Pechi – 3

“Ack!”

Pechi’s body, which had floated high into the air and flown for a long time, crashed into the ruins wall. Although they instinctively screamed at first, it didn’t hurt at all.

Pechi, steadying their trembling body, barely lifted their head. A blue-haired woman, holding blue-glowing daggers in both hands, was walking steadily towards them, silhouetted against the light.

‘I can’t win. I absolutely cannot win.’

They had a hunch a long time ago. That they would absolutely never, under any circumstances, be able to defeat that woman.

If you want to scam people, you need to know your place. If you act beyond your station, you’re bound to get caught. It was one of Pechi’s iron rules.

But now, it wasn’t just a matter of getting caught; it was like their entire lower body had been ripped off. They had really messed with the wrong person. It was a situation that couldn’t possibly be smoothed over.

‘……I should have realized it sooner.’

Regret was overwhelming. When that black-haired man called their real name, instead of just brushing it off, they should have run away without looking back.

But it was already too late. To try and make a deal now, saying “I’ll get the man out, so spare me,” they simply didn’t have the courage to do it.

If he was still alive, they could just pull the lever and get him out, but what if he was dead? Seeing the corpse of the man that woman even called ‘my man,’ they didn’t even want to imagine what her reaction would be.

“Here, take it.”

The woman threw something. Something slightly round rolled over. It was a potion bottle containing red liquid, and it was also the potion that black-haired man had bought from Pechi.

Pechi’s face turned pale upon seeing it.

‘I’m, I’m full…….’

It wasn’t anything else; it was because they were full.

From the start, that woman was controlling her strength incredibly well. Even though Pechi was beaten so much, not a single bone was broken, nor was there even a bruise. Yet, she kept throwing potions at them diligently.

When there are wounds, potions are absorbed immediately. So no matter how much you drink, you don’t get full, but if there are no wounds on your body, it’s just like drinking water.

The only wounds on their body were a few scratches, but they kept chugging potions, so they were practically dying in a different sense. This was already the seventh bottle.

“Ugh, ugh. Gulp……”

“Right, right. You’re eating well. The faster you drink it, the faster you’ll recover.”

Of course, that was a secondary problem. Pechi, suppressing their retching, diligently gulped down the potion. They ignored the sloshing sensation in their stomach, which was full of liquid.

If they endured without drinking it like this, they didn’t know what that woman would do. The difference in skill and power was so overwhelming that the option of resisting was not even a dream.

“Well done. Now, get up. Your body has fully recovered, hasn’t it?”

“…….”

The blue-haired woman smiled, indicating approval, and flicked the tip of her dagger. It was a voice urging them to stand up, but they didn’t want to stand up. If they did, they’d have to drink another potion.

Pechi, lying flat on the ground, barely lifted their head to gauge the woman’s mood. The woman, seeing that, tilted her head.

“Huh? Why aren’t you attacking? Didn’t you say you’d kill me?”

They had heard that phrase so many times now that they couldn’t even remember. Every time Pechi hesitated to attack like this, the woman kept repeating, “Didn’t you try to kill me?”

“If you don’t come, I’ll come to you?”

The woman took a step first. A ‘thud’ of footsteps echoed.

Pechi’s body flinched. They absolutely hated the thought of fighting any more like this. A fight they were clearly going to lose, a fight where they would clearly have to unilaterally chug potions-why would they fight such a battle?

So, Pechi decided to do what they were best at, next to scamming.

“I am sorry!”

It was begging for forgiveness.

“Huh?”

Perhaps it was a very unexpected action, the woman stopped.

“For attacking without knowing my place, I am truly sorry! Please forgive me!”

Pechi, thinking this was their chance, knelt on the floor, hunched their body tightly, pressed their forehead flat against the ground, brought both arms together near their head, and bowed their head as vigorously as possible.

Normally, they would make the opponent drop their guard like this and then launch a surprise attack. But now, they didn’t even think of doing that. The gap between the two was too great to entertain such useless thoughts.

And they were too full.

“What’s wrong? Anyone would think I’m trying to kill you.”

The words, “I feel like I’m going to die from being full,” rose to their throat. Pechi swallowed the words. Saying something like that here would just be asking for trouble. They weren’t foolish enough to do that.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’m absolutely not going to kill you.”

“…….”

“Well, Delta asked me to. Not to treat you too harshly, and to keep your life intact.”

‘Not a request to make me explode from potions and die?’

Recalling such thoughts, Pechi barely managed to suppress the retching that kept rising due to their posture.

“Well, you don’t have to worry too much. Even being trapped in there was all Delta’s intended action.”

Intended action? At that absurd statement, they unconsciously lifted their head.

It was only after their eyes met that they realized their mistake, but the woman’s face was calm. At least, she didn’t seem to be lying.

“And, it’s probably more fortunate for you that he was trapped intentionally, you know?”

The tip of the dagger pointed at Pechi. They instinctively buried their head again. Above Pechi’s head, the woman’s voice was heard.

“If you really pulled a scam like that on my man, there are quite a few people who would come to beat you up besides me. You might even have to stand in line.”

Even though her face wasn’t visible, her voice made it seem like they knew what expression she was making, and Pechi’s body trembled.

‘Well, nothing’s different.’

As I swung the Wingless Nightmare, I looked at the secret passage revealed behind the largest treasure chest, and nodded.

In the game, it was an illusionary wall that simply disappeared like a hologram, so I wondered how it would be here, but perhaps because it was an illusionary wall, it was exactly the same as in the game.

