JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World

by Ko Hiratori

  It was the first time I had killed someone. But I shut down that awful feeling, too.

  “What’s going on...? What the hell are you doing?”

  Some other soldiers noticed me.

  I adjusted my grip on the sword and learned its heft. I picked out which motions I could use and visualized them.

  First I need to see how they approach me. Chiba said that’s how the high-level guys fight.

  I parried the sword of the man who came to slash me and then split his armpit open.

  The man fell with a shriek, and as I looked down at him, I used the skill Status List so I could view them all.

  The skills and levels of the soldiers—men I had slept with—were displayed as tags stuck to them.

  Sword Fighting +10 is a skill that loads of guys have. I have Sword Fighting +150. One glance at what the soldiers were doing and I could mimic them.

  I remembered the adventurers I’d met at work. We’d get them drunk and they’d tell us stories of their exploits, brag about their moves—someone getting up to show off wasn’t rare either. Between those images, the feel of actually holding a sword in my hand, and what I was picking up from the soldiers, I could fight freely.

  Clashing steel and shrieks. Shouts of the men mixed with the sound of the rain echoing through the forest.

  I could hear Shequraso singing, too.

  “What’s with this chick...?”

  When I stood before them spattered with blood, their eyes flashed.

  They started to look like soldiers.

  “Attack!”

  They rushed me one after the other. But no one’s blade could touch me.

  When my sword got heavy from all the blood clinging to it, I traded it out for one of the fallen men’s. I acclimated to it immediately, and it became mine. Stab, steal, slash. No matter how many came, the things I did were the same.

  “I wondered who it was... The younger prostitute, right? Seems like you’ve got some skills.”

  “Dekasquad Commander Subaya!”

  The man with the goatee shoved younger soldiers aside to come forward.

  He’s a lolicon and has a foot fetish, totally gross.

  “But will they be enough to read my sword?”

  Lolicon licked his lips with a smile.

  He was focused on my feet, which were wet from the rain.

  “Here it comes! Commander Subaya’s Godspeed Draw and Slash!”

  He ran at me as the others spoiled his move.

  This guy has Speed +80.

  Incidentally, I have Speed +140, Accuracy +100, Dynamic Visual Acuity: Divine, and Reaction Speed: Light.

  I easily dodged his blade and wounded his thigh for good measure.

  He turned around, about to come at me again, when he was surprised to find his movements had slowed.

  Skill Killer.

  It was a rare one, possessed by Nechinative, the president of the Kickin’ the Can Association, who had a reputation for nipping young talents in the bud.

  It put a stop to your opponent’s special moves with zero ado. I cut down the man, who couldn’t even keep track of my movements anymore.

  “...She’s a monster,” someone said in a trembling voice. I could tell the soldiers were scared.

  “Get the units in the rear together and form up! This is a monster. She’s not human!”

  You’re the ones who aren’t human.

  We were just taking our work seriously.

  We were just doing our job.

  But you...

  My first customer at the brothel was God.

  “Are you surprised! It’s me?! Me!”

  The hell is this scumbag here for?

  I thought to punch him, so I did, but God just laughed and laughed.

  “Ahh, I’ve been so curious about you. Back then you seemed to be in a bad mood, so you didn’t say anything to me, but I wanted to be your friend. I was thinking we should have LINE in this world, too.”

  God paid up and as he was fucking me, he said, “I thought, I should—ahhn—give you a—mm—a skill, but—hahh—to be frank, skills are like gacha, so I never know what people will get, but for you—ooh—for you, I think I can come up with something awesome—hahh. I’ll bust out, a special super rare gacha, and give you, a really, good skill. Ahh, it’s so good. Err, that was about your body. Amazing, JKs are great. Oooh...”

  I wondered if it was very God-like to ejaculate prematurely, but along with the jizz, he gave me a skill—a super weird one.

