Chapter 1 Whoa, There’s a Rut Here. Not Stepping in That. Definitely Not.
Picture a hero’s magnificent battle in your mind and act accordingly.
You’re passionate yet clearheaded.
You release your physical tension and bend your knees slightly, lowering your center of gravity.
Firm grip on the Holy Sword Firmamento, blessed with the power of the heavens. Cast aside your fears and step forward.
“Riiiiiight! Let’s do thiiiiiis!”
With that forceful cry, the hero Masato charged, closing the gap between him and his foes…
And as he did, with flawless timing, support from the rear arrived.
“I’ll back you up! …Spara la magia per mirare… Salire!”
One of his companions, the pure white Cleric Medhi, cast a support spell that buffed his attack. She raised her staff high, and a powerful light shot out of it and poured down onto Masato.
As an expert in recovery and support magic, Medhi’s spell was highly effective. Masato received a substantial physical boost. Confident that he could beat anything, he put everything he had into a single blow. Time for Masato’s attack.
A bold swing from above, followed by a splaaaat!
“Yes! A critical hit! My attack defeated it…!”
At least, he thought it had. Masato had been sure of it.
“Not yet! There are still more enemies!”
Racing up from behind him, the crimson Sage Wise nimbly stepped to the fore with a magic tome open in one hand, ready to attack.
“The enemy is a land monster! Masato’s attacks are specialized for anti-air and proved ineffective! My chain cast magic will finish it off!”
“Hey, Wise! Do you really need to dual-cast in order to finish it off?”
“I do! Why? Because I want to!”
“Okay, got it, suit yourself.”
“I always do! I’m so amazing that my amazing chain cast will blow these enemies away! Spara la magia per mirare… Vento Taglio! And! Bomba Fiamma!”
Wise’s chain cast activated. A set of wind blades sliced their target apart, and then the pieces burst into flames.
When the roaring flames subsided, there was nothing left but cinders.
Masato’s party defeated the monsters! Their overwhelming strength led to yet another victory! Well done!
This was definitely how it was supposed to be.
“All right, that’s pretty much the basic idea. Flawless teamwork.”
“Yes, I think we’re more or less in sync now.”
“No enemy can stand against us now! Mwa-ha-ha.”
They put their weapons away, grinning at one another as if pleased with their performance.
Except the enemy had been entirely imaginary. This was just practice.
With the Cleric Medhi newly added to their party, their overall effectiveness had dramatically improved. The key to this was to find ways to make their individual skills work together. Only when all parts were working in harmony was the party’s true strength unleashed. Hence, practice.
The results were pretty good. Wise was getting carried away, and the smug look on her face was a little annoying, but, well, she did have what you might consider a cute face to begin with. Then there was Medhi and her phenomenal beauty, smiling elegantly… Looking at the two of them put a smile on Masato’s face, too.
“…Heh-heh. Man, what a trip.”
“Wait, Masato, what are you smirking about? Creep.”
“Wiiiise! Stop calling me a creep! I was being all happy to have such reliable companions! Technically.”
“Oh, right, right, such an honor to be in your party.”
Masato and Wise started bickering like always, and then Medhi effortlessly joined in.
“Hee-hee… You should really just admit it, Wise. I feel the same way as Masato. Having reliable companions is truly a blessing.”
“Yeah, Medhi’s right. Being able to share in your feelings is what friendship’s all about… But since you don’t seem capable of doing that, then I’ve got no choice but to kick you ou—”
“D-don’t do that! I agree, obviously! Myself included, we’re definitely a good party. Emphasis on the ‘myself included.’”
“Very true. The three of us form a magnificent party…if it was just the three of us.”
Medhi glanced meaningfully to one side.
“Mm, yeah.” Wise followed her gaze, clearly conscious of the same thing.
Masato himself preferred not to look. But the unshakable reality wouldn’t change whether he looked or not, so he gave up and followed her gaze, too.
All three of them were, of course, looking at the same person.
“Hee-hee-hee! Mommy will do her best, too!”
So youthful that if she claimed to have a son in high school, no one would believe her.
Flaxen hair, her favorite dress, an easygoing air.
The only mom with two-hit multi-target attacks—Mamako.
But if this had been actual combat… Well, look! A hoard of monsters loom over her!
“Here’s Mommy’s attack! Hyah!”
In her right hand, the Holy Sword of Mother Earth, Terra di Madre. In her left, the Holy Sword of Mother Ocean, Altura. Both blades swung.
A moment later, countless jagged rock spikes shot out of the earth, and at the same time countless water bullets fired. The looming monsters are run through or riddled with holes, leaving none behind.
She made it look easy. Battles were over in seconds.
And after the battles, it was time for the littlest one—their hardest worker.
When monsters are defeated, they leave dice-shaped objects behind known as gems. These could be exchanged for money, and it was the job of a twelve-year-old Traveling Merchant named Porta to collect them.
“Wow! So many gems! This is well worth gathering! Great work!”
Porta opened up her magic shoulder bag and used both hands to scoop the gems into it. Like a bulldozer. No, that makes it sound imposing. This was cuter. Let’s call it the Portadozer. The world’s first dozer so cute you wanted to put it on your lap and pet it.
Then Porta looked up in alarm.
“…Oh! More monsters! Careful!”
Monsters sighted. Prepare for battle!
Time to show the results of their combo practice. Masato, Wise, and Medhi all stopped watching Porta and turned, ready to run to the battlefield… Except…
Before they even had a chance to take a single step…
“Don’t worry! Leave it to Mommy! Hyah!”
…Mamako attacked. Her two AOE attacks might split damage among all targets, but even with this many monsters, that was still enough raw damage to carve right through them. Instant death.
As always, combat was over before it began. “Yay! I did it!” Mamako hopped up and down happily, and Porta dashed over to start collecting.
Meanwhile…
Masato, Wise, and Medhi, poised to run, slowly reverted to standing posture.
They stared at one another in silence. Looking at one another did them no good, but what choice did they have?
Medhi spoke first. “…Um, may I ask something?”
“Yeah. If you have anything to say, please do. We promise to listen.” Masato smiled.
“The two of us have walked this path before. No need to hold anything back.” Wise smiled as well.
