A Brief Rest (3)
“You mean a rest period?”
“Yes. It’s entered a resting phase. There must have been some kind of side effect. I can’t say exactly what it is myself, but I’m certain it will remain in this state for the time being. It’s easier to understand if I say it’s sealing itself away.”
“That’s… a relief.”
Park Yeonju nodded, and Kim Hyunsung let out a breath as though some weight had finally left his shoulders.
The other expedition members all looked relieved as well. They must have imagined the possibility of things going wrong and ending up face-to-face with a fragment of an ancient god.
Honestly, it was only natural to want nothing to do with that image.
Everyone knew all too well that surviving the last time had been nothing more than blind luck.
Even if that weren’t the case…
They were probably worried that the bastard might go berserk again.
At a time like this, news that that monster had entered a resting phase was enough to put a smile on everyone’s face.
And in fact, it had entered something like a resting phase.
Of course, its main body was still locked in a struggle for control with the backup program, but at the very least, the distant tentacle was settling into position to suck down the museum’s system—or rather, the entire continent.
As long as it wasn’t attacking us, it could be considered at rest.
“Since the Crack Guardians the museum prepared are in place as well, things should be resolved soon… I think.”
“So it really did work out… I suppose Representative Lee’s decision was the right one.”
“It was a fluke. It really was dangerous. We were lucky. A little late, but I’d like to apologize for causing trouble for the expedition. To be honest, it was a gamble. Not just for us, but… the people in Lindel could have been endangered too.”
“An apology isn’t necessary. A random Mythic-grade monster appearing was an unavoidable situation, and Representative Lee handled it well, so the fact that everyone survived means you should be the one receiving thanks. It’s a little late, but… I’d like to thank you. If it hadn’t been for the quick thinking you showed back then, several people would almost certainly have died.”
“You’re making me embarrassed by praising me like that. In truth, I was only thinking about dealing with the situation right in front of me… I just charged in without thinking it through.”
If things had gone wrong, I would’ve been in a pretty awkward position too.
Honestly, I’d thought it could’ve ended with me being branded a traitor.
“By the way… what exactly is this fragment of an ancient god?”
“Dialugia will explain that to you.”
“Ah… yes. In truth, I don’t know much about it either. I haven’t lived all that long… I only heard about it from my mother and grandmother. All I really know is that it has existed since the beginning of time and that it’s something capable of putting the continent in danger.”
“So what Keeper Max said was true after all. This really is absurd. We already knew this wasn’t an ordinary place, but hearing things like ancient god… fragment… mythic being… it still doesn’t feel real. If we’d only just arrived here, it would probably feel even less real.”
“Yes. I understand that feeling as well. I’ve lived for over four thousand years, but even I only ever heard of beings like that in stories. I never imagined we would find one in a place like this… much less one that had been sealed away.”
As Dialugia laboriously continued her explanation, a booming voice came from the side.
“Why not just kill it if you’re going to seal it in the first place? I don’t know why this museum bothered with such a troublesome thing.”
“It’s impossible to kill a fragment of an ancient god. It’s not so much a being that attained divinity as one that could be called a god itself without exaggeration. The so-called Crack Guardians probably judged sealing the fragment to be the best option. Of course, their mistake was overestimating themselves. They likely never imagined the seal would break.”
“Hmm… I see.”
“If it entered a resting phase, then what is that tentacle sprawled across the museum right now?”
An Gimo’s question was one I could answer just fine.
I’d been doing well enough so far, but for some reason there was something unnervingly shaky about the way he spoke.
Still, it was satisfactory enough.
His usual deadpan face made it hard to notice anything out of place. He did seem to be suppressing guilt the entire time, but people with poor eyesight wouldn’t be able to catch that from her expression.
“The earlier speculation was correct. It’s probably trying to shut down the museum’s system. That was the seal that had been binding it all this time…. It may have entered a resting phase, but its main body is probably locked in a power struggle with the backup program or whatever it is. Though that shouldn’t take much longer either.”
“Aaah… I see.”
“I understand.”
After clearing my throat once more, I spoke again as if it were nothing.
This time, I addressed everyone.
“To sum things up, I don’t think there’s any major problem. The backup program will seal away the one that’s entered a resting phase, and there’s a high probability it’ll succeed. Isn’t that right, Dialugia?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“Before the sealing is completed, I think we should rescue the isolated survivors and then get out of the museum. Since there’s now a hole in the system, we should be able to leave the dungeon without completing the museum exploration. It’s a little disappointing about the quest, but….”
“It can’t be helped, can it? If the seal is completed, the museum may end up back under the system’s influence….”
I nodded at Park Yeonju’s answer.
I didn’t know whether Keeper Max would actually succeed in sealing the fragment, but I had no intention of heading to the place where its main body was.
If it was the kind of thing that merely sucked the continent’s life force dry, rather than erupting onto the surface to smash the world to pieces with its tentacles, then there was no reason to waste energy helping with the seal.
And if it didn’t get sealed, we could always say our expedition had been sealed instead.
A perfect plan with no loose ends.
“In any case, to put it simply… at the very least, I think it’s safe to say we’re completely free of the ancient god fragment’s influence. And the continent is safe as well. For now, you can all relax and rest easy. Isn’t that right, Dialugia?”
