Chapter 28
About 30 minutes after the anomaly left the house.
‘It came back.’
I could see that the roommate who had gone out had returned home once again.
‘What changed this time..?’
I hid on the second floor and quietly observed the roommate's behavior to see what had changed about its pattern..
‘..What is this?’
After returning inside the house, the anomaly merely wandered stupidly around the interior once again.
‘..It isn't just coming upstairs to the second floor now?’
And so time passed.. For roughly an hour, the roommate did nothing but stupidly wander around inside the house.
‘..Is this really all there is?’
For all that the anomaly's pattern had changed, I realized that the change wasn't particularly dramatic.
‘..I was tense for nothing.’
Thinking I had been needlessly nervous about it, I gradually relaxed.
I approached the back of the thing sitting on the sofa and staring blankly at the empty wall.
And then..
Thud-
When I thrust the awl into its neck once again and went upstairs.
‘It's the same.’
The roommate pulled the awl out of its own neck again..
‘It's still a woman?’
It remained exactly the same, without any change.
‘Does getting stabbed by the awl not cause a sex change?’
Why, earlier, had it been sex-changed after getting stabbed by the awl..
while now, after I stabbed it with the awl again in exactly the same way, hadn't it been sex-changed?
‘I really have no idea..’
No matter how long I agonized over it here, the situation didn't seem likely to improve.
I began to think that there might be some hidden clue in the message the administrator had deleted.
Just as I was about to press the Return button and leave this place so I could ask about the deleted information..
Suddenly.
‘..But had its breasts always been that big?’
I began having the ridiculous thought that the roommate's breasts seemed to have grown slightly larger.
‘..What? ..Why am I even looking at this kind of thing..?’
Since when had I developed such an unusual preference?
Even if it was a woman.. Why was I taking an interest in an anomaly's breasts..?
‘At this rate, I'm no different from Anonymous 1..?’
What if I was currently suffering from mental contamination and being mentally attacked by the roommate?
No, that had to be the truth.
Otherwise, why would I suddenly take an interest in an anomaly unless I had gone insane?
--
Mentality: 201 / 238
--
‘This is serious.’
Just look at this.
A whopping 37 points had been shaved off my Mentality.
What kind of vicious mental contamination was this..!
‘Aaaaaah!’
After writhing around, I lay down on the second-floor floor and went limp.
For a moment, I felt pathetic as I wondered what I was even doing right now.
‘I really should go back.’
Just as I was about to press the Return button, thinking there was nothing left to do.
‘..Was its face pretty?’
I was a man, too, and there was nothing I could do about that..
Click-
I picked up the camera, took a picture of the roommate, and entered the photo gallery.
For a moment, I thought that if the anomaly was pretty enough, it might be all right to take a few pictures of it from different angles..
‘..Huh?’
In the picture taken by the camera.. there was clearly a completely different woman from the one I had seen an hour and a half ago.
‘..No way?’
At that moment.
A thought flashed through my mind, and I lowered my head to look at the roommate.
Unlike the one that had been staring blankly at the wall, this roommate was walking in a circle around the living room.
‘What if the roommate doesn't actually die?’
I picked up the awl lying on the floor and thrust it into the roommate, who was spinning around as though exercising.
Thud-
‘What if the roommate had been dying normally?’
Once again, when the awl pierced its neck, the roommate anomaly naturally pulled it out.
I watched the anomaly for a moment.. and saw that the roommate, who had definitely been female, had changed into a male form this time.
I had reached the point where I could be almost certain.
‘..It wasn't recovering?’
The roommate that had been stabbed by the awl hadn't recovered.
It.. had died every time the awl was stuck in its neck, and each time it died, it had been resurrected in a different body.
--
[New Information About The First-Floor Roommate Doesn't Die]
(Photo)
This one's the first.
(Photo)
This one's the second.
There was no picture of the third one, sorry ㅋㅋ
(Photo)
This one's the fourth.
(Photo)
This one's the fifth.
This doesn't mean the roommate doesn't die.
That anomaly was dying every time I stabbed it in the neck.
Instead, it resurrected in a new body after dying, yeah.
That's why it changed like this: man, woman, woman, man, woman.
Why did the roommate that never went outside during the eighth attempt, when they lived together for a month, go outside?
Wasn't it because it was a different one from the start?
Each person who resurrects behaves differently. Some don't like going outside, while others do, and so on.
