The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie - Chapter 24

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Ceaseless

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie ◈

Chapter 24: Tyr (3)

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Day 4 of dungeon exploration.

Seven people remained.

Even so, the dungeon exploration continued.

The Branded Elves had only two choices from the start: move forward or kill themselves.

"Hoo..."

"Do we need to drag this out? Let's get on with it."

"Our food and water are lasting longer now that there are fewer of us. Can't we take it a little slower?"

"Anyone would think conquering this machine is all we have to do. Who knows what's waiting ahead?"

They drew lots.

This time, too, the process was fair.

Tyr called out the chosen person's name.

"Fuck..."

Derso had been chosen.

Tyr considered Derso an ordinary Branded Elf without any distinguishing traits.

"Ha..."

Derso looked like a pig being led to the slaughterhouse.

It was understandable. Everyone who had investigated the elevator before had died.

Derso's hands trembled violently.

They squeezed their eyes shut, as though countless thoughts were racing through their head.

"Lady Tyr."

"Yes."

"There's something I'm curious about. If I'm going to die whether I get on that machine or fight you bastards and die here, isn't death still death either way?"

Derso put a hand on their sword hilt.

Chunks of flesh. Dried-up corpses.

No matter how they thought about it, moving forward now was no different from suicide.

"Rather than dying in that bizarre machine... I think dying by your hands would be a slightly better death. Hey, what do the rest of you think?"

Terrified, Derso shouted those words.

There were such things as better deaths.

Dying peacefully in bed, for one.

Or sacrificing yourself for someone you loved.

At least, that was how Derso saw it.

The death awaiting them inside that unknown machine...

Was far more horrifying than dying at the hands of the Branded Elves.

"You fucking piece of shit! These are the rules! Follow them!"

"You think dying by our hands would be better!? We can make you suffer worse than death! Get inside that machine right now before I skin you alive!"

Derso raised their blade to their own throat.

"Don't come any closer! Before I fucking kill myself! You don't want to go in either, do you? That's why you're trying to shove me into that machine right now!"

If entering the elevator was suicide anyway...

Then there was nothing wrong with taking their own life now.

That was the reasoning behind Derso's reckless behavior.

"......"

Tyr bit her lip.

No intelligent being, human or elf, was a machine.

Even Minions born from a Dungeon Master's hands could rebel.

The Branded Elves, who had lived harsh lives, were even more likely to do so.

'I can't control them.'

Most organizations bound only by mutual benefit rather than loyalty were like this.

She had expected things might turn out this way if things went badly.

But she hadn't expected it to happen several times sooner than anticipated.

It was because this dungeon was so unpleasant.

'A dark, grotesque, frightening place.'

That was how Tyr judged Dreamland.

"Kill him."

"What?"

"He wants to die. Is there any reason not to grant his wish?"

"But if Derso doesn't investigate the machine, the next person will..."

"What choice do we have? We'll draw again. Look at that bastard's eyes. He’s already done for. Someone who threw away their own chance to survive won't be much help even if they stay alive."

The Branded Elves hesitated, then nodded.

Derso laughed from where he stood, as though he had lost his mind.

Before anyone's blade could reach them, he slit his own throat.

"Let's rest for a while."

"Yes..."

This death had been meaningless.

That fact hit everyone hard.

Six people remained now.

The tiny camera watched them as usual.

* * *

That night.

Tyr gave up on clearing the dungeon.

She also gave up on ever coming back inside.

Six people.

Half their number had vanished in four days.

They had only just entered the dungeon.

Mountains of unexplored space remained.

If they were already stuck at the entrance...

Even if they returned with all the information they had discovered so far, there was no way the next attempt would succeed.

The reason she had not used the Escape Scroll yet was simple.

If she returned with as much information as possible, it might not be worth as much as a Magic Stone...

But perhaps the Elder would reward her for her loyalty.

'They're going to die anyway.'

She should get as much use out of them as she could.

Still.

The mood remained awful.

She needed to find some way to get the group moving again.

'I'll think about it tomorrow.'

Tyr lay down on the cold floor.

She was exhausted, but fortunately, someone else was on watch tonight.

The watcher's name was Lilia.

Lilia was fairly skilled with a sword.

"Things are chaotic right now, but I'll leave the watch to you."

"Leave it to me."

Tyr tried to sleep.

Then she fell deeply asleep.

Rustle, rustle.

She heard a sound.

Someone was feeling around her body.

Tyr slowly opened her eyes.

Lilia, who was supposed to be on watch, was searching through Tyr's clothes.

"Wh-"

At that moment.

