Ch.216[Chapter 216] Dungeon Floor 4/3

“This way.”

After leaving the bug space and returning to the third floor, Merry, who had returned to human form, pointed with her fan at a twisted wooden door that didn’t match the splendor of the third floor.

“You can move between the fourth and third floors through doors that don’t match the floor. Of course, you can also move within that floor through doors that do match.”

Sir Dominic opened the door while listening to Merry’s explanation.

After a slight stutter, a new place appeared.

The ugly truth behind the splendor.

A back alley filled with filth and garbage.

Ghost children chased rats, and all sorts of specters disappeared into alleys only to pop out again from different ones.

From a distance, it might have been a scene that would fill one with pity, but up close, it was a place that sent chills down your spine with its eeriness.

Fortunately, Sir Dominic had hate filters and adult filters active, so this scene appeared to him not as its actual form, but rather like an animation with some exaggeration mixed in.

“Where is this…?”

Sir Dominic muttered as he looked around.

It was a world with a completely different atmosphere from the splendid banquet hall just moments ago, but somehow the structure reminded him of the banquet hall.

“The fourth and third floors are one, I tell you.”

Merry resolved Sir Dominic’s question as if she had read his mind.

“Since they’re originally one world, it’s natural they’re similar, right?”

Sir Dominic looked at Merry.

Merry was currently dressed as a black lady, with a black hat adorned with a black veil that half-covered her face.

Of course, her hat had six ruby decorations attached to it, and while her lower body was hidden by a voluminous dress, eight spider legs could be glimpsed occasionally.

“The fourth and third floors are worlds of balance. When one side becomes wealthy, the other becomes poor.”

“Hmm?”

“Huh?”

Sir Dominic looked at Merry upon hearing a sudden female voice.

But as it wasn’t Merry who had spoken, she was also looking at Sir Dominic.

“Over here, over here.”

Sir Dominic turned his head toward the source of the sound.

He accidentally turned his head to the left, causing him to turn more than expected due to his field of vision, but Sir Dominic could see the newly appeared woman.

“Nice to meet you, Sir Dominic. We just met, right? I’m Jane Doe.”

The woman was wearing a modern white shirt and black suit pants, over which she wore a loose and worn trench coat.

There were five or six pens in the chest pocket of her shirt, a tattered notebook in one coat pocket, and a green bottle with green liquid sloshing inside could be glimpsed in the opposite pocket.

The woman who introduced herself as Jane Doe approached Sir Dominic with heavy steps.

Somehow, a pipe was now in her hand.

“I’m in charge of the fourth floor, humble as it is. Of course, I don’t always do the fourth floor; it rotates differently each time, so the next time you come, I might be on the third floor, or I might not. I’m usually assigned to the poorer side.”

Jane Doe extended her hand to Sir Dominic, requesting a handshake.

Sir Dominic didn’t lower his guard at the mention of the fourth floor boss, but thinking it would be impolite not to accept the handshake, he did so while remaining as cautious as possible.

“I am Sir Dominic of Feralant. I’ve come to clear this dungeon.”

“That’s good. I like it. A knight trying to conquer a contradictory dungeon that many have cleared but no one has ever cleared… this will sell.”

Jane Doe took out her tattered notebook, picked up a pen, and scribbled something.

“Sorry. I know it’s impolite to do this in the middle of a conversation, but I have to make a living somehow. I earn my bread through writing, you see.”

“The epitome of a hungry artist,” Jane Doe muttered as she put the notebook back in her pocket.

“Good. Actually, the reason I came out like this is because I thought I was safe as the fourth floor boss, given this world’s gimmick. After all, you all want to clear this dungeon quickly, right? If you just clear the third floor, you can go to the second floor, so I thought I, on the fourth floor, would be safe.”

“What power would a poor artist like me have to stand in your way anyway?” said Jane Doe as she raised the green bottle from her pocket.

Somehow, a glass with a sugar cube on top had appeared in her other hand, and she skillfully dripped liquid from the green bottle into the glass and lit it with a match.

The liquid in the bottle must have been high-proof alcohol, as the sugar cube began to burn with the pungent scent of alcohol.

After downing the liquid inside, Jane Doe let out a “Kya-” like a sigh of admiration and spoke hazily.

