Chapter 76
The intruders on the monitor started climbing briskly.
From the 2nd floor to the 3rd, from the 3rd to the 4th.
"Looks like they're starting to get the hang of it."
Honestly, I think the Ghost Mansion is an area that's easy to clear as long as you stay careful.
Because each floor has the same seven rooms—parlor, master bedroom, dining room, and so on—and that structure just repeats all the way up to the 80th floor.
To put it simply, copy one floor
and paste it 80 times—that's basically the Ghost Mansion.
Like the other areas, the mansion definitely has rules.
Each room has etiquette to follow, and if you break it, the death count builds up and you die.
But here's the thing.
Unlike the other areas, breaking the rules doesn't kill you outright,
and from the start, it's just seven identical rooms repeating from the 1st floor to the 80th.
Honestly, I think it smells like crap.
Because if we assume we can figure out all the rules on the 1st floor,
wouldn't the intruders be able to keep avoiding the death count on the next floor too?
That's the natural conclusion, right?
Of course, that's only half-right.
Because the rules on odd-numbered floors and even-numbered floors are different.
Let me give you a simple example.
On odd-numbered floors like the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th, you have to get a key from the storage room to open the door.
On even-numbered floors like the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th, you have to break the door down, key or no key.
That's roughly how odd and even floors are opposites.
Like a mirror.
There is one more thing you could call a precaution.
The amount the count accumulates on odd and even floors is different.
On the 1st floor, one.
On the 2nd floor, two.
On the 3rd floor, one again.
On the 4th floor, two again.
It's something like that.
So the proper strategy is,
first figure out all the rules needed to move forward with the minimum death count on the 1st and 2nd floors,
then find the elevator somewhere in the remaining floors without accumulating any count.
Anyway.
In the Dreamland Dungeon Master's overall assessment,
the Ghost Mansion so far has been so easy it's almost boring.
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Golem King : Hm... the mansion's guys are holding up better than I expected
ㄴDIP : Well, there were a lot of them, so yeah ㅇㅇ
ㄴDIP : And maybe because the remaining knights are braver than expected
ㄴDIP : Look at them, so damn bold
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Newbie!
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : I have something I'm curious about
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : You know the mansion's death count, right?
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : It goes up by 1 on the 1st floor... and by 2 on the 2nd floor... so does it go up by 3 on the 3rd floor and by 4 on the 4th??
ㄴNewbie : That's not it ㅠㅠ
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : Too bad
ㄴShibgan Love Dog : It would've been nice if it were like that ㅠㅠ
ㄴNewbie : What a shame ㅠㅠ
ㄴSealed Conqueror : But I think they’re starting to catch on to the mansion's rules
ㄴSealed Conqueror : Is this really 5-star?? Why does it feel so weak
ㄴSealed Philosopher : Do you think the fake Yongyonggari who's been gathering strength so far is some joke?
ㄴNewbie : lol;;
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Of course, it's bound to feel boring.
After all, just look at Dreamland's aces.
Goblin Cave and the School were covered in gimmicks that interfered with exploration itself.
And most rule violations led to death, so that impression isn't strange.
The strange phenomena that had shown up so far as the mansion's "rules"
were relatively kind to the intruders compared to the other areas.
The lever to go to the next floor is in the parlor or the master bedroom to begin with,
so there was no need to visit every room, nor to learn every rule.
But I think the mansion's rules themselves are a decoy.
The real thing hasn't even appeared yet.
The fake Yongyonggari mixed in with the group is the prime example, and the real question was when it would start causing trouble.
I think the mansion's true terror comes from the underling called "The Unattainable Mirror."
That underling was the alpha and omega of the Ghost Mansion.
Honestly, I thought fake Yongyonggari would kill the intruders early on, or something like that?
"Hmm."
If you look at the description of 【The Unattainable Mirror (★5)】.
It's clearly harboring hostility toward the intruders.
But why is it being so quiet?
Fake Yongyonggari should even have memories of being betrayed by Dragred.
"Well, let's just watch for now."
"Eh?"
Even if I'm the Dungeon Master of a strange-phenomenon themed dungeon, I don't understand everything in their hearts.
Fake Yongyonggari must have its own thoughts too.
***
Dreamland, Area 3.
Mansion, 4th Floor, 00:00.
The group gathered in the corridor.
And led by Krok, they went over what they'd learned so far once more.
"In this mansion, if you take certain actions—in other words, if you break the rules—the death count accumulates. It triggers when the death count reaches 7. After that, the marked person dies and 7 is deducted."
"That's right."
So far, two people had been sacrificed.
But those sacrifices definitely had meaning.
