Ch.159Ghost Mansion (8)

Sasith had been inside for two hours before the appointed time.

Indeed, having a hideout was nice. He could arrive early and rest in a place with the air conditioning blasting.

For one thing, he wouldn’t get bitten by mosquitoes. That was an enormous advantage for Sasith.

Well, you might want to ask why not just invite everyone to his home. But home was different from a hideout. At home, they would make love without any restraint. It would be awkward if Sasith saw that.

“Anyway, do we have to solve some weird puzzle again today?”

Taiga asked with a displeased expression.

He seemed quite fed up with the puzzle-solving at the mansion.

“No. I solved all the puzzles yesterday.”

I replied.

I had obtained all the keys and jewels. Now I just needed to insert them one by one, and we’d be good to go.

“That’s a relief. Honestly, it was a bit mind-numbing.”

Umi said.

“Right!! I want to fight a strong enemy!!!”

Tina also seemed restless.

“Today we’ll defeat the boss. And… free the people who’ve been turned into shut-ins.”

I said.

“Yeah. Let’s get it over with quickly.”

Sasith nodded.

And so, our party set out.

——–

At that moment, somewhere in the Other World.

“Frill. There are some annoying people. I’d like you to take care of them.”

Pink Beard stroked his beard as he spoke to a young woman.

She appeared to be in her late teens, with long, straight pink hair and doll-like beauty. She exuded a strangely dreamlike atmosphere, as if she didn’t belong to this world.

Of course, she wasn’t really human. She was a resident of the Other World.

“Annoying people… you mean the mortals from Earth?”

Frill looked directly at her father, Pink Beard, as she spoke.

“Yes. They’re people who know how to handle the power of Psychorobo. However… unlike Apocalypse, they don’t cooperate with us at all. Rather, they’re interfering. Kill them.”

Pink Beard said.

“Hmph. It’s surprising that you’re having trouble, Father.”

Frill said with a smile.

“You are my daughter. You’re also a servant created with part of my power. You know what happens if you don’t follow orders, don’t you?”

Pink Beard said.

“…Yes.”

Frill’s expression hardened.

“Don’t disappoint me. I’ve recorded information about them in the information stone. Check it.”

After saying this, Pink Beard left.

“Damn it.”

Left alone, Frill immediately opened a dimensional gate.

Whether they were mortals or whatever, Frill intended to deal with them quickly. After all… Frill was just a puppet who had no choice but to do as Pink Beard commanded.

———

We headed back to the Ghost Mansion. The June dungeon… in this game, dungeons appear until December. The game’s ending is in March of the following year. But January through March is the final chapter, so there are no dungeons then.

In other words, we’ve completed about a quarter of the game.

‘My heart is swelling with pride…’

For an extra character who was supposed to be killed in the first week of March, I’ve come quite far. I wanted to pat myself on the back and give myself praise.

“I’ll leave the directions to you.”

Sasith smiled at me as he spoke. He had completely started to trust me now.

“Oh! Leave it to me!!”

I shouted confidently as I opened the door.

And so, our second day of conquest began.

———-

Overall, the mobs had respawned, but they were enemies we had already faced before. If anything, it was good because we could earn experience points.

After dealing with the monsters without much trouble, I immediately began using the puzzle items.

Clunk-!!

I inserted the jewel into the statue’s eye.

Rumble-!!!!

And immediately, the wall rotated, opening a door.

“Putting jewels in statues… that’s a classic trope.”

Sasith said.

“Right?”

It was pretty obvious.

After that, I quickly solved puzzles one after another, creating a shortcut to the second floor of the mansion. I had already collected all the key items by thoroughly exploring the first floor. There were no blockages along the way.

“Just insert the key… turn it…”

The process was so monotonous that I could even hum while doing it.

“Sasith. You know what this is, right?”

I inserted a red ruby into the central pedestal.

And… there were lights around it.

“Heh. So that’s it.”

Sasith smiled and turned on the lights. As expected, this guy was also a nerd. We were on the same wavelength.

Flash-!!!

The lights shot out like lasers and hit the ruby.

Ping-!!!!

The light from the lamps was refracted by the ruby and spread in all directions. The laser light illuminated all the portraits on the walls.

Clunk-!!!

Afterward, the door opened immediately.

“No way… how do you know all this?”

Umi, who was just an ordinary person, seemed unable to understand.

“Hehehe. I told you Sasith is a nerd too. He and Shota are a perfect match.”

Taiga said with a smirk.

“Ooh!! As expected of the hero party!! Great teamwork!!”

Tina seemed to have understood something.

“I-It’s not like that… I’m just perceptive.”

Sasith denied being a nerd. Still not dropping the cool guy act? Wow. He’s stubborn. Really stubborn.

Anyway, we continued to solve puzzles with unstoppable momentum as we advanced to the second floor.

Rumble-!!

And finally, I opened the path to the second floor.

The stairs leading to the second floor finally revealed themselves. It had been a long and arduous journey.

“Come on! They’re on the second floor! Let’s go!”

I immediately encouraged the party members.

“Finally…!!”

Taiga let out a sigh of relief. Well, he had been extremely bored.

However, from now on, it would be an intense boss battle. Taiga’s battle instinct was about to be satisfied.

