Chapter 6
When Tanton suddenly entered the room and was surrounded by Lesser Outer Gods, the Hunter thought the Lunatic had invited his own death.
But as time passed, the Hunter couldn't hide his bewilderment. Tanton was being attacked by numerous Lesser Outer Gods, yet far from suffering, he was laughing out loud.
"Hahaha, stop! Stop, I'm dying of tickles!"
"Huh..."
Seeing Tanton claim that the Lesser Outer Gods' attacks were ticklish, the Hunter raised his estimation of him.
'I thought he was just a lunatic, but he has the mental fortitude and toughness to withstand even the attacks of a swarm of Lesser Outer Gods. This kind of demonstration is not something one could do without considerable confidence.'
The Hunter's eyes flashed with interest for a moment.
Only after the Lesser Outer Gods' tickle attack finally stopped could I sit up and catch my breath. Finding this funny, the Lesser Outer Gods slid down my body to the floor, giggling.
One Lesser God was still clinging to my ear, nuzzling my cheek. Its behavior reminded me of a parrot I used to keep, so I unconsciously scratched its chin gently. It seemed to like it, smiling blissfully as it entrusted its body to me.
...Still, it looks human, so doing this makes me feel a bit guilty?
I needed to go back to where the Hunter and the Thief were, but as I was wondering what to do with the clinging Lesser Outer Gods, their leader said it was okay.
"The inside and outside are separated by a boundary, so we can't affect the outside. But if you come in, I can't guarantee anything."
"Doesn't that mean I could have been in danger too?"
"It's fine since nothing happened, right? Hehe."
"That's right, that's right."
I guess Outer Gods will be Outer Gods after all?
The Lesser Outer Gods laughed mischievously.
Anyway, with Lesser Outer Gods on each shoulder, I approached where the Hunter was. He closed his eyes as if resigned.
"...I didn't think you'd be this crazy."
The Hunter muttered quietly and sighed.
Come on, you asked me to prove it. Now you're making a fuss even when I show you.
I just shrugged my shoulders at the Hunter.
"See? It's really no big deal, right?"
"This is insane behavior that no one but you could do."
Agartha was nodding vigorously behind him as if in agreement. She seemed quite shocked too, sweating as she pointed at the Lesser God on my shoulder.
"W-what is that on your shoulder?"
"Isn't it cute? Like a fairy."
I was just being honest, but Agartha waved her hands with an expression of extreme disgust.
"I think I need to reconsider Tanton's tastes."
Well, it might be a bit of an unusual taste, but they're really cute, what can I do? I stroked the head of the Lesser God on my right with my finger, and it grabbed my finger and rubbed it against its cheek.
See how cute it is?
"...It's creepy."
"Try to be more open-minded and accepting."
"How open-minded do I need to be to find grotesque tentacles wrapping around fingers cute?!"
Well, I guess it looks different to Agartha because of the Super Chicken Mod.
Whatever. It's enough if it's cute to me.
The Lesser God, who had been smiling happily, opened its eyes drowsily and spoke with a smile.
"Are they annoying?"
"A little irritating, yeah."
"Should we kill them?"
Despite its cute, drawling voice, the Lesser God's words were brutal. I tapped its head with my index finger.
"Ow, ouch."
"Tsk, you shouldn't say such things with that cute face."
"I got it."
"Oh, you're so adorable."
Good children deserve rewards. This time, I gently tickled behind its ear. The Lesser God's body shivered as if getting goosebumps, then it just lay down and fell asleep.
I really felt like I wanted to take it home and raise it.
Agartha still had the expression of someone who had witnessed something bizarre.
"What... did you just talk about?"
"It asked if it should kill Agartha."
"H-hey. Don't joke around."
"I'm serious."
Agartha stared blankly at the Lesser God for a moment, then instantly moved more than 10 steps away from me. Seeing someone who usually thought of nothing but mischief look so scared was quite a spectacle in its own right.
"We'd like you to listen to our request now."
Since the leader Lesser Outer God started urging, I decided to stop showing off. This should be enough for the Hunter to trust me.
"Anyway, I'm fine, so I'll go check inside."
The Hunter now just nodded with his hand on his forehead, as if he didn't know what to think anymore. Agartha's eyes seemed to say she just wanted me to hurry up and go in with the Lesser Outer Gods, so I didn't speak to her separately.
The inside of the passage with the Lesser Outer Gods was filled with the scent of flowers.
The Hunter had said it was a terrible smell, but I wonder if this is also due to the mod's effect.
The Lesser Outer Gods, who had been chattering among themselves, suddenly approached me and all swarmed around the grinning Lesser God.
"You traitor! Hogging him all to yourself!"
"Hehehe..."
"Alright, in that case, we have no choice but to get some too!"
