The Mad Rat’s Lab

The whirlwind express is about to run out of fuel when they reach a new dungeon area. The path they’re on continues, but right next to it, there’s what looks like an underground lake.

“Quick! Jump into the water!”

“Into the water…? Why?”

“Just do it! Fast!”

“Waaaait! I’m not ready…!”

After seeing the lake, Ricard orders everyone to quickly jump into it. Moving in front, he’s the first one to make the jump. Laura first questions his decision, but at his insistence, she shrugs her shoulders and jumps into the lake after him.

Clara… isn’t as lucky and is forcibly pulled by Ricard into the lake. She was being dragged all the time by him, shouting and doing nothing… Distracted, she doesn’t have time to prepare and soon finds herself underwater.

“Oh, man. It was very close… If not for the lake, we would die very soon.”

“What do you mean, Baldy?”

“I was out of MP, so I couldn’t keep using Whirlwind. Also… just look around. The water stops them from harming us.”

“Oh, I see…”

Laura looks around for the first time since they jumped into the lake. Similar to before, Plump Drops keep falling from the ceiling. But they slow down when they fall into the water and don’t deal any damage to Ricard or the others anymore. The speed reduction is enough to prevent the Trample skill from activating.

“How many of them there are in this dungeon? We killed so many, but their numbers don’t seem to fall at all…!”

“I’m not sure if I want to know…” Ricard swipes his imaginary sweat from his forehead before continuing. “It was so close… when you proposed your crazy idea I didn’t expect there would be no end to them! I expected to leave their area in less than ten seconds, but we spent fifteen seconds and now I have no MP at all… Well, at least, we didn’t die…”

“Yeah, if I knew there were so many of them, I wouldn’t have said anything… Maybe it was better to go back, after all.”

As Ricard and Laura talk about the almost failure of a plan, Clara is entertaining herself by catching the poor tiny Plump Drops with her tentacles and squishing them as if they were plushies.

“Hehehe! It was fun! And now, we can take a photo to celebrate! They’re sooo cute! Hehehe!”

Of course, the poor critters can’t survive after touching her for more than two seconds, as the Decaying Touch skill activates and kills them. But there’s no end to their numbers as they continue to pour into the water… she only needs to catch some more of those unlucky fellows to continue playing.

It’s a ‘renewable resource’, she doesn’t need to worry about running out of Plump Drops. At least, it is renewable for as long as they continue to drop from the ceiling.

Ricard moves his body and stretches after using Whirlwind for so long. He had to run as fast as possible and steer the Whirlwind’s direction as best as he could at the same time, which exhausted him both mentally and physically… as physically exhausted as you can get in a game.

“It feels good to control my champion properly again… I never tried it before, but running and at the same time using Whirlwind is quite bad.”

Laura looks one last time at the ceiling, from which Plump Drops continue to fall. Since that place where they first appeared, the whole dungeon has been full of holes for them to jump from.

Maybe the whole dungeon is designed with them in mind? But then… why is there a lake here? If the enemy team wanted to rely on them and went as far as creating hundreds of them… why put something that completely shuts them down?

“Something’s wrong… there must be something in this lake…”

Says Laura, but none of the other two react to her words. Ricard is busy stretching, and Clara is too focused on her cute little ‘playmates’.

“I don’t believe there’s a safe area in the dungeon, so something dangerous must be awaiting us in this lake… not like we can go outside again for as long as those guys keep falling on top of us… Ironically, we might be able to do something if Mad Rat was here with us. With a bit of luck, he could spread the lightning to all the monsters on the ceiling, waiting to drop on us when their turn comes…”

Laura keeps talking to herself.

Meanwhile, Ricard feels a tug on his waist, the same place Clara was grabbing with her tentacles during the whirlwind express.

“Lemon, stop pulling! Why are you still grabbing me…?”

“Huh? Grabbing you? But I already released you long ago.”

