Ch.66Chapter 66. The Hell Where Good and Capable People Go

The warrior Scop, who was in charge of the party’s vanguard, felt wronged by the current situation.

All he did was accept an offer from a retired Hero who approached him while gambling at a tavern after finishing a job.

Since it seemed difficult to form a party, he had asked for equal compensation just in case, and when that was accepted, he thought he’d struck gold, but…

‘My luck is just too terrible… Why did it have to be when I came to the dungeon…!’

“No answer, I see.”

In this situation, even the mage who had thoughtlessly rushed ahead had limply transformed into one of the Undead. Now, the one responsible for her death began moving with languid steps toward him, surrounded by the Undead.

As if thinking that since he couldn’t escape anyway, he would roast the isolated warrior at his leisure.

“They say silence is consent. Then may I accept your enrollment application right away?”

“P-please spare me!!”

Scop finally screamed and fell to his knees.

Though vanguards tend to have strong courage since they take enemy attacks head-on, his opponent possessed such an overwhelming presence that it could completely shatter even that firm spirit.

Everything his touch reached was instantly drained of vitality, and the mana that spread with it forcibly raised withered bodies, denying freedom even in death.

“Heh heh, spare you? What an amusing thing to say. When you put it that way, it sounds as if I’m trying to kill you.”

Gorgon Zola, the Dark Knight of Famine, laughed playfully as if even the fear he inspired was amusing.

He lowered his emaciated body and quietly matched Scop’s eye level, beginning to intimidate him.

“I merely need an assistant, so there’s no need to be so frightened. Or perhaps you have some reason why you shouldn’t accept my offer?”

“W-well, that’s, I mean…”

“Speak up. As one who wanders the world seeking to understand it, I have time to listen to someone who has caught my interest.”

Gorgon gave him time despite his confusion.

At those words, Scop seemed to find hope, and his sweat-soaked lips gradually turned upward.

‘Could I possibly survive…?’

The atmosphere even contained a degree of kindness.

It seemed that as long as he pleased him, the knight might show enough mercy not to kill him immediately.

“W-well, you see, I have a sick mother at home…”

“Hmm, I see. You’re saying you have an ill mother at home?”

“Y-yes. She’s someone I need to take care of, and the payment from this mission, I need to use it for her medicine…”

It was a lie.

In reality, he had nothing to protect, as he invested all his adventurer earnings in gambling.

“My, you’re an even more admirable young man than I thought.”

But since his opponent didn’t know the truth of his words, if this lie moved his heart, he might be able to survive.

As Scop held onto that hope, the Dark Knight of Famine’s hand quickly flew toward his neck.

“I can’t just send such a good young man away! Since you had such good thoughts, I’ll kindly take you to graduate school!”

“Yes, ye—what!? W-wait… AAAAARGH!”

His body had all its nutrients completely drained.

After convulsing as his breath was cut off, the body rose weakly and began to stagger in place.

“Of course. Shouldn’t talented individuals with kind hearts like you enter graduate school for the benefit of the world? Don’t worry about your mother—if she comes to graduate school with you, she can work regardless of her illness.”

For the world’s development, one must not hesitate to recruit even the good and the sick.

Believing in such philosophy, Gorgon’s gaze began to turn toward the monk who was watching the situation while trembling.

“Now for the next one…”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”

But despite being an adventurer for the sake of training, he was mentally at his limit just by facing the great calamity that was the Dark Knight of Famine.

Finally feeling his faith crumble, he began to flee madly from his spot, crying out to the one he served.

“Oh God! Stop this trial! I can’t die like this when I haven’t even found someone to accept me yet!”

“Serving God yet having lewd thoughts! This won’t do—I’ll take you to my graduate school and fix your mind!”

“AAAAARGH!!”

Monk Abraham was quickly caught by the lunging Dark Knight of Famine and had his nutrients drained.

Finally becoming like the two who had died before him, he began to let out agonized screams before his new master, Gorgon.

