Chapter 60
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: False Brother
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False Brother.
*Wi*, meaning false. *Je*, meaning younger brother.
A false brother.
There's a story like that.
It features a four-legged beast, a timid yet deeply filial woodcutter, and his elderly mother.
[Hidden Mission - False Brother]
[You have found a hidden clue. Gather information and reach the hidden truth.]
The moment I saw the name of the hidden mission and its objective, it was no surprise that story came to mind.
“The beast in this drawing... it looks exactly like the monster that was blocking the path down.”
“...Yes, it does.”
“Are you ready to talk about this beast now?”
Paul glanced up, trying to read my expression.
And just like when we first met,
“Oh, mercy!”
he threw himself flat on the floor, banging his head as he cried out.
“I'm so sorry, Mercenary! I have committed a sin worthy of death! I was so foolish as to try and deceive a great mercenary like yourself!”
It was exactly what I expected.
Is he this consistent because he's an NPC?
Anyway, I quietly waved my hand and spoke.
“It's fine. Just tell me everything you've been hiding.”
“Well... the truth is, I've known about the black monster blocking the path for a very long time.”
Paul continued, lifting his face while still prostrated on the floor.
“It was a day like any other, and I was out chopping wood. I was humming to myself, thinking about finishing my work and visiting Philia in the village for the first time in a while. That's when the black monster appeared. No, it didn't look like that back then...”
So it wasn't always a monster shrouded in black energy.
“I thought I was a goner, that I'd be eaten for sure. So, grasping at straws, I threw myself on the ground and begged. I told it I had a sick, elderly mother at home, that it couldn't eat me... And strangely enough, the monster acted as if it understood me.”
“Hmm.”
I cut him off there.
There was something I needed to clarify.
“You've left out quite a bit.”
“Pardon?”
“You didn't just beg, saying you had a sick mother at home, did you?”
According to the well-known story.
This woodcutter takes it a step further.
A big step further—so much so that it's hard to tell if he's a coward or just brazenly audacious.
“You told it that the monster was actually a human like you, transformed by some curse. That the elderly mother at home was its mother, and you were its younger brother.”
He literally conned the beast.
Hence, the False Brother.
That's how it goes in the fairytale, at least.
An even older version appears in the ancient collection of tales, 'Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio,' but the details are slightly different.
“Uh... huh.”
Paul's eyes widened.
His face showed he hadn't expected me to know the story in such detail.
“H-how did you know that?”
“Am I wrong?”
“No... Yes, you're right, Mercenary. I wasn't in my right mind back then. I just blurted out whatever came to my lips.”
And yet, the black monster believed his absurd story.
Not only did it let the woodcutter go,
“After that, something truly strange began to happen. Every few days, starting the very next morning, I'd wake up to find animal carcasses left in front of the cabin. I knew instinctively. The monster... it had left them during the night. For my mother and me to eat.”
So far, it matched the story I knew.
In the fairytale, too, the beast, who believed the woodcutter's words without question, devotedly cared for the old mother.
“Did you ever speak with it again?”
Paul looked at me, bewildered, and asked back,
“Speak with it? You mean have a conversation? Oh, come now, Mercenary. That's impossible. How can an ordinary person talk to a beast? Unless the beast could speak human words, of course.”
This part is different.
In the original story, the beast and the woodcutter do talk to each other.
In that respect, the dungeon's version was a bit more realistic than the story.
“Although, there was one time, back when my mother was healthier. She and the monster came face to face. It was while I was away, chopping wood.”
“Yes.”
“When I finished my work and returned, what do you know? My mother was fast asleep, leaning against the monster's back. And the monster was lying perfectly still, as if afraid to wake her. Isn't that just the strangest thing?”
That must have been the scene depicted in the drawing on the last page of the diary.
A drawing of a monster with its head bowed gently, and an old woman leaning against its back, smiling happily.
“Then.”
From here on, the story diverges from the fairytale I know.
“Why did a creature that cared so much for you and your mother suddenly change like that?”
In the original fairytale, the beast only ever helps the woodcutter and the old mother.
After their first encounter, it never shows any hostility.
That was the difference.
“I don't know either. Why it changed into that black monster... Why it suddenly started blocking the path to the village, and why it stopped visiting the cabin...”
The Woodcutter's Cabin NPC didn't provide that reason.
Paul gave a faint, bitter smile.
