◈ 397. [Side Story] Bottom
We jumped down the bridge.
Exactly, I jumped. This mad duo of highwaymen grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and threw me off the bridge.
“You crazy bastards!”
Falling down, I saw the Crown and the Nightcrawlers looking down on us from the bridge.
It’s a pitiful gaze, as if looking at a person committing suicide… … No, it’s not really that different!
“Wow! Save people!”
Falling helplessly, I let out a scream.
Then Salome, who fell behind me, reached out to me.
“ash! Hold my hand!]
I hurriedly grabbed his hand, and my face turned red.
“Thank you, Salome! I heard that even slugs have a knack for crawling, so you can fly?!”
“no? I can’t fly?”
“Huh?”
《Huh?》
A few seconds later.
《Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Save the dreamer!”
“… .”
Salome is clinging to my back and screaming. spewing out ugly tears and mucus.
I beg you, someone please get rid of this slug… … .
The area under the bridge is so full of darkness that I have no idea how far I will have to go to reach the bottom.
Grinding my teeth, I desperately looked around. What do you have? How to survive a staggering free fall?
‘… No, I don’t think there is.’
it’s X I guess this is X right.
“Ash, but… . >
At that time, Salome, who was sobbing behind me, looked at me with a sad look.
《I’m glad I was with you at the end of my life… … Kehehe?!”
“Ah, go away!”
I pushed Salome’s face with my hand. What a strange atmosphere you’re holding in this situation! Without thinking about how to live far away!
It was then.
“Noisy guests! Stop screaming!”
Pingrrrr!
A long rope came wriggling like a snake, coiled around our bodies, and returned to the owner’s hand.
The ones who threw the rope were the two highwaymen, the Sword Demon and the Spear, who were falling together from the other side. It doesn’t seem like they threw us without a countermeasure.
“Huh!”
“Uracha!”
The two old men deftly tethered me and Salome Mason and snatched them up.
And then they stretched out their weapons to the side- and slammed them into the side.
Chow ah!
It was only then that the cliffs that had been shrouded in fog on the other side of the darkness were revealed.
As if they had done this quite often, the two old men deftly inserted their weapons and slowed down their fall.
After a long free fall, it would not be normal for them to just stop, but the two old men slid down calmly without blinking while supporting the weight of three more people.
‘As expected, it’s like the strongest and worst hostile NPC.’
The state of strength is not common. My tongue stuck out at this feat.
After sliding along the wall and slowing down for a while, the two old men kicked the wall and soared into the air –
Tadak!
… got down to the floor
They even took us down one by one and put them on the floor. After-sales service is good.
“Oh my legs are shaking.”
It wasn’t a bungee jump, I almost fell to my death, so my legs were shaking.
Salome couldn’t stand up and sat down on the floor, and Mason couldn’t stand it and collapsed on the spot.
In front of us, the Sword Demon and the Spear Demon grinned with their yellow teeth shining.
“Jaja, I had a hard time on the short road!”
“Come on, come to my town!”
“This is our neighborhood… ?”
I looked around and found it.
Spread out in the thick darkness beneath this deep valley… … a desolate town.
Looking at the houses made of clutter and trash, I was speechless. A village like this?
Pointing to those houses, the Sword Demon and the Spear Demon opened their arms.
“This is the ‘bottom’!”
“The lowest, most terrible town in this hell!”
***
I thought my life had already fallen to the bottom as I fell into the deepest part of the dungeon alone.
It wasn’t. There was always a floor below the floor.
“What is this… .”
As I entered the ‘bottom’ of the hidden NPC’s residence, I muttered involuntarily.
You can reach this village by dropping through the gap between Districts 10 and 9… … It was a place that seemed to have been built by collecting garbage that had fallen from above.
A garbage town built on top of a mountain of garbage.
And to my surprise, people were actually living there.
Haunting eyes flashed through the rubbish heaps all over town. All of the beggar-like NPCs glared at us, the guests, with wary eyes.
Although there are residences of NPCs all over the dungeon. It was the first time I had entered it myself, and moreover, I didn’t even know this village existed even in the game.
“Don’t worry too much~ They are all good people.”
“Yes. Aside from being a little crazy, everyone is white in nature?”
“People are good, people are.”
“Chuck!”
The two old men giggled as they took the lead in guiding us.
Other NPCs looked at us and smacked our lips, sharpened rusty kitchen knives on the floor, or made gestures like slitting our throats when our eyes met… … Are you a good person? huh?
After walking for a long time, we arrived at the house of two old people. It was the biggest house in the middle of this garbage town.
It had a large yard and was surprisingly in the shape of a solid house. Sitting on a veranda made of moth-eaten wood, two old men gestured.
“I have to wait a few days before I can go out, so I can stay here until then.”
“This is my home~ Think about it and rest in peace! There are many rooms.”
I looked around the house, then looked up and up.
A distant cliff was visible beyond the far darkness.
You have to climb this cliff for a long time to get to the Lake Kingdom city area, and you have to go through that city area for a long time to get to the entrance to the Lake Kingdom.
“… How the hell do you go back up from here? Is there a way to get out of the dungeon?”
In what age would you have covered that long road?
Besides, I want to go back as soon as possible, so why wait a few days? Frankly, I am very suspicious.
Then, the sword ghost and the spear ghost clicked their tongues and started explaining.
“Here in the Lake Kingdom, a time called ‘inundation’ comes every few weeks at the shortest.”
“flood… What?”
“It’s also the time when the monsters of a certain corps increase in the dungeon, and when it’s full, they rush out.”
Two bandits stretched out their hands and pointed to one side of the village.
“It’s also the time when the black rain pours down and fills the city floor and overflows.”
As I followed the hand, I saw the cliff right next to the village.
