Chapter 4

I suddenly remembered the post I'd made on the community forum.

The being in front of me now, which I recall being so repulsive it was hard to even look at, now appeared as nothing more than a cute girl taking a nap. Was this because of the Super Chicken Mod? Though I could see some deformed eyeball-like things in her inner hair, suggesting she was indeed an Outer God.

Wait. An Outer God appearing as a woman? Could there be a more terribly twisted fetish? Maybe even the "lunatic" label on that paper was due to this distorted perception.

Damn you, mod developer, you crazy bastard. Don't try to force coherence in places like this!!!

...is what I wanted to say, but I'd long since become a person from a different world than him.

This isn't the time for that. I need to focus on dealing with what's in front of me.

Even though the Observer looks like that, this is still the newbie slaughter zone where rushing in thoughtlessly means endless deaths. As a total noob, I needed to move more cautiously than ever.

To survive in this dark fantasy world, being strong alone isn't enough. There are Outer Gods who'd chew up even the mightiest hero without a second thought. The most important things are escaping well, recognizing patterns, and finding ways to break them. Anyone who plays Snow Castle for a bit realizes this truth.

So I surveyed my surroundings first. I needed to see how the Hunter and the Thief were reacting.

The Hunter was glaring at the Observer with bloodshot eyes. For him, Outer Gods were evil incarnate that deserved death, having slaughtered his family.

I understood his feelings, but leaving him like this would surely lead to trouble. This wasn't a game where you respawn after dying, and we didn't even have weapons to face the Observer yet. Even if the Hunter could somehow beat on the Observer for 24 hours straight without getting hit once, it probably wouldn't be enough to kill it.

...Of course, some hardcore players did manage to kill it with just the Hunter in his cloak and cloth clothes, but this was reality.

"Mr. Hunter?"

Maybe he heard the concern in my voice. The Hunter snapped out of it, looked at me, and seemed to read my expression. He sighed and suppressed his intense aura.

"It's fine. I'm not stupid enough to rush in without knowing the difference in power."

"That's a lie. You looked like you were about to charge in any second."

"If I responded to every fight I wanted to pick, I wouldn't be in one piece now."

Well, that's true.

He was the ultimate "Outer God Slayer," never throwing himself into fights he couldn't win, only hunting when he found a sure method. Even if a fight started unfavorably, he'd survive to the end, honing his blade to strike at the Outer God's weak point.

The Hunter turned away, hiding his hatred, and questioned me.

"By the way, you're awfully calm after seeing that thing."

Did I act too normally? It seemed too late to start acting scared now, so I decided to be bold.

"Well... it's because I'm a lunatic?"

I couldn't exactly say, "The Outer God looks like a wolf-eared girl, so I'm not scared at all~". I didn't want to come across as a straight-up pervert.

"What a convenient excuse."

The Hunter made a face that suggested he no longer believed I was actually insane. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said:

"Well, I guess anyone who can stay sane after seeing that can't be in their right mind, so I have no choice but to believe you."

I got the Hunter's acknowledgment! Wow, Laydan Tanton, the Lunatic recognized by the protagonist!

...That is a compliment, right?

Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd seen the Hunter say he believed someone else. He was supposed to be the type who couldn't trust others and always went alone.

...Though it seemed like he might have meant it as a joke, in his own way.

"Anyway, you should talk to the thief next to you. You'll probably communicate better than I would."

Wondering what he meant, I turned my attention to Agartha.

"Ugh..."

Agartha's face, which had been relaxed until now, had turned pale, clearly terrified. She was hugging herself, arms wrapped around her body as if ice had been put down her back, trembling all over. Comparing it to my meager game knowledge, this was the typical symptom of being afflicted with the "Fear" status effect.

"Are you okay?"

I tapped Agartha's shoulder to check her condition. She suddenly reached out with a panicked expression.

Shit...!

Before I could react, something was already approaching my stomach.

I squeezed my eyes shut, ready to accept whatever was coming, but for some reason, I didn't feel any pain.

"Calm down, Thief."

Thankfully, the Hunter had snatched whatever it was. What Agartha had thrust at me was the needle she'd used to pick the lock earlier.

...Did I just almost die? They say if you hit the wrong pressure point, you can die.

The Thief was still pale and trembling, but after a while, she returned to her usual smiling self, just with a bit of cold sweat.

"Calm... yes, I'm calm now."

