Chapter 162: The World Has Gone Mad
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 162: The World Has Gone Mad
I don’t know where this is.
A sea of fire surrounds me. There are many living creatures, but none retain their original forms.
Every single one is twisted into a grotesque shape, looking like two or more different monsters stitched together haphazardly.
Someone is sitting upon a horrific throne of flesh, a mass of gore, bone, hide, and blood.
Hundreds of eyes from different origins stare at a single point, as if following their master.
For some reason, the figure seems to be waiting for something anxiously; a nervous index finger taps—thud, thud—against the armrest of the throne.
Atop a body clad in pitch-black armor, a noble, crimson mana blazes.
With every inhalation, he swallows life; with every exhalation, he breathes out death.
Though the eyes covering his face leave no room for a mouth, I can feel him tensing his neck as if trying to convey something.
“———— ———, —— ——— ——— ————.”
What is he saying? I can’t hear him.
I want to ask him to repeat it, but the environment suddenly shifts.
* * *
My vision is submerged, as if underwater. It’s the 3rd Stratum.
People are standing on either side of my bifurcated field of vision.
I can’t move. I am being held down by something powerful.
At the edge of my sight, I see the tip of a snout embedded with blue scales. These were the memories of the Megido Serpent.
Excruciating pain. An ominous mana gnawing away at my life. The changes felt within my body, and a rage of unknown origin.
The last scene captured by my barely maintained sanity.
I’ve seen that face before.
A pink-haired girl with an expressionless smile.
* * *
“What a nasty dream.”
I push myself up to find I’m inside a familiar log building. Through the small window, I can see the sky has turned pitch black.
“Hey, look at my body.”
“Whatever, there’s nothing to see.”
“That’s the point! I’m in a growth spurt, I tell you.”
“Stop talking nonsense and just eat the fish you burnt.”
“Bontes, is this how it’s going to be between us?”
“Who’s Bontes?”
I thought I smelled something burning. Beside me, Father is pouting, holding a bowl containing something that has been reduced to charcoal.
“Father?”
“Oh! You’re awake!”
“Our hero has finally risen!”
“Haha...”
Does killing the Megido Serpent earn me hero treatment even from Cobalt-grade explorers? Gerick’s lute rang out with a strangely upbeat melody.
—Tring!
“Now! Hurry and solve our food crisis. You still have Bear Fish left, right?!”
“Ah.”
So that’s what this was about.
“How are you feeling? You don’t seem to have any major external injuries.”
“It’s just as it looks. My head feels fine after some sleep.”
“That’s a relief. Let’s head outside and get some food.”
“Understood.”
I felt incredibly drowsy because I’d overtaxed my brain, but it seems I didn’t sleep for very long. The sun hasn’t completely set yet, so I must have slept for about three hours.
As I step outside the base building and start grilling the remaining Bear Fish, Father begins chattering away beside me.
“Shouldn’t the fish taste better if you grill it with an Ether Tree?”
“Hmm... I wouldn’t know.”
“Tsk, you guys are heartless.”
We are sitting around a campfire outside the base fence, having our meal, when I notice someone watching us from a distance. It’s a woman with purple hair. For some reason, this feels familiar.
Is she hungry too?
Between Rubica and everyone else, there seem to be a lot of hungry people in the Labyrinth. Regardless, I still have a mountain of Bear Fish left. The thing was so massive that four grown men and one elementary-school-aged girl haven’t even finished a single fish after three or four hearty meals.
“Excuse me, are you hungry?”
“Huh?! N-no! It’s not that!”
“Then what is it? Why are you just staring from afar?”
She hadn’t been wearing her hat a moment ago, but now she suddenly pulls it down low and clears her throat with a cough.
“Greetings. I assume you recognize me?”
“Who are you?”
“That’s right. I am—... You don’t know me?”
“What’s with this person... You should really delete that mental illness skill if you have one.”
Maybe she’s a bit touched in the head. Does she have some kind of narcissism skill that makes her think everyone knows her? Looking closely, her clothes look like those of a Battle Attire. Is she someone famous, then?
“Who are you?”
“I-I am Sepira Eclair of Orion Aura. Do you still not know who I am?”
“What kind of shitty little clan is that?”
Where the hell is Orion Aura? It’s always the low-grade explorers who get together, pick a fancy name, and act all high and mighty.
“The number one party of the Mayerbridge Union! One of the twelve pillars of Orion Aura! The Purple Lightning Flower!”
“Ah, the Mayerbridge Union.”
She should have just said that from the start. If you tell someone from the provinces that you live in Mapo, do they know where that is? You just say you live in Seoul.
“Nice to meet you. So, what’s the matter? Are you hungry?”
“No, well, it’s not that, but...”
I glance back to see Father and his companions stuffing their mouths with handfuls of juicy Bear Fish meat, looking blissfully happy.
“May I join you...?”
“Sure.”
* * *
“I see. Did you happen to write your name on the Megido Serpent or something?”
“M-my name...?”
“Are you complaining because I caught it first?”
“No... it’s not that...”
Sepira Eclair. She is apparently a renowned explorer belonging to the number one party of the Mayerbridge Union. Her party was returning from the deep strata when they came to the 30th Floor to hunt the Irregular Megido Serpent... only to find that I had already taken it down. That was the gist of it.
“What’s your point? Do you want the corpse?”
“O-of course not! The Mayerbridge Union is not a wicked clan that plunders the achievements of other explorers!”
“I see.”
I feel like I’ve heard a similar line from Raya Delbaheim before.
“Are you higher-ranked than Delbaheim?”
