Chapter 90: Player (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 90: Player (2)
Silence ensued.
After taking a moment to sort through my thoughts, I let out a small sigh out of habit. Seeing that, Ragna slowly blinked. "You're calmer than I expected. I knew you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
Actually, I sighed because what she just said was plausible. "Well, maybe it's better to just not think about it. A dimensional collapse is a catastrophe that cannot be foreseen nor prevented."
That was definitely true. Even in the game, a dimensional collapse always happened randomly. There were more times when it didn't explode than times when it did.
It happened maybe once every one hundred rounds.
Of course, once it did explode, there was no disaster like it. I wasn't sure about the second half of the labyrinth, where it could be dealt with to some extent, but in the first half, pressing the escape key and just restarting the game saved more time.
"So where did your information come from?" I calmly investigated just what I needed to. I had an intuition that this was the source of my anxiety, but I still couldn't be sure.
"A wizard of the Tarutein school by the name of Shernal Fergang. Apparently, they've been studying dimensional collapses for quite some time now." After giving me the name of a wizard, she said that she knew nothing more.
"I see. I'll look into the rest. Anyway, thanks for the warning."
As soon as I turned to the door, I heard a voice from behind me. "Are you... just leaving today?"
Well, since a new quest had appeared, shouldn't I start with that?
***
As always, the pub was loud. The silver-haired elf who sat in the corner tapped the table with her index finger. It was a habit of hers that showed up when she was troubled.
"Hah..."
In the last three months, her kind, pretty little sister Erwen had changed. Not only did she ask for help with the training she hated so much, but she pushed herself to the limit in a way that seemed to suggest she thought sleeping was a waste of time. She had also become sharper. Not so much with Daria, who shared her blood, but the way she spoke, her eyes, and her actions when dealing with other people were completely different from before.
Still, it's not a bad change, so I'm glad...
Excessive ambition and a wariness of others? As an adventurer whose fate was to enter the labyrinth, these were welcome personality traits. In fact, thanks to that, Erwen had been able to achieve a lot of growth. She had succeeded in contracting the Four Great Elementals and also succeeded in building her strength by enlightening three of them.
That wasn't all. Her archery skills, martial arts, and dagger-based melee combat improved by the day. To be honest, it was getting to the point that Daria was wondering how this talent hadn't manifested before now. However, what made her sigh was the cause of the change.
How long can I hide this?
It had been the death of a barbarian whom she called Mister and had been emotionally attached to. In reality, however, it was ridiculous to call it a death since he was actually alive and well, with a reputation as Little Balkan.
Should I tell her before it's too late?
When Daria first heard the news, she was astonished. Then she grew anxious. She now thought it was just a matter of time before she got caught. But Erwen, who had been confining herself to her room every day and devoting herself to training, still had not heard the news.
"Did you guys hear? I heard that Jet-Black Sword might become a disciple of Swordmaster!"
"Huh, where did you hear such strange news? Swordmaster, that dignified man, would not accept a mere adventurer as an apprentice."
Sitting alone in a corner of the pub, Daria grew relieved as she overheard the conversations of the adventurers around her.
The rumors are slowly fading now.
The stories once heard throughout the entire city had been buried under new ones. It had rattled her a bit when news of the barbarian spread through the taverns again—how he had exorcised an evil spirit and assassinated a priestess of Karui—but even all of that was almost gone now.
Yes, let's leave things like this.
Soon, Daria made up her mind. Actually, this wasn't something to even worry about. As someone who had chosen to live as an adventurer, when would there ever be another opportunity for Erwen to grow like this?
"Hey, elf lady. If you're here alone—"
"Get lost if you don't want a hole in the middle of your forehead."
Pushing away an approaching drunkard, Daria left the tavern. She had visited this place wondering if the barbarian had done something else and become a hot topic again, but she decided not to come anymore.
Knock, knock.
When she returned home, she knocked on her sister's door. There was no answer. She slipped the key in, wondering if Erwen had fallen asleep on the floor.
Click.
The door unlocked and opened with a squeak. Soon, she saw her younger sister. Her eyes were closed in meditation while she summoned all Four Great Elementals.
"Must..." Judging by the slight movement in her lips, it appeared she was muttering something. Daria silently approached and heard her more clearly. "Must get stronger. Must get stronger. Must get stronger. Then I won't lose anything. I can have it all..." She was repeating the same words over and over as if to brainwash herself.
"Erwen?" Daria hurriedly woke her sister from her trance.
Surprisingly, Erwen's expression was calm. "Oh, you're here?"
"You... Are you okay?"
"Okay?"
"You... were muttering something to yourself—"
"Huh? I was just speaking to the elementals." That obviously hadn't been a conversation she would have with the elementals, but Daria pursed her lips as she was ordered to leave. "I'm training right now, can you come back later?"
