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 that stored explorers' corpses.
He used goblin claws to open the locked door.
Then a stench of rotten meat, utterly different from the scent of goblin corpses, stabbed at his nose; the goblins probably used this to distinguish goblin bodies from explorers' bodies.
Chase glanced at the corpses.
This was the fate of the mercenaries I brought into this dungeon.
They were all presumed to have died while in the middle of becoming goblins, but at first glance the cause of death was impossible to determine.
......
It was all for results.
He had to gather as much information as possible to win over the dwarves.
So he used the mercenaries' greed.
The statement that this was a brand-new dungeon containing mana stones was, after all, true.
The biggest reason Chase had been able to resolve to use the human mercenaries as tools, however,
was because he was the kind of person who thought human lives weighed less than dwarven lives.
Of course, dwarves and humans weren't on bad terms.
The dwarves of Fire Forge, who traded with the North Kingdom in the first place, basically took a friendly stance toward humans.
If Chase hadn't experienced a certain series of incidents as well,
he might have regarded humans favorably just like the other dwarves.
There's a term in this world called confirmation bias.
Chase thought of humans as a race that was more selfish, narrow-minded, and unscrupulous than dwarves.
And that stereotype applied to these mercenaries too.
Grognak said.
That Chase had once been a hotshot wizard—that was true.
Before living as Fire Forge's market assistant, he had been a wizard of the spatial school.
The reason Goldhand was acquainted with a wizard of the spatial school.
The reason he could buy an escape scroll faster than anyone else.
That was entirely thanks to Chase.
Though he never openly showed his true feelings,
Chase disliked humans.
That hatred began the moment a human wizard he had often been friendly with became jealous of Chase's talent, shattered his mana circuit, and made him give up the path of magic.
Well, it was just a trivial little story.
The mercenaries' deaths were nothing more and nothing less than regrettable.
He had brought them here expecting them to die in the first place.
Chase looked 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 was about the elevator.
Judging by what was recorded in the journal, the mercenaries seemed to have been quite cooperative with Chase from the entrance onward.
Because the past me had been happy, saying we might be able to dig up quite a lot of information this time.
......
Chase turned the page.
Judging by the contents, it seemed to have been written starting right after they arrived at the 3rd sector.
.
.
.
P.04
I barely managed to get the journal and pen back from the merchant.
I can't exactly call that fortunate, because they were items obtained from Captain Derid's death.
So far, four people have died in total.
Derid was killed after being bewitched by the merchant, and Pass, Dorji, and Onnik died in the cave.
I never imagined that so many goblins would come pouring out.
If Aurora hadn't urgently pulled me away, I would have died in the cave too.
It was truly a narrow escape.
I didn't know it would be this bad.
I never dreamed it would be a place filled with such ridiculous supernatural 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:
I was going to be killed by the mercenaries.
After all,
to avoid pointless losses,
I had blurted out remarks that sounded like someone who knew about the elevator.
I tried to wrap it up as an intuition,
but it seems some of the mercenaries realized I'd already been here before.
Which meant,
even though they knew how dangerous this place was, they could blame me for hiding that fact from them.
But.
the mercenaries didn't hold me responsible.
So I told them honestly.
Why weren't they angry at me?
Then what was it Aurora said?
"There is nothing more foolish than fighting and hating each other in this situation. No matter what, we're comrades who have to clear the dungeon together right now... and if you want to blame yourself, show it through actions, not words."
It was something like that.
The mercenaries were refreshingly straightforward.
They actually thanked me for being honest.
They said this was a dungeon we'd come to prepared to die in anyway, and since we'd made it this far, we should trust each other and move forward from here on out, and with that they forgave me.
They were weird bastards.
Maybe because they were the kind who lived amid constant fighting and struggle, their way of thinking was strange.
Wasn't it perfectly possible to think Dreamland wasn't responsible, but that I was the one who killed their comrade?
The humans I thought I knew weren't like this.
A sense of guilt crawled up my back.
I cut off my beard as an apology.
And gave it to Aurora, who had saved me, as a gift.
.
.
.
......
Chase turned the page.
So this is what happened.
.
.
.