“Um, I just wanted to say… This party’s combat works quite different from how I had imagined it. Is it always like this?”
“More or less. Combat pretty much always starts with Mom’s carpet bombing. And ends with it.”
“So opportunities for a healer like me to use support magic to give us an edge in combat are…?”
“Not gonna happen in any normal fight. In a boss fight… Well, every now and then, I guess.”
“Th-then using recovery magic to heal injured party members…”
“Like I said, the carpet bombing always ends the fight, so nobody ever gets hurt.”
“Th-then what should I do in combat?”
“The same thing we just did.”
Stand perfectly still and watch Mamako’s attacks go off. The end.
If having nothing to do ever got to them, the useless members could work together and practice their combos, making themselves feel like they were doing something. There was always that option.
But basically, they had nothing to do.
Masato and Wise both gave her bleak smiles, so Medhi stared at her feet.
“…If you’ll pardon me,” she said and walked away. She stopped by a boulder at the side of the road and glared at it.
The darkness within Medhi began to leak out.
“…Sigh… It’s not like I want to go and yell at Mamako or anything,” she muttered. “That’s not it. That isn’t it, but even so… What do I do with this frustration?! I’m a healer. I want to be useful in combat. I want to secure my place in the party… Argghh… This is so depressing…”
As she mumbled to herself, Medhi began kicking the boulder. She used the flat of her foot—the infamous yakuza kick. Then she smacked it with her staff. Medhi was a Melee Healer specializing in bash damage and putting quite a lot of force into this. It was extremely frightening. Like a shroud of darkness had surrounded her despite the cloudless blue sky overhead.
As a result of a stressful upbringing under an emotionally abusive mother, Medhi had a lot of repressed negative energy. Accumulated over many years, it was not so easily expelled. Even now that she and her mother had reached something of an understanding, this side of her still remained, and the negative energy had become her dark power. At the moment, they had found no cure. Hence, boulder abuse.
It certainly was an alarming aspect of her personality that Masato would prefer not to see, but…
“Sigh… I know just how she feels. I was pretty much the same early on. Every time Mom jumped out ahead of me, I’d get all mad.”
“Yeah. Thinking back, I used to do the same thing. I got so stressed about not being able to do anything… Now I’m just used to it…”
Wise sounded almost like she’d accepted the situation. But a moment later, she shook her head.
“Look, Masato. Maybe we’ve given up on it all…but I feel like that’s not a good thing.”
Masato nodded.
“Yeah… Things have to change. We have to change. We’ve gotta get stronger… Stronger than any enemy. Stronger than Mom.”
Masato felt like he was desperately pumping at a well that had run dry.
Meanwhile, Wise just burst out laughing.
“Pfft! ‘We’ve gotta get stronger’! You looked sooo serious when you said that just now! I guess there really are boys who talk like that! That was hilarious! I’m dying!”
“W-wait… Did you just bait me into that?!”
“I can’t believe you fell for it again! You’re such an idiot! …Hang on, didn’t you just say something like that the other day and then totally self-destructed? And then Mamako ended up doing everything… Oh, wait, is this déjà vu? Are you about to self-destruct again? Wow, I can’t wait!”
“There’s nothing to wait for! What’s your problem anyway? You’re the worst. Just for the record, this time it’ll be different! This won’t end up like last time!”
Yes. This time would be different. He swore it would be.
This time, Masato would get the strength he desired! No matter what!
Probably!
And so.
“Well, everyone, let’s—”
“Let’s go! Come on! Woo!”
“““Woo!”””
“Hey, Mom! I was about to say… Oh, never mind. I’m done being a whiny brat who complains about that every time. It’s fine. But I just…think nobody would be at all upset if you’d put a little consideration into letting the party’s hero be the leader sometimes… But whatever, it’s fine.”
Masato was talking, but nobody was listening.
Now that Mamako had polished off all monsters in the area, she led the party away. They took a leisurely stroll across the field with her up in front.
A mother, two fifteen-year-old girls, and one twelve-year-old girl all chattering away. Masato was reluctant to join in and felt it wasn’t actually an option at all, so he voluntarily chose to bring up the rear, trailing along behind them.
Gazing absently at their backs, a thought struck him.
I could’ve been a harem MC surrounded by women. That was a possibility once.
But that possibility had remained as such. The results spoke for themselves.
Masato had been sucked into a video game, and just as he was certain he was about to embark on a wonderful tale of heroism in this new world…he found his mother with him.
And his mother was so ridiculously powerful she made the ostensible hero look absolutely worthless.
What’s more, the win condition for the game he’d been pulled into required he get along with his mother—a goal clearly set by some absolute sadist.
As nightmarish as that mission sounded, Masato had accepted it.
And yet.
I can’t keep moaning and sulking. I’ve just got to do what I can.
Accept his present situation and take steps to improve it. Think about what those steps might be. Masato was slowly getting better at that approach.
Did that qualify as growth? He allowed himself a pat on the back.
“Well, now that I’m feeling better, our current target…is this!”
Masato pulled a flyer out of his pocket. He unfolded it, and ran his eyes across the page again.
In big letters across the top it read:
NEW TOWER DUNGEON GRAND OPENING!
It sure read like a realty listing—like, it had clearly been intentionally designed to evoke that feel. Was management just goofing around? They really ought to put more effort into a consistent tone here, Masato thought…but he elected not to voice this complaint aloud.
Below the header, it continued:
THOSE WHO CLEAR THE DUNGEON WILL HAVE A SINGLE WISH GRANTED!
He read this again, just to be sure. It even had a footnote that said: *REALLY!
This was an unprecedented reward.
Any wish at all?
Masato thought long and hard about this. What should he ask for?
The first thing that came to mind was the abolishment of the sadistic requirement that his mother accompany him, but they’d also included a footnote that read: *DOES NOT INCLUDE EXCEPTIONS TO PARENT-RELATED DESIGN, SUCH AS THE PARENT-CHILD PAIRING REQUIREMENT. Plus: *ALSO EXCLUDES IMMEDIATELY BEATING THE GAME.
