I’m Sick of the Kind Protagonist, so I Might as Well Just Die - Chapter 77
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#77
With a snap of fingers, the severed senses awakened alongside a pungent fragrance, wrapped in light once more.
‘What is this smell?’
An overwhelmingly thick agarwood scent mingled with the sweet fragrance of unnamed flowers, pricking at the tip of my nose. The problem was that the liquid drenching me wasn’t merely expensive and pleasant—there was something fishy beneath it all.
‘There’s a rank stench mixed in here! Ugh, what is this!’
As I thrashed my arms in disgust, my wrists and ankles were seized by enormous hands. No matter how wide I opened my eyes, nothing came into focus—something obscured my vision. My head felt heavy and sluggish, my movements constrained; the alcohol was clearly to blame. Every unfamiliar sensation repulsed me, but the most alien of all was the clammy, sticky sensation clinging to my skin.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
A man’s voice, dripping with affectation, reached my ears before my vision suddenly blazed bright. The first thing I saw was a lofty ceiling finished in black marble. Jet-black chains suspended from it reflected in crimson lantern light, creating an eerie harmony. I gasped at the space suffused with that lurid red glow and the heavy panting that filled it, jolting my upper body upright.
“You are bound, sir. Moving so violently will injure you.”
I snapped upright, only to sink deep into the plush surface beneath me. In that moment, the cloth covering my eyes tilted askew, granting me a clearer view.
I was not on the floor—I was atop a massive bed, buried among completely naked men. They gazed down at me, their exposed skin adorned with mysterious patterns drawn in crimson pigment.
‘What are these people…? No, my condition is far worse than theirs! What in the world is this!’
I had thought I’d worn everything from coarse hemp garments to elaborate silk dresses, but I was mistaken. What covered my body now could hardly be called clothing. One would never reasonably call a few thin metal chains an outfit.
‘Perenustus! What kind of world did you create!’
The round object wedged in my mouth prevented any intelligible speech. Each time I struggled, the delicate chains that failed to cover anything vital chimed softly. I now noticed intricately crafted shackles locked around my wrists and ankles.
‘Ah, now I understand! I’ve been offered as a sacrifice in some cannibalistic world!’
Latching onto this barely comprehensible explanation eased my tension somewhat—until a man’s lips brushed against my feet, which were painted with those same mysterious crimson patterns, and my mind went completely blank.
“You seem quite sensitive. This potion appears to suit you perfectly.”
“Excellent news.”
The men surrounding me nodded contentedly. Flustered by their gazes upon my exposed body, I attempted to roll over.
“Ah, is that spot ticklish?”
No. Absolutely not!
I shook my head frantically. In this mad world, perhaps a shake of the head meant affirmation, for the men grinned even wider and leaned their faces toward my chest.
“We are honored to bring you pleasure with our hands and tongues.”
‘What kind of insane nonsense are they spouting!’
Just as the approaching men’s tongues were about to touch my chest, I barely managed to slip away. The shackles tore free from my forceful pulling, leaving deep marks on my wrists and ankles, but there was no time to worry about that.
‘They bind people and lick them… ugh, these are complete perverts!’
The saying went that madmen needed the whip. Without hesitation, I swept my right arm wide and summoned Basilect. But—
‘Why won’t it come?’
I could feel Basilect’s presence in my right arm, yet there was no response. My neck merely grew stiff and my head began to spin, as if I’d overexerted myself.
‘Damn. These are the symptoms of insufficient stamina for summoning. Is this world also set with weak physical stats?’
I clicked my tongue in frustration, only to belatedly notice the men had already retreated far away, which deepened my frown.
‘What…? Did I just leap from that bed to the opposite wall in a single bound?’
Despite moving like that, I wasn’t even breathing hard.
‘Then I don’t lack stamina? So Basilect’s failure to summon has another cause.’
I shook my head vigorously to process this incomprehensible situation. At that, the men on the bed rushed forward and suddenly prostrated themselves before me.
“Surely Your Imperial Majesty is the very incarnation of Radislava, the Goddess of Victory!”
The sight of naked men pressing their foreheads to the ground with both palms raised to the heavens was indescribably mortifying.
‘At least cover your backsides with something!’
I was glancing toward the bed, wondering if I should drag over a sheet to cover them, when—
Screeeech—
A small noise echoed from above my head. I lifted my gaze instinctively, only to find a decorative sculpture carved into the wall tilting precariously. From the small urn cradled by the plump cherub’s arms, a sweet-scented liquor cascaded down upon me.
