Chapter 21: Tanker Auditions
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 21: Tanker Auditions
Yernil washed herself clean with soap and hot water. Her skin became smooth, and the dilated blood vessels gave her a rosy glow. The scent of soap rose from her damp hair and the nape of her neck.
“Phew.”
While bathing, she’d thought she would pass out the moment she lay down in bed.
“I… can’t sleep!”
The mattress was incredibly comfortable, but Yernil was too tense to fall asleep.
It was because of Back Attack, who was right in the living room.
She had the ability to map her surroundings through sound.
“He’s moving.”
The movements of the undead Back Attack outside her door were rendered in her mind as clearly as if he were right in front of her.
Thud. Thud.
“He’s on the living room carpet!”
Yernil tracked his position from under her covers.
—Groooan!
“By the window!”
—Hup? Thump. Chomp, chomp!
“He’s eating the plant in the pot…? Do undead eat vegetables?”
—Ughhh…
Now, Back Attack was pressing his head against the glass window, straining.
“Is he trying to walk through it, not realizing it’s blocked by glass?”
—Groooan!
But while Back Attack could run on ice or scale walls vertically, he couldn’t perform the magic trick of passing through glass.
And the glass, enchanted with anti-destruction magic, wouldn’t break easily.
—Graaack!
So Back Attack resorted to slapping his palms against the window and clinging to it.
“He’s… surprisingly cute, maybe…?”
Yernil giggled under the covers.
Back Attack started moving again.
On the coffee table.
On the carpet. Next to the bookshelf. In front of the kitchen.
Huh?
Not that, Back Attack!
‘You can’t get on the dining table!’
Back Attack had started chewing on the kettle on the table.
He was sucking on the spout as if kissing it.
Aargh!
If he does that, Caleb and I won’t be able to drink water tomorrow, Back Attack!
“Ba-Back Attack!”
Yernil bravely called out toward the living room from beneath her blanket.
“You can’t do that!”
She was trying to distract him and get him away from the kettle.
“Huh?”
And he had caught the sound.
She had succeeded in grabbing his attention. A little too well.
Thanks to that, Back Attack suddenly kicked off the dining table and leaped into the air.
The sound of his body cutting through the air flew straight toward Yernil’s bedroom.
“…!”
Terrified, Yernil threw off the covers and shot up.
Thud!
The location of Back Attack’s landing was…
“Right in front of the door!”
Yernil jumped off the bed like a deer.
Just as the doorknob clicked and turned, she slammed her body against the door with incredible timing, barely managing to stop it.
“Aaaaaah!”
—Guaaaah!
“No! Don’t come in!”
—Grrrr…?
“I’m sorry! It was my fault!”
—Gaack!
“Go back! Go suck on the kettle!”
—Gaaaaaack!
“Please!”
She took back her comment about him being cute. Yernil pressed herself against the door, groaning. Tears welled up in her eyes.
—Back Attack.
Caleb’s voice came from outside the door.
“Caleb! Caleb! Help me!”
*
“What are you two doing…?”
I came out for a drink of water to find them wrestling with the door between them.
After I pulled Back Attack away and sent him back into the living room, Yernil looked at me with teary eyes.
To be precise, she was looking at the glass of water in my hand.
“You… shouldn’t drink water from that kettle…”
“Why not?”
I had already drunk half of it.
“…”
Yernil hesitated, her expression suggesting it might be better if I didn’t know, but then she told me.
“Back Attack was sucking on the kettle’s spout.”
Shit.
I didn’t know that.
I immediately dumped the rest of the water.
Tomorrow, after washing the kettle, I’d better put it in a cupboard where Back Attack can’t reach it.
“Caleb! Can’t I sleep with you?”
As I was about to return to my room, Yernil glanced nervously at Back Attack and scurried after me.
“We took turns sleeping in one sleeping bag in the Labyrinth! And your room has two beds. Can’t I sleep in the other one?”
Ahem.
Yernil.
This is no Labyrinth, and men and women should keep their distance. How could you propose such a vulgar idea? Tsk, tsk! Confucius himself would be appalled!
“I’m not going to sleep yet.”
I was just kidding. I had some work to do in my room.
“Why?”
“I have some studying to do.”
“I won’t bother you.”
Yernil quietly followed me, holding her breath, and lay down on the adjacent bed. She watched me intently as I studied.
[Regarding the Labyrinth Eruption Incident of 12 Years Ago]
It was a thesis I had borrowed from the library. Here in Sohen, the Labyrinth City where I now resided, a Labyrinth Eruption 12 years ago had caused a massive loss of life.
