Ch.6Chapter 6

When Tanthyn suddenly entered the room and was surrounded by Exiled Gods, the Huntsman thought the madman was courting death.

But as time passed, the Huntsman couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

Tanthyn, despite being attacked by numerous Exiled Gods, was far from suffering—he was cackling with laughter.

“Hahaha, stop! Stop it, I’m dying from ticklishness!”

“Huh…”

Watching Tanthyn claim that the Exiled Gods’ attacks were merely ticklish, the Huntsman raised his assessment of him.

‘I thought he was just insane, but to have the mental fortitude and physical resilience to withstand attacks from a swarm of Exiled Gods.

This kind of demonstration is something only someone with extraordinary confidence would attempt.’

A peculiar gleam flashed briefly in the Huntsman’s eyes.

#

Only after the Exiled Gods’ tickling attack finally stopped could I sit up and catch my breath.

Finding my predicament amusing, the Exiled Gods slid down my body to the floor, giggling.

One of them still clung to me, nuzzling my cheek against my ear. Its behavior reminded me of a pet parrot I once had, so I instinctively scratched under its chin, making it smile blissfully as it surrendered to my touch.

…Still, it looks human, so doing this makes me feel a bit guilty?

I needed to return to the Huntsman and the thief, but as I pondered what to do with the clingy Exiled Gods, their leader spoke up, saying it was fine.

“The inside and outside are separated by a boundary, so we can’t affect the outside. If you come back in though, I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Doesn’t that mean I could have been in danger too?”

“It turned out fine, didn’t it? Hehe.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

I suppose an Outer God is still an Outer God?

The Exiled Gods laughed mischievously.

In any case, with Exiled Gods perched on each shoulder, I approached the Huntsman, who closed his eyes as if resigned.

“…I didn’t think you’d be this insane.”

The Huntsman muttered under his breath and sighed.

Come on, you asked me to prove myself.

Now you’re making a fuss when I show you.

I could only shrug my shoulders at the Huntsman.

“See? It’s really nothing.”

“It’s madness that no one but you could pull off.”

Aghartha nodded vigorously behind me, as if in agreement.

She seemed quite shocked, even sweating as she pointed at the Exiled God on my shoulder.

“W-wait, what’s that on your shoulder?”

“Isn’t it cute? Like a fairy.”

I was just being honest, but Aghartha made an openly disgusted face and waved her hands.

“I think I need to reconsider your tastes, Tanthyn.”

Well, I admit it’s a bit of an unusual taste, but it’s genuinely cute.

When I stroked the head of the Exiled God on my right with my finger, it grabbed my finger and rubbed it against its cheek.

See how cute it is.

“…It’s creepy.”

“Try to be more open-minded.”

“How open-minded do I need to be to find grotesque tentacles wrapping around fingers cute?!”

I suppose with her Super Coward mode, Aghartha would see them differently.

Well, whatever.

It only needs to be cute to me.

The Exiled God, who had been smiling happily, half-opened its eyes and said with a smile:

“Am I annoying?”

“A little irritating, yes.”

“Should I kill her?”

Despite its cute, drawling voice, the Exiled God’s words were brutal. I tapped its head with my index finger.

“Uh, eh.”

“Tsk, you shouldn’t say such things with such a cute face.”

“I got it.”

“Oh, you’re so pretty.”

Pretty children deserve rewards.

This time, I gently tickled behind its ear, making it shiver as if getting goosebumps, then it simply lay down and fell asleep.

I genuinely wanted to take it home and keep it as a pet.

Aghartha still wore the expression of someone who had witnessed something bizarre.

“What… were you talking about?”

“It asked if it should kill you.”

“H-hey. Stop joking around.”

“I’m serious.”

Aghartha stared blankly at the Exiled God for a moment, then instantly moved more than ten steps away from me.

It was quite a spectacle to see someone who’s usually so mischievous looking so frightened.

