episode_0132

“Kuh…”

The old man lowered his gaze, looking down at his chest. A sharp dagger protruded from his chest.

Confirmed!

“Kuk!”

As the blade was pulled out, blood gushed from the pierced chest. The old man turned around, clutching his chest with a grimace.

“How… could this…”

The sturdy rope that tightly bound her body had been torn apart like tissue, rolling on the ground, while the shackles restraining her ankles were split in half.

It was a miracle she could perform due to being revered as a deity by the residents of the comedy village.

“Phew… Thankfully they let their guard down.”

Pia exhaled a long sigh of relief. If her opponent had been a bit more cautious, she wouldn’t have been able to pierce their heart in one swift move.

“Before the smell of blood gets stronger, I need to gather the children and get out of here quickly…”

“Khehehe…”

“…!”

Before her thoughts could finish, the old man rose abruptly from his seat, chuckling unpleasantly. Pia raised the dagger, her eyes trembling.

“How… I definitely stabbed the heart..!”

The old man chuckled, then removed his hand covering his chest. Smooth skin was revealed as if nothing had happened.

“….!”

“If my heart had been here – … I would have surely died from that attack just now.”

“What in the world…”

Affected by a comedic filter, the old man began recounting a story he would never have told under normal circumstances.

“I dedicated my heart to God, so it’s empty here. God bestowed mercy upon me, giving me a new heart to live eternally!”

“You didn’t… make a pact with a demon, did you?”

“A demon! He is a great god!”

The old man had fashioned his heart into beads by offering the souls of a thousand children. It could be likened to wizards walking the path of liches.

Kugukwang!

Magical energy began to extend like tentacles from the old man’s body.

“Hehehe, tough meat is tasteless, but… may mercy be granted to be with God.”

Engulfed by magic, the old man exuded a terrifying aura. Pia tightened her grip on the dagger, determination in her eyes.

“There must be a heart somewhere. If I find it…!”

As if reading Pia’s thoughts, the old man spoke in a sinister voice.

“Ah, are you looking for my heart?”

“…!”

“If you’re curious, I can tell you.”

Chuckling like a villain affected by a comedic filter, the old man kindly explained.

“My heart is inside the dungeon located in the third cell of the underground prison in the temple.”

“Dungeon?”

Inside were over hundreds of traps, a doppelganger that doubled the opponent’s strength, high-level magic that even top wizards couldn’t break, and ten hungry chimeras waiting.

The old man’s words were akin to saying he was immortal. Pia felt her body tremble with deep despair. The old man seemed to revel in her reaction, displaying an even more sinister smile.

“Hehehe, as long as my heart is there, I will never die!”

As he shouted, the cliché was triggered.

***

Rusty iron bars, moss-covered bricks, no windows due to its underground location—this was the dungeon where the old man’s heart lay dormant, the temple’s underground prison.

“Isn’t this the place?”

Lian scratched his head, pondering.

“Pia and the children disappeared, so naturally, I thought they would come to the temple.”

Usually, cults often mix various information to create religions that already exist. Lian thought that Pia’s faith was one of those cases.

Although the existence of Lian was mixed in, the fundamental basis would be an existing religion. So if Pia disappeared, she would have headed towards the temple! …That was Lian’s thought.

“Ugh, then where did she go?”

Seemingly mistaken, the prison was completely empty.

“Still, just in case, let’s investigate in detail… Huh?”

As Lian began to thoroughly search the inside of the prison, she discovered a door made of a material similar in color to bricks, making it hard to spot within the prison walls.

“Could she be here?”

With a bright expression, Lian hurriedly approached the door. With a light push, the door opened easily like a wooden door.

“Pia? Are you here..? …Whoa!”

As soon as she peered into the darkness beyond the door, someone pushed her from behind, causing her body to lurch forward as if being shoved.

Thud!

“Ouch…”

Due to not summoning her magic sword, she tumbled heavily to the ground.

