Chapter 42

“Ah…….”

Annette collapsed to the floor on her knees as if drained of strength.

“Cough, to the very end, acting all high and mighty………… You really………….”

Camian bit his lip hard and clasped his forehead.

Both of them seemed to be in great shock.

Regardless of personal liking or friendship, this was a senior who had shared life and death with them twice, albeit for a short period.

The shock of losing such a senior right before their eyes was inevitable.

“Tsck, all sorts of crazies are coming in.”

On the other hand, Gwenn seemed to be in a bad mood.

It was because his expectations had been thwarted.

Most of the guys who doubted they couldn’t get out usually turned pale and started trembling in despair with a horrified expression when they were shown a grand execution show with monsters.

The rest would just beg for their lives in terror if they even saw an attempt to force them into the elevator.

There were even special cases where some would go completely mad if put into the elevator, but those were simply sent up and neatly killed off.

Then the rest who survived would become docile sheep and follow orders, so it wasn’t a bad thing.

But what about that guy?

He crawled into the elevator on his own volition and even had the audacity to say, “Enjoy rotting in there,”

before trying to go up by himself.

This was truly the first time he had come across such an insane person.

So he impulsively activated the device before the suicide could take place.

If you only looked at the results, it was a satisfying end to a crazy man.

But it wasn’t as satisfying as usual.

That guy’s expression.

It was because he had seen a face blatantly filled with scorn.

A greenhorn, a newcomer, dares to do this to me, who has survived for decades in this hellish place!

Gwenn barely managed to suppress his renewed frustration.

It was all over, after all.

The guy was dead.

That was a confirmed fact.

“It’s coming down.”

“Che, I’ll feel better after seeing that crazy bastard’s dead face.”

“It’d be perfect to throw his severed head for fighting the undead as a projectile once.”

The residents started making remarks as they watched the elevator descend with the new arrivals.

It seemed nobody was in a good mood on an important day because of the strange lunatic who had entered.

“Alright, open it! Open it and show them clearly what happens to those who didn’t believe us.”

Gwenn shouted with more force than usual.

It was to regain control of the unsettled mood and boost morale.

“Understood, Captain.”

A resident approached to swing open the doors of the elevator.

At that moment.

Thud!

The door opened from the inside.

And something sprang out.

“Huh, huhhhhhhhhh!”

The resident screamed in surprise, falling backwards with shock at the completely unexpected event.

“Uh, ughhhh!”

“Hiiiiiiiiiiik?!”

“Huh, huk….?! Gh, gh, gh, gh, gh, ghost?!”

The other residents who saw that something a moment too late screamed as if their souls had been shaken out.

Their legs gave out as if they might collapse backwards, trembling uncontrollably.

“Hiiiiik…………..?!”

Even the stern leader, Gwenn, let out an involuntary shriek.

But even in the midst of it all, he tried to hold onto his sanity and shouted with a trembling voice.

“What, what, what is it! Are, are you a ghost?”

The crazy guy he had himself sent to the other side.

The crazy guy had come back down.

With his head intact.

It was an absolutely impossible event.

He bit his lip so hard he thought he might see blood, but only clear pain came through.

Sweat trickled down Gwenn’s forehead.

Nervous saliva kept swallowing down his throat.

His legs trembled, but he forced himself to stand firm.

He wouldn’t have been this tense in front of an undead or a horde of monsters.

It showed just how shocked he was.

Then.

Thump thump thump thump thump!

The bizarre creature (?) that had been standing there began to run crazily towards Gwenn.

The dead eyes, with no clear focus or emotion, were even more chilling.

“Uh, uhhhhhhhh!”

Gwenn, who had barely held onto his sanity, started to retreat in a panic with a pale face.

And then, eventually.

Thump!

He fell to the floor in an unsightly heap, as if his legs had given out.

The bizarre creature approached him closely.

Now, its neck was twisted in a strange way, and its tongue was sticking out.

