Chapter 40

Issei examined the date scrawled on the top of the memo paper; it was six months before the current date. Things had gone to hell for Project Rat King that long ago, and the Purifiers still hadn't killed off their rats?

'No, of course they haven't.' Issei concluded, 'They wouldn't, not with the chance that the ratmen would actually follow through on their programming and attack Gremory-sempai and Sitri-kaichou. Well, can't let that happen. I'd better go and deal with the last burrow tomorrow.'

He looked grimly at the remains of Midorikawa Nobuyuki. "Sorry, but I'm going to dethrone your king."

"Let's go!" - Regular Speech

'Oppai!' - Thoughts

[BOOST!] - Sacred Gear/Ddraig Speech

The Next Day, After School

Hyōdō Issei's Room, Hyōdō Residence

Name: Hyōdō Issei

Class: The Gamer

Level: 10| Next Level: 2930 EXP

Title: Oppai Baka

HP: 500/500

MP: 325/325

STR: 75

STA: 71

DEX: 81

INT: 29

WIS: 24

LUK: ?

CHA: 43

Attribute Points: 0

¥: 63740

Staring at his status screen listlessly, Issei was wondering what to do here. He had to eliminate the ratmen and their last burrow if he wanted to gain any form of lead on finding the Purifiers, not to mention eliminating a danger to himself and everyone else in town, but what worried him was the possibility that the last burrow on his map wasn't actually the last of them.

The previous den had clearly shown that the Purifier's mental programming was already coming undone on at least one level, so it was entirely possible, likely even, that the little injunction against them leaving their burrows had been overcome as well.

If that was the case, then after clearing the 'final' burrow he would have absolutely no clue whether he'd managed to get all of them and where any remaining ratmen could have gone. Still, if the information that the deceased Head of Project Rat King had left in his last letter was accurate; if he managed to kill the ratman breeder he would be damning the ratmen to extinction. Plus, ratmen didn't seem to have a long lifespan, so the whole race would be dead in a couple of decades.

The fact that he would essentially be wiping out an entire race of at least semi-sentient beings did not sit well with the young Gamer.

Still, leaving such dangerous creatures wandering around Japan was not something Issei wanted to do. The ratmen had clearly shown they had no care or concern for human lives, if anything they seemed to actively desire either conquering or wiping out humanity and taking its place. He had to make sure to track down and wipe out the lot of them, otherwise who knew what they'd get up to?

'Still…I'm contemplating genocide here!' The Sekiryūtei thought with a sigh as he closed the window, 'I don't wanna be thinking about this heavy stuff! I wanna think about great things, like oppai!'

He couldn't even play any of his gal-games or H-Games to get in the mood for Oppai, because playing games whilst being the Gamer was…well, boring. Seriously, he couldn't play any without an indescribable feeling of boredom coming over him. It was a pity, because they had cost a pretty penny to buy in the first place.

"Ah, what a pain!" he muttered before sitting up. Lying back and staring into space wasn't going to do anyone any good. He might as well get started.

Heading down and telling his mother he was going for a walk, Issei headed out. The locator for the last ratman burrow was at the edge of town, at the entrance to an old bunker of some kind. Quite why there was a bunker here was a bit beyond Issei. Had his gamer power created it or had it been here the whole time? He hardly ever had a reason to venture to this section of Kuō and the few times he had, he'd never stayed for very long.

Shrugging at the mystery he couldn't be bothered to solve, the Sekiryūtei started down the steps to the large door that looked as if it had rusted shut decades ago.

"OK, I'm here…what now?" he muttered. Even with his improved strength, there was no way he could pry open that door, which meant that there was no way the ratmen could do it either. This left a hidden passageway or a mechanism of some sort.

Tracing his hands along the walls and the door, he was eventually rewarded by finding a hidden switch under a thick sheet of moss a few feet to the right of the doorway. Pressing it, the entire door, including the doorframe and the wall it was a part of, sunk into the ground with the rasp of stone against stone. Then a window popped up before him.

[WARNING!]

You are about to enter the last burrow of the ratmen, the [Primordial Lair of the Ratmen].

This burrow contains the Ratman Breeder, the mother of their race. Should it be slain, the ratmen will be condemned to eventual extinction over the passing of the years. As such, they will muster the full strength of their entire species in order to kill you and defend the breeder.

Minimum Level to undertake this Dungeon: LV10.

Recommended Level: LV13.

Do you wish to proceed?

Y|N

He hit 'Y'. Yes, he was under-levelled, but he really didn't have any other way to level up as of yet, so the choice wasn't his.

With an audible 'popping' noise, the invisible barrier across the doorway was removed…and then a viciously aggressive smell rolled over Issei, making him gag. It smelled like month-old sour milk, with skunk stink and rotten turds mixed in for extra flavour.

"Great good kami…!" he choked out, "What a reek!"

He stood there breathing through his mouth for a few minutes to better adjust to the incessant reek. He noted absently that he had lost about thirty or more HP just from the smell.

Eh?! Poison vapours! ?

As a result of repeated actions, you have acquired the skill [Poison Resistance]!

[Poison Resistance] (Passive) [LV1, 45.04%]

It is said that it is possible to develop resistance to the venom of a cobra by taking a small amount each day for years. In that same line of thought, you have endured a weak poison for several minutes and have started to build a resistance to it. The higher this skill is, the less damage poisonous or toxic vapours and liquids will do to you. This skill has no effect on [Venom] class poisons, however. That requires the skill [Venom Resistance].

- Reduces poison damage taken by 1.

This was a skill that Issei could have happily lived his life without acquiring. Looking at it, he noticed with a twitching eye that the EXP for the skill was slowly ticking up just from him standing at the entrance. Soon enough…

[Poison Resistance] has levelled up! LV1-LV2!

Checking, that merely reduced the amount of damage he took from poison by another point. Fortunately, his [Lesser HP Regeneration] was already kicking in and restoring some of the HP he had lost.

Shaking his head, Issei armoured up and drew a pair of the ninjatō he had gotten his hands on during the last burrow raid. They were disposable weapons that he could use without concern…at least until he ran out of them.

Stepping down the stairs, he hesitated as the door ground back into position. Thankfully, there were torches, the kind you saw described in Dungeons and Dragons, lining the way down the stairway. The flames oozed out inky smoke that made Issei suspect that animal fat was used to fuel them.

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