“Yes.”
“……”
“The continent… the continent is….”
“……”
“Th-the continent… is safe!”
When Dialugia squeezed her eyes shut and forced the last words out, everyone nodded and let out small exclamations of relief.
Some people clenched their fists. Others high-fived.
Even Park Deokgu was embracing the women around him and sharing his joy.
Watching that scene made me feel, despite myself, a little relieved too.
“Of course, it’s true that it’s still too early to celebrate. The dungeon has not been fully cleared yet. Like I said, we still need to rescue the isolated survivors.”
“Of course!”
“In truth, finding the isolated survivors in such a vast area may be difficult, so… I think the party should head into the museum’s control room.”
As soon as I said we needed to go to the control room, Kim Hyunsung spoke up.
As someone with plenty of experience, he probably knew better than anyone how to get in there.
“If we follow the fragment’s tentacle inward, we should be able to find where the museum’s keeper is.”
“Yes.”
It wasn’t perfect, but it felt like everyone understood the situation well enough.
Probably everyone was thinking the same thing.
First, follow the tentacle and find Keeper Max of the museum….
Then confirm the survivors’ location.
At the same time, we’d need to think about whether Keeper Max should be turned into the main villain depending on how he behaved.
If he cooperated and told us where they were, I’d be grateful—but he’d probably have a bitter taste in his mouth after the huge kick in the teeth we’d given him, so he likely wouldn’t be fond of us.
Of course, whether or not he liked us wasn’t really the issue.
He’ll cough it up one way or another.
I could guarantee it: right now, there was no way for him to stop this expedition from tearing his place apart.
The fact that he still hadn’t shown himself meant he was too busy trying to clean up the mess to spare attention for anything else.
If we could just find the keeper’s room and run into him, the odds were good that we’d be the ones holding the advantage.
Or we could just take him out.
After all, Keeper Max was basically the hidden named monster buried in this dungeon.
Just hearing it sounded beautiful. I nodded, fully activating my happy circuits, and then heard Kim Hyunsung’s voice as he organized the situation.
That’s right.
I was glad I’d been considerate enough to leave some room for the guy who might otherwise have lost standing in the expedition.
The way he smoothly slipped through the path I’d opened for him showed just how capable he was. I’d eased the tension once, and now it was his turn to tighten it back up.
“Things may be safe for the moment, but everyone must not let your guard down. Even if the fragment has entered a resting phase, this dungeon remains dangerous. There may be other programs defending the museum along the route to the keeper’s room… and there’s also a chance that other monsters affected by the fragment have awakened.”
“……”
“Even if we find the keeper’s room and enter it, that doesn’t solve everything. We know nothing about this museum, and right now we’ve only caught our breath. We have not completed the clear.”
Just as I was beginning to wonder if he was squeezing things a little too hard—
“And….”
“……”
“Rest is one of the tasks essential to clearing this as well. We’ll depart in four hours. Everyone, recover your strength with everything you’ve got. I sincerely hope we can all return to Lindel without losing a single person.”
He had clearly taken part in enough dungeon raids before his regression. I could see the expedition members’ faces; they were keeping just the right amount of tension.
Not bad.
If I’d said the same thing, I probably wouldn’t have been able to inspire that kind of trust.
It was annoying to admit, but appearance was one of the things that helped win the public’s confidence.
In that sense, his handsome face was exactly the kind of thing that could plant that sort of uplift in people.
I liked it very much.
Glancing to the side, I saw Park Yeonju, Cho Hyejin, and even several of Black Swan sending him strange looks.
I’d once seen an internet post about how women reacted when they saw a handsome man, but what those ladies were showing now was even more intense than that post.
They’ve fallen for him. Completely.
The way they were shining their eyes at a speech that was basically nothing left me feeling not just dumbfounded, but almost flustered.
In any case, just as Kim Hyunsung had said, everyone began resting as best they could.
Originally, we’d planned to rest for only three hours before moving out, but it seemed he’d decided a little more breathing room would be good.
In other words, it meant we could fully recover within four hours.
I’d been suppressing my sleepiness this whole time, so I felt relieved.
Looks like I can get some really good sleep….
Those of us who desperately needed to recover our bodies set up camp on our own and found places to lie down and doze.
The others were each taking their own form of rest once again.
When I stepped into the makeshift tent, a surprisingly cozy space welcomed me. Naturally, my anxiety melted away like snow.
Of course, unlike me, who was at least a little more at ease now, Dialugia—who had remained uneasy from start to finish—probably couldn’t relax at all.
Tsk….
My gaze fell on Dialugia, muttering to herself awkwardly from a bit of a distance.
“It was for Dialuria….”
“……”
“For my beloved daughter. Mother… Grandmother, I’m sorry.”
My conscience pricked at me, but there was nothing I could do.
“It was for Dialuria. Hic.”
Her faint voice reached me, and I thought guilt would probably make it hard for me to sleep—but the instant I closed my eyes, I fell straight into sweet, irresistible slumber.
I’m trash.
I had no choice but to spend a little more time questioning my own character…
But honestly.
Sleep was delicious.
Afterword
Dialugia: “That was the first lie I’ve told in four thousand years… I’m sullied….”