  “There you go. It’s a totally unique skill: Creation Pregnancy. When a man cums in you, you’ll receive his experience points and skills. Maybe you think the name doesn’t go with the ability, or maybe you think the name is lame, but I don’t think there’s a more useful skill for the job you’ve decided to do. Sleep with many men. Nourish yourself with their experience. Be the mother of our hope.”

  I told him I’d rather he sent me back to my own world.

  God just said, “The world is what you make of it...”

  He kept coming around for a while, and I wondered if he had transported me to this world just because he wanted to do me, but after a while he stopped showing up. I thought, God is dead, and forgot about him.

  And the skills, I mean, I knew that no matter how high of a level I reached, I wouldn’t be able to become an adventurer as a woman, so they were meaningless. And the only useful ones were the Sisters’ healing skills, but since only women had them, I had no options.

  Some of them I used a ton, though. Beautiful Skin and Gorgeous Ass, for instance, were extremely handy, and it cracked me up that the guild master’s son had Cooking, which I could use. Still, most skills were combat-related, so they weren’t very practical for a sex worker.

  I couldn’t go monster hunting, and if I resisted a horrible customer and hurt him, it would cause trouble for the shop.

  This world hates tomboys, so I thought I would never have the chance to use these violent cheat skills.

  Plus, if I get stronger the more I fuck, what is that, like Fist of the Cum Drinker or something?

  “Back up! Don’t rush her one at a time!”

  But I was strong.

  I was so strong, it made me shiver, and I knew no one could beat me.

  “Ugh, guh, ahhgh...ngh!”

  I got used to cutting people, which meant I got more efficient.

  It was like my technique had caught up to my level. The sword felt light, and I could manipulate it freely. My body moved better than I expected, too. My visualizations and reality synced up beautifully.

  “G-Gotcha!”

  I had knocked a short-haired soldier’s sword out of his hands, but he grabbed me from behind.

  It was the confident grappling of a man with Martial Arts +50.

  I jammed my thumbs into his sides, sent him flipping with a sweep of my leg, and when he fell to the ground, I slit his throat.

  Because my Martial Arts skill is +120. Of course, I’ve always been good at laying people out.

  “How could you do this to my friends?!” a young soldier screamed.

  What do you know about “friends” in your fuckboy brigade?

  Revenge and counter-revenge is legal in this world, right?

  This is revenge for me and Shequraso. If you don’t want to die, ya better counter me.

  “Flame, five rounds, fire!”

  Everything in front of me turned red, enveloped in flames.

  But the spells ran into an invisible barrier in the air and were neutralized before hitting my body.

  “It...didn’t work?”

  Immunity to Attack Magic—that was Chiba’s skill.

  And yeah, I have his 16x Experience Points and Immunity to Status Effects, too. No magic attacks work on me.

  Cheating is unfair. I got the experience points everyone spent years grinding for off a dude in a single night. And I even got paid on top of it. It was really sneaky.

  Plus, I don’t have that level cap restraint. Sumo’s insanely rare
Unlimited Levels skill allowed me to level up infinitely.

  At first I didn’t understand what “unlimited” meant, but when I heard that Chiba’s levels stopped at 91, I laughed so fucking hard.

  I said a short spell that I heard a customer say once.

  Cold light began to spread from my palms.

  Ice Magic.

  “What? No way...! She can use magic?!”

  I froze the water on the ground, trapping the soldiers’ feet.

  Then I used Wind Magic and hit them with the Koyama Cutter.

  “Don’t stand still! Spread out! If we bunch up, we’re done for!”

  Even the professional army casters were no match for my magic. It’s not as if I ever learned it, but I had borrowed Dragon Quest from my boyfriend before, so it was easy for me to figure out.

  After all, I had the skill Sage’s Wisdom, too.

  One of the customers I’d fucked and tossed away while I was busy with Kickin’ the Can had it.

  No matter how many soldiers came at me, I didn’t get so much as a scratch. It was a one-sided fight where I just kept knocking them down.

