Ch.127[Chapter 127] King of Roguelike

Sir Dominic, Unryu Hime, and Alice stood back-to-back, vigilantly watching their surroundings.

Sinister women continued to appear like clouds and vanish like wind in the fog, toying with the three of them.

“Do you have a plan?”

Sir Dominic asked Hime as he instinctively deflected an incoming blade.

“I need a moment to think!”

Hime threw three kunai, taking down four Mountain Bridge Marsh women.

Three who were hit directly died instantly, while the fourth, struck by a kunai that penetrated with a critical hit, fell into a dying state.

Watching this, Sir Dominic thought that dealers truly were different.

He had now grown accustomed to the Gachaland way of thinking.

Hime and Sir Dominic unconsciously moved in one direction.

As soon as they found a wall, they positioned themselves with their backs against it and surveyed their surroundings.

Alice, who had been following closely behind them, squeezed between the two and opened her backpack.

She began randomly pulling out weapons and throwing them wildly.

These were recognized as Sir Dominic’s “normal attacks.”

With his basic stats being quite high, though not as high as a dealer’s, each weapon proved quite helpful.

Finally, Sir Dominic, Hime, and Alice were able to go on the offensive for the first time since being pushed into a defensive position.

“Enough.”

At that moment.

When Brigadier General Joseph, dressed in empress attire, spoke softly, all the women simultaneously stopped moving.

“You are no match for us.”

Brigadier General Joseph appeared from the smoke and faced Sir Dominic and Hime.

“Brigadier General Joseph…? Why are you here?”

Hime never expected to see Brigadier General Joseph here.

Could this all be Brigadier General Joseph’s scheme?

Confused, Hime’s mind raced with all sorts of possibilities.

“Let’s withdraw for now, Sir Dominic. But there won’t be a next time.”

Brigadier General Joseph selected the [Retreat] option from the choices that appeared.

There would be some penalty, but it was a calculated decision that would cost less than continuing this war of attrition.

Of course, this wasn’t Brigadier General Joseph’s intention either.

Probably.

Brigadier General Joseph, in the guise of an empress, disappeared into the smoke.

Dozens of women followed, but about three of them suddenly collapsed, coughing up blood.

This was a situation incomprehensible by both Ferallant and Gachaland common sense.

Sir Dominic and Hime looked at each other, trying to make sense of what was happening.

“…I suppose it’s because they’re from Mountain Bridge Marsh.”

“What? Oh. Yes. That must be it.”

But here, their personalities were immediately revealed.

Sir Dominic didn’t think too deeply.

He was curious enough to ask about things he could immediately understand, but he also had the decisiveness to draw a line when things seemed to get too complicated.

Hime, however, had the opposite personality to Sir Dominic.

She was the type to think long and hard, analyzing to reach conclusions.

Even now, she was endlessly thinking and analyzing why Brigadier General Joseph had attacked Sir Dominic.

Had Sir Dominic not spoken to Hime, she might still have been lost in deep thought, heading in an entirely wrong direction.

“By the way…”

Sir Dominic looked around the alley where the smoke had begun to clear.

Strangely, once the Mountain Bridge Marsh attack ended, the thinning smoke dispersed enough to reveal paths leading to other alleys.

However, beyond the alley, smoke still filled the area.

Sir Dominic again felt like he had seen this situation somewhere before.

“Master, doesn’t this seem similar to Enchant?”

Alice said as she picked up weapons that had fallen to the ground.

“I’ve played that game you were in. My brother bought it…”

As Alice began putting weapons back into her backpack one by one, Sir Dominic and Hime looked at each other.

It certainly was like that.

This was almost like… a roguelike.

“That would explain why the smoke is dispersing now.”

Hime nodded.

“Then could those flames be the boss battle?”

Alice chimed in.

“Perhaps. What’s certain is that we now know the rules.”

Sir Dominic answered.

Sir Dominic looked at the three paths that had opened up.

Moving in these directions would trigger new situations.

If this followed roguelike rules, that’s how it should work.

“Let’s move and see. We can directly confirm whether it’s a roguelike or not.”

Sir Dominic took the lead with his sword.

Since their goal was the place where flames were rising, they chose the path in that direction.

Hime and Alice silently followed behind Sir Dominic.

For some reason, Alice began to feel like it was the night before a field trip.

…

“Just as I thought.”

Sir Dominic looked at the fog that had begun to disperse.

An event occurred in this alley, presenting three choices to select from.

Sir Dominic chose the most straightforward option and obtained a map of the area, confirming that this alley was similar to Enchant’s map.