We don't know every rule of the mansion yet,
but we did learn one crucial fact.
"The 1st and 3rd floors had the same rules."
"The 2nd and 4th floors had the same rules too."
The rules differ by floor.
However, odd-numbered floors seem to share the same rules with other odd-numbered floors,
and even-numbered floors have different rules from odd-numbered ones.
The reason is simple.
This time, by taking a key from the storage room on the 3rd floor
and coming up in the same way as the 1st floor, Krok became certain.
The 4th floor also had the same rules as the 2nd floor,
and the 1st and 3rd floors had the same overall color.
The 2nd and 4th floors were darker than that, so now the common traits of each floor could be distinguished with the naked eye.
Of course, we should look a little more carefully for safety's sake.
This means we can move forward without building up the death count.
In other words, we can keep advancing.
Anyway.
The rules the group had uncovered so far are as follows.
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Odd-numbered floors
Do not break the door down (presumed). Do not enter the master bedroom. Do not eat the meal served in the dining room (presumed, since it was mentioned before that Olivia ate there). Do not remain on the odd-numbered floors from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (presumed).
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Even-numbered floors
Do not touch anything in the storage room. Do not enter the parlor (presumed). Do not use an escape scroll. Do not open doors with a key. As with the odd-numbered floors, do not wander around during the forbidden hours (presumed).
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They had learned the minimum set of rules needed to move forward.
It was a tremendous gain.
But.
There was still one troubling point.
When Olivia tried to use an escape scroll on the 2nd floor,
and when the group tried to take a key from the storage room, the count rose by 2 each time.
It wasn't because they broke two rules.
That much was certain.
It would be reasonable to think that on the 2nd floor, the death count accumulates by two at a time.
In that case, they had to be careful on the 3rd and 4th floors too.
If the death count rises in proportion to the floor number, then breaking the rules on the upper floors would be nothing short of a major disaster.
「3」
The count that had been on Leo's forehead moved to Bitters.
Maybe the mark is randomly transferred to another person every two hours.
With that, the basic exploration method for the mansion had been established.
The 5th floor, the 6th floor, the 7th floor, the 8th floor too.
If it's like this all the way to the 80th floor, exploration from here on out shouldn't be a problem.
What's left is how to deal with thirst and hunger, and the forbidden hours on even-numbered floors.
On odd-numbered floors, forbidden hours exist.
On the 1st floor, the count went up by as much as 6 at once.
That means six people broke the rules at once.
At that time, the group wasn't doing anything at all,
and were only chatting in the corridor in front of the stairs leading to the 2nd floor,
there was no way to explain this phenomenon unless it was the forbidden hours.
Of course, even-numbered floors might not have forbidden hours.
But it couldn't hurt to be careful either.
Because that would be the only disaster in this mansion that could wipe out the party all at once.
The reason they were even wary of meals was
that this mansion had a place called a dining room, and food was laid out there.
The fact that it looked like perfectly normal food was troubling.
They could make do with the supplies they brought,
but it might actually end up adding to the death count.
Before he died, Hector said that Olivia ate the dining room food on the 1st floor.
And when they shared information, on Leo's forehead
「1」
was engraved.
Based on everything they'd learned so far,
「1」
most likely appeared when Olivia ate the food in the dining room.
Then the 2nd floor might be different.
Since it was a place with rules opposite to the 1st floor in many ways.
"I'll check once on the 2nd floor. Bitters—no, wait... there is also a chance the mark will transfer, so everyone please wait in front of the stairs leading from the 2nd floor to the 3rd. Please bear with your thirst and hunger for a little while. It's better to be as careful as possible."
"I'll check once. You lot take turns resting while keeping watch."
Krok thanked Dragred for his kindness.
To be honest, he wanted to rest.
They had gone through a lot today.
The group headed to the 3rd floor.
And collapsed onto the floor.
It wasn't just Krok; everyone looked exhausted.
Unlike the ones taking a break,
Dragred went down to the 2nd floor.
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Dreamland, Area 3.
Mansion, 3rd Floor, 02:00.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!"
Dragred's scream came from the 2nd floor.
The group, dozing off in front of the stairs, snapped awake.
「3」
Krok reflexively looked at Bitters's forehead.
Fortunately, the count was unchanged.
"I'll go down and check."
"E-even so..."
"If I need assistance, I'll shout to signal you."
Krok ran.
As he hurried toward the source of the scream, he saw Dragred confronting someone.
"G...i...v...e... i...t... b...a...c...k."
Krok checked Dragred's condition before looking at the enemy.
One of his arms had been severed.
It was a horrific cross-section, as if someone had twisted it off by brute force and torn it apart.
