Chapter 11
Chapter 11: The Etiquette Enforcer Erik (3)
‘Uncivilized NPC bastards.’
Japanese person Nishida Ryo was the last possessor forcibly conscripted by Erik.
In the game, he had avoided labyrinths where active PVP took place due to his lack of physical prowess.
Instead, he enjoyed the game by finding Easter eggs and hidden pieces, selling them to purchase guild homes, and filling them with beautiful NPCs.
‘What rotten luck.‘
If it had been his real body, he could have gone on a rampage even after being possessed in the game world…
But having been possessed in a fat man’s body, becoming an adventurer was a distant dream. So he leveled up by hunting low-grade monsters in the outskirts of the Empire.
Living like that, he was lucky enough to encounter an NPC with whom favorability work was possible.
She was a village resident near the Imperial capital, famous as a beautiful NPC.
“How about we go on an adventure together instead of being born and dying as a farmer?”
Nishida Ryo spoke to her using the dialogue option from the game.
“Really? I’m so excited!”
She smiled brightly and led him to her dwelling prepared at the village entrance.
And unluckily, he was caught by the Imperial Surveillance Corps that happened to be waiting there.
[Is escape from the detention camp impossible?]
[Rescue team recruitment 1/999]
[Veteran possessors, please rescue the poor inmates!]
He desperately posted rescue requests on the community, but no one stepped forward.
When he was getting used to the imprisoned life.
“Your characteristics are peculiar.”
A giant paladin with the title of Director of Possessor Management Bureau came to see him.
‘Uncivilized NPC bastard, saying the obvious… He’s been going on for a whole hour.‘
Ryo, who had been dragged by Erik, had just finished the coercive deployment ceremony in front of the guillotine.
‘How did I end up being dragged to a labyrinth…‘
Even veteran possessors avoided labyrinths, so being dragged by a barbaric local religious fanatic was quite unpleasant.
Only very unpleasant things were happening, so Ryo was in a bad mood.
‘Like this, to the labyrinth… Huh?‘
At that moment, a woman who came out to see off the Director of Possessor Management Bureau caught Ryo’s attention.
‘Could that be…?‘
He noticed the see-through sacred robes that had become more provocative than in the game.
Her beauty and figure were incomparable to mere graphics.
“Huh? Th-“
It was instinctive.
In Continental Online, there were a few NPCs of transcendent beauty.
They all had the characteristic of being able to do favorability work.
‘The name was…‘
The woman before his eyes was definitely a low-ranking priestess of the Astia Religious Order, an NPC who could be easily tamed through specific keywords.
‘Was it Ruelle?‘
Originally lacking caution and judgment, Ryo’s unconscious mind brought the thought he had to his lips.
“Ho”
Ryo unconsciously tried to utter that word.
But then.
Kuuung.
Suddenly, he felt like the world was collapsing.
“Kheup!“
Then his breath was completely cut off.
He had only made a short breathing sound…
‘Br-breath!‘
As if something was blocking his mouth, he couldn’t say anything.
His throat became hot as if burning, and his Adam’s apple was squeezed as if someone was gripping it.
Meanwhile, the surrounding situation remained normal.
“I’ll enjoy the lunch box.”
Erik said that while trying to check another subspace pouch.
“Erik, the pouch that Riferoze gave you should be opened after entering the labyrinth. She told me to make sure to tell you this.”
Ruelle conveyed the message to him.
‘So-someone help me!‘
Ryo, whose breath was cut off, felt fear.
It felt like the world was moving on its own, leaving only him behind.
‘Sa-save me…‘
Just when he was about to really faint.
Ppeok!
“Damn, what’s with this bastard’s eyes bulging out like that?”
“Kkeuhuk! Kkeuheuuk…“
Thanks to Jang Du-sik’s violence, he was able to breathe again.
His solar plexus hurt from being hit.
Still, Nishida couldn’t say anything.
“If you had finished saying what you were trying to say earlier, you would already be dead.”
Jang Du-sik’s whispered words kept echoing in his head.
***
Erik finished his farewell with Ruelle with a calm face.
“Erik? What’s bothering you?”
Ruelle had been watching him for a long time. She noticed that Erik was in quite an unpleasant state.
Actually, Erik was the type whose facial expressions clearly showed his feelings. Even if he tried to hide it, there was no difference when Ruelle looked at him.
“I can’t fool Priestess Ruelle. I’m just anxious because it’s a gift from my master.”
Erik lied to Ruelle in front of the stairs leading to the labyrinth.
“…Riferoze is a bit eccentric.”
Her expression looked somewhat reluctant, but she seemed to understand to some extent.
Originally, Erik had planned to chat with the children and give them supplementary assignments for the classes he couldn’t conduct due to entering the labyrinth.
‘Possessor bastards.‘
His priorities had immediately changed.