“We should go this way. It’s closest to the Executive branch.”

Hime pointed to a part of the map.

Judging by the fire symbol marked there, that must be the burning place they could see.

The location marked with the fire symbol was, as Hime said, adjacent to the Executive branch.

“It would be good if we could enter the Executive branch from here. Restoring Sir Dominic to full condition is our priority.”

Sir Dominic nodded.

“Then let’s go here, through here, and to this place.”

Sir Dominic chose the fastest route to the place Hime mentioned.

Two crossed sword symbols, one question mark, and another crossed sword symbol.

After passing through four alleys, they would finally reach the place with the flame symbol.

“It looks dangerous… wouldn’t it be better to take a detour?”

Hime thought Sir Dominic’s suggestion wasn’t bad, but she expressed her own thoughts.

The path Hime wanted had five question marks and one sword.

Sir Dominic weighed his plan against Hime’s, considering they would need to pass through two more alleys, and soon realized Hime’s plan was better.

Sir Dominic had simply chosen the fastest route, but Hime had selected the most effective and efficient path.

Despite being a knight, Sir Dominic was weak in strategy and tactics, so he acknowledged this fact and immediately accepted Hime’s plan.

“You’re right. Let’s do that.”

Sir Dominic moved forward with a sword in one hand and the map in the other.

…

Was it because the initial battle with the Mountain Bridge Marsh was so intense?

Sir Dominic and Hime passed through unexpectedly anticlimactic event alleys and finally arrived at the combat alley just before the flame symbol location.

Puzzles that even a child could solve and minor rewards.

Alice wore 8-bit sunglasses, sipped lemonade from a grenade-shaped bottle, and wore a laurel wreath on her head.

“They’re surprisingly generous with artifacts.”

“It’s a roguelike after all.”

Hime replied as Alice raised both arms in a hip gesture.

In fact, the items Alice was equipping were collection-type artifacts common in roguelike games.

The 8-bit sunglasses that increased vision by 1, the Lemonade Grenade that explosively restored health after battle, and the Champion’s Laurel that increased attack and defense by 1.

“I didn’t expect even these details to be implemented.”

“It really feels like playing Enchant directly.”

“Is this what augmented reality is like?” Alice said with a bright smile.

Her smile was charming, but perhaps because of the pixel sunglasses she wore, it somehow felt a bit irritating.

“Anyway, we’re approaching the combat alley. Judging by how much they’ve given us, the battle will undoubtedly be difficult.”

Sir Dominic looked at the alley marked with crossed swords.

The path was clearly visible thanks to the effect of the pixel sunglasses, but for some reason, the figures there appeared as blurry black shapes.

Or were there multiple? Or just one? Even that was confusing.

“It’s clear there are enemies there… but we have no information.”

Sir Dominic checked his physical condition by rotating his shoulder while holding his sword.

“We’ll have to find out directly.”

Hime added to Sir Dominic’s words.

Sir Dominic and Hime stood side by side facing the alley.

They looked at each other, nodded, and without deciding who would go first, they stepped into the alley.

Suddenly, the world changed, and they felt as if everything was stretching horizontally.

“Sir Dominic! 2D! It’s 2D!”

Hime shouted urgently.

But Sir Dominic didn’t know what 2D meant.

And so, Sir Dominic found himself in a situation where he had to learn what 2D was through experience.

“…Lady Hime? Alice? Where is everyone?”

Sir Dominic felt his field of vision was strangely narrow.

In reality, Sir Dominic’s vision was half that of a normal person, but even accounting for that, it was excessively narrow.

[Ah. Behold, child. More wanderers of chaos have arrived here.]

“Who’s there! Where are you speaking from?”

Suddenly, a strange voice was heard from the sky.

A low, eerie voice quite different from the mechanical voice of the System.

Sir Dominic instinctively shouted in response to the strange voice in this strange space.

[Are you frightened? Or merely confused? What’s certain is that one of the two groups will leave their bones here. Or perhaps both.]

[Who will survive this circus… no, festival full of blood and madness, and claim the prize?]

The voice from the sky faded away with maniacal laughter.

Where on earth was this strange space, and whose voice was that?

“Sir Dominic?”

While Sir Dominic was looking up at the sky full of curiosity, a voice came from behind him.

“Lady Hime?”

“It is indeed Sir Dominic. It’s difficult to identify each other in 2D.”

Sir Dominic fluttered around to look behind him.

There was something that looked like a very thin thread… presumably Hime.

Probably.