Chapter 48
Chapter 48
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Mimic
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thud, thud, thud...
I walked slowly along the path, organizing my thoughts.
The biggest question right now was this.
“Why didn’t my heart race?”
Even in that incredibly dangerous situation of entering the dungeon, why hadn’t it pounded.
This was something I absolutely had to figure out, if only to eliminate future variables.
I recalled the recent events one by one, considering every possibility.
Eventually.
“Ah... no way.”
One hypothesis came to mind.
“Is it only calculating the risks?”
In [Devil Fantasy], dungeons were extremely dangerous places.
If you entered recklessly without a proper estimate, the character you’d carefully nurtured could turn to bubbles in an instant.
But in return, the rewards for clearing a dungeon were huge.
And that was where my hypothesis began.
“If it judged that the reward I’d get was greater than the risk I’d face...”
A dungeon where the return outweighed the risk.
If the dungeon in front of me was like that, then it made sense why my heart hadn’t raced.
After all, I’d come out ahead in the end.
Of course, it wasn’t something I could conclude yet.
“Phew... I’ll clear it first and think later.”
I could decide after clearing the dungeon and getting the reward.
I decided to focus entirely on clearing this dungeon.
I moved slowly along the right wall.
‘...At least that’s a relief.’
Fortunately, this place was a ‘maze’-type dungeon.
In other words, as long as you knew the ‘right-hand rule,’ escape was possible.
If I just kept the wall on my right and moved forward, an exit would appear eventually.
The problem was.
“Hup!”
Shing!
That the process wouldn’t be smooth.
“...This is brutal, seriously.”
I straightened my reflexively ducked waist and turned around.
There, three arrows—fired from who knows where—flew down the path.
If I’d been spacing out, I’d have been turned into a porcupine.
Dungeons like this didn’t allow even a moment’s carelessness.
They were riddled with countless traps everywhere.
Of course, it wasn’t just physical traps.
The first dead end I encountered.
Screeech!
Some grotesque creature—modeled after who knows what—was waiting for me, drooling thick saliva.
Flash, flash, flash!
It bounded toward me on its six long legs.
A speed incomparable to the demons I’d fought earlier.
But it was fine.
Here, I could go all out.
I gripped my light sword and waited for the moment.
The instant the creature entered my range.
-Entering Awakening state.
-Proficiency correction +300% to all bladed weapons.
‘Now!’
Slash!
The light sword traced a flawless arc, bisecting the creature.
A clean strike with no room for complaint at my current level.
Splat.
The split corpse spewed blue blood as it slid down both walls.
“The smell...”
As expected from a grotesque creature, the blood reeked terribly.
I hurried away to put distance between us.
It was a dead end, but the right-hand rule would solve that too.
How far had we gone like that?
At another dead end, I spotted a familiar face.
“Mister?”
“Oh! Number one! You’re safe!”
Spotting me, Thompson came running over clumsily.
Running in a place like this...
I thought I should stop him, but it was already too late.
Thwack!
“Gahhh! You damn obstacle!”
Thompson writhed in pain after smashing into a pillar that shot up from the ground.
And this wasn’t even his first time—his body was already covered in wounds.
What a simple guy.
“...You okay?”
“Y-yeah. Damn! Why are there so many traps here? Are all dungeons like this?”
“Well... yeah. But if you stay focused, you can dodge them.”
“Easy for a quick one like you, number one. For a guy like me, it’s torture! Pure torture!”
Thompson huffed as he wiped his bloody nose.
Frankly, it was impressive he’d only gotten a bloody nose from that.
“But you’re alone? Where’s Barundel?”
“Dunno. We entered together, but when I opened my eyes, I was by myself.”
“Ah.”
Not something to find strange.
Even if you entered a dungeon together, starting in different spots happened often.
Especially in maze dungeons, the odds were even higher.
“We should hurry. Gotta find the exit and Barundel.”
“Right, that dwarf said there’s a time limit here?”
“Yeah. About three hours left.”
“...Three hours. Let’s go. I don’t wanna end up lost in space.”
...Lost in space?
No idea what that meant, but I let it slide.
Thompson spouting weird stuff wasn’t new anyway.
“Just follow me.”
“Reliable as ever, number one.”
Now a duo, we started navigating the maze more smoothly.
Thompson kept the right wall, while I disarmed traps.
This way, we could speed up without losing direction.
