episode_0681

The city, after the evacuation of its citizens, was as calm as a lake without a single breeze.

Maybe it was because I had been living a life where I heard cheers wherever I went, but I felt comfortable with this silence.

After everything is over, I think it wouldn’t be bad to live in this kind of silence.

“Do you think that’s possible?”

I was planning a leisurely country life when Arthur came in without notice.

“After you save the world, you will be treated as a god. People will look for you everywhere.”

Can you stop forcing reality into your fantasy? It’s okay to imagine something a little happier.

“The problem is that Lucy’s face is so widely visible that it’s hard to hide in a quiet place. You won’t be able to avoid attention unless you go deep into the mountains.”

“Rather, hiding tightly may increase Young-ae’s mysteriousness and make people persistent.”

“Even if you spread bad reviews, no one will listen to you seriously.”

I had a fleeting fantasy, so can you please not completely destroy it?

Are you feeling depressed because reality is so hopeless?

I felt like my mentality was going to be shattered before I even entered the dungeon!

“Don’t worry, Lucy. I’ll take care of it all.”

I ignored Frey’s words and headed forward, feeling a sense of divinity in the center of the city.

It’s a common aura among church people. A Paladin of the Pope?

“Get your weapons. You idiots.”

Walk down the street with your divinity lifted up.

In a city where people had only recently left, traces of people still remained.

The faint smell of food. The windowsill that was only cleaned where people touched it. The door that couldn’t be closed because I was in a hurry to leave. Teacups visible through the door that moved with the wind.

The city still had its routine.

And while the remnants of everyday life remain, people will return.

The reason I came here is to protect their daily lives.

As I moved forward, adding strength to the hand holding the shield, I saw knights lined up in front of the dungeon’s door.

When they saw us, the enemy, instead of drawing their weapons, they greeted us politely.

“Welcome, Apostles of the Lord and their companions. We have been waiting for you.”

“You were waiting for me in a damp, empty place? Wow. What kind of perverted thing are you trying to do? Tell me what you’re fantasizing about? I’ll laugh at you. Okay?”

“This is a trial that His Majesty has given you. I hope you have a great time inside.”

As the lead knight stepped aside, the other knights also stepped aside and lined up in front of the door leading into the dungeon.

Their welcoming attitude towards the VIPs felt like welcoming sinners heading to hell.

“Should I call you?”

I silenced Frey’s mouth by pressing his head, which had become dangerous in a different sense than before, and followed the knights’ guidance into the dungeon.

If I remember correctly, this dungeon had a mirror-related concept.

Since it has a strong puzzle feel overall, it is possible to clear it quickly if you know the strategy.

When I was on the other side of the monitor, I could finish it off in seconds by using glitches, but in this situation where I’m with my friends, I can’t do anything outrageous like break through walls, so let’s go with the standard strategy.

There’s no reason to move in a hurry, you know.

The moment you step into a mirror while drawing a map in your head, the surrounding scenery changes.

The place looked like some poor country.

People were sitting all over the streets, their bones exposed, children crying from hunger could be heard from inside the houses, and corpses were strewn about the streets, but no one thought to clean them up.

It’s not that I can’t feel sadness.

It’s not because it’s inhumane.

I just don’t have the strength to shed tears or the energy to mourn for others.

“…This is a place I’ve been before.”

As she stared blankly at the extremely realistic and therefore desperate sight, Faby opened her mouth.

Her voice, which seemed indifferent yet slightly trembling, told the saint that this sight was terrible.

“It was a place that suffered from starvation due to a long drought. Because of the war in the home country, it took a long time for support to arrive, and by the time I arrived, the worst situation had already occurred.”

“Is this one of the saint’s nightmares?”

“Yes. It is an unforgettable sight.”

Close your eyes and erase the sight you just saw.

And then I think about the variables that occurred in this dungeon.

This gimmick didn’t exist in the original dungeon.

In each room, there were only headache-inducing puzzles. There was no way to stimulate the player’s mind.

It has changed.

why?

“Lucy.”

“Don’t whine and wait. You should be more patient than a dog.”

After hypnotizing myself that the surrounding scenery was just scenery, I opened my eyes again.

After all, this is just a room in a dungeon. There must be some kind of strategy to clear it, and the Pope must have had a clear intention in creating this room.

therefore.

