Ch.206NPC and Spirit Keeper (3)

In the game, the path to the Spirit Master had never been precisely described. But I did know one thing: if you defeated the mindless Grand Elder who had become a mid-boss, a path would appear connected to the basement of the collapsed estate.

After clearing a few sub-quests there, a single right-click would send you flying straight to the Spirit Master…

“As I mentioned before coming, I only know the entrance. I’ve never been to Spirit Master myself.”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

After entering the mansion, Salt Non skillfully guided us to the underground passage in the Grand Elder’s deserted estate.

The bloodstains and sword marks visible on the walls as soon as we entered were clearly traces of Green Doll’s fight with that senile old man.

…Green Doll. Why did he suddenly snap? It’s impossible to ask him now that he’s fallen, but thinking about how he lost his arm here makes something well up inside me.

Salt Non only had his tendons cut, so with treatment from a high priest who can use holy power or with good potions, he’ll surely return to normal. But…

‘An arm that’s gone…’

“Huh? Jack, what’s wrong?”

“Need to take a dump? Your expression doesn’t look good.”

“If you need the toilet, it’s on the first floor. Go upstairs if it’s urgent.”

“…No, I was just thinking about something else.”

I was only thinking about Green Doll becoming like Shanks, but was it that obvious on my face? But wait, what kind of expression did I make for all three of them to recommend the toilet at once? Does my serious face look like I need to poop?

Feeling somewhat bewildered, I continued following Salt Non’s guidance until we reached a wooden wall at the end of the basement.

Ah, in the game I couldn’t tell because the mansion had collapsed. This wooden wall gives me the feeling I’ve seen it as a portal entrance in the game.

“There’s a path behind this wall. It’s a secret passage, and you probably need to pull a book from that bookshelf…”

“This wall isn’t concealed by magic or spirit arts, is it?”

“…and then. Uh, well, yes?”

“Then we can just go straight in.”

*BANG!!*

“……”

Ignoring his explanation about doing something with the bookshelf beside us, I simply kicked down the wall. What seemed to be some kind of mechanism that could have been operated somehow turned into broken metal scraps scattered across the space behind the wall.

See! Haven’t I gotten quite smart since my Intelligence increased by 1?

“While I find Jack’s behavior heart-poundingly attractive…”

“Don’t act like this in front of other female beastkin. If you’re too wild, they’ll all flock to you thinking your relationships are just as wild.”

“I need to learn more about human thinking patterns when the Elder wakes up. Watching you makes me wonder if all humans act like you.”

What’s this? I looked at them confidently after solving the problem simply, but what came back were comments about 20% short of being compliments. Why? This way is faster and easier.

Feeling somewhat wronged, I continued along the path, and after about 30 minutes of travel, we finally came upon a green space created by what seemed to be either magic or spirit arts.

“I don’t know much from here either. Elder Green Doll said that we need to solve several tasks created by the Spirit Master over a long period of time to reach them.”

“…I see.”

The Spirit Master’s tasks, huh. In the game, you’d just find the dying Spirit Master all alone, but perhaps it’s not yet time for the Spirit Master to die, which is why I’m encountering situations I don’t know about.

As we walked through the green space, a table came into view in the distance, and in front of it stood a massive door about twice my size.

“Is this the task?”

“…A colorful cube? What is this?”

“Hmm. What I heard from Elder Green Doll was that the current Elders were putting their heads together to solve the Spirit Master’s task, so this must be it.”

When we reached the table, the three people opened their mouths while seriously looking at the object on the table with tilted heads, but I couldn’t say anything. No, wait, this is…

“…A 4×4×4 cube?”

“Huh?”

“What? Jack, you know what this is?”

“Could it be that you know what task the Spirit Master created?!”

The three of them all focused on me after I let out words of disbelief.

No way, the Spirit Master’s trial is a cube? What is this, an intelligence test?! I put Salt Non down and picked up the cube with one hand.

It was clearly in a state where someone had tried hard to solve it but failed. One side was completed, but the rest was a complete mess.

“Do you perhaps know how to solve this too?”

“As you can see, all sides need to be arranged so that the same colors are grouped together.”

“Aha! I understand now. But it looks difficult—can you really solve this, Jack?”

“If he’s smart too, that’s really going to be a problem. It’s already hard enough with how much he makes me whimper…”

After my explanation, Miho and Chikuyo raised their voices with expectation, but I just shrugged my shoulders.

