Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: 8th Floor (1)
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"Someone who went missing and came back?"
"Yes."
The rumors about a lot of people going missing in the Portrait Room weren't just idle talk.
'If a specific event occurs... they get trapped in there.'
If you didn't know how to resolve it, you'd be stuck there forever.
In fact, it was the place players avoided the most.
There was nothing more frustrating than having a character you'd carefully raised get stuck in some room.
It sounded creepy when put that way, but there were ways to escape.
"There's a hint, they say."
"A hint?"
"Yes. They say that once you enter the room, the things that feel the most out of place are the key."
"...Hmm. That's a pretty vague rumor."
"If you can spot them, getting out isn't hard, or so I've heard."
"What if you can't find them? Wouldn't that be a problem...?"
"It could be. But the odds of getting trapped aren't that high."
"Really?"
"Yeah. After the rumors about the Missing Room started spreading, quite a few people went in for the fame."
Some explorers chased after renown.
Not just NPCs—players, too, worked to raise their fame quickly.
It brought benefits like noble patronage, better shop deals, and advantages in conversations with NPCs.
"All those people came back fine. Some even saw it as a test of mental fortitude."
"So it's not like it traps people randomly."
"Exactly."
"It's under specific conditions... Hmm. Can't someone just open it from the outside?"
"Well, that's not an impossible idea."
Greg pondered for a moment before asking.
"But can we trust what that guy who got trapped and came out said? He might've made it up for fame."
"They say he's credible. There was proof."
"Really?"
Regin nodded.
He couldn't reveal everything, but the hint about that sense of wrongness was spot on.
'Because I figured it out myself.'
Unable to admit he was the source of the rumor, Regin just smirked and continued.
"Don't worry too much. If you do get trapped..."
He recalled what Greg had said earlier.
"I'll find a way to get you out somehow."
* * *
The next morning.
After everyone had gotten proper rest, they exchanged farewells.
"Last time you left first and I stayed behind. This time it's the opposite."
As discussed the day before, Manannan was heading to the kingdom with Apellion's group.
"...Come back safe."
"I will."
Regin smirked and nodded.
"I've got plenty to do outside too."
He had tasks assigned to Jack, preparations before Ferma's execution began.
On top of that, there was his promise to Meriang.
He had more than enough reasons to survive and get out this time too.
"Regin. When you get back, stop by the Phoenix Guild Hall. Let's meet up then."
"Got it."
After bidding farewell to Apellion as well, they turned and started walking away.
Their path diverged from Regin's.
They had to find the exit portal now, while he needed to head deeper into the castle.
"Alright, time for us to move too. Oh, by the way, is Seria okay with this?"
"Hm?"
"The Portrait Room. Yesterday Greg was saying he was scared to go in."
"...Huh? When did I say I was scared?"
Greg looked at Regin with an indignant glare.
Regin smirked and opened his mouth.
"Well, it's not exactly fear... but it is a place where you could go missing."
"If I said I won't go, were you planning to leave me behind?"
"I do want to hear Seria's take on it."
Seria looked at Regin and continued.
"I don't mind. Let's go in."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I already knew the rumors about the Portrait Room. If you're suggesting it, you must have a reason."
"Hm."
"You're not the type to suggest it without any plan."
"Correct."
"And you said there's definitely something in the Portrait Room we need. So we should go."
From Seria's perspective, there was no reason to hesitate.
She hadn't known Regin long, but she knew he didn't trust people easily.
If he were that kind of person, he never would have jumped into the battle with Kaluan.
Nor gone all the way to the Red Portal on the 7th Floor for a friend.
She trusted the Regin she'd seen firsthand.
"Of course, you have to come back out. My little brother... he'd be alone without me."
"I will, no question."
"Good."
Of course, it wasn't just trust in Regin's character. She knew he didn't make reckless plans.
If he promised to do it, there had to be a solution.
He'd even promised to let her see her brother again—what more was there to say?
"Let's head out."
Regin woke the two sleeping hogs.
Squeak...
He'd picked some mushrooms last night and fed them, and they'd fallen asleep right away and stayed that way.
He dangled fresh mushrooms in front of them and said.
"You've rested well—now it's time to run."
Squeak...!
Just like before, the hogs started chasing the mushrooms in front of them.
Even now, using hogs was a godsend.
Their speed made travel faster, and they conserved stamina as much as possible.
Crunch!
Skeletons blocking the hogs' path were swiftly bypassed or smashed by Greg and Seria's attacks.
"...I told you, you like the hogs, Greg."
Yesterday he'd been bummed about not eating them, but now riding one around, Greg was the most excited.
Greg swung his axe, boosted by the hog's acceleration.
It looked incredibly exhilarating.
Crunch!!
It felt like about six hours of riding the hogs.
'Next time, bringing a saddle beforehand wouldn't be a bad idea.'
After hours on them, his butt was starting to hurt.
If he rode hogs on the 7th Floor again, he'd prep a saddle in advance.
As he thought that while riding—
"Long time no see."
Greg stared straight ahead solemnly.
"Skull Castle."
A tall, castle-shaped building stretched upward.
Unlike the other ruined foundations, this one's base was intact, coming into view.