Tyr saw it.

Lilia had taken out the Escape Scroll.

And was sneering at me with a twisted smile.

How did this happen?

Tyr had kept the existence of the Escape Scroll completely hidden.

She had never been careless.

She couldn't have been.

Before Tyr could react.

Lilia casually tore the Escape Scroll apart.

Tyr pinched her cheek.

It was real.

She had been half-asleep, but the drowsiness disappeared in an instant.

Unable to believe it, she searched through her clothes.

But the Escape Scroll she had treasured until now was nowhere to be found.

Tyr noticed a note where Lilia had disappeared.

She unfolded it and read it.

-Tyr has an Escape Scroll.

Tyr stared blankly ahead.

Then.

She spotted a slime slowly making its way toward the elevator in the distance.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"

With a shrill scream that filled the hallway, Tyr ran at it like a madwoman and swung her sword wildly.

Unfortunately, the slime did not die.

Like that unknowable machine, it was immortal.

Her sword passed through the slime's body as if it were a ghost.

Soon, it drifted away.

"Ahhh, ahhh, ahhhhh, ahhh, ahhhhhhh!!"

Right there.

Tyr raked at her own body frantically with her fingernails.

The Branded Elves, awakened by the commotion, tried to calm her down somehow.

"Ahhh, ahhh, ahhhhhh..."

Like an Automatic Puppet whose language module had been destroyed.

She had literally broken down.

* * *

1. Only ride the suspicious machine alone.

2. Avoid hallways without lights.

3.Diefuckingstupidsonsofbitchesjustalldiediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediediedie

Day 5 of dungeon exploration.

Four people remained.

Just yesterday, Lilia had used Tyr's scroll to escape.

After that.

Tyr headed for the elevator when the others looked away, like someone possessed.

She returned as a corpse.

"......"

No one could use magic anymore.

There was more food and water now.

But no one wanted to eat any of it.

Silence hung over the group.

One Branded Elf picked up a pen and added a line to Tyr's memo.

* * *

4. Don't do anything.

Day ■■ of dungeon exploration.

Time passed.

It was infinite, like the Sea.

But we were finite, unable to possess it as we pleased.

We could not defy the natural order.

The dungeon was quiet.

Four people remained.

When they did nothing.

No one died.

Before they knew it, their food and water had run out.

For the hungry and thirsty Branded Elves, only two choices remained.

1. Move forward.

2. Kill themselves.

We looked at one another.

Right.

There had been no need to draw lots in the first place.

After all.

The ending had already been decided.

Then.

There was no one left.

* * *

orange★: Is newbie the god of turning people against each other???

└cowhead: For real LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

└tvhead: newbie even got them to betray each other and destroyed their remaining will to explore LOOOOOOOOOOL

└op_ghost: Uuuugh... newbie is scary... newbie is an evil spirit... I'm going to hold hands with the Undead today...

└dip: I'm currently hugging the Sanses and trembling...

└skullbones: I never thought it would really go this far... Fear truly is the best debuff...

└golemking: Everyone except Blessed Ones only gets one life...

└anonbutcher: Death is the worst. Who would want to risk their life investigating that elevator? Most of them entered the dungeon because they wanted a better life than they had now.

└magichero: H-h-h-honestly, the difference between newbie's dungeon and every dungeon that has existed until now, including the ones we're running, is enormous. I-I-I personally think newbie's dungeon is one of a kind... I guess that makes it even scarier...

└nightraven: Agreed bb...

└whaleyeah: Legendary... This elevator feels especially vicious...

└psychward_mvp: Didn't newbie say its original purpose was to randomly spawn people in Area 1 or Area 2...? It feels like a wall right from the entrance...

└sealedphilo: But I'm really curious about something. What on earth is that mysterious space connected to the elevator...?

└worldiscold: Fuck, I'm so unbelievably jealous. I want one too, please donate one to me later.

└no_minions_4_me: newbie, can I ask you something?

└newbie: Yeah?

└no_minions_4_me: You haven't said anything during the live broadcast, so... I'm not saying that's bad, but you feel different than usual. Is something wrong?

Hmm.

Right.

The reason I saved Restia before was because she was not an intruder in my dungeon.

Was it because of the ethics I learned in modern society?

Maybe it was because she had not directly harmed me yet.

Still.

Even if I had a softer mindset than the other Dungeon Masters.

That didn't mean I would show mercy to every intruder.

My own life came first, no matter what.

Hostile intruders always had to be struck down without mercy.

I had been following that principle. No, I had to follow it.

Moral responsibility and ethical awareness would be worthless once I was dead.