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Chapter 9
“What a petty bunch! Are they seriously not going to give us even a moment to think? At least shouldn’t they start after the opposing side appears? Isn’t that basic courtesy?”
“I never thought I’d see a fool looking for courtesy in a dungeon.”
“Ruizel! You’re supposed to take my side!”
He stared at me with a slightly sulky expression, as if asking why he should have to do that.
“It’s simple. We just have to fight and win.”
“It’s not that simple. Look at that roulette wheel. Every single one of them looks insanely strong!”
The roulette wheel displayed pictures of the monsters we would have to fight. Just imagining what those horrifying creatures would be like if the pictures became reality was enough to make me shudder.
Leaving Ruizel to look bewildered, I argued with the System.
“You said I was the rightful successor. You said I was the final guardian! You threw around all these impressive-sounding words, and now you’re planning to kill us? Is this really what you call a greatly reduced difficulty?”
I wasn’t blindly arguing with the System, even though it might as well have been considered the god of this world.
The System had clearly said that it would adjust the difficulty, and considering what had happened on Floors 1 and 2, it was only logical to assume that there would be some hidden way to overcome Floor 3 as well.
I didn’t even know how many floors there were. We couldn’t afford to waste all our time and stamina here.
[The System feels extremely wronged.]
Wronged?
The System?
I might not have had much dungeon experience, but before my regression, I had searched for plenty of information through the network.
Even on anonymous forums where all sorts of information was posted, I had never seen the System react like this.
[The System advises you to make use of the key.]
Since I showed no response while thinking, the System even offered me a piece of advice.
I didn’t know why, but I could tell that the System was trying to help us.
“The key?”
There was only one thing I had that could be called a key.
My bound skill, which had been turned into an item.
Harmonia’s Necklace.
A message appeared above the necklace in response to my voice.
[The key to the hidden dungeon resonates with the rightful successor.]
[Would you like to use the key to the hidden dungeon?]
I glanced at Ruizel to ask my companion what he thought.
Apparently, this message wasn’t visible only to me, because Ruizel was staring at me with his lips slightly parted.
His blank expression made him look innocent for his age.
Heh heh. He must have been surprised by my wise solution after trying to charge straight into battle with nothing but brute force.
A key.
It was a positive word no matter how I looked at it.
I’d be an idiot not to use it.
I proudly puffed out my chest and nodded.
“Yes. I’ll use it.”
[The key will guide you along the optimal route.]
[You are moving to the final floor, Floor 99, ‘Doom.’]
Huh?
Th-The final floor was Floor 99?
If I hadn’t had the key, how was I supposed to make it all the way there?
I was dumbfounded by the number I had never imagined, while the ominous word sent a chill down the back of my neck.
Another black hole opened without warning.
That was the end.
No.
Was it the beginning?
“……”
I fell into the black hole.
No.
Darkness had surged forward and swallowed me whole.
I opened my eyes and looked around.
No.
I hadn’t opened my eyes.
Otherwise, there would have been no way to explain why everything around me was so dark.
By the way, Rui, Rui…
What was it again?
What had I been trying to remember?
I didn’t know.
It seemed like it had been something important…
But if I couldn’t remember it at all, perhaps it hadn’t actually been important.
“Ugh… uuuugh…”
A sound kept coming from somewhere.
It sounded like the sobbing of a miserable child, but it also sounded like the desperate scream of a soldier in the middle of a war.
“Argh! Hng… AAAAAARGH!”
At first, it seemed as though whoever it was had been gritting their teeth and trying to endure it.
But now there was no such restraint.
They screamed.
And screamed again.
Over and over.
As though screaming was the only way they could release what they were feeling, they continued without even remembering to breathe.
Eventually, their throat became completely hoarse, and they began making choking noises while scratching their ears so violently that the sound sent chills down my spine.
There had to be some tiny insect clinging to my ear.
It was gnawing at it, chewing away at the outer ear before slowly scratching inside.
Then something extremely sharp and hot suddenly stabbed deep into my eardrum.
“……!”
The choking scream grew louder again.
Crack.
The pain of bones breaking.
The smell of burning flesh.
The metallic scent of blood…
At first, I was still able to think about things like that.
But gradually, even those thoughts became fainter.
In the end, I forgot who I was.
I even forgot what I was feeling.
Over and over…
How long would I have to stay like this…?
I wanted it to end…
End?
End?
At that moment, my eyes suddenly snapped open.
What I saw was a light that looked as though it could crumble at any moment.
In the middle of an enormous darkness so densely condensed that it seemed almost solid, a faint light was shining.
With eyes that felt as though they were already dying, I read that light.
Again.
And again.
In the darkness that swept over me, that was all I could do.
My blurred vision gradually became clearer.
And just as I finally recognized the only thing emitting light, I heard a whisper.