By the way, hasn’t Chikuyo changed a lot since I first met her? It’s scary how visibly her comments have been getting weirder.

And I’m sorry, but in my previous life, I couldn’t solve a 3×3×3 cube even with internet instructions. And now I’m supposed to solve a 4×4×4 cube without any formula? I don’t plan to end this life here.

“Huh? You can’t do it?”

“Then, perhaps we should all think together and solve it…”

“That makes sense. Even the Elders have been trying to solve it for hundreds of years and still haven’t reached the Spirit Master…”

What? I was startled by Salt Non’s last comment and looked at him, but he looked back at me with confusion as if wondering if he’d said something strange.

Come on, even if you’re bad at solving cubes, hundreds of years is a bit much, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’m not an elf, and I don’t want to stay here for hundreds of years—not even for a day.

While everyone was concentrating on the cube, I moved my hands, and as everyone thought I was finally starting to solve it, they began to focus.

*Crack*

“…uh, huh?”

“…what?”

“…?”

I simply popped off one corner of the cube with my fingers. Hmm, it’s quite tight, but everything should come off.

“W-wait…!! W-why did you break it?!”

“J-Jack? No matter how difficult it is, I think giving up and destroying it are two different things…”

“*Gulp* I don’t know anymore. It seems like Jack is deliberately testing how much a female beastkin like me can appreciate such wild behavior.”

Salt Non shouted in surprise, Miho lowered her eyebrows with an expression that seemed to say she understood my feelings but this was too much. As for Chikuyo, she was holding her lower abdomen, backing away cautiously, and smacking her lips as if savoring something.

…Ah. Chikuyo’s behavior is making me dizzy now.

Without answering, I completely disassembled the cube, grouped the pieces by color, and started reassembling it.

About two minutes later.

“Ta-da. Done?”

“…Is this how you’re supposed to do it?”

“No, normally you solve it by turning it like this.”

*Click clack. Click clack.*

“The Spirit Master would never approve of such a shortcut…”

“You might think that, but it seems they do approve?”

“What?!”

In the direction Chikuyo pointed with her finger, the massive door began to open with a majestic sound, and Salt Non’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Well, there were no instructions, and no condition saying I couldn’t disassemble it. Isn’t it right to open the door if all the sides match? I looked at Salt Non with a smirk, and he alternated his gaze between the door and me in astonishment.

Come on, why are you so surprised?

“…To think the Spirit Master would approve of your ignorant behavior, I have no choice but to accept it too…”

“Hey.”

Calling me ignorant to my face is going too far. I picked up Salt Non somewhat roughly and carried him through the door.

*

The situation where solving the cube would immediately lead to “Ta-da, here’s the Spirit Master. Hello?” didn’t happen.

After that, various other problems blocked our path, and I used my own wits to get through them.

The water jug puzzle from that old Bruce Willis movie, “Die Hard 3,” I already knew how to solve, so despite the 10-minute time limit, I was able to show off my intelligence (cheat) to the three of them with a slight shrug.

Then there were two doors: one where we could all go together but would take 100 years, and another that would take only 10 minutes but only one person could go through. There was even a penalty that the return journey would take 1,000 years.

I chose the 100-year path and then broke through the wall so we could all take the 10-minute path together.

Honestly, by this point, I was starting to wonder: could the Spirit Master be a reincarnator from Earth? Why else would puzzles from “Liar Game” appear here?

“Salt Non, how many more of these are left?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know either. Elder Green Doll only mentioned that the oldest Elder had been working on this for about 1,200 years and was just starting to get close to the Spirit Master.”

“…So there’s a possibility that we still have a long way to go?”

“If I’d known, I would have brought some food.”

Just as I was starting to have the terrible thought that the cookies I’d given to that child earlier might have been our last rations, the next door appeared.

“That’s…”

“Wait, could that be…”

“……”

“Looks like we’ve finally arrived.”

A door far more massive than any we’d seen before.

In front of it stood a giant monster in armor, easily 6 meters tall, standing as if guarding the door. Looking at its status window, I was certain—this was definitely the final challenge.

[King Ghoul: Level 390]

[HP: 192,182]

A [Field Boss] monster that looked battered as if it had taken numerous attacks from someone other than us. And in front of it, a sign was prominently displayed: [Time Limit: 20 minutes].