Afterword

Volume 8! Wooohooo, volume 8! Thank you for reading everyone, and surprise, LDM is getting adapted into a manga! This is almost like a dream to me. Though I won’t pinch my cheeks cause that would probably hurt.

Anyway, the first chapter of the manga should be put online right as this volume comes out. I sure hope my editor isn’t lying to me or anything. Guess this means an anime adaptation is around the corne— Yeah, no, that’s still a distant dream. Overlap has a lot of other series that would be, uh, more likely to be animated, so to speak. I know that. Other series have beginnings that are a little more family friendly. Like Arifureta. Congratulations.

Anyway, this volume was all about Ichika. She finally got on the cover. And as is commonplace by now, a lot of things happened in this volume that didn’t in the web novel. Ichika’s former party members Isam and Mimiko showing up, for instance. The web novel had the foreshadowing, but only here is it followed up on.

I just took all this new plot and stuffed it into the rookie hunter arc. About ninety-five percent of this volume is original stuff. At this point the volumes might as well be completely original. The page count ended up a little lower than usual because of that, so I filled things out with some extra long extra episodes.

As an aside, I believe Neruneh and Wataru first got close in a short story I wrote for an online questionnaire about Volume 4. I think you might be able to enjoy their relationship in Extra Episode 1 if you read that.

Oh, and for this afterword I get six pages. That’s a lot. I put in a crossword puzzle when I had a four page one before, but... Okay. I think I’ll write a “parallel world”-type short story. Like that one isekai school parody out there. A school life story... Four more pages... I can do this! It won’t be a problem, I just gotta pack it in tight. That might mess with the pacing, but hey, this is an afterword. Anything goes.

And so, please enjoy.

The Lazy Dungeon Master Just Wants To Sleep In Class

Ding, dooong, ding, dooong. The end of school bell rang out.

“Guh... Oh, what? Class is over?”

“Seriously, Keima? I can’t believe you were sleeping in class again!”

My name was Keima Masuda. I was a spry and healthy sixteen-year-old in my second year of high school.

In front of me stood Rokuko. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, just like your standard anime heroine. We both went to Meikyuu High School and were in the Dungeoneering department.

I met her on the first day of school when the teacher asked everyone to make groups. She was left on her own by everyone else, and I was late due to oversleeping, so we formed a pair together. Ever since then she’s basically been my partner in all sorts of things.

“Sheesh, my big sis Haku gave an amazing lesson on conquering dungeons together. You’re really only hurting yourself by sleeping through class, Keima. Think of all the money you paid to be here.”

“Let’s not talk about money, it hurts too much... But man, Ms. Haku really does look good in black stockings. I hope I get to see her feet in them one day.” Ms. Haku was Rokuko’s older sister and had an intelligent, sharp aura that made everyone think she was a teacher. Which was good, since she was in fact a teacher. The teaching whip she carried was a perfect fit for her image. Just like her tight skirt and black stockings were.

By the way, Ms. Haku hated my guts since she “could’ve been Rokuko’s partner if I hadn’t gone to class.” What a mean thing to tell a student. But given that Haku generally focused her strategies around using numbers to win through brute force, she was indeed a good match for Rokuko’s dungeon.

“Hahaha! Sleeping in class again, Keima? Your boldness never ceases to inspire!” Up walked Core 219, another of my classmates. Everyone called her the Prince. She was a girl, but she dressed in male clothing and was the star of the theater club.

“Heya, Prince. Looking as sharp as ever.”

“Hahaha. By the way, Keima. You should visit the theater club sometime soon. I would like to see that beautiful form of yours once more.”

“Not a chance. I’m never cross dressing again.”

“Is that so? But you look so wonderful in a dress.”

“Bruh, back up. Back the heck up. I don’t want your weird fetishes infecting me.”

“Oh, forgive me, my little Mand. I did not intend to scorn you, my sweet little princess,” said Core 219 while stroking the small flower that had popped out of her pocket. Or rather, not a flower, but a tiny person. A small girl with a white flower growing on her green hair. She was a mandragora, and another of my classmates. She paired up with Core 219 a lot. They were kind of like me and Rokuko.

“Keima, you’re the pervert. You said you wanted to put me in a pot and watch me grow on a table. You also said you wanted to eat ramen while using my toes as chopsticks.”

“That’s slander. That never happened and I protest your lying. Do you have a single fact to back that up?”

“You said it while sleeping.”

“I’m sorry. I was probably just allured by the temptation of your tiny feet.” We continued talking and ultimately I agreed to buy her some ramen later.

“In any case, you may drop by whenever you like, Keima.”

“I’ll forgive you once you buy me some ramen. But not before then. Lateeer.”

Sheesh, that’s more damage to the wallet. I’m gonna have to save up for a bit...

“That’s super gross, Keima. Who wants to use toes as chopsticks?”

“I mean, Mand is the perfect size for that, so... How can I help what happens in my dreams?”

Rokuko and I chatted for a bit, then a small girl came walking into the classroom. It was Niku. My little sister and junior in school. The fact that we slept together (she snuck into my bed every night and I liked using her as a dakimakura) can be a secret between you and me.

“K-K-Keima. Want to, go home together?”

“Hm? You don’t need to help out any of the sports club today?”

“Um, I already ran in the gym, so... I think that’s enough.”

By the way, Niku had an extreme talent for all things sports. So much so it was hard to believe she was my little sister. She was strong enough to fight the student council president Wataru (a first-year in the Hero department) and the delinquent queen of the school Redra (a literal Dragon) and survive... Wait, is it just me, or are there a ton of dangerous as heck people in this school? Or am I just weak?

“You can’t go yet, Keima. You promised to have a practice Dungeon Battle with me today, remember?”

“Oh yeah, I did... Sorry, Niku. Go on home without me.”

“I can... help you...”

“We asked Ms. Leona to watch over us in case something happens, though. Are you gonna be okay?” Niku was a strong little girl, but she found it difficult to be around Ms. Leona, our health teacher. It was true that Leona always seemed to be plotting one thing or another.

“...I don’t like her, but... If it’s for your sake, K-Keima, I’ll...”

“Hmph. Fine, you can come with us, Niku,” said Rokuko before marching off to the gym. Niku and I followed after her.

The gym had a court for basketball and so on, but it also had a battlefield for Dungeoneering practice. It was possible to hold countless Dungeon Battles here without issue. And there we found Ms. Leona waiting for us.

“My my, you two sure took a long time.”

“Sorry. We ended up late because of Keima. Ummm... Thank you for helping us practice today.”

“Ahaha. It’s fine. I’ll lose my skills if I don’t practice every now and again, anyway.” Ms. Leona was our health teacher, but she was also a Dungeoneering department graduate. She also ran a fairly infamous Succubus Dungeon. It was basically a straight upgrade on the [Cave of Greed] dungeon I made with Rokuko, so she was a perfect person to practice with.

Not to mention, she had crazy skills that put her on top of the Hero department too. To be honest, she was so strong that not even our usual partner Aidy could hold a candle to her. This would mostly be a challenge to see how long we could survive against her onslaught... But, well. Might as well try and give her as much hell as possible.

“Ready to go, Rokuko?” I asked, but received no answer. Because this story is over. No, it won’t continue. Thanks for reading.

Supana Onikage