The Key to the Sealed Door
Chiron☆ Lv. 27
Each member gained 1 level.
Having safely dealt with the two uninvited guests we'd encountered in the dungeon, I shouted toward the back.
"Alright, it's safe now—come on out!"
"Clack clack!"
Only then did the two of them slink out into view.
"Phew…! Where the hell did those humans pop up from all of a sudden?"
Gular wiped at nonexistent sweat, letting out a sigh of relief.
Yeah, how did they get in? I was pretty sure I'd thoroughly concealed the entrance with branches before coming in here. Those Wanderers must've sniffed it out somehow.
"Guuuuuh."
I glanced down at the weird noise and saw the Gluttony Ghoul gnawing furiously on some random stick clenched in her teeth.
Hey, no—no eating that.
I snatched the mystery stick from her mouth, and she started flailing in protest.
"Gaaah! Guuuuh!"
But I had no intention of giving it back, so she pulled a pitiful pouty face.
Come to think of it, she'd been complaining about being hungry. Still, scavenging random junk like this? The stick I'd taken from the Gluttony Ghoul was covered in rust. Even a ghoul with a stomach of steel could catch tetanus or something from that.
I glanced around and spotted a small bundle nearby. Peeking inside, I found a few strips of dried jerky. Left behind by those humans from earlier, probably.
I picked one out and tossed it to the Gluttony Ghoul.
"Waaang!"
With some acrobatic flair, the Gluttony Ghoul snatched the jerky midair. True to her title, she devoured it in seconds flat.
"You're surprisingly good at handling the kid."
Was I? I shrugged at Gular.
Maybe I had some forgotten experience like this in my past. All I could remember was a jumble of random knowledge and a few hazy fragments about myself.
Before becoming a skeleton. Back when I was human—what kind of life had I lived? What trials had I faced? Not a single clear detail came to mind. Just vague, cloud-like recollections.
I couldn't even remember my own name, after all. Was this some kind of amnesia?
Maybe.
"Why not use this chance to give the ghoul a cool name?"
Gular made an unexpected suggestion.
Why should I…?
"Clack… clack?"
But my reaction was ice-cold.
Why did I have to come up with a name?
"You're basically her parent now."
I recoiled at Gular's words. What kind of ominous nonsense was that? A skeleton having kids? Undead—creatures that were dead yet moved like the living. Me, a parent? Ridiculous.
"Guuuuuh."
"……."
That said, we couldn't keep calling her "Gluttony Ghoul" forever.
Fine, whatever—let's just call her Karen.
"Clack clack."
Lazy as it was, I threw together a name on the spot.
I confirmed Karen's status window had updated and stood up.
"Who'd have thought Wanderers would show up in this dungeon, of all places."
Gular muttered, his face still pale with lingering fear. I tilted my head.
Wanderers?
"It means those who drift aimlessly through the world."
I knew the literal meaning. What I wanted to know was why they were called that.
"It's what they call humans blessed by the trees, like us."
Just as I'd suspected—only a select few humans could respawn. See? I'm a genius!
To be precise, all Wanderers received the blessing of resurrection from the Platinum Tree, guardian of life's cycle.
Some folks got a measly little star by their name. But Wanderers? They had straight-up immortality, or so Gular explained. Absurd.
I was outraged. This was unfair! Give us some broken traits too, you nameless tree!
"Trees don't have personalities. They just do their jobs."
Nothing like the omnipotent gods you imagine. In game terms, the trees of this world were like GMs.
Sigh. Bad luck drawing the GM who won't let me respawn.
I grumbled as I got to my feet. Time to move.
I led Gular and Karen toward our destination, passing through a room littered with zombie corpses.
Oh, careful here. Arrows incoming.
"Clack clack."
I guided them into a hidden passage rigged with traps.
Shwick!
"Gah!!"
Despite my friendly warning, Gular—too excited, rushing ahead alone—took an arrow to the butt and fell flat on his ass.
"You could've warned me! I almost died!"
I stayed cool in the face of his outburst.
Who told you to charge ahead of the guide? In a dungeon, carelessness is your own problem.
Ignoring Gular's bitching from behind, we passed through the corridor and arrived at a wide open space. More precisely, we paused in the room just before the Skeleton Knight's chamber, its walls covered in murals.
Munch munch.
"Guuuuh."
A wet sensation on my arm made me look down—Karen was gnawing on my left arm bone, fangs poking out. Not actually trying to eat it, though. More like a hunger protest.
Here, take this.
I opened the bundle and tossed her another strip of jerky.
"Waaang!"
Karen caught it perfectly, mouth agape. I turned to Gular.
"Hoh… well now."
Gular let out an impressed whistle at the murals.
"Who knew there'd be murals chronicling the history of the Soltran Empire right here in the dungeon."
As an alchemist, Gular knew his stuff cold. He admired them with a satisfied smirk before turning to me.
"Alright, now guide me to the Skeleton Knight."
He seemed thrilled. No real expression on a skeleton face, but that's how it felt.
This way.
"Clack clack."
Once in the Skeleton Knight's room, Gular waddled his bulky frame toward the massive wall inside.
He traced the engravings with a bony finger, scrutinizing them closely.
"Looks like something's sealed behind here."
How'd he know? I'd already glimpsed some of the Skeleton Knight's memories during inheritance, so I was surprised.
But Gular wasn't done.
"To open the door, you need three keys."
What the hell was he seeing? To me, it was just weird scribbles.
Gular pointed at the images one by one, explaining.
"One each on floors 2, 3, and 5."
This dungeon had five floors total. Excluding the 1st and 4th we'd seen, the keys were on the others.
"What do you say? Grab the keys, and we can open it right up."
Why even ask? Of course we'd get the keys!
"Clack clack!"
Naturally, I was the only one here fit to fetch them. Nerdy Gular with zero combat skills. Karen, barely Lv. 1 and always starving. Useless.
Wait right here!
I left them and headed back out alone. Bone club over one shoulder, Gular's shield in the other hand—looking pretty badass.
But the 1st floor scenery had changed a bit when I returned.
This place used to be pitch black. Now, fireflies? No—humans with torches. Bright red flames lit up every corner.
What the—where'd all these humans come from? Uninvited guests invading my quiet dungeon. Felt like bugs in my house. Time to exterminate.
Thud.
I kicked off the ground, charging the nearest Wanderer.
"Wh-what the…!!"
Too late.
Slash!
I cleaved his neck clean off and whirled toward the next.
"Eek!"
The terrified Wanderer cowered behind his shield, no fight in him at all.
Pathetic. Not worth the effort.
I lowered my bone. Total coward. His buddy dies right in front of him, and that's his reaction? The nameless kid from before was way better—glaring defiance to the end.
That's a warrior!
You? Ptooey! Don't call yourself a Wanderer.
Not even worth killing. I turned away.
Floor 1 was still crawling with them. At this rate, someone might snag the keys first.
Panicking, I bolted for the stairs to floor 2.
Slash!
"Gurk!"
Chopping down every Wanderer in sight, I reached the stairs. Plenty of space besides the spot I'd broken before.
Descending carefully this time, I finally hit the floor of the 2nd level.
"Kek?"
A goblin was there.