Chapter 161. I've Decided to Think That Way
Chapter 161. I've Decided to Think That Way
Time passed strangely peacefully inside the gate.
Under a purple sky, with two moons rising, we roamed about chattering as if we'd come to a campsite.
The places where the grotesque monster corpses had lain were tidied away, and a faint scent of charcoal and oil drifted through the air.
"Whoa... eating meat grilled over charcoal like this..."
"Right? And eating it inside a gate of all places... I never imagined something like this."
The streamers had spread out their camping gear and were all absorbed in meal prep.
Someone was kindling a fire in the brazier,
someone was trimming vegetables, knife in hand,
and someone else was carefully grilling the meat.
"Hmm... even I've never experienced anything like this before."
I looked quietly at Max, who was murmuring beside me.
"Heh heh... after all, on a raid you have to pack light. Ration bars—high in calories but light in weight."
Max looked around with the eye of someone who read terrain as second nature, the corners of his mouth turning up.
"A luxurious meal like this inside a gate... an S-rank gate no less—even I've never had this before."
At that, Laila laughed softly.
The crackling firewood lit up her face.
"Hoon... you're thinking about old times a lot, aren't you?"
"I guess so..."
Laila leaned gently against my shoulder.
Seeing us like that, Max grinned.
"Heh heh... looks like the two of you went camping together in the past, too."
"Well... something like that."
I paused a moment, as if savoring the lingering feeling, then turned my gaze back toward the streamers.
A small change had occurred there.
Earlier, while the monster corpses were being cleared away, a few streamers had gone pale and started dry-heaving.
Now they were moving quietly.
They went up to someone who was preparing food, said "I'll do it," and practically snatched the utensils from them.
'Mm... this atmosphere was really nice.'
It seemed they hadn't forgotten the guilt they'd felt while the others handled the messy work.
Just then, a sharp voice burst out from somewhere, like an angry shout.
"Argh, seriously! Go! I said I can do it!"
Laila and I both turned to look.
Among the streamers preparing the meal, two people were bickering.
"Hmph, you can't even handle that? And you call yourself the Hero?"
The one who scoffed and spoke was a tall, stunningly beautiful woman with black hair.
Her eyes were intense, and her movements had no wasted effort.
She was the streamer who played the role of the Demon King.
At that, the short, doll-like streamer, Ellis, flared up.
"What!? I can do it too!!"
Ellis angrily kicked at the ground.
She looked like a cute, enraged chipmunk.
"That one who calls himself the Hero... cannot even prepare such simple ingredients. How truly pitiful."
"Urrgh...!!"
Their bickering was serious yet somehow endearing.
It felt like the eldest sister humoring the youngest's whining.
The viewers on each of their streams reacted in real time.
Any expectation that they'd be cheering for each other's streamers went out the window.
[Heeuuung... Demon King... please scold me...]
[LOL So not the Hero, just the youngest sister?]
"Hmm... she really is a little kid."
And in Ellis's chat:
[Ris... that's pathetic...]
[Seriously, just an absolute child LOL]
[It's not for nothing that they're in different weight classes...]
At that last chat message, Ellis whipped her head up and shouted.
"What! I am not small-chested!!"
In that moment, Ellis's chat went quiet.
And then.
"Pfft."
Ellis, her face now even redder, stomped heavily on the ground.
"D-Don't laugh!"
Seeing Ellis like that, the other woman let out a soft laugh.
Then, while leisurely preparing ingredients, she muttered quietly.
"Hmph, still an immature brat..."
Ellis stood there trembling with fury.
But she wasn't truly angry.
Each was the leader of their team.
And this was the rivalry of the Hero and the Demon King.
Even now, their back-and-forth was being clipped and shared everywhere.
And every stream belonging to those gathered here was quietly growing.
---
We ate dinner and tried to sleep here.
The morning that greeted us inside the gate was, unexpectedly, peaceful.
The streamers began to stir, one by one.
But each of them tilted their head blankly.
"...That's weird?"
"Why did I sleep so deeply?"
"I thought I'd be too tense to sleep at all..."
Their bodies were refreshed, their minds clear.
It felt like spending a night in a quiet mountain hot spring village.
Of course, there was a reason for that.
It was thanks to Laila casting a spell to soothe their minds and bodies right before bed.
While her gentle energy wrapped around the group, everyone had drifted into comfortable rest.
'Wow, it's been ages since I slept inside a gate, too.'
After a simple breakfast, I turned on the stream as the representative.
[ World's Strongest Hero : Let's go see the ending! ]
As soon as the stream started and the cam screen appeared, a flood of viewers poured in.
[Whoa wtf lololol what's with that face]
[lolol Lucia's face is all swollen]
[No but you slept inside a gate, why does everyone look like they had the best sleep ever?]