The discomfort I see now must be correct.

I raised my mace and tried to hit the person sitting next to me, but stopped midway.

The man, so starved that he couldn’t even move, didn’t even react when he saw the mace reaching right in front of his nose.

I know. I know this guy is lying because I have two skills: identifying weaknesses and having a sense of aesthetics.

The fact that you’ll probably have to defeat all the enemies that feel fake to get out of this room.

Even though I knew all this, I couldn’t bring myself to attack the person who looked up at me with those innocent eyes.

Even if I attack this man, what happens next?

Is it really right to leave this room after killing the woman over there and smashing the crying child?

And then what?

When Faby’s nightmare ends, will someone else’s nightmare begin?

Do I have to mace someone again?

Someone from Joy’s nightmare. Someone from Frey’s nightmare. Someone from Arthur’s nightmare. After knocking them down and knocking them down again and again, and even attacking the young and innocent Lucy, will he be able to escape from this place?

Is it really possible to get out of this in the first place? Is that really the right answer?

“Lucy. There’s something strange here and there. Should I call you?”

I suppressed the urge to burst out of my stomach as I engrave in my mind the sight of everyone’s necks falling off at Frey’s words.

“You think I didn’t notice that? Just wait, you idiot.”

“Okay. Okay.”

As I continued to ponder, I put away the mace and wiped my face.

Let’s change the plan.

There is no point in blindly continuing to attack unless you can figure out what your opponent’s intentions are.

I’m going to break down before I find the answer, so I’m giving up the normal way.

Even if a variable is created by the Pope, this place is a dungeon made of mirrors.

If the foundation is the same, glitches will work too.

“Follow me.”

Even though I didn’t give any other explanation, my friends followed me without any questions.

“Are you thinking of using some other outrageous method again?”

“Isn’t it nice that it’s Lucy?”

“There is no need to confront the other person head-on just because they are Young-ae when they are acting in a mean way.”

“I hope it’s fun.”

As I watched my friends figure it out on their own, I realized that I had been doing ridiculous things all along.

But this time it’s even more surprising. It’s more ridiculous than anything I’ve done before.

“Huh? There’s something strange up ahead.”

“White land?”

The world inside the mirror is certainly vast, but it is not infinite like the world inside the power of the end.

After all, this world is just one of the countless rooms in a dungeon. There is a limit to the resources that can be granted.

So, if you just keep running and running, you will soon reach the end of the room.

“Stop here.”

I stopped at the border between the twisted earth and the white-tinted land and placed my hand on the transparent wall.

This is a place that you can’t normally pass through, but if you look carefully, there is a place you can climb up.

…No. Do I really need to find a subtle crack in the wall to climb up now?

If I just jumped up, I think I could easily reach the end?

As soon as the thought occurred to me, I added strength to my legs and jumped with all my might, hitting my head on the invisible ceiling and falling straight down.

“Hey, Young-ae! Are you okay!?”

“…Phew.”

“Soop. Lou. Lucy. Are you okay. Phew. Are you okay?”

“Khuhhh! Lucy is such an idiot!”

Jeeenjang! Why is the ceiling so low!?

When I was climbing up from beyond the monitor, I thought my fingers would break from pressing the space bar, but it was actually this low?!

That’s ridiculous!

I jumped up again, feeling my cheeks slightly hot, and reached the end of the wall without difficulty.

This space remains slightly between the ceiling and the wall.

What if I just sneak over here?

Voila. You can enter places that even dungeon raiders know but can’t get past!

After confirming that my friends had followed me and climbed over the wall, I looked around and grabbed Frey by the scruff of his neck as he tried to jump forward.

Frey’s feet, which had been moving forward without even realizing that they were in the air, were floating in the air.

“Don’t say anything and just follow me. If you want to enjoy falling down endlessly, I won’t stop you.”

After warning her again to just follow my footsteps, the moment she was about to take a step forward, Joy, unable to hold back her doubts, quietly opened her mouth.

“Lucy, I have one question. If I go all the way here, what will I find?”

“A really sloppy boss.”

“…Huh?”

“A sloppy, trashy boss with no self-esteem who only knows how to imitate others appears. Well. Don’t worry too much about it. I’ll destroy that sloppy guy before he can even mutter.”

That’s what a glitch run is like.