Below that, it read, *NO WISHING FOR MORE WISHES and *VAGUE EXPRESSIONS SUCH AS “PEAK CONDITION” WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. By this point, the lettering was getting quite small and hard to read. There was a reason they called it “the fine print,” but this was getting a little ridiculous. How overprepared could they be?
It seemed like the wishes they granted were limited to specific elements of game progression.
Hmm… In that case, I guess finding some way to make myself stronger…
If he could just be stronger than his mother, then he could have a lot of fun being the OP protagonist. That sounded good. Like, perfect.
So how exactly should he phrase the request? Learn the strongest skill? No, no, max stats? Hmm… This was tricky…
Just then.
“Hey, Masatooo! What are you doing? Don’t just stand there, come on!”
“Huh? …O-oh, right behind you!”
He’d been thinking so hard he’d stopped in his tracks. Wise was way ahead of him, and he hurried to catch up with her and the other party members.
Wise took one look at the flyer in his hand, and a smile spread over her lips so clearly malicious he reflexively wanted to slap her.
“Y’know, I do hate to burst the bubble of your inflated expectations…” She grinned devilishly.
“Shut up, Wise. I already know what you’re going to say, so just don’t.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll spare you this time. Medhi and Porta will say it for me.”
“Huh? I will?”
“Eep?! Me too?!”
“Someone’s gotta say it, right? And it’s gotta be before he comes face-to-face with the harsh reality and gets roasted in the process. If we tell him now, he’ll come away relatively unscathed. Am I wrong?”
“Well… I do think you’ve got a point there…”
“Eep… Maybe we should do something… Masato’s going to be so disappointed otherwise…”
“Exactly! We’re just being kind. So…”
Medhi and Porta had not been expecting to get dragged into this, but Wise wasn’t about to let that stop her. She had them thinking now.
And with that, the two of them turned on Masato.
“Um, Masato. I do hate to be rude, but if you don’t mind…”
“I would also like to say what I think!”
“Yeah… Yeah. We’re all friends here. No need to hold back. Both of you can say your piece.”
“Then…”
Medhi and Porta looked at each other. They decided Medhi should start.
“That flyer you’re so interested in was obtained in a highly suspicious manner, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, fair enough. They made it look like a flyer being passed out everywhere, yet it was delivered directly to my room at the inn. No signs of any left outside anyone else’s door.”
“I took a look at it myself, and the fine print really bothered me! …They make it sound like there’s a special prize for anyone attending, but…”
“Right. The only job that can actually claim that special prize is the Normal Hero’s Mother. And my mom is the only person with that job. This flyer description is clearly targeting us specifically.”
“So…”
“That means…!”
“I know! Don’t spell it out.”
He held up a hand to stop them and closed his eyes.
This was, unmistakably, beyond a shadow of a doubt, bait designed to hook them.
He could easily imagine the implacable features of the Mysterious Nun who was attempting to lure them in.
This was obviously her scheme. Nothing else made sense.
Yeah, I know! I know…
Masato wasn’t an idiot. He’d known the second he’d seen the flyer.
However… Even so… He just…
“But…I want to get stronger than Mom and actually enjoy my adventures! That’s all I want! I want that more than anything! I’m desperate here!”
Masato was definitely getting a little emotional. A gush of hot tears welled up in his eyes.
“Ew, gross.” “Th-that’s a bit…” “Passionate…?”
Masato was about to have an even bigger outburst, but before he could…
“Ma-kun, now, now, don’t cry.”
Mamako reached out her hand and cradled his head, pulling his tearstained face into the warmth of her bosom. The sweet, calming mother’s scent… Wait!
“Hey, Mom! What’s the big idea?!”
“Don’t worry. Mommy’s always on your side. You just do what you want to do, okay? So don’t cry. Mommy is here for you.” Squeeze!
“R-right, okay! Glad to hear it! Now lemme go! Medhi and Porta are laughing at me! And Wise has a nasty little smirk on her face!”
“How dare you! Never call a girl’s face ‘nasty’!” Raaaage!
Wise seemed pretty much ready to bite him, and she was definitely not cute when she was angry.
But she was good at getting him back.
“You piss me off! I don’t care anymore! I really wasn’t going to go there, but if you’re gonna act like that, I’ll spell it out for you.”
“S-spell what out?”
“I’m a Sage, remember? The ultimate Sage? I’ve got a special power that lets me see a tiny glimpse of the future. Like, for real.”
“Oh?” Medhi said. “Wise, you’ve never mentioned this before?!”
“That’s amazing!” Porta gasped. “I really respect you, Wise!”
“Yo, you two, remember, she’s probably talking out of her—”
“And I already know what the future holds in store for you. First, we’re gonna hit up this dungeon, right? And Mamako’s gonna clear the whole thing for us like always. And we’re gonna get to the part where our wish is granted, and there…”
“What?”
“What’s gonna happen?”
“Just as Masato is about to make his wish, Mamako will be all, ‘Oh my, I forgot to buy eggs for breakfast tomorrow. I wish I had some eggs.’ Or something like that.”
And then a basket of eggs would drop into Masato’s hands. Hooray. That seemed…
Entirely plausible. Mamako had been known to do that.
“Um, Wise…? You’re really scaring me now… Please say that isn’t true.”
“Don’t worry, Ma-kun. Mommy will make sure to wish for freshly laid eggs. Oh, right, I would also make sure to ask for enough eggs for everybody!”
“Ugggghhh!! Moooom, stop making it woooorse!! Listen, do NOT say anything like that! Make no wishes! Ever!”
“Riiight, everyone! Let’s go off and witness the moment when my prediction becomes reality!”
“A quest to get delicious eggs!”
“It isn’t!! Porta, that’s not the goal here!! This is a quest to get my wish granted, not an egg run!!”
The girls chattered as Masato shrieked. Always a lively party. Mamako maintained a firm grip on Masato’s head as they set off once more…unaware that they were heading toward an event that would decide their very fates. Kinda.
But of course, they had no way of knowing that! They were just heading for a tower.
The village was called Thermo.
It was a coastal town built along a crescent-shaped bay. The blue of the ocean and the orange roofs made for a colorful view, and the white sails of the ships billowing in the salty sea breeze as they sailed in and out of the harbor were as beautiful as a painting.
But it was the tower on an island in the bay that drew the eye.