  Chiba said skills were important in this world. That seemed right to me. It was important to be strong in order survive here.

  “...I never would have guessed you were so strong, Haru. What a surprise.”

  Bisque came slowly forward with a smile. He seemed so relaxed, like none of this had anything to with him.

  “You’ve killed half of our squad now. Are you satisfied yet? We’ve experienced the same pain now. Shouldn’t we talk the rest out?”

  He approached me with his sword in its sheath, saying we should talk.

  I forced my sword hand not to tremble.

  “I think what we did to Shequraso was horrible. And of course, what we did to you, too. But I want you to understand our position. As you can see, our work keeps us close to death. On the front, you can only rely on your squadmates. Your unit is your family. In our world, orders from the top are absolute, and as a mid-level member, I put solidarity first. Sometimes I have to sacrifice my personal happiness for the good of the unit. She understood that. Truly.”

  He looked straight at me with a face that contained not a shred of guilt.

  I used to not be able to believe this guy, that he was like this.

  But now, I understood. After he had sex with me, I learned.

  He meant it. He wasn’t at all frightened of this situation. He didn’t feel any guilt or regret for what he’d done. Those lines that seemed so superficial were his true feelings because he only lived in the superficial.

  “We’re here because we genuinely want to protect the people of the city. But our enemies are horrifying monsters, and there is already tension and fear among us. We’re fighting at the very end of our wits. It’s the same for you sex workers, and Shequr—”

  Without letting him finish, I stabbed him through the chest.

  For just a moment, he frowned, but his usual smile reappeared almost immediately. “Too bad,” he said.

  Emotion Killer.

  From the beginning, Bisque never had human emotions like pain or sadness. If any unpleasant emotion did pop up, he would promptly shut it down. He could leave only the pleasurable ones.

  It was a handy ability, but the worst. I swore I would never use it again.

  And you’re going to die only after you lose it.

  “Ngh...ahhh!”

  Skill Killer.

  I wiped that creepy smile off Bisque’s face and pulled my sword out of him.

  “Ahh, shit, the pain... Ah, ahhhh!”

  He fell into a puddle, writhed around, suffered, and finally reached weakly toward the rain.

  “...She...quraso...”

  His hand fell into the mud, having grasped only air.

  Shequraso’s singing in my head faded away at that point.

  He was a bastard.

  This whole world was nothing but stupid idiots.

  “I hate you! I fucking hate you all!”

  I pressed on through the rain crisscrossed with swords and spells.

  I screamed and went on a rampage. If I wasn’t being angry, my chest hurt and I felt sick, like I was going to throw up. So I just went nuts on them.

  Soon I realized what that sick feeling was.

  I was already one of them—I belonged to this world.

  “I hate this... I hate it!”

  I would never have an “after school” ever again.

  I would never again exchange stupid LINEs all night, either. Never again would I fight with my big sister over the hair dryer and be late. Never again would I get scolded by my mom and dad. I couldn’t cheer on my boyfriend at his soccer games, either.

  Covered in blood, I went berserk. Drenched in sweat, I slept with men.

  Haru Koyama became just plain Haru, and she would live in this world.

  “Heegh! Eeeeeeegh!” In the deepest part of the forest, the hectosquad commander was hiding in a tent right next to the front line.

  When I set it on fire, he came stumbling out, shrieking just from the furious gaze of this little girl.

  Yep. I know what you really are because you slept with me. I can see it.

  You’re a level 15 wimp. That’s the truth of you.

  “S-Stop it! Anyone?! C-Come protect me! Eeegh!”

  I formed magic eggs in my hands.

  A blue one in my right and a red one in my left.

  This was a dual cast of that Chiba-resenting blue-bearded man’s skill, Summon Ice Elemental: Sivyl Unico, plus that cat-person blacksmith’s skill, Summon Fire Elemental: Ganegudey Drago, using that kinky bard guy’s skill, Dual Spell.

