Chapter 131 : Awakening - 3
Chapter 131: Awakening - 3
She spoke aloud.
“Are you telling me to yield right now? I’ve been running Quests for ages, but this is the first time anyone has made such a demand.”
“Yield? What are you talking about. I only asked you to follow the rules that were set from the beginning.”
“The reason I didn’t clearly inform you of the Time limit was because I wanted to watch you squirm, anxious about how much time you had left. This kind of trick wasn’t my intention.”
At that moment, I surrendered myself to the fury surging to the top of my head and shouted.
“Stop forcing it! Magireta.”
“……! W-what did you just say?”
“As you expected, we were extremely anxious. Because we had no way of knowing how much time was left.”
“…….”
“You had your fun watching that, and now you’re saying you won’t even follow the rules on the Bulletin Board? Drop that irresponsible attitude. It’s ugly!”
Magireta’s expression went blank.
She stood there with her mouth slightly open.
Silence.
It felt as though I could even hear the cold sweat trickling down my back.
After a moment, Magireta spoke.
“Ku-kuk. Right……. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“…….”
“This is definitely my fault. I looked terrible. I apologize.”
That surprised me a little.
Not only did she readily apologize, she even slightly bowed her head toward us.
I changed my tone and replied.
“No. I got too worked up as well.”
“Then shall we make up?”
“Yes. Though it’s not like we were really fighting.”
Magireta smiled faintly.
Just as I thought the atmosphere was softening.
Snap.
Suddenly, Magireta flicked her fingers.
And I doubted my own eyes.
“Ugh.”
“W-what are those?”
“All of them are…… Thieves?”
Ten Thieves.
Twenty.
Fifty, a hundred.
Two hundred, three hundred.
Before long, countless Thieves began completely surrounding us.
“As little brother said, the game will continue until the last Doll is taken.”
“…….”
“But as you know, the rules of the Boundary Duty Quest are all fake, so they’re meaningless, aren’t they? They don’t have to approach once every two hours, and they don’t have to come one at a time.”
“…….”
“I wonder how long Kaid can hold them off.”
I urgently shouted at Kaid Bel.
“Hey. You can control those Thieves too, can’t you? You said earlier that you could, but you weren’t doing it.”
“That’s right. Under normal circumstances.”
“And what does that mean?”
“It means this isn’t normal. Lady Magireta has the Thieves firmly in her grasp…… With my ability, I can’t possibly overcome her omnipotence.”
My face stiffened.
But the next moment.
Kaid gestured toward the Coffin.
Swoosh.
Armelia Kerr Dneroum rose gently into the air from inside the Coffin.
Seeing my confusion, Kaid spoke.
“In that case, we’ll run.”
“What? Against this many Thieves? Every single one of them moves at the speed of light.”
“Then I’ll move at the speed of light as well. As you know, I’m rather invincible right now.”
“…….”
“Tell your companion to hurry up and realize it. How did things turn out so that he’s even dumber than my Master?”
“…….”
“Th-that last part wasn’t my true feelings. Don’t go repeating it anywhere.”
With those final words, Kaid disappeared.
At the same time, the hundreds of Thieves surrounding us vanished as well.
As I stood there blankly, lightning suddenly struck.
A thunderclap that seemed to tear through my eardrums followed.
-Ku-gwa-gwa-gwang!
I lifted my head and looked at the sky.
Naturally, I couldn’t see Kaid or the Thieves moving at such incredible speed.
Instead, every time they collided, sparks flashed brilliantly in the sky.
I had grown somewhat used to witnessing unrealistic scenes lately…… but this was still astonishing.
I muttered blankly.
“How am I even supposed to describe what I’m seeing right now?”
Armelia answered just as blankly.
“Here one moment. There the next.”
After that, Kaid continued battling the Thieves throughout various parts of the dream world for quite some time.
To be honest, from halfway through, they had completely left our field of vision, and I couldn’t see them at all.
And about ten minutes later.
“Wait. So we and the Dolls are actually one body, right? And earlier, the Armelia Doll was asleep.”
“…….”
“Then doesn’t that mean we’re asleep too?”
“…….”
“Then everything I’m seeing right now is…… a Dream?”
Aina Noel muttered with a sigh.
“Fast. So fast.”
At the same time, the world began to collapse.
From the sky to the ground, everything crumbled into dust and disappeared.
My consciousness also faded.
When I came to my senses a short while later.
I was lying inside a Coffin.
Together with the thirty Participants who had joined.
‘Is it over?’
Did I wake up from the Dream?
Magireta didn’t set up some double trap and make this a Dream too, did she?
There was only one way to check.
I counted to three in my mind and spoke.
‘Diary Book.’
[Yes.]
A short reply.
More certain proof than anything else that this place was reality.
I was overwhelmingly glad to hear the Diary Book’s voice.
It was a little embarrassing, but I felt tears welling up.
‘It’s been so long.’
[In reality, only three hours have passed.]
‘That’s such a dry answer. Aren’t you happy to see me?’
At that, the Diary Book floated gently around me.
Soon, it opened one of its pages…….
Rustle, rustle.
The page brushed against my hair.
‘……Don’t tell me this is supposed to be you patting my head?’
[You worked hard, Mason.]
‘No. Answer the question.’
[Honestly, I was very worried. I’m truly glad we were able to meet again like this.]
There was sincerity in its voice.
So I decided to let the head-patting gesture slide.
I spoke honestly as well.
‘I really missed you. Diary Book.’
[…….]
‘Diary Book?’
[Uh, ah, oh, um.]
‘What’s wrong.’
[Ah, no. I just didn’t expect you to say something like that.]
