Chapter 77 : Resource Battle – 1
Chapter 77: Resource Battle – 1
In the end, we each downed the three bottles of potion Aina had given us and stepped into the skin-splitting cold.
Whether it was thanks to the potion or the winter gear, the unbearable chill that should have been impossible to withstand was, for now, bearable.
Armelia took the lead, guiding us forward.
Since speaking unnecessarily would only waste our stamina, we communicated as much as possible through the Diary Book’s function.
And after some time had passed—
[Found something. A monster.]
[You think you found one, or you actually did?]
[The location’s correct. I can see something there... but I can’t tell if it’s truly alive.]
We turned our heads toward the direction Armelia pointed.
“……!”
If I had to describe my first impression of a monster in one word—horrific.
No living being in our world could ever look like that.
None of its body parts were where they were supposed to be.
Where legs should have been, there were arms.
The eyes, nose, and mouth on its face were chaotically jumbled together.
Its heart bulged outward, and its spine stretched out of its back, rising over its head.
Just looking at it made me feel as though my mind was being corrupted.
Everyone’s weapons trembled uncontrollably in their hands.
Not from fear—but from sheer disgust.
Then Sienne spoke up.
“Who wants to do it?”
“……”
“A pointless question, I suppose. I’ll do it.”
“No, you don’t have to—”
“It’s fine. In this quest, physical work is the only thing I can really do, and their grotesque forms don’t bother me at all. Just tell me roughly where it is.”
We decided to accept her offer.
Sienne’s sword gleamed in the direction Aina indicated.
—Kraaaah!
The monster let out a shriek as unpleasant as its appearance.
The sound itself felt like it was tearing at our eardrums.
Without thinking, we all clamped our hands over our ears.
Yet despite its grotesque form, the monster was effortlessly cut down by Sienne’s blade.
“You did well. I’m sorry you had to do it.”
“As I said earlier, it’s not really a big deal…”
“Hmm. Still, you did the part we were supposed to share among us.”
“Hehe. Thank you.”
“I can’t just stand around doing nothing. I’ll handle what I can.”
Berseum murmured something like a chant and raised his hand.
The monster’s body, which had collapsed in a pool of black blood, began to change.
Its uneven, grotesque shape gradually smoothed out, turning into something that looked like a simple lump of meat.
“Brother?”
“A simple illusion spell. We’ll have to carry that firewood, but doing so while feeling constant revulsion would make the work difficult.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. This much is the least I can do.”
Benjamin stepped forward.
“Then I’ll carry it. Aina, would you give me a hand?”
“Of course.”
They began their work at once.
They wrapped the monster’s corpse tightly with the cloth they had prepared beforehand.
Then, after Benjamin strapped on the sled-like carrier they had also prepared, they placed the body on top.
“Is it heavy?”
“Not at all. I have my brooch, remember? And I volunteered to be the porter from the start.”
“How many more do you think you can handle?”
“Five or so should be fine.”
At that, Armelia shook her head.
“Weight isn’t the problem. The cold will make it impossible to hunt that many. Three per trip will be our limit.”
“I see. You’re cold, aren’t you?”
“I— I meant everyone must be cold!”
“Of course, that’s exactly what I meant.”
“Ugh.”
“I’m joking. Anyway, I agree—three should be our limit.”
The others nodded in agreement.
Soon, Armelia turned her body and began leading the way again.
Following her, we trudged through the snow-covered hellish mountain path.
Unfortunately, the monsters were all solitary creatures.
If several of them had gathered in one place, we could’ve secured three pieces of firewood right there.
‘Still, the pace isn’t bad.’
It was cold enough to literally freeze to death, but as long as we returned to the Hellfire in time, we’d be fine.
Even if one of us suffered frostbite, Armelia could treat it.
The failure point recorded in the Future Diary—‘locating the monsters’—was now perfectly resolved thanks to the compass.
There shouldn’t have been any problems.
“……”
Then why did I feel so uneasy?
What was it?
What was I missing?
After hunting three monsters, we returned to the Hellfire Altar.
The first thing we checked was the Bulletin Board floating nearby.