“Now then, little one. It’s your turn next.”

Ignoring even those cries, he targeted Hero Garam Lee next.

A young girl too immature to bear the responsibility that came with her innate power.

“Hii, hiik!”

For such a fragile being, the current situation was impossible to endure intact.

“You’re trembling. Are you afraid of me?”

“Uh, aah. Aaaah…”

“Khuhu, no need to be afraid, little one. Fear is an emotion that arises from not knowing.”

Fear.

An emotion that holds no meaning for the dead like him.

After all, fear is ultimately meant to create vigilance from the grim prospect of being unable to protect oneself.

“So don’t worry too much. If you accept my hand, I’ll personally grant you the opportunity to overcome that fear.”

As the hand of famine reached out to impart such enlightenment.

Even as it approached right before her, the girl could only tremble in place, unable to do anything due to fear and fatigue.

Yes, everything would end here like this.

-BOOM!!

Just as she was consumed by despair, an explosive sound shattered the Undead blocking the entrance.

Startled, the girl and Gorgon looked toward the exit and saw a black silhouette wielding a long weapon rushing toward them.

-BOOM, BOOM!! SLASH!!!

The Undead were torn apart by fierce strikes.

Even the Undead golem, realizing the situation too late, crumbled along the cracks in its body when exposed to the mana from the spear thrown at its head before it could swing its fist.

“What, what is—”

-BOOM!!

A spear blade was thrust into Gorgon’s open mouth as he was caught off guard.

Following that, a mana explosion shattered his head, and the black-armored young man who had burst onto the scene quickly reached out his hand toward Garam.

“Take my hand.”

“Uh, huh?”

“Hurry and take it! We need to escape!”

A familiar face.

No, a face she had never forgotten even once…

“G-go alone. I’m fine…”

But was it because the situation was urgent?

Before awakening the emotions she felt from that being, Garam had to pay more attention to the fact that her legs had lost all strength.

Yes, if she took the hand of the person who came to save her, it would only increase the death toll from one to two.

“Don’t talk nonsense. This isn’t just about breaking through here—how am I supposed to escape this place alone?”

But he didn’t come here to save her out of pure goodwill either.

Even though he had the ability to avoid danger against the Undead, he had already guessed that even that wasn’t perfect while facing the Undead occupying this place.

He couldn’t force an escape from the dungeon alone since he couldn’t paralyze the actions of beings with some degree of self-awareness or those directly controlled by a superior being.

-Crack, crack crack.

That’s why he had considered killing the superior being first.

But the opponent was now regenerating his fragments and rising as if nothing had happened, despite having his head blown off.

“Kihihi, well now… You’re being quite harsh to someone you’ve just met.”

It was an expected result.

The Undead are beings resurrected from death in the first place.

Without a miracle bestowed by God, it’s not easy to eliminate the strange mana that keeps them in this world, and even destroying the vessel containing that mana is not permitted for beings with great power.

“Young man, why are you trying to take away the one I’ve set my eyes on?”

Gorgon, the Dark Knight of Famine, casually displayed such status.

The man, appalled by his composure despite having his head blown off, turned to him with an awkward smile.

“…Sorry, but I’m her guardian.”

“Oh, I see. Her guardian, you say?”

If the opponent could kill him at any time but had a reason not to, he needed to exploit that.

The man, having encountered many such beings before, approached the conversation with the intent to persuade him.

“Then I have a proposal for you as her guardian. Would you kindly entrust that girl to me? I’ll take her to my graduate school and teach her what she needs to know to live in this world…”

“Ah, yes. In our credential-based society, having a master’s degree would be good.”

If he kept his wits about him and played along, he could somehow survive.

Even if the opponent’s thinking was far from normal, the more eccentric someone was, the more effective it could be to match their world.

“…But I’m sorry, professor, this child hasn’t even graduated from middle school yet.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it too early to talk about taking someone to graduate school when they haven’t even finished high school?”

