Chapter 75
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Ghost Mansion (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Whew... This is the most gruesome death I've seen so far, fuck.
Even with most newbie stuff mosaicked, you can still tell what's going on.
For real, first time I've felt like puking even without any censorship.
Just hearing the torture sounds makes my whole body shake...
Honestly, I thought the death count thing was just some gimmick bullshit.
But seeing what happens when it hits max...
Your mentality breaks when it's high, so you can't move recklessly...
It's way too stimulating to show my kids ㅠㅠㅠ
But Newbie, could you send me the uncensored pics and video via DM??
Planning to show them to my kids when they grow up lol.
Breaks community rules, you'd get banned.
I put in so much effort for the live stream...
Honestly, even I had a hard time watching it lol.
(shivering)
This is what a real dungeon live stream looks like, fuck.
So happy lately with all the intruders hitting Newbie's dungeon again...
So when's the fake dragon gonna move???
Honestly, I'm just here for the fake dragon backstab lol.
How long you gonna make it shoulder dance;;
The fake dragon probably had that strong fisherman mindset even in life.
Fiery personality,
but it often chose to hold back and aim for the big catch.
Unlike its minions, yeah.
I was lying on Mallang-i, using it like a trampoline, bouncing around.
"Ack."
For the record, this isn't abuse.
It's just the sound Mallang-i makes when it's excited, so don't get the wrong idea.
Lately, it seems like Mallang-i needs some stimulation too.
No matter how much I petted it, it wasn't satisfied, so I tried a different approach, and it was a huge success all around.
It's really doing this because Mallang-i wants to.
It's having fun too, spreading itself out wide and using the rebound to launch me even higher.
Honestly, with intruders inside, is it okay to be doing this?
But the school side had zero tension.
Because one of them got caught by a teacher while wandering separately.
Now only two are left.
-Teacher, teacher... how the hell do we deal with you?
Four had entered the second zone in total.
Now only two remained.
One of them was curled up, trembling all over.
No fighting spirit left at all.
Plus, the staff room was on the 63rd floor.
These guys' fate ended right here.
What should I call it?
I felt it during Max's time too, but the teachers were truly a wall of mourning.
Even though the intruder guide had the teacher section written correctly,
that unique atmosphere made it hard for intruders' thoughts to reach the countermeasures easily.
Even talking during class gets you a warning, and overall, tough opponents.
"Alright, now all that's left is the mansion..."
"Ack."
I paused the bouncing for a moment and sat in a chair.
-Um, c-can we hold off on exploring for a bit...?
Her name was Olivia, right?
The branded woman on the forehead blocks the path of her investigating party.
The situation was unfolding in an amusing way.
Dreamland, third zone.
Mansion, second floor, 20:30.
Led by Crock, the knights reported everything that had happened to the recorder.
Even though they lost Hector, they couldn't stop forever.
"Let's move."
They shook off their grief.
Comfort, who had been closest to Hector, took the lead, and the others nodded and followed.
But.
Olivia was different.
She spread her arms wide, blocking the party's path.
"P-please, hold off on exploring for a bit. I beg you..."
"......"
Her actions weren't incomprehensible.
Her forehead bore a 「6」.
One more count, and she'd meet Hector's end.
"I-I don't want to die."
"Olivia."
"Crock said it. This on my forehead is the death count... The mansion has rules we don't know, and if we break them, the count goes up. Then, if any of you makes a mistake, I die right there!"
Crock sighed.
Not a good momentum.
"It'd be the same even if it were someone else. Remember why we came to this dungeon. Dreamland is the seed of the demon king that could become a calamity surpassing the North Kingdom, engulfing the entire world. Didn't we enter prepared for death?"
Crock persuaded her.
But Olivia just shook her head vigorously.
She continued in a voice almost in tears.
"No. No. No. No. I don't want to die pointlessly and meaninglessly like Hector. I didn't become a knight to die. I didn't train all this time just to die in some shitty place because I couldn't solve a riddle...!"
Olivia's resolve seemed firm.
No words would get through.
The terror of death paralyzes thought.
Fear is the strongest instinct for survival.
She was the weakest mentally among the rookie knights.
This reaction was only natural.
"A meaningless death."
Dragred, who had maintained a passive attitude until now, spoke up.
"Did Hector really die meaninglessly?"
Olivia shut her mouth at his words.
She thought it was a slip of the tongue.
"This place is bizarrely strange, no doubt. A place where everything we've built so far loses meaning. Swords don't work, and every step forward risks your life. Your reaction is perfectly natural, I think. Honestly, even I'm regretting stepping foot here."
Dragred said.
That using an escape scroll right now would be fine.
Not just Olivia.
Anyone without the courage to continue exploring should use a scroll.
He would stay here.
Stay and take on their and Hector's share.
"If we don't do it now, Dreamland will never be cleared."
Soldiers die to the dungeon master upon entering dungeons.
Ordinary fief citizens are the same.
Regular people can't even attempt a clear.
They die before even stepping into the mansion.
That would be a truly meaningless death.
"Later, it won't just be us. Your precious families, friends, countless Wolfhauen fief citizens, North Kingdom residents, maybe everyone on this continent could face Dreamland's anomalies. Would you hesitate to clear Dreamland even then?"
"......"
"Why did you become knights? If it was for money, you could've been merchants. For showing off strength, mercenaries or bandits. Why join Wolfhauen's Winter Wolf Knights? Wasn't it for honor and pride?"