—69:45:10
Judging by the time when we had departed, it had taken us about two hours to return.
But even within those mere two hours, we had hovered between life and death.
“Hhhhhh.”
“Maybe... three was pushing it a little.”
“We’ll get used to it eventually. Hopefully.”
“I need to use the bathroom. I’ve been drinking nothing but anti-cold potions.”
“Haah. I feel alive again.”
We huddled close to the Hellfire.
Like campers around a bonfire, we stomped our feet and stretched our hands out toward the flames.
Ah. Warm. Blissful.
Then—
“You’ve returned.”
A participant approached us.
A man named Darhen, who had been chosen as the leader among the ordinary participants, was directing everyone in setting up tents.
“Yes. I see the settlement’s already been prepared. You’ve worked hard.”
“Haha. We’re only just getting started. We’ve put up some tents as windbreaks, but the inner work’s still far from done.”
“I see.”
“Was your expedition successful?”
“Yes.”
Just then, Benjamin set down the carrier he had been carrying.
Inside it were three monsters wrapped tightly in cloth.
The man tilted his head and asked,
“What’s this?”
“Firewood. That’s all you need to know for now.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Just in case, let me warn you—don’t lift the cloth for any reason. You might lose your mind if you do.”
He gasped sharply.
But soon regained his composure and changed the subject.
“A-anyway, thank you for your hard work.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just doing what I must to survive.”
“Then… since you’ve gathered the firewood, why not throw it in right away?”
“You’re right.”
I nodded, but suddenly a thought flashed through my mind.
After a short silence, I spoke.
“Please leave that part to us.”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
“We just need a moment to discuss something.”
“Understood. I’ll get back to work then. Really, thank you again!”
He hurried off.
Soon after, my companions gathered in a circle around me.
Perhaps feeling a bit more relaxed now, Aina chuckled playfully.
“So, what mischief did you think of this time?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Whenever you grin like that, it’s always because—”
“Aina, that’s not mischief. It’s called a smile of enlightenment.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Your Highness.”
Either way, everyone’s attention was on me now.
I cleared my throat lightly and said,
“We were freezing earlier, weren’t we?”
“…? Yeah, we were.”
“So let’s make torches.”
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion.
Benjamin spoke up.
“Didn’t we already try that before and fail? The Hellfire wouldn’t catch at all.”
“Yes. But that torch was made from materials of our world.”
“…!”
“That’s probably why the Hellfire didn’t attach to it. Otherwise, why would monsters be used as fuel?”
Armelia’s eyes lit up.
“Mason, then you mean—?”
“Yes. Let’s dismember one of the monsters. There was one earlier with twelve limbs.”
“This one.”
“Right. We’ll use its arm itself as a torch.”
Gulp.
Aina swallowed hard, her expression showing how much she hated the idea.
Just looking at a monster made one nauseous; the thought of cutting it open was understandably revolting.
“Pick one. Freeze to death, or die from disgust.”
“…The latter.”
“Same here. Let’s just take one apart as a test.”
With that, I opened the cloth Armelia had indicated.
Since Berseum’s illusion spell was still active, dissection was impossible, so I asked him to lift the spell.
And there it was—the monster’s corpse.
Its appearance alone was unbearable, but this revulsion felt like it came from something deeper, a mental corruption of sorts.
“Urgh.”
I forced down my gag reflex and reached for a sword.
But I didn’t need to ask.
Shk!
Sienne had already cleanly severed the arm.
Sometimes I really couldn’t tell whether she could see or not.
“Did I cut it properly?”
“Y-yes… Urgh.”
“From now on, there’s no need to lift the illusion spell. At this distance, I can sense it well enough through perception. I’ll handle the dismantling.”
“Thank you—truly.”
Berseum cast the illusion spell again.
Thanks to that, I no longer held a grotesque arm, but merely a heavy lump of meat.
I stepped toward the altar, one careful step at a time.
Then, gently, I brought the monster’s arm close to the Hellfire.
“Ooooh.”
Berseum let out a gasp of amazement.
The fire had caught!
Hellfire now burned at the tip of the monster’s arm.
