passion, and liked to invade the aforementioned dungeon. But we aren’t here to talk about this kind of ‘adventures’, aren’t we…