Everyone fell silent.
Memories from long ago resurfaced.
To protect the fief and its people.
That was the vow everyone made before Count Wolfhauen at the inauguration.
"Hector didn't die meaninglessly. He gave us information. Facts about the death count, that we can proceed to the next floor, even while dying, he pointed to the second floor with his finger. That's noble sacrifice. He mustered courage and fought to break through this irrational place head-on. At least that's how I see it."
Though not swinging swords or felling strong foes, what the party was doing now was also a fight to protect.
What knights of Wolfhauen had to do.
Dragred's speech.
It moved everyone's hearts.
Everyone except Olivia.
"I-I don't want to die."
"......"
"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I'm really sorry. I just can't go any further like you all. I know I'm a failure as a knight. I know I'm a cowardly scaredy-cat without courage, but..."
She couldn't continue.
Her mentality completely shattered.
The knights were silent.
Yet they chose respect and comfort over scolding.
"Can't be helped. Willpower is key here."
"Don't carry too much guilt."
Unlike the school, the mansion doesn't confiscate items.
Food, water, and escape scrolls remained intact.
She could surely leave.
Olivia, trembling, pulled out a scroll from her bosom.
"I'm truly sorry..."
She seemed to have agreed with the recorder too.
She bowed her head deeply.
"......Sorry."
She apologized once more.
Feeling guilt, relief, and complex emotions, she tore the scroll.
But.
She didn't go outside.
Clutching the torn scroll in both hands.
Staring blankly at everyone.
"Wh-why?"
A fake scroll?
No way.
She'd checked it before entering.
Even the spatial school's seal was clearly there.
Why can't I go out?
「8」
The count increased.
"Th-this is weird. Weird. Weird. Why couldn't I go out...? D-does anyone have a spare escape scroll? Please. I'll repay you double once I'm out..."
Olivia's words cut off.
Because she pitched forward.
Something invisible grabbed her neck.
She started rolling on the floor like a dog dragged to the slaughterhouse.
Death sentence.
Even as she was strangled and dragged to prison, she flailed her hands.
"Kek, don't wanna die, ah. Die, no..."
"......"
"No, no, no, no, no, nooooooo...!"
They could only watch helplessly.
Hector and Olivia were dead.
Now only five remained.
Crock, Leo, Bitters, Comfort, Dragred.
「1」
The death count shifted back to Leo.
This confirmed that when a branded person dies, it transfers to someone else.
They began exploring the second floor.
"First, we need to figure out what causes the death count to rise, so it'll take time, but group action over solo seems better."
"Got it."
As Hector said, the first and second floors weren't much different.
Like the first floor: two locked rooms, dining room, storage, study, guest room, prison, etc.
The locked rooms were probably the master bedroom and parlor.
They planned to search the storage first.
Need a key to open locked doors.
Storage has keys.
"......"
As they walked, they spotted the prison.
Olivia's remains were there.
A meat lump too vague to call a corpse.
Hector probably ended up the same.
"Overall, the corridors and rooms feel darker than the first floor."
"Hm..."
First and second floors weren't exactly identical.
Subtle differences existed.
And rightly so.
The moment one entered the storage.
「3」
Blatantly.
Leo's forehead count rose.
"This..."
"Looks like storage is off-limits on the second floor."
Everyone groaned.
Rules differ between first and second floors.
This was serious.
The party re-investigated the second floor.
Storage was forbidden on the second floor.
So they didn't enter other rooms directly.
Just peered inside from outside.
Except the study with bookshelves, no blind spots blocked view.
Rooms were small enough to survey that way.
However.
No lever found.
So either study or locked rooms.
They thought the latter more likely.
"Key doesn't fit."
"This is trouble."
Clank. Clank.
Unfortunately, the locked door didn't open with the first-floor key.
"How about searching storage for a key, bracing for death count?"
"78 floors left; that way, we'll all die."
"Shall we check the study?"
"What if we gain nothing and just rack up death count?"
"......"
78 floors ahead.
If every floor has different rules, clearing is impossible.
Death count inevitable.
Escape scrolls unusable inside.
Unless lives infinite, impossible for anyone.
Will crumbling.
But.
Crock was different.
"There must be a way."
Amid the hollow-faced knights, he led.
And.
He kicked down the locked door.
Bang!
Door shattered.
Crock looked back.
Leo's count didn't rise.
Discoverers of locked rooms commonly noted 'seems kickable down'.
Same on second floor.
If not getting key from storage,
this was the only way.
"Dungeons like Wallachia or Maharaubara, maybe, but Dreamland's a newborn dungeon. Surely not answerless. This isn't a brute-force dungeon."
Revealed: master bedroom.
Forbidden on first floor.
Crock strode in.
"W-wait!"
"Too reckless!"
Yet count didn't rise.
Unlike first floor, lever was in master bedroom on second.
Crock pulled it.
Rumble—
Mansion shook with vibration.
"Look at Leo's forehead. We stacked 13 death counts on first floor, but now only 4."
At first, clueless.
Now different.
Some knowledge of mansion.
Apply it, path forward visible.
"Way to next floor is simply 'find and pull hidden lever'. Both first and second had levers in locked rooms, likely others too."
"......"
"No need enter every room. No need learn every rule. Just pull lever without stacking death count. Simple, right?"
Crock's intuition was correct.
No need despair.
Forward.
All slowly nodded at Crock's words.
They headed to the third floor.