As Lian entered the dungeon, torches on the long corridor walls started to ignite.

“Huh? The door disappeared?”

Turning back, only the wall remained. Lian scratched her head and got up from her seat.

“I don’t know what’s going on… but should I go inside first?”

Proceeding inward without a care in the world, typical of a comedic character with infinite lives, she had barely taken five minutes.

Creak.

“Huh?”

Accidentally triggering a trap floor panel, arrows shot out from the wall, deeply piercing Lian’s body.

“Ow…”

Frowning at the sensation akin to someone poking her side, she looked down at the arrow.

“Ouch! There’s a hole in my clothes!”

Having discarded several outfits during her journey, each piece of clothing was precious. Lian immediately pulled out the arrow with a pained expression.

“If they were going to fly, they might as well hit my face…”

With a grim thought, she held the arrow and resumed her journey.

Thunk, thud, thunk.

“Huh?”

Acting in a comedic manner, she activated all devices in the corridor.

Clank, clank. Countless holes appeared, each just large enough for arrows to shoot out.

Swish! Thwoosh!

Arrows rained down as if in a war.

Thud-thud-thud! Whoosh! Thud!

Numerous arrows struck Lian’s body or hit the ground, rolling around. After a minute, the arrow storm ceased. Pulling out arrows embedded in her body, her hand reached for an arrow stuck in her face.

At some point, the arrows fell to the ground, leaving Lian in tatters, revealing smooth skin as she cried.

“My clothes… How can I go home like this..”

Muttering to herself, she began picking up the fallen arrows, a habit ingrained from being thrifty.

Carrying a handful of arrows, she continued inward. How far had she gone? A much wider corridor than the one she had walked awaited her.

“…! It’s an uphill path! If I go up there, maybe I can exit to the surface!”

Internally cheering, Lian hurriedly ascended the incline.

Creak-creak-crash…

As if anticipating her, the ceiling above opened, and massive boulders began to descend rapidly.

“Whoaah!”

Leaning back, the startled Lian threw away the arrow in his arms and dashed backward into a narrow corridor.

Thunk…

“No, no!”

Abruptly, the space between the narrow corridor and the spacious one was blocked by a sudden stone wall.

Crash! Thud!

“Ah…”

Lian, thin as paper, fluttered and sobbed as he flew through the air before dropping abruptly on an incline. With a snap, he returned to his original state. However, his clothes remained torn.

“Ugh… Could this series of traps continue?”

Wobbling to his feet, Lian began moving forward, grumbling but displaying a comical resilience.

Creak, thud, clunk!

“Ouch!”

Thus, Lian proceeded, stepping carefully through the hundreds of traps the old man had described. Yet none of the traps could catch Lian’s ankles.

Having swiftly cleared all the traps, Lian arrived at a white space shrouded in a faint mist. The ceiling and walls were invisible.

The only visible things were the passage Lian had just emerged from and an entrance leading to a new passage on the opposite side. Lian immediately headed towards the entrance on the opposite side.

Swoosh.

At that moment, the white mist swirled together and formed a shape, creating a mannequin-like figure blocking the path between Lian and the entrance.

“Hmm…”

Lian, feeling no need, hesitated to summon the dark magic he hadn’t called upon and gazed at the mannequin-like figure.

Creak, creak.

Like a body in a traffic accident, it twisted grotesquely before starting to flexibly change shape like a slime.

Growing taller, broadening its shoulders, it began to take on human skin. The doppelganger, which could double the opponent’s strength, faithfully transformed into Lian’s appearance.

Roll, squish.

Soon, the shape being meticulously formed seemed to encounter a problem and began to distort.

Squish, crunch, roll! Paaaah!

Struggling with the power of the comedy filter, the wildly fluctuating doppelganger burst apart. Lian stared blankly at the vanished doppelganger.

“What… was that?”

The doppelganger, touted proudly by the old man as the strongest, turned out to be… a 0.1-second cut.