Feeling genuinely delighted, I turned toward the others.
But then—
Fwoosh.
It happened in an instant.
The Hellfire that had caught at the tip suddenly roared downward, spreading with terrifying speed.
Armelia shouted in alarm.
“Mason! Throw it away!”
I instinctively hurled the arm onto the altar.
In less than a second, it melted completely into the altar and vanished.
“……”
I was left speechless.
Then, Magireta’s voice reached my ears.
“Trying to pull a trick again, little brother?”
“……”
“I told you, didn’t I? Don’t try to take life too easily.”
“I can’t help it. I’m the kind of person who always takes the shortcut if there is one.”
“Then you’ll never amount to much.”
Aina cut in.
“You pulled some kind of trick, didn’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The monster’s arm earlier was huge and long. How did it burn away that fast…?”
“Stop whining. You know I don’t interfere once the game begins.”
So that meant it was just the natural property of the Hellfire itself.
Ordinary flames in our world took time to burn a corpse.
It wasn’t even possible to completely incinerate bones with regular fire.
But—
“It seems Hellfire burns monsters at an astonishing rate.”
“Yes. For it to burn something that fast, it must be unimaginably hot, and yet, we only feel a comfortably warm temperature.”
“Hmm. In any case, we’ll have to give up on the plan to use monsters as torches.”
“Yeah.”
“So in the end, we’ll have to head out into the cold again to gather firewood.”
“Unfortunately, yes. But there’s no need to rush. We got three monsters this time—so that’s nine hours of time gained.”
Everyone nodded.
We threw the monsters lying on the ground into the Hellfire.
Then the small Bulletin Board changed its numbers.
—78:38:10
Seeing the updated time, the group murmured with relief.
“Let’s take a break since we’ve bought some time.”
“Yeah. I’m starting to get hungry, too.”
“I’ll do the cooking. Especially at times like this, we need to eat properly.”
“Oh, right, big brother. The old man’s cooking is seriously no joke. You’ll see.”
“I see. As expected of a great scholar.”
“Doesn’t really have much to do with being a great scholar, though.”
I smiled faintly and joined my companions in preparing the meal.
And just like that, the days passed one by one.
We’d hunt three monsters, throw them into the altar’s flames,
earn more time, then rest and eat for a few hours.
Before the newly gained time ran out, we’d go hunting again and return.
It was quite a grueling routine, but thanks to our sheer determination, by the time two weeks had passed—
—59:12:14
The remaining time on the flames was still plentiful.
I was satisfied, but Aina grumbled in complaint.
“It’s dropped quite a bit.”
“Eh?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I just thought you were being greedy. I was thinking we had plenty of time.”
Berseum backed me up.
“Right. It’s been two weeks since the game started. We started with seventy-two hours, didn’t we?”
“……”
“Even after two weeks, we’ve only lost about thirteen hours. I’d say that’s an impressive result.”
If we just maintained our current pace for the remaining two weeks, the fire would never go out before the game ended.
Still, Aina didn’t seem convinced.
“It just feels lacking, considering all the suffering we went through.”
And she wasn’t wrong.
For instance, Armelia was currently treating my frostbitten feet.
Her eyes were red, so I pretended not to notice.
“I told you to change your socks more often…”
“I didn’t have any left.”
“Right. You gave yours up for us first.”
“I figured being treated by Your Highness would heal me better, so I passed them on purpose. It was all part of my plan.”
Armelia didn’t laugh at the joke—just lowered her head slightly.
Berseum clicked his tongue.
“Good times, indeed.”
“Old man, could you stop saying that? It makes you sound ancient.”
“I am ancient.”
“Anyway, once the treatment’s done, let’s eat.”
Over the past two weeks, our shelter had become quite decent—
thanks to the hard work of the other participants.
They’d even created separate spaces for sleeping, eating, and privacy.
They, too, were doing their best to survive this game in their own way.
After finishing the treatment and eating, I lay down for a short rest.
Then, after a few hours, I got up again to resume hunting.
Armelia led the way as always, holding the compass.
That was when—
“Huh?”