Mad Dash on the Brink of Madness

“Hah, hah, hah…!”

“Hng, heuk.”

I'd thrown caution to the wind. My sole focus was on moving as fast as possible. The only thing I had to watch out for besides running was the magic torch.

“Careful!”

“Hup!”

Thanks to Shae's shout, Kaya barely twisted her body aside, and a needle-like projectile from somewhere grazed past her armor. Pure luck.

Our pace wasn't slow by any means, but watching my comrades lumber along in their heavy plate made it feel agonizingly sluggish. The clanking armor, the thudding footsteps, the ragged breathing—everything grated on my nerves.

Fuck, what the hell is this bullshit... No, no, no. Snap out of it. Get it together!

At least the physical exhaustion kept random thoughts at bay. Hell, even in this mess, I was scraping together some pointless positivity!

“A door!”

“Good! Keep running!”

How far had we gone? Finally, the door to 1-7 appeared as a tiny speck at the edge of my vision. At this pace, we'd reach it in about a minute. My comrades and I were beat, but a quick breather at the door would fix that.

Thank god. That trap dodge with Kaya was huge.

What if she hadn't dodged it and taken mentality damage? What if tending to her after had delayed us, costing more mentality?

Goddammit.

It felt like those rare long-terror runs with shit-tier comps or weird combos—disaster looming. Fuck, we had to at least reach the Zone 1 boss!

Whatever jumps out in that room, first things first—get there!

Gripping my shaking legs, topping off the magic torch with oil on the fly, eyes fixed ahead as I ran—that's when it happened.

-----!!!

“Captain!!”

Fuck—I knew that already!

Two monsters burst out.

A humanoid Novice Priest and a grotesque thing barely qualifying as humanoid—the Scapegoat. They weren't that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strong, but...

Why the fuck now, right when our mentality's about to shatter!!!

Like they were lying in wait, we'd hit a blindside ambush in the passage—something I'd never seen before. We had to eat the first turn raw.

The Scapegoat—uglier and more repulsive than a kid's lumpy clay figure—crawled up slowly, grabbed Shae's ankle, and unleashed a guttural screech.

“Aaaahhh!!!”

“N-No! Shae!!! Snap out of it!!”

“Hit me instead! Attack me, you half-vomited freak bastards!!!”

Shae, her mind assaulted by the horrific scream, had ditched her claymore—even the one she clung to in agony back in the instance—and was clutching her head with both hands, tears streaming down her face.

My mouth went dry. My throat burned. The world spun.

Kaya approached the wailing Shae, trying to soothe her, but everything shook and blurred.

“Look up as you ought! And kneel in awe as you ought!”

But the monsters' turn wasn't over. They didn't give a damn about our situation.

“The moment you accept and embrace the instincts and nature of mortality! The overwhelming and great Terror shall accept your fate!!!”

“Ah, ah, ah.”

Aaah. Ah. Aaaaah. Ah. Aa. Aaa. Aaaaaaaa—!!!!!

“Everyone, snap out of it!!! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Fuck, get a grip!!! Shae!!! Kaya!!!”

As if mocking my screams, two pitch-black tentacles oozed from the Novice Priest's book, lashing out at Shae and Kaya—everyone but me.

Shae, already sobbing. Kaya, trying to comfort her.

Both erupted into horrific, chilling shrieks, writhing on the ground in madness.

Shae's name blinked in ominous crimson-black on the mentality tab. Kaya's flickered too, though less intensely. They were one step from insanity.

Watching them, I felt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my own sanity slipping.

First turn secured—those bastards were slow as hell. But the ambush damage was brutal.

“You fucking bastard!!!”

I swung my axe at the Novice Priest's head in rage. No crit, unfortunately.

Kaya somehow won the roll, but that was irrelevant now.

“Kaya! Snap out of it! Kaya!!! No, fuck, Shae!!! What the hell are you doing!!!”

Forget attack orders—I had to stop Kaya from punching her own face. A strong woman gone berserk was a nightmare. And Shae? She was choking herself, gurgling.

Watching them teeter on the edge of corruption, my own reason frayed.

- Give up.

- Accept it.

- Don't suppress your instincts and nature.

“Shut the fuck up!!!”

Unsettling whispers slithered in. I screamed curses to shake them off, but once heard, they stuck like gum.

Slap— Slap— SLAP—!

I slapped Kaya's cheeks hard. They swelled red instantly. The sudden pain cleared her dazed eyes.

I pressed my forehead to hers, growling.

“Right now! Get off the fucking ground! Crush that bastard with your mace! Or Shae dies! I die! You die!”

“Ahh…”

“Now!!!”

I hauled her up by force. Damn, heavy in that plate. I shoved her mace into her hands as she tried to drop it, gripping tight and yelling again.

“It's an order! Smash that fucker!!”

“Or… der… Captain…”

A faint light returned to Kaya's eyes. She staggered toward the monster and swung the mace like she was hurling trash.

No crit again, but solid damage finished it. Thank fuck.

Now Shae's turn. If she didn't snap out of it...

“C-Cap… Captain, Captain…”

“Ah, ah, ah, aaah!”

I'm losing it...

Kaya muttered “Captain” while clutching her bloodied, fleshy mace. Shae kept self-destructing, thrashing.

Brightness dropped. Time was passing—a warning sign. No choice.

I ignored the clinging Kaya and approached Shae. Slapped her too. No effect. Slapped again.

“Uh, ah…”

“Where's that confident genius crusader! Where's the crusader who solemnly swore to protect me and Kaya!”

“Ahh…”

“You're not the type to break here! You said you'd go to the end with me! That you'd crush these fuckers! Was that oath just to whimper and clean the floor? Is that all your word was worth?!”

“O-Oath…?”

“Yeah! Honor your oath! I'll carry you to the end! You do your part! But if you're like this... how the hell am I supposed to drag you through?!”

Shae's trembling slowed. My words finally got through? Before I could grab her claymore, she sprang up bare-handed and charged the monster.

“Take thiiis…!”

“Die—!!!”

System correction or just Shae's raw power—the skill landed fine.

As planned, Scapegoat's next turn vanished. Back to me. No time to waste—I unleashed Head Crush, no crit again, but after Kaya's follow-up, the bastard croaked.

“...No time for this. We go in now.”

My comrades and I panted harshly. They looked wrecked: disheveled hair, faces smeared with tears and snot, swollen cheeks, bloody lips crusted over, hands trembling like drug addicts in withdrawal.

Rest? No chance. Still in the passage, even if the door was close. One more mentality hit, and Shae would shatter. Then Kaya. Then me. A chain reaction of doom.

Please.

Anything but a box room. Just let us fight if we must.

I advanced, eyes on the messages. Mercifully—truly—we reached 1-7 without more mentality loss.

I rearranged formation just in case: Kaya-Shae-Me.

Wanted to lead despite my mentality buffer, but my HP was rags. Putting Shae last would make her useless, so this was best.

Can't waste food recovering HP here—future's fucked if we do.

Better to teeter on agony and 1 HP again. Save rations for pre-boss gorge.

“Kaya.”

She turned at my call. Only after my nod did she act.

Screeech—

Please. Please. Please.

I'd prayed for no box room earlier, but now? Anything might break us.

Yeah. Flatfish vibes. Dread of what's inside clashed with the need to push on. Resolve won. I shoved Shae ahead and entered.

“Ah. Customers have arrived.”

“...What.”

The Dark Merchant's shop. The shop. We'd hit the fourth option: not monsters, not rest, not boxes.