P.10
The mercenary band's captain is Derid.
His deputy is Aurora.
Derid was killed by the merchant.
So she naturally took over as captain.
In many ways, she's the mood-maker of the mercenary band.
Even in such a desperate situation, seeing that everyone still hasn't given up on clearing the dungeon, she's probably a woman with gentle charisma as well.
Things got tangled up from the very start.
But I was also in a position where I had to gather as much of this information as possible.
I suggested that goblins might distinguish intruders by smell.
The merchant killed Derid and left behind a foul-smelling perfume as a "free gift," so it didn't seem like some meaningless item.
We sprayed on the perfume.
However, we didn't have enough, so we decided to use the nearby trees that bear rotten meat...
.
.
.
......
The mercenaries investigated the cave at a much faster pace than now.
The rules were also established quickly.
Behave like goblins.
And work, then explore in the evening, and so on.
Even though food and water were scarce,
and the past me thought we shouldn't work,
which led to a trivial mishap where I got beaten up by a large goblin also happened,
the situation was definitely more optimistic than it is now.
Because our speed was four times faster.
And.
The most decisive factor was probably the atmosphere of the 6th raid team.
The mercenaries supported Chase.
And Chase also opened his heart to them and relied on those mercenaries.
It would be nice to clear the dungeon with these guys.
At this pace, maybe we can make it somehow?
We can do it. We definitely can.
From sentences like these, I could tell.
Psychological stability. Right.
The past Chase must have definitely been feeling positive emotions toward the mercenaries.
However, there was one thing that bothered him.
"The sentences about the rules have been cleverly erased."
Though it reads easily now that I know quite a lot,
there were quite a few parts hidden to the point where I couldn't have inferred them without the information.
Someone had tampered with the journal.
If so, there was a high probability that other pieces of information were hidden too...
Even so, Chase quickly turned the pages.
.
.
.
P.20
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
■ ■■■ like ■■■ ■■■ ■■■.
Fuck, what the hell is this fucking bullshit.
I can't calm down at all.
How am I supposed to go out and live like this?
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
I'd rather die.
Dying would be a lot better.
I have to get out completely
■■■
before ■■.
I have to get out somehow.
I'm thirsty and hungry too.
My ■■ ■■ keeps ■■■■, and my body's going fucking crazy.
I don't want any more of this, not information or anything else.
I have to get out fast.
I have to get out fast, but I don't have the scroll.
The scroll...
Right, the scroll.
Ah, fuck, my scroll.
The merchant definitely has it.
Can the other bastards buy one too?
No... this can definitely be bought.
When Derid died at the beginning, my journal was brought to the merchant, wasn't it.
Then doesn't that mean other bastards can also buy my scroll.
I have to find a way.
But how?
What if I buy items from the merchant and then die like Derid?
I have to find a method...
A method faster than anyone else...
.
.
.
So goblinization started from around this point...
The past Chase looks less composed than the current me.
After all,
the Chase of that time probably didn't know that if he escaped the dungeon,
goblinization would be undone.
Goblins.
And no one would want to live as a goblin even uglier and more grotesque than those goblins.
He had a bad feeling.
The next part was definitely going to be a catastrophe.
Instinct was warning him.
The truth of this world comes in two kinds.
There are truths you should know.
And truths you should not know.
I shouldn't read any further.
It would mean touching a taboo.
But.
Curiosity always kills the cat.
If I'm curious, I can't rest until I resolve it.
That was also the reason he set foot in this dungeon again.
In the end, he turned the page.
.
.
.
P.22
I found a method.
The merchant was someone you could talk to.
As long as you didn't get bewitched, there was a way.
.
But.
It was meaningless.
The merchant said she didn't sell something called an escape scroll.
That means someone had already bought the escape scroll from the merchant.
What do I do, what do I do, what do I do, what do I do.
Here
■■■
and living forever, I, I...
No.
Calm down.
Let's calm down.
For now, calm down.
The number of people hasn't decreased yet.
That means the bastard with the escape scroll
is still here.
He probably thinks the same as me.
To use the bastards here as much as possible,
then leave the dungeon and sell the information or clear it himself.