At the end of a single long bridge running from the coast was a tower so tall it looked more like a pillar holding the sky up. This was the tower dungeon the flyer had advertised.
Even from a distance they’d known the tower was very tall, but seen from the Thermo entrance, it was overwhelming. The girls all stared up at it, making impressed noises.
“Wow. It’s like the dungeon’s right here in town. Easy access! …But still, that’s really tall.”
“Yes… I wonder how many floors there are…”
“I can’t even see the top! That’s very tall!”
“Getting up there will be quite tough… I do hope there’s an elevator.”
If it were that easy to get to the top, the place would’ve been cleared by now, Masato thought.
But he had bigger fish to fry right now.
“What should I do? What should I do?! …If I don’t find a way of restraining her worst impulses, I really will end up with a basket of eggs… At the very least, I’ve gotta find a way to keep my wish from turning into breakfast… But how? What can I do…?”
Masato was really worried about this now. This was Mamako, after all. She was constantly doing the unpredictable—glowing, floating, what have you—and how could you possibly restrain what you couldn’t predict?
Just then—
“Oh! You must be adventurers! How lovely! Would you be so kind as to help search for my child?”
“…Uh?”
—the second he stepped into the town, someone started talking to him.
Masato abandoned his line of thought and looked up to find a middle-aged woman. She was standing at the head of a group of other middle-aged women.
Masato got the overwhelming impression:
Are they all…mothers?
He wasn’t sure what gave him that idea. It was just a general motherly vibe.
But he wasn’t given a chance to ponder the source of that vibe. He was immediately surrounded by the crowd of mothers.
“Please! Listen to my story! It’s just awful!”
“Same here! I’m so worried! I haven’t eaten a thing!”
“She often leaves suddenly without saying a word, but this time is different!”
“He said he was going to the tower and he never came back! How can I not worry?”
“Oh, he did? Mine too!”
“Same here! Do you know anything? Anything at all? Please tell me if you do!”
“Oh, can I ask, too? We’ll share anything we have!”
“Er… Um… Uh… Wh-what…?”
One second the crowd was trying to get his attention, and then a moment later, they were all chattering away to one another. What was even going on? He was so lost. Clearly something bad was happening, but beyond that…
The rest of his party joined him, attracted by the commotion, but they appeared equally confused.
“Oh my! Whatever is going on here?”
“Seems like they’re all getting worked up…but I’m not entirely sure just what the problem is…”
“I can’t even hear myself think! The heck’s all this yapping about?”
“Uh, uh, uh, M-Masato! What’s happening?!”
“Sorry. I’ve got no clue. Our only choice…is to get her to explain.”
Masato looked across the crowd to the edge of the road.
There stood a coffin. Only one person they knew always showed up unexpectedly dead. “Oh, she’s here!” “Wow, she totally is.” “She is!” “Huh? Who is that?” This was Medhi’s first time encountering this situation, but everyone else knew exactly who it was.
As desperate as the pack of mothers had been to talk to Masato, they had now entirely forgotten him, talking only among themselves. Too busy gossiping to get around to the point… Perhaps that was just part of being a mother.
Taking advantage of this, Masato’s party slipped away from the crowd, picked up the coffin, and moved into a back road. Out of consideration for the person inside, nobody grumbled about how heavy it was.
“Okay! Wise, would you be so kind?”
“Wise has great revival spells!”
“You’re up.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll take care of it, hold your horses.”
Their Sage could easily handle revival magic. Wise produced her tome and got ready to cast…
But then Medhi stopped her.
“Um, Wise, hold on. Would you mind leaving this to me? I am the party’s healer, after all.”
“Oh… Right, right. I guess this is your job. Go ahead!”
“Thank you. Let’s see now… Spara la magia per mirare… Rianimato!”
The light of Rianimato poured from Medhi’s staff onto the coffin below. Cura and Rianimato were a Healer’s stock in trade, a chance for a Cleric like Medhi to shine.
Meanwhile…
“Hmm… One less chance for Wise to actually finish casting a spell, huh?”
“Ahhh!! Medhi just stole one of my few chances to do anything!!”
The Sage reeled from this shocking truth. The Healer’s smile betrayed just a hint of a gloat. That aside…
The spell complete, everyone’s favorite nun sat up in the coffin. Maintaining her usual placid beauty, she looked around and bowed her head.
“I see everyone’s here. Nice to meet you again. I am Shiraaase. I must infooorm you that coming up with new names and outfits every time has proven to be quite a pain, so we’re just going to stick with this one.”
“Thanks for the infooormation.”
“Do whatever you like, see if we care.”
“Hee-hee. You are such a strange person, Ms. Shiraaase.”
“Ms. Shiraaase is always the same no matter where we find her!”
“It’s been quite a while since we last met, Ms. Shiraaase… Now, if I may…”
“Why was I dead, you ask? Very well. I shall satisfy your morbid curiosity, Medhi, and infooorm you of the particulars.”
“Huh? No, you don’t need to explain that.”
“I don’t…?”
Faced with this flat rejection, Shiraaase’s eyes opened 30 percent wider than usual, and she gave Medhi a long look. A long, loooong look. Horrible emotions appeared to be writhing somewhere beneath the surface. This could be real bad. “Er, um, okay! I’d love to hear about it!”
“That’s what I thought.”
It would never do to interfere with Shiraaase’s infooormative briefings. Medhi had learned a valuable lesson.
“As to my death this time,” Shiraaase infooormed them, “this specific cause was once again a fatal bug. A mere touch of the hedge at the side of the road and it was all over.”
“Another deadly bug? There are way too many of those. What’s the testing team doing?”
“As you say, Masato. Though I am technically part of operations, I, too, fill my spare minutes with testing and end up dying on a daily basis…but this time that bug may have saved me.”
“Huh? How can a fatal bug save you? What’s that even mean?”
“In truth, like the rest of you, I was swarmed by all the mother NPCs in town, begging me for assistance. But I am an admin. I cannot progress events designed for players. Which means…”
“You avoided triggering the event by dying. I see! That could be seen as salvation. Can you go ahead and infooorm us about the particulars of this event?”
“Yes, well… Hmm…”
Masato had expected Shiraaase to launch right into it, but instead she appeared to be lost in thought.
