"Yami, did the teacher want something from you?"
The moment she sat back down, Yuigahama leaned over with curious eyes.
Yami Tsukishiro didn't answer right away instead, he leaned forward until his face was so close their noses almost touched.
"W–Wait!"
His warm breath brushed against her cheek, sending a flush up her face.
Only then did she realize just how close they were.
She should have leaned back, but for some reason… she didn't.
Yami, on the other hand, acted like it was nothing at all.
"What else would it be? Obviously, she was arranging a mission for me to save the world."
Yuigahama huffed, trying to hide her embarrassment behind a pout.
"Yeah right. Do you think I'm gullible enough to believe you're out here saving the world?"
"Tsukishiro-san."
The voice that cut in was icy, the kind that could freeze a conversation in place.
When Yami turned to look, he saw her: the embodiment of the school's yama no hana.
Yukinoshita Yukino.
Tall, graceful, with the poised air of a top student from a well-off family. Long, sleek black hair, delicate features, and eyes that carried the distant chill of winter.
She was the type of girl people admired from afar, but never dared to approach.
"Yukinoshita-san, what's up?" Yami asked casually.
They knew each other in passing, but they'd never been close. Certainly nothing like the easy familiarity he had with Yuigahama.
Yukinoshita ignored Yuigahama completely, keeping her gaze fixed on him.
"Could I borrow a few minutes of your time during the break? There's something I'd like to ask you. Classroom 305."
"That's fine with me," Yami replied without hesitation.
After all, he had nothing pressing to do between classes. Studying wasn't exactly a challenge for him anymore.
"Eh? Yukinoshita-san, can I come too?"
The words slipped out of Yuigahama's mouth before she could stop them, her heart tugging at her to tag along.
A second later, she clapped a hand over her lips.
What was she thinking?! Yukinoshita was talking to Yami, this had nothing to do with her.
"…Do as you like," Yukinoshita said, though there was the faintest hint of curiosity in her voice before she turned and walked back to her seat.
"Ugh, Yami, did I mess up just now?" Yuigahama mumbled, regret in her voice.
Yami chuckled and reached over to pat her head.
"Don't worry about it. You're cute enough that no one's gonna mind. Like a little pet."
"Cute… ehehe…"
Yuigahama's smile bloomed instantly. She decided to pretend she hadn't heard the word pet at all.
Class is class.
The teacher's voice droned on, but Yami Tsukishiro's attention drifted far away. He wasn't zoning out just to kill time—Ella's urgent voice echoed in his mind.
"Master, an emergency has occurred!"
Yami's gaze sharpened. "Ella, what happened?"
In the dungeon, Ella didn't see him physically appear, but still responded quickly.
"Master, an adventurer has died!"
"Died?" He frowned in surprise, shifting his focus toward the dungeon's interior.
Right now, the party was deep at the back of the first floor. Only one zombie remained. Yet they'd stopped advancing.
The atmosphere in the dim passage was heavy. Even the normally lively Jade stood beside Viper with her head down, unusually quiet.
The reason for the tension was simple of the original six-person team, only five remained. Busujima Saeko's companion, Miyamoto Rei, was gone.
Everyone had seen it happen: they were caught off guard by a sudden zombie clad in heavy armor.
In the chaos, Rei's artery had been severed, and her body dissolved into motes of light before vanishing.
From Yami's perspective as the dungeon's master, it wasn't exactly death.
"Miyamoto Rei is dead… but not gone."
This was the strange truth of the dungeon, no one truly "died" here.
In a pitch-black space, Rei wandered aimlessly, her body whole again but her expression vacant.
She couldn't see light, didn't know where to go. This was the World of the Dead...a domain only the dungeon master could touch.
She could be resurrected… but there were conditions.
The first revival cost 100 magic stones. The second—1,000. The third—10,000. With each death, the price multiplied.
If an adventurer ran out of stones or revival chances, they would be trapped here forever, becoming part of the dungeon itself.
And as dungeon master, Yami now owned everything about Miyamoto Rei.
He tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"What to do with you…"
Right now, he needed labor... miners for his magic stone operation. Leaving her trapped would be a waste.
Slowly, an idea began to form.
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