The faces of the streamers caught on cam were all puffy.
And not a single one looked worn out.
"Ugh... this is embarrassing..."
"I'm a model, you know... don't film me!"
"Yaaawn... nice to see you all~"
Even then, the streamers waved and said hello.
After a quick wash and packing their gear, the streamers asked,
"So do we just head outside now?"
"Hehe... Hero, thanks to you, we're leaving with a great experience!"
But at their words, I tilted my head.
"Huh? Of course we have to clear it. We came all this way."
[???]
[I thought it was a field trip lmaoooo]
[Straight from field trip to live combat lol]
[They aren't even hunters to begin with, what live combat?]
The chat was in chaos.
The streamers looked at each other, bewildered, and exchanged nods.
"Well... a gate is normally something you clear, but..."
"Still, if it were normal monsters maybe, but..."
I tilted my head nonchalantly.
I dangled the most effective carrot for this situation.
"If we catch the boss... it'll be a souvenir beyond your wildest imagination."
With a smile.
Everyone's lips curved upward, and they packed their gear even faster.
"Of course we have to go!"
Forward, and deeper in.
I took the very front, leading the streamers, while Laila watched over them from the very rear.
"Whoa... what is this place?"
This forest was not beautiful.
It was certainly dreamlike, though.
A purple sky, blue mist, trees wrapped in vines.
[Just looking at it makes my stomach churn]
[Fr... something about it just feels bad]
[Feels like I'm watching it on a black-and-white TV]
'But I didn’t sense any vitality...'
Not a forest of lush greens, but a strange, gray-tinged forest.
Nevertheless, we advanced.
If it had been just me and Laila, we would've broken through long ago, but Max and Emir had asked.
"Hoon, when am I ever going to get a relaxed fight in an S-rank gate!"
"Boss... I'd be grateful if you gave me the chance for training as well."
So we moved slowly, with Max and Emir at the front.
And, at last.
A gigantic tree revealed itself before our eyes.
A tree that looked like it could surpass the 63 Building.
No, rather than a tree...
'A building...? No, was this thing alive?'
Its bark was not like tree bark; it was twisted and rough, like a giant lump of flesh that had been dried out.
Around it, swollen lumps bulged unevenly, as if they were parasite eggs.
And below it stood an enormous door made of stone.
─ Rrrrmmmbble...
The stone door began to open slowly, with a rough noise.
"What the— the outside definitely was..."
Inside the tree was yet another forest.
But this place was far stranger than before.
The moment we entered, most of the streamers clutched their heads.
"Urgghh...!!!"
"Ugh... my head feels like it's going to split...!"
Soon afterward, laughter rang out from the depths of the forest.
It was a resonance that defied description—a deadly, enchanting, seductive echo.
The more you heard it, the more you felt yourself drawn in, your vision blurring, your brain melting.
'Tsk...'
Laila raised one hand and lightly shook it.
"Honestly... what a filthy trick."
At that, as if a fog had lifted in an instant, the alien energy vanished.
Simultaneously, she swiftly spread a protective barrier.
"Is everyone all right?"
"A little numb, but... thank you."
"A moment longer and I would've puked..."
"Wow... I've never had a headache like this before..."
─ Ssuk... ssuk... suk...
And then, it emerged from the mist.
At first, only a silhouette was visible.
A female figure, long legs, flowing hair, a silhouette that moved elegantly.
But as it drew closer, everyone lost their words.
One of the streamers even stumbled backward and fell, while another covered her mouth, swallowing down her nausea.
[You fucking bitch!!!]
[Urrgh fuck...]
[I was eating lunch, you shit!!!]
It was grotesque.
Horrifyingly so.
'Seriously... it's ugly as hell...'
The skin was mottled as if covered in disease,
the eyes were scattered with no pattern,
and its mouth was torn all the way to its ears, grinning bizarrely.
"With a face like that... it produced a voice like that?"
But my gaze went to the monster's hands, neck, and its ragged clothes.
Small, delicately crafted rings, a high-class necklace, a brooch clinging to its tattered clothing.
"..."
My eyes narrowed.
No matter how filthy something was... money was never filthy.
"Hoo... just gotta wipe it off, right?"
[Fucking hell...]
[I feel like it'll still be disgusting even after ultrasonic cleaning...]
[Normally, the first thought seeing something like that should be 'that's expensive,' but...]
'No... that's money. An absolutely enormous amount of it...'
I whispered to myself, as if hypnotizing myself.
I took a deep breath and thought.
How to retrieve the items in good condition without touching that thing.
"Hoo... that's just a Treasure Goblin..."
I decided to think that way.