“Since it’s His Majesty the Emperor’s command, I can’t delay any longer.”
Erik politely made the sign of the cross and bowed his head to Ruelle.
“Take care! I’ll look after the children well!”
Leaving behind Ruelle waving her hand, Erik strode toward the labyrinth entrance.
His steps were hurried.
“Move aside! Can’t you see my boss is passing through? How dare you block the way!”
The labyrinth entrance that opened every first day of the week was very crowded.
Jang Du-sik waved a long, blunt club threateningly at the adventurers standing in line.
“Don’t you see the line? Are you crazy…”
“What clan are you from? Don’t you know that labyrinth entry in the Empire is first-come, first-served? Even those senior adventurers over there are standing in line.”
Most of those entering the labyrinth were adventurers.
They were people who risked their lives to earn income through adventures, all with strong personalities.
“What kind of thug… Huh?”
The adventurers who were getting angry at Jang Du-sik were startled when they saw the giant man standing behind him.
There was a very famous insignia on his chest.
‘Imperial?‘
The red moon symbol indicating a direct Imperial agency and Erik’s heavily distorted face induced fear.
“…We’re sorry!”
The underground stairs leading to the labyrinth opened wide.
‘Who is that? Someone from the religious order?‘
Even high-ranking adventurers obediently made way, sensing the aura emanating from Erik.
Erik walked stoically down the path created through the crowd.
“Attention!”
At the end of the stairs, a large, old arched wooden door could be seen.
Receiving salutes from the soldiers guarding the front of the labyrinth, Erik approached the labyrinth entrance.
Then he placed his hand on the door.
Kiiiik.
With an eerie screaming sound, the door to the labyrinth opened left and right.
What could be seen inside was pitch-black darkness.
“Go.”
In front of the dark door, Erik turned to look behind him and muttered.
Gulp.
The possessors who had been dragged along felt fear.
Honestly, they wanted to run away.
But contrary to their will, their bodies headed toward the labyrinth.
Anyone could tell that the giant man in front of them was thoroughly angry.
“…Br-boss. How about you cool down a bit?”
“I’m not angry.”
His tone was very flat, but his face was heavily distorted.
Erik was that angry.
‘Labyrinth, divine power… This is driving me crazy.‘
The possessors were caught between the labyrinth’s darkness and the angry Erik, not knowing what to do, just stamping their feet.
“Follow me well, everyone.”
Erik casually stepped into the labyrinth’s darkness.
—Five humans accept the labyrinth’s trial.
Immediately, the labyrinth’s voice welcoming people was heard.
The labyrinth’s lower floors, floors 1-10, send only up to five people to the same location at once.
If more enter together, they are scattered to different locations, so lower floor raid parties are composed of small elites.
“It’s been a while.”
Erik strode through the labyrinth’s corridor where everything was black.
“…Th-th-by any chance, how many times has the Director entered the labyrinth…”
After walking silently through the pitch-black darkness for a while, one possessor who couldn’t bear the boredom spoke up.
It was Kang Pung-ho, who had the [Rapid Growth] characteristic. She swayed her short hair and stood beside Erik with a haughty gait.
Trusting in herself, who had been possessed as a beauty, she tried to change the suffocating atmosphere.
“Shut up and walk.”
The response was cold.
Kang Pung-ho looked at the two possessors beside her.
[Unique Characteristic: Sixth Sense]
Park Chang-ho was keeping his head down like a dead person, killing his presence.
It was a strange ominous sign.
She had hoped that Park Chang-ho, who had been kind to her thinking she was a woman, might give her some hint, but he absolutely wouldn’t raise his head.
So Kang Pung-ho looked to the right.
Daldaldaldal.
She saw Ryo trembling his mouth and jaw as if there was an earthquake.
The chubby Ryo was someone she had conversed with a few times while imprisoned in the detention camp.
‘His unique characteristic was definitely…‘
[Death Sense], if she remembered correctly.
It was a largely useless characteristic in the game.
It usually activated just before boss monsters used instant-death attacks, so there were few opportunities to actually use it.
“…Heueueu.”
His moaning like a dying person looked very ominous.
From Kang Pung-ho’s perspective, having been possessed as a woman, the two men’s reactions weren’t normal.
‘He definitely said “ho…” right?‘
She roughly caught on that this whole situation started because Ryo made some verbal mistake.
That’s when it happened.
Kuung! Kuung! Kung!
Three vibrations occurred and suddenly a huge cave appeared in the darkness.
Hwaryeok! Hwaryeureuk! Hwaryeureuk!
Torches on the labyrinth walls lit up, illuminating the pitch-black darkness.
Flickering flames and shadows dancing accordingly.
From the ceiling of the huge cavity forming the labyrinth, water drops fell drip-drip.
“NPC, favorability work, hidden piece, farming.”
Beyond that, Erik’s huge back could be seen.
