Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Tyr (2)
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Debating whether to use Mallangi to clean up the corpses... Hmm...
Why?
It's creepy...
Watching and munching jerky, but suddenly I lose my appetite lol
Newbie, shh!
Just leave 'em be. If it's gross to you, imagine how they feel?
Fear and terror are the dungeon's strongest debuffs!
(Helping Newbie chew his jerky while he struggles)
But Dreamland's entrance trap is straight-up bullshit.
kkkkkk You'd believe this elevator is just the entrance?
Anomaly total scam... But pls keep the scamminess and smash all the elves lol
But where'd you drop this time?? Finally free from the elves?
Near the World Tree, fuck...
Ah.
1. Only one person should board suspicious mechanical devices.
......
Capacity exceeded.
With those words, a commotion erupted from the elevator.
Before long, the group of twelve had dwindled to nine.
No matter that they were Branded Elves, it was hard to keep a positive atmosphere in the current situation.
After all, no mana or anything else could be sensed from that elevator.
Silence reigned.
In that quiet, Tyr was the first to speak up.
"Let's continue the exploration."
"You see that and still say that!? Fuck, the moment the door closed, three vanished without a trace!!"
"Y-Yeah. Three died in an instant! We don't even know why! I-I refuse to go in there even if it kills me. No way in hell!"
The cruelty they usually displayed was gone.
They trembled like frightened sheep.
Tyr let out a small sigh.
Truth be told, he was scared too.
But.
"Staying put like this will get us killed all the same."
"......"
"Our water and food are limited. We have no escape scrolls. You came here chasing a big score, didn't you? Weren't you prepared to die? Did you think you'd snag magic stones without any sacrifice?"
It was a genuine dilemma, advance or retreat both deadly.
Of course, he himself had an escape scroll, so he was an exception.
But Tyr acted as if he were in the same boat.
To get the magic stones, he had to somehow motivate these cowards.
"That's the way of the world. Every endeavor carries risk. We, who live by crime, know that better than anyone, don't we?"
Tyr argued that if death was inevitable, better to die moving forward.
"Everyone's scared, me included. No one's in a position to demand sacrifice from others. So, let's do this."
Branded Elves had no concept of cooperation or camaraderie.
Their own lives were paramount.
That's why they'd been exiled from their territories to the Forest of Life.
From long experience, he knew team cohesion could shatter in an instant in situations like this.
If mishandled, the mood could sour badly.
So he had to take control now.
Tyr presented a direction to the group.
"We're in a straight passage now. Dungeon experts say all paths in a dungeon must lead somewhere and never get blocked. So, investigating that suspicious machine is our job. Out of the nine including me, we'll draw lots fairly for one explorer. We'll get reports via communication magic—like remote viewing. How about it?"
Tyr's proposal was reasonable.
Odds of 1/9. About 11%.
Someone would draw the short straw.
But the lower the odds, the less likely people think it'll be them.
Tyr figured this was the best approach.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The lots were drawn, and the sacrifice was decided.
Ray, the youngest in the Branded Elf expedition and leader of Squad 4.
Ray wanted to bolt in that moment.
But there was nowhere to run.
He had to go, willing or not.
Door closing.
......
"Can you hear me?"
-Yes.
"How's it now?"
-Smells like blood, blood dried on the buttons, corpses on the floor ugh...
"Forget the scenery. What's the situation?"
-Nothing special besides not being able to open the door.
"...So it's fine alone?"
Tyr stroked his chin.
Sure, trapped inside, but at least not killed the instant the door shut.
She jotted the info in her notebook.
Regrettably, she had the most magical knowledge in the group.
Her half-baked, abandoned studies had limits.
Shared vision would have been ideal.
"Number buttons, right?"
-Yes.
"One through ten?"
-Yes, but... I'm so scared. Can't you open the door from outside?
"Sadly, no means to open it right now."
This was truth, not lie.
No buttons outside at all.