Then she stood up.
“Before I infooorm you about that, I must verify a few things. I do apologize for the trouble, but would you mind accompanying me to explore the tower? We need only check out the easier lower levels, so if you could be so kind…”
“Er… Uh, sure, that’s no problem.”
“Thank you very much. Let us make haste. This way!”
Shiraaase led Masato’s party quickly in the direction of the tower.
It was rare to see any crack in her iron wall of placidity, but she definitely seemed mildly unsettled today.
The tower was within the town limits, on an island in the bay at the end of a long bridge from the shore.
The tower was just too big. It was incredibly tall and extremely wide. Up close, not only did it fill one’s vision, it appeared to simply be an immense wall that went on forever.
There was a giant door at the base of this massive tower.
“This appears to be the way in, but the door is shut tight. How do we…? Hm? What the…?”
As Masato stepped toward the door, a small magic circle appeared at his feet. Similar circles appeared at the feet of his companions…
…and a moment later, the door slowly opened.
“Hmm, that much is by design.”
“Design…? Shiraaase, was that…?”
“I shall explain the details later. For now, let’s step inside. I request your assistance with an urgent evaluation of the current state of affairs.”
“Uh, sure… Got it.”
Shiraaase moved forward, her manner almost flustered, and they followed her inside the tower.
The first floor. Inside, it was a dimly lit stone dungeon. Corridors wide enough for them to walk in a pack, stretching away into the distance.
“The name of this dungeon is the Solo-Killer Tower.”
“Solo…Killer…”
“What a terrifying name!”
“Don’t worry, Mamako. ‘Solo killer’ just means the tower is impossible to complete alone. The name itself infooorms players they will not be able to complete the dungeon in single-player. It is no cause for concern.”
“A dungeon you can’t solo, huh? That would definitely lead to a lot of dying. But how many floors is it?”
“Oh, one hundred.”
“That many? That seems like a lot… Although, from the view outside, it seems unnaturally low…”
“Right you are, Medhi. During the planning stages, it was intended to be ten thousand floors, but since asking real flesh-and-blood humans doing a full dive to climb that many stories seemed a bit much, the number was drastically reduced.”
“T-ten thousand?! Even if this was a normal game, I don’t think I could ever make it through that many floors…”
“Tch, tch, kids these days, no attention span. I myself have climbed ten thousand floors before, you know. All the way up the Spectral Tower. Not to go on a tangent.”
On they went.
This was definitely a dungeon. And that meant… “Oh my, monsters! Hyah!” Mamako’s two-hit multi-target attacks easily dispatched all manner of terrifying foes while the rest of the party just watched impassively, like they had long since achieved enlightenment.
This went on for a while until they reached a wide-open space.
At first glance, it appeared to be a perfectly ordinary room…but there were a few strange elements to it. The floor was paved with square tiles that had different symbols carved into them: medicine bottles, bags, magic tomes, and whirlwinds.
“Um, Shiraaase…? Those things on the floor… Uh… Are they…?”
“You noticed? I imagine they are precisely what you’re thinking. This dungeon interior has a number of effects designed to activate if you set foot on the wrong portion of the floor. This was the intended design… So, Masato, why don’t you try stepping on that medicine bottle icon?”
“All right. Here goes… Hup!”
Masato stepped on the stone with the medicine bottle. A light filled with life force poured out, wrapping around his body.
Masato’s HP was restored!
“Oh, that’s what I thought. Right, I’ve played a game like this.”
“I imagine you have. That’s it in a nutshell. The medicine icon is recovery. As for the bag… Well, let’s have Porta try that out.”
“Okay! I’ll step right on it!”
Porta dashed over where Shiraaase pointed, jumped as high as she could, and stomped on the floor panel. A key appeared in front of her.
Porta obtained Exit Key!
“Wow! An item appeared! That’s amazing!”
“I’ll explain how to use that special item later. Next…”
“Yeah, yeah, my turn now! I just step on the squares marked with the magic tome and that’ll power up my magic, right? Those are totally for me! Outta my way!!”
Without waiting for an answer, Wise stomped on several tome marks in a row.
A sinister mist poured out. “H-huh?” The mist wrapped itself around Wise.
Wise’s magic was sealed!
“…What…the…?” Shock!
“Wise has just stepped on a magic seal trap disguised as a magic-up square. Additionally, the trap effects are different from the status effects in battle, so you can’t heal them with items or magic. And they stack based on the number of squares you activate.”
“They…whaaaat?! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!”
“Yikes… You really did it this time…”
“Ohh… If items can’t fix this, there’s nothing I can do…” Porta wailed.
“Oh dear. If it stacks for each time you activated it… Wise stepped on so many squares… Does that mean she’ll never be able to use magic again…?”
“M-M-M-Mamakooooooo?! You’re really scaring meeeeee!!”
Wise was finished. “No, wait!” They no longer had anything to say that could help her now. “Come on, say something! Hey!” A look of gloom settled over the party’s faces, and they avoided meeting Wise’s gaze as she started ugly crying. “Look! Look at me! I’m right here!” Their former friend, Wise, was no more…
But then…
“Wise, don’t worry!” Medhi said cheerily. She gave her best angelic smile and put her arms around Wise.
“Oh… Medhi… My one true friend…” Wise beamed as if she’d just been pulled back from the brink of death. Friendship between girls was truly a thing of beauty.
“Wise, you can just leave the rest to me. Thank you for everything you’ve done.” Smirk!
“Whaaaaaaat?! Are you giving me a send-off?!”
“With Wise gone, I’m the party’s only Mage…and having secured that key position, I’ll get plenty of chances to shine… All right!”
“How could you?! Medhi!! Medhiiii!! Has the dark power within you finally corrupted your last shred of decency?! But seriously, what am I gonna do…?”
“Oh, Wise, Wise, good news! Somewhere in the dungeon is a floor that will undo all the traps. Additionally, the trap effects are only active within this dungeon, so all you have to do is leave the dungeon once and the effect will be canceled.”
“Oh, really? Geez, Shiraaase! Tell me that sooner.”
“…Tch.”
“Medhiiii! How dare someone as beautiful as you go around clicking your tongue like that!!”