Familiar terms were heard beyond his writhing trapezius muscles.
“Do you guys still think this place is like a game?”
Erik turned around to look at the possessors.
A face distorted like a demon.
And golden eyes shining clearly.
‘I need to start with etiquette education.‘
Erik was thoroughly angry.
The guys who had been imprisoned in detention camps after being possessed and causing trouble without knowing better were still not grasping the situation and talking as they pleased, which was ridiculous.
And the fact that they tried to dishonor his benefactor with that made him even more furious.
“The dialogue options that appear in favorability work.”
Erik looked down at Ryo and said.
“Those are words that touch the trauma of people living in this world.”
His tone was completely emotionless, which made it feel even more frightening.
“S-s-sorry… N-n-no, s-save me please!”
Thud.
The heavy-built Ryo collapsed to the floor.
“You guys haven’t come to a game world. You were playing a game modeled after this world and got dragged in by the labyrinth’s tricks.”
Thunk.
Erik threw a subspace pouch and said.
“I’ll only forgive you once.”
***
“Damn, I thought boss was going to burn all those bastards to death.”
“Du-sik, wouldn’t it be truly saintly to be able to use even guys like that?”
After throwing weapons to the possessors, Erik examined the labyrinth passage with Jang Du-sik.
“That’s right. This is when I really feel that boss is a cleric.”
“Well, you also became a new person, so possessors can’t be impossible either.”
Erik remembered Jang Du-sik’s reformation and gave the possessors a chance too.
‘As long as they’re not black mages… or don’t have the human failure achievement.‘
He wasn’t going to spare just anyone.
“So what’s different about the entrance?”
“The feeling is different from when I was young, but I don’t know the specific differences.”
Six paths could be seen along the wall of the huge semicircular cave.
Each entrance was structured to connect to completely different paths, and unless you had certain skills, the path was purely determined by luck.
“We-we’re ready!”
Naturally, Erik was having a conversation next to the possessors.
Strictly speaking, possessors were beings who had stolen local people’s bodies and weren’t even guaranteed human rights.
Erik treated the possessors that way too.
“Line up in a row.”
Erik examined the armed possessors.
‘They look quite useful.‘
A close-combat dealer with twin swords.
An archer with bow and arrows.
A fatty with sword and shield.
“Dual rapiers are inefficient in reality, so dual swordsmen are treated like idiots.”
“…As I mentioned… I have a class change ticket…”
“No, I know too. You can use dual swords efficiently through skill trees.”
Erik also had experience reaching max level as a dual swordsman once.
“If you just do the given work well, I’m willing to overlook your use of the game system. That’s what His Majesty the Emperor wants anyway.”
Aside from having to risk their actual lives, possessors grew faster than locals.
Of course, when you reach the extreme, the story changes a bit…
‘That’s a story for then.‘
Erik pursued immediate efficiency first.
“Is there a path where your unique characteristics activate?”
Erik asked the possessors about the passages.
“I don’t feel anything in particular.”
First was [Sixth Sense].
“Heueu… Wh-wh-whenever Director Erik speaks to me…”
Next was [Death Sense].
Unexpectedly, [Unique Characteristics] had no effect on finding paths.
“Du-sik, just pick one.”
“Huhhh…”
Instead, Erik discovered that the characteristics responded to killing intent.
‘A skill that responds to emotions of wanting to kill…‘
For Erik, whose system window was incomplete, the possessor was a new opportunity.
‘There must definitely be a way to open the exclusive shop.‘
Erik wanted to properly try the ‘shop system.’
If this worked, making money would become much easier.
While he was lost in such thoughts.
“Let-let’s go left.”
Jang Du-sik decided the direction.
Erik sent the possessors ahead.
“I’ll follow behind, so you guys go first.”
It wasn’t to prevent threats, but purely out of curiosity about how well they could fight.
‘…Are they kidding?‘
Just as Erik was about to say something to the possessors who were taking too long.
“I-I’ll take the front line.”
Park Chang-ho, holding two rapiers, was the first to step into the passage.
Kung, kung, kung, kung, kung!.
Immediately, the remaining five passages were blocked by huge rocks.
Instead, torches lit up in the left path.
In the place illuminated by bright light.
Keureueueueueu.
A monster scattering strange cries could be seen.
“Th-th-crazy. What the hell is that?”
The monster that appears on the 1st floor of the labyrinth is a goblin.
Treated as the lowest grade in any game, goblins were also the weakest monsters in Continental Online.
“…Th-that’s supposed to be a g-goblin?”
The possessors entering the labyrinth for the first time shrank with fear.
Unlike in the game, a huge green monster easily over 2 meters tall was looking down at them.
“As expected, even possessors can’t overcome monster intimidation.”
Pushing aside the terror-stricken possessors, Erik walked toward the goblin.
“I guess because you’ve grown a bit, we’re now at eye level.”
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