*Yawn*, what a night...I think. What happened last night? And why is it so smelly-, heeeyyy!!

Corpses! Corpses! Mountains of corpses! Smelly, rotten corpses all around me!!

O-o-o-o-okay, Garami. Stay ca-ca-ca-calm!! Try to remember what happened last night...!

---

Flashback to around noon yesterday:

"Hey, is she going to be alright?" - Garami

"We do have some antidotes on hand. They should work just as well on intoxication as it does on normal toxins." - Alf

I tried to kick up a conversation when I went to talk with Alf, but all I could come up with was the worrying amount of booze that Noire was gushing down her throat. Actually, where does she fit all that liquid in that tiny body? Among us in the Nightmare Voyagers, she is the smallest one when we look away from Bloom (for obvious reasons) and Revi! However, even Revi is more prominent than her in a certain area...

"Why is she guzzling down that hard? I never expected her to be a party girl." - Alf

"It's not that. She's drowning her sorrows." - Garami

After the groups reunited and while Filyn's goons were remodeling the Horror Hill District into what Iron now calls the "Party District", I remembered that I still hadn't given Revi and Noire a chance to use the female-only (by order of Filyn) Skill Orbs. Noire acted maturely for once and allowed Revi to use the orbs before her. Her attitude took a 180-degree turn after the first orb Revi used turned out to be on its last leg. And it was the orb that gave away [Golden Ratio].

"...And the other Charm-type orb didn't give her any luck either. She complained about something Cupid-related, so I think it's not a skill aimed to make her prettier." - Garami

"Ouch. I am not that interested in fashion or beauty, but I can still feel her pain." - Alf

On a related note, Revi was a good girl and allowed Noire to be the first with the other orbs. That destroyed the Royalty and Armor orbs, not that Revi seemed to mind. She got a fright when the remaining orbs turned to dust though. All of them!! It's a good thing the goons are mistaking her for a child and only giving her juice. Even so-called evil organizations (not that I'm sure if I can call it "so-called" anymore) have some lines they won't cross.

"Whazzup~? You havin' fun~?" - Drunkard

Geh! A drunkard, or rather, that Regina woman came to our table with a whole casket filled with some reddish liquid. And it's not wine. I'm not even sure if it's booze! Is it chili sauce? *Sniff, sniff*, ugh, nope. Not at all. ...Hmm? Eehh~? The world is shpinning...

---

The present:

Right, that's where my memory goes fuzzy. What happened after that was..., I think that Regina girl poured me some of that red liquid, which caused the world to spin even worse. Am I that much of a lightweight...?

Okay, I turned up plastered. There's nothing I can do with that. After that, I think Regina started to tease me...was it? Yes, that's what happened. She said something irritating...

NOW I REMEMBER!! She was making fun of me over "being the weaker link of the Guild". Surprisingly, Alf and Noire impressed people when they guided them to Tir na Nog. I heard that Noire single-handedly was responsible for helping them pass through the undead-infested tunnels.

Then after bragging about the two to me, Regina hit me with the punchline of me being worse than even the newbie Revi! I can stomach that though. Revi has survived this hellhole for several centuries, and she's even been forced to fight for her life more than once.

I mean, she's survived enough undead during those several hundred years to obtain a "Genocide Drive" skill. Those can only be obtained by earning several Genocider-type Hunting Titles and are supposedly able to vastly enhance a single status value.

My point is, I don't get why I was so infuriated by Regina's comments back then. Maybe it was the way she was talking...?

"No, it was because Master was dead drunk on some bad stuff." - Bloom

"GYAAA!?" - Garami

That freaked me out!! Don't suddenly appear out of the blue while I'm in a location filled with corpses!!

"Master, are you not yet sober?" - Bloom

"I am! You're just terrifying when at the wrong time at the wrong place!! And what do you mean by 'sober'? Not that I can't guess..." - Garami

"Yes. Master got slouched just by the smell of the 'War God's Wine' that Miss Regina provided." - Bloom

Ouch. That doesn't sound like what a newbie should drink...

"Oh, no worries. That tonic is not as strong on alcohol as it sounds. Its real purpose is to enhance the combat abilities of people who drink it." - Bloom

"Huh? So it's a booze potion?" - Garami

"That is a rough, but decent summarization. The drink must have been of high quality, as Master managed to demolish two Extra Trials where the goal is to defeat armies of undead soldiers." - Bloom

"Wait, what did you-, no, stop there! Take it from the beginning! What happened after Regina arrived?" - Garami

"Miss Regina offered Master a small cup of said wine, which Master drowned in one go." - Bloom

Okay, that doesn't sound so bad...

