Chapter 53
Chase arrived at the storage room on the first floor.
There were three storage rooms in total, and Chase's target was the one where the explorers' corpses were kept.
He used a goblin's claws to open the locked door.
A smell unlike rotten meat or goblin corpses stabbed at his nose, and the goblins seemed to use it to distinguish goblin corpses from explorers' corpses.
Chase glanced at the corpses.
This was the fate of the mercenaries I had dragged into this dungeon.
They had all presumably died while their goblinization was progressing, but there was no visible cause of death.
"……."
It had been solely for the sake of results.
He had needed to dig up as much information as possible to change the dwarves' minds.
That was why he had taken advantage of the mercenaries' greed.
After all, the claim that this was a newly established dungeon containing magic stones was, at least, true.
However, the biggest reason Chase had been able to resolve to use human mercenaries as tools was this.
It was probably because he considered human lives less valuable than dwarf lives.
Of course, dwarves and humans were not on bad terms.
The dwarves of Fire Forge, which had been trading with the Kingdom of North, were basically friendly toward humans.
If Chase himself had not gone through the series of events he had.
He might have viewed humans favorably, just like the other dwarves.
There is a term in this world called confirmation bias.
Chase believed that humans were a more selfish, narrow-minded, and wicked race than dwarves.
And that prejudice had been applied to these mercenaries as well.
Grognak had said so.
He had said that Chase was once a famous wizard, and that was true.
Before living as the mayor's aide in Fire Forge, he had been a wizard of the Spatial School.
The reason Goldhand had been acquainted with a wizard of the Spatial School.
The reason they had been able to purchase an escape scroll faster than anyone else.
It was all thanks to Chase.
Although he had never openly revealed his true feelings.
Chase hated humans.
That hatred had begun when a human wizard he had been close to, jealous of Chase's talent, had destroyed his mana circuits and made him give up the path of magic.
Well, it was just a dull, ordinary story.
The mercenaries' deaths were nothing more or less than regrettable.
He had brought them here expecting them to die in the first place.
Chase turned his eyes away from the corpses.
He picked up the journal on the shelf.
This was the journal he had written during the previous raid.
He opened the first page.
Most of it concerned the elevator.
Judging by what had been recorded in the journal, the mercenaries had been quite cooperative with Chase from the entrance onward.
Because his past self had been happy, thinking that this time he would be able to dig up a great deal of information.
"……."
Chase turned the page.
Judging by the contents, it seemed to have been written starting immediately after they arrived in Zone 3.
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P.04
I had barely managed to get the journal and pen back from the merchant.
I couldn't call it nothing but fortunate, since I had obtained them through Captain Derid's death.
Four people have died so far.
Derid was bewitched by the merchant and died, while Pass, Dorji, and Onnic died in the cave.
I never imagined that so many goblins would come pouring out.
I nearly died in the cave too, if Aurora hadn't dragged me away in a panic.
It was truly a narrow escape.
I had no idea it would be this bad.
I truly never dreamed this place would be filled with such impossible, bizarre phenomena.
The sight of countless goblins pouring down like a waterfall is still vivid in my mind.
Was the elevator really only the beginning?
To be honest, after going through all that.
I thought the mercenaries would kill me.
And for good reason.
I had said things that someone who 'knew about the elevator' would say, in order to avoid pointless losses.
I tried to somehow disguise it as intuition.
But it seemed some of the mercenaries had noticed that I had already been here before.
In other words.
Even though I knew how dangerous this place was, I had hidden that fact from them, so they had every right to berate me.
But.
The mercenaries did not hold me responsible.
So I spoke honestly with them.
I asked them why they weren't angry with me.
Then what was it that Aurora had said?
"There is nothing more foolish in this situation than fighting and hating each other. Regardless, we're comrades who have to conquer this dungeon together right now…… If you want to blame yourself, show it through your actions, not your words."
It had been something along those lines.
The mercenaries were refreshingly straightforward.
They even thanked me for being honest.
They said that they had come to a dungeon prepared to die anyway, and that now that they had come this far, we should trust one another and move forward from here on out. That was how they forgave me.
They were strange bastards.
Maybe it was because they had always lived amid fighting and struggle, but their way of thinking was strange.
Given the circumstances, they could easily have thought that I, not Dreamland, had killed their comrades.
The humans I knew hadn't been like this.
It felt as though guilt were crawling up my back.
I cut off my beard as an apology.
And I gave it to Aurora, who had saved me, as a gift.
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"……."
Chase turned the page.
So this had happened.
