"Everyone, pack it up. We are starting our preparations to return to the surface."
When Shizuku and Kaori finally emerged from their small canvas tent the next morning, they no longer looked like traumatized, grieving teenagers. Instead, they appeared remarkably sharp, their skin glowing with a soft, radiant health. There was a deeply satisfied, almost beautiful aura about them—the distinct glow of two women who had been thoroughly, relentlessly loved all night.
The rest of the class was slightly surprised by their rapid emotional recovery, but no one dared question it. Everyone was exhausted, terrified, and desperate to leave the labyrinth behind. They immediately began packing.
"Kaori! Shizuku!"
Kouki, predictably unable to read the room, quickly marched in their direction. His handsome face was a mask of heroic relief and gentle concern. "You two are looking much better. You're fine, right? You two have finally moved on, haven't you?"
"Let's discuss this later, Amanogawa," Shizuku replied coldly.
She didn't even use Kouki's first name anymore, a subtle but massive demotion in intimacy that made Kouki frown deeply.
"You still can't forget about him, Shizuku?" Kouki pressed, his tone dripping with condescending pity. "You have to face reality! He is—"
"Even if he is dead, I will return to this abyss and recover his corpse!" Shizuku snapped, her eyes narrowing with a fierce, terrifying intensity. "I will give him a proper burial. So for now, keep your mouth shut. We need to focus on returning to the surface."
She knew perfectly well that Suzuki was alive. He was currently thriving. But if she told Kouki or anyone else the truth, they would just assume the grief had shattered her mind and made her delusional. It was vastly easier to keep her image to that of a fiercely loyal, mourning girlfriend determined to recover a body.
"I—"
Kouki's mouth opened and closed. What could he possibly say to that? Could he really deny a grieving girl the chance to properly bury her fallen boyfriend?
"But you still need to move on!" Kouki insisted weakly.
"...."
Shizuku just rolled her eyes, entirely exhausted by his protagonist syndrome, and turned away. She didn't waste another breath on Kouki. Instead, she seamlessly stepped into the power vacuum, echoing Suzuki's precise logistical instructions to get the Party moving efficiently.
Just wait for me... she thought, a dark, fond smile tugging at her lips. The plan was set. She couldn't wait for their secret reunion tonight.
While Shizuku ruthlessly managed the logistics and the heavy lifting, Kaori handled the class's fragile morale. She knew she lacked Shizuku's commanding presence, so she stuck to what she did best. She cast continuous, low-level healing magic over the exhausted students, ensuring they were in optimum physical condition for the long climb back to the surface.
Historically, the class had always focused their envy on Shizuku, knowing she was Suzuki's official girlfriend. Absolutely no one suspected that the angelic Kaori possessed an even deeper, far more scandalous relationship with the Merchant.
I want to see him again...
Kaori bit her lower lip, feeling a familiar, heavy heat pooling in her lower stomach. She was completely addicted to him. She just couldn't wait to sneak back into the penthouse.
But suddenly—
"S-Shirasaki-san..."
A timid, nervous voice called out from behind her. Kaori's shoulders violently tensed.
"A-Are you okay?"
For a split second, Kaori panicked. It felt exactly like her incredibly naughty, adulterous relationship with Suzuki had just been discovered by a boy who used to occupy a soft spot in her heart.
Yet... as she turned around, the panic instantly vanished, replaced by complete indifference. She realized, with cold clarity, that Hajime Nagumo's position in her heart had completely eroded. He wasn't special anymore. He was just another boy.
Still, a highly inappropriate thought crossed her mind: If Nagumo actually knew what Suzuki-kun did to me last night, how would he react~?
Oh, no! Kaori mentally slapped her own cheeks, horrified by her own thoughts. I've become such an incredibly lewd woman! This is all Suzuki-kun's fault!
Pushing her scandalous thoughts down, Kaori turned her head and looked at Nagumo with a polite, perfectly calm smile. "I am fine. What do you mean by that question, Nagumo-kun?"
To a casual observer, Kaori sounded perfectly normal. But Nagumo possessed a hyper-sensitive awareness of her. He instantly felt how vast and unbridgeable the distance between them had become.
Before the boss fight, Nagumo hadn't expected Kaori to return his feelings. He had just been happy that she showed him basic kindness. He knew she possessed a certain, gentle affection for him.
But now? That gentle light in her eyes was entirely gone.
Nagumo panicked.
"I... I will definitely get better!" Nagumo blurted out, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. "I will definitely grow stronger! I won't be weak anymore! I don't need your protection, Shirasaki-san! I-I will change! I won't be useless!"
Kaori stared at Nagumo strangely.
If he had said this yesterday, she might have been deeply moved. She would have smiled at his brave determination to overcome his weak Synergist class.
But today? After Suzuki had ripped the blinders off her eyes?
All of Nagumo's grand declarations were entirely meaningless if he couldn't actually produce results. It was a cruel assessment, but it was the truth. Because Nagumo had stubbornly forced his way into a Party raid he wasn't qualified for, he became a massive liability. Because he was a liability, Hiyama had the opportunity to cause a disaster. And because of that disaster, Suzuki was currently trapped at the bottom of the abyss.
Kaori just couldn't look at Nagumo the same way anymore. Instead of seeing a brave underdog, she just found his desperate need to announce his intentions incredibly... pathetic.
