WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Even in a Dark Fantasy, You Still Have to Eat ◈
Chapter 19: First Encounter # 2
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Hermit knew a lot.
“The guardian on the first floor of Michanic University might be manageable with just the two of us. It might even be better this way.”
“What do you mean, better with two?”
“The first-floor guardian is an artificial construct made with magical engineering. It has magic circuits that adjust its strength based on how many people it encounters, allowing it to use its Mana more efficiently.”
“Ah! I understand perfectly!”
“A three-person party can fight it more easily than a four-person party, and a two-person party can fight it more easily than a three-person party.”
Ah, I really did get it.
Some games changed a boss’s difficulty depending on how many players entered.
Did Night Diver have a system like that too?
No, not as far as I knew.
We approached the room where the Boss Monster was waiting.
The door was huge and imposing. Anyone could tell at a glance that it was unusual.
Grrrrrk!
Hermit pulled a round, lever-like handle, and with a loud clunk, the heavy door slowly opened.
“…It worked! Rookie, hurry inside! The door will close soon!”
We quickly entered the room beyond the heavy stone door.
Thud!
The door closed behind us again.
It felt like it was cutting off our escape route.
“It’s dark. The air feels eerie too.”
Hermit shone the torch around.
Thanks to Asibarr’s blessing, Black Eyes, I could see around the room without much trouble.
It was about as wide as a decent-sized park.
Tall bookshelves packed with books rose on both sides.
A maze of books.
That was how I saw it.
“This is Michanic University’s library. The guardian you see ahead is Golem Logos. It was originally used as both a librarian and a guard.”
Where Hermit pointed, there stood a construct at least two meters tall.
It held a book in one hand and a sword in the other, like the Statue of Liberty.
Creak, creak.
Clatter, clack.
The statue slowly moved with dull noises.
【Intruders. Two. Extermination. Initiating.】
Creak, creak, tap tap tap!
Golem Logos charged at us with its sword.
I shoved Hermit aside and quickly dodged to the side.
Whoosh, craaash!
When its raised sword struck the ground, it left a deep hole in the marble floor.
If that sword hit me, I would not just be cut. I would be crushed.
“So, Hermit! What was the plan again?”
“Buy time while I chant! You’re about as fast as Felix, so if you focus only on dodging, you should not get hurt!”
Hermit explained it simply, but...
Whoosh, whooosh!
Dodging attacks that could crush my whole body in one hit took far greater skill than I expected.
‘Before I leveled up, I would’ve been hit and died already.’
Asibarr’s Black Eyes and Jermain’s “Beer Glass Training” helped a lot too.
The blessing let me move freely even in the dark room.
And the training with Jermain let me use all my focus without wasting any.
“At this rate, I could keep this up all day.”
Whoosh, whoosh!
I dodged its thrusting sword to the side and rolled backward to avoid its downward strikes, gaining confidence.
Then a problem came up.
【Target. Changed.】
The statue that had been looking at me turned toward Hermit, who was kneeling in the corner and chanting something under her breath.
“Hey! Hermit! It’s coming for you!”
“La. Dartamento. Calibark...”
It was like Hermit couldn’t hear me.
No choice.
Shing!
I pulled a shuriken from my waist and threw it at the statue.
“Look over here! Over here!”
Whoosh, thud!
The shuriken struck the statue’s face and lodged there.
You might think my shuriken would not do much damage to something as hard as stone.
Crackle, creeeak!
Crash!
But it worked surprisingly well.
Maybe it was old enough that some of its joints had come loose!
“See? Machines need a beating!”
My joy did not last long.
Tentacles burst out from the statue’s shattered head.
【Extermination. Exter-exter-extermination. Extermination... Extermination...】
Walu, walu!
Wriggle, wriggle, wriggle.
Tentacles sprouted from its head while the Golem spoke in a chilling voice like a broken radio.
I had seen all kinds of things in my life, but this looked like something from a nightmare!
“Hermit, are you almost done?”
Hermit still did not answer.
Fssssss.
To make matters worse, the Ether Torch beside Hermit was starting to go out.
Just when I was trapped between a rock and a hard place, the hairs on my body stood on end.
“Flames of Doom...”
Hermit rose while gripping her staff.
Strange blue markings appeared across her face.
They looked like electric circuits.
Her hair shimmered silver too. This was clearly not normal.
Flash!
I quickly hid behind a thick bookshelf.
The next moment, gray flames burst from the tip of Hermit’s outstretched staff like a flamethrower.
Craaash!
Fwoooosh!
Gray flames.
Was that even possible?
Whatever they were, the flames began burning everything around them.
Sizzle. Bubble.
The books all burned away, the floor melted and bubbled like lava, and the Golem lost its beautiful form and melted like ice cream under the blazing sun.
Aaaagh!
The tentacle clinging to the Golem like a parasite thrashed while letting out a scream sharp enough to tear my ears apart.
It soon wriggled free from the Golem like a hermit crab leaving its shell.
Flash!
Then it sprang toward Hermit’s face.
“Not a chance!”
I quickly threw a shuriken.
Whoosh, thud!
The shuriken passed right in front of Hermit’s nose and pinned the tentacle to the wall.