‘I should tell Rije to catch those things once I get out of here. No, if it’s a one-against-many fight, would Nyx be better?’

I glanced at the treasure chests left behind. The chests lined up in rows of six on both sides, and the chest much larger than the others, were still untouched.

Of course, all 13 of them were mimics.

After being scammed by Pechi and paying a million gold, the behavior pattern of users trapped here was usually like this:

First, they’d open the largest treasure chest or a chest without bloodstains, and get chewed up and killed by a mimic.

After resurrecting and returning, thinking they were just unlucky, they’d choose another chest and open it, only to get chewed up and killed by a mimic again.

When they resurrected and returned again, they’d start getting angry, so they’d try hitting the chest once before touching it.

Then, as if they had been waiting, all 13 mimics would awaken simultaneously, the iron bars would descend, and they’d be trapped here and ganged up on by the mimics, dying.

It was only after going through this series of processes that they would finally realize all the treasure chests here were mimics. It was truly a viciously designed trap.

‘I definitely have to avoid getting ganged up on.’

Mimics are just a bit grotesque in appearance, but defeating them is easy enough. However, when that number increased to 13, the story changed quite a bit.

If it were an open field, it might be different, but fighting 1 vs 13 against mimics in a cramped space where a few rolls would take you from one end of the room to the other, was something even I couldn’t handle.

I walked through the secret passage without even glancing at the mimics.

The passage was very short. I hadn’t even walked a few steps when a square room appeared. It was a room about twice my height in width and length.

In its center, there was a treasure chest that looked slightly different from the ones outside. I passed this chest without even a glance.

That’s also a mimic.

I swung the Wingless Nightmare at the wall opposite the passage. Then, the illusionary wall disappeared, revealing another secret room behind it. It was also a square room about twice my height in width and length.

And it was the same in that a magnificent treasure chest was placed in its center. I passed this chest in the same way.

That’s also another mimic.

I swung my sword at the wall opposite the passage once more. Again, a secret room hidden beyond the illusionary wall appeared, and again, a magnificent treasure chest placed in its center was visible.

That chest is also a mimic.

‘Crazy developers, those bastards.’

A mimic within an illusionary wall, within an illusionary wall, within an illusionary wall. It’s truly a structure that drives people crazy. In this cramped space, there were no less than 16 mimics.

Furthermore, if even one of these 16 mimics woke up, the rest would all wake up together, making the method of waking and defeating them one by one almost impossible.

Anyone could see that it was intended to use Pechi as a scapegoat and screw over the users. Otherwise, there was no explanation for creating such a vicious structure.

‘And there are still two left.’

I passed the final mimic, and this time, instead of the wall directly opposite the entrance, I stood in front of the wall on the right. And I struck the wall exactly five times.

Users might try hitting the wall, wondering if there’s another illusionary wall, but it’s a design that mocks users who only hit it once or twice, right up until the end.

There were more than a few users who clutched the back of their necks upon learning this fact later. That’s because the document giving hints about the illusionary walls in these ruins could only be obtained in the game’s final part field.

-Kugugugung!

As I struck the wall five times, this time, the wall itself lifted upwards, revealing another secret passage.

In the middle of the passage, there was a treasure chest that looked exactly like the one in the first room I entered. It was the only genuine treasure chest in these ruins, and also the final trap prepared by the developers.

This thing, no matter what weapon you hit it with, would break with just one hit. It would even shatter if struck with a broken straight sword whose displayed damage was a single digit.

‘No, how could you not check here?’

For a player who had broken through 16 consecutive mimics, it was natural to immediately suspect if it was a mimic as soon as they saw the chest.

So, if they just swung wildly to check if it was a mimic? The chest would shatter completely, leaving the player dumbfounded.

The level design of this million-gold entry ticket quest seemed to account for at least 30% of the hatred towards Pechi.

‘Filthy bastards.’

Cursing the developers inwardly, I opened the chest. Inside, there was a bottle lavishly decorated with gold and pure silver.

When drunk, it cures all status ailments, and at the same time grants status immunity for a certain period, fully restores HP, Mana, and Faith, and likewise, is a consumable that tremendously increases stamina regeneration speed for a certain period.

It was the ‘Grace of the Sun’.

There’s also a sister product, ‘Grace of the Moon.’ Its effects are perfectly identical to the Grace of the Sun. Perhaps because its effects are monstrously powerful at first glance, it was also a consumable that could only be obtained once per playthrough.

I’m not sure why items related to the sun and moon are in these ruins instead of in the Holy Kingdom, but…

‘I should use this myself.’

I put the Grace of the Sun into the inner pocket of my uniform. The other options aren’t particularly meaningful right now, but there’s one boss fight where status immunity will be extremely useful.

I moved my steps further into the passage. If this were a game, there might be a way to just commit suicide and resurrect at a statue, but since that’s not possible now, I had to clear the dungeon to get out.

Actually, I could ask Rije to open the iron bars, but since I’ve come this far, I planned to defeat the dungeon boss before leaving. There’s nothing bad about defeating him, for one.

More than anything, there’s a route here that allows you to skip the entire intermediate process, so it didn’t take much time. It’s a route that hasn’t been patched even in Dark Souls mode.

The reason is that it’s a trick only veterans can pull off. If you blindly rush in just because you heard you can skip the entire intermediate process, you’ll just see Miss You Died dozens of times.

‘I wonder if it’ll take about 30 minutes.’

Or perhaps even less.