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P.10
The mercenary company's captain is Derid.
The vice-captain is Aurora.
Derid died to the merchant.
So she naturally took over as captain.
She is something of the mood-maker of the mercenary company.
Even in this desperate situation, everyone is still continuing the dungeon raid, so she must also be a woman with gentle charisma.
Things went wrong from the very beginning.
I was also in a position where I had to gather as much information as possible.
I suggested that the goblins might distinguish intruders by their sense of smell.
The merchant killed Derid and left behind a foul-smelling perfume as a free gift, so I didn't think it was a meaningless item.
We sprayed ourselves with the perfume.
However, there wasn't enough for everyone, so we decided to use the trees that bore rotten meat nearby…….
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"……."
The mercenaries investigated the cave at a much faster pace than before.
The rules were also established quickly.
Act like goblins.
Explore in the evening after working, and so on.
Although we were short on food and water.
And although my past self thought we shouldn't work.
There was even a minor incident where we were beaten by a large goblin.
The situation was definitely more optimistic than it is now.
We were moving four times faster.
And.
The most decisive factor was probably the atmosphere of the sixth raid party.
The mercenaries supported Chase.
And Chase also opened his heart to them and relied on them.
It would be nice to raid the dungeon with these people.
If the atmosphere stayed like this, maybe we could somehow make it through?
We can do it. We definitely can.
You could tell by looking at sentences like these.
A sense of psychological security. Yes.
Chase in the past must have been feeling those good emotions toward the mercenaries.
However, there was one thing that bothered him.
"The sentences containing the parts about the rules have been cunningly erased."
Now that he knew quite a lot, he could read them easily.
But there were many parts obscured to a degree that made them impossible to deduce without the information.
Someone had tampered with the journal.
If so, then there was a high probability that other information had been obscured as well…….
Even so, Chase quickly turned the page.
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P.20
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
■ ■ was like ■■■ ■■■ ■■■.
Fuck, what the fucking fuck is this supposed to be?
I can't calm down at all.
How am I supposed to get out and live like this?
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
It would be better to die.
Dying would be much better.
Completely
■■■
I have to get out before ■■.
I have to get out somehow.
I'm thirsty and hungry too.
I keep ■■ ■■ ■■■■, and my body is going fucking crazy.
I don't care about information or anything anymore.
I have to get out quickly.
I need to get out quickly, but I don't have a scroll.
The scroll……
That's right, the scroll.
Ah, fuck, my scroll.
The merchant definitely has it.
Can the others buy it too?
No... there's a hundred-percent chance they can buy it.
When Derid died at the beginning, he brought my journal to the merchant.
Then doesn't that mean the others can buy my scroll too?
I have to do something.
But what should I do?
What if I buy something from the merchant and die like Derid?
I have to find a way……
A way faster than anyone else……
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"Did the goblinization begin around this point……?"
His past self seemed to have far less leeway than he did now.
And for good reason.
Chase at the time probably didn't know that escaping outside the dungeon would undo the goblinization.
A goblin.
And there probably wasn't a single person who wanted to live as a goblin more ugly and grotesque than those goblins.
He had a bad feeling.
This next part would surely be a catastrophe.
His instincts were warning him.
There are two kinds of truths in this world.
Truths that it is all right to know.
And truths that must not be known.
I must not read any further.
Because I would be touching a taboo.
But.
Curiosity always kills the cat.
I can't rest until I satisfy my curiosity.
That was also why he had set foot in this dungeon again.
In the end, he turned the page.
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P.22
I found a way.
The merchant was an entity capable of conversation.
As long as I didn't get bewitched, I could somehow manage.
But.
It was meaningless.
The merchant said that she did not sell an item called an escape scroll.
That meant someone had already purchased an escape scroll from the merchant.
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do?
Here
■■■
and live forever, I, I….
No.
Calm down.
Let's calm down.
For now, I have to calm down.
The number of people has not decreased yet.
That means the bastard who has the escape scroll
is still here.
He's probably thinking the same thing as me.
He must be planning to use the people here as much as possible.
Then leave the dungeon and sell the information or publish a strategy guide.
That's definitely what he's thinking.
If so, then I should turn that idea against him.
I have to kill him now.
It's all right. I'm stronger in terms of force.
If necessary, I can use magic.
■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■.
We had been splitting up one by one to investigate for ■■ ■■■.
Now was the perfect time.
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"……."
Chase was confronted by a page covered in blood.
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P.23
I killed Cecil.
There is no scroll.
I killed Celestine.
There is no scroll.
I killed Krark.
There is no scroll.
