Chapter 26
5. Occasionally, a bug-like person may board the elevator. You must somehow ignore them.
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Dungeon Exploration Day 4
Julius's expedition team entered Dreamland.
And today was the fourth day.
Their lineup was even better than Tir's expedition team's.
And Julius himself had excellent leadership, so he had expected the search to go smoothly.
Creak, creak.
They, too, like Reberio's, Jius's, and Tir's expedition teams,
were blocked in front of the elevator.
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They had entered the dungeon with twelve people,
but only four remained, including himself.
In front of the elevator, dried corpses and chunks of flesh were piled high.
That was the price they paid for trying to push forward so boldly.
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The facts they had learned so far through the deaths of their companions were as follows.
1. If two or more people ride the machine, they die inside.
2. Pressing the machine's number buttons changes the floor, along with a floating sensation.
3. You can change floors up to three times; after that, it returns to the 1st floor and the door opens.
4. The dark corridors from the 1st floor to the 10th are all unlit. (The corridor we're in right now is also the 1st floor, but if you press 1 in the elevator, it leads to a dark corridor.)
5. Like the machine, the unlit corridors are areas that cannot be detected by magic.
6. If you step out of the elevator even though you can see an unlit corridor, your bodily fluids are sucked out and you die.
7. Sometimes, when the floors change, a bug person boards the elevator.
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'Is this really a new dungeon....'
Julius let out a quiet sigh.
Wasn't a dungeon supposed to be something you advanced through by killing minions and smashing traps?
The place spread out before his eyes was one that denied his common sense.
What in the world is this bizarre dungeon?
The trap blocking the entrance appears to be a spatial transfer device.
It has the vicious trait of killing intruders outright unless they follow certain rules.
What's more, it doesn't even break.
And it just keeps making those ominous creaking sounds.
'There was a reason Tir failed.'
This Dreamland.
was a place where the magic and martial arts of the Stigma Elves were completely meaningless.
Eek.
Like the slime over there, quietly watching us from the other side.
The machine blocking the passage neither breaks nor disappears.
This meant the Dungeon Master had suffered no losses in either of the previous two explorations.
It had been a very long time since he'd felt this way.
It was as if he were looking up at a mountain of unimaginable height.
There aren't many Stigma Elves.
Reberio's, Jius's, and Tir's expedition teams.
And the Stigma Elves who had entered the dungeon with him now.
Twenty-two had already died.
Since the ones who had entered the dungeon were among the skilled Stigma Elves,
of course, it was a sacrifice they could bear if they obtained a mana stone.
But since they were still wandering around at the entrance, the losses were enormous.
'The one saving grace is.'
that, as long as they followed some unknown rule, the party wouldn't die.
It was a bizarre phenomenon,
but at the very least, the monster in the pitch-black corridor hadn't come down from the elevator and slaughtered the party.
'A life-or-death puzzle.'
If there really were no answer at all, I'd wash my hands of it.
Hard to say.
There definitely was an exit.
'Next time, I should bring slaves.'
The fact that the Stigma Elves' combat power was useless
In other words, in this dungeon, even someone who couldn't fight could be used as a piece on the board.
He thought human slaves would be ideal.
Commanding them would be much easier than commanding the Stigma Elves, and although it would take some time, supplying them would be easy too.
Even if they pointed a blade at him in the most extreme situation, he could subdue them easily.
'For now.'
The future could wait for later.
At any rate, the best thing to do was to gather as much information as possible on this expedition.
Julius looked at the dispirited Stigma Elves.
"Ugh..."
"I feel sick..."
"How on earth are we supposed to get past the entrance? We can't go out into the unlit corridor, and no matter which button we press, all we see is the unlit corridor... I can't make heads or tails of it."
"Aren't we supposed to somehow beat that monster? Maybe it's the one blocking the way."
"Hord, the one stronger than the Elder, got taken down, so how are we supposed to win? If more than two people ride it, they die in the elevator, fuck... Can't the Elder step up and do something once?"