He's definitely planning that.
In that case, I should use that thought against him instead.
Kill him now.
It's fine. I'm stronger in a fight.
If necessary, I can use magic.
■■■■ ■■■■■ ■■■.
Since they were investigating one by one to ■■ ■■■,
this was the perfect moment.
.
.
.
......
Chase faced a page drenched in blood.
.
.
.
P.23
I killed Cecil.
No scroll.
I killed Celestin.
No scroll.
I killed Krak.
No scroll.
I killed Audrey.
No scroll.
I killed Ashile.
No scroll.
I killed Arled.
No scroll.
.
.
.
P.24
Aurora had the scroll.
I asked Aurora if she had an escape scroll.
.
She honestly answered that she did.
In case trouble arose over the escape scroll.
She said she had paid the price herself to obtain it.
Looking at the blood on my body, she asked what had happened.
She worried about me.
Did she not know it might be the mercenaries' blood?
Or maybe she hadn't imagined that I killed the mercenaries.
Aurora said not to worry anymore.
She said she had found an elevator leading to the next sector and spoke hopefully.
She said to me,
Are you the owner of the scroll?
I'll return it to you, so use it if there's no answer in the end.
She said all that was left was to find a way to get my belongings back from the merchant,
she said.
I didn't answer.
I instinctively felt something had gone wrong.
So I just turned her into a corpse.
I didn't have the courage to continue the conversation with her.
And now I remain alone in the dungeon.
I can just use the scroll like this.
I should be able to use it.
Useless thoughts keep stabbing at my head.
Why didn't Aurora use the scroll right away?
Was she waiting for a chance to take the journal from me?
Right. If she had to take the information out, then only I had the journal...
But,
if that's the case...
there were too many openings starting from when we slept...
If escape was her goal, she could have just left...
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
.
And yet.
Right at this timing.
Why, why, why, why...
My head was spinning.
.
.
.
There was no next page.
It looked like someone had torn it out.
To Chase, who stood there dumbly,
the slime crept up to him at some point.
And handed him the page of the journal Chase had burned
and the page he had failed to find.
.
.
.
P.30
I can say with certainty that setting foot in Dreamland was the stupidest thing I have ever done.
Things like ■■■ or ■■... those were only tiny fragments.
.
The most terrible thing was something else.
That I could clear this dungeon.
That once I went back with plenty of information, we should definitely start the clear.
I realize now how foolish those thoughts were.
I want to go back.
I want to go back.
I want to go back.
Not back outside.
I want to go back to before the 6th raid began.
I don't know.
Even if I go out, can I ever return to how I was?
I don't think I have the courage to face the sins I committed.
.
At the very least, being able to lose my memory was a relief.
It was better to live as a coward than to die bravely.
That's certain.
.
If.
If only.
If I were given a chance to forget everything that happened in this dungeon and live a new life.
I would never waste that life.
God, please give me one chance to set everything right...
.
.
.
P.31
NevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehereNevercomehere...
.
.
.
Chase examined the corpses.
Only now could he determine the cause of death.
I definitely killed them.
When he checked Aurora's decaying body,
he was also able to find the beard he had given Aurora.
The journal hadn't been tampered with.
This was my story.
My original sin,
the taboo the God of Forgetfulness told me not to open.
The slime at his side spat out one last note.
It wasn't a page from the journal.
「Don't ever come back」
It was a message someone had sent him.
The wriggling slime vanished without a trace.
"......"
Chase faced the taboo head-on.
How long had he been standing there blankly?
Only when his legs started to ache did his thoughts finally begin to move.
Chase stepped forward.
He couldn't set everything right, but
there were things he had to do one last time.
.
.
.
.
.
Chase first headed for the forest.
The merchant appeared swiftly, as if she had been waiting for him.
"I'll buy one escape scroll."
Then the merchant smiled.
Her hand pierced through Chase's abdomen.
.
But there was no pain.
There was no wound, not even a trace of torn flesh.
Like a ghost, like an illusion, the hand that rummaged through his stomach cleanly took only the price.
The merchant handed Chase one escape scroll.
And.