The author of this thesis was Professor Isilof.
He had personally conducted various experiments and studies on the Labyrinth Eruption phenomenon from 12 years ago and had recorded the key features of the scene.
[The Labyrinth Eruption 12 years ago was a typical explosive-type great eruption. Up to 3,000 monsters emerged, a significant number of which were Abyss Monsters.]
[The name of the target identified as the cause of the great eruption was ‘Henry.’ He was an Otherworld Possessor who had been hiding in the southern slums of Sohen.]
[The reference photo below was taken on-site using the practical magic ‘Record.’]
I turned the page to look at the reference photo. It showed Henry’s demolished house.
With the walls and roof almost completely collapsed, the poor, unfortunate Possessor’s belongings were exposed.
A broken water jar. A rug soaked in water pooled on the floor. A shattered chair, likely used to fight off the monsters.
He must have been eating when he was attacked; a tomato salad was smashed and scattered across the floor.
And the body in the middle of it all…
‘It’s almost impossible to recognize the form.’
It looked like a mess a dog would make, tearing up tissues out of anxiety after its owner left.
And…
[Message left by the Possessor in the room (decryption required)]
There was a message Isilof had recorded.
It was in English.
[To All The Possessed]
‘To all Possessors.’
[Watch out for MAGIC UNIVERSITY]
‘Be careful of the Magic University.’
Hmm.
Was it a warning about hardliners like Meldini?
Or…
‘Is there something more to the Magic University itself?’
That could be it.
There was one thing that had always made me suspicious.
‘Why did the Magic University suffer such disproportionately heavy damage during the Labyrinth Eruption?’
Because the wizards fought back bravely?
That’s possible.
But what about this hypothesis?
‘There were already many Possessors at the Magic University.’
And after the target that triggered the Labyrinth Eruption—in the case of the incident 12 years ago, ‘Henry’—was eliminated, what if the monsters swarmed the Magic University in search of other Possessors?
What if that was the reason the Magic University suffered such heavy losses during the incident 12 years ago?
Perhaps the real problem isn’t Meldini.
Perhaps, within the Magic University, there’s something like a cartel of Possessor wizards, hiding their identities while pushing Meldini to the forefront.
‘Or Meldini himself is a Possessor.’
I’m not sure.
Is that a possibility? Could Meldini have acted so radically without ever casting a lie detection spell on himself for self-verification?
In any case, until I can clearly distinguish friend from foe, I have to hide the fact that I’m a Possessor at all costs.
Thump.
I closed the book and placed it on the bookshelf.
“Yernil.”
“Yes?”
“I was going to let you sleep today, thinking you’d be tired, but since you insisted on coming all the way here instead of sleeping, I have no choice.”
“Eh…?”
“You’re not getting any sleep tonight.”
“Huk…?”
Yernil tensed up slightly as I pulled a stack of documents from my bag.
“Help me with my experiment.”
It was a bundle of scrolls I had bought at the black market this morning.
To everyone playing the Abyss of the God-tier Game of Betrayal, the veteran Caleb has a piece of advice.
In this game, studying the system’s checks is essential for survival!
*
Half past midnight.
Almost all the wizards at the Magic University had gone home.
Only a few places on campus still had their lights on.
The library, operating 24 hours a day, shining like a lighthouse.
Dormitory Room 308, where Caleb was engrossed in his experiment.
And…
[Professor Isilof’s Office]
Isilof sat at his desk, receiving a guest.
“Still haven’t gone home?” asked Meldini, who was wearing his coat and carrying a bag.
“Thank you for taking the time to visit my office on your way home.”
“I heard you didn’t attend the orientation for the new students today.”
“That’s correct. Professor Dalstream went in my stead. I was too busy with a new project.”
“You mean the one about tracking the soul of a possessed adventurer?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Professor Meldini’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Who was assigned to that task?”
“The much-talked-about new student said he would form a party and handle it himself.”
“That kid enrolled?”
“Yes.”
“I tried to sound him out, but he scowled at me. I was worried he might have just left.”
“He enrolled. And he joined my club.”
“Professor Isilof.”
Meldini’s forehead was a mass of stubborn wrinkles.
“Do you really trust that student?”
“…”
“Is his talent something that can be explained away with a word like ‘genius’? I’ve heard all the testimonies about his performance in the Labyrinth. They say he drove an ice pick into the Venomic Spider’s poison sac just before it burst, preventing the explosion.”
“Is that so?”
“An abnormally vast knowledge of the Labyrinth is a common trait among Otherworld Possessors.”