"Sure..."
Daria left the room helplessly. She headed back to her bedroom and thought about what had just happened. This was the kind of thing that couldn't be dismissed as zeal or dedication. It was almost like an obsession. It hadn't been this bad after that incident ten years ago.
What's the problem? That barbarian couldn't have been that important.
Daria stiffened when she remembered the biggest change as of late.
Ah, maybe it's because she absorbed that essence?
Daria pulled out a book from the shelf. She had purchased it at a fairly high price from the guild a while ago. The Compilation of Low Rank Essences contained information on all essences between ranks seven and nine. First, she read up on the essence Erwen had absorbed during their last trip.
"Did you guys hear? I heard that Jet-Black Sword might become a disciple of Swordmaster!"
"Huh, where did you hear such strange news? Swordmaster, that dignified man, would not accept a mere adventurer as an apprentice."
Sitting alone in a corner of the pub, Daria grew relieved as she overheard the conversations of the adventurers around her.
The rumors are slowly fading now.
The stories once heard throughout the entire city had been buried under new ones. It had rattled her a bit when news of the barbarian spread through the taverns again—how he had exorcised an evil spirit and assassinated a priestess of Karui—but even all of that was almost gone now.
Yes, let's leave things like this.
Soon, Daria made up her mind. Actually, this wasn't something to even worry about. As someone who had chosen to live as an adventurer, when would there ever be another opportunity for Erwen to grow like this?
"Hey, elf lady. If you're here alone—"
"Get lost if you don't want a hole in the middle of your forehead."
Pushing away an approaching drunkard, Daria left the tavern. She had visited this place wondering if the barbarian had done something else and become a hot topic again, but she decided not to come anymore.
Knock, knock.
When she returned home, she knocked on her sister's door. There was no answer. She slipped the key in, wondering if Erwen had fallen asleep on the floor.
Click.
The door unlocked and opened with a squeak. Soon, she saw her younger sister. Her eyes were closed in meditation while she summoned all Four Great Elementals.
"Must..." Judging by the slight movement in her lips, it appeared she was muttering something. Daria silently approached and heard her more clearly. "Must get stronger. Must get stronger. Must get stronger. Then I won't lose anything. I can have it all..." She was repeating the same words over and over as if to brainwash herself.
"Erwen?" Daria hurriedly woke her sister from her trance.
Surprisingly, Erwen's expression was calm. "Oh, you're here?"
"You... Are you okay?"
"Okay?"
"You... were muttering something to yourself—"
"Huh? I was just speaking to the elementals." That obviously hadn't been a conversation she would have with the elementals, but Daria pursed her lips as she was ordered to leave. "I'm training right now, can you come back later?"
"Sure..."
Daria left the room helplessly. She headed back to her bedroom and thought about what had just happened. This was the kind of thing that couldn't be dismissed as zeal or dedication. It was almost like an obsession. It hadn't been this bad after that incident ten years ago.
What's the problem? That barbarian couldn't have been that important.
Daria stiffened when she remembered the biggest change as of late.
Ah, maybe it's because she absorbed that essence?
Daria pulled out a book from the shelf. She had purchased it at a fairly high price from the guild a while ago. The Compilation of Low Rank Essences contained information on all essences between ranks seven and nine. First, she read up on the essence Erwen had absorbed during their last trip.
Where is Carnivaro?
It was a monster that only appeared in the Witch's Forest, but out of luck, she had gotten the essence in the process of saving an adventurer who was being chased out of the forest by one.
Ah, I found it.
As she turned the pages of the book, she read the text while summoning a fire elemental for light.
Carnivaro: Rank 7
Agility (Medium), Dark Resistance (Low), Endurance (Low), Accuracy (Medium), Sixth Sense (Low), Hearing (Medium), Obsession (High)
*Increased agility and accuracy when moving
*Mana Mine (Red)
*Hound (Blue)
*Chasing Arrow (Green)
As she thoroughly examined the contents, she froze at one particular part. "Obsession... is high?" She suddenly felt a sense of deja vu and checked the essence Erwen had absorbed three months ago.
Iron Hill Chaser: Rank 8
Strength (Low), Physical Resistance (Low), Leg Strength (Low), Jumping Power (Medium), Ground Resistance (Low), Cognitive Interference (Low), Agility (Medium), Obsession (Medium)
*Increased penetration during a successful surprise attack
*Piercing Arrow (Red)
*Terrain Eruption (Blue)
*Weakness Detection (Yellow)
What... is this?
There was Obsession again, and medium at that.
Could this one also...?
She even read up on the very first essence that her younger sister had absorbed. It was just as she feared.
