Chapter 33
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Blood Rain
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Impossible.
The moment that word echoed in my mind, the first thing I did was scream.
"Everyone—stop—!!"
My sudden shout drew all eyes to me.
Dozens of pairs of eyes, filled with confusion and bewilderment, stared in my direction.
Cold sweat dripped down my back.
Impossible.
I'd thought that even in the worst case, it would only be extremely difficult at most.
But "impossible" had come up.
It wasn't the hexagonal dice I'd seen so far, but a 20-sided die that had exceeded its limit of 20, adding one more.
21.
I didn't fully understand what that number meant, but I could vaguely sense it.
"What's wrong?"
Shan asked, but I had no time to answer.
A flood of thoughts overwhelmed my mind.
What do I do?
I'd managed to halt their movement with a loud shout, but if I couldn't give a proper reason, they'd label me crazy and head to the city anyway.
If I wanted to save everyone, I had to come up with something.
I knew I wasn't particularly smart, but I still had to figure it out.
This wasn't some optional good deed—it was something I absolutely had to accomplish.
Cold sweat soaked my clothes until they clung damply to my skin.
The pounding of my heart dulled my thoughts.
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do?
My mind went blank, proper thoughts refusing to connect.
"Hey, what's up with you?"
A silver-rank adventurer gripping his spear approached and patted my shoulder.
Unlike at the start of the expedition, it was a light, weary tap.
"Did you fall asleep? Bad dream?"
His voice, tossing out lame jokes to ease the awkward situation I'd created, only muddled my head further.
What should I say?
Should I tell them we'd all die if we approached the city?
Be honest?
But would they believe me?
If I told the truth and they didn't buy it, there was no point in saying it.
But I had to say something, so I forced the words out.
"It's dangerous..."
"Dangerous how?"
The spear-wielding silver-rank adventurer looked puzzled and pressed again, but I had little more to offer.
I was at a loss for how to explain.
This sweep operation wasn't particularly dangerous, but it was exhausting.
After three days of camping, worn-out adventurers all wanted nothing more than to return to the city and rest properly.
If I blocked their way without just cause, they'd trample me to get through.
21.
Impossible.
How could I convey a danger that only I could see and hear?
My body trembled finely.
Learned fear settled heavily over me.
Biting my lip to overcome the terror with pain didn't help—the fear gnawing at my mind overshadowed the sting of torn flesh.
My lip split, but it didn't hurt.
I gazed at the city.
At a glance, it looked no different from when we'd left.
The walls were crumbled, but they'd been that way from the start.
However, the laborers repairing the walls were gone, the guards at the gate were missing, no voices carried over, and no signs of life could be felt.
Noon, when the city should have been most bustling, was as silent as the dead of night.
"......It's too quiet."
Quiet.
That was definitely strange.
Surely others besides me had noticed.
But that alone wasn't reason enough to avoid the city.
To prevent pointless sacrifices here, I needed to pile on more reasons beyond "it's quiet."
I knew they wouldn't stay stopped just because I said so.
Already, the glares directed at me were sharpening.
They wanted rest, and my sudden demand to halt didn't sit well.
But I wanted to save these people.
I couldn't shove them into a city knowing full well what threat lurked there.
But how do I stop them?
The system had screamed "impossible difficulty" for heading to the city, but I couldn't even pinpoint what made it so.
I had no concrete basis for claiming danger.
"......It is awfully quiet. No harm in scouting first."
At Shan's words, the commander—who'd come to check on the suddenly halted group—sent two adventurers toward the city.
It seemed he felt the need for a "confirmation" step due to a silver-rank adventurer's suspicion, not my vague words.
"That should settle it."
Shan looked down at me and spoke.
I bowed my head in thanks.
No matter how much suspicion a mere bronze like me voiced, it carried no weight.
The more I stammered it out, trembling and sweating, the less convincing I sounded.
But a silver-rank adventurer changed everything.
His calm words carried authority.
I let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness the dice rolled before the event, determining the difficulty ahead of time.
At least we weren't trapped in an impossible situation without warning.
But what about the city?
What about Tori? The kids who'd followed me?
A twinge of relief mingled with rising anxiety, soon twisting into nausea that churned my stomach.
"...Ugh."
Bile rose in my throat.
It felt like my throat was burning hot.
Clouds filled the sky.
The sun spent more time hidden behind them than shining through.
A cold wind blew.
The moment the adventurers crossed the gate into the city...
They vanished.
Out of sight.
We all watched it happen, and only then did faces harden.
"......What the hell?"
"Space distortion?"
"Why set something like that up in this backwater city?"
Everyone exchanged opinions.
They debated why this was happening rather than what became of the adventurers who'd entered.
An hour after the adventurers headed in...
The commander began selecting the next group.
At this point, with it obvious something was wrong, volunteers would only be the dim-witted or the desperate, those willing to trade life for coin.
And there were plenty of such types among the adventurers. Five stepped up, and they were sent into the city.
And just like before, all contact with them ceased.
They waited another hour.
Sensing the situation was far graver than expected, the commander split the adventurers into two teams.
One to contact the nearest city for reinforcements, the other to monitor and secure this city.
Shan and I were assigned to the monitoring team.
Since we'd sensed the danger early.
The commander's order: use that insight to watch the city.
We set up camp early on a hill overlooking the city and kept vigil.
"......At least we averted the worst."
What if we'd all marched in without suspicion?
I had no idea what lay inside, but...
The game system had mocked me plenty, but it never lied, so I'd trusted it.
That judgment seemed to have kept things from spiraling to catastrophe.
I worried about the kids inside, of course.
But charging in blindly felt like suicide.
"High chance it's demon worshippers."
"...Demon worshippers?"
"If they're erecting a distortion veil over a nowhere city like this for some ritual, they're the only ones who come to mind."
"......Those kinds of people exist?"
"Idiots seduced by demonic power. They offer up lives as sacrifices to bargain with devils."
"Offering lives means..."
As I started to ask again, dark clouds began rolling in.
No sign of rain just moments ago.
Fickle weather.
"Looks like rain."
"Damn it..."
A rough word slipped from Shan's usually calm, composed lips.
"...Pardon?"
"Too late to do anything now."
A drop fell from the heavy clouds—plip.
But it wasn't cold.
It was warm.
Like human body temperature.
And sticky.
I wiped the droplet from my face with my finger.
Dark red.
A fishy smell wafted over.
Plip-plip-plip-plip-plip—
Dark red rain poured down.
"...Ha."
I let out a hollow laugh at the absurd sight.
What the hell is that?
Blood rain from the sky, pooling blood on the ground clumping together to form shapes.
Giants.
Blood-red giants taller than the city's inner walls.
The giant seized the wall and rose, peering out at us beyond the city.
Then it hit me.
This is 21.
This is impossible.
That was all.
There was only one thing we could do.
"Everyone—run!!"
In a fight we couldn't win, everyone turned to flee.
Fighting that thing wasn't brave—it was reckless and foolish.
However.
Had I thought it too easy?
Blood poured down, forming bodies.
Blood-red monsters surrounded us.
I drew my sword, but the blade trembled pathetically.
Thinking back, rolling the dice itself meant...
We were already close enough to be in its influence.
As long as we didn't enter the city, we'd be fine.
That casual, complacent assumption was the problem.
"......Fuck."