Clink!
The next moment, the tentacle scattered countless Ether.
At the same time, it spat out glittering gems and books.
“We did it!”
I felt relieved.
Then Hermit collapsed.
“Hey! Are you okay?”
I hurried over to Hermit.
As I tried to lift her up...
Sizzle.
“Ah, hot!”
Hermit’s body was as hot as a frying pan.
I was not kidding. It felt like boiling oil.
Why?
Was this a side effect of that gray flame magic?
“…Sc...”
Hermit weakly raised a hand.
Looking closer, I saw that her burned fingers were stuck to her staff.
She pointed the tip of it at the tentacle’s corpse.
“…Sc, scroll. Return Scroll...”
“Right! I’ll see if there’s one!”
I looked through the things the tentacle had dropped.
「+1,000,000 Ether」
「Rare: Double-Edged Sword Engraving Tome Acquired」
「Return Scroll Acquired」
「Sapphire Gem Acquired」
“There is one! A scroll!”
Flutter.
I put all the items into the Black Bundle.
Then I took a Return Scroll and went back to Hermit.
One Return Scroll.
And one nearby exit that could only take one person.
“Hermit, you go first.”
Hermit was in no condition to reach the exit.
So I placed the Return Scroll in her hand.
She opened her mouth and said something.
“…Ether... Torch.”
Her tongue must have been dry. It was hard to understand her.
Still, she probably wanted to talk about the Ether Torch.
“I know. It’ll go out soon. Don’t worry. I’ll be right behind you.”
Rip.
Maybe reassured by my answer, Hermit tore the scroll.
Fwoooosh.
Hermit disappeared.
“So that’s how you use it.”
Now it was my turn.
I picked up the Ether Torch on the floor and looked around.
# # #
Maybe because the Boss Monster was dead, the locked boss-room door opened by itself.
I slipped through the gap and headed for the entrance.
Fssss.
In the end, the Ether Torch went out.
Then an unpleasant feeling wrapped around my body along with the darkness.
Crawl, crawl.
It felt like tiny spiders and ants were crawling all over me.
They were crawling into my nose and mouth too.
‘So this is the Night.’
How did anyone survive in a place like this without an Ether Torch?
If I stayed here for an hour, this itching would drive me insane.
At that moment, I understood even more clearly how crazy Estelle was for wanting to live in a place like this.
I stood in front of the exit magic circle drawn on the wall.
Click, click.
Click.
I heard the sound of heels.
When I turned my head, several people were staring at me from the darkness.
“…Lendo.”
“…Shando?”
“…Lendo!”
“…Hmm...”
They did not seem to be tentacle monsters.
Then who were they?
I wanted to ask, but I held myself back.
Anyone moving around in this Night could not be normal.
I needed to get out quickly.
「Would you like to return?」
Whoosh, thunk!
Something sharp pierced my stomach.
“Ugh!”
When I came to my senses, I was lying by a riverbank.
A cold moon hung over the river.
I knew where this was.
“Sabranik? Are you here?”
It was hard to breathe.
When I looked down, arrows were lodged in my stomach and chest.
The one in my chest had not injured me thanks to the Wooden Armor, but the one in my stomach got through.
“Fuck, this hurts like hell... At least it missed my heart. Lucky me. Khehehe...”
Did those bastards I had just met shoot me with arrows?
It was lucky I escaped through the entrance. If I had stayed any longer...
Then it happened.
Slither, slither.
Something crawled toward me from across the wet river.
【My name is Derzurak. Palabradike. Sabranik...】
“Sabranik, please send me home. My stomach hurts too much.”
A large snake made of bones.
Its eyes looked toward my stomach.
Then it nodded.
【Strong poison. Critical wound. Dangerous. I happen to have a good blessing.】
「Snake’s Blood Lv.1」
「The blood flowing through your veins becomes poisonous. Your resistance to poison also greatly increases.」
【Ten million Ether.】
“…I don’t have that. Not even half.”
【Then give me the egg.】
Sabranik nodded toward my Black Bundle.
Did it want the Familiar egg?
It was a snake, so maybe it ate eggs.
Still, Hermit and I had nearly died getting that egg. It felt wasteful to give it away so easily.
“…Could you take something else?”
Even I thought I sounded like a difficult customer.
What if Sabranik got angry?
But Sabranik was more patient than I expected.
【Child, then give me gems.】
Gems! I had one of those.
I took out the Sapphire Gem we got after killing the tentacle.
It was a blue gem the size of my fist.
【Well, look at this sly snake.】
Then I heard a familiar voice.
When I turned around, Asibarr stood there holding their own head and looking at us.
I was glad and surprised to see Asibarr here.
Two idols in one place?
Was that even possible?
【Old wraith...】
Shrrrriiing!
Sabranik shook the bone scales across its body and openly guarded against Asibarr.
Scary!
But Asibarr simply chewed on a tentacle and spoke casually.
【Kid, Sapphire Gems are relatively low-value gems, but this snake loves shiny valuables. You might be able to get a little more for it!】
Author’s Note
August 16...!!! Some readers sent donations...!!!
Thank you for the donation, marvel****_504...!!!
Please check the announcements for the full list of thanks...!!!
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