——–

The boss room was in the largest room on the second floor. There were no puzzles in this process. It was a kind of consideration for players who had struggled through the first floor.

Rumble-!

I boldly opened the door.

‘Dressing Room’

The fancy letters were written there.

“Wow! Such pretty clothes!”

Umi’s eyes sparkled.

From dresses to suits, they were clothes that obviously seemed expensive.

“Hey, Shota. Try on this suit. Hehehe. I think it would suit you.”

Taiga said, taking out a suit.

“Hey… you’re going to make fun of me in a suit…”

I said to Taiga. He already had an expression of trying to hold back laughter.

I know, okay? I… don’t look good in suits.

“Focus. The boss battle is coming soon.”

Sasith took the opportunity to say something leader-like.

“I don’t want to listen to a fake hero.”

Tina said something that struck a nerve with Sasith.

“F-Fake hero…!!”

Sasith immediately became dejected.

“A fake that surpasses the real thing… isn’t that cooler?”

I immediately started treating Sasith’s chuunibyou. Since he was a guy who lived and died for style, this procedure was necessary.

“Ah… when you put it that way… it might be okay.”

Sasith immediately accepted the title of fake hero. This guy… he’s really simple. He only looks profound.

“Anyway!! As soon as we open the door, the boss battle will start, so absolutely don’t step on the glowing tiles!”

I immediately said to the group.

Stepping on glowing tiles would make the fight more difficult. It would inflict status ailments with 100% certainty.

In the original turn-based game, you would inevitably get hit. But this was a real-time game. You just had to avoid the tiles.

Avoiding floor patterns is the golden rule of gaming.

“Okay. Got it.”

Tina said with a smile. Well… I wasn’t worried about Tina.

“Glowing tiles? Understood.”

Umi, with the brightest smile in the world, was what worried me. She had the lowest physical abilities here.

“Taiga. Take care of Umi.”

I said to Taiga.

“Oh! Leave it to me!”

Taiga nodded.

“Hey!! Don’t treat me like I’m useless!!”

Umi immediately shouted.

“No… I’m genuinely worried about you.”

I said to Umi.

“Then… Shota should protect me.”

Umi immediately acted cute.

Really… I’ll let it slide because she’s pretty. For women, beauty is truly a cheat key. When you see beauty, your anger just melts away.

“Get on my back.”

I said to Umi.

“Shota! Yay!”

Umi immediately clung to my back. Well, I could think of it as fighting with a backpack on.

“Hey!! Me too!! I want to be useless too!!”

Suddenly Taiga started shouting.

“Taiga!! If you do that too, it’ll be too hard for me!!”

I shouted at Taiga.

“Everyone, be serious. This is no joke.”

At that moment, Sasith spoke with a serious expression.

“As expected of our leader…!!!”

“Everyone, let’s go in.”

Sasith boldly opened the door.

Clunk-!!

As soon as the door opened, Sasith immediately rushed into the boss room.

Ping-!!

However, Sasith was extremely unlucky. The tile on the floor near the door began to glow.

“Ah…!!”

Sasith looked down at his feet. Yes, Sasith had stepped on a glowing tile.

Boom-!!!

Simultaneously with the explosion from Sasith’s body, a strange transformation occurred.

Flap-! Flap-!!

Sasith’s body transformed into clothing. Sasith… turned into a pair of boxer shorts!!!!

“Kyaaah!! Sasith turned into underwear!!”

Umi shouted loudly.

“Hahahahaha!! This guy…!! He was acting all cool but he’s the first one to get hit!”

Taiga seemed unable to contain his laughter.

“Taiga… you shouldn’t laugh in such a serious situation… Pffft!!”

Honestly, it was funny.

“The kind of underwear an old man would wear…”

Tina was fixated on an unexpected detail. Hey… are you not worried about Sasith at all?

“Hey!! Turn me back to normal right now!!”

At that moment, the underwear fluttered and began to speak. The voice was unmistakably Sasith’s.

“Hahahahaha!!! The underwear is talking!!!”

“Talking underwear!!!”

Umi and Taiga burst into laughter, their bodies trembling.

“Sasith… I’ll avenge you!”

Anyway, I immediately grabbed the underwear-transformed Sasith.

“Forget revenge!! Just turn me back to normal!!”

Sasith shouted loudly. Every time he spoke, the wrinkles of the underwear shook. Those wrinkles must be his mouth. That was my rough guess.

“No… we can’t fix this during the boss battle.”

Anyway, I spoke with a devastated feeling.

During this boss battle, one party member would definitely, and with bad luck, up to two would be transformed into clothing and become unable to fight. If Umi, our only healer, got hit, it would be a real disaster.

“What…?!”

Sasith muttered with an expression like he had lost everything.

“Be underwear for a while. If you’re lonely… I’ll wear you. I’ll warm you with the heat of my lower body.”

I said seriously.

“I don’t need that!!!!!!”

Sasith’s scream echoed throughout the boss room.

At that moment, the boss mob slowly walked over.

“Welcome to my fashion show.”

A zombie dressed in fancy clothes approached, dancing.

“I’ll turn all of you… into beautiful clothes too!!!”

With the boss’s signature line, the boss battle helplessly began.

Even though Sasith had been hit, we had no choice but to fight.