If Only I Could Predict Everything in the World
How nice it would be if I could foresee every variable in this world. I already knew the hero might come for a subjugation run. But I didn't expect it to happen this soon.
"The hero's coming in just a few days?" Isn't that way too early? I haven't even finished the tower yet. It looks fine on the outside, but it's hollow inside—just a shell. If I run into the hero in this state, who knows what kind of mess I'll be in. I don't know how strong he is, but better safe than sorry.
I need to greet him in as perfect a condition as possible. Plant a few traps. Make the layout a maze to whittle down his stamina, even if just a bit. Then clash in a final battle on the fifth floor. That's my current scenario. Not some head-on honorable fight.
"That Cheokan hero guy's pretty strong, huh?" I tossed out a probing question to fish for any info on the hero.
"Of course! A mere monster like you wouldn't even be a warm-up!"
I tilted my head at the man's words. But he's been getting on my nerves for a while now. It's like he's begging me to kill him. Doesn't he realize his life hangs by a thread right here? Well, what would a greenhorn who hasn't even left the Starting Village know anyway?
I have no intention of killing them, though. Ignoring the wanderer's attitude, I kept probing for hero intel.
"What weapon does he use? Sword? Spear? Or maybe a blunt weapon like an axe?"
"Hmph! You think I'd tell you that?"
Not biting. "The hero will come save us soon anyway, so just sit tight and wait."
Same old crap. No substance to the conversation. At this point, this guy probably doesn't know much about the Cheokan hero either. Makes sense—it's not the kind of info you'd pick up easily. Wasted my time.
Judging there was nothing more to get, I stood up and gave it up.
"Don't run away! Come out and fight fair and square, you coward!"
I shook my head at the desperate yell from behind and left the room.
Staring at Chiron's back as he ignored every taunt and walked out, the man let out a low sigh.
"...He caught on, huh?"
I thought it would work. Jesian, the man who'd charged at Chiron, clicked his tongue in regret.
There was only one reason Jesian had acted so aggressively: to get the monster to kill him quickly and pass on info to the hero. He'd played dumb, yelling his lungs out to provoke the human hunter. Sure, he'd been genuinely terrified— that face was scary enough. But he'd mustered every ounce of courage for the taunt, and it yielded nothing.
This wasn't some ordinary monster. Humans instinctively loathe monsters, just as monsters have an urge to attack humans—especially undead ones. Normally, just seeing a living human should have triggered aggression. But he'd stayed perfectly calm. It was like he had actual intelligence.
A monster with intelligence, boss-level in a dungeon? By Jesian's common knowledge, that put him at least on par with one of the twelve Lords.
And the dungeon he'd expected to be riddled with deadly traps was empty. Give it a little more time, and it'd be complete. His plan to die at the monster's hands ASAP and warn about the human hunter had failed.
But he still had one ace up his sleeve.
"Tmien. You still have that necklace you always carry?"
At Jesian's words, the woman called Tmien checked her chest. A silver cross hung around her neck.
"Yeah, I do. But why...?"
It didn't look like a weapon, so it was the only thing they hadn't taken. But it was actually a protective charm she'd hidden for emergencies—as a mage.
Jesian crawled to Tmien's side and used his teeth to forcibly rip the gleaming cross from her neck. His teeth made a suspicious crunch amid excruciating pain, but he ignored it.
Pointing at the fallen cross with a finger, Jesian said gravely, "Stab my heart with that."
"Wh-what?!"
Tmien panicked. She'd never stabbed anyone in her life—let alone the heart of the man she had a crush on.
But Jesian was firm. "Hold it tight."
"...Huh?"
He knew she was too soft for this. No choice—he'd do it himself. Jesian charged at the cross in Tmien's hand with all his might.
Pfshk!
"Kyaaack!!"
Scarlet blood sprayed everywhere as the symbol of god pierced Jesian's heart dead center.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
A lizardman who belatedly sensed something off burst into the room.
"Cough...! ...Too late."
But Jesian had already lost too much blood. His body dissolved into blue smoke amid the pooling crimson on the floor.
When he opened his eyes again—
"Gasp—!"
He was lying in the respawn center of the Starting Village. The resurrection aftereffects hadn't faded. His heart pounded wildly, his head throbbed with agony. Tears threatened to spill.
"...Gotta move."
But Jesian endured it all, rising from the bed on unsteady legs. He staggered to the Sun Inn, where wanderers gathered. A scary-looking middle-aged man with an eyepatch over one eye. Jesian instantly knew—he was the hero.
"Out of my way, kid."
Blocking the hero's path earned a sharp voice laced with killing intent. He wanted to run. The fresh trauma of his first death made his limbs shake, his stabbed chest burn. But Jesian suppressed it all.
Fixing the Cheokan hero with a blazing glare, he slowly spoke. "You need to hear this information."
Having learned the hero would raid the dungeon soon, I headed to the first underground floor.
"Emilia still hasn't woken up?"
Emilia lay unconscious in the center of the skeleton knight's room, eyes closed. Hair black as a witch's, skin so pale it seemed she'd never seen sunlight—like porcelain on the verge of cracking.
"Guuuh...."
Even Karen, who thought everything was food, watched worriedly from the side. How long was she going to stay down? If it was just exhaustion, she should be waking up by now.
"Her stamina was pushed to the limit. Malnutrition, exhaustion, wounds all over."
Emilia's condition was dire—on the brink, like she could die any second.
"Looks like she'll need recovery potions for proper healing."
Gular's diagnosis: simple rest wouldn't cut it. She needed medicine.
"Can't you make some? You're an alchemist."
"Sadly, that's not my specialty."
Gular shook his head. His expertise was awakening potential, not healing bodies or curing diseases.
Where to get potions? Grab a passing wanderer and threaten him into buying some? As I pondered villainous thoughts—
"Whoa, my king...!"
A lizardman soldier rushed into the skeleton knight's room and dropped a bombshell.
"One of the humans died...!!"
"...What?"
Sudden shocking news. Why would a perfectly fine guy just drop dead? A bad premonition hit me. Rushing to the first floor, only two remained in the room—the man and woman, minus the dead one. The woman trembled, hands bloodied; the man stared blankly.
Watching them, I clacked my jaw.
"Clack."
The sloppy system tripped me up. Should've paid more attention. Lizardmen aren't human—they don't grasp how tenacious humans are. Who'd have thought he'd off himself to escape?
Tough bastard. Even I hadn't seen that coming.
"What now with these?"
At Kran's question, I turned. I'd kept these wanderers alive only to block info leaks. Now, no reason to.
"W-wait—!"
Slash!
I beheaded the remaining wanderers in one go. Watching the blue smoke dissipate, I stood.
If word got out the dungeon wasn't complete, they'd swarm here. "Gotta hurry."
Time was running out.