The unbearable stench from the corpses.
The current situation, where they couldn't go out or move forward.
The entrance of the elevator, emitting bizarre creaking sounds.
The party's patience was nearing its limit.
"There has to be a way."
"What bullshit? You're the one who knows better than anyone what kind of shape the kids were in when they died, so how can you spout such nonsense! If you were just going to stand back and watch until now, then step up already!"
"Wait... Elder, don't you happen to have an escape scroll?"
At that remark,
the eyes of the survivors turned fierce.
Julius nodded in affirmation.
"Of course I do."
"As expected!"
An impatient Stigma Elf drew his sword.
He swung at Julius with great momentum, but his wrist was seized in an instant and he was hurled to the floor.
"Urgh!"
"This scroll is something I'll use if, as you think, it turns out there's really no answer. I won't deny that."
He shook out his wrist.
And then continued speaking calmly.
"If you all banded together and miraculously took the escape scroll from me, I only have one escape scroll. After that, are you going to keep killing each other? Even if by some fluke the last survivor were you, you'd have to live as a limbless cripple, wouldn't you?"
Julius's words were right.
He was strong.
Even if the three of them attacked him, the chance of winning was extremely slim.
And with only one escape scroll,
they would have to compete with the remaining ones as well, so cooperation could hardly work properly.
The Stigma Elves' murderous intent faded.
"It's not completely impossible. Look at the information we've gained from our companions' sacrifices so far. You might think we've been stuck at this entrance, but we've been inching forward, step by step. That's an undeniable fact. With fewer people, we have enough food and water too, so what are you so afraid of?"
Julius soothed the elves.
He planted irresponsible hope in them, telling them they could definitely do it.
"……."
"There are definitely rules to this elevator. That's certain. If we figure out the rules, we can move forward. The Dungeon Master isn't a god. He's merely a trial we can overcome."
The exploration resumed.
Julius sent the Stigma Elf who had pointed a knife at him into the elevator.
The fellow hesitated, then eventually obeyed the order.
It couldn't be helped.
If he refused here, he'd earn the dislike not only of Julius but of the other survivors too.
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"No abnormalities were found. Even after pressing 2, 3, and 4 in order, it was only an unlit corridor."
The elf who had finished the exploration reported that at the entrance.
Julius stroked his chin.
Through communication magic, he already knew the rough situation.
The one regret was that he still couldn't see it with his own eyes.
If I had known it would come to this, I should have learned black magic from the Dark School, too.
No matter how detailed the explanation, compared with information heard from someone's mouth,
information confirmed with his own eyes was far better in quality.
"What about the bug person?"
"I haven't seen one yet."
Bug person.
It was the monster that sometimes emerged from the unlit corridor and boarded the elevator.
If I had to describe that monster in one word, I suppose I'd call it the Grim Reaper.
From the death cries of the slain Stigma Elves, the information one could infer was:
that no physical attack worked on it, and its appearance was horrifying.
Its defining trait was that it killed intruders the moment it identified them.
Just hearing that made it sound terrifyingly hopeless.
Still, this bug person probably had some rule as well.
The elevator had enough killing power to turn the intruders inside into chunks of flesh,
but if only one person rode it, it didn't harm them at all.
At that moment.
An idea flashed through Julius's mind like lightning.
"If you encounter the bug person, don't attack it. Try to remain as friendly as possible."
"Friendly...?"
"Yeah."
For example, in rock-paper-scissors, if your opponent keeps throwing paper and you keep throwing rock, aren't you the fool?
If he confirmed that the aggressive stance he'd taken until now was useless, he needed to try another method.
"Understood..."
The Stigma Elf wore a reluctant expression, but
for now he nodded as if he understood and stepped into the elevator.
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-Aaaaaah!!
The attempt failed.
Julius clicked his tongue.
***
Dungeon Exploration Day 5.
"……."
Now only three people remained, himself included.
Julius let out a small sigh.
No rebellion had broken out.
