Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Night Has Fallen (2)
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【We absolutely have to screen those three out. Their names alone give off bad vibes.】
DAT featured countless NPCs.
As a result, memorizing every single name was next to impossible.
Yet, for Regen—who had replayed the game endlessly—a few names stood out indelibly.
‘Fabrik, Alonso, Petunia…… Those three had a high chance of being raiders. Safe to filter them out without a second thought.’
Honestly, Regen suspected it might even be part of the system.
Certain characters with specific names were likely programmed to exhibit particular behaviors.
Either way, please, anything but those three.
It was while Regen waited tensely for the man’s response.
“My name is Clark. Jin Clark.”
“Jin Clark? Is that your full name?”
“Yes.”
Regen let out a sigh of relief.
At least it wasn’t one of those three names he’d encountered countless times.
Of course, that alone wasn’t enough to let his guard down.
Names were merely the first hurdle, after all.
‘How could I tell if that’s a fake name or his real one?’
He missed the days of actual gameplay.
How convenient it had been to see opponents’ names pop up right next to their speech bubbles.
‘He could be lying. No name tag floating over his head, so no room for complacency.’
Regen eyed Clark, who had passed the initial check, and continued.
“Do you remember roughly when the attack happened?”
If the name didn’t pinpoint it, there was no choice but to dig deeper.
“It was about two hours ago, I think. I was tackling the 4th Floor with my party members.”
Clark’s expression soured.
“……What about the others?”
“No idea. I was running for my life. As you know, the longer you stay on this floor, the more monsters spawn.”
“Ghouls, right.”
“Exactly. After escaping the raid, I was too busy shaking off the ghouls to check on my party’s status. I just bolted.”
“And you ended up here?”
“Seems I stuck to familiar paths. I spotted some rocks I recognized…… and then my tension eased, my legs gave out.”
The 4th Floor was essentially a time-attack zone.
Why had Regen and Manannan rushed?
Monsters spawned more as blood flowed across the field. Ghouls were the reason.
‘There are other things that prevent lingering here besides ghouls.’
Regen organized his thoughts and pressed on.
“Where exactly were you ambushed?”
“……Between the twisted trees.”
“Twisted trees? ……No way. Were you trying to hunt that?”
“Yes. We’d hit our limit climbing to the 10th Floor. So we decided to farm rare monsters on the 4th Floor to upgrade our gear.”
“Regen. You mean……?”
At Manannan’s question, Regen replied.
“Werewolf.”
“……!!”
“The real deal?”
“Yeah…… Anyway, you were circling the 4th Floor to take down a werewolf.”
“That’s right.”
He cut off Manannan’s follow-up, steering the conversation back to Clark.
‘No need to show him we’re intimidated by a werewolf.’
They didn’t have to reveal it was their first time on the 4th Floor or that their specs couldn’t even challenge one.
His judgment on Clark wasn’t final yet.
‘So far, it checks out.’
A werewolf made sense for their party to attempt.
Heading near the twisted trees wasn’t suspicious, and focusing on combat there was logical.
‘In that setup……’
Even a decent party like theirs could crumble under a raid.
“Did you get a look at the raiders’ lineup? Anything you remember about their gear would be appreciated.”
“Not perfectly, but there were two warriors and one mage. Not sure on specs. Maybe 6th Floor level?”
So, they hadn’t been overwhelmingly outmatched.
“What’s your plan now? That location means the portal to the 5th Floor is probably raider-free. Could head up there.”
“Right. Going straight up would save our skin.”
‘The raiders aren’t near the portal, at least.’
Regen mentally cataloged the info as he asked Clark about his next move.
“I……want to go back for my comrades. Luckily, one survived and escaped with me from the raiders.”
“……You think they’re still alive?”
“……Who knows. Yeah, they might be dead. But I don’t want to give up hope yet.”
“Any idea where your surviving comrade might be?”
“Yes…… We agreed to rendezvous in the forest of red trees if we both made it. One’s an archer, so they’re probably there already.”
A well-organized party. They’d even set a rally point for emergencies.
An archer as the likely survivor, huh.
‘Assassin and archer. Ideal combo.’
Not a bad setup.
Synergy between melee and ranged roles.
Even as a duo, it was a popular party comp.
Assassins and archers excelled in utility, covering each other’s weaknesses perfectly.
‘Valuable in any party.’
‘What if they joined ours?’
Regen could already envision the benefits.
‘Climbing to the 5th Floor would be a breeze, and with ongoing teamwork, we could aim for the 8th Floor quickly.’
He could solo it, sure.
But this was a party-enabled game.
No reason to ignore those advantages.
“Planning to go alone?”
“……If you help, I’ll repay the favor without fail!”
“……Give us a moment.”
Regen stepped back with Manannan for a private word.
“What’s the play? We going with him?”
“Hmm.”
“……Honestly, with their gear and comp, I think we should be begging them to join us.”
“I was thinking the same.”
“Right?”
“No need for the archer—even just this Jin Clark guy would be plenty helpful.”
“So we’re teaming up with him?”
“……Maybe.”
Regen’s gaze sharpened on the seated Jin Clark.
Glint!
The pendant around Clark’s neck gleamed faintly in the moonlight.
‘……If I hadn’t noticed that.’