"Are you feeling alright?"

Agartha shook her head at the Hunter's question.

"No, I still feel like my whole body is being pricked by sharp thorns."

As if to prove her point, goosebumps had raised all over her arms, making her arm hair stand on end.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Tanton. I overreacted because I was startled."

"Ah, no... it's okay."

I thought it was a bit much to brush off an apology for nearly killing someone, but what could I say?

As I was trying to calm Agartha down with words, I noticed the Hunter looking at me with an analytical gaze. I met his eyes with a questioning look.

"...You have better eyes than I thought."

"Huh?"

"Your eyes followed it."

Was he talking about how my eyes followed Agartha's movement when she lunged at me earlier? Isn't that just a reflex when things get urgent?

"If you were properly trained, you might have even been able to deflect it."

...Hmm, is that so?

The Hunter seemed to be just musing to himself, as he shifted his gaze back to the Outer God after saying that.

Seeing how Agartha and the Hunter were on guard, it must have been quite a threatening sight.

If you're wondering why I didn't know this despite having played the game...

Fear, grotesqueness, danger - I'd long since thrown all that into the trash bin in my head, sorted it for recycling, and incinerated it thoroughly.

Why, you ask?

Because it's scary.

Isn't it better for your mental health to forget about this stuff quickly?

All I need to know is that if I saw it now as I really am, it would be terrifying enough to make me wet myself on the spot.

"Should we go back downstairs for now?"

We all agreed, and carefully made our way back down past the Observer to hold a strategy meeting.

"By the way, if all the guards disappeared because of the Outer God, how did I end up here?"

I voiced the question I'd been holding onto.

"You didn't notice, I guess. It's understandable since you woke up and escaped right away. There's a hole in the prison ceiling. You were lowered down by a rope.

Don't ask who did it, I don't know either."

"Hmm... then is it not possible to climb up through that hole?"

Agartha grinned and pointed to herself in response to that question.

"If it were, I would have escaped on my own already, right?"

Lockpicking, wall climbing, perfect trio.

You should just leave by yourself.

As I was lost in thought, the Hunter held up two fingers and said:

"Then we only have two options. Either we move quietly and quickly enough to slip past that thing and out the main gate without it noticing."

The Hunter's eyes glinted.

"Or we just fight and kill it."

The Hunter folded one finger, presenting a shocking proposal. He probably folded the latter option because even he thought it was impossible.

But the former wasn't really possible either. That Outer God would definitely wake up when it heard us passing by.

"The weapons the guards confiscated are beyond the Outer God, right?"

"But if not that way, is there any other way to escape? There's no food here either.

If we get hungry, our chances of escaping will hit rock bottom."

Agartha objected with an incredulous expression, but she quieted down after hearing the Hunter's words. He was right, after all.

I could guess what the Hunter's intention was behind his statement. He was a thorough security-first type who never engaged in a fight unless he was certain of victory.

If he couldn't hunt the Outer God, he'd run away. In other words, no matter which option we chose, he intended to use us as bait and escape by himself.

You might think he's a dirty egoist, but that was how the Hunter survived. He had no reason to show such inclusivity towards imprisoned criminals in the first place.

Even as I was talking with Agartha, the Hunter's eyes were fixed on me.

"..."

"..."

His gaze seemed to be saying, "Didn't you say you couldn't defeat the Outer God alone?" He wanted me to prove it.

Honestly, I had said that without thinking, just trying to survive. It was more of a reckless action without any real plan. But wasn't it that kind of instinct, that reflex, that had kept me alive until now? Even if "staying alive" just meant in a trivial game.

Suddenly, I remembered the writing on the wall.

The strategy to defeat Outer Gods that you'd normally only be able to see if you came with a mystic scholar build. The comment on my previous question post saying you could come back to this place. And that "thing" they kept mentioning.

Years of gaming experience converged on a single possibility.

Could this be... a gimmick boss?

After all, this world is probably based on the game, right?

As soon as I finished assessing the situation, I grabbed the Hunter's hand with both of mine. The Hunter's eyes seemed to widen in surprise, but that wasn't important right now.

What mattered was unfolding that one finger he had already folded.

Seeming to understand what this symbolized, Agartha and the Hunter stared at me with constricted pupils.

I calmly said to them:

"If I told you there might be a way to defeat the Outer God in here, would you believe me?"