Astonished, she turns her head to look at Ricard at the same time Ricard notices something weird. All her tentacles are busy grabbing those Plump Drops, some of them are still struggling to get free, and some of them are already dead… but there’s clearly not a single one of her tentacles getting anywhere close to him.

“How weird… then why do I feel like you’re still grabbing me… ugh! …uaaaaaaaah!”

Ricard is pulled away from the other two by something invisible. It looks like the tentacle he was feeling wasn’t an illusion after all. And it wasn’t because of Clara either.

“Uaaaaah! W-what’s this!?”

Surprised at what’s happening, Laura and Clara can only gawk at Ricard getting further away.

“I knew it! There was something dangerous here!”

Laura is excited at her correct prediction. If only she could discover the danger before that… whatever-it-is dragged Ricard away… 

“Oh, shit! We must go and try to save him!”

Clara just shrugs her shoulders and says. “Poor Baldy, we’ll miss him… Should we continue our exploration?”

“Lemon, it isn’t time for jokes now! Let’s chase after him!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

She prepares to follow Laura’s order and takes a swimming pose. Laura briefly looks back at Clara and notices the other girl is about to do something stupid.

“Release those monsters! Do you think it’s normal to bring corpses with you!? Especially in a situation like this!?”

“But I want to keep them as souvenirs!”

“Release them I said!”

*Sigh* “Ok… What a shame… Go free, you little guys. Let’s play again some other time!”

Reluctantly, Clara finally lets go of all the poor little guys and follows Laura, chasing after Ricard and whatever is dragging him away.

 

 

After a while of chasing after Ricard, Laura and Clara can’t see him anymore. But he left a bubble trail, making it very easy for them to follow after him.

“Come on, Lemon. We must move faster!”

“But we’re already going as fast as we can!”

Clara says the truth: they can’t swim any faster. After all, all terrestrial units are slowed down when inside the water. It’s clear that whatever is dragging Ricard away is an aquatic unit because it’s moving about twice as fast as them.

“But we’re going to be split like this… we were supposed to stay together…” Laura grumbles as she bites her lips. Then, she stops moving. “Huh? This is…?”

“What are you doing now, Lily? You were asking me to move faster, but then you suddenly stop… are we stopping the chase and going our way? I think we can make it with the two of us alone. Chasing after him is a waste of time because we can’t move as fast as whatever is dragging him…”

Laura starts struggling against something, but Clara can’t see anything at all, only a slight disturbance in the water surrounding Laura.

“Please, Lemon, tell me you’re grabbing me with your tentacles because you want to stop chasing after Baldy. Tell me this is a prank…”

She turns to look at her tentacled friend. There isn’t a single one of her tentacles close to her position.

“Huh? What are you talking about? Why would I grab you…? It’s always you who looks for any excuse to fondle me and not the other way…”

“U-uaaaaah!”

Before Clara can finish her sentence, Laura’s cry interrupts her. At the same time, she’s dragged away in a similar fashion to Ricard.

She struggles against the invisible entity, leaving a bubble trail behind. But then, after a few meters, Laura remembers she has a way to get free from the other’s grasp.

Of course, she can attack whatever is grabbing her, but this isn’t the best solution. For example, it could be a very resilient enemy, or more than one. In either case, she will take too much time to get free, and she would be separated from Clara either way.

It could also be something else, like a trap, and attacking it would only be a waste of time and energy.

But this isn’t what she wants to do. The idea she has is very simple and easy and is an easy and sure way to get free. The succubus activates the skill, vanishes from her place, and immediately appears right next to the other girl.

“Blink! Nice reaction there, Lily! With it, you can get rid of the tentacles! Hehehe!”

“Fufu! Thanks! If it’s like this, it’s easy to avoid them! I only need to activate Blink to escape. Fufufu!”

She proudly puffs out her chest. Even if she’s dragged away by some unknown entity, she only needs to use Blink to free herself.

But soon, her expression changes once again as she feels those tentacles grabbing her yet again.

“Come on, not again! Uaaaah!”

