It Was an Alley

“Should I have gone too, after all?”

Cappuccino sat on the bed, shaking her legs.

She sent Amel alone into the Alley.

Until recently, she was clamoring to follow, even knowing she might die, but suddenly she became scared.

Was she always this fearful?

Yes… she always was.

She just hadn’t realized it.

Because she had adopted Amel’s self-awareness as her own, her fearfulness was her influence.

Not being afraid was also Amel’s influence.

The fear gnawing at her heart now was also her influence.

This time, as she accepted Full Dive as reality, the reaction of the real Amel inevitably emerged.

Amel was originally a coward.

She may not seem like it now,

But originally, she was born with a fearful personality.

Cappuccino knew better than anyone how Amel had fought during her Unawakened Hunter days.

Others were amazed at her lack of fear, but the truth was she was scared to death more than once… no, every time.

Thanks to the safety of not dying in the game, she was now rampaging like crazy,

But it wasn’t the same in reality.

One Coin.

One life.

How could she not be afraid?

Dying is scary.

A contradiction of loving the thrill of fighting while being a coward.

That’s why, before becoming an Unawakened Hunter, she was just an ordinary person. And she thought she would live that way.

But a life without thrills is boring.

Amel believes life should be fun.

So she was always looking for hobbies, mainly games, but she couldn’t find anything enjoyable until she encountered Full Dive.

It was praised as being just like reality.

It was praised as moving like reality.

Overwhelmingly positive.

Evaluations based solely on gameplay and freedom, not on the story.

After seeing the reviews and critiques etched into the game, Amel fell ill.

She always thought of Full Dive.

She always thought of Full Dive.

She tried to give up, saying it was a game only the Awakened could play,

But she couldn’t.

She couldn’t do that.

From a third-person perspective, it was almost like she was suffering from lovesickness.

If she could play Full Dive, she was willing to risk getting hurt, and if she could live immersed in Full Dive, she was even prepared to sacrifice some of her reality.

A coward overcame her fear to obtain it.

If that’s not Love, what is it?

Amel had fallen in Love.

With the game called Full Dive.

‘Haha.’

Realizing this in such a way, Cappuccino, who was no different from her replica, couldn’t help but feel somewhat absurd.

Anyway.

Why am I thinking about this?

She could guess the reason.

It was because her current state was similar to Amel’s at that time.

Before falling in Love,

Before knowing Full Dive,

Amel at that time.

The Amel who was so scared that she almost buried her talent as an ordinary person.

I’m scared.

I’m afraid I’ll die.

Cappuccino, who had unknowingly viewed Full Dive as a game under Amel’s influence, no longer exists.

Full Dive was Cappuccino’s reality, and Full Dive, viewed as reality, was a very frightening world for Cappuccino.

I’m scared.

I’m afraid.

What if I die?

But,

‘Are you okay with that?’

She asked herself, having experienced the experiences Amel had shared.

What value would there be in a life where you just avoid things out of fear?

I know, but I’m scared.

Why do something scary?

Unlike Amel, she hadn’t fallen in Love with Full Dive, and Cappuccino thought this world was the reality Amel was so afraid of.

The world called reality is a cruel monster that even SS-class Hunters can’t handle.

I’m scared.

What should I do?

What else can you do?

Get a grip.

Amel’s experience whispered.

Amel’s specialty of deceiving herself with self-hypnosis had been persuading Cappuccino.

‘This time, the opponent uses Dreams.’

Dream Demon.

An Alley mixed with Dreams.

This time, the opponent fought on a stage mixed with Dreams for the first time in a while, and she was the type to show her true worth on such a stage.

If not now, when will I be active and when will I grow?

If she, who is not the Hero, wants to grow, she can’t sit here.

“….”

Cappuccino knows that very well.

Having already shared Amel’s experience of going through the same process, Cappuccino quickly changed herself.

“….”

She looks back at the Succubus.

Amel’s memories.

The faces she saw there.

One is the Succubus Queen.

One is the Succubus Swordsman.

Both were asleep now.

They didn’t faint.

Amel thinks they fainted, but Cappuccino knows.

Cappuccino, a type of Dream Demon, knows how to distinguish between fainting and sleeping, and strangely, these two are having Dreams with the same texture.

It suddenly came to her mind.

Dream World.

A place where Dreams meet Dreams.

Nanos and Lilietta were trapped in the same Dream world and couldn’t get out on their own.

She can invade the world of Dreams through these two, but where does it lead?

It could be right in the middle of enemy territory.

But that monster.

That tentacle.

If that comes out…

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

“It’s Chris. Can I come in?”

Chris.

Cappuccino’s ears perked up.

“Come in… you can come in.”

“Excuse me.”

Chris and Hongyeom entered the room and were slightly surprised to see the sleeping Succubus.

She told them it was okay to leave them alone and went straight to the point.

“Amel called you?”

“Yes.”

“I heard you’re being bothered by the Death Knight.”

“Other Clans besides our Clan are helping with the Death Knight, so we came to help here.”

Chris and Hongyeom.

As much as their Awakened Ability’s firepower is strong, they had to reduce their Strength to avoid harming those around them.

They show their true worth in the giant tentacle more than in raid monsters with small targets like the Death Knight.