Before I could dodge, the cool, sugary liquid drenched my entire body, and I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
‘Well. This is better than whatever that fishy stench was.’
The moment I tried to convince myself of that, my strength drained away entirely.
“Your Majesty!”
The men who had been prostrate scrambled to catch my wavering form. Heat surged through me with such violence that I couldn’t push them away. My vision blurred, then my very thoughts began to scatter like mist.
“Heavens! The Goddess of Passion has blessed the Emperor with the Festival Night!”
As the man holding me cried out in rapturous delight, the prostrate men swarmed over my body. I tried to resist, but my arms had no strength. Wet, fleshy masses pressed against me from all sides, licking indiscriminately.
‘What the hell—what kind of insane world is this?!’
As if answering my silent thrashing, a door swung open from across the chamber.
“Oh my, Sister.”
A slender woman approached with delight, heading straight toward me. I focused all my remaining consciousness on that familiar face. No matter how far my mind was slipping, I could never forget Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike’s voice and features. The moment I opened my mouth to ask for her help, Bilateia sprang away from the man she’d been embracing.
‘I’m saved.’
“Oh my. Does Sister need my help with something?”
Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike murmured in a playfully teasing tone, gently grasping my hand. The instant I squeezed her hand back with gratitude and desperation, something sharp pricked my fingertips.
‘…Damn it. I’m dead.’
Before the curse even finished leaving my lips, this wretched world reset from the beginning. A scent so sweet and fragrant it became nauseating wafted toward me. As crimson lantern light and metallic sounds tangled beyond the cloth covering my eyes, the situation I’d already experienced once loomed before me with chilling clarity.
‘Since I’ve done this once, I need to keep my wits sharp.’
I gritted my teeth against the fog creeping into my mind and forced myself to rise.
‘I read it in a book—there’s nothing a person can’t do with willpower. Let’s see which one of us wins: this insane world or me!’
Clenching my teeth, I pushed myself up with such determination that victory seemed assured. Before the men’s hands could reach me, I rubbed my face against my own shoulder to tear off the blindfold completely, then bit down hard and yanked out the strange sphere lodged in my mouth.
“…We need only receive your command, Your Majesty.”
“Your beautiful face has been damaged—”
“Enough. Don’t touch me!”
I recoiled in disgust, and the men who had been flirting with me threw themselves to the floor.
“Your Majesty! Please spare us!”
“We have committed a sin worthy of death!”
“I said don’t touch me. I didn’t say I’d kill you.”
Exasperated by their reaction, I looked down at the men prostrating themselves and repeatedly striking their foreheads against the floor, then draped the bedsheet over them. Once I’d hidden all that flesh-colored chaos, I could finally think somewhat clearly.
‘Bilateia is really too much. Is that the only way she can help? She acts like she’s jealous whenever I wake up with some part of me inexplicably enhanced, and then she just kills me without warning like that?’
I vented my frustration at my inexplicably enhanced chest by hastily wrapping myself with what might have been a towel.
‘First, I absolutely must avoid going under that cherub structure. I need to keep emphasizing to those men not to touch me… What else? Tell them to put clothes on?’
No notification window appeared to explain what world this was, and neither Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike nor Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis were visible, making it difficult to decide what to do.
‘Wait… Could Silpi’s curse have activated like this? Have I been so virtuous, just repeating my chamber and classes, that I’ve ended up in an absurdly depraved world?’
As if answering my foolish thought, the door across the chamber opened. This iteration of Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike appeared noticeably less disheveled than the first time.
“Oh my… Sister. Why have you covered all the concubines you so carefully selected with blankets? How will you enjoy the view if you hide their faces and bodies?”
Bilateia Fernichiosa Venisike asked, lightly nudging one of the blanketed men with her foot.
“Ah. A new game?”
“What do you mean by ‘game’.”
“Ugh, playing dumb again.”
“….”
“Aren’t you going to ask why I came?”
“…Why did you come.”
“The Duchy sent what they claim is a true work of art as a tribute to sister in the spirit of reconciliation. I came to see it for myself.”
I was about to ask what that meant and demand a proper explanation when the door opened again. Two Knights dragged a man inside. The man, adorned as garishly as those called my male concubines, stared at me with dilated pupils.
It was Leonas Hagpethar Yuletanis.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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