Regen halted his thoughts on adding them to the party.
It had been off from the start.
Party members perfectly primed to join, waiting at just the right moment.
“Putting it on hold for now. We’ll travel together…… but stay vigilant.”
“What?”
“He might be lying.”
Clark had claimed they’d only reached the 10th Floor.
Hard to buy that.
That pendant was loot exclusive to the 11th Floor.
* * *
“This way.”
“Okay.”
Once Clark recovered enough stamina to move, the trio headed for the rendezvous.
‘We need to go to the red tree forest anyway, so tailing him and observing makes sense.’
The pendant.
It fueled Regen’s suspicions even more.
But it wasn’t enough to refuse traveling together.
If too many people showed at the rendezvous, that’d be trouble.
They could bail. Regen walked, mindful of the bag on his back.
‘Brought that for a reason.’
Scrolls from the Spellcrafter Association flashed in his mind—crafted before entering the tower.
Not trophies for show.
Meant to be used when needed.
‘At least I have a last resort.’
Preparation anywhere yielded such edges.
It bought time to verify one more thing.
“Hey! Over there. She’s probably nearby.”
Clark pointed to the forest of red trees.
“We patrolled around that spot when scouting the woods.”
“Ghouls avoid it, so that tracks.”
“Exactly.”
The three approached the trees, scouring the area.
Behind one tree, concealed by bushes, a female adventurer had set up a small camp.
“H-H-Helena!”
“Clark!”
“You’re alive……!”
His comrade was really there.
Spotting each other, they widened their eyes and called names.
Then they embraced like long-lost friends.
“Helena, you’re safe!”
“Clark, thank goodness you made it. I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Same here. Those folks over there healed me and escorted me here.”
Clark glanced at Regen and Manannan, standing at a distance.
Helena approached them slowly.
“Thank you so much! I don’t know how to repay you…….”
“Haha, no big deal. Just what any fellow explorer would do.”
“…….”
Helena bowed her head.
Regen’s eyes naturally drifted to her chest.
Not for perverse reasons.
Clink—
He’d noticed the pendant around her neck.
It swayed in the air. Regen’s face hardened.
‘……As I thought.’
It matched Clark’s.
As Regen eyed them warily—
“Huh? You two are really just comrades, right?”
“Of course. Why?”
Manannan, having caught on, narrowed her eyes at Helena.
“No matter how I look, your pendants are identical. Don’t tell me…… couple pendants?”
“Well…….”
“……Ah! Haha. We had them custom-made as party members. Like friendship pendants. But…… the raiders left just me and Helena.”
“Aha.”
Manannan didn’t drop her suspicion.
“See!”
“……!”
She grinned at them.
“There are couple items for that, right? You’re smoke-screening with the ‘friendship item’ excuse?!”
Suddenly, matching pendants made Clark and Helena a couple.
“Oh, was I wrong……? Did I mess up?”
“……No. Good job.”
Manannan looked flustered at Regen.
He chuckled dryly and shook his head.
‘Well played. Seriously.’
Clark and Helena gave awkward smiles. But they didn’t seem offended.
More like relief.
‘Thanks to Manannan, we won’t look like easy prey.’
Regen masked his wariness with a smile.
He’d already reached a conclusion.
We’re not destined to travel together.
* * *
Some time later.
Regen and Manannan slipped quietly through the bushes, leaving Clark and Helena huddled in conversation.
“No way those two are just comrades.”
“Yeah. Definitely not.”
“Right? I wasn’t seeing things? They’re clearly a couple…….”
“Manannan. No time. Bottom line.”
“Huh?”
“Tear the scroll I gave you.”
“Suddenly?”
Manannan panicked at Regen’s words.
The scroll in her bag. A second-tier mana shield scroll.
“Why mana shield……? Wait. You mean…… Nah, no way?”
“Tear the scroll first.”
“Hang on. Okay. But really? They didn’t seem like bad guys.”
Whumm—
As the mana shield deployed, Regen continued.
“Yeah. They put on a good act.”
Only their props were lacking.
“That pendant you thought was a couple item.”
“Huh?”
“The pendants actually come in pairs.”
“……What?”
“Heard they allow two-way communication.”
Plexis Pendant.
An item exclusive to the 11th Floor, popularized by a DAT community user.
Its function was mediocre. Otherwise, just another junk item unworthy of notice.
【Title: Communed with my almost-girlfriend via Plexis again today.】
【We could party up, but the messages are cute, so I’m sticking to solo for now. (Screenshot)】
If not for one DAT player obsessed with it.
A downside of DAT.
Overplaying led to some catching feelings for in-game female NPCs.
The Plexis Pendant displayed messages when the other party interacted.
One user posted daily, calling it flirtations from his “almost-girlfriend.”
‘AKA Plexis Chad. Thanks to him, we all learned that item inside out.’
……Of course, his “almost-girlfriend” NPC died to a monster, ending the posts.
Some called it pure love.
Anyway…… Recalling those infamous threads, Regen pressed on.
“They rarely glitch below the 10th Floor. Think about it. They have communication tools…… but didn’t know each other survived?”
“……!!”
Thank you, Plexis Chad.
Now we’re prepared.
Regen gripped the scroll, closing and opening his eyes.
“Battle stations. It’s a trap.”