[Comments - 14]
Anonymous 1 : Huh? Wow.. Holy shit.
Administrator : That seems to be correct. I'll add it to the record for the 19th attempt.
Anonymous 2 : Hey, wait a second. So the first challenger stabbing it with a knife means the roommate died and resurrected too, right?
ㄴ Poster : Seems like it.
Anonymous 3 : Wow, fucking insane.. Daebung really caused a huge incident this time.
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : But wait a second? I'm going to write and upload a new post. Something incredible just occurred to me.
Anonymous 4 : Oh, Daebung really did something big this time. Can you come out now?
ㄴ Anonymous 5 : Seriously, I'm starting to get really fucking anxious. Daebung, please come back already.
ㄴ Anonymous 6 : If Daebung listened to people, would he still be Daebung..?
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Ah please seriously Daebung if you don't come back I'll upload a naked photo of myself to the community I said.
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : Don't use this as an excuse to satisfy your own sexual urges.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Yes, sir.
ㄴ Anonymous 5 : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Daebung using this as an excuse to satisfy his sexual urges is fucking hilarious ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Anonymous 7 : Before the 18th attempt, no one knew this because human forms hadn't appeared. Seriously, Daebung entered at exactly the right time.
--
A new piece of information had been added to the strategy guide that had been blocked for a long time.
That alone clearly meant I had done my part, so I could have returned just like this, but.
‘Whew.. It feels like there really might be an end if I just keep killing it.’
Unless that thing could resurrect infinitely, there had to be an end eventually, right?
So while I was thinking that I might as well try killing that roommate as many times as I could today.
I saw that a new post written by Anonymous 3 had been uploaded.
I decided to check that post first to gather information.
--
[I Just Thought of Something After Seeing Daebung's Newly Discovered Information]
Looking at the records for the first-floor roommate, the challengers who entered during the first and seventh attempts were fine even after stabbing it with a knife.
Meanwhile, the challengers in the second, third, and ninth attempts died after using blunt-object attacks, fire attacks, and strangulation attacks, respectively, right?
Isn't the difference whether they managed to ‘instantly kill’ the roommate or not?
Why, we would immediately drop dead if we were stabbed in the neck with a knife.
But if someone suddenly hit us with a blunt object, tried to burn us alive, or started strangling us, we'd fight for our lives. Wouldn't we?
I don't know what the deleted record contains, but it seems to have been deleted because it was a record that would subject us to a mental attack if we knew about it, so let's set that aside for now.
If we can definitely instantly kill the roommate each time it resurrects, couldn't we just keep killing it until it can no longer resurrect?
Wouldn't that naturally clear the dungeon?
[Comments - 13]
Anonymous 1 : If someone suddenly hit you with a blunt object, tried to burn you, or started strangling you, you'd think about running away instead of fighting for your life. Why would you fight? This bastard is starting to become like Daebung now;
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋ We've been looking at so many Teto-nam posts that we're becoming Teto-men too ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ Poster : Ah, is that so? Anyway, that's not what's important here.
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : For once, Anonymous 1 isn't wrong. There's no proof that the roommate only resurrects as a human.
ㄴ Poster : Yeah? What do you mean?
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : Let's say the roommate resurrects as an alien around the thirtieth time. If, unlike us, its condition for being instantly killed is having its ass cut off, couldn't Daebung die while aiming for its neck for no reason?
ㄴ Poster : Ah.. You're right..
Poster : Daebung, this information is pretty dangerous. Don't take my word for it, and don't attack recklessly.
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : It was still pretty useful information. Unless Daebung is in a situation where he can accurately analyze the roommate's weak point, I think returning would be better.
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : Daebung has items, though.
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : I don't know what items he has, so I can't recommend it. Since his life is on the line, I think he should be extremely careful.
Administrator : Thank you for the speculation. I'll add this material to the record for the 19th challenger. However, please delete the post regarding the deleted record.
ㄴ Poster : I'll delete it right now.
Anonymous 5 : A dungeon that had made no progress for years is gradually starting to be solved.
--
‘Ah, so this must be it.’
The community user's speculation seemed almost certainly correct.
It wasn't that blunt-object and fire attacks were impossible. The roommate must simply have to be attacked with something capable of ‘instantly killing’ it.
Unlike the roommate that had already died and therefore couldn't take its anger out on me.
