RIAD Ch 2

“Oh my god.”

Lia reread the notification windows floating before her eyes, still unable to believe the situation. She reached out, but her hand passed right through the text without any sensation.

She wanted to post on the community app right away.

Happy ending strategy found!

From a Deus player’s perspective, this was invaluable information, worth a fortune. It was a jackpot.

Despite her bewildered state, her heart pounded with excitement. Her eyes, sparkling with anticipation, continued to scan the glowing white text. Then, she noticed something strange.

[Success: Happy Ending

Failure: Death]

Not a ‘death ending,’ but death. Death? Come to think of it, how does she get out of here?

A sudden chill ran down her spine. She cautiously spoke.

“…Logout.”

Ding!

[Notification: Logout is not available during the special event. Please try again after achieving the final objective.]

“…Shit, I’m screwed.”

This wasn’t the time to be celebrating a happy ending. Deus was an excellent and enjoyable game, but she never wanted to experience the events within it firsthand.

One of the main draws of Deus was the fact that the protagonist was a swordsman, an unusual setting for a dating sim. The story followed the character’s adventures as a hero saving the continent while encountering the studs.

And, Deus was rated 18+. Naturally, the content was incredibly explicit, and sexual encounters with the studs were crucial to the game’s progression.

This meant that she would have to wield a sword against monsters and personally engage in sexual acts with the studs.

Her initial excitement vanished, replaced by an unknown fear. Her future seemed bleak.

Lia, no, Eliah, knew every route except the wizard’s ending like the back of her hand, being a veteran Deus player. But even those memories were hazy with confusion. The routes she knew were designed for seducing one chosen stud from the start. If she made a wrong choice and locked herself into a route, the chances of failure were high. She had no idea how to approach seducing all four of them.

“And why is my character level so low?”

Her original character was level 250, the maximum level, and ranked among the top 3 players on the server.

True to its unique swordsman setting, Deus offered much more than just romance. High stats were important for those aspects and helpful for the romance strategies as well. But the status window she saw now only shared the nickname; all the stats she had painstakingly accumulated were gone.

She had spent so much money and used so many items to level up her character to max. Ominous thoughts followed, making Eliah’s weightless leather backpack feel even lighter.

‘No way…?’

She reached into the backpack, and the contents appeared as images in her mind. The backpack, utilizing subspace technology, allowed her to know its contents without physically touching them. There wasn’t much to see. Inside were the standard-issue continental map and a pouch for coins….

“My items are gone too!”

Her legendary items, weapons, treasures, all accumulated over five years, had vanished. She didn’t even have a basic iron sword. Even the bag itself was the cheap one given at the start of the game. With a practically naked character, the trials she had to overcome to reach the ending were daunting. Just thinking about the major events made her head spin.

“At least let me make in-app purchases….”

Eliah stood rooted to the spot, tugging at her hair in frustration. The unnecessarily soft texture of the hair in her hand almost brought her to tears. The notification windows had dissipated, leaving her vision clear.

Then, a new notification window appeared.

Ding!

[Quest ‘Slave Trade’

Meet the first stud, held captive as a slave.

Location: Noiamie Slave Market]

This time, the notification window was a welcome sight, almost bringing tears to her eyes. In Deus, slaves were typically skilled combatants, playing a crucial role in the early stages when the character lacked abilities. As it was directly tied to the route, players naturally visited the slave market without a separate quest in the original game. But perhaps because of the special event, the system was providing some guidance.

Fortunately, she knew the location.

Crossing the village, she reached the edge and saw an entrance leading underground beneath a rough stone wall. As she stepped towards it, faint text appeared in the corner of her vision.

[Notification: Entering ‘Noiamie Slave Market’.]

Eliah walked into the dark interior without hesitation. Though in a different form, she had been here before to pursue the first stud’s route. But the moment the scene inside came into view, she froze.

“Oh my…”

There was a vast difference between the ‘slave market’ she saw on the monitor and the one before her eyes.

Naked people huddled behind bars lining the dark cave walls. In the center, several people collapsed under the lash of whips, blood splattered everywhere.

Most seemed to be adults, but genders were indistinguishable, all tangled together like animals in a cage. Moans of pain echoed from everywhere, too weak to be screams. The stagnant air of the cave was thick with the coppery scent of blood and the stench of filth.

This was a far cry from the stylized marketplace depicted in the game. This raw, visceral scene was cruel and barbaric.

Ding!

[Notification: A stud is nearby.]

The cheerful notification sound snapped her back to attention. It wasn’t surprising; she expected it. The first stud in Deus was a slave.

She looked around the horrific slave market. But everyone was in such terrible condition that she couldn’t distinguish who might be a stud.

As she stood hesitantly by the entrance, unwilling to move further, a goat-like man approached. His striking yellow mustache looked like it belonged in a cartoon.