I killed Audrey.
There is no scroll.
I killed Asile.
There is no scroll.
I killed Arld.
There is no scroll.
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P.24
Aurora had the scroll.
I asked Aurora if she had the escape scroll.
She honestly answered that she did.
Worried that the escape scroll might cause a dispute.
She insisted that she had it because she had paid the price herself for now.
She worried when she saw the blood on my body and asked what had happened.
Could she not tell whether it was the mercenaries' blood?
Perhaps she had never imagined that I had killed the mercenaries.
Aurora cheerfully told me not to worry anymore.
She had discovered an elevator that could take us to the next zone.
She said to me.
Were you the owner of the scroll?
She said she would give it back, and that I should use it at the end if there was no answer.
She said all we had to do was find a way to get our belongings back from the merchant,
and spoke like that.
I did not answer.
Because I had a gut feeling that something had gone wrong.
So I simply turned her into a corpse.
I had no courage to continue talking with her.
And now I am alone in the dungeon.
I can just use the scroll like this.
I should be able to use it.
Pointless thoughts kept stabbing at my head.
Why hadn't Aurora used the scroll right away?
Was she waiting for a chance to take the journal from me?
Yes. Because she had to take the information outside, and I was the only one who had the journal……
But,
even so……
There had been too many openings, starting from when we slept……
If escaping had been her goal, she could have simply left……
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
Of all times.
At this exact moment.
Why, why, why, why……
His head was spinning.
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There was no next page.
It seemed someone had torn it out.
As Chase stood there blankly.
A slime came wriggling toward him before he knew it.
And it handed him the pages of the journal Chase had burned.
Along with a page he had failed to find.
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P.30
I can say with certainty that setting foot in Dreamland was the stupidest thing I have ever done.
Something like ■■■, or ■■…… those were only tiny fragments.
The most horrifying thing was something else.
That I thought I could conquer this dungeon.
That I thought I should return with a great deal of information and then begin the raid.
Only now did I realize how idiotic those thoughts had been.
I want to go back.
I want to go back.
I want to go back.
I don't want to go back outside.
I want to go back to before the sixth raid began.
I don't know.
Even if I get outside, will I be able to return to normal?
I don't have the confidence to face the sins I committed.
At least, it was fortunate that I might lose my memories.
It was better to live as a coward than die bravely.
This much was certain.
If.
If, by some tiny chance.
I were given the chance to forget everything that happened in this dungeon and live a new life.
I would never waste that life.
God, please, just give me one chance to set everything right……
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P.31
NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE NEVERCOMEHERE...
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Chase examined the corpses.
Only now could he determine their causes of death.
There was no doubt that I had killed them.
When he examined Aurora's body, which was rotting away.
He found his own beard as well.
The journal had not been tampered with.
This was my story.
My original sin.
The taboo itself, which the God of Oblivion had told me not to open.
The slime beside him spat out one final note.
It was not a page from the journal.
「Don't come here again」
It was a message someone had left for him.
The slime wriggled away and disappeared.
"……."
Chase faced the taboo.
How long had he stood there blankly?
Only when his legs began to ache did his thoughts finally start moving.
Chase began to walk.
He couldn't set everything right.
But there were things he had to do one last time.
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Chase headed for the forest first.
The merchant appeared swiftly, as though she had been waiting for him.
"I'll buy one escape scroll."
The merchant smiled.
Her hand pierced Chase's abdomen.
But there was no pain.
There was no sign of a wound or incision.
Like a ghost, like an illusion, the hand that had rummaged through his stomach took only the price and came away clean.
The merchant handed Chase an escape scroll.
And then.
【I sell escape scrolls. Those are the things you need, right?】
She asked while glancing at the sleeping Grognak.
But Chase did not answer.
The merchant nodded while maintaining her smile.
She waved her hand.
It was probably her own way of saying goodbye.
Once the merchant disappeared.
Chase looked at the journal he had used during this raid.
【7th Raid Result】
【Author: Chase】
Whoosh.
Flames flickered and roared.
Then all the records disappeared.
Just like oblivion.
And he tore out the pages of the journal used during the sixth raid.
Then he moved the pen.
What Chase was writing was a will.
To summarize the contents of the will:
A promise to distribute Chase's assets, as the mayor's aide of Fire Forge, equally among the families of the mercenaries who participated in the sixth raid of Dreamland, including Derid and Aurora.
An apology to those who died in Dreamland, as well as to Mayor Goldhand and all the dwarves.
A message of thanks to his friend Grognak, who had followed him all the way to the dungeon.
