No, I can understand why people from the Empyrian snore while sleeping. After all, you've been through constant wars—sleeping poorly makes sense, especially after drinking beer. But…
Ryuji glanced to the side, where Tsunade was lying sprawled across a blanket, legs wide apart, arms thrown open, her ample chest completely unconcealed.
You're supposed to be a ninja specializing in stealth missions… and you snore too?
Unable to endure it any longer, Ryuji covered his ears, watching Tsunade snore away without a care in the world.
Under the moonlight, both of them looked stunning after a bath. Especially Tsunade—lying on the ground, her natural curves captivating. However, the thunderous snoring from both of them made it impossible for Ryuji to sleep.
But what really made things unbearable was—
"Hey, it's dawn. Time to get to work."
Kiri smacked him on the butt, jolting him awake.
"Huh?"
Still groggy, Ryuji looked at Kelley, then at the sky, and silently made a decision.
Tonight, we're sleeping in separate rooms!
"Ah, okay. You guys go sell the extra ammo, I'll make breakfast, and after we eat, we'll start digging the fortress."
Half-asleep, Ryuji sat up, his head bobbing as he struggled to wake up.
The two women ignored him, going off to freshen up and then heading to the shop to sell the excess turret ammunition. By the time they returned, Ryuji had already prepared a pot of meat porridge.
Just like before, it was a simple mix of peas and small chunks of meat—nothing fancy. The only difference was that he had found some salt. It wasn't much, but it was good enough. At least, none of them complained about the taste.
"Alright, time to get to work."
Ryuji slapped his face to wake himself up. He had eight skill points—four from missions and the rest from leveling up. He planned to spend them all in one go.
This was why he had the women go off first.
"Yeah, yeah, you go do your thing. We'll start digging according to the plan."
Kiri waved him off. Their previous discussions had led to a solid strategy:
They would dig a massive pit around the merchant's shop, making it deep enough for zombies to fall in. Above it, they would construct a suspended house while keeping enough earth and stone for additional defenses.
Ladders would be built for emergency escape routes. A cliffside bunker with a tunnel connecting to the suspended house would serve as a fallback option.
Of course, the house wouldn't truly be floating. They would reinforce the remaining foundation with solid blocks, ensuring stability while maintaining access to the underground bunker.
If everything went as planned, they could remain safely in the suspended house. If it ever became unsafe, they would retreat to the cliffside bunker via the tunnels.
Building the ladders was simple, and with Tsunade's absurd stamina, digging out the surrounding area would only take a day.
The biggest concern was ensuring that the underground bunkers were deep enough and had a proper defense strategy. But with the system's building blocks, that was manageable.
If needed, they could use a narrow cave entrance to funnel zombies in and deal with them one by one.
Their strategy was solid.
Ryuji said nothing, simply slowing his eating pace. Once he confirmed that Kiri and Tsunade had gone off to mine, he bolted toward the merchant's shop.
He was in such a hurry that he didn't notice the two women exchanging a knowing glance behind him. They weren't interested in whatever he was about to do—just amused by how eager he seemed.
Shutting the door behind him, Ryuji activated his skill menu.
One by one, he dumped his points into Stamina.
Instantly, his body felt stronger—flooded with energy. His fatigue vanished, replaced by a surge of vitality.
But then he noticed something.
At six points, each additional upgrade now required two skill points. He hesitated for a moment, frowned at his remaining points, then gritted his teeth and committed.
The moment he added the next point, a powerful wave of pleasure flooded his body. He gasped, barely resisting the urge to cry out. His limbs buzzed with energy.
He had never felt this alive before.
But now there was a problem.
His stamina had become too high.
He felt like he could run for miles without getting tired. No, not just run—his body felt weightless, as if he wasn't even exerting effort when he moved.
After some… rather intense physical activity even after five or six times in a row, when the merchant's belly bulged slightly,, he still felt no fatigue. Even the merchant collapsed in exhaustion, he remained completely unfazed.
"This is an insane transformation…"
Ryuji took a deep breath, looking at his still-overcharged body. He did not dare spend the remaining skill points.
Because he'd already been here for nearly an hour.
If he tried to explain this as "just checking the forge," no one would believe him.
"Damn it…"
Taking drastic measures, he grabbed a roll of duct tape from the merchant's shop and secured his overactive little brother against his thigh. Only then did he sprint out the door.
But something was different.
He was fast.
Before, he had the stamina of an average guy. Now? His sprinting speed rivaled Olympic sprinters. And if it weren't for the… taped object, he felt like he could run even faster.
Kiri, watching him dash past, squinted at the suspiciously taped object on his leg.
"...This guy…"
She had seen a lot of things in bars—some more impressive than this—but never had she seen someone this active after such a situation.
She scoffed.
"Hey, Tsunade, we should build beds and separate rooms. I don't trust this guy at night."
"Alright."
Tsunade, as always, kept her response short and to the point.
Meanwhile, Ryuji's first three missions went smoothly.
With his newfound energy, these slow-moving zombies were no challenge. If not for his… self-imposed restraint, he'd have hacked them apart just to burn off his excess stamina.
But then came a problem.
"...?"
Ryuji stood at the edge of a massive pit.
Kiri and Tsunade's digging had been way more efficient than expected. The hole was 40 meters deep and 50 meters wide.
And right in the middle of the pit… was a floating quest marker.
How the hell was he supposed to activate that?!
After some thought, he climbed down a ladder, built a temporary wooden structure, and jumped up to press 'E'.
A wooden house materialized midair… and immediately plummeted into the pit.
MISSION FAILED.
Ryuji watched, speechless, as the house crashed into the bottom and shattered into pieces.
A new quest marker popped up in the exact same spot.
He pressed 'E' again.
Another identical house appeared—only to drop straight down and crash into the ruins of the previous one.
And then… the quest marker respawned again.
"...Is this a bug?"