“D-Lord Delbaheim?!”
“Ah, you mean that Elf girl who worked a one-day part-time job at our inn?”
“A one-day part-time job?! At an inn?!!”
Sepira looked shocked at the mention of Delbaheim’s name. When I added that she’d worked a part-time job at an inn, her eyes looked ready to pop out of her head.
“T-there is currently no one in the Mayerbridge Union who can definitively be called Lord Delbaheim’s superior... Though she has stepped back from active duty, she is still the daughter of one of the three Great Clan Leaders...”
“Is that so?”
Maybe it’s because Elves live so long, but it sounds like she’s at the top of the hierarchy. It seems she just didn't promote because the work was a hassle.
“Are you planning to scout me for the Mayerbridge Union?”
“Y-yes... well... if Roanmarie’s Poltergeist would join as well...”
“I even turned down Delbaheim’s offer. Do you think I’d accept yours?”
“...I suppose not...”
“I’m out too. The Labyrinth is just a hobby. And stop calling me by that stupid nickname.”
“I-I see...”
Sepira looked dejected as she stared at the bowl of Bear Fish in front of her. I guess these people make a habit of scouting any explorer who looks decent.
“So, where did the main force go?”
“They should already be back on the surface investigating the situation. Since that powerful Megido Serpent vanished without even leaving a corpse...”
“I ate the corpse. Tell them not to waste their energy and just wrap things up.”
“You... ate it?”
Sepira stared back and forth between my face and the golden-brown grilled Bear Fish with a look of pure disbelief.
“Want me to show you?”
“N-no... I don’t particularly have any desire to see someone else’s waste...”
“Do you really think I could have actually eaten that giant thing?”
People in the Labyrinth City are surprisingly open-minded. Even Rubica probably couldn't eat an entire Megido Serpent.
“Anyway, I’m not going there. Give my regards to Delbaheim and tell her I’ll visit later.”
“U-understood...! Regards to Lord Delbaheim... If I may, could I ask for your name?”
What did Delbaheim call me again? As I was pondering for a moment, Father answered for me.
“Aven.”
“Explorer Aven... Noted.”
* * *
We were supposed to return on the evening of the second day, but we ended up coming back on the morning of the fourth. Two extra days had passed, but I figured I could make it up to them with some delicious food.
After returning to the Guild, I left my Explorer’s Plate there for the point calculation. Unfortunately, Dahlia wasn’t there since she doesn’t start work until 9:00 AM, so Katrina, who was snoring loudly at the front desk, took it instead.
Her seniority must be high if she can get away with such antics.
“We’re heading off. We’ll be in touch.”
“Yeah! Make sure you contact us sooner next time!”
Gerick, Gadel, and Bontes headed to their respective inns. Father and I made our way to the Mounted Goat Inn. Since Father was exhausted from traveling through the Labyrinth all night, I gave him a piggyback ride. As we entered the Southwest street, I saw Sera sweeping the front yard with a strangely gloomy expression.
“Sera, we’re back.”
“Yoo Eon...!”
“Sweetie. Daddy’s back too.”
“Ah, you’re here.”
“How heartless.”
The top of my head felt a bit damp; it seemed Father had been drooling while half-asleep. Anyway, as I set Father down, Sera approached and checked me over, asking if I was hurt anywhere.
“It’s almost impossible for me to get hurt now, so you don’t need to worry about that.”
“How can I not worry! You said you’d only be gone for a little while...”
“A few things happened. I’ll tell you all about it inside.”
Only after confirming I was okay did Sera finally break into a bright smile and lead the way into the inn. Father, who hadn't received a warm welcome from his precious daughter, trudged inside first, but for some reason, he stopped dead in his tracks right at the doorway.
“Father? Why aren’t you going in?”
“U-uh... uh...”
“What’s wrong with him?”
I followed Father’s gaze and looked inside.
“U-uh... uh...”
The same reaction escaped my lips involuntarily.
“Sera, who is that lady...?”
“Well... that’s my mom...”
No way.
“M-Marta...?”
“You’re back.”
That couldn't be the Auntie I knew.
“Auntie...?”
“Close your mouth. You’ll catch flies.”
The generous layers of fat I had known were gone, replaced by a physique so slender she looked like she might blow away in the wind. The only things that remained the same were her brown hair and brown eyes; otherwise, she was a completely different person.
Long eyelashes over half-lidded eyes. A sharp jawline and a somewhat expressionless face. It was like looking at a more rebellious, adult version of Sera.
“Uh... why did you suddenly deactivate your skill...?”
“Why? You don’t like it?”
“No... it’s not that...”
Father scratched his head awkwardly and scurried over to sit at the desk. As soon as he was within range, Auntie instantly snatched up a ladle and slammed it down on the crown of Father’s head. That was definitely Auntie’s mace technique.
—Wham!!
“Gack...!”
“You were gone so long, I thought you’d died.”
“Ugh...”
“A husband who’s nothing but a loafer. I can’t spend the rest of my life as a widow, so I was thinking of finding myself another man. What of it?”
“N-no! You can’t do that! Your husband is right here, alive and well!”
“It’s not like you’ve got anything down there anyway.”
—Boom
Father’s mouth fell open as he froze in place, looking like his world had just ended.
The phrase 'died on his feet' suited his current state perfectly.
I heard it was because of a skill, but I still can’t believe it.
To be honest, I’d only ever seen Auntie with her Obesity Skill for nearly half a year, so that was the default for me.
“Sera, was your mother always like that...?”
“I-I’m not really sure myself...”
The world has gone mad.