Goblin Archer: Rank 9
Flexibility (Low), Smell (Low), Poison Tolerance (Low), Cognition (Low), Cognitive Interference (Low), Accuracy (Low), Vision (Low), Agility (Low), Obsession (Low)
*Inflicts a paralyzing poison when using a bow weapon
*Thief Step
Even here, there was Obsession. Now Daria could piece together the situation in her mind. Erwen's obsession with power was all because of this stat.
So what do I do?
She couldn't just use money to erase one of the essences that had been absorbed, but her heart was too heavy to just leave things like this.
If she consumes another essence to replace it... I'll make her erase it then.
After much deliberation, she reached a conclusion. However, after she quickly washed up and lay in bed, she was faced with a new question. If Erwen found out that the barbarian was alive before then, where would her obsession direct itself?
***
Ten days had passed since I had heard the news of the dimensional collapse. However, was this a baseless rumor, a fact, or the delusions of someone who thought it was true? Although I kept myself quite busy looking for answers, I didn't achieve much.
"Shernal Fergang?" Raven, who always helped me when I went to visit with a question, didn't have anything for me this time. "Even if you ask me to meet them, I've never heard that name before. The Tarutein School doesn't interact with mine in the first place."
"...I see."
"Anyway, when you come next week, leave the whole day free. The winner has been decided by a lottery."
"Winner?"
"Did you forget? In exchange for looking into that piece of paper, you agreed to help my seniors with their research, right?"
No, I remember that. I just didn't know you were going to draw lots. Dang, now I'm getting worried...
I'd never had luck with draws in my life. Anyway, after that, I tried various things to find the wizard called Shernal Fergang, but all of my attempts failed. Meanwhile, rumors began to circulate.
"Bjorn! Did you hearrr?! They say there's going to be a dimensional collapse soon!" After meeting up with some of her old party members, Missha came back and kicked up a fuss. If she knew, that meant the news had already spread. In fact, when I headed to the tavern in the evening, everyone was talking about the dimensional collapse.
But the problem is, no one knows who the source is.
Whose mouth was this information coming from? And on what grounds? Without those details, everyone was fostering anxiety and inflating rumors.
This... is strange.
I felt an odd sense of dissonance. For news to be widely known like this, shouldn't there be a plausible basis for it? By now, many stories had been offered up as evidence by gossip, but there was none of that at first.
Is someone deliberately stoking rumors?
Having kept a close eye on the situation from the start, I came to that conclusion. Of course, it was just a theory, but no matter how I looked at it, the current situation was strange.
Whew, I think there's really something behind all this.
It was stifling. I wanted to learn about the information exchanging hands from a more discreet place than a bar, but the reality of my situation was too difficult to surmount. How would a barbarian who had built a reputation for fighting alone get information like that?
If it weren't for Ragna in the first place, I wouldn't have even heard the name Shernal Fergang.
Soon, I made up my mind. In my hand was the letter from the Ghost Busters and the accompanying pill. For the sake of thorough anonymity, I had originally intended to take it after at least three months, but...
I can move it up a month or so.
I put the pill in my mouth and swallowed it.
[You have consumed GB-027.]
There was no getting immediately dragged into the spiritual world. According to the information I had learned from Raven and found in the secret library Ragna had given me access to, the meeting was held at midnight on the fifteenth of every month.
I just have to wait three days.
Time flew by, and the moment I had been waiting for finally arrived. It felt as if my mind was moving away from my body.
[Your soul has resonated and is being drawn to a specific world.]
***
When I woke up, there was a computer in front of me in a pure white space reminiscent of the universe itself. It would probably have been difficult for me to even recognize where up and down were if it wasn't for the machine sitting there.
What's this now?
This was a completely different introduction than I had expected, but I slowly took a step forward to where the computer was. The feeling of moving was unlike any I'd ever felt before, like riding a robot and using controls to make it walk forward. As I stumbled toward the computer, I checked the monitor, which was turned on.
[Please enter the password.]
A short sentence was set on a black DOS screen. I entered the password without much thought.
[Rafdonia's king, Motherfucker.]
The PS in that letter didn't just mean postscript.
Where is Carnivaro?
It was a monster that only appeared in the Witch's Forest, but out of luck, she had gotten the essence in the process of saving an adventurer who was being chased out of the forest by one.
Ah, I found it.
As she turned the pages of the book, she read the text while summoning a fire elemental for light.
Carnivaro: Rank 7
Agility (Medium), Dark Resistance (Low), Endurance (Low), Accuracy (Medium), Sixth Sense (Low), Hearing (Medium), Obsession (High)
*Increased agility and accuracy when moving
*Mana Mine (Red)
*Hound (Blue)
*Chasing Arrow (Green)
As she thoroughly examined the contents, she froze at one particular part. "Obsession... is high?" She suddenly felt a sense of deja vu and checked the essence Erwen had absorbed three months ago.