  The two magic eggs were like the Sun and the Moon as they expanded and grew brighter. As I froze and burned the surrounding area, relying on Immunity to Attack Magic, the hectosquad commander inched toward me.

  He was so terrified he could hardly stand, and magic started cracking through the eggs right over his head.

  “N-No! Yaaagh!”

  “You’re a man, aren’t you?”

  The magical creatures spread their wings, and their battle cries made the forest tremble. The sky widened as the trees melted away.

  “Don’t scream in such a sexy way!”

  “Nooooooooo!”

  The blue and red lights collided and blurred white. I swallowed the light, and scene after scene of my old world flashed before my eyes.

  When the light disappeared, the hectosquad commander was gone, and I was the only one standing in the dark forest.

  When I exhaled, I choked, it hurt so much. My whole body was in pain, and the sword I leaned on felt heavy.

  But the rain was still falling.

  There was a stirring in the forest, as if it were breathing, and a hateful presence lurked in the darkness.

  This was the front line, where the monsters appeared, and I had wiped out the unit guarding it. I could smell the sour breath of hungry beasts.

  But from farther back, I felt a sharp gaze.

  Icy eyes stared right at me from way off in the darkness. In front of that gaze, I could sense countless creatures.

  A cage the moment before it was opened.

  They were all breathing hard, they wanted me so bad.

  ...Fine. Come. You won’t be able to sleep like that, anyway, right?

  I’ll fuck you. I’m a sex worker. I’ll stay with you ’till the morning comes.

  But I won’t let you go to Heaven.

  The only one who gets to rest in peace tonight is Shequraso.

  The presence deep in the forest swelled up huge and then faded away. The piercing cold gaze softened.

  The rain abruptly stopped.

  Suddenly, war cries and a stomping of feet—the horde of demons had been released.

  Thunder in my left hand, a bloody sword in my right, I screamed too, at the top of my lungs.

  JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World

  “She who has now been called to be with God, her name is
...”

  Everyone from the shop was seeing Shequraso off at her funeral.

  Under a blue sky, she was smiling. She had her same pretty face as always.

  “...Shequraso...” Lupe sobbed.

  I hugged her from behind.

  Her fluffy hair felt nice, so soft, and I buried my face in it and cried too.

  The official story was that Shequraso had died of illness.

  No one at the shop was okay with that, and the guild master’s family even went to protest. But the hectosquad commander had been so big and important, not to mention commander of the unit that had been wiped out, so the matter was left unsettled.

  The shop also stopped doing outside dates and “comfort visits” for a while. The one who felt most responsible was Madam. She was crying and apologizing the whole time even though no one was blaming her.

  I told her it wasn’t her fault, too. She replied, “Thank you for coming back safe,” and cried again.

  Sex work is a job full of sorrow. Everyone is weak. It’s no wonder that they get swept along when getting swept along is the only option.

  When we can stand up, let’s stand up straight.

  “Shequraso...”

  I love you.

  We were friends ’till the end, weren’t we?

  And from now on too, right?

  Now then.

  Even with all that going on, I still had to work.

  We’re women in the service industry. We have to smile for the customers and keep our bodies pristine.

  “Come on in!”

  The shop was jam-packed just like any other week, so I was running around.

  Tables, check. Drinks, check. Nothing wrong with the floors/walls/ceiling.

  Recently I acquired Carpentry, of all things, so I can’t help but notice if something in the building needs maintenance.

  What an obnoxious cheat skill I have. I wonder if God will ever come again. I’d like to punch him out.

  “Haru, it’s almost time for the show!”

  “O-Okay!”

  But I have to put all my skills to work for this job.

  I decided I would give it my all. I felt like I was the only one who could save the shop.

  Even if that was reckless.

  “U-Uhh, th-thanks for coming to Blue Cat Nocturne tonight, everyone.”

  Nooobody is listening. The shop was full of chatter, and no one was paying attention to me up on the stage with my guitar-like instrument.