"Try pressing a number button?"
-Give me a sec to brace myself. Whew, okay, which number?
"It says 1 now. Inside too?"
-Yes.
"Press 2."
The elevator inside had a display too.
Matching the outside one, probably the same.
-Floating sensation. My body's rising. Ahh, ah, ah!? "Floor 2!" and the door opened!
"Floor 2, door opened...?"
Detection magic showed the dungeon's interior height wasn't that great.
No place warranting a "2nd floor."
Tyr cast magic again.
Just like before, no trace of Ray's mana anywhere in the dungeon.
"What do you see?"
-Dim corridor. No lights, barely visible by the machine's glow. Uh, gonna step out!!
"Wait a sec..."
Cramped enclosed space.
Door opens, instant freedom rush for Ray.
She stepped out before he could be stopped.
"Haa."
After that horror show, still so reckless.
Tyr felt frustrated but pressed on.
"Ray, situation?"
Silence.
Something happen?
"Ray, Ray?"
Urgent calls, no reply.
Moments later.
-Kyaaaaaahhhhhhh!!
-Don't come!! Don't come!! Fu────
Communication cut with the scream.
Door opening.
What Tyr and the group saw.
Ray's shriveled corpse atop chunks of flesh.
Day 2 of Dungeon Exploration
"......"
Nine had become eight before they knew it.
The mood was utterly dismal.
Food wouldn't go down easy.
The Branded Elves eyed each other warily.
Four dead already.
In just one day.
A third of the expedition gone.
Morale in the gutter.
'Even when the East Kingdom knights smashed us, it wasn't this bad.'
Tyr scratched his forearm till it bled.
No matter the situation.
Pressing on now was suicide.
"Heard northern barbarian tribes have men raping men."
"Pardon?"
"They have a custom where if you impregnate a woman, you're stuck with her forever, so after winning wars, they fuck the men instead."
"Crazy."
Maybe take it easy today.
Everyone needed time to regroup.
"Stings, as a barbarian, you'd have a harem of wives."
"The bitches I fucked were all diseased stinking whores except one, so eh."
"Fragile beauty your type?"
"Dunno about beauty, but I'll take responsibility—wanna get fucked?"
"Sorry, not into bottom-barrel lifers."
Tyr bantered idly.
To lighten the mood.
2. Avoid corridors without lighting.
Day 3 of Dungeon Exploration
Couldn't stall forever.
Not just Tyr.
The other Branded Elves thought the same.
"Shall we draw lots now?"
This time, not Tyr.
Stings raised his hand and said so.
Everyone nodded.
"If it's me, it's me."
"We've been branded and ready to die since then. No point shaking now."
Thankfully, no chicken-shits.
Lots drawn again.
1/8 odds. 12.5%.
"Ah..."
Tyr drew it.
Damn it.
Old saying: the one pushing it always draws the short straw.
Seemed true.
Glanced around.
Couldn't back out now.
Then.
Stings snatched the paper from Tyr's hand.
"If I come back alive, we do it here once."
"Do what?"
"Pussy, obviously."
Tyr blinked.
"I'm not a fragile beauty."
"You're a beauty."
"Won't regret it?"
"Men live and die by pussy."
Stings laughed heartily.
Tyr scratched his cheek.
......
"See anything?"
-Dim corridor, hmm.
"Ray just said corridor, might be something. Step out."
-Okay. I'll report anything weird.
Ray was weak.
Probably the weakest Branded Elf here.
Stings, conversely, was strong.
Naive and green, but solid build.
So Tyr tested it.
Could Stings beat whatever lurked in that dim corridor?
High chance Stings dies.
But value in checking if it linked elsewhere.
Only Tyr knew how Ray died.
And only he could wield magic.
No suspicion for this move.
-Gaaaaahhhhhh───!
'Corridors without lights last priority. Check other floors first.'
Tyr noted the new fact.
"Hah."
Look at that Branded Elf bitch's nasty side.
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