“If I knew why, I wouldn't have sought out a mercenary, now would I?”
From this point on, I had to find the connection myself.
That's what the dungeon was telling me.
“Let's go.”
I stood up from the chair, dusting myself off.
* * *
Time passed, and the second night arrived.
I made some progress today.
The Woodcutter's Cabin.
I'd figured out the five rules governing this dungeon.
First, the black monster always appears on the woodcutter's path.
Second, when the woodcutter encounters the black monster, he unconditionally returns to the starting point, and the monster retreats only after confirming his return.
Third, if I don't move with the woodcutter, the black monster doesn't appear either.
Fourth, if I stray too far from the woodcutter for a certain period during the escort, the 'frightened' woodcutter unconditionally returns to the starting point.
Fifth, the woodcutter constantly tries to move as long as it isn't dark.
These five rules, applying to the woodcutter and the black monster, were organically interconnected, one leading to the next.
Thanks to them, I easily found a loophole.
“Are you heading out this late at night?”
“Yes.”
The woodcutter doesn't move when it gets dark.
The NPC I'm supposed to escort stays in a safe field.
That alone was enough.
This was my free time, a chance to bypass all the restrictions.
Paul didn't make a fuss like he usually did.
“Alright. Please, return safely, Mercenary.”
Instead, he just spoke quietly as I headed out of the cabin.
“The nights here are harsher than you might think.”
Thump.
The log door closed.
When I looked up, a desolate, dark sea of trees greeted me.
A place where only a profound silence resided, set against the backdrop of a full moon in the night sky.
The black monster's location should be fixed, anyway.
I began to walk slowly.
About an hour passed.
Finally, I encountered the black monster.
“-----!”
The rope bridge.
The place where I first ran into it.
The black monster was there.
Just like before, it was in the middle of the cliff connected by the bridge, locked in a desperate battle.
But.
Krr-crunch!
The creature it was baring its fangs at and tearing into wasn't one of my summoned monsters.
“Grrrroooar!”
From across the rope bridge, they came swarming like a plague of insects.
The cold moonlight seeped into their torn flesh, their exposed white bones, and their eyeballs dangling from their sockets.
Living corpses. Zombies.
“----!”
The black beast, like some legendary warrior holding a pass against an entire army,
stood its ground on the cliff where the bridge connected and let out a roar.
Crunch! Thwack!
With every swipe of its forepaws, countless zombies fell from the rope bridge to the chasm below.
But they just kept coming, climbing over their torn comrades without end.
The great beast easily tore through dozens of zombies, but even more corpses clung to its body.
“----!”
Krr-ack!
The gruesome sound of flesh being chewed echoed.
The zombies swarmed the black beast like flies on rotting meat.
Watching this, I gripped my marbles.
It was obvious by now who the ally was.
“Everyone, come out.”
Marbles of all colors rolled across the ground.
With a *poof*, the monsters of the Lord's Castle appeared.
They understood my intentions with just a look.
[Flames of Hellfire]
[Carrion Crow's Wingbeat (A)]
[Tears of the Ancient God]
[Ikesia's Four-Directional Formation - Strike]
A horde of monsters surged toward the rope bridge all at once.
To help the black beast that stood blocking the bridge, protecting the woodcutter and the old mother.
Crash!
Gono was the first, his body flying through the air to land on the rope bridge.
“Grrroaar?!”
The zombies froze at the sudden appearance of the green goblin.
And as the goblin's wide, slit mouth and his club rose into the air,
[Club of Hercules - Cleave]
the dozens of corpses on the rope bridge collapsed.
Gono hefted the club onto his shoulder after one swing.
Black, sticky blood dripped from the club.
“Grrrroooar!”
The zombies that were still intact charged with a shriek.
Crack.
Once.
Crack.
Twice.
Krr-crunch!
With exactly three swings of the club, all of them fell, their skulls shattered.
There were no more moving corpses on the rope bridge.
Shunk!
The same went for the zombies that had crossed the bridge and were attacking the black beast.
In an instant, the Lizardman legion surrounded them.
“Grrroaar?!”
The zombies that had been swarming the black beast now found themselves surrounded.
What followed was a display of the Lizardmen's highly trained swordplay.
Shwiiing!
Various blades cleanly lopped off the zombies' heads.
“Gack!”
The dozens of undead were annihilated in a flash.
