The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie - Chapter 14

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Ceaseless

◈ The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie ◈

Chapter 14: Manticore (3)

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"I'm the real one!! I'm the real Herman!!"

"Hey, you idiots don't actually believe this bastard, do you!? Hey, Manticore! Look carefully with your own eyes! That scar on my body is from when we experimented together back when you were human! Don't tell me you don't recognize it!?"

It wasn't just the Manticore.

Everyone present was utterly baffled.

"Ha... This fake bastard even copied the scar. Come on, look at my body!!"

There were two Hermans.

They were so identical that no one could tell them apart.

Herman was an impatient Dark Mage from the Dark School.

Their specialty was Binding Magic.

They had a habit of biting their lower lip whenever they cast a spell.

Both Hermans desperately tried to prove that they were Herman.

They struggled, shouted, and used Mana and Stock, but the only conclusion anyone could reach was that both of them were Herman.

Which meant...

Their magic, habits, memories, even their past actions.

The two were alike. No, they were completely identical.

"What the hell is this...?"

"It's not magic. If it isn't magic, how is this even possible?"

The Manticore used every method he knew to identify the fake Herman.

He took pride in his abilities and believed he could see through any spell, no matter how complicated it was.

But no method produced a meaningful result.

'This is an unexplainable phenomenon.'

If something existed in this world that even magic could not accomplish...

It had to be the sight before him.

"We need to kill this fake bastard right now!"

"That's what I should be saying! What are you all doing!? Kill this bastard!"

The group needed to resolve this Anomaly immediately.

Otherwise, the fake might kill them all while they were caught off guard.

This was clearly Dreamland's trap.

And they were already in an extreme situation.

They had yet to find an escape route, and they had no idea when another threat might appear.

Both Hermans had been consumed by fear and rage.

It was no different from a murderer falsely accusing their victim of murder in court.

If someone identical to you insisted they were the real one and called you a fake, could even the most rational person remain calm?

They had to rid themselves of that unbearable revulsion.

If they couldn't prove they were real, their companions might kill them instead!

There was one simple, clear solution.

Murder.

"What are you doing!? Help me!!"

"I'm the real Herman!!"

Unlike the two Hermans, who had begun trying to kill each other, the others could only stand frozen.

Who were they supposed to help, and who were they supposed to kill?

"What are you doing, you stupid bastards!? I'm the real Herman, so stop standing there and kill that fake bastard alreadyyyyyyy!!"

"This is disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, disgusting! Don't look at me with my own face!"

"Just die! Disappear, you fucking disgusting piece of shiiiiiiit!!"

Screams filled the maze.

No one could step into that horrific, grotesque bloodbath.

"Die die die die die!!"

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurtttttttt!!"

As everyone watched without intervening...

One Herman finally died.

"......"

The Dark Mages looked at each other.

They were probably all thinking the same thing.

Stab.

Thud.

Killing the battered Herman wasn't difficult.

The Dark Mages wiped the blood from their hands.

The blood spilled by the two Hermans dyed the puddles red.

The lifeless, hollow bodies lay facing one another, as though they were still glaring at each other with hatred even in death.

"......"

The silence remained unbroken for a long time.

* * *

Day 7 of the dungeon exploration.

Herman's death.

If it had been an ordinary death, it wouldn't have affected them this deeply. But the shocking event they had witnessed beforehand had stirred up humanity's fear.

The oldest and strongest fear was fear of the unknown.

It began with things that could not be understood.

Goblins, Trolls, humans. All of them were designed that way.

This was because feeling fear was advantageous for survival.

It was a kind of biological alarm meant to distinguish predators from enemies.

"They're dead."

"......Of course they're really dead. What, did you expect them to die as a fake? What the hell was that? It was something grotesque that no magic, curse, or any other method could explain..."

Everyone put the investigation aside.

At the meeting point, the Dark Mages and the Manticore honestly voiced their feelings about yesterday's bizarre incident.

"I checked earlier. There are still two corpses."

"It's enough to make a ghost scratch its head. Seriously."

Many of them had spent the night wide awake.

Unless they somehow eased this fear, none of them would be able to rest.

"Should we get out of this dungeon right now?"

"Is that even possible without an Escape Scroll...?"

"Fuck, the corridors are creepy enough already, and they're full of weird shit! Damn it... If I hadn't needed money so badly, I never would've entered a gloomy, sinister dungeon like this!"

People were truly fickle.

They had eagerly joined in before, but now that the situation had taken a strange turn, the Dark Mages glared at the Manticore with resentful expressions.

"Hey, Manticore. What are you going to do now?"

"This is the dungeon you brought us to! Hurry up and give us a solution!"

Honestly, it was ridiculous.

They had all entered knowing it was a fledgling dungeon. Anyone listening would think the Manticore had dragged them here by force.

But if it snapped now and ended up fighting the Dark Mages...

Well.

It definitely wouldn't end well.

"The only option we have now is to take the Magic Stone and leave the dungeon."

The Manticore swallowed its irritation.

It tried to speak as calmly as possible, and that effort got through to them.

"Damn it..."

"If we don't want to die, we need to get out of this dungeon like it said. Those damned puddles are visibly multiplying, too. Before long, these corridors might become flooded."

'Having to clear this dungeon with idiots like these is supposedly our best option. The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off.'

It would be nice if they could find the Anomaly without incident and head straight to the Core Room.

But the world never went as expected, and the road ahead looked bleak.

"From now on, we'll move in pairs."

"That would be best. We can't have the same Anomaly happen again."

"Yeah. There'll be one person left over, so I'll take that one with me."

The Dark Mages stood.

Then, without hiding their discomfort, they began moving.

In their hearts, they prayed desperately.

Please, don't let the same Anomaly from yesterday happen again.

And that evening, two people did not return to the meeting point.

There were three newly discovered corpses.

* * *

Day 8 of the dungeon exploration.

"These aren't just puddles anymore. The floor is filling with water..."

"What the hell is going on? This place is full of things that make no sense!"

There were seven people left, including the Manticore.

They all sat at the meeting point with grim expressions.

Two people had died yesterday.

Three corpses had been found.

The Copycat had shaken the group's composure.

"I want to go home, I want to go home, I want to go home..."

"Fuck, do you think you're the only one having a hard time!? Stop whining!"

"This is already giving me a headache... If we waste any more time... I have a bad feeling."

The group named that grotesque thing the Copycat.

The situation was at its worst.

The secret of the maze remained unsolved. The rising water made movement harder by the day, and the Copycat had appeared both the day before yesterday and yesterday.

It would probably appear today as well.

'The survivors are Zeko, Beleve, Dustin, Orgin, Verba, and me.'

The maze was only 22% explored.

Their progress had slowed because their numbers had fallen.

Everyone was afraid the Copycat would appear.

They would only get slower from here.

More than anything, they had confirmed that even pairs were not safe.

To ensure safety, they needed larger groups and fewer teams.

They couldn't go on like this.

The maze was already huge. At this rate, even if they spent fifteen days searching, it would be impossible to inspect the entire maze.

Unless they were lucky, they could all drown.

"I'll go check the bodies for a moment."