As all the Lesser Outer Gods were about to rush at me again, I unconsciously prepared to run away, but fortunately, the leader Lesser God whistled to stop them.
"Enough! Don't trouble the human any more!"
"Tch, you were clinging to him the whole time too."
"Ugh, be quiet!"
When the atmosphere finally calmed down, one Lesser God spoke with a sheepish smile.
"We like being petted. Our mother used to do it, but she hasn't visited often lately."
Who's this mother?
As I was about to question it, the leader Lesser God, seemingly unable to bear it any longer, pointed somewhere and spoke.
"We'd like you to take what's inside. If you do that, we're done."
Ah, as expected. There really was a gimmick item.
By the way, seeing how quickly they moved on, it seems they don't want to talk about this 'mother' figure. It's probably better to be understanding.
A difficulty level that you can't enter unless you've built up enough specs to withstand the Lesser Outer Gods' mental attacks with a specific build. I thought to myself that of course you wouldn't be able to enter at the beginning if it's this grotesque.
I wonder what this hard-earned item looks like. Maybe an irregular polyhedron. Or perhaps a strange object whose shape can't be recognized by the eye.
Full of expectations, I trudged along to where the Lesser Outer Gods were guiding me.
When I arrived, there was...
"What is this."
A dog bone.
If it had looked even somewhat realistic, I might have accepted it, but this was a dog bone shaped in an unnecessarily simple cartoon-like form. I suddenly felt all my energy drain away.
"All this just for this..."
"Hm?"
"No, no. I'll take it away."
The dog bone was unnecessarily enshrined deep inside, emitting a mystical light. Ah, is this the glory of glory, or the sorry of sorry?
As I hung my head in disappointment, another Lesser God spoke sulkily.
"Mother said we could have physical bodies with this, but we prefer cats to dogs."
"That's right, that's right. We'd rather have something cute if possible."
Cats, huh.
So I threw out a suggestion.
"How about asking for a fish bone next time?"
"Agree, agree!"
They like it. By the way, this shape must be due to the mod's effect too, right?
‘We've changed everything that might be considered disgusting or frightening in the game. Even weapons become trivial!’
I couldn't believe this was really a weapon that could defeat that Outer God, but thinking I might as well grab it, I picked up the dog bone.
"Since Tanton has disappeared too, we just need to wait. Well, shall we play poker?"
Not even a minute after Tanton went in, Agartha seemed bored and spoke to the Hunter, taking out a deck of cards that was among the items in the guard room.
The Hunter looked down at Agartha as if she were a trivial object.
"...Come on, this much is okay to suggest, right?"
"How pathetic."
"Tch, if you don't want to, just say so."
As the Hunter was shaking his head at Agartha, his pupils suddenly contracted.
"W-what's wrong?"
Agartha asked in confusion, but the Hunter just quickly pulled Agartha by the arm and moved her behind him.
"No, what's going...!"
"Be quiet."
The atmosphere was completely different from his usual irritable mood, and Agartha swallowed hard, tensing up. After a while, the Hunter spoke quietly.
"As expected, without sound, it's hard to notice."
"...?"
"The stench is getting stronger. It's getting closer."
Agartha saw the visible part of the Hunter's face contort intensely. It was an expression very different from his usual serious and solemn look.
Thud, thud.
"Shh."
As Agartha was about to open her mouth in surprise, the Hunter quickly pressed his index finger to her lips to keep her from speaking.
The Hunter knew he should hide too, but he couldn't even think of moving.
Thud, thud.
Sniff, sniff.
Seeing Agartha about to cry, the Hunter could only bite his lip. Even he couldn't have imagined it would turn out like this.
Sniff, sniff.
It seemed that the Lunatic was right after all. There was no reason for that thing, which had been sleeping so soundly, to suddenly wake up. There really was a key to defeating that thing here.
Sniff, sniff.
Thud, thud, thud...
The sound that had been making them tense gradually started to fade away. The Hunter seemed to be waiting for the sound to completely disappear, still not making any noise.
Agartha waited for a long time, still almost embraced by the Hunter. Even though the sound had clearly stopped, the Hunter still wasn't moving, so Agartha spoke with a blushing face.
"...It's gone, now you can let..."
"Stupid woman."
Suddenly hearing the Hunter curse, Agartha looked at his face in anger and turned pale.
The Hunter, who had always shown only a cold demeanor, was sweating and smiling slightly with his eyes.
They say people act opposite to their usual selves when they sense danger. Agartha remembered that the Hunter had never smiled even once until now.
Agartha realized she had made a big mistake.
"This is why I hate those who overestimate their abilities."
The sound of sand rolling was the first sign.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Thud...
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.
Feeling the vibrations getting stronger, the Hunter pushed Agartha away from his chest and stepped back.
"Damn it, it's coming!"
