Chapter 27

The reason why such an extreme event suddenly occurred to me, who was thinking about what to do next with my fundamental colleagues, is as follows:

I fell asleep as soon as I returned to the branch, and that day, my body felt unusually light, as if something good was going to happen.

Well, the biggest worry about Agartha had been resolved in an absurd way, and now I had a clear direction of what to do, so there was no need for my head to hurt.

Today, there were no particular instructions, so I was just resting in my room when I heard someone knocking on the door.

Has the time finally come?

"Yes, who is it?"

"It's Muyeon, Mr. Tanton."

I got up quickly and walked to the door, and when I opened it, Muyeon was already standing there in full armor.

Maybe because I suddenly opened the door, Muyeon looked surprised, her hair flipping.

"Yes, what's the matter?"

"Ah, ah! Um, it's time for you to go to the armory now..."

This is where the important part begins.

Depending on what weapon I get, it would determine how I should train from now on.

If I get a sword, the path of a swordsman.

If I get an axe, the path of a warrior.

If I get a gun, the path of a marksman.

And around me, there were mentors who could teach all of these.

For swords, probably White Mask.

For axes, Muyeon.

For guns, would the Hunter... teach me?

At the very least, there was certainty that the start wouldn't be slow at all.

So I had a mindset of "let's see what I get, whatever it is."

So I followed Muyeon towards the hearth.

This time, we didn't go underground, but climbed up small pillar-like steps embedded in the wall.

"If you go up the stairs in the center, it's dangerous. There's a high chance it won't end with just burns."

Muyeon's explanation made me understand, remembering the heat I felt last time.

Certainly, climbing up there with bare skin would be crazy.

We didn't go all the way up those stairs, but at exactly 1/3 of the way, there was an iron door.

Muyeon inserted a key to unlock it.

From the outside, it seemed like there was no one inside.

Well, since the weapons are drawn randomly, there's nothing anyone could do even if they wanted to interfere.

"The weapons from the armory are randomly provided by the hearth itself, judging what's suitable for the recipient. Um... this is a power applied by the hearth itself, because if you grab an unsuitable weapon, the recipient might go mad."

Listening to Muyeon's explanation, I learned even parts I didn't know before.

Go mad, huh.

So that's why there was a warning not to grab any weapon inside.

"Other than that, there's nothing special, so just go in and wait, and a weapon will come out. Try using it once, and if there's no problem, you can come out right away."

Muyeon said that as she fully opened the iron door, and went up two more steps to make room for me to enter, as if telling me to go in.

"If there's a problem... um, no. I can't solve it..."

"Ah, I understand."

No, isn't this usually when people reassuringly say they'll solve everything if you tell them?

This suddenly makes me unnecessarily scared.

"Come to think of it, what about Mr. Hunter?"

"Ah... He said he'd act freely, so we decided not to give him weapons from the armory. Uncontrolled weapons from the armory are quite dangerous..."

So that's how it turned out.

In the pure hunter route, known as the lone wolf, there was actually a tree where you directly catch Outer Gods and sublimate them into equipment.

I haven't tried it myself so I don't know exactly how it works, but it was evaluated as more difficult than the holy knight route where you learn purification prayers with the help of the hearth.

So in the end, I'm going in alone.

I took a few deep breaths and entered the armory.

The appearance was nothing special.

There were just pebble-like things densely embedded in the walls, and the room itself was full of wooden boxes.

The only peculiar point was that all these boxes were connected, and their ends were pointing towards a single table.

And judging by the hole in that table, it seemed that a weapon suitable for the user would pop out here.

There were footprints drawn not far from that table, which seemed to mean I should stand here.

What kind of weapon will come out?

I couldn't sleep properly since yesterday because of this.

Still, wouldn't a somewhat cool weapon come out?

Even if it ends up looking strange due to the mode's transformation in my eyes, at least it should look cool to other people, right?

As I was thinking that while standing still, the heat felt from the hearth seemed to flow along the ceiling and gather at that table.

Despite being so hot, the table wasn't scorched at all, and rather, it was shaking slightly as if trying to draw something in.

I swallowed dry saliva.

Right, I'll accept whatever weapon comes out.

Come out quickly!

As I thought that inwardly, something popped out through the hole in the table with a 'poof'.

It landed right in front of me, and the moment I saw the identity of that weapon, I couldn't help but freeze.

W-what is this?

Am I seeing this correctly?

Even after rubbing my eyes with my fingers and looking again, the scene I was seeing didn't change.

Because of that, I ended up feeling despair.

T-this can't be.

What kind of weapon is this?

The object I was seeing was a long straw with paper attached to it, and the end was rolled up in a circle.

It looked like if you blew air into the straw, the paper would unfold and make a loud noise.

Commonly known as a party flute.

A toy that you might use on birthdays had popped out as a weapon.

No, how can a party flute be a weapon that can defeat Outer Gods!

As I grabbed the flute with trembling hands, I felt the heat gathered in the armory all rushing out at once.

Does this mean 'I've given it to you, so get out quickly'?

T-this can't be.

How can this...

"How am I supposed to catch Outer Gods with this thing!!!"

Angrily putting the flute to my mouth and blowing it hard once became the cause of trouble.

Piriririri~

At that moment, I suddenly felt like a large space was created in my head with a 'bang'.

Before I could grasp what this was, I felt something filling up, and what happened next was even more bewildering.