She knew why they were excluded from the Death Knight subjugation, but then why here?

She immediately knew the reason.

“You’re thinking of having me guide you?”

“Yes. She said she didn’t know where to go, so she told us to ask Cappuccino?.”

“You can drop the ‘ssi’. No, just drop the formalities since I’m younger.”

“Should I?”

She looked at the Succubus.

They won’t be able to get out of the Dream World easily, but still,

“Caramel.”

“Have a safe trip. I’ll take care of these two while you’re gone.”

Caramel rested her chin on the desk and waved her hand, telling her to have a safe trip.

Cappuccino glanced at Chris.

“Am I fascinating to you?”

“Well… yeah.”

She’s fascinating in a way.

She shared Amel’s memories and experiences, so she also shared her intimacy with Chris.

But Chris is seeing her for the first time, so she can’t help but be fascinated.

She asked Chris, who knew nothing about her, out of curiosity. Mainly innocent questions that Amel wouldn’t be able to ask.

Cappuccino knows that her current appearance is seen as a child.

Because Chris doesn’t see her as a Monster, she hasn’t noticed the [Dream Frog] and can’t bring up the information window.

They exchanged answers.

She was still fascinated.

“I see. Dahyun was obsessed with Full Dive because he wanted to play games with his sister? Because it’s hard for him to even move his body in reality.”

“Uh… is that how it sounds?”

She doesn’t know how it’s misinterpreted that way.

If she was with Amel, she would have heard about reality, and when she asked what kind of person she was in reality, she explained based on the Geass she had chosen at first.

That he was Frail.

That he had no friends.

That he was stressed about it, so he was rampaging in the game.

That’s how such a misunderstanding arose.

“Hmm…”

Hongyeom shivers.

Her complexion is not good, as if she recalled bad memories from the words “rampage in the game.”

Cappuccino, who was looking at Hongyeom, was the same.

Even though Amel, who considers it a game, doesn’t know, the experience in the Duel Arena was a moment of hell for Cappuccino, who considers it reality.

Hongyeom asked.

“But you’re a local, right?”

“…Yes.”

Hongyeom’s mouth becomes sly.

The corners of her mouth curled up roundly.

“You know you’re blessed. Amel and us. The people gathered around you have a very high chance of saving the world. Hehe, you should know it’s an honor.”

“….”

The road to the Alley was not boring as Hongyeom joined the conversation.

Before she knew it, she arrived at the Alley.

Was it this short?

Anyway, before they even reached the entrance to the Alley, the twisted Alleyway appeared before them.

“The art style is different.”

Hongyeom touched the wall.

The color and pattern of the wall were completely different.

The physical shape also became wavy.

Alley Dungeon.

As she had heard, the Alley was becoming a Dungeon.

Cappuccino took the lead.

“It’s harmless, so you can just come in.”

After entering the Alley.

Cappuccino, who was leading the way, stopped and became stiff as if she had turned into a stone statue.

They didn’t ask why.

There was no need to ask.

Chris also froze like Cappuccino.

Hongyeom also entered the Dungeon and said.

“What is this? I thought this was an Alley Dungeon. That’s what I heard.”

Alley Dungeon.

Alley?

Dungeon?

As soon as they entered the Dungeon, a desolate plain spread out widely under the dark night sky.

A desolate wind blows.

Based on the entrance, a wide plain continued to the inside of the Dungeon.

Building debris was piled up on the outside, and the scenery inside and outside the entrance was 180 degrees different, as if drawing a line, with and without buildings.

This was a common pattern in Field-type Closed Dungeons and was the framework of the Dungeon.

The framework of the Dungeon was blocked by a transparent wall that could not be crossed.

They headed inside the Dungeon.

They walked for about 10 minutes,

And something began to appear at the end.

As they got closer, they could see what shape it was.

She realized that this was what Amel was talking about.

Tentacle.

Giant tentacle.

The giant tentacle was lying limp in the middle of the desolate plain.

Its size was so huge that her sense of distance seemed to be distorted.

It wasn’t until they walked much further that they came to a distance where the information window was visible, but the thickness of the fallen body alone was higher than a 10-story apartment building.

With that lying sideways and stretched out, even the Great Wall of China was not as spectacular as this.

Chris pointed with her fingertip.

She asked Cappuccino.

“You’re saying Amel caught this?”

“….”

“Amel alone?”

“….”

The information window was floating.

[A Strand of the Dreaming Great Devil]

Green letters.

Green letters meant that it was almost the same level as her, who was level 81.

She defeated it solo.

At level 34, the output of her Awakened Ability would be only D-class, but it was amazing.

Judging by the power and range that erased the Alley, it was almost equal to Hongyeom’s maximum strike.

Hongyeom Hong Joo-ah said.

“It looks like she used a nuke.”

“…A nuke?”

It was the conclusion that Hong Joo-ah had examined, and she spat it out with a dumbfounded laugh.

“That sister, she’s really crazy.”

She did nuclear fusion in the Duel Arena,

Now she’s even doing nuclear explosions.

She can’t help but be dumbfounded.

The Ancient Nightmare Lord summoned the nuclear bomb, but the three people who had such a strong impression of the Duel Arena were convinced that Amel had detonated the nuke.