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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Wall.
Wall.
Wall.
Countless walls blocked the advance of the tentacles.
No matter how strong and fast the grotesque creature’s fierce attacks were, it could not ignore the walls.
Although the walls that the tentacles collided with cracked and collapsed, their effect of blocking the attacks was clear.
Taking advantage of the brief respite, I lowered my head and looked down at the floor.
The dirt floor seemed to be the same material as the 1st floor.
With the information I had gathered so far, I could roughly guess the structure of the dungeon.
It was something I had done countless times over the past 10 years.
To survive, I had to thoroughly memorize the terrain and understand the materials to utilize my skills effectively.
How many years did it take me to figure out this simple formula?
I deeply plunged the shovel into the dirt.
“Crafting.”
The earth shook as dirt pillars collided with the ceiling.
For the method I had in mind to work, it was still insufficient.
“Renny! Buy as much time as possible!”
“What are you trying to do?!”
“I have an idea!”
“I got it, so hurry up and do it!”
Since it was Renny, she wouldn’t be easily penetrated.
I spammed my skill until I felt dizzy.
Walls appeared, new pillars formed, and a mountain of blocks piled up to replace the stairs.
By the time the tentacles were no longer visible in my sight, I stepped on the blocks and climbed up.
The distance to the ceiling was roughly 15 meters.
It wasn’t extremely high, but it wasn’t a height to be ignored either.
It’s thrashing around like crazy.
I lost count of how many times I nearly fell over while climbing to the height of the ceiling.
Due to the tentacles wildly flailing and smashing the structures I had built, it felt like I would fall to the ground and be crushed if I was even slightly late.
“Repair.”
Using the broken materials, I immediately repaired the structures and repeated the process of climbing.
I managed to reach a point where my hand could touch the ceiling.
Let’s see if it can block this too.
“Crafting.”
I collapsed the ceiling.
To be precise, I tore off the ceiling and created pillars shaped like stalactites.
Since the grotesque creature’s body was quite large, there was no worry of it dodging.
The fake stalactites that couldn’t withstand the weight began to pierce the grotesque creature’s body.
Two or three wouldn’t be enough.
“Crafting.”
Crafting. Crafting. Crafting. Crafting. Crafting. Crafting…
Even if the skill had a low cost, excessive use like this was forbidden, but now was not the time to be picky about that.
I had to use every means necessary to kill that thing without hesitation.
Stalactite, stalactite, stalactite, stalactite, stalactite…
My throat hurt.
My heart was pounding like crazy.
I could barely speak anymore.
With my exhausted body half-leaning on a pillar, I looked up at the ceiling.
Since I had used the bricks and dirt from the ceiling as much as possible, there was a huge hole in the ceiling.
I couldn’t collapse the entire dungeon, but with this much damage, that monster wouldn’t remain unscathed.
I moved my tired body to check the condition of the grotesque creature.
The monster was screaming with stalactites piercing its entire body.
Did it know pain, or was it enraged that I had done this to it?
I couldn’t tell which, but in any case, it seemed to have taken effective damage.
However, it didn’t appear to have reached a fatal level.
If killing it was the condition, the answer would be to somehow deal with that insane regenerative ability.
In the brief respite I had, I needed to rack my brain and find a way to cut off its lifeline.
As I pondered, I suddenly recalled the skeleton’s words.
Foul play.
If there was foul play, there must also be fair play.
What could be considered fair play?
Let’s recall the 1st to 3rd floors.
The dungeon’s structure was a typical horror adventure game format that was popular in the past.
Although there were quite threatening elements, they were threatening only by the standards of ordinary people.
The method to descend to the next floor also had almost no emphasis on combat and consisted solely of solving puzzles.
Perhaps this dungeon was designed from the beginning to be clearable even by those with little to no combat ability.
In that case, there should be a way to solve it without shedding blood.
Let’s think about it.
What was the core element of this dungeon?
What was involved in the narrative of this dungeon?
My head naturally turned back.
Karina, who was sitting down and panting, and Millia, who was talking to Karina and expressing concern.
Right.
It was Millia.
Although it was foul play, Millia was deeply entangled with this dungeon.
The story related to this dungeon was ultimately about Millia’s past.
If that was the case, the clue to ending this dungeon was also likely held by Millia.
At the same time, an ominous possibility came to mind.
No matter how crazy the bastard who created this dungeon was, they wouldn’t go that far…
I desperately pushed away the ominous image and focused on finding a way to solve the problem.
…Millia’s body.
The Carcassonne family who desired immortality.
The assailants who moved their bodies without heads.
Millia, who was reduced to just a head.
“Millia! Where is your body?!”
“…Inside that thing! My body is inside that thing!”
As I thought.
If they wished for immortality and offered a sacrifice, something that complied with it would appear.
Like the ending of common B-grade horror games, could it be that the grotesque creature was born by offering Millia’s body as a sacrifice?
In that case, somewhere inside that body, Millia’s body might still remain.
It would serve as the heart.
“Do I have to dig into that body? Millia! Can you pinpoint the exact location of your body?!”
Grasping at straws, I asked the question, and fortunately, Millia answered promptly.
“Johann! Throw me! At that thing!”
“What?”
“If I make contact with that thing, I might be able to locate my body!”