Laura is pulled by the invisible tentacles once again, moving further away from her previous position, at a very fast speed, and leaving the trademark bubble trail.

“Lily! Use Blink! Blink!”

“...I can’t!” She shouts. “It’s on cooldown!”

Clara then shrugs her shoulders and says. “Heh… Well, there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ll miss you, Lily. I’ll miss you, but only a very tiny little bit.”

“Save me, Lemon!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t! I can’t reach you, I’m slower! So… I wish you good luck to get rid of those invisible enemies!” Shouts Clara in response.

Now, there are two bubble trails in the area. One left behind by Ricard, and one by Laura.

Clara first looks at where Ricard disappeared from, and then at Laura, who’s getting dragged away. She manages to escape the invisible enemy by using Blink a second time, only to get grabbed once again shortly after.

“Now I’m alone. What should I do? Hehehe! I can play with the Plump Drops again…!”

She raises her head and watches the Plump Drops that continue to fall from the ceiling and into the lake. While chasing after Ricard, they had to sink further into the lake, but the ceiling is still visible from this distance.

She’s about to swim in that direction, but she stops herself.

“No, Lemon, no! Stop fooling around! You’re the only one remaining and your brother is relying on you!”

She slaps herself twice with her tentacles. They make a disgusting *squish* sound when doing it.

“I must find and break the dungeon core! It’s the perfect time to redeem myself from all my previous mistakes! Hehehehe…”

She can’t stop herself from laughing creepily, imagining something only she believes it’s possible. If Andreu was here, he would surely think ‘If she had a mouth, I’m sure she would be drooling right now’. And then he would add ‘And no, some of your previous mistakes were too big to forget’.

A slippery sensation around her waist snaps her out of her delusions.

“W-what’s this!?”

She shouts, startled. But then she realizes what’s happening and calms down… until anger overwhelms all her other emotions.

“Y-you dare! You dare try to win against me in a tentacle battle!? I can’t see how you look, but I’m sure you’re ugly! How dare you touch me with your ugly filthy tentacles!”

Her logic is clearly all over the place.

“Also, do you really expect to win a tentacle war against me? Against ME, the ‘Queen of Tentacles and Cute Things’!? With those disgusting tentacles!? I’ll show you why they call me ‘The Slippering Cute Nightmare’! And then I’ll find the core, break it, and my brother will praise me! Hehehe!”

Clara extends her tentacles and coils them around the invisible tentacles trying to get a hold of her. And the same does her assailant.

She doesn’t know how many enemies there are, or how powerful they are. But she’s sure of one thing: she won’t ever lose in a tentacle battle!

“Bring it on! I’ll show you who’s the ‘Tentacle Master’! And then, everyone will praise me as ‘The Cutest and Bravest Wiggling Sister’! And my brother will praise me too! Fuhehehehe!”

This was the first time the world saw the ire of the self-proclaimed queen of tentacles and cute things. The slippering cute nightmare. The tentacle master. The cutest and bravest wiggling sister.

…and a lot more nicknames that were to come.

 

As the combat starts, the first thing Clara does is turn her head around to make sure she’s fighting against an enemy unit and not some kind of trap. If it’s a monster, there must be an HP bar somewhere.

She turns her head around, in a 180º turn, to see literally behind her back, as the rest of her body still looks forward.

Even if this is inside a game, it isn’t possible for players to rotate their heads to look behind: the game adheres to real-life standards because the DMA staff wants to deliver the most amazing experiences and make players feel like they are in an actual fantasy world.

This is the reason neither Laura nor Ricard could be sure if they were attacked by a monster or a trap: they couldn’t see any HP bar.

But Clara’s champion is special in that it’s made only of tentacles, and doesn’t really have a ‘head’, so she can turn her ‘head’ at impossible degrees for a human. 

“Hmm… I don’t see it… Oh, there it is!”

The monster’s HP bar appears as soon as the damage from her passive skill, Decaying Touch, activates. And even if she can’t see the enemy, she’s now sure it’s possible to defeat it and get free.