【I sell escape scrolls. Those are the things you need, right?】
She asked while glancing at Grognak, who was asleep.
Chase didn't answer.
The merchant kept smiling and nodded.
.
She waved her hand.
It was probably her version of a goodbye.
.
After the merchant disappeared,
Chase looked at the journal used during this raid.
【7th Raid Result】
【Author: Chase】
Fwoosh.
Flames flickered and roared.
Then all the records were erased.
Just like forgetting.
And he tore out the page from the journal used in the 6th raid.
And moved the pen.
.
What Chase was writing was a last will and testament.
Summarized, the contents of the will were as follows.
A promise that Chase, the market assistant of Fire Forge, would distribute his assets equally to the bereaved families of the mercenaries who took part in Dreamland's 6th raid, including Derid and Aurora.
An apology to those who died in Dreamland, and to Market Goldhand and all the dwarves.
His thanks to his friend Grognak, who had followed him all the way to the dungeon,
and a request that he deliver and carry out the contents of the will, though it would surely be terribly troublesome.
「Never come here」
And.
Even the message he had received from someone.
'This should be enough.'
Chase stopped writing.
He put it in 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 language.
.
But.
Since he didn't seem hostile toward me,
he doesn't seem to be a complete goblin yet.
Chase gave a bitter smile.
"I wrote everything down in the journal. Read it once you get out. I plan to stay here a little longer and gather more information about the dungeon."
"……."
"Considering how much the escape scroll costs, I need to get my money's worth before leaving. Don't worry and wait quietly in Fire Forge."
Grognak then used the escape scroll.
Chase prayed that his friend would never come to this dreadful place of his own accord.
Chase was once again left alone in the cave.
.
.
.
.
.
Chase thought.
He wondered whether he, a dwarf, might enter Dreamland again.
.
He was curious by nature,
had a strong sense of curiosity,
and was greedy too, so he might drag other people into this dungeon again.
.
If that's the case,
maybe it would be fine to just stay here.
.
If this is my ending anyway,
if this is my unchanging ending,
there was no need to drag this story out any further.
.
.
.
.
.
Chase decided that from then on, he would live like a goblin.
He continued his life as a diligent goblin who slept at night, woke in the morning, and worked.
"Hey. Don't you think today's work■■ is pretty much■■?"
.
As time passed.
The goblins' language became clearer and clearer.
.
His vision grew dim.
Smells became even more distinct.
.
Even so, he did not put the rotten meat in his mouth.
The original food he had brought from outside the dungeon tasted nauseatingly awful,
.
and yet slowly.
Just slowly.
he was simply being assimilated into this place.
.
.
.
.
.
His vision completely shut down.
Now he could move around and understand his surroundings using only smell and hearing.
.
Memories of himself gradually disappeared.
The past, knowledge, everything was dyed black.
At some point, he no longer remembered his own name.
.
What was my name again?
I don't know.
Is a name really that important?
.
It isn't needed for eating and sleeping.
Then I guess I can just forget it.
.
I am a goblin who works in the cave.
Memory isn't important to goblins.
Then I guess I can just forget it.
.
"Hey. Are you eating that disgusting stuff again today?"
.
A goblin said.
.
"Ah, yeah."
"Only intruders eat things like that."
"I guess so."
"Then why do you eat it? You're confusing the goblins that can smell you."
"I don't know. I have to eat this instead of meat. This stuff just won't leave my mind."
"Weird guy."
.
And so another day passed.
.
.
.
.
.
"■■■■■."
.
Suddenly, someone greeted me.
It wasn't a language we used.
But it was a strangely understandable voice.
.
It wasn't one of the intruders.
After all,
a being this warm and peaceful
couldn't possibly be a despicable enemy.
It must surely be a lovable, beautiful being.
.
"Hello."
.
I greeted him and bowed my head.
.
"■■■ ■■■■■?"
.
Asking if I wanted rest.
Asking if I wanted a new chance.
If you ask me that,
.
well,
.
goblin life is busy and harsh.
and boring and not much fun,
.
and yet.
I don't feel like stopping.
.
It is the last thing I have to do.
I have to do this.
■■■ thought at least that much.
.