“Let’s do this. If you promise to gently take down my brother who is also me but absolutely not related to me on the third floor, I’ll help you move around freely on the fourth floor.”

“Your brother who is also you but absolutely not related to you?”

Sir Dominic tilted his head at those enigmatic words.

“As I said earlier, the fourth and third floors are one and two. Probably John Doe on the third floor is the original, and Jane Doe was born when this world split. Now they’ve completely separated and become different entities.”

“I see.”

Merry gave a rough answer to Sir Dominic’s question.

Sir Dominic nodded in understanding.

After all, didn’t Sir Dominic himself have Sir Dominica, his parallel world self?

If the woman before him was something like that, it was perfectly understandable.

“Anyway, what will you do? Will you spare him?”

“I will.”

Sir Dominic nodded to Jane Doe.

“Good.”

Jane Doe spoke as she poured another drink slowly.

“Let me just have one more drink before we go. I can’t guide you sober.”

Jane Doe downed the strong alcohol and hiccupped.

“Alright. Now let’s go. To just before the boss room…”

Jane Doe took the first step.

“…Is this right? Taking directions from a drunk?”

Merry stood on tiptoe and whispered softly in Sir Dominic’s ear.

“Well, it’s better than finding our way on our own.”

Sir Dominic shrugged and started walking.

“No, that’s not what I—”

As Merry tried to explain something to Sir Dominic, he had already gone ahead following Jane Doe.

“…Never mind. What could go wrong?”

Merry made an uneasy expression for a moment before sighing as if resigned.

Then she followed the path Sir Dominic had taken.

Her eight legs moved busily.

…

“You know what? One block here is three days.”

Jane Doe took another sip of alcohol after passing one block.

No longer bothering with sugar, she put the green bottle directly to her lips and drank, then spoke to Sir Dominic.

“You think you’ve only been walking for a few hours, but for me, it’s like I’ve been walking this street for a month already.”

Sir Dominic looked back at Jane Doe’s words.

They had just passed the tenth block.

“…I don’t understand.”

“Of course not. The time axis here is arbitrary. Isn’t it strange that it’s 100 times the outside world to begin with?”

Jane Doe said with a grin.

Thinking to herself that she had a certain decadent beauty.

“When you’re doing something fun, time flies and it’s a shame, but when you’re doing something boring, time passes slowly. That’s what dungeons are like.”

“At least doing something makes time pass faster than just staying still,” Jane Doe muttered.

Sir Dominic nodded.

He thought that in Gacha Land, time could certainly flow in such a way.

Sir Dominic and Jane Doe walked a few more blocks in silence.

Unable to bear the silence, Jane Doe spoke to Sir Dominic again.

“You’re quite taciturn. Do you have a girlfriend?”

“…I have friends who are women.”

Sir Dominic affirmed Jane Doe’s question.

Excluding Sir Dominica, who was his parallel self, he thought of several people.

The first to come to mind was Hime.

The first female friend he made in Gacha Land.

“There’s no such thing as friendship between men and women.”

Jane Doe said somewhat dejectedly.

“Being friends means having mutual affection, so a ‘female friend’ is essentially a ‘girlfriend’.”

Jane Doe took another swig of the strong alcohol.

Clearly more than before.

“…The moon is beautiful tonight.”

Jane Doe said to Sir Dominic.

Sir Dominic looked up at the sky.

While the surroundings were full of garbage and graffiti, the full moon in the cloudy sky was indeed quite beautiful.

“Indeed it is.”

Sir Dominic agreed.

“…Really?”

Jane Doe looked at Sir Dominic with dazed eyes.

But soon Jane Doe bit her lip and turned away.

As if her mind was in turmoil.

“…We’re here now.”

Jane Doe turned around to face Sir Dominic again.

There was no more confusion on her face.

“Beyond this door is the third floor boss room.”

Jane Doe muttered as she approached Sir Dominic.

“That’s where my brother is. Or myself, or someone completely unrelated to me.”

Sir Dominic stared at the door.

A door lavishly decorated with gold, platinum, and jewels.

“…Sir Dominic.”

Jane Doe called out to Sir Dominic.

As Sir Dominic turned to Jane Doe, she spoke to him with a determined expression.

“I’m sorry.”

Before Sir Dominic could react to Jane Doe’s words, she flung the door wide open.