With no way to steal the escape scroll,
the only way out of this dungeon was to get into the elevator.
He had firmly made that clear to the party.
Of course, there was also the possibility of being ambushed while unguarded,
so last night Julius had rested at a considerable distance from the remaining two.
There had been no variables.
"Madeleine."
"Yes, Elder..."
"You go."
"M-me?"
Julius nodded.
"This time, don't react to anything. Act as if that bug person isn't even visible."
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"Fuck."
Madeleine raged inside the elevator.
He kicked the wall, banged on the door, and slammed his head into the glass window.
Naturally, the elevator didn't have a single scratch on it.
"Fuck, how the hell did I get dragged to this goddamn place... fuck, fuck, fuck!"
The elder's order was no different from telling Madeleine to kill themself.
"Motherless bastard. Son of a bitch with two mothers. A fucking bastard whose guts and innards wouldn't be enough even if I chewed them up!"
-You're not talking about me, are you?
"Of course not. I was cursing the Dungeon Master."
What else could he do?
There was no other way.
If challenging the Elder was suicide and riding the machine was suicide,
betting on this machine, which at least offered a 0.1% chance of survival, suited his philosophy of life.
Madeleine sighed and pressed the button.
『Going up.』
『The door opens.』
『2nd floor.』
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『Going up.』
『The door opens.』
『3rd floor.』
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『Going up.』
『The door opens.』
『4th floor.』
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In front of him, there was only the unlit corridor.
They'd said that if he went outside, the machine's door would close and he'd die.
Madeleine simply stayed still inside the elevator, reporting the situation.
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『Going down.』
『The door opens.』
『1st floor.』
And then, with a booming thud, once it returned to the 1st floor,
he pressed the button again.
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『Going up.』
『9th floor.』
『The door opens.』
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Only the unlit corridor was visible.
Madeleine stared straight ahead with a bored expression.
"-What about the bug person?"
"I can't see it."
"-Confirmed."
At first, tension had been in the air.
But people really are quick to adapt.
When nothing happened, his heart quieted down.
『The door closes.』
Madeleine let out a long yawn and stretched.
I hope we can find the exit safely like this.
'Hm?'
Had the door always closed this slowly?
Normally it would have shut quickly enough to make a bang.
At that moment.
Madeleine's expression froze.
Someone was visible through the narrowing gap.
Its skin clung to it like a wet membrane.
Where its nose should have been was gone,
and in its place was a long black proboscis.
The tip, which gleamed like metal, was crusted with dried blood.
Bzz... Bzz....
With every breath, a cry like the flutter of mosquito wings reached him.
The moment he saw the red, grotesquely swollen compound eyes, he wanted to scream.
It squeezed through the gap.
『The door opens.』
The bug person was standing beside him.
And it was staring silently at Madeleine.
"Huff, huff..."
Madeleine desperately forced himself to take deep breaths.
He endured the urge to leap out of the elevator right then and there.
He prayed earnestly that this moment would pass quickly.
His companions had died when they encountered the bug person.
One had picked a fight, and one had tried to talk to it,
but it had all been meaningless.
The only thing he could do
was to do nothing, just as Elder Julius had said.
"-Madeleine? Madeleine?"
The bug person's antennae probed Madeleine.
From his toes to his head, carefully.
A horrifyingly soft sensation swept across his entire face.
His heart was pounding.
His breathing was ragged.
He couldn't even close his eyes for fear of being found out.
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『The door closes.』
A little while later.
The bug person left the machine.
Madeleine slumped down right there.
"Am I... alive?"
It was a relief that he was unharmed, but
his pants were wet.
"Fuck, I never thought I'd piss myself at this age..."
Madeleine let out a sigh and returned to the 1st floor.
And then he told the others what he'd seen.
Julius clenched his fist.
He felt as if he had almost completely solved the elevator's mystery.
If they advanced just a little more, they should be able to get out of the entrance.
The colorless, odorless slime that had been watching them had disappeared,
but no one had noticed.
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