The man had read the eccentric’s mood and given what he thought was the best possible answer.

Afterward, while discreetly observing, he could see the knight blinking with what little skin remained attached to his skull.

“Hmm, is that so?”

It was working.

Being obsessed with exploration, he was susceptible to persuasion that targeted his blind spot.

“Yes, that’s right. After all, research institutions like graduate schools aren’t for just anyone, right? So let’s send this child back for now, and you can make the offer again when she’s older and the time is right.”

“Hmm, well, I suppose it can’t be helped. One shouldn’t overwork promising young buds from the start.”

Yes, it was working much better than expected.

Hoping that this absurd flow would just pass, he hid his urgency as he took the collapsed Garam’s hand and prepared to leave.

“Well then, we’ll be going now…”

“Wait a moment, young man.”

Shit.

Barely swallowing the curse rising from within, he turned to face him without showing his feelings.

“What is your name?”

It wasn’t that his mood had soured.

His interest had simply shifted from the girl, whom he couldn’t target yet, to himself.

“Ah, yes. My name is Hyoseong Woo.”

“Uhyo…?”

“No, not Uhyo, but Hyose—”

“Oh, I see, so you’re Uhyo?”

Gorgon exclaimed as if recognizing him despite meeting for the first time.

The Dark Knight of Famine, smiling with his tattered mouth, rested his chin on his hand and began to stare at his face.

“Come to think of it, the Azure Knight of Death particularly remembered your name. Even I vaguely remembered it after hearing it—so it was you?”

“…You heard about me from him?”

“No need to hear about it. We Undead, under our lord’s protection, have a habit of sharing some of our most intense memories.”

That’s why the Undead he’d never met before recognized his existence and recalled their memories.

Of course, for beings with self-awareness, it’s just one of many memories, so unlike Undead that follow only instinct, they won’t have their actions inhibited by being immersed in those memories.

“But this is the first time I’ve seen that rigid former royal remember a living being so clearly… Yes, meeting you directly like this is quite interesting.”

But even something so minor couldn’t be overlooked by one who claimed to be a devourer of knowledge.

To have such power that he remained unforgotten in the memories of one who lives on the obsession of exploring the world.

Isn’t that more than enough reason to become fixated?

“Would you like to become a graduate student?”

“…No thank you.”

“My, rejecting me so flatly makes me quite sad.”

Gorgon laughed good-naturedly despite the firm rejection.

As if he had already anticipated this answer, his footsteps advanced without hesitation.

“I was impressed by that eloquence, trying to persuade me out of concern for giving too much responsibility to that girl. If you were to submit an assignment, you’d receive top marks at any educational institution.”

“No, I just roughly utilized something I picked up somewhere. You don’t need to evaluate me so highly.”

“Even making what you’ve heard your own is worthy of high praise. Isn’t that what learning is all about?”

“As it happens, physical work suits me better than books.”

“Learning requires physical strength too. So become a graduate student. Follow me and become a graduate student, and you can remain in this world for hundreds or thousands of years to continue your exploration.”

“…I refuse.”

“If you become a graduate student, I’ll guide you personally. You don’t need to bring any luggage—if you just come as you are, I’ll accommodate you as much as I can.”

“As I’ve said multiple times, I refuse. I still have too much to accomplish while alive.”

Even the “graduate students” around him were no longer in human form.

How could he accept the offer of this madness-steeped walking corpse as goodwill?

“…That answer deserves a failing grade.”

Feeling wary of him, he raised his spear blade, and Gorgon began to draw a black longsword in his hand, his eyes flashing.

“I have no choice. Since you’ve had such a foolish thought, I’ll take you to graduate school to broaden your horizons.”

“You crazy bastard. If I failed, why are you taking me to graduate sch—”

-CLANG!

The sound of clashing weapons swallowed even his angry voice.

“Become a graduate student!! Uhyo!!!”

Gorgon’s gesture, easily winning the test of strength.

Was already being swung toward his neck, finding an opening in the battle.