Ch.128[Chapter 128] King of Roguelike

“What on earth is going on here?”

Sir Dominic asked the thin line that was presumably Unryu Hime.

“Just a moment.”

Hime briefly interrupted Sir Dominic’s words and attempted something.

Then the thin line fluttered, and for a moment, Hime’s figure seemed to appear.

“Ah, as I thought.”

Hime nodded as if she had realized something.

From Sir Dominic’s perspective, it just looked like a line fluttering.

“Please wait a little longer.”

Hime began to flutter vigorously as if trying to do something.

Sir Dominic didn’t understand what the line presumed to be Hime was doing, but since she asked him to wait, he remained still.

That’s when it happened.

With a “swoosh” sound effect, Hime suddenly appeared.

“Lady Hime!”

Sir Dominic was quite pleased to meet Hime again in this strange world.

“As I suspected, the layers are separated.”

Hime’s appearance was fluttering like a paper doll. From the front, she looked like a normal person, but from the side, she appeared as just a line like before.

Sir Dominic suddenly had a realization about what 2D meant.

“Could this paper doll-like state be what’s called 2D?”

“Yes.”

Hime could have given a more complex explanation, but since Sir Dominic’s statement wasn’t far from the truth, she added only a brief explanation.

“More precisely, it only looks normal from the perspective of the Stars.”

“Ah! I did it! Master! I succeeded!”

Alice appeared next to Hime.

Sir Dominic suddenly noticed the letters “L03” written beside Alice.

Wondering if there might be something similar next to Hime, he looked and indeed saw the letters “L02” written there.

He suddenly thought these letters might represent the layers Hime mentioned and asked her.

“Is this what you mean by layers?”

Sir Dominic noticed that the layer indicators for both of them were at a consistent height and raised his hand to where his own layer indicator might be.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Hime nodded.

“But it’s strange that even though we were summoned together, the layers should have remained separate, yet they’re merged like this.”

As if someone had deliberately merged the layers… Hime said this and shook her head.

The artist Star that her father had introduced to create her character card had said that deliberately merging layers was the ultimate sin.

Hime still couldn’t forget the expression of the Star who trembled all over, saying that layer merging was the world’s worst evil that could be enjoyed with a simple click, a pleasure without responsibility.

That’s why Hime couldn’t imagine that someone had deliberately merged the layers.

Not until the bizarre voice was heard from the sky again.

[Impressive! To notice the first trap so quickly, truly worthy of a ninja!]

[But this is merely a fraction compared to the malice of the universe. You’ve discovered something through this tiny clue, but perhaps you’ve forgotten something?]

The bizarre voice seemed to praise Hime’s deduction while mocking her.

“What do you—”

Just as Hime was about to ask something about what the voice had said.

Sir Dominic instinctively switched layers and raised his sword.

With a “clang!” sound, a metal scraping effect was heard from layer 1.

[A fatal blow… just kidding. Haha! Interesting, how interesting! There’s still someone here who hasn’t forgotten!]

“Are you alright?”

“…Ah! Yes!”

Sir Dominic turned around and asked Hime.

It was an incredibly cool scene, but all Hime could see was just a thin line.

Emerging from that strange cognitive dissonance, Hime nodded and spoke.

Sir Dominic had sensed something strange since the layers separated.

His own layer appeared as a line, but other layers looked normal due to the angle.

Because of this, he could easily check other lines as long as they weren’t his own.

While marveling at this chaotic world, Sir Dominic suddenly noticed bushes approaching in Hime’s layer.

It looked natural, as if swaying in the wind, but due to the 2D characteristics, even pixel-level movements were noticeable.

Sir Dominic carefully observed the approaching bushes.

And when he saw a gleaming dagger rushing toward Hime from among the bushes, he quickly changed layers to block it.

[Since neither the fatal trap nor the vile ambush worked, now it’s time to be ‘fair and square’ again.]

With the voice’s words, the layers tilted diagonally.

Only then could Sir Dominic, Hime, and Alice see those on the opposite side.

“To block the Plague Dagger, do you have a hidden move?”

A figure with bandages full of pus all over his body, holding a rusty dagger in one hand and an incense burner flowing with plague in the other.

“Hee. Hehee. Hehehee.”

A magician wearing a tailcoat with a skull drawn on his face using fluorescent material.