If Nagumo had just gritted his teeth, trained in silence, and actually proven his worth through actions, Kaori would have deeply respected him. But shouting his wishes out loud while actively being a burden to the team?
Kaori let out a soft, barely audible sigh. "It is good that you have such strong goodwill, Nagumo-kun. But instead of saying all of this to me, you should work hard silently and show everyone the actual results."
That way, you won't be so embarrassed when you fail.
Kaori didn't say the last part out loud. She was still too kind for that level of cruelty.
"If that's all, you should return to the formation," Kaori finished, her voice entirely flat. "Everyone is exhausted. We need to return to the surface so we can rest and prepare for our next expedition. Excuse me."
She turned and walked away. It was entirely too late for Nagumo. Her body, her heart, and her soul were absolutely monopolized by Suzuki. No other man could even cast a shadow in her mind.
"...I will show you, Shirasaki-san," Nagumo muttered to her retreating back, refusing to give up. He might be a non-combatant Synergist, but he would prove he could be just as vital as Suzuki.
While Nagumo was making naive vows on the upper floors, Suzuki was currently orchestrating an absolute massacre in the dark.
For the past twenty-four hours, Suzuki had been entirely focused on the grind. He ruthlessly cleared out every single monster den, snatching their skills and liquidating their stats as he rapidly descended deeper toward the true 100th floor.
In the original timeline, Nagumo spent weeks agonizingly crawling through this hellscape. But Suzuki didn't need to sleep, eat, or rest. Having integrated the divine [Ambrosia] trait from the God Crystal, his stamina and cellular regeneration were infinite. He had been fighting non-stop, turning the abyss into a slaughterhouse.
Every encounter was a bonus to his stats, skills, and abilities.
A pack of Twin-Tailed Lightning Wolves?
Suzuki didn't even draw a blade. He activated [Presence Concealment], walked directly into the center of the pack, and placed a hand on the Alpha. He used [Snatch] on a massive area-of-effect scale, aggressively draining the entire pack's speed and lightning affinity until they collapsed into empty husks.
A massive, heavily armored labyrinth dinosaur?
Instead of wasting time trying to pierce its armor with a dagger, he used highly compressed fire magic to rapidly superheat the cavern, essentially cooking the beast alive from the inside out before taking its immense vitality.
So, what exactly did his status screen look like after 24 hours of total hunt?
Frankly, it was terrifying.
[Name:] Suzuki Tanaka
[Job:] Merchant / Manager / Assassin / Acrobat
[Level:] 145 (Leveling has severely stagnated because nothing on this floor grants enough EXP to trigger a level-up).
[Base Stats:] (For context, Kouki Amanogawa, the legendary "Hero" on the surface, possesses an average stat spread of roughly 800-1,200. A standard Earth human is 10.)
Strength: 10,500 (He can casually punch through a reinforced titanium bank vault without bruising his knuckles).
Vitality: 12,000 / Regeneration: [UNDEFINED - Divine Tier]
Mana: 9,500 (Massively boosted by draining the magic cores of hundreds of apex predators).
Agility & Dexterity: 18,500 (His baseline physical speed now breaks the sound barrier purely through muscle twitch, completely independent of magic).
Was he currently the strongest being in Tortus?
Suzuki wasn't entirely sure. He knew perfectly well that the true enemy wasn't the Kingdom, the Church, or the demon army. The true final boss was the malicious, bored deity everyone worshipped: Ehit.
Could his current stats rival a god? Suzuki didn't know. But he did know that with his [Presence Concealment] and hypersonic agility, he could effortlessly assassinate every single noble and royal in the Kingdom in a single night, and no one would ever see him coming.
Finally, he completely cleared the 100th floor. There were no more monsters to liquidate. The abyss was entirely, eerily silent.
"Now... where is the ancient magic?"
Suzuki wandered down a massive, intricately carved stone hallway, completely unbothered by the oppressive, heavy mana in the air. Soon, his [Absolute Thermal Vision] detected a massive, magically sealed set of double doors.
But more importantly, behind those impenetrable doors, his stolen [Absolute Echolocation] picked up a single, incredibly faint, ancient heartbeat.
"Don't tell me..."
Suzuki let out a long sigh. He only knew of one specific, highly troublesome figure who could be sealed at the absolute bottom of the labyrinth.
He hesitated. With Nagumo safely on the surface, the "Protagonist" wasn't going to fall down here to rescue the girl. If Suzuki walked away right now, the entity behind that door would simply remain locked in her dark prison for eternity.
He heavily debated the catastrophic plot deviations that would occur if he opened the door. But in the end, his corporate curiosity won out. He stretched his neck, adjusted his tie, and muttered a firm reassurance to himself.
"Nothing is going to happen. My heart belongs entirely to Shizuku and Kaori. I am just going to secure the Ancient Magic and leave. I have absolute self-control."
Yes. Absolutely nothing romantic or complicated would happen!
Relying entirely on his 10,000+ base Strength stat, Suzuki placed his hands on the ancient, unbreakable magical seals. He didn't bother trying to decipher the complex runic locks. He just applied raw, terrifying physical force, effortlessly tearing the massive stone doors open like he was peeling tape off a cardboard box.
He stepped into the dark chamber, his eyes immediately locking onto a small, beautiful blonde vampire with crimson eyes, securely nailed to a massive stone monolith.