Ascending to the Summit (1)

After that small incident, I readjusted my mask and entered the castle proper. The first floor of this fortress was by far the largest among all its levels. Because of that, the monsters stationed throughout were often spaced far apart, and traps were relatively scarce. Most importantly, the monsters' levels on this floor were the lowest, meaning the difficulty would rise with each floor above. In fact, during past attempts to clear this dungeon, battles had grown more frequent the higher we climbed. If this castle was a space reconstructed from my memories, that detail would match perfectly as well.

Tap. Tap. Tap. In the corridor filled with silence, the only sound was my footsteps. The gloomy interior, fitting for an abandoned fortress, didn't differ much from the exterior I'd seen from outside. This surroundings, recreated exactly as I remembered, was more than enough to stir up traumas I never wanted to recall. Comrades fallen here and there… and the red blood splattered across the ground. The leader's battered face, glimpsed just before the door shut, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flashed through my mind at lightning speed. Feeling a slight dizziness from the memory replaying in my head, I quickly shook it off. This place was merely a reconstruction of past memories. A virtual world, not reality. But such reminders didn't hold up well against a space rendered so vividly. To overcome this, I needed something else to focus on. Fortunately, I soon found a suitable offering for that purpose.

"…I see them too. And it looks like they've noticed us as well."

At one end of the corridor, not far away, stood two simply armed soldiers. They were likely guards patrolling the castle interior. Watching the monsters in their shabby armor, each gripping a longsword of moderate length, I felt my eyes light up. The monsters that appeared in this dungeon were all humanoid. Not grotesque beasts like those from other dungeons, but creatures bearing human forms. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Even so, they weren't completely identical to people. Their faces were missing.

Clank. Clank. Clank. I stood still, meeting the gaze of the two monsters approaching. But that description wasn't accurate. After all, they didn't even possess the body part called "eyes." Indeed, every monster here lacked the face a normal person should have. Instead, the front of their heads was filled with dense darkness, as if someone had spilled black ink over it. Their clothing and bodies resembled humans, but their heads were faceless and grotesque. They were the most representative type among humanoid monsters. Due to their chilling and unique appearance, hunters often nicknamed them "Noface."

They typically appeared in dungeons containing artificial structures built by someone. Their attire varied depending on the dungeon's internal environment. In particular, Nofaces were among the monsters novice hunters found most difficult. Aside from their bizarre heads, the rest of their bodies were almost identical to ordinary humans. Yet when asked later, every hunter gave the same answer: the moment combat began, they could feel in their skin that the beings before them weren't human… I agreed with that testimony. From my repeated encounters with Nofaces while working as a porter, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd realized a few things. The most unpleasant was that they emitted none of the vitality unique to living people. It felt like facing a doll being controlled by someone. And that sensation was vividly present even now.

Tatatatatat!!! At that moment, the two monsters, which had maintained a steady pace, suddenly charged toward me at full speed. Emitting thick killing intent from their entire bodies while gripping their swords tightly, their intent was clear.

Nabi's mechanical voice flowed into my mind in response. Maintaining my composure as I stared at the approaching monsters, I slowly rolled my eyes. At the end of my gaze was the blue-glowing sword in the monster's hand. At first, I only sensed that they were gripping their swords tightly, but as I calmed my mind and focused, other details I hadn't noticed before became visible. The sword's movement path Nabi had predicted. Assuming that was true and watching the blade, it truly felt as if its trajectory was entering my mind. Of course, the old me could never have attempted something like this. With monsters wielding real, sharpened blades charging to kill, there would have been no time to observe them. I would have… no, I almost certainly would have fled in panic without even facing them head-on. That was an instinct ingrained from years of working as a porter. But the situation now was very different.

Thud!!!… Shlick!!… The fleeting moment that felt eternal passed, and the two sharp swords collided with my body exactly along the paths Nabi had predicted. At the same time, a chilling, gruesome sound echoed around us. The slender girl's body was exposed without hesitation to the merciless blades. Anyone witnessing this scene from afar would have been unable to hide their shock. But what followed easily surpassed any expectation based on common sense.