“We’d like you to fulfill our request now.”

Since the leader Exiled God started urging me, I decided to stop showing off.

This should be enough for the Huntsman to trust me.

“Anyway, I’m fine, so I’ll go check inside.”

The Huntsman just nodded, holding his forehead with one hand as if he’d given up trying to understand.

Aghartha’s eyes clearly said she wanted me to hurry up and go in with the Exiled Gods, so I didn’t bother speaking to her.

The passage where the Exiled Gods resided was filled with the scent of flowers.

The Huntsman had described it as a terrible smell, but was this also an effect of the mode?

The Exiled Gods, who had been chattering among themselves, suddenly approached me and swarmed around the grinning Exiled God.

“You traitor! Hogging it all to yourself!”

“Hehehe…”

“Well, in that case, we have no choice but to get some too!”

As the Exiled Gods rushed toward me all at once, I instinctively prepared to flee, but fortunately, the leader Exiled God whistled to restrain them.

“Enough! Don’t trouble the human any further!”

“Tch, you were clinging to him the whole time yourself.”

“Ugh, be quiet!”

Once the atmosphere calmed down, one Exiled God smiled sheepishly and said:

“We like being petted. Our mother used to do it, but she hasn’t visited much lately.”

Who’s this mother?

As I was about to question this, the leader Exiled God, seemingly unable to contain itself any longer, pointed somewhere and said:

“We’d like you to take what’s inside. Just do that and we’re done.”

Ah, as I thought.

There really was a gimmick item.

By the way, judging by how quickly they changed the subject, they don’t want to talk about this “mother.”

I should be understanding.

A difficulty level that can’t be accessed without building specific stats to withstand the Exiled Gods’ mental attacks.

This is so brutal that obviously you couldn’t enter in the early game, I thought to myself.

I wonder what this hard-earned item looks like.

Maybe a non-uniform polyhedron?

Or perhaps some strange object whose shape can’t be recognized by the eye?

Full of anticipation, I trudged along to where the Exiled Gods were guiding me.

When I arrived…

“What is this?”

There was a dog bone.

If it had at least looked realistic, I might have accepted it, but this was a cartoonishly simple dog bone.

I suddenly felt all my energy drain away.

“All this just for this…”

“Huh?”

“No, no. I’ll take it.”

The dog bone was unnecessarily enshrined inside, emitting a radiant light.

Ah, is this glorious glory or pathetic sorry?

As I hung my head in disappointment, another Exiled God said grumpily:

“Mother said we could have physical bodies with this, but we prefer cats over dogs.”

“That’s right, that’s right. We’d rather have something cute.”

Cats, huh.

So I offered a suggestion:

“How about asking for a fish bone next time?”

“Agree, agree!”

They like the idea.

By the way, this must be the mode changing the appearance too, right?

“The game has changed everything deemed disgusting or frightening.

Even weapons become trivial!”

I couldn’t believe this was really a weapon capable of defeating that Outer God, but I picked up the dog bone anyway, thinking I’d figure it out later.

#

“Since Tanthyn’s gone too, we just need to wait. How about a game of poker?”

Barely a minute after Tanthyn entered, Aghartha, apparently bored, pulled out a deck of cards from the prison supplies and suggested to the Huntsman.

The Huntsman looked down at Aghartha as if she were an insignificant object.

“…Come on, this much is acceptable, isn’t it?”

“How trivial.”

“Tch, if you don’t want to play, just say so.”

As the Huntsman shook his head at Aghartha, his pupils suddenly dilated.

“What, what is it?”

Aghartha asked in confusion, but the Huntsman quickly pulled her by the arm and moved her behind him.

“Wait, what’s happening…!”

“Be quiet.”

The atmosphere was completely different from his usual irritable demeanor, making Aghartha swallow hard and tense up.

After a moment, the Huntsman spoke quietly:

“Without sound, I was slow to notice.”

“…?”

“The stench is getting stronger. It’s coming closer.”