“He used to be a Labyrinth explorer in Wyndham. It could be knowledge he acquired back then.”
“That’s possible. But are all adventurers from Wyndham skilled enough to catch Back Attack and escape with a meagerly supplied, hastily formed two-person party?”
“…”
“If he’s just a genius wizard, that would be for the best. I hope so too!” Meldini exclaimed. “But we can’t rule out the possibility that he’s a Possessor.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Confirm whether that kid is a Possessor or not. As his club’s faculty advisor, you should be able to do it.”
“Hah.”
Isilof let out a small sigh and walked over to the window.
A large flower box sat on the windowsill. A red flower, sensing Isilof’s scent, fluttered its petals.
“Do you know what flower this is?”
“An Isaacberry?”
“Correct. When the soil is rich in nutrients, it blooms these beautiful flowers and bears sweet fruit.”
Isilof continued.
“But if the soil lacks nutrients or there isn’t enough rain, the Isaacberry, instead of bearing fruit, emits a strong fragrance to lure and devour the small animals that are drawn to its scent, turning into a monster.”
“…”
“Whether that new student is a Possessor or not, does it really matter? As long as he consistently enters the Labyrinth and helps the university, isn’t that enough? We are desperately short on wizards right now.”
Isilof said.
“I will be the soil for him, Professor Meldini. I will use my knowledge as nourishment and become that nutrient-rich soil myself.”
Isilof held out a watering can.
“Can’t you, Professor Meldini, hold the watering can?”
“Tsk.”
Meldini clicked his tongue softly.
“You still haven’t learned your lesson, even after what happened 12 years ago. What was the very reason we’re so short on wizards in the first place?”
“…”
“I’ll be watching.”
Meldini left the office.
*
[Party Member Recruitment Auditions]
▶ Party Leader: Caleb
▶ Number of Recruits: 1
▶ Field: A warrior skilled in close-quarters combat who can protect the front line
A new party was being formed at the Adventurer Guild!
Normally, a Labyrinth novice like me, an ex-convict slave, should get almost no applicants when trying to recruit party members alone.
In the game, at this point, you have to go around finding people and make a ton of persuasion rolls to get them to join your party.
However…
‘There are so many.’
The audition venue, lent by the Adventurer Guild, was packed with nearly twenty applicants and swarming with onlookers.
No matter how famous I’d become as a rookie for catching Back Attack, there was no reason for such a crowd to gather. The reason they came was…
‘Wow, he’s really controlling a corpse.’
‘Are they insane?’
‘They’re going into the Labyrinth with that thing?’
…because of Back Attack.
“Co-come here…!”
Yernil was leading Back Attack to the audition site like a hunter taming a wild animal.
“No! Not that way! Come sit on this chair…”
It also looked a bit like she was handling a child.
“Don’t climb on the chair! Stop wall-running! Aah! Don’t pull my hair!”
The reason I’d bothered to bring this troublemaking undead here was that necromancy was somewhat controversial in this town.
It wasn’t legally forbidden, but morally, it raised the question of, ‘Is that really okay…?’
Therefore, before forming the party, we needed to clarify the purpose of our Labyrinth expedition and recruit someone who could ideologically agree with it.
And also to draw some attention.
“The Adventurer Guild probably explained it when they posted the party recruitment notice, but the purpose of our trip to the Labyrinth is to find the location where Mr. Back Attack’s soul is preserved and use it to resurrect him.”
I explained the spells cast on Back Attack.
“Once inside the Labyrinth, Back Attack will act as our guide, as befits a rogue. He will move toward the place where his soul rests.”
This part was Professor Isilof’s idea. The underlying magic was ‘Lost Item Tracking.’ It seemed Birtanen had also intended to use this spell on Avison’s ID card to find his body. It all became unnecessary since I brought the body out myself.
By adding a variation to the Lost Item Tracking spell using a soul chain, you can make an undead walk toward its own soul.
We would follow behind it, and when we reached our destination, ta-da, we’d snatch Back Attack’s soul!
…That was Isilof’s idea, and it was similar to the first method I tried in-game to find the soul’s sanctuary.
Of course, we couldn’t find it with this alone; there were a few more things I had to do myself while following the undead.
“Only those who are willing to enter the Labyrinth with the undead Back Attack and join in the search for his soul should proceed with the audition.”
In the game, I could see stats directly, but I couldn’t do that here. Not unless we became party members and slept together.
Instead…
“Please come forward and lift the oak barrel.”
I began the feat-of-strength auditions.
To even throw an oak barrel like Birtanen, you needed a Strength stat of at least 15.