The core of this Skull Citadel, the building guarded by skeleton soldiers—that was it.
Whumm—
As they arrived at the castle entrance, the magic teleport stone glowed.
Regin immediately created a portal to the 8th Floor.
Soon, Greg and Seria stepped toward the blue portal.
Squeak.
The hogs squeaked as if bidding them farewell.
Though it was probably just excitement at finally eating the mushrooms they'd chased for six hours.
Regin gazed at them quietly.
"Not quite time for goodbyes yet."
Normally, he'd release the hogs here and head up.
He couldn't take them to the 8th Floor.
'...What if this works?'
Regin's eyes sparkled with curiosity as he fiddled with his bracelet.
'If I can put these guys in my inventory too...'
Then next time on the 7th Floor, he wouldn't need to hunt for them.
Living beings resisted, but it wasn't confirmed impossible.
'My inventory already held a Rafflesia once... and now it's in golem form.'
It proved his item was freer than he'd thought.
Since then, he'd been pondering better ways to use it.
"Hog One, Two."
Whumm—!
Calling them briefly, Regin opened his inventory.
A round black hole entrance made of small cracks floated above his hand.
Squeeeak!!
He held it to the hogs, and they squealed as they got sucked in.
Of course, it wasn't as smooth as with regular items.
'Mana collision.'
The hogs' mana resisted, clashing at the inventory's small entrance.
Just as he thought hogs might be too tough—
"...Or would you rather go in yourselves?"
Regin changed tactics.
He pulled a mushroom from his pocket and dangled it in front of the inventory.
Squeak!
The two hogs stopped resisting and charged toward the mushroom.
Competing to eat it first, they dove in.
Sssslip.
With no resistance, both hogs vanished into the inventory.
"Huh."
Regin couldn't help but burst out laughing.
It was a huge hint.
The criteria for putting living beings inside.
'As long as they don't resist or willingly go in...'
They could enter.
Regin looked at his bracelet as if nothing had happened.
It felt strange.
Discovering new functionality was great, but...
'...This isn't just an inventory.'
He instinctively realized it was something more.
* * *
Various hypotheses and thoughts raced through his mind.
But there was nothing Regin could figure out right then.
'In the end, I have no choice but to analyze it properly.'
Entering the portal, he thought of Greg.
No telling when, but he'd have to analyze it with his gear first.
That would likely be the first real step to understanding the inventory.
'...Big risk, though.'
Just telling Greg was a risk.
Ferma Vinish, branded a criminal for black magic research and facing execution.
Regin could draw the kingdom's attention too.
If word spread about the mysterious bracelet he wore.
'In the end, it doesn't change my previous plan.'
First, he had to check items on the 8th Floor.
Then, before Ferma's execution, learn about black magic.
Only after all that could he ask Greg for help.
Step.
"Regin, first time here?"
"Yes."
To do that, he had to conquer this tower step by step.
Regin stepped out of the portal and looked ahead.
A long corridor.
The castle interior felt eerie somehow.
"This is the inside of Skull Castle. The 8th Floor too."
"......"
"It's made up of all sorts of rooms and corridors."
Shing—
As if familiar, Greg and Seria drew their weapons.
Regin, knowing the patterns, prepared for combat too.
Keruk.
Strange noises echoed from all directions.
The massive castle looked neglected for decades at least.
Dust piled up, spiderwebs draped everywhere.
So the true lords here were something else.
Keruruk!!
Sharp footsteps rang out, and Regin's group looked up.
"Grantrulas...!"
"Damn, running into them in the hallway is bad luck."
Grantrulas dropped from the ceiling, landing on the floor.
Two enormous spiders, rivaling orcs in size, surrounded the group.
"Some welcome party."
"Let's push straight through."
Regin smirked and tore a scroll.
"Grantrula webs fetch a good price, at least."
Monsters got tougher on higher floors.
But their drops were more valuable too.
Might as well make some money while clearing.
Fwoosh!!
Regin's fireball engulfed the grantrulas, and Greg and Seria swiftly attacked the burning ones.
* * *
"...Heh heh. I told you, I don't know."
In the kingdom prison basement.
A man spoke in a voice mixed with groans and laughter.
He was bound head to toe, hanging in midair at one side of the basement.
"That's enough for now."
A woman stood before him—the kingdom Knight Order's mage, Alice.
Alice set down her wand, closed the cell bars, and headed down the corridor.
Her colleague, waiting outside, glanced at her and asked bluntly.
"Tough bastard. Still not talking?"
"...Yeah. Not a peep."
"Huh. Black magic users aren't right in the head, but... that Ferma guy's especially weird."
His colleague's gaze turned to the man in the cell. It was the Class 3 criminal, Ferma Vinish.
Alice had been torturing him for info before execution.
But yields were slim.
Ferma just smirked through the pain—torture spells meant little.
"...Still, it's not zero gains."
Looking at Ferma grinning like he'd won, Alice said offhandedly.
"Something's up with the backdoor users."
"What?"
Alice whispered in her colleague's ear, out of Ferma's hearing.
"Black mages are collaborating with backdoor users. And their rendezvous point is just like we thought..."
"......"
"The 8th Floor."