Aghartha saw the visible part of the Huntsman’s face contort.

It was an expression very different from his usual serious, solemn one.

Thud, thud.

“Shh.”

When Aghartha, startled, tried to open her mouth, the Huntsman quickly pressed his index finger against her lips to keep them shut.

The Huntsman knew they needed to hide, but he couldn’t even think about moving.

Thud, thud.

Sniff, sniff.

Seeing tears about to flow from Aghartha’s eyes, the Huntsman could only bite his lip.

Even he couldn’t have imagined things would turn out this way.

Sniff, sniff.

It seemed that madman had been right.

There was no reason for that creature, which had been sleeping so soundly, to suddenly wake up.

So there really was a key to defeating it here.

Sniff, sniff.

Thud, thud, thud…

The sound that had been keeping them tense gradually began to fade.

The Huntsman still made no sound, seemingly waiting for the sound to disappear completely.

Aghartha waited for a long time, still practically embraced by the Huntsman.

Though the sound was clearly gone, the Huntsman still wasn’t moving, causing Aghartha to blush and speak:

“…It’s gone now, you can let go…”

“Stupid woman.”

Suddenly hearing the Huntsman curse, Aghartha looked up at his face in anger, only to turn pale.

The Huntsman, who had only ever shown cold expressions, was sweating and giving a subtle smile.

People act opposite to their usual behavior when they sense danger.

Aghartha remembered that the Huntsman had never smiled even once until now.

She realized she had made a grave mistake.

The sound of sand rolling was the first sign.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Clack…

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Feeling the vibrations growing stronger, the Huntsman released Aghartha from his arms and stepped back.

“Damn it, it’s coming!”

With the Huntsman’s shout, a tremendous roar erupted as the prison exploded.

Aghartha and the Huntsman instinctively dodged the debris, quickly realizing it was the work of an Outer God.

Along with it came a sensation like pressure on their heads.

Both the Huntsman and Aghartha felt it simultaneously.

“Kyaah!”

Aghartha screamed in surprise and wrapped her arms around herself, then tried to remove them when all the debris disappeared.

But she couldn’t.

Her body refused to look straight ahead.

Thinking she couldn’t respond to anything without looking forward, Aghartha forced her unmoving body to move and finally managed to look ahead.

“Ah, aah.”

Aghartha began shaking her head.

“No… no.”

The color drained from her face, and she now clutched her temples with both hands.

“No, no…”

Aghartha slowly pressed her forehead to the floor, then crossed her hands behind her head as if trying to hide her body as much as possible, bringing her legs together.

“Don’t watch me don’t look I hate it don’t monitor me I’m sorry don’t look

I was wrong don’t watch me please don’t look don’t monitor me don’t look”

Like a madwoman.

Like someone possessed.

Aghartha, reciting sentences without pause, suddenly began to catch her breath and slowly started to rise.

Along with this, something like powder began to fall from Aghartha’s body.

Though its form was indiscernible, the Huntsman immediately understood.

“…You had a protective charm hidden on your body. So that’s why you read that madman’s note without fear?”

“Haa, haa. I don’t know how you understand women’s hearts so well. I thought you were emotionless since you didn’t make a move in prison.”

Though trying to appear composed, Aghartha still looked strained.

“Really, without this, whew. I almost got into big trouble just now.”

The Huntsman knew that what Aghartha called “almost big trouble” was just a minor suggestion from the Watcher, and that the real trouble was still to come.

It is the form of a dog.

It is a being pretending to be a dog.

It is a wolf with eyes all over its body.

It is the Watcher.

As the suggestion seemed to take hold again, Aghartha and the Huntsman began to feel intense headaches, and an indescribable fear tried to dominate their minds.

Urging immediate suicide.

Urging immediate suicide.

Urging immediate suicide.

Urging immediate suicide.

Kill yourself.

Suicide.

Death.

This Outer God must be Saluki.