Wise came off her emotional roller coaster in a rage and threw herself at the evil beauty Medhi! Looks like a catfight’s about to break out! But the rest of the party simply said things like, “Look how close they’ve grown!” “Let’s call it that, sure.” “Okay!” In other words, they decided they were better off staying out of this one.
There was one more type of special icon: a stone slab with a whirlwind symbol.
“Now then, let me introduce the final effect. I particularly wanted Medhi to test this one for us, but she seems otherwise occupied… Mamako, can I ask your help?”
“Me? Certainly. I don’t mind at all.”
“Uh, Mom, wait… At least make her say what it is first…”
“Don’t worry. The whirlwind mark is incredibly beneficial to dungeon progression. Calm yourself and observe. This will likely serve as a reward for you, Masato. Heh-heh-heh.”
“A reward for me? …Does that mean…?”
Shiraaase’s meaningful smirk just made him even more suspicious.
“Then I’ll hop right on! Here I go!”
But before he could stop her, Mamako jumped right onto the square.
“…Huh? Nothing’s happening?”
“No, the effect is already activated. Look above Mamako’s head.”
“Above her? …Oh!”
When he looked up, there was a hole yawning in the ceiling, and they could see through to the floor above.
An instant later, a powerful wind swirled up around Mamako’s feet.
“O-oh? Eeeek!”
The gust of wind caused Mamako’s dress to balloon upward and flip inside out.
Masato watched as his mother’s underwear flashed right before his very eyes!
Mom was wearing panties and stockings! Her waist: slim! Her legs: slim! Even the panties seen through the stockings: rather slim!
Panties and stockings exposed, Mamako was wafted up to the floor above.
Masato sank to the ground in a heap, burying his face in his knees.
“I’m begging you…don’t do stuff like that. That isn’t a reward. It’s retribution. I’m already suffering… I’ve already suffered so much…”
How was he supposed to live with these feelings? Any boy would feel the same after getting an eyeful of his mother’s panty-and-stocking-clad nether regions. Probably.
Shiraaase put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “Someday you’ll understand…just how great panties and stockings are.”
If Masato were just a little more mature, would he develop a taste for these things and look upon them with feelings of bliss?
HELL no. Not as long as they were on his mom.
The whirlwind mark effect allowed you to jump up to the floor above. It was helpful in that it allowed you to avoid a lengthy search for the stairs.
Masato had received a critical blow to his psyche, but even he had to admit this was useful. His party all moved to the floor above and continued to progress using either stairs or the tiles as they found them.
They were currently on the ninth floor.
“Guys, seriously. If you find a jump tile, just let me know. I’ll hop on it first. I don’t wanna see that kind of spectacle ever again.”
“You don’t ever want to see me again? Mommy is so sad!” Sniffle!
“Perhaps tomorrow you should go without panties or stockings. That would delight Masato, I’m sure.”
“Absolutely not!! Mom, I don’t need to see your bare legs, either! I don’t need to see any of that!”
“Oh, Wise, here’s another tile for you! Go ahead.”
“Why do you keep trying to make me step on the traps? Geez… Medhi, you and I need to have a long talk one of these days…”
The party moved forward, chattering away. Of course, this was a dungeon, and monsters did show up, but the ones on the lower floors were all small fries, and with Mamako by their side…
“Hyah!”
…not much else needed to be said.
Then Porta, who had the sharpest eyes, spotted something.
“…Oh! Stairs!”
“Whoa, good job, Porta! Let’s go!”
They went up the stairs to the tenth floor.
It was a fairly large room—no corridors, just a giant closed door at the back.
“Well, this seems obvious enough… Shiraaase, you’re up.”
“Allow me to explain. Every tenth floor of this dungeon is an open space where the stratum boss is located. A pretty typical pattern, really.”
“Okay, boss fight time! Finally, I get to do something! Since we found a trap removal tile just now, I can use magic again! My chain cast will—!”
“But your magic was sealed,” Medhi whispered.
“Medhiiiiiiii!! Don’t you dare even joke about thaaaat!!”
“Eek! Wise, you’re so scary!”
Wise was at her throat again. Medhi sure did have an evil grin for someone so beautiful. The girls appeared poised to have another fight, but…
…Masato just ignored it, asking Shiraaase more questions.
“So where exactly is this stratum boss?”
“We have the required number of people present, so any minute now… Oh, the count’s begun. It will show up soon. Be on your guard.”
Just like they had at the entrance, a set of magic circles appeared at the party’s feet.
A moment later, the big door opened with an ominous creak. “Right, here it comes!” Masato drew his sword. Mamako pulled her two swords while Porta retreated to safety. “Wise!” “On it!” The two girls quit grappling and got ready for combat.
A sinister aura lurked behind the giant door, hinting at the spawn of something massive.
“Mroooww!”
With a shrill cry, a cat-shaped monster appeared!
But the size of it was exactly the same as an ordinary cat. Tiny. “Oh, a kitty!” “A cat?!” “It’s so cute.” “I love kitty cats!” It proved quite popular with the girls.
“Um… Shiraaase…? Is that the boss?”
“It is the first boss. They’re mostly like this. Easily finished by a single blow from the hero.”
“Uh, sure, okay…”
Masato strolled over to the kitten boss, and it didn’t seem like he really needed to bother taking a swing at it, so he just tapped it lightly with the flat of his blade. “Meow?! …Mmrrr…”
OVERKILL!
Masato’s overwhelming power mercilessly defeated his foe!
All the girls were staring at him, totally silent. Baleful.
“Ugh… No, no! …It was a monster! It’s not like I was being mean to it or anything…”
“It can be a challenge dealing with cute monsters in games. The creators may have thought it was a good idea, but for the players who must defeat it… Well, perhaps that’s not for me to say… Hmm…”
“Ms. Shiraaase? What’s the matter?”
“So far, everything is as it should be… The tower itself appears unaltered…”
Shiraaase appeared to be reaching some conclusion known only to her. Then…
“Oh? I’m surprised to find anyone actually climbing the tower. I thought I’d placed every adventurer in town under my control. There were still some left?”
Someone’s mumbling carried past the large open door up ahead. The person was coming down the stairs beyond the door.
