The silence left in Rina's wake hung heavy, wet, and charged, like the air before a storm of lust.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The stone where she'd stood glistened, too clean, the sigil's glow faded into a moist, body-shaped imprint that pulsed faintly, as if the dungeon had savored her climax.
The moaning walls sighed with a soft, sated hum, their fleshy pink surfaces slick with fresh dew, dripping in slow, teasing rivulets.
"What… what was that?" Yuri stammered, arms wrapped tightly around herself, her blouse clinging to her curves, sweat making the fabric near-translucent, outlining the lace of her bra.
Her makeup smeared, giving her a wild, disheveled allure.
"She's dead?" Miki whispered, eyes huge, her tanned thighs trembling as her skirt rode up, sticky dungeon fluid clinging to her bare legs.
"That thing… just moaned her to death?"
"She touched a Cum Sigil," Kota said quietly, staring at the floor, his hoodie damp with the dungeon's musky heat, clinging to his lanky frame.
"She disrespected the trap's rules and triggered a high-level orgasm overload. The dungeon absorbed her. That's how it works. It eats climax energy."
Reina wheeled on him, her violet eyes blazing, blouse straining against her full breasts as she stepped closer, the air between them thick with her perfume and the dungeon's primal scent.
"Shut the hell up! You're talking like this is a game! Like she was some NPC!"
"She wasn't an NPC," Kota snapped, his voice sharp, surprising even himself as he met her gaze. "She was stupid. I told her not to touch it. You all saw me."
"No one listens to the creepy virgin with the hentai journal," Kanae hissed, her skirt swishing as she leaned forward, flashing a glimpse of thigh and a cruel smirk.
"Maybe you're the one who wanted her to die. Get off to it, freak?"
"Enough!" Aika barked, her voice cutting through the humid air.
Her glasses fogged slightly, her tight skirt hugging her hips, pantyhose shimmering with beads of dungeon dew.
"All of you—get into a tight group. No one steps on anything glowing, dripping, twitching, or breathing."
"But everything is glowing or dripping!" Miki cried, her lollipop falling to the slick floor, her lips parted in a glossy, trembling pout.
As if in response, a sharp, bell-like chime rang from above, echoing through the pulsing corridor.
The ceiling quivered, and a disembodied voice slithered through the air—feminine, sultry, and dripping with cruel delight.
"REMAINING: 8 PARTICIPANTS. STAGE CONDITION: ONE CLIMAX REQUIRED TO PROCEED. FAILURE TO EXECUTE: ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ERUPTED."
"…Erupted?" Tomoe echoed, her gym shorts clinging to her muscular thighs, fists clenched as the dungeon's heat pressed against her.
The walls groaned again, a low, erotic rumble that made the hallway ripple like flesh in ecstasy.
"What does that mean?" Hina asked, stepping closer to the group, her shirt damp, outlining her toned frame as she scanned the writhing walls.
"It means," Kota said hoarsely, his throat dry despite the humid air, his eyes darting across the girls' flushed, glistening skin, "someone has to orgasm. Here. In front of the sigil. Or the whole hallway explodes in orgasmic force. Everyone dies like Rina. At once."
Eyes turned toward him, wide and accusatory, their breaths hitching in the musky air.
"I'm not joking. This is the game's first mechanic. Carnal Labyrinth EX requires someone to submit to the dungeon in every stage. Sexually. That's how it tests party coordination and willingness to obey."
Silence again, thick and pulsing like the dungeon itself.
Then Reina said, her voice icy, stepping so close her chest nearly brushed his, "You do it."
Kota blinked, his face flushing as her scent—sweet, sharp, and maddening—mixed with the dungeon's musk.
"What?"
"You're the one who knows all this," she said, her violet eyes boring into him, her skirt riding up to flash a hint of lace.
"You jerk off to this garbage, you do it."
"I can't," Kota said, his voice wavering as he felt the heat of her proximity. "It has to be a girl. That's the mechanic.
Male orgasms don't trigger floor progression this early.
The system needs a female climax signature."
"Who the hell programmed that?" Yuri gasped, tugging at her shirt, the damp fabric slipping to reveal a sliver of midriff and the curve of her hips.
"Kota, you're seriously saying one of us has to…" Miki trailed off, cheeks blazing, her tanned skin flushed as she shifted, her skirt sticking to her thighs.
"Or we all die," Kota said, swallowing hard, his eyes flickering to her trembling lips. "That's how the tutorial ends."
Another chime echoed above, sharp and teasing.
"CLIMAX CONDITION: 3 MINUTES REMAINING."
Aika closed her eyes, her lips parting in a soft, frustrated sigh, her blouse clinging to her curves, nipples faintly visible through the damp fabric.
"Unbelievable."
Reina stepped forward, glaring at the others, her thigh-highs glistening with dungeon dew.
"Fine. We choose someone. Anyone. Just—someone do it."
"Not me!" Kanae shouted, her hips swaying as she backed away, her skirt flipping up to reveal a flash of panties.
"I'm not giving the perv a show!"
"I'm not either," Yuri muttered, her fingers still tugging at her shirt, exposing more of her flushed skin.
"Well I'm not gonna just explode," Miki said, shaking, her cleavage bouncing as she clutched her arms, her voice a mix of fear and defiance.
"If it's between cumming or dying, I mean…"
All eyes turned to her, the dungeon's pulse seeming to quicken.
"Wait, wait!" she said, blushing furiously, her lollipop forgotten on the floor, lips trembling with glossy shine.
"I-I didn't say I would, just that I—!"
"TWO MINUTES."
Kota looked at her, his heart pounding, the dungeon's heat pressing against him like a lover's touch.
"Miki," he said quietly, stepping closer, his voice steady despite the flush creeping up his neck.
"I can guide you. I know how this works. I can get you through it fast and safe. Just trust me."
She looked at him, eyes wide, bottom lip trembling, her tanned skin glowing in the dim, reddish light, her breath hitching in a way that made Kota's pulse race.
"O-Okay," she squeaked, her voice barely audible over the dungeon's soft moans. "B-But don't look at me too hard, or I'll get weird."
Kota nodded, stepping slowly toward the sigil, his mind racing with the exact instructions from the game's walkthrough—every step, every touch, every rhythm burned into his memory.