“Millia?! What are you saying?! How can we do such a thing…”
“Karina! We have to do it! We have to end it! If I can regain my body, I can expose the core!”
Millia into that body?
Millia?
Really?
My hands trembled.
It was a situation forcing a sacrifice.
A fitting sacrifice for a nasty horror game.
Perhaps from the beginning, Millia was created as a being assuming she would meet us.
I just discovered her too quickly through foul play.
Is there no other way?
“…You know very well there isn’t.”
I looked at Renny.
There were numerous severed tentacles scattered around her. But the regenerating tentacles assaulted Renny again in equal measure to what was cut off.
Even Renny couldn’t keep enduring against such an endlessly regenerating monster. No matter how strong she was, she was still human in the end.
If unconventional methods didn’t work, we had to rely on fair play in the end.
I got down from the blocks and ran to Millia.
“What took you so long?! Come on, throw me quickly!”
“Millia…”
“This was my fate anyway. Don’t feel too sorry.”
Millia’s face, trying to force a smile, looked sad.
“Just do it quickly, you fool.”
I picked up Millia’s head and walked towards it, the grotesque creature also turned all its attention to me.
Did it want this head?
I threw Millia’s head with all my strength.
As Millia’s head was caught by a tentacle, the grotesque creature screamed and brought the head to its body. The flesh parted. No, that was a mouth.
As the huge mouth swallowed Millia, a creepy, joyful laughter began to echo.
“Johann! Why did you suddenly do that to Millia…”
“Come this way.”
Using the shovel as a cane, I leaned on it and glared at the grotesque creature.
The grotesque creature, which had been screaming in delight, realized something was wrong after some time and began to wail in pain and thrash about.
However, it couldn’t move freely due to the dozens of stalactites I had embedded in its body.
The monster’s mouth opened again.
A huge heart popped out of its mouth, emitting a disgusting heartbeat.
“…Is that the main body?”
I gripped the shovel with both hands and started walking. Renny, holding a sword, accompanied me.
There was only one thing we had to do.
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“Is it over?”
“…What about Millia…”
Renny said those words and turned her head to look elsewhere.
Following her gaze, I saw the skeleton, who had reappeared, clapping at us.
“Well done. You found the answer splendidly even with limited clues.”
“What happened to Millia?”
“That monster was born using Miss Millia’s body as its core. And you just killed it, didn’t you?”
Killed… It wasn’t wrong, but it was extremely irritating.
Regardless of the expression on my face, the skeleton spoke in a gentle voice as if to reassure me.
“When a play ends, all the characters leave the stage. Millia has played her role, so now she must exit.”
“This is absurd.”
“But what can you do? In the end, this is the law.”
The law…
What bullshit.
“Don’t be too discouraged. Life is originally a repetition of partings and encounters, isn’t it? More importantly, don’t you have something to ask me?”
I wanted to split that annoyingly grinning skull in half right away, but I needed to obtain information.
After pondering for a moment, I organized the questions I wanted to ask the skeleton in my mind.
“Will the vortex disappear?”
“Yes, it will disappear. It was merely a device for the tutorial, after all.”
“Tutorial? What do you mean by that?”
“Hoho, isn’t it more familiar to say it this way?”
He knows gaming terminology…
Just what is his true identity?
I looked at the skeleton with a questioning gaze, but it seemed unlikely he would answer.
“Why was I shipwrecked on this island?”
“It wasn’t you, was it? The one possessing that body. Ah, this might be a bit troubling for you.”
There was a sound of snapping fingers. And I was startled by the world suddenly becoming quiet and looked around.
The world had stopped.
The only things moving were the skeleton and me.
“This makes it easier to talk, doesn’t it?”
“Answer me.”
“It was a coincidence that you possessed that body. You could have possessed a different body. It just so happened that body washed up on the beach.”
“Is this world truly the world of Survival Academy?”
“Ah, yes, it is. But it might be a bit different from what you know.”
“…How so?”
“You’ll find out when you experience it yourself.”
“…Can I return?”
“Well, that depends on what you do. Both returning and not returning. But that’s only possible if you see the true ending of this world.”
“True ending?”
“Don’t you remember? On the day you possessed that body, the True Ending DLC was released.”
…That’s right.
“…You’re revealing more than I expected.”
“I’m only telling you what I can within my knowledge. After all, I’m in a position to support you.”
“Support me?”
“I sincerely hope that you reach a new ending, different from the countless endings you’ve experienced.”
I couldn’t discern whether he was being sincere or lying.
It was impossible to gauge.
The skeleton quietly looked at me, then suddenly clapped his hand as if remembering something and spoke while clattering his jawbone.
“My time here is up. Before that, I should give you a reward for clearing the dungeon.”
The skeleton rummaged through his robe and handed me a translucent silver sphere.
“This is…”
“I believe you’ll remember how to use it. Well then, I shall disappear now. I hope the four of you return safely.”
The skeleton gradually turned to dust, starting from his toes, and vanished.
I blankly stared at the spot where the skeleton had disappeared and quietly muttered.
“Use.”
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dude said 4 of you so looks like millia gonna survive and this whole thing seems very sus and looks like it wasn’t skeleton who did the horrible things but just a bunch of pricks who were messed up in the head