Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Come Pick Me Up (1)
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"Meow!"
"Where are you going?"
Vanished people. The Nyam-nyam that appeared.
In circumstances I couldn't grasp from beginning to end, I chose to follow the Nyam-nyam.
"You're telling me to follow, right?"
"Nyam-nyam!"
No one to explain the situation, so while I'm following the event that's unfolded, I don't know if it's the right call.
'But if this world is a game, following along is the proper route.'
The puppy I met in the forest reappears and leads me somewhere?
That's a total hidden event unfolding.
After pushing through the forest behind the Nyam-nyam for quite a while...
Shwaaaaa—
"Oh?"
Below a valley where a waterfall cascaded down, a cave exuding a mystical aura came into view.
"Whoa, the air."
Fresh air thick with moisture.
"Whoa, the water."
Crystal-clear water so transparent it mirrored the floor.
If I floated a watermelon here for a summer escape, the heat would be summarily executed on the spot.
"Nyam! Nyam!"
"Alright, alright. I'm coming."
Following the Nyam-nyam that seemed to be urging me on, I entered the cave interior.
"Wow."
The inside of the cave was beautiful too.
Pale blue-glowing jade stones were embedded here and there in the cave walls, and the water flowing across the floor, reflecting that blue light, added even more to the cave's mystical atmosphere.
But there was something strange too.
"What are these vines?"
The glowing jade stones were obscured by wildly overgrown vines.
Looking closer, they seemed like climbing plants similar to roses, with pink flower buds visible between the leaves.
'No sunlight in here, and these vines are growing?'
It wasn't vegetation that made logical sense.
At that moment,
-Ugh... urk... who... are you...!
"Huh?"
A young girl's voice echoed from deeper inside the cave.
"Is someone there?"
-The Black Dog... come to help? But... it's too late... the corrosion... urk...!
Did she get hurt while exploring or something?
"Are you an exam candidate by any chance? I'll help you!"
-...
No response to my question, so I headed toward where the voice came from.
Seems like a distress case after all.
Maybe came to retrieve a body, slipped, and now she's the one in danger of becoming one?
"Nyam! Nyam!"
The Nyam-nyam too leaped forward quickly, as if urging me on.
Thus, I carefully made my way toward the source of the voice.
The vines grew thicker and denser as I went, now almost completely covering the walls.
And then,
"Ugh, this smell..."
A cloying floral fragrance assaulted my nose, utterly out of place.
As if only this area was a different season, hundreds—no, thousands—of blossoms bloomed profusely.
Beautiful, yet somehow eerie in how it didn't blend with the surroundings at all.
Lost in the sight, I descended even deeper when,
"...A deer?"
A baby deer thrashed about, tightly bound by the vines.
-Why did you come!
The baby deer shouted.
"Oh..."
The deer can talk too.
It really hit home that this was another world.
-What are you doing! Run away now! I'll hold it off! Hurry!
The deer declared resolutely.
...Vigorously wriggling within the vines.
"...It is dangerous."
Especially for my heart.
It's so cute I could die.
"Got it. Stay still, I'll help you. Now... carefully..."
I knelt down and tore at the vines on the floor.
-Crack, crackle.
A bit tough, but with some force, they ripped right off.
At that moment, the deer, seeing me gripping a vine in one hand, stopped struggling and widened its eyes round as saucers, asking,
"...The tentacles... so easily... you, you're... what the hell are you?"
"...Just a tourist passing by."
"...What?"
The deer was at a loss for words, and somehow we shared an awkward silence.
"...Nyam!"
The Nyam-nyam, sensing the awkwardness, helpfully filled the mic with a timely line.
What a good kid.
Meanwhile, at the point where Will was locked in awkward eye contact with the deer.
"Huff, huff... damn it."
A group of people desperately pressed on toward the Threshold.
If hell existed, would it look like this?
Official explorer qualification exam proctor Mike wiped the bead-like sweat pouring down his face as he thought.
This place was no longer a forest.
The trees that used to ooze red liquid when touched had transformed into something entirely different.
Branches into tentacles, leaves into thorns.
Every creature in this forest seemed to advance toward him and the candidates with malice.
"How much... even after crushing them... it's still..."
A sudden earthquake. Mike and the trainee explorers witnessed the forest coming alive before their eyes.
Not metaphorically. The entire forest writhed and squirmed, blocking their path.
Red tentacles grabbed ankles, leaf clusters resembling hair wrapped around approaching necks to strangle.
Though he, a Gold-rank explorer, and some skilled candidates fought valiantly, miraculously avoiding any deaths,
"Ugh... no more..."
"We're all gonna die. No hope."
"Waaah... waaah..."
Their spirits were already largely broken.
Foul stench, screams, pus and blood.