A large sewer was connected to the cliff. Now, it is completely dry without water.
“When it rains, that place overflows and fills up. At that time, if you float the boat and go out through the sewer along the full water… … .”
Something flashed through my mind. I asked in surprise.
“Could it be District 1… Does it lead to the ‘dried drain’?”
“Have you heard anything? Right. It is connected to that place through ancient times.”
In the Lake Kingdom Dungeon, there are routes called Short Cuts everywhere.
It was a route widely used by game users because it allowed them to skip the complicated battles and quickly clear the road to the target area.
The ‘Road of the Losers’, which was used from the base camp to the ‘Flaming Colosseum’ in the past, is also a kind of short cut.
And there were rumors that it was treated as a legend or ghost story among users.
It was rumored that there was a short cut that could go from the early zone to the deepest part at once.
However, there were only rumors and no users were actually found, so I never thought I would check it myself… … .
‘Under the specific conditions of flooding, a shortcut connects from the deepest part of this place to the dry drainage ditch in District 1… … !’
Surprised, the two old men nodded.
“If you walk from here to the entrance of the Lake Kingdom, there is no end, but if you go out by boat during flooding, it will be an instant.”
“So don’t be impatient and wait a few days. I will take you comfortably to the entrance of the Lake Kingdom.”
Then, the two old men pointed their index fingers at me.
“When you leave, bring your money properly!”
“know?! Half of all the wealth, half!”
“Don’t worry about fish oil money. I’ll take care of it very thickly. Just make sure you escape properly.”
The two robbers laughed contentedly, as if they liked my answer.
“Uhhh money!”
“goldfinch!”
“money!”
“grandma’!”
“This inspiration is like this again!”
Watching the two madmen laughing among themselves… … I was puzzled all over again.
What is the use of money in a town like this, to collect it while doing robberies… … ?
***
According to the two old men, the next ‘flood’ will occur within a week at the latest.
Then I decided to get on a boat and go through the sewer. In other words, until then, you have to wait endlessly.
“To wait a week or so.”
Sitting in front of the parched sewer, I picked up a stone and threw it into the sewer. Tung- Tung- and the dry reverberation of stones hitting the floor returned.
“Everyone at Crossroads will be waiting for you… .”
I want to go back to Crossroads as soon as possible.
The more I try to go back, the more I feel like I’m getting farther and farther away.
‘Besides, flooding means that monsters overflow from the dungeon… … In other words, it means that there will be a defensive battle on the ground.’
To think you had to fight a defensive battle without me.
Yes, Lucas is reliable as a commander, and my comrades are strong enough… … The water base facility is also not completely repaired, but will it be able to properly defend itself in a cluttered state?
I wonder if everyone is confused or worried because of me who suddenly disappeared.
Worry bites its tail. I want to go back soon.
“… .”
but.
If you succeed in returning, what will happen after that?
Will I again choose the tactic of laying down the lives of the prisoners and my comrades will try to stop it again?
Kkuyeokkkuyeok conducts a defensive battle and loses someone among his colleagues… … .
Do I have to fight like that again?
The road ahead was far and wide, so I was afraid. I wrapped my arms around my knees and hugged them.
“ash? What’s wrong?”
Then Salome walked gently and came behind me. I was startled and looked back at that guy.
And facing my face, Salome
[…] … Aha.]
As if he noticed something, he narrowed his eyes and smiled.
I frowned because I felt bad.
“what. Why are you laughing so much?”
《I know just by looking at your face.》
“What do you know?”
《You look like you want to run away.》
“… !”
“Everyone who surrendered to our corps had that look on their faces. The reality is difficult and painful, so I want to turn my eyes away… … It shows on your face.”
Salome approached and whispered in my ear. With a sweet voice, as if it were not of this world.
“Just say it now. I’ll let you escape.”
“… .”
《Into a happy and perfect dream where there is nothing he hates… .”
Then Salome stretched out her arms and wrapped them around my neck.
slap!
I reached out and pushed Salome’s chin away.
《Woo Boop?!》
“Didn’t you tell me when we first met, you son of a bitch?”
I grinded my teeth.
“I’m not struggling here just to get self-satisfaction through a dream… I’m here to get it.”
The conversation I had with Ader at the beginning is still clear.
– You have a wish you want to come true. Yes? A more precious wish, not something like money.
– I will grant you that dream.
– As long as you still have it in your heart, that dream has not failed.
okay.
In order to risk my life and fight to obtain my wish.
I came to another world and struggled like this.
“I make my wish come true with my efforts in my reality.”
It’s painful and horrible.
If it was something I would give up like this, I wouldn’t have started it in the first place.
“So don’t run away and stay away for about a week. Because I don’t want to mess with you.”
《… .》
Salome, who was looking at me with her lips pouting out as if pouting, slowly opened her mouth.
“That is your wish. Is it really ‘you’ wish?”
“… what?”
what are you talking about
I couldn’t understand it, so I turned around and Salome smiled with the same narrow eyes as before.
It’s not the stupid laugh she’s shown so far.
“I told you I saw your dream when I brought you out of the spirit world. ash. I have looked through your past to the very depths of your soul.”
The Succubus Queen laughed.
dreamer’s daughter.
A dangerous laugh like that of a prostitute.
“Is ‘you’ Ash? Or are you a fan of the classics? Either he or a player? tyrant? A monster?”
Salome whispered as she combed through the worries she had hidden in her most intimate places.
《You can’t clearly define who you are, so how can you conclude that your wish remains the same?》
“… .”
《When the essence changes, the purpose also changes. ‘Yes’ has already ceased to be ‘yes’, so will it be your wish
?
“Now, ask yourself one more time… What is your real wish? What do you really want to do
?
“Who is the real ‘you’?”