The Diary Book fluttered about for a moment, then suddenly vanished.
I let out a small chuckle and pushed myself up.
Just then, groans of people feeling like they were dying echoed from all directions.
“Guaaah.”
“My whole body aches. I feel like I’m going to die.”
“So everything until just now really was a Dream.”
“I hope there won’t be a Quest like this again.”
We crawled out of the Coffins, dragging our bodies.
Just like when you wake up from a nightmare and your whole body feels heavy, that was exactly our condition.
I tried to get up somehow, but gave up.
I plopped down on the floor and looked around.
“Is everyone alright?”
“Ugh. Barely.”
“I know I just woke up, but I want to sleep again.”
“That was truly the worst nightmare.”
“In any case, it’s fortunate we’re all safe.”
At that moment, Sienne opened her mouth.
“My eyes still can’t see.”
“Sienne.”
“Perhaps I can only see ‘in Dreams.’”
None of us dared to even guess how she must have felt.
I carefully spoke.
“Someday, we’ll be able to fix your eyes. For example, if we win the final victory and use a Wish Ticket.”
“I’ll use the Wish Ticket to revive my lover. Since there’s only one Wish Ticket, I can’t use it for my eyes.”
“…….”
“In that sense, I suppose I’ll never be able to see my lover’s face again.”
At that moment.
Karin Oblang cut in.
Her voice was unusually gentle.
“Relax your expression. I’ll use my Wish Ticket to fix your eyes.”
“What? What are you saying.”
“Honestly, there’s nothing I particularly want. And besides…….”
She continued, idly drawing on the floor with her index finger.
“I showed an embarrassing side of myself in this Game. If it weren’t for you and Mason, I would’ve been eliminated anyway.”
“…….”
“So even if I win the final victory later, I can’t really call that Wish Ticket mine. I’ll give it to you.”
“Hehe. If you put it that way, none of us could’ve come this far by our own strength.”
Though her eyes were covered with bandages again, she turned her head precisely toward where I was and asked.
“Isn’t that right? Mason.”
“Yes. That includes me.”
“No. You are…….”
“I wouldn’t have made it this far without all of you either. We’re in the same position, so don’t feel like you owe anyone.”
At that, everyone in the Companions smiled faintly.
The atmosphere softened.
Aina Noel teased Karin.
“By the way, you’re capable of saying something admirable too?”
“No matter how I look at it, I think you need a beating.”
“Heheh. Go ahead and try.”
“Ah, seriously.”
Just then.
“Ahem. May I join in now?”
Kaid Bel.
He had returned to his original human form.
To be honest, when he returned to his true form earlier, he looked rather cool.
Though I had no intention of ever saying that.
“Thanks to you as well, Kaid.”
“Oh, it was nothing.”
“Then take care.”
“Wait, wait!”
He jumped up and said,
“Is this how you’re going to treat me now? I definitely helped you.”
“That’s why I said thanks.”
“Hey, if you act like that, that’s troublesome!”
“…….”
“No. It’s troublesome!”
I chuckled and shrugged.
“I’m joking. I’ll keep the original promise, so don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Killing your Master. Or even if I can’t kill him, advising Magireta on how to kill the MVP.”
“I’m counting on you. Once the Quest is completely over, Master will summon me to Hell.”
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and continued.
“Master gave the order to kill you. But I ignored that order.”
“Hmm.”
“I have no idea what kind of punishment I’ll receive. So first of all, please protect me from being dragged to Hell.”
I straightened up a little more seriously.
For some reason, that MVP seemed to harbor a lot of ill will toward me.
Even if not for Kaid’s sake, I would eventually become enemies with him again.
In that case, helping Kaid now wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Specifically, how do you get dragged to Hell?”
“Whenever Master summons me, a black hole opens.”
Like the one Magireta opened each time she brought out the first-place reward?
“I get sucked into it like water down a drain. At that moment, you just have to grab onto me.”
“You can’t resist on your own?”
“Yes. Even my soul is bound.”
“Then you’ll have to keep traveling with us from now on.”
“Exactly.”
He bowed his head to me.
“Please include me in the party. Please.”
Everyone looked flustered, as if they had never expected such a request.
Hmm. What should I do.
‘Diary Book. He’s not a Potential, right?’
[Well.]
‘What do you mean, well.’
[That’s not his original face. My radar isn’t functioning.]
‘Radar?’
[But I don’t think he is. Kaid is a Monster, and a being touched by Magireta’s omnipotence. Such a being cannot be a Potential.]
To begin with, what exactly was a Potential.
I didn’t ask. The conversation would only get longer.
Anyway, I organized my thoughts and held out my hand to Kaid.
“Alright. Let’s work together from now on.”
“This is?”
“You don’t know a handshake? It means we’re on the same boat now, so let’s get along.”
“How could someone like me dare to shake hands…….”
He hesitated to take my hand, as if he felt deeply honored.
Just what kind of life had this guy lived?
Feeling oddly sorry for him, I grabbed his hand firmly and shook it up and down.
“Looking forward to working with you.”
“Yes! Likewise.”
The Companions smiled warmly.
Though he had been irritating many times, in the end, Kaid was the one who had saved everyone’s lives.
Everyone introduced themselves again and shook hands with him one by one.
Sniffling, Kaid said,
“Sob. To be treated so kindly when I’m someone like this. Thank you so much.”
“I’m starting to feel sorry for him.”
“Me too.”
“But sometimes he’s still annoying.”
“It’s like he’s pitiful in an annoying way.”
“What kind of feeling is that?”
At that moment.
Magireta’s voice was heard.
“Did you all sleep well? Have a good Dream?”