“Hah! Let’s see how long you last! Now that you dared to grab me, the ‘Amazing Grasping Terror’, I’ll have to show you what a real tentacle monster is! Hehehe!”

She can’t see the enemy at all, but she can feel it with her tentacles. She intertwines her tentacles with her assailant and grabs them in return. Now, it’s impossible for any of them to get free unless both release their victims at the same time.

The monster drags Clara away as she leaves a bubble trail, the same as with the other two. But she’s dragged very slowly in comparison to the other two, because she’s also grabbing the enemy and trying to move in the opposite direction, difficulting each other’s movements and their speeds canceling each other.

“Poisonous Touch!”

After using the skill, Clara’s tentacles are covered in a greenish substance.

“Draining Touch!”

Green light comes out from the tentacles grabbing the monster and runs through her tentacles until it reaches her ‘body’, where they disappear. Immediately after, her HP bar gets replenished.

“Hehehe! Did you think you could win this!?”

In comparison, the invisible enemy is doing a lot worse. His HP is decreasing very fast, and it’s taking more and more damage as Clara’s skills stack.

Soon, the monster’s HP reaches zero and it dies. The corpse, still invisible, releases Clara’s champion and slowly sinks.

“This was easy!”

She raises her tentacle arms up in a victory pose, happy it was so easy. But at the same time, she’s annoyed because a weak enemy like that dared to start a tentacle battle against her.

When she tries to bring the arms back, she feels more invisible tentacles grabbing them.

“So there are more of you! Come! I’ll reign supreme! Nobody can defeat me in a tentacle war! I’ll win and my brother will praise me! Hehehe!”

Like this, the tentacle war continues until she is the last one standing.

She might not be the best in most situations, and can usually only focus on one thing: getting her brother’s attention. But there’s one thing those tentacle monsters didn’t take into account: getting into direct contact with Clara’s champion for an extended period of time is the same as asking for death.

“Ho? There are no enemies anymore?”

Having killed all the tentacle monsters, she looks around one last time. There are no more HP bars, so that should be all of them.

“Yeeey! The ‘Master of Continuous Damage’ wins again! I’m sure he’ll pat my head a lot after this… He, hehe, hehehe!”

Clara dances to celebrate her victory, wildly swinging the tentacles around as she spins.

“What should I do now…? I don’t think there’s any way I can catch up with the other two…”

She spent too much time fighting with the invisible monsters and the bubble trails left by Ricard and Laura when they were dragged away are no longer visible.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it!” She shrugs her shoulders. “It’s time for me to show my true value! All responsibility falls upon me! Hehehe!”

If Andreu was here right now, he would suffer another headache. Though not as strong as those caused by the Mad Rat’s Cult.

“I’ll save the day! I can do it!”

She pumps up her tentacle-fist to motivate herself.

“I’ll reach the core alone, break it, and we’ll win thanks to me! And then my brother will pat my head for a whole day! Hehehe! But first…”

She turns her head up. Then, she starts to swim upwards and extends her tentacles… There’s no need to tell you what she’s going to do next, is there? I’m sure you already know.

 

To ensure the viewers could enjoy everything during the tournament matches, the DMA staff activated a special filter to show everything that was invisible or couldn’t be seen by the players. Units using the Invisibility spell, camouflaged units, transformed mimics, and water elementals submerged in the water were a few of the affected units.

Thanks to the filter, all the viewers could properly see what was dragging Ricard and Laura away, as well as enjoy Clara’s fight: the most disturbingly fascinating fight that happened in the DMA tournament including both the first and second matches. A nightmare for some viewers, an amazing dream for others.

Radosh

Hey there, everyone!

I wanted to ask... what nicknames would you give to Clara's champion/character? If you were Clara, how would you call yourself? Of course, not including those in this chapter. I plan to add a lot more in the future, but my ideas are limited, so... If I like those you write down in the comments, I'll use them in the future. Oh, and they can be as short or as long as you want.