“Duck!”
“Hup...!”
“Jump, run!”
“Hyaahhh!”
We dodged spikes bursting from the walls, raced a massive boulder rolling at terrifying speed...
About an hour later.
“Hm? Number one, isn’t that...”
“Yeah. The thing I mentioned earlier.”
We found our first large treasure chest.
One of the dungeon’s highlights—packed with gold coins, high-grade artifacts, the biggest factor making these perilous places worthwhile.
But open carelessly, and trouble awaited.
“Heh heh, so this is the treasure chest? Wonder what’s inside...”
“W-wait, Mister!”
Damn, I should’ve warned him beforehand.
I sprinted full speed toward Thompson, who’d somehow gotten there already.
But the chest was already open by him.
All I could do now was pray.
Please don’t be a dud.
Fifty-fifty odds.
“Screeeeech—!”
Yeah, figures.
“U-ugh! What the hell is this!”
Ta!
I hurled myself at Thompson, who was surrounded by rock magic.
The impact sent Thompson flying.
Whoosh.
“N-number one!”
Confirming he was clear, I flattened myself on the ground.
Then.
Crunch!
Screeeee—!
Chilling teeth-clashing sounds and ear-shattering shrieks came from behind.
Even after hearing it countless times in the game, I never got used to it.
‘Fuck, that was close...’
No time to admire my survival instincts.
The moment I sensed the attack end, I sprang up and ran full tilt.
One misstep here, and the outcome was obvious.
Death.
“Run!”
Tadadak, tadadadak!
We ran for our lives for a good while.
Only when no trace of the thing remained did we stop, gasping ragged breaths.
“Huff... huff...!”
“N-number one. What the hell was that? Why’s there arms and legs in a chest...”
Thompson plopped down, face twisted like he’d seen something he shouldn’t.
Fair enough.
Even I had nightmares for days after first seeing the freakish thing.
“A mimic.”
“Mimic...?”
“Like a hidden boss. Only appears in dungeons.”
“Hidden boss... That thing’s that strong? Enough we ran without looking back?”
Strong didn’t even cover it.
“If it eats you, you just die. No chance to resist.”
The mimic’s teeth had a special property.
They ignored 100% of defense and resistance.
No matter the armor or tough body, it didn’t matter.
The teeth pierced everything.
If I’d left Thompson in his rock magic, he’d have died instantly.
‘Even my zombie warriors couldn’t handle it...’
A thing that pierced what not even Baal could in one go—pure cheat.
No wonder it was the tanks’ natural enemy, the number one balance-breaker in [Devil Fantasy].
“Phew... so all we can do is run?”
“Well, not exactly...”
Unlike Baal, it wasn’t an impossible monster.
If Baal was a massive hexagonal boss, the mimic excelled only in offense.
Relatively fragile defense.
But now wasn’t the time to try it.
I needed a skill to melt it from range in one shot, or agility stats to dodge every attack up close.
Once I had that, I could farm dungeons for cash.
“Someday, we’ll take it down.”
“...Long road ahead.”
Anyway, after surviving the crisis.
We encountered a second treasure chest sometime later.
“This one... safe, right?”
Burned by experience, Thompson didn’t touch it rashly.
“There’s a way to tell.”
I held Thompson back and summoned my light sword.
Then stabbed it into the chest.
Clang!
A crisp sound as the chest repelled the light sword.
That meant no mimic.
“If it holds when stabbed with a weapon, it’s a treasure chest. If it sinks in, mimic.”
“So this is a treasure chest?”
“Yeah.”
“Phew... good. What if the weapon sinks? Run fast?”
“Nah, mimics don’t react unless you open the lid. Just walk past.”
“...I was an idiot earlier.”
Thompson scratched his head sheepishly.
I patted his shoulder to say it was fine and stood before the chest.
Time to open it and check the reward.
‘...Feels surreal.’
Sturdy wood reinforced with gold plates.
Seeing it with my own eyes hit different.
Like I was really inside the game... and proud I’d reached chest-farming level in a dungeon.
‘Yeah, I’m in the game world.’
Anyway, I was deep in a dungeon where death was real.
Reminded of that, I gripped the lid firmly.
“Opening it.”
“Let’s do this!”
Creak!
I opened the lid reverently.
Then.
Whoosh!
Golden light scattered everywhere, just like the effect I’d seen countless times in the game.