It was a girl. She wore light armor, a black coat hanging off her shoulders, and a thin sword at her hip. Her job was most likely Fencer.
She seemed roughly the same age as Masato. Definitely pretty cute, but she had a wild stallion ponytail that made her look quite aggressive.
Then… “Ah…?!” She slipped on the stairs—“Oof!”—fell flat on her ass, and then kept going, bouncing down one stair after another. This looked quite painful.
“Whoa… Are you okay there?”
“I-it’s none of your concern! I did not fall!”
No, you totally slipped and fell.
Like nothing had happened—or like she wanted nothing to have happened—the girl quickly scrambled to her feet and adjusted her gear.
And then she shot the party a look of naked hostility.
“Uh… So… Who are you?”
“Who am I? Doesn’t matter. I am one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Libere Rebellion. We reject the concept of mothers. I am Anti-Mom Amante. Not that there’s any rule saying you have to give your name to a total stranger. Is there?”
“Uh, no, I guess not…”
She gave her name, though. He’d definitely heard a name. Maybe she was a total moron.
The Four Heavenly Kings of the Libere Rebellion? Reject the concept of mothers? Anti-Mom Amante?
Amante had certainly said a lot of words, but none of them made any sense to him.
“Uh… So… Maybe you could maybe explain all that in, like…detail?”
“You think I’d bother giving you a detailed explanation? The Libere Rebellion is an organization that fights against parents everywhere, so why would I bother explaining that, too…? Mm?”
Just as she had begun to blab a detailed explanation for Masato’s query, she suddenly shut her mouth.
She gave Mamako a long look and then gasped.
“Wha…? No way, a-are you…?”
“Hm? Oh, how lovely to meet you! I’m Mamako Oosuki, Ma-kun’s mother! Hee-hee.”
“You don’t need to introduce yourself, let alone tell her you’re my mom.”
They also had someone who insisted on always politely introducing herself to everyone they met, but moving right along.
“You can’t be… Really? The real Mamako Oosuki?! …Gah!”
For some reason, Amante suddenly turned on her heel and ran.
“Uh, hey! What the heck?!”
“I’m not going to stop and explain why we’re on guard against Mamako Oosuki, but I am going to hightail it outta here! …Mamako Oosuki’s party has only six people. And no chance of increasing their numbers. You have no way of climbing all the way up to us, so there’s no chance of you following me… I’m better off retreating here and planning countermeasures!”
Talking to herself in a clearly audible voice, Amante ran off up the stairs…
…and a moment later, her foot slipped, and she bashed her shin hard. “Unhhh!” Masato got that it hurt, but maybe girls shouldn’t put out quite such a throaty grunt?
Amante proceeded to come tumbling down the stairs to the ground, where she lay writhing in agony, glaring up at Mamako like it was her fault.
“Arrrgh! I’ll make you regret subjecting me to this indignity! You will pay!”
Guarding her throbbing shin, Amante scrambled back up the stairs on all fours.
Mamako’s mouth was hanging open, the baseless charge against her coming as a complete surprise. Masato didn’t blame her. He, Wise, Medhi, and Porta were all equally stunned. The whole thing had seemed entirely pointless.
“Um… H-hey, Ma-kun? Who was that just now?”
“That’s what I wanna know! So…Shiraaase? What exactly was that pitiable creature I was reluctant to even look at for fear of cringing? I could really use an explanation here.”
He passed the question on from Mamako.
Shiraaase, who had been watching the entire thing without batting an eye, nodded.
“Very well. I have a grasp of the current situation now, so let us retreat outside for a briefing. Porta, try using the key you obtained earlier.”
“Oh, okay! I can do that!”
Porta pulled the Exit Key out of her shoulder bag and held it aloft. A door appeared in front of her. She used the key to open it and…“Wow! It’s the outside!”…through the door they could see the landscape in front of the tower entrance.
“Let us go through. This way!” Shiraaase beckoned them, and they followed her out of the tower.
Outside, it was already evening. Bathed in the light of the setting sun, the coastal town had turned a lovely shade of red. It was a beautiful sunset, but there was something sad about it, a fragile air.
They left the island, heading back to town. As they crossed the long bridge, Shiraaase, in the lead, suddenly paused.
“There’s a nice breeze blowing, so why don’t we talk here?”
She leaned against the railing. The sea breeze brushed against her cheeks, tinged with a hint of sorrow. If she were anyone else, she would have seemed quite lovely.
But Masato was less focused on her beauty than the rare glimpse of genuine emotion.
“Masato. This is not the time to be gazing adoringly at the mother of a five-year-old girl.”
“I was doing no such thing!! Argh! I guess Shiraaase will always be Shiraaase.”
“Indeed I will. I am Shiraaase! The Mysterious Nun and a lowly admin for this game world… Or one who demands hard labor, both physical and mental, and keeps you all moving forward… That is who I am.”
She spoke softly, almost as if trying to convince herself. Then she turned to face them.
“First,” she began, “I must honestly infooorm you that I had no prior knowledge of the situation occurring in town.”
“…Huh?”
This reveal came as a bit of a shock.
“Um…but aren’t you an admin, Shiraaase? You’ve always seemed to have a firm grasp on everything that was going on.”
“Indeed. It is just as you say, Mamako. I have been your guide and previously led you into situations fully aware of the situation at hand and with a solid projection as to how it might play out.”
“That makes it sound like we’ve just been dancing in the palm of your hand! That really pisses me off, you know. So…how come you don’t know this time? Oh, wait, are you just saying this to trick us again? I get it. That’s totally something you’d do.”
“I’m afraid this time I genuinely don’t know. Cross my heart.”
Wise glared even harder, but Shiraaase was unperturbed.
“The town of Thermo is supposed to be just what the flyer says: a base of operations for people clearing the tower dungeon. But that isn’t set up for just five of you; this is a trial for cooperative combat functions, and the goal would be to clear the tower while working with other test players and NPCs.”
“Cooperative combat with other… Oh, I see. The magic circles out front are counting the number of people there, and if you don’t hit the required number, the doors won’t open, the stratum boss won’t spawn, and you can’t proceed… Is that how it works?”