…!!? It began with the monster that had thrust its sword into the girl's abdomen. Having successfully dealt a fatal wound to the enemy before it, the monster applied force to its arm to withdraw the blade. Yet no matter how much strength it exerted, the sword didn't budge. As if it had frozen in place while piercing the girl's body, it remained completely still. The monster that had attacked from the left felt the same doubt. Up until the moment the sword touched her shoulder, there had been no issue. The strike aimed precisely at the left shoulder was supposed to cleanly slice diagonally through the girl's body. Along with it, a vast amount of blood gushing from the wound was meant to soak the surroundings. That was the future it had imagined, the predetermined outcome that should have occurred. But reality was the opposite. The blade that met the girl's shoulder halted after only slightly cutting into her. No matter how much force was applied, the embedded sword refused to move downward, let alone budge. It was as if something was holding it in place… In truth, not a single drop of blood could be found from the wound it had barely inflicted. Only then did they realize something was wrong, but it was already too late.

The girl stood silently with her head lowered, even though a sword had pierced her body. At that moment, an ominous golden light flashed between the eye holes of her smiling mask. Krrrk… Kurk… Kururuk… Gradually, the shape of her entire head began to waver beyond the white mask, and her upper body started transforming into gray slime. Not stopping there, the upper body that had become a massive mass continued to grow larger. As the black shadow loomed increasingly over them, they sensed the danger and tried to pull away, but my movement was one step faster.

Crunch!!! !!!!!….. !!!… !!!….. Without even time to react, my upper body split into two branches and swallowed the two monsters standing before me. In an instant, the two monsters were consumed from the upper body down, their legs—the only parts still exposed—flailing violently in resistance. But once most of their bodies had been swallowed into mine, the battle was effectively over.

Hisssss…… In the end, the stubbornly resisting monsters only stopped moving completely after their entire bodies had melted away. The sight was quite unpleasant to watch, but I had grown somewhat accustomed to it by now. Finally, the battle concluded with the absorption of the remnants left after Dissolve.

Once everything was over, the familiar blue message appeared as before. Returning my disheveled form to its original state, I slowly examined the text. As expected, defeating enemies here raised experience points just like in reality. Ulthar's claim that this space was implemented to be as identical to reality as possible hadn't been an exaggeration. But separate from that, I clicked my tongue and wiped my lips with one hand.

"…No bonus experience. I guess they weren't particularly notorious monsters. Well, they're the weakest in this dungeon to begin with, so that's only natural."

The monsters had vanished without a trace. Being on the first floor with levels below 10, they were probably the weakest monsters in this dungeon. Parties entering with solid defenses wouldn't fall to these creatures, so their low Karma values made sense in a way. Moreover, the sensation during absorption felt subtly different from before. If absorbing the old man and woman in the cave had felt like eating chicken packed with juicy flavor, the monsters I'd just absorbed were like swallowing tiny crumbs of that chicken. The sense of fullness was far too lacking compared to then. It was likely due to their hopelessly low levels and experience points relative to those two people. And the burning thirst born from that quickly seized my mind. More… I need more. Something to fill this emptiness… The feeling was similar to hunger, yet subtly different. The sensation of incomplete puzzles coming together easily tore down the walls of reason like an irresistible temptation. The one who roused me from that dazed state was none other than Nabi, who had finished analyzing the previous situation.

"…Huh? Ah… Yeah, right."

Snapping out of it at the familiar mechanical voice echoing in my head, I quickly shook my head slightly. It happened again. Back then, the strange sense of fullness had shaken my reason, and even though I'd steeled myself this time, this peculiar feeling was still hard to get used to. Of course, the sensation itself wasn't bad… In fact, it was rather pleasant. But its essence carried a kind of alien, ominous discomfort. While hurriedly shaking off the lingering unease, Nabi's voice reached my ears once more.

I nodded obediently at Nabi's calm suggestion. Objectively speaking, even the previous situation had been one where the monsters charged openly, and thanks to Nabi's briefing, reading the sword trajectories had been easy. If the battle dragged into a prolonged fight, maintaining focus would make even that difficult. Recalling the dungeon's boss with its enormous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠frame and mismatched speed, I swallowed hard. At the very least, to hold my own against the boss, I needed to hone my abilities far more than now.

At that moment, my entire field of vision flashed, and blue markers appeared on the floor below. Their meaning was clear. Since I had no intention of wasting any more time here either, I immediately began moving. The special training had only just begun, and the obstacles blocking the path ahead were piled up like mountains.