“Uh, ugh…… ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Pure terror appeared on Gwenn’s face.

His heart raced as if it was about to burst.

At that moment.

“Waaaaaaah!”

The bizarre creature suddenly let out a loud scream right in front of Gwenn.

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiek!”

Gwenn, overwhelmed by a shock beyond his limits, finally lost his senses.

Gurgle……

Foam on his mouth, Gwenn’s eyes lost their strength.

Thump!

He fainted right there.

“Hic・・・・・・ Hic, hic………….”

“Hehehehehehe.

“There is no God…………… There is no God…… There is no God…… No…… there is…… there is… I’m sorry… I’m sorry………… I’m sorry…… I’ll believe…… I’ll believe. I’ll believe… I’ll believe…”

It wasn’t just Gwenn who was devastated.

No resident in the vicinity was in their right mind anymore.

Only the outsiders, Camian and Annette, were in a slightly better state amidst the shock.

“…Se, senior? Is it really you, senior? Are, are you alive?”

Annette asked tremblingly.

The answer to her question was short.

“Did I take the joke too far?”

It was indeed a strange atmosphere.

Nobody dared to start a conversation easily.

Gwenn and the residents were thoroughly embarrassed.

But even that embarrassment was nothing in front of the serious and significant event that had just occurred in front of them.

For the first time, a human from underground had gone up to the surface and returned alive!

An incredible event that could change the lives of the underground dwellers in an instant.

The weight of this unbelievable event silenced everyone.

Finally, as if tired of waiting, Max was the first to speak.

“It turns out I was right. Your words were lies. Why did you lie?”

Crunch,

“It’s not a lie, I tell you.”

Gwenn clenched his teeth.

He still wanted to die when he thought of the shameful act he had committed earlier.

It was the shame of a lifetime.

The cause was all because of that guy.

He deliberately approached like a madman, making grotesque faces on purpose, and then suddenly yelled out loud.

He wanted to smack that annoying face cleanly, but that wasn’t the point right now.

As far as he knew, for over 50 years, the exit of death, which had only spewed heads of living beings, had returned a human alive for the first time.

The residents faces were colored with unbearable anticipation and excitement.

But still, the fear was inherent.

The fear of the exit of death was not so light that it would disappear with just one incident.

“You still say it’s not a lie despite direct proof?”

Max cocked his head with disapproval.

“That’s right. What did you see there? What was there?”

Gwenn’s question.

All the residents’ eyes focused on Max’s mouth at that question.

It was the most curious answer for them.

All they could imagine outside was a place filled with images of monstrous reapers

“Nothing, just the outside. If I had to say, it felt like the middle of a forest.”

“Nothing? Absolutely nothing?”

Gwenn asked back, unbelieving.

“That’s what I said. What, you thought there’d be monsters? Could I have come back so unscathed if there were?”

Max answered calmly.

Gwenn stared intently into Max’s eyes, as if trying to detect any sign of lying.

But in the end, not finding any such tell, he relaxed his gaze.

However, he seemed not to have completely let go of his suspicion.

Perhaps that was only natural.

To the residents here, the notion that the exit was safe was as absurd as saying the sun wouldn’t rise tomorrow.

“Really? You’re really saying that?”

“Ha, people really can’t trust what they hear. How about this then?”

Max leaned back his head.

“Hey, Annette.”

“Yes?”

“You go up top for a bit.”

“Me… me? Me?”

Annette was flustered.

Camian intervened as if it was ridiculous.

“No, why are you sending Annette? Have you lost your mind?”

“It’s safe, I tell you.”

“How can you be so sure? How do you know it’s not just a fluke that the senior came back alive?”

“Oh, come on. Can’t you even trust what people say? What’s important is Annette’s own will.”

“Yes, yes.”

“In order to move forward from this deadlock, isn’t it necessary? How about you go and come back once?”

“No, no. Why keep asking…”

“Stay out of it if it’s not about you.”