And a request that, troublesome as it would be, he deliver and carry out the contents of the will properly.
「Never come here」
And.
The message he had received from someone.
'This should be enough.'
Chase stopped his pen.
He tucked it into Grognak's arms and woke him.
"Grognak. Grognak."
"■■■■……."
"Good news. Wake up quickly."
"■■ ■■ ■■■. ■■ ■■■."
"I found a way to get our belongings back from the merchant."
"■■■……? ■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■■■."
Grognak no longer spoke human words.
But.
Judging by the fact that he did not treat me as an enemy.
He did not seem to have become a complete goblin.
Chase gave a bitter smile.
"I've written everything in the journal. Read it after you get out. I'm going to stay here a little longer and gather information about the dungeon."
"……."
"The escape scroll cost a lot, so I have to get my money's worth before leaving. Don't worry and wait patiently in Fire Forge."
Grognak used the escape scroll just like that.
Chase prayed that his friend would never come to this terrible place of his own accord.
Chase was once again left alone in the cave.
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Chase thought.
Would a dwarf like me enter Dreamland again?
He was highly inquisitive.
He was highly curious.
And he was greedy enough that he might drag others into this dungeon again.
If that were the case.
It would be all right just to remain here like this.
If this was my ending anyway.
If this was my unchanging ending.
There was no need to drag this story out any further.
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Chase decided to live like a goblin from then on.
He continued living as a diligent goblin who slept in the evening, woke in the morning, and worked.
"Hey. Don't you think we'll do quite a bit of wor■■ today, don't you th■■k■■?"
As time passed.
The goblins' language became increasingly clear to him.
His vision grew dim.
And he became more sensitive to smells.
Even so, he never put his mouth to the rotten meat.
The original food he had brought from outside the dungeon tasted bad enough to make him vomit.
Even so, slowly.
Just slowly.
He merely assimilated into this place.
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His vision closed completely.
He became able to understand and move around his surroundings using only his sense of smell and hearing.
His memories of himself gradually disappeared.
His past, his knowledge, everything was dyed black.
At some point, he could no longer remember his name.
What was my name?
I don't know.
Is a name really that important?
You don't need it to eat and sleep.
Then I can just forget it.
I am a goblin who works in the cave.
Memories are not important to goblins.
Then I can just forget it.
"Hey. Are you eating that disgusting thing again today?"
A goblin said.
"Ah, yes."
"Only intruders eat things like that."
"I suppose so."
"But why eat that? It confuses the goblins who smell you."
"I don't know. I have to eat this instead of meat. I can't seem to forget this."
"What a strange one."
And so another day passed.
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"■■■■■."
Someone suddenly greeted me.
It was not the language we used.
But it was a strange voice whose meaning I could understand.
It was not an intruder.
And for good reason.
Something this warm and peaceful
could never be a hateful enemy.
It must surely be a lovely and beautiful being.
"Greetings."
I greeted him and bowed my head.
"■■■ ■■■■■?"
If he asked whether I wanted to rest.
If he asked whether I wanted a new opportunity.
If he asked me that.
Well.
A goblin's life is busy and harsh.
Boring and uninteresting, but.
Even so.
I don't feel like stopping.
This is the last thing I must do.
I must do this.
■■■ at least thought so.
He respected me.
Thankfully.
"Farewell."
"■■■."
He disappeared.
Then, astonishingly, time stopped.
Could anyone capable of doing such a thing be anything other than our god?
It must surely have been an honor to meet him.
Until time began to flow again.
I fell into an eternal yet finite dream.
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It is said that a goblin wearing clothes occasionally appears in Goblin Cave.
He works more diligently than anyone.
As soon as work ends, he goes straight to sleep.
When morning breaks, he heads to the workplace faster than anyone else.
His defining trait is that he never puts rotten meat in his mouth.
But he occasionally scavenges and eats the trash left behind by intruders.
Even while making a disgusted face, he stubbornly ate the trash, and the goblins gave this oddball a new name.
***
The wave ended like that.
I uploaded the final live feed and closed the gallery.
Normally, I would have spent time exchanging comments.
But I felt unsettled.
He had been an enemy, an intruder who had to be defeated.
Yet I did not feel refreshed or relieved.
Maybe it was because I was a softhearted Dungeon Master.
I still didn't really know.
All I could do for the dwarf was warn him not to make any more mistakes, and say goodbye to the one who had chosen his end, that was all.
"Farewell."
I left the quiet third zone, where the forest and cave had disappeared, holding someone's escape scroll in my hand.