Iron Hill Chaser: Rank 8
Strength (Low), Physical Resistance (Low), Leg Strength (Low), Jumping Power (Medium), Ground Resistance (Low), Cognitive Interference (Low), Agility (Medium), Obsession (Medium)
*Increased penetration during a successful surprise attack
*Piercing Arrow (Red)
*Terrain Eruption (Blue)
*Weakness Detection (Yellow)
What... is this?
There was Obsession again, and medium at that.
Could this one also...?
She even read up on the very first essence that her younger sister had absorbed. It was just as she feared.
Goblin Archer: Rank 9
Flexibility (Low), Smell (Low), Poison Tolerance (Low), Cognition (Low), Cognitive Interference (Low), Accuracy (Low), Vision (Low), Agility (Low), Obsession (Low)
*Inflicts a paralyzing poison when using a bow weapon
*Thief Step
Even here, there was Obsession. Now Daria could piece together the situation in her mind. Erwen's obsession with power was all because of this stat.
So what do I do?
She couldn't just use money to erase one of the essences that had been absorbed, but her heart was too heavy to just leave things like this.
If she consumes another essence to replace it... I'll make her erase it then.
After much deliberation, she reached a conclusion. However, after she quickly washed up and lay in bed, she was faced with a new question. If Erwen found out that the barbarian was alive before then, where would her obsession direct itself?
***
Ten days had passed since I had heard the news of the dimensional collapse. However, was this a baseless rumor, a fact, or the delusions of someone who thought it was true? Although I kept myself quite busy looking for answers, I didn't achieve much.
"Shernal Fergang?" Raven, who always helped me when I went to visit with a question, didn't have anything for me this time. "Even if you ask me to meet them, I've never heard that name before. The Tarutein School doesn't interact with mine in the first place."
"...I see."
"Anyway, when you come next week, leave the whole day free. The winner has been decided by a lottery."
"Winner?"
"Did you forget? In exchange for looking into that piece of paper, you agreed to help my seniors with their research, right?"
No, I remember that. I just didn't know you were going to draw lots. Dang, now I'm getting worried...
I'd never had luck with draws in my life. Anyway, after that, I tried various things to find the wizard called Shernal Fergang, but all of my attempts failed. Meanwhile, rumors began to circulate.
"Bjorn! Did you hearrr?! They say there's going to be a dimensional collapse soon!" After meeting up with some of her old party members, Missha came back and kicked up a fuss. If she knew, that meant the news had already spread. In fact, when I headed to the tavern in the evening, everyone was talking about the dimensional collapse.
But the problem is, no one knows who the source is.
Whose mouth was this information coming from? And on what grounds? Without those details, everyone was fostering anxiety and inflating rumors.
This... is strange.
I felt an odd sense of dissonance. For news to be widely known like this, shouldn't there be a plausible basis for it? By now, many stories had been offered up as evidence by gossip, but there was none of that at first.
Is someone deliberately stoking rumors?
Having kept a close eye on the situation from the start, I came to that conclusion. Of course, it was just a theory, but no matter how I looked at it, the current situation was strange.
Whew, I think there's really something behind all this.
It was stifling. I wanted to learn about the information exchanging hands from a more discreet place than a bar, but the reality of my situation was too difficult to surmount. How would a barbarian who had built a reputation for fighting alone get information like that?
If it weren't for Ragna in the first place, I wouldn't have even heard the name Shernal Fergang.
Soon, I made up my mind. In my hand was the letter from the Ghost Busters and the accompanying pill. For the sake of thorough anonymity, I had originally intended to take it after at least three months, but...
I can move it up a month or so.
I put the pill in my mouth and swallowed it.
[You have consumed GB-027.]
There was no getting immediately dragged into the spiritual world. According to the information I had learned from Raven and found in the secret library Ragna had given me access to, the meeting was held at midnight on the fifteenth of every month.
I just have to wait three days.
Time flew by, and the moment I had been waiting for finally arrived. It felt as if my mind was moving away from my body.
[Your soul has resonated and is being drawn to a specific world.]
***
When I woke up, there was a computer in front of me in a pure white space reminiscent of the universe itself. It would probably have been difficult for me to even recognize where up and down were if it wasn't for the machine sitting there.
What's this now?
This was a completely different introduction than I had expected, but I slowly took a step forward to where the computer was. The feeling of moving was unlike any I'd ever felt before, like riding a robot and using controls to make it walk forward. As I stumbled toward the computer, I checked the monitor, which was turned on.
[Please enter the password.]
A short sentence was set on a black DOS screen. I entered the password without much thought.
[Rafdonia's king, Motherfucker.]
The PS in that letter didn't just mean postscript.