"Then Master stole the whole casket of wine and drank it dry." - Bloom

......That..., that may not be so good..., but it was a party...

"Seeing that, Miss Regina started to laugh to the point of getting a stomach ache. Alf tried to stop you, but a single punch from you made him the second half-dead corpse due to stomach-related pains." - Bloom

Alright, that's not good at all!!

"Then Miss Regina started to compare you to Revi, which caused Master to explode due to some dumb drunk logic, is my guess." - Bloom

Wow~. That is dumb~. Whoever could have come up with that logic~.

"Master then dragged the unconscious Alf with you, saying you needed him as a witness, and located a hidden Trial Ground all on your own that was hidden in the very same Horror Hills District that our party had set up their camp." - Bloom

...I'm getting a bad feeling about this, no, rather, I'm getting some bad memories from this...

---

Back to the flashback:

"Kya-hahaha!! Come at me!" - Garami

I looked at the army of bones walking at me~. Bwa-hahaha! Why are bones walking~?

"Th-this is bad..., Garami! What are you thinking!?" - Alf

"Kya-hahahaha!!" - Garami

"Right, she isn't thinking..." - Alf

Ehh~? Of course, I'm thinking~. Thinking about how to crush all them bones~.

Extra Trial: Army of the Life Haters Requirements: Medal: "Netherworld"-based Medals Undead-type Trial Ground. Safe Mode Trial Content: Forces the challenger(s) to fight in an old warzone. Countless undead will attack the challenger(s), Defeat as many undead soldiers as possible before all of the challengers are defeated. The more undead one defeats, the greater the score they will obtain. A higher score grants rarer rewards. May also provide multiple rewards if the final score is high enough. Rewards: Possible rewards from the "Undead" category based on the score:

T3 Skills Ex-rarity Items

"Sheeee~? The Trial is eashy, so we gotta think eashy as well~~! YA-HOOO!!" - Garami

I don't know why, but seeing all of them undead causes my tension to rise!! One of them was getting too close, that pervert, so I slammed him with my scythe! Kya-hahaha~! Its head went flying~!

"EEEEHHH!? Garami, where did you hide that ridiculous power......wait. It must be 'that'." - Alf

"Kya-hahahaha!! Come at me!!" - Garami

The sleepyhead was making some weird noises, but who cares~? I'm gonna crush you all!!

Some bones came at me with weapons in hand, but I used [Nature's Webbing] on the rocky ground to make some stone spiderwebs~. With the ribs of the skellies wrapped in it~. Then I used the rocky and bony web into a fling through [Thread Control] and slammed them all into tiny pieces~!

"HUUUUH!? Did Garami have this type of ability? I never seen her use Earth-type skills!" - Alf

It's not Earth~, it's webs~. Oh, another pervy skelly~. Eii, surprise punch~! And surprise kick~. And surprise stomp~. And don't forget about the surprise [Gloom Prison] torture tool~~! All of 'em with an extra [Aura of Darkness] bonus~.

"...Was Garami always this sadistic? Or that muscle-brained-, whoa-!?" - Alf

The blabbering sleepyhead was trying to make some snide remarks, but some skellies were too much of a bunch of scaredy-cats to fight me, so they went toward him~. Serves you right~! Time to break some legs, bones, and necks~!

---

The present again:

"...And that is how Master's [Sadistic Constitution] skill obtained a world record for the largest amount of skill proficiency gained in the shortest amount of time," said Bloom after she finished helping me remember my vague memories.

"You're joking. You have to be." - Garami

"No, Master. At that time and place, you were like the incarnation of all sadism. Please do not try to remember what you did. Or else I will go on a strike!!!!" - Bloom

"O-okay..." - Garami

Was I that bad? Having Bloom getting all rebellion on me would hurt in the long run, so I'll humor her this time. However...

"That still doesn't explain why I woke up here. This isn't an ancient battlefield, nor is there any skeletons here. This feels, and smells, more like a zombie Trial." - Garami

With emphasis on the smelling part...

"That is right. After the Netherworld Trial, Filyn and Regina located the Trial Ground you had discovered and gave you applause for your incredible win." - Bloom

"Incredible?" - Garami

"Yes. Alf's spooked testament of your achievements seemed to be enough to convince the two. And that you had me show them a copy of the System Message that announced your victory over the Extra Trial." - Bloom

"The System Message? Let me have a look as well." - Garami

Bloom took the Kigal-Note and showed me the page she had used to record the Message. Once again, this tome is just too handy.