The bleeding looked severe; if he didn't treat it, it seemed dangerous.
Dragred took a step back with a frightened expression.
But.
The opponent simply closed the distance by that much again.
"That is..."
Krok grimaced.
It was a strange phenomenon.
It was a woman who looked exactly like Dragred.
Horns, wings, and a tail.
She was presumably a polymorphed dragon.
But she wasn't an ordinary dragon.
Her body was melting away, after all.
It felt as if mud were slowly sliding off her.
After seeing that grotesquely horrific appearance,
bile rose up in his throat.
"A dungeon minion... I take it?"
"......Looks that way."
"Are you all right?"
"......The pain is barely bearable, and I have a healing potion too. But that thing is the problem."
Every time Dragred took a step back, the monster followed.
"G...i...v...e... i...t... b...a...c...k."
The distance slowly began to close.
At this rate, Dragred would be killed by that monster.
'Every strange phenomenon has a way to resolve it.'
Krok thought.
And thought again.
It was physically impossible to run away from that monster.
Krok drew the sword at his waist.
And hurled it precisely at its forehead, but.
judging by how it melted, that didn't seem to be the answer either.
"Damn, there has to be a way..."
If I'm being honest now,
Krok hadn't liked Dragred at first.
That was because,
as the so-called leader, he had acted passively every time in this mansion,
and had never once stepped forward in front of them.
He had received a reputation far beyond what he deserved.
He was a coward, contrary to the rumors.
He thought that assessment would never change.
But.
After Hector died,
he fulfilled his duties as a leader and as a vassal of Wolphafen.
If the knights wouldn't step up, he'd step up alone.
Those words moved the hearts of many knights, Krok included.
He was indispensable to conquering Dreamland.
Both now and in the future.
So they couldn't lose him here.
"Longsword."
"Pardon?"
Among the items in the storage room, the only one whose purpose we couldn't figure out might work.
Ah.
Right.
There was that.
If you can't run away,
if you can't hide,
in the end, you have to fight and win.
"Bring me the longsword!"
Krok shouted.
So that his voice would reach the group on the 3rd floor.
As loudly as possible.
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You can't take items from the 2nd floor storage room,
but the 1st floor storage room and the 3rd floor storage room are different.
The odd-numbered and even-numbered floors of this mansion
had different rules, after all.
Therefore, the knights had two longswords.
Comfort and Krok grabbed them.
At first, they hesitated.
Was this really the right answer?
"G...i...v...e... i...t... b...a...c...k."
But they had no choice.
If they didn't, Dragred would be done for.
"Yes. This is Hector and Olivia's revenge. We'll kill this thing and soothe their spirits, however slightly."
"G...i...v...e... i...t... b...a...c...k."
The first to move was Comfort.
He sprang forward and drove his blade straight into the monster's core.
"R...e...t...u...r...n...!!"
The monster writhed in pain.
It was working.
"Look at this stupid bastard. The longsword seems to hurt it plenty. It doesn't even look like it's trying to counterattack, hahaha!"
Comfort's sword began to rain down fierce blows.
He swung it mercilessly, as if avenging Olivia, who had been reduced to a lump of meat.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die, you monster!"
The monster was tough.
Krok also joined in from the side.
"M...y b...o...d...y..."
"What the hell has this bastard been mumbling about all this time?"
"No need to respond. Let's kill it."
"I...t h...u...r...t...s... S...t...o...p..."
It was closer to a slaughter than a fight.
The monster's screams and the knight's crazed rage twisted together in a bizarre tangle.
Dragred closed his eyes.
His expression looked serene, as if soft music were drifting to him.
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The monster disappeared.
More precisely, only the monster's remains were left on the corridor floor.
"Ahaha, I feel so refreshed."
"We'd just been dragged around all this time. It feels good, like we landed a hit on the Dungeon Master."
The knights laughed.
Relief, joy, satisfaction, exhilaration.
Those were surely the emotions they felt.
"Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha!"
And then.
Of them all, the one who looked happiest by far was Dragred.
"Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha!"
He gulped down a healing potion as if he were having the time of his life.
His severed arm didn't come back, but the bleeding stopped and the wound closed.
"Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha!"
Then he clutched his stomach with one hand.
Laughing while crying like a madman,
"Hahaha, hahaha, hahaha!"
and sharing the joy of victory with the cheerful-looking knights, arms slung over their shoulders,
looked somehow eerie.
"……."
Only Krok looked at Bitters with a blank expression.
It was fortunate that they had defeated the monster.
A monster dangerous to them was gone.
That was truly fortunate, but
「5」
for some reason, the count had gone up.