"Hmm? What's this? Who called me!"

A very familiar voice I had heard somewhere before.

A voice so shocking that I could never forget it.

This voice is...

"Ob... server?"

"Huh? Ah! This voice! Human! That kind human from back then!"

Wait a minute.

Why am I suddenly hearing the Observer's voice after blowing this flute?

Thinking it might be an auditory hallucination, I shook my head to try to come to my senses, but.

"No! It's really my voice!"

Thanks to the Observer's confirmation shot, I could be certain that I was actually conversing with her.

Wait a minute.

Come to think of it, I think I heard that among the weapons made from Outer Gods, there was one made as a prank.

That weapon that had numerous posts pinned in the community to try to trick people.

People called it the suicide horn.

Although it was classified as S-rank, it was known as a dud weapon that caused instant death just by blowing it due to contact with a Greater Outer God.

The description seemed to say that it created a space in a person's head where they could talk with an Outer God.

At one point, due to these characteristics, there was talk about whether there might be some hidden function, but that lead was buried because there was no way to confirm it as the hunter character would die immediately.

There was only one weapon that was this intense, so there couldn't be another one.

That means...

Could this party flute be... that horn?

"The human called me! I'm coming right away!"

"No, no, no, no! Don't come!"

Is it because of the Super Chicken Mod that mental contamination didn't occur?

As soon as the sentence that made my head feel dizzy was recited in my head, I tried to deny it, but it was already too late.

Suddenly, there was a sound like glass breaking, and a big impact occurred as if an earthquake had happened.

"Kyaaah!"

As soon as I heard Muyeon's scream, I quickly put the party flute in my pocket and went outside the armory.

"M-Mr. Tanton?"

"Let's get out first! It's dangerous!"

As I took Muyeon and left the hearth completely, a large crack appeared right in front of us, and something seemed to be trying to pop out from its center, gradually breaking.

Damn.

It's really trying to come.

"A distortion phenomenon has occurred in the center of the hearth! Emergency, emergencyyy!"

"Damn it, what's this! What happened?"

"Report to the Imperial Princess to increase the hearth's operation rate!"

The knights were moving in unison, and the domain residents were all in a panic, screaming and running away.

The center of the crack kept breaking apart, and the Observer was poking her head out from the center.

For some reason that made her so happy, the Observer confirmed my location and kept trying to come out with a bright smile.

"O-Observer...!"

When Muyeon faced the Observer, she almost fainted.

They said that just looking at the Observer causes great damage to the mind, so even with protective gear on, she must be taking damage.

I wondered if I should step forward, but given the situation, there was no time to hesitate.

"H-hey! No! What are you...!"

A knight tried to stop me, but I shook off his hand and ran forward.

If not me, who's going to stop this?

As I got closer, the Observer smiled brightly.

"Human! I knew you wanted to see me! I wanted to see you too!"

"No, I did want to see you! But not now! Go back!"

I ran towards the crack and tried to push the Observer's head, but there was no way I could overcome that brute strength.

"Hmm! No! I want to play with the human! And you called me, didn't you!"

"W-well, technically that's not wrong, but anyway, go back!"

Even though I tried to push the Observer's head back inside with all my might, it seemed to be the wrong method as it only made the crack worse.

Because of that, even the Observer's upper body came out to this side!

"I'm almost there!"

The Observer seemed to be getting more and more excited at the thought of playing with me, but it was different for me.

The more the Observer came out here, the more the surroundings started to distort, and now I was even doubting if this space I was in was really Rondan.

No, was it even a 'space' to begin with?

But fortunately, this place was right in front of Rondan's heart.

The heat from the hearth started to gradually suppress the crack.

"Eeng, it won't come out. Human! Help me!"

Thank goodness!

I need to help the hearth stop this situation!

"Push... harder!"

With the mindset that it would be a big problem if this failed, I grabbed the Observer's shoulders and pushed.

As if my desperation reached her, the Observer's body seemed to be gradually pushed back inside.

But for some reason, the Observer wasn't making any sound and was just panting 'huff huff'.

"No! If you stay any longer!"

The knights seemed to be trying to stop me with urgent expressions, but perhaps due to the Observer's momentum, they couldn't approach carelessly.

Please go back in quickly!

While I was using all my strength to prevent destruction, I heard a voice.

"This mutt is always doing whatever it wants."

This voice?

"I responded when it suddenly tried to make contact, but I saw something I shouldn't have."

Gardener!

Or rather, wasn't it the name attached to the rose flower friend?

"What does it matter? Do as you please."

The Gardener said with a deep sigh.

"You seem to be in trouble because of that dog. Want me to help a bit?"

Those words felt like a lifeline being thrown down.

"Anything is fine, please...!"

With the sound of the Gardener's sigh as the last thing I heard, it felt like the positions of me and the Observer were suddenly reversed.

We experienced our bodies flipping over like that, and then we fell somewhere.

"Mr. Tanton!!!"

I seemed to hear Muyeon's voice, but this wasn't the time to worry about such things.

"Waaaaaah!"

We, who seemed like we would keep falling forever, finally landed somewhere, and it was a space full of snacks and food.

Something about the alien atmosphere seemed to tell me that this was clearly an Outer God's space.

"Waaaah!"

Meanwhile, the Observer looked around for a moment, then found me and happily rushed over to lick my cheeks.

...This really is a mess.