“Can’t you stop that hiccupping sound? It’s giving me neurosis!”

A soldier holding a sniper rifle.

Do you remember these people?

Sir Dominic remembered them.

The plague-wrapped one and the sniper rifle holder were named Plagius and Yekaterina.

They were enemies Sir Dominic had met in Area 3.

The person in the magician outfit was someone Sir Dominic didn’t know, but considering the commonality with the other two, that person must have also fought in Area 3.

[Fair and square, so fair and square. Three. And three. One representing yang and two representing yin. And when they combine, they become three, making three the most perfect number.]

[If I had a soul, I can’t imagine how excited I would be, screaming.]

“Wait.”

Sir Dominic interrupted the voice.

There was something strange about what the voice said.

“Alice is considered my equipment. So it’s essentially a 2 versus 3 fight, and you call that fair?”

[…]

The voice fell silent at Sir Dominic’s words.

But beyond that silence, Sir Dominic heard a faint sound.

‘This wasn’t in the script! How is it 2v3 when it should be 3v3?’

‘Uh… just blame the side with fewer numbers and move on. They’ll usually accept it, right?’

Sounds of a meeting about the current situation.

Sir Dominic had fairly good hearing to compensate for his missing eye.

If Sir Dominic wasn’t mistaken, this sound was definitely…

[Ahem. This place originally requires three. It’s your fault for bringing one less, your mistake—]

“Are you perhaps a coder from System Industries?”

[…What?]

The bizarre voice forgot its concept and made a dumbfounded sound at Sir Dominic’s words.

“Is this perhaps an event?”

[H-h-h-how did you know that?]

The voice began to show great agitation at Sir Dominic’s question.

“An event, Master? Like a sudden event?”

Alice spoke to Sir Dominic, recognizing a familiar term.

[…]

And the bizarre voice fell silent again.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but…”

Yekaterina shouldered her sniper rifle and looked through the scope.

“We fight, and only one team survives, right?”

The crosshairs of the scope aimed at Alice.

In Yekaterina’s view, Alice was the most vulnerable.

She thought that the anachronistic armor that looked amateurish couldn’t withstand bullets.

[Y-yes! This is a circus full of madness and blood… no, a festival. Offer blood and souls until the host is satisfied!]

The bizarre voice, sensing an opportunity, immediately raised the battle start logo.

Sir Dominic realized that he suddenly couldn’t move his body.

It seemed the rules had been applied.

Three.

Two.

One.

Enjoy the festival of madness!

As this phrase passed by, Sir Dominic could move his body again, and a new phrase appeared before his eyes.

[Checking for the slowest character…]

[Sir Dominic is the slowest character.]

[For fairness, Sir Dominic will take the first turn only in the first round.]

What on earth does all this mean?

While he was thinking this, Hime provided appropriate advice.

“It’s a turn-based system! Instead of fighting in real-time, we take turns one by one!”

Ah. I see.

Sir Dominic could roughly understand the situation with Hime’s advice.

So now it’s my turn to attack.

Sir Dominic raised his sword.

And he extended his finger toward Yekaterina.

Then the distance between Yekaterina and Sir Dominic suddenly shortened, and Sir Dominic’s sword struck Yekaterina’s crown.

“Ugh!”

Yekaterina screamed.

The distance widened again, and the two returned to their original positions.

Sir Dominic tried to attack again, but for some reason, he couldn’t move his body.

“I told you. Once per turn.”

Hime said to Sir Dominic.

It seemed the rule was that only the slowest person starts the first attack, and then it proceeds in order of speed, as Hime was now able to move.

“It’s a shame I can’t show you my true skills since it’s not real-time combat, but…”

Hime formed hand seals.

Then she took out a kunai and lightly threw it forward.

But the power contained within was not light.

Flying at an invisible speed, Hime’s kunai pierced through the three people and somehow appeared behind them, returning to her waistband.

“Still, as a roguelike character, I have to maintain my pride, don’t I?”

[A fatal and cruel strike!]

Hime smiled proudly at this impressive situation.

And as if to praise Hime, the bizarre voice exclaimed in admiration.

“I’m… sorry. I couldn’t see it.”

However, Sir Dominic didn’t see Hime’s impressive performance.

Sir Dominic and Hime were on the same layer, so all he saw was a thin line fluttering.

It was a tragedy brought about by 2D.