With the Hunter's shout, a massive roar occurred and the prison burst open. Agartha and the Hunter reflexively moved to avoid the debris, and they quickly realized it was the work of an Outer God.
Suddenly, they felt a sensation like their heads were being compressed. The Hunter and Agartha felt it simultaneously, but…
"Kyaa!"
Agartha screamed in surprise and wrapped her arms around her body, then tried to remove her arms when all the debris disappeared. But she couldn't. Her body was refusing to look straight ahead.
Thinking she couldn't deal with anything if she didn't look forward, Agartha forcibly moved her unresponsive body and finally looked ahead.
̶̣̫̝̦͎͉̦̣̯͔̙̭͋̄̿̉͂̓̀̄̋̏̔̓̉͂̄͂̾̾́̅́͗̇̚"""В҉̮̞̯͕̝̭̭͚̜̭̭͔͇̜̩̲̘̃̆̄̇͒̂̒͌̑̌́͊ы̴̖͖̖̤͉̮̜̫̲͙͉̰͍͕̣̩̩̘͙͔̣͒̐͗́̌̎͌̑͑̎͒̇͌̅ͅ б҈̘̰͚̗͍̞͇̲̘̟̭͉̭̝̭̤̮̰̱̫̖̙̊͒̅̓̈͆͒́̏̅̍̋͒͆̚ы̶̣̠̞̞̮͕͍̭̤̲̜̪̘͕̪̆̏̾̈́͑̔͗̔͒̇̿͗͌̂̔̆̈͛̄л҉̟̲̞̤̮̟̯͓͍̤̭͚̩̳͚͕͈̤̜̖̫̇́͌̋̌͌̌̿̏̓͊̾̍̓͐͑̐͒̇̅̚̚и҉͙̦͚͉͓̲͉͓̜̗̜̘͈͌́̓̊͐͌̄̏̑̓̓̿͋̅̐̾̅͊̾͊ͅ з҉͓̳̙̖̮̮̳̙͉͚͍͖̞̬͕̫̳͈̯͔̳̤͕͑̐̂͌́̀͋̎́͑͑͐́͌͋͑̓̄͌̊̿͒̆́ͅд̷̦͎̪͇̖̯̪͍͎͕̲̜̤̘͎͖̣̀͗͑̃̈̓͒̿̀͌̎̈̍̐́́̉́е҉͙̠̫̰͈̖̬̱̩̱͉̪͇̿̈͛̍̀͂͗͊͂̆͆͌̽̇͊͒͗͌̀͊͂̈́̈͆с̶̥̬̯̪͈̯̗̤͇͖͍̱̘͉̮̳̦̱̫͍͖͖̰̟͊̓͐̉̓́͊͛̊̾̿̾̈̅̓ь̸͔̘̱̮͕̫̦͕̮̭͈̖̪̟̈̍̎̀͂̃̀̌̋͋̑̑̔̈͋̎͌̀͐̊̑͊̚"""
"Ah... aah."
Agartha started shaking her head.
"No... no."
The color drained from her face, and now she grabbed her temples with both hands.
"No, no..."
Agartha slowly pressed her forehead to the floor, then crossed her hands behind her head as if trying to hide her body as much as possible, bringing her legs together, almost curling up.
"Don't watch don't look I hate it don't watch me I'm sorry don't look I was wrong don't watch please don't look don't watch don't look"
Just like a madman. As if possessed by something.
Agartha, who had been reciting sentences without pause, suddenly started to catch her breath with difficulty and slowly began to raise her body. Along with this, some kind of powder began to fall from Agartha's body with a flutter.
Although its form was indiscernible, the Hunter immediately understood what it was.
"...You hid a protective charm on your body. Is that why you read that lunatic's note without fear?"
"Haa, haa. I don't know how you understand a woman's heart so well. I thought you were dense since you didn't make a move even in prison."
Although she was trying to appear composed in her response, Agartha still looked strained.
"Really, if it weren't for this, whew. That was a close call just now."
The Hunter could tell that what Agartha called a close call was actually just a very minor thing to the Observer, compared to the suggestion that had affected both him and Agartha. To be more precise, it would be better to describe it as trouble that was still to come.
It was in the form of a dog.
It was a being pretending to be a dog.
It was a wolf with eyes all over its body.
It was the Observer.
As if the suggestion was gradually taking hold again, Agartha and the Hunter started to feel a strong headache, and an indescribable fear tried to dominate their minds.
Urging immediate suicide.
Urging immediate suicide.
Urging immediate suicide.
Urging immediate.
Suicide.
Suicide.
Death.
"""̸̓̃з̷̿̈а̶͗̀ т̷̎̏о҈͂̈́̈́б҈͗͒̓о̸̎й наб҈л҉ю҉д̂а҈͐̆̀ю̶̐̇т҉̍̐̂"""
The Outer God was named Saluki.