Max cut off Camian’s words lightly and asked Annette again.

“How about it? Do you trust me?”

“I, I trust you.”

“Then I’m sorry to ask, but as I said, the situation is like this.”

“Ah, okay. If it helps…”

Annette nodded her head.

She had a personality that couldn’t easily refuse anyone’s request.

Moreover, it was even harder to refuse the request of a senior who had risked their life to save her in the dungeon.

She felt a debt of gratitude.

“Wait just a moment. If that’s the case, I’ll go too!”

Camian said hastily.

But Max firmly grabbed his arm.

“You just stay put. Do you want to leave me alone?”

“No, but this thing…”

“Annette, you go comfortably, and just in case, come down immediately.'”

Camian’s expression turned odd for a moment.

It was as if the word ‘immediately’ was emphasized strangely.

“Yes, yes.”

Annette took a deep breath as if she had made up her mind and entered the elevator.

“There’s a moving mechanism inside, too.”

Max explained kindly.

Annette blinked deeply and activated the device.

Click.

Vrrrr!

The elevator shot up in an instant.

The elevator growing distant

Gwen and the other residents watched the elevator with tense eyes.

One person could be a coincidence.

But not two.

It was impossible for two people to return alive from this deadly exit by mere chance.

Gulp.

Someone swallowed their anxious saliva.

That was the sentiment of all the residents.

Camian was also tense.

For a different reason,

One two three four five

Time seemed to pass much slower than usual.

After about 10 seconds,

Vrrrr!

The elevator came back down.

The residents’ hearts raced wildly.

Some were trembling with excitement.

Thud.

The elevator finally reached the basement.

But no one dared to open the door.

They just held their breath and watched.

“Come out.”

Max’s voice broke the tension.

“Ah, yes.”

Clank.

The door opened.

Annette walked out unharmed.

“Ph, phew…”

Camian sighed a sigh of relief, stroking his chest.

At that moment.

“Move, move aside!”

One of the residents, his eyes crazed with excitement, hurried into the elevator.

“Ah!”

He bumped into Annette but didn’t care and pushed through roughly.

“Hey, Hannes!”

Gwen frowned and shouted.

“Hehehehe! I’ll go first, boss! Goodbye to this rotten place!”

Clank.

Click.

Vrrrr!

The elevator quickly rose again.

“Next is me!”

“It’s my turn, you bastard!”

“Move back, you bastard!”

Residents, desperate to breathe the air above ground first, scuffled fiercely.

Gwen’s face twisted at the ugly scene.

“What are you all doing? What’s with that look? I understand you’re excited, but we’re comrades! Let’s go in an orderly fashion, starting with the oldest…………”

“Don’t bother, boss, it’s not like we’ll see each other again anyway.”

“Keke, exactly, there’s no point in seeing these faces and being reminded of this crazy place and feeling like vomiting.”

The residents openly ignored even Gwen, their leader.

It was as if they had seen enough.

In the meantime.

10 seconds passed and the elevator came down again.

The scuffle among the residents to get in first intensified.

Finally, one of the residents got into the elevator first.

“Hehe, I’m going too, you bastards. It was disgusting being with you, let’s never meet again.”

Thud.

The resident flung open the door.

And then

“……Huh?”

A head rolled out onto the floor.

Blood followed the motion, staining the ground red.

The head, with eyes wide open in agony.

It was…

Hannes.

“Heheheeeek?!”

Thump!

The resident who was about to get on the elevator fell backwards in horror.

The resident’s behind pressed down on the cut part of Hannes’s neck.

With that force, Hannes’s head popped up and fell among the residents.

Thump!

Not even a breath could be heard.

Perfect silence.

Everyone was frozen in shock.

But that cold silence was soon broken by someone’s words.

“Huh? Why did this person come back dead? Was it really not a lie?”

Max muttered to himself as if it were absurd.

Then he opened his mouth again.

“Wait, what? Can only we go out? You all can’t?”