Blood sprayed in an arc as sharp claws tore across her neck.
The world tilted. Her vision blurred.
Miyamoto Rei knew the darkness was coming for her again.
She had lost count of how many times she'd died in here. Enough times that even the sensation of death felt… muted. ( Natsuki Subaru: How? )
By now, she had killed 120 zombies on the first floor and each run had ended the same way: a corpse on the ground, and a resurrection in the square.
The day had shifted into night and back again, yet she kept throwing herself into the dungeon. Over and over.
It wasn't about loot. It wasn't about clearing floors.
It was because she refused to stay weak. Even if she bore the brand of a slave, she would not remain a helpless one.
"...One hundred and twenty magic stones."
Taking a steady breath, Rei summoned the Dungeon Roulette.
[Ding! The first use of roulette requires 10 magic stones. Do you want to use it?]
"Use."
Her answer came without hesitation. Every drop of effort until now had been for this moment.
A massive roulette wheel shimmered into view, spinning so fast the markings blurred.
Rei had no idea what any of the symbols meant, all she could do was watch as the wheel slowed… and slowed… until the pointer clicked into place.
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the D-rank Meme: "Body Enhancement." Do you want to fuse it immediately?]
"Meme…?"
Her eyes widened.
If she remembered correctly, both Shinobu Kocho and Kanroji Mitsuri had F-rank Meme abilities, their breathing styles.
So this… this was an ability.
And not just any ability.
"Fusion!"
Her gaze was unwavering. This was her chance to stop being prey.
[Ding! Fusion initiated!]
Click… click… click!
A cascade of sharp pops echoed from her bones.
"Hhh—!"
Pain exploded through her like her muscles were being ripped apart and rebuilt from the inside out. Her knees almost buckled, her breath coming in quick, shallow gasps.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the agony ebbed.
[Ding! D-rank Meme: "Body Enhancement" successfully fused!]
"Haah…"
Sweat dripped down her cheek as Miyamoto Rei panted hard, every breath ragged.
The pain still lingered but her lips curled into an involuntary smile.
Compared to the numb, repeated deaths she'd endured, this sharp agony was different.
This was the pain of being alive.
Before she could even check what had changed, her vision swam. Her legs gave way, and she watched herself pitching forward… her body too drained to catch her fall.
Her strength was gone. Her energy spent.
Just as her consciousness wavered, a firm arm caught her from the front, steadying her.
"You really are a hardworking slave."
Yami Tsukishiro's voice. He had appeared right before she collapsed.
The only reason he was here was because of the sudden alert:
[Ding! Slave "Miyamoto Rei" has acquired D-rank Meme: "Body Enhancement"!]
He'd been about to sleep when the notification popped up. Curious, he entered the dungeon and arrived just in time to see Rei fusing with the Meme.
Her eyes were hazy as she looked at him. Maybe it was an illusion, maybe not, but her lips moved on instinct.
"...Master."
And then she went completely limp, slipping into deep unconsciousness.
"Sigh… not every slave gets this kind of treatment from their master."
Yami scooped her up and carried her to her quarters right next door to Busujima Saeko's room.
He laid her down, pulled the quilt over her, then quietly left.
In the highest tower of Deathbone City, in the grand hall he now used as his personal base, Yami sat down on the throne that loomed like something straight out of a demon lord's castle.
"Master."
Ella bowed respectfully upon seeing him.
"Mm."
Yami leaned back, still thinking over the discovery Rei had just brought him.
"The Body Enhancement Meme was something Miyamoto Rei obtained through the Roulette Wheel."
The strange part was that the Meme she had received… was now floating in front of him as a glowing sphere — identical in form to the Meme templates he'd used before to create monsters like the "Heavy Armor" zombie.
He glanced at his remaining magic stones: 14,100.
From Rei Miyamoto and the others, he had gained a total of 1,500 stones.
Most of that came from Rei's repeated deaths.
"So, slaves really are the top productive force."
If he wanted, he could just turn more people into slaves.
The process was easy, simply have Ella guard the first floor entrance and block them in.
But after seeing what happened to the World Analysis progress, he shelved that idea.
[Demon Slayer]: 1%
[Highschool of the Dead]: 2%
[Jackie Chan Adventures]: 0% — no change.
Rei had died dozens of times, yet the analysis percentage hadn't budged at all.
"So only the first death counts? Or does becoming a slave stop them from contributing to analysis entirely?"
Another thing to test later.
There was something else: Rei's deaths had also powered up the zombies that killed her to level two.
But strangely, even when those same zombies repeatedly killed her afterward, their "Infection" ability stayed capped at level 2.
It looked like they had reached their limit.
"In other words… F-rank Memes max out at level 2. And for ordinary zombies, their overall level cap is also just level 2."
Which meant... the higher the rank of a Meme, the higher the ceiling it could reach.
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