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

You have cleared the Trial: [Army of the Life Haters]!!!

Pick your prize:

Ex-rarity item: Equipment: [Skull Master's War Axe].

Ex-rarity item: Equipment: [Skull Master's Magic Tome].

Ex-rarity item: Material: [Netherworld Sludge].

Bonus objective: [Unharmed Challenger] cleared!!

Acquired 3rd tier Skill: [Spectral Avatar].

Bonus objective: [Eco-Friendly Necromancer] cleared!!

Acquired 3rd tier Skill: [Dangerous Necromancy].

"...Unharmed, as in taking no damage? And this eco-friendly gig, did I...?" - Garami

"Use the corpses of the fallen undead to create your own, obtaining an army of your own as you fought to defeat the opponent's undead army? Correct." - Bloom

"...Damn, that's freaky." - Garami

"Indeed. A drunk Master is a terrifying Master. But you have the War God's Wine to thank for being able to fight for so long." - Bloom

That booze does more than just turn you into a berserker then. Duly noted. I'll stick to normal stuff if I'm ever forced to another drinking party. That stuff tasted pretty good after all~. I wonder if there's a non-alcohol variant of it.

"But back to the story. Inspired by Miss Filyn's and Miss Regina's cheering, Master went for another round at the Trial Grounds, dragging poor Alfred with you." - Bloom

"Don't call him that, he'll flip on you. Let me guess, I stupidly used the Zombie Medals this time?" - Garami

"Yes. Things ended up almost the same as in the 'Army of the Life Haters'. Here, take a look." - Bloom

Extra Trial: Catacomb of Corpses Requirements: Medal: "Zombie" Medals Undead-type Trial Ground. Safe Mode Trial Content: Forces the challenger(s) to travel through an ancient catacomb. The challengers have to reach the exit while evading/defeating the zombies lurking in the catacombs. Discover hints and special items as you walk through the catacombs to make it easier to progress through this labyrinth of death. Rewards: Possible rewards from the "Zombie" category based on the score:

T3 Skills Ex-rarity Items

"Ah, this one feels more like my type of Trial~. Not that I can see the resemblance between here and the battlefield, except for the number of defeated......ah." - Garami

Don't tell me...

"Yes. It is as you suspect, Master. Your drunken self created such a loud noise that all the zombies in the catacombs were lured here to this first open area we discovered." - Bloom

"Then, like in the first Trial, affected by the War God's Wine, I crushed all the zombies...is that right?" - Garami

"Again, yes. Even drunk, Master performed a splendid strategy by blocking the other entrances with [Nature's Webbing], [Gloom Prison], and [Trap Creation], forcing the large horde of zombies to use only the northern entrance to this room." - Bloom

Ah, right. No matter how many zombies there are in this catacomb, if they're restricted to only one entrance, all I need to do is take care of them one by one. These entrances are barely wide enough to allow one or two persons to enter at a time.

"After I confirmed that all the zombies in the catacombs had been defeated by Master, Master created some Gloom Skeletons to act as scouts to find the exit, leaving it up to me to control the Skeletons while Master went to sleep." - Bloom

I did!? First getting drunk, now sleeping in the middle of a Trial? To my excuse, I did rush through from the Village District to Horror Hills, then go through the Netherworld Trial. Having to face also the Zombie Trial..., isn't an excuse. Nope, not at all. How can you excuse getting drunk and falling asleep in a zombie-infested catacomb!?

"...? Then where did Alf go? Has he already left?" - Garami

"No, he is still in the coffin over there." - Bloom

"Coffin?" - Garami

"Yup. After Garami started on your massacre of the zombies, Alf had this exhausted expression on his face and hid in one of the empty coffins in this room. That one over there." - Bloom

I opened the coffin that Bloom pointed out and found Alf, still asleep, without any care in the world. He looks just too natural in there...

"...Let's leave him behind." - Garami

"Master, please have some mercy. Alf had to suffer alongside you yesterday. Worse, he had to suffer WITH Master yesterday." - Bloom

"Fine... Let's bring him with us." - Garami

I summoned a pair of skellies and had them lift the coffin with Alf and all. Bloom's hard work has recorded a map of the catacombs in the Kigal-Note, the exit marked with big letters as well. I just know that I'm gonna get a mouthful when I get outta here..., *siiiiigh*...

Well, whatever!! I have a lot of zombie corpses here to convert into Necro Counters, so let's aim for the level cap for my necromancy-related skills!! If nothing else, I gotta show some results for this mess..., *siiiiigh*...