Those that were still twitching were either torn apart by sharp jets of water,
or burned to a crisp by blazing flames.
And just like that, the situation was resolved in about ten minutes.
“Good work, everyone. All of you return, except for Gono and Odolph.”
Recalling the Lizardmen and Jen Karuk into their marbles, I slowly walked forward.
To the place littered with human entrails, torn flesh, and ash.
Toward the black monster, collapsed in the middle of it all, gasping for breath.
“----.”
The beast turned its red gaze toward me and let out a low cry.
“My Lord, it's dangerous!”
“It's fine.”
This black monster could never kill me.
I'm the key to solving this situation.
“So this is what you've been protecting all this time.”
The black monster wasn't blocking the path down to the village.
It was protecting the woodcutter and the old mother *from* the village.
“----.”
This time, it didn't run away.
It just stared at me with its glowing red eyes.
I crouched down in front of it.
The metallic scent of blood and the stench of rotting corpses filled my nostrils.
Despite that, I stroked its torso, which was buried in a sinister energy.
And perhaps because I was closer to it,
or perhaps because the black, sinister energy surrounding its body had faded,
[The Sage has succeeded in analyzing the monster before you!]
Finally.
[San-gun (山君)]
[Type: Named Monster]
[Rank: 3-Star, based on MonMonMak]
[Stats: Strength 20, Agility 35, Stamina 20, Intelligence 15]
[Skills: Lord's Roar, Divine Beast's Body, Curse of Death (Active)]
[San-gun is one of the monsters who inherited the blood of the divine beasts that once protected ancient humanity. He is the ruler of the endless mountains and forests. If San-gun follows you, it means the providence of nature is with you.]
The identity of the monster protecting the Woodcutter's Cabin was revealed before my eyes.
The Lord of the Mountain.
The form revealed as the black energy faded suited that title perfectly.
A white tiger.
A magnificent white tiger.
However, its upper canines, protruding as long as a man's forearm, marked it as a monster.
And its silver body was covered in wounds, many of them near-fatal.
There were even several crossbow bolts from the Lizardmen's previous attack still embedded in it.
The reason it wasn't dead despite all this was...
[The Sage informs you that the active "Curse of Death" has turned the monster into an undead, and its rank has been reduced by 4 stars due to the curse.]
Meaning it was originally a 7-star.
But its power had been diminished by the black energy shimmering all over its massive body.
According to the Sage, it was because of the 'Curse of Death'.
In other words, San-gun had been turned into an undead that couldn't die even if it wanted to.
[The Sage informs you that it is difficult to extract a magic stone from the mutated divine beast in its current state, and the curse must be lifted for it to be transferred to the Lord's Castle.]
I nodded. This curse had to be related to the hidden quest.
Clearing the quest would likely remove the curse.
'Still, turning into an undead usually means losing all reason. The fact that it's held on this long...'
“-----.”
San-gun staggered to its feet.
After staring at me with its blood-red eyes, it began to slowly walk across the rope bridge.
As if telling me to follow.
“Will you follow, my Lord? We don't know what dangers lie beyond.”
Odolph asked.
He still hadn't let his guard down.
The curse covering San-gun's body continued to bother him.
But I didn't hesitate.
“We have to go.”
* * *
As I followed San-gun, my summons and I had to deal with hordes of undead.
Zombies appeared from somewhere in the darkness, attacking us relentlessly.
Of course, not a single one of them managed to even lay a finger on me.
“----.”
I don't know how much time had passed.
When the black beast walking ahead came to a halt, and a deep cry flowed out like a sob,
I finally realized I was standing on a cliff with an open view on three sides.
And the moment I saw the scene spread out before me under the moonlight,
“This is...”
It's... pretty gruesome.
I swallowed my words with a sigh.
The village the woodcutter had so fondly spoken of was gone.
In the middle of a scorched and barren land, only this mountain stood alone, like a deserted island.
And so, beyond the wasteland draped in ominous moonlight,
[You have reached the truth.]
Undead.
The entire landscape was filled with zombies and heaps of corpses.
[The world perished long ago, and this tragic sea of corpses and blood has become a horde of rotting undead.]
An endless sea of death stretched out before me.
Facing this Dead Sea, the dungeon's voice spoke to me.
[You have cleared the Hidden Mission, False Brother. The existing mission will be updated. A new mission will be given.]