“You’re an adventurer, aren’t you? Are you here for a slave?”

He rubbed his hands together, speaking with a carefree expression. She had seen this scene before when she played the first stud’s route, though it was long ago. Seeing the character she only knew through graphics speaking to her directly felt strange. Eliah pushed down the odd feeling and responded appropriately.

“…Yes, how do I choose?”

“I’ll guide you. Follow me.”

Leading her deeper into the cave, the man scanned the caged slaves and explained.

“The ones here are high-quality goods. They’ve undergone extensive training, so their obedience is exceptional.”

Their protruding ribs suggested malnutrition. As he said, the slaves sitting in the cages stared blankly ahead without a hint of defiance. Though she wasn’t sure if they were even sane.

But the one Eliah needed wasn’t here. The first stud, despite being a slave, was far from obedient. He wasn’t a high-quality good.

“What about those being whipped over there?”

“Ah… those are the lowest quality. They still don’t know their place and keep acting up. You don’t need to look at them.”

The man cast a contemptuous glance towards them, then gestured towards the cages in front with forced enthusiasm. His attitude only strengthened Eliah’s conviction.

“I’d like to take a look.”

“If you insist… Let’s go!”

He turned around, clearly reluctant.

As she approached the center, the horrific state of the slaves became even more apparent. At least twenty people, chained together by their necks with shackles, stood huddled together.

Their wrists were bound in front of them, and their ankles were also shackled with short chains. Escape was impossible.

One of them had to be the stud… but it was impossible to tell in this state. Eliah gulped nervously. The whipping continued even as she examined the slaves.

“…Heuk…”

A raspy, choked sound reached her ears. Could it be him? She moved closer to get a better look.

“Oh dear, hero! It’s dangerous to get too close.”

Ignoring him, Eliah continued forward and impulsively asked,

“How much to take everyone here?”

“Well… as you know, due to imperial law, there’s a premium on every slave after the first… so…”

The man trailed off, feigning difficulty. He gave a strained smile and looked her up and down. His unspoken meaning was clear.

‘Someone like you can’t afford this.’

The blatant disregard irritated her. Even if she was penniless now, Eliah Denfier was not someone to be trifled with.

“How much?”

“From the second one onwards, it’s 500,000 Deba each… so altogether, it would be at least 100 million Deba…”

“100 million.”

“Yes… hahaha.”

He laughed awkwardly, as if he had said something foolish. The annual income of a wealthy middle-class commoner was around 100,000 Deba. For Eliah, who had left her wealthy family to embark on an adventure, it was an impossible sum.

But as he looked her over again with a ‘Just as I thought’ expression, something inside her snapped. She barely suppressed it, calmly promising herself to return later.

“Alright. I’ll just take one today.”

“Yes, yes. Of course. Are you really going to choose from these?”

“Yes.”

As if alerted by the commotion, some of the slaves turned towards her. Their glaring stares were certainly different from the vacant gazes of the slaves in the high-quality cages.

Eliah examined the men, who made up the majority of the group. Since they were all naked, it was easy to distinguish individuals. It was her first time seeing naked men so exposed, but it was surprisingly not unpleasant.

‘Is it because it’s a dating sim?’

Despite the dire situation, they were strikingly handsome, their appearances pleasing to the eye. She met the gazes of each slave, searching for any distinguishing features. She was confident she could recognize the face of the studs she had seen countless times.

As the whipping continued, the chained slaves writhed and cried out in pain. Eliah reflexively winced and took a step back.

Then, one of the slaves nearby caught her attention. Icy blue eyes flashed intensely. The feeling was like facing a ferocious predator. As she recoiled,

“Ah!”

He lunged towards her, grabbing her ankle with his bound hands. Caught off guard, she gasped and trembled.

Ding!

[Notification: Contact made with one of the continent’s four great studs. Updating list.]

A faint notification window appeared. Even in her disoriented state, she understood the message and stared blankly at the slave gripping her ankle.

He looked barely twenty. Unlike the fierce gaze from before, he now appeared youthful, his dark hair matted and dirty, his naked body covered in grime. His torso was a patchwork of red welts, scabs, and scars from whips and clubs.

But despite his wretched condition, his finely muscled body was sculpted like a statue. His abused body, stained with dirt, evoked a sense of forbidden allure, strangely arousing. He stood out even among the other handsome slaves, instantly capturing her attention.

As his clear blue eyes focused intently on her, Eliah momentarily lost her focus.

“You bastard!”

The man from before roared, brandishing a baton that resembled a police truncheon. A brutal beating ensued.

“Keuk…”

With each sickening thud, the grip on her ankle tightened. The unexpected turn of events paralyzed Eliah. Even as a tingling sensation spread through her ankle, her gaze remained fixed on the vibrant blue eyes.

But as dark bruises bloomed on the slave’s back, she snapped out of her trance.

“Wait! Wait a minute!”