The roommate that failed to die in one blow from a blunt-object or fire attack must have vented its anger on the person who attacked it.
'I have to keep using attacks that can definitely kill it.'
That aside..
‘..Why did the administrator ask us to delete the part about the deleted record?’
I was a little puzzled by the administrator asking us to delete the content related to the deleted record.
At the head mod's request, the content related to the deleted record was deleted less than three minutes after the post went up.
Whether that was lucky or unlucky, I had already read it by then.
‘..I don't know what the deleted record is, so it should be fine, right?’
I decided not to dwell on it needlessly.
‘It's human, too.’
After confirming through the camera that the roommate resurrected this time was the same sort of person with a twisted ankle.
I was about to thrust the awl into its neck again right away.
Suddenly..
‘Come to think of it.. Will this work?’
I wondered whether simple contact would be recognized as an attack, so I asked the community about it.
--
[Can I Touch the Roommate?]
Is something like petting it also recognized as an attack?
Would patting it on the ass also count as an attack?
[Comments - 13]
Anonymous 1 : ..What are you talking about, Daebung?
Anonymous 2 : ..Are you trying to date an anomaly or something?
ㄴ Poster : No.. What do you all think I am, anyway..?
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Daebung.. You wrote the post to sound completely misunderstood, didn't you..? You said petting it.. and patting it on the ass..?
Administrator : Simple contact that does not exceed a certain level of force does not exhibit aggression.
ㄴ Poster : Did someone experiment with this, too? It wasn't in the records, so I can't be sure.
ㄴ Administrator : Yes, simple contact is fine. I won't take any more questions about this.
ㄴ Anonymous 3 : Was there information like this?
ㄴ Anonymous 4 : ? Huh? No matter how many times I read it, there aren't any records related to simple contact.
ㄴ Anonymous 1 : Head mod, are you in your right mind right now? Head mod?
ㄴ Administrator : I am.
ㄴ Anonymous 2 : Huh? I thought it was strange after seeing what the head mod said, so I went back and read the records, but there aren't any records related to simple contact.
Administrator : I'll lock the comments so no further comments can be posted. Please send me a message if you have any questions.
--
Fortunately, I was able to hear the administrator say that simple contact wasn't recognized as an attack.
However..
‘..You won't take any more questions about this? ..Why?’
The community administrator's words once again began to seem suspicious.
After all.. there were no records related to simple contact whatsoever in the records about the roommate.
So I wondered how the head mod could be so certain that simple contact was safe..
‘Could the deleted record have been an accident caused by contact..?’
When that eerie thought occurred to me, I decided not to think about it any further.
I sat on the stairs to rest for a while and waited for the roommate to walk over here.
I even began to feel a little frustrated when the roommate didn't come to the stairs for a long time.
‘Right, it'll come eventually.’
I had already figured out that the area each person traveled through differed with every resurrection.
I waited patiently, thinking that it would come here eventually..
‘It came.’
The roommate finally walked right up to the stairs, so I immediately placed my hand on its shoulder.
‘Crafting won't be recognized as an attack either, right?’
I pressed the Craft button just like that.
‘Please..!’
After pressing the Craft button, I ran up to the second floor without hesitation.
I watched the roommate for a moment to see if it had changed..
‘It's a different one.’
The roommate I saw this time was a different sex from the one I had seen moments earlier.
That let me know that the Craft had definitely worked.
In other words.
--
Mentality: 206 / 238
[Available Return Attempts] : 2
[Available Crafting Attempts] : 15
Input:
--
It meant that I had finally gotten a good opportunity to use up all the crafting attempts that had piled up because I hadn't been able to use them for so long.
‘Heh~ This place was a complete gold mine, huh? I'll make good use of it~.’
--
[Corrupted Bracelet]
This is a bracelet crafted from a corrupted entity.
It raises the user's maximum Mentality by 8.
--
--
[Corrupted Bracelet]
This is a bracelet crafted from a corrupted entity.
It raises the user's maximum Mentality by 4.
--
--
[Corrupted Bracelet]
This is a bracelet crafted from a corrupted entity.
It raises the user's maximum Mentality by 10.
--
--
[Corrupted Bracelet]
This is a bracelet crafted from a corrupted entity.
It raises the user's maximum Mentality by 7.
--
‘The items can be duplicated?!’
I still have 12 crafting attempts left.