Please Touch Me, Master

Abominations.

Horrific creatures with mysterious origins that began appearing in the world hundreds of thousands of years ago. They were corrupt entities whose sole desire was destruction, and their existence drove the world into an era of constant chaos.

But—

After the Ninth Apocalypse War, they were finally sealed away in structures known as Labyrinths, ushering the world into a time of peace and prosperity. Down the line, the world adjusted to this arrangement and even began to slay Abominations to plunder them for their Essence Cores and other materials.

Even now, in this era… this has not changed.

In fact, a ranking system was established in order to classify Abominations into cadres in order to signify their strength and levels of danger.

Rank 1 to Rank 9.

Rank 1 was extremely weak—even a novice warrior could defeat one with a proper weapon and sufficient time.

Rank 9 was unfathomably strong. Not even the strongest Explorers had a chance defeating them by themselves, and even if several Explorers of the highest rank banded together… the chances of defeating a Rank 9 was near impossible.

Rank 9 Abominations were simply too powerful.

"From what I remember, for every increase in Rank, an Abomination's strength increases tenfold." Bi Chen was thinking very deeply on the topic of Abominations due to his need for an Essence Core. 

As a player of "Please Touch Me, Master", as well as Ash's Lord, he already knew all of this information by heart.

"A Level 1 Player can defeat a Rank 1 Abomination, but Rank 2 Abominations are at least ten times stronger. That means Level 10 and above Players are the only ones who can stand up against them. As for Rank 3… you need to be at least Level 100." He sighed and shook his head very slowly. "It's a really messed up world, all things considered."

This was why "Please Touch Me, Master" wasn't meant to be played solo. 

Most gamers collaborated to challenge strong Abominations, created Guilds to make Labyrinth Exploration easier, and even created Alliances among Guilds for large scale attacks on certain areas with powerful Abominations.

Even the solo Players had to enlist several Slaves with high Levels in order to explore Dungeons.

'This world isn't designed for a Slave or a solo individual to get very far in. Masters use Slaves to assist them in battle, increasing their battle strength so that they can win against even impossible enemies.'

For example, a Rank 4 Abomination was 10 times stronger than a Rank 3. That meant a Player had to be Level 1,000 to be able to face such an existence alone. However, if that Player was Level 100 and had nine Slaves, all of whom were Level 100 or a little higher, then he could win..

The same could be said for Rank 5… Rank 6… Rank 7…

The scale of battle would be very large, but it was very doable. As long as Explorers had the power of numbers, then they could face the Abominations and win.

'Unfortunately, not only am I weak—only in Level 2—but I also only have one subordinate, and she's nearly useless in battle.' Bi Chen frowned mildly. 'The best way to rapidly increase my power, other than Leveling Up, is to make have Artifacts at my disposal.'

That could compensate for his lack of numbers.

'Crafting, Refinement, and Deconstruction… the three paths of Artifact management.'

"Please Touch Me, Master" was Bi Chen's favorite game, so he naturally knew all about these three aspects, and had actively gotten involved in them. He desired to put his knowledge into practice in this world, but he was stuck before he even started.

'I need to defeat a Rank 2 so I can increase my battle strength, but I need to increase my battle strength before I can face a Rank 2.' 

Even the injured Rank 2 Abomination was still undoubtedly far stronger than him.

"Oh well… there's no other way around it." Bi Chen rose to his feet, his mind already made as he glanced at Ash, who kept staring at him curiously. "We'll have to keep hunting Rank 1 Abominations until I get strong enough to challenge that Rank 2. Since I already know what direction it went in, there's no need to rush the process for now…"

"Understood, Lord Bi!"

"In the next fight, watch me carefully. Once I get to Level 3, I'll need to throw you in the wringer as well, so you'd do well to mimic my actions."

"Y-yes! I'll do my best," Ash expressed mild hesitance, but her eagerness to please Bi Chen overshadowed her nervousness. He noticed all of this and smiled coldly; even if she didn't express eagerness, he would have to enforce it.

As much as he wanted to grow strong, Bi Chen knew he couldn't leave Ash too far behind.

She would be too useless if he did that.

'I'm also not worried that the Abominations will kill her. As an Undying Vassal, if she's fatally injured, she won't truly die, but will simply take time to recover. Her life is tied to mine, so as long as I don't die… she won't die.'

And how was Bi Chen so confident in this assertion?

Well, it was because the System told him.

[Undying Vassals (1)]

Rank: Normal (Lvl: 1)

Condition: Alive, Fully Recovered

Specialty: None

Geist: Pocket World

[Note: Vassals cannot be summoned again after they are withdrawn if they are not fully recovered]

'From this, I can glean a few relevant information. Besides, even if there's a possibility that I'm wrong, it's a risk I have to take in the end. If she can Level Up, then it would be a waste not to have her get strong enough to fight for me, as well as with me.' It was for all of these reasons that Bi Chen decided to make Ash into a fighter.

'Of course, right now the priority is on my own individual growth.'

And so, the two set out and went deeper into the Labyrinth. Just as Bi Chen expected, they ran into Rank 1 Abominations again, and he fought them by himself while Ash obediently watched his process.

It was a lot easier to kill his second Rank 1 Abomination, and after killing the third one… he finally achieved his goal.

'I've Leveled Up again!'

Bi Chen finally reached Level 3, which meant Ash would finally start fighting. 

The goal was to get her to Level 1, so he put her into the wringer. The next Rank 1 Abomination was for her to defeat, and while she copied his moves—almost flawlessly even—she still made many mistakes and took very long to kill the beast.

After she was done, she didn't Level Up.

It was only after she slew her second Rank 1 Abomination that she was able to reach Level 2.

"Yayyy! Did you see that, Lord Bi? I did it so perfectly this time!"

Bi Chen patted her head and nodded, a proud smile etched on his dark gray face. He felt a surge of happiness within him, not only because his subordinate had finally increased in strength, but because he found something else worth celebrating.

'How lucky… This Rank 1 Abomination left behind an Essence Core!'