“Well done, Medhi. I see you have the intelligence to back up your strict education. Exactly right. To conquer this tower, you must establish a guild and gather a certain number of participants.”
“I see… And these cooperative combat functions are designed with an eye toward manipulating player consciousness?”
“Well done again, Medhi. Your own internal darkness makes you extra sensitive to the sinister. You are absolutely correct. By fighting together, peer pressure will convince you that you should be able to do what your allies are doing, and it will increase the desire to invest time and actively participate.”
“I see. You sell it as cooperative, but that’s the real goal. Heh-heh.”
“It’s the core grift of all online games. Heh-heh.”
“Um, can the two of you knock that off, please?”
If they said any more, men in black were going to show up and take them away.
Then Porta’s hand shot up. “Um, can I ask a question?”
“Yes, Porta. Go ahead.”
“By ‘guild,’ do you mean something different from the place that gives us quests?”
“An excellent question. Yes, I do mean something different. The guild I just mentioned refers to a group of friends forming a team. It’s a common term in video games.”
“Oof… That’s sort of confusing…”
“An excellent point. As you’re all well aware, you are currently participating in the game’s beta version. I believe we will have a more appropriate name for things once service officially begins, so please overlook the present awkwardness. This is a request from management.”
Oh well. “That’s a beta for you.” “Yep.” “Beta… Now that you mention it, Mommy was always more of a VHS person.” “Huh? What’s a VHS?” Let’s just ignore the ramblings of the only one here old enough to remember the video format wars. Everyone agreed to pretend not to notice the term confusion.
Shiraaase suddenly looked downcast and wearily rubbed her temples.
“But everything is as it should be. This town was set up to support multiple guilds competing with one another to clear the tower first… However, it seems events have taken a rather different turn.”
“Starting with the commotion at the town entrance, right? A whole crowd of mothers complaining that their children haven’t come home…”
“Seems safe to assume they’ve all run away. Rebelling against their parents, striking out on their own…”
“And joining the Libere Rebellion, huh?”
“That girl was very insistent on explaining how they reject the very idea of parents.”
“That was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Libere Rebellion, the Anti…Anti-Mom Amante!”
“Personally, I had no idea such a group even existed. This game is designed to deepen the bonds between parent and child, so for a group to spring up encouraging discord between them… I think we have to assume they’re essentially a league of evil.”
“And they’ve gone up the tower and are trying to make their evil wish come true. What that wish could be is a mystery, but…either way, something clearly needs to be done. By us.”
Yep. This was where Masato’s party came in.
As the party hero, Masato should say something noble. Totally. This was his moment to shine.
Masato took a deep breath, preparing to speak…
“Then, to shatter their evil ambitions, we must—!”
“Let’s all help get these runaway children back home!” Mamako piped up, totally drowning him out. Oh, Mamako.
Masato was annoyed that she’d interrupted him again, but he wasn’t a kid. He was capable of being generous and forgiving. He kept his voice calm.
“Um, Mom…? Can we talk?”
“O-oh? You seem even angrier than usual…”
“It’s not that I’m angry… Anyway—what am I talking about? That’s not the point here. This is where our heroic party takes a stand to defeat evil.”
“Mm… That’s true, but Mommy is much more worried about getting these children safely home than the fate of the world.”
Most moms would be. Major world problems just didn’t matter the way their children’s problems did. Their children were everything to them. Particularly to Mamako.
“So Mommy thinks our main goal here should be to bring back all the children who ran away. Don’t you agree?”
“Well…” As Masato considered this, the others joined in.
“I totally agree,” Wise said. “If we get the kids back, that reduces the enemy’s numbers. Then they won’t be able to clear the tower, and their evil ambitions will be thwarted. It all works out!”
“Th-that’s true, yeah…”
“So the question is, how do we get them back? If the children are under enemy control, and they’re all in the tower slowly working their way up it…then we’ll have to climb the tower after them,” added Medhi.
“O-oh, right. Then…”
“And if we’ve got to climb the tower, we’ll have to form a guild!”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing. So…”
“Yes, exactly. Let’s make a guild!”
“Yeah, okay. That’s what I was about to… Oh, but our number of members is a big issue—”
“Well done, Mamako. You’ve gotten straight to the heart of it. Let’s get ready to establish a guild. First, we need to secure a base…”
“R-right, I can do that! I’ll go find us a good—!”
“Just as the flyer infooormed you, we have prepared a special prize for the Normal Hero’s Mother, Mamako. This way. Power of the State! Forcible Transport!”
A technique powered not by magic but by admin rights.
No sooner had the words left Shiraaase’s mouth than the party vanished from the bridge…
…and a moment later, they were on the outskirts of Thermo, standing on a plateau with a view of the ocean, the tower, and the town.
A ruined building stood beside them.
“Uh… Is this…an inn?”
It looked like it had been an inn once. You could just barely make out the word INN on the sign. It seemed to have been abandoned for a while. The door and windows were all broken, and the wind was sweeping right through the place, and there was even grass growing inside.
Shiraaase pointed at the inn and said, “We’re presenting Mamako with this land and the building on it. Please use it to establish your guild.”
“Oh my. Can I really?”
“Ack… One more thing taken care of… And it’s so run-down…”
“This is just a start. Expand this base, increase your membership, and enjoy running your own guild… Well then, Mamako, now that you have a base, it should be possible to submit the application to found a guild. Please fill out the necessary fields on this form and submit it. Quickly!”
“Okay, got it!” Quickly!
“Hello? Anyone? I’m right here! I’m the hero! The party leader! Shouldn’t I be the one filling out the…? Oh…”
The application screen in the air in front of Mamako had a field for listing the names of the designated representative and other members. “Ah!” Mamako entered her own name in the designated representative field. “Ahh!” She moved right along to the field for the guild name.
Guild Name: Mom’s Guild
She was clearly putting no thought into this at all.
“And submitted!” Click!
“Aughhhhhhhhhh?!”
Even a fearless battle-scarred adventurer would hesitate to identify himself as a member of that guild, but that was now their official name.
The birth of a mom guild by a mom and for moms, Mom’s Guild.
And Masato was left watching his party get all excited without him.
“I feel like our adventure…would get on just fine without me,” he muttered.
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