“O chosen king.”
“O small and young king.”
“Even so, everything in this place…”
“exists for you, my king.”
“O weak and faint king…”
“Please…”
BEEEEEP!
The letters distorted amid an overwhelming burst of pain.
“……ni! ……!”
Thud.
Again.
Thud.
My chest swelled painfully, and even though I opened my mouth as wide as I could, I couldn’t breathe.
“……!”
Still, I…
Because I…
“Breathe!”
I…
“Don’t die in front of me!”
“……”
“Don’t die! Don’t die in front of me!”
“……Kgh! Cough!”
“You said you wouldn’t give up. Until the very end. You said with your own mouth that you wouldn’t give up until the very moment you reached death!”
A warm tear ran down from the corner of my eye, crossing my cheek.
My blurred vision cleared, and I could see a pair of wet eyes.
A dull, blade-like gray burned so fiercely that it seemed capable of scorching away all the moisture obstructing my vision.
The overwhelming intensity sent a slight chill through me.
Why was I the king?
If it were something that could be changed, then I would rather have it be you…
“Harmonia Ju Elorang!”
I know.
I know.
But I hadn’t chosen this.
I couldn’t help it.
Because that was my name.
Because everyone called me a king.
I was actually…
“Don’t die like that in front of me… Please. Please, stop…”
The child whispered with eyes wide open, his voice weaker than anyone’s.
He wasn’t crying.
And yet, he was crying.
The strength in the hand that had been choking my own neck suddenly disappeared.
“I-I’m not dying, cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!”
What?
What was going on?
Why was my throat like this?
My throat must have swollen terribly, because I couldn’t speak properly, and I kept coughing without stopping like someone with severe lung disease.
“A-Are you okay?”
Perhaps my violent coughing had startled him, because Ruizel awkwardly climbed off me.
“Haa… I… cough! I almost… died from coughing… cough!”
My throat hurt, and my wrists felt numb.
Judging by the situation, I seemed to have been choking myself, while my wrists had probably been grabbed by Ruizel when he tried to stop me.
“I’m sorry. Cough! You must’ve been surprised, right? I’m fine now. Cough! I’ve come to my senses.”
Even while continuing to cough, I patted my chest repeatedly to show him that I was okay.
There were only two people here: me and him.
Then, all of a sudden, I had rolled my eyes back and started choking myself.
How frightened must the kid have been?
If he had been an ordinary child, he would probably have had a fit from sheer terror.
“……Not really.”
I had seen him on the verge of tears, so pretending to be aloof now wasn’t going to fool me.
That guy.
He had been pretending otherwise, but it seemed like he had grown quite fond of me.
“Are you okay?”
“I was simply transported here.”
Apparently, I had been the only one trapped in that darkness.
Compared to me, whose face was a complete mess from tears and mucus and whose fingernails were caked with dried blood, he looked perfectly fine.
Since I was the one who had used the key, perhaps I was the only one who had to pay the price.
I also felt as though I had spent an incredibly long time trapped in that place, but judging by Ruizel’s reaction, only a short amount of time must have passed in reality.
“Thank goodness.”
I was genuinely relieved.
I had no idea how I could explain what I had seen, and now that I had awakened, even the memories were already becoming hazy.
But the terrible feeling remained.
It was not something a mentally immature child should ever have had to experience.
“Wipe yourself.”
He said it as though he were about to throw the handkerchief at me, but the hand holding it out was warm.
Tremble.
Tremble, tremble.
Tremble, tremble, tremble…
My hand was shaking so badly that anyone would have thought something was seriously wrong with me.
I couldn’t take the handkerchief and instead hid my hand behind my back.
“Huh? Why is it doing this?”
It’s okay.
Calm down.
I’m fine.
Are you really going to make the kid worry?
As I awkwardly smiled, he glanced at me before gently wiping my face with careful hands.
“What happened to you?”
He asked with a serious expression.
“I think I was hit by some kind of mental-type skill. Something like fear or a nightmare. I’m fine now.”
An earthquake…?
My body was still trembling violently.
My startled eyes trembled as well, unable to focus.
As I simply rolled my eyes around helplessly, he suddenly pulled me into his arms.
“……Wha!”
It was a method I had never expected at all, so I let out a strange cry.
“You… You’re really Ruizel, right?”
At my words, his shoulders trembled as though he had been overcome with emotion.
But perhaps he felt sorry for me, since I was limp and pathetic, like a newborn fawn barely able to stand.
He quietly patted my back.
“I saw my mother do this when my younger sibling cried.”
Oh my goodness.
Ruizel’s mother, I’m sorry.
I had been suspicious of Ruizel’s upbringing all this time, but his mother was actually a wonderful woman.
Perhaps his bent posture was uncomfortable, because he simply picked me up while still holding me in his arms.