In this place where horrors beyond any living being's fear poured forth endlessly, the trainee explorers' resolve crumbled one by one.
Getting out together was hopeless.
'At this rate... at least I need to escape and alert the Association...'
The desire to survive.
Whispering to him under the mask of rational judgment.
Not everyone can survive.
Then the best option was for him, with the highest chance of survival, to escape and relay the alert to the Association.
Squish squish—
Even now, the forest ceaselessly moved its red flesh toward them.
A decision was needed.
'...Yeah.'
This wasn't abandoning them to death.
In a situation where everyone would die anyway, what was wrong with saving at least those who could be saved?
"...Everyone, listen up. From now on, we..."
Leave the stragglers behind.
The moment Mike, having hesitated, was about to voice it,
"Ignification!"
Ignification
-KABOOM!!
Red flames erupted, blasting apart the red flesh blocking their path.
"You okay?!"
And from beyond, a woman with light purple hair wearing a conical hat appeared.
"You...?!"
"I'm a candidate! Heard noises from over here and came! Regen, this is the place! Over here!"
Following her, several more figures emerged.
An elf woman sobbing with a face covered in grime, an elf man staggering along with one arm severed.
And,
"...Mike, huh. Long time no see."
One woman with the left side of her face hooded.
"...You know me?"
Mike's eyes widened as he looked at her closely.
"...Adrian...? You're alive...!"
Though much changed from the past, Mike could clearly tell who she was.
Explorer Adrian.
The Dark Iron-rank explorer who had been his idol back when he first entered the Nether stood before him.
"...That appearance... so the rumors were true...? More than that, that look..."
Ten years ago, the scouting guild Adrian's Ship rose like a comet.
Led by the elf Adrian, it was a multi-species exploration team rare at the time, drawing attention in many ways.
Their method of maximizing efficiency by leveraging racial traits revolutionized Nether exploration parties, where single-species groups were seen as the gold standard.
All subsequent multi-species parties were influenced by Adrian, to the point it could be said that way.
"You... survived that incident ten years ago?"
Such a prestigious guild met a tragic end, like all famous explorers who delved here.
While returning from an expedition, they encountered an unknown creature in this Forest of Screams.
Except for a few elf team members, the entire guild went missing.
The Association later drove off the unknown creature with the help of the surviving elves and full force, recovered the guild members' bodies, but the leader Adrian was nowhere to be seen.
What happened to Adrian? What was that monster the survivors found?
Curiosity soared, but the surviving guildmates kept silent, and the Association's answer was to seal the altar.
Afterward, Adrian's surviving comrades disbanded the guild and founded a new one called Blade of the World Tree.
They soon announced that former guild leader Adrian had retired due to severe injuries, but people didn't buy it easily.
The most credible rumor was that elf guild members, rebelling against her open acceptance of other races unlike typical elves, killed her and started the new guild.
Coincidentally, all active members post her last expedition were elves, fueling suspicion.
However, with Blade of the World Tree swiftly taking a major guild spot and enforcing tight lips, the name Adrian soon faded to mere fodder for old explorers' arguments.
'There were many oddities, but this industry is like that anyway.'
Promising guilds vanishing overnight or leaders overthrown by mutiny during expeditions happened all too often here.
"...But why now..."
Reveal herself again.
In the very place she'd gone missing, no less.
"Just passing by."
A lame excuse not even a dog would buy.
She didn't seem inclined to explain to Mike.
"My idiot kin must've messed with the altar. Looks like those 'Blade' bastards took corpses from there to pass."
She flatly summarized the situation.
"...These crazy..."
Mike's neck vein bulged.
As if resolved to devour them, he glared at the trembling elves.
-Thwack!
"You crazy bastards!!!"
-Thwack!
Unable to hold back, Mike kicked the male elf in the gut.
"Kyaaak!"
-Slap!
"You shut up too!"
After slapping the screaming woman's cheek, he bellowed through gritted teeth.
"What do you take people's warnings for! 'Don't go' that hard to understand?!"
"...Enough. They're both half out of their minds."
Regen calmed Mike.
"...Adrian, you've mellowed a lot...?"
Mike was quite flustered by her even restraining him.
From the anecdotes he'd heard from seniors, she wasn't the type to calmly hold someone back—she'd stomp along with them.
That was when.
-Rooooaaar!!!
With its signature cry, a massive long-nosed monster charged at them.
"B-brain... Brain Licker...?!"
"Already tough as is, and now even that?!"
"We're dead! All of us!!"
Despairing candidates.
Thought some big shots arrived to save them, but another monster.
Still, compared to those completely exhausted and gasping on the ground, those with energy left to panic were better off.
-Tap,
And,
"Lady Adrian...?!"
The moment she confirmed the foe, Regen dropped her luggage to the ground and charged straight at the Brain Licker.