The moment I stepped into the dungeon, what greeted my eyes was the scene from the Burrow mansion I had just seen.
To be specific, it was as if time had frozen in the mansion amidst daily life.
Maids, pausing mid-conversation while cleaning the floor.
The head maid, frozen in place, looking displeased at the sight.
The pendulum of a grandfather clock, which had moved with the second hand, now stopped along with it.
A servant bustling through the corridor.
A cook who would forever have to bear a heavy load.
As I stared at the scene that felt like stepping into a photograph, I took a deep breath and infused divinity into Ankhir, spreading it around.
To repel the darkness.
However, the surrounding scenery did not change.
...Ah. Is this it?
You little brat. You really prepared the worst of the worst.
<You’re being surprisingly cautious.>
‘I don’t know anything about this.’
This dungeon, created solely for me by Tariki.
A gift prepared by that filthy, depraved lolicon, imbued with his own sense of romanticism.
The moment I let my guard down, I’d likely lose my head.
It’s my first time tackling a dungeon, and I’m stuck with a forced one-hit kill scenario. If this was a game, I’d question the developers’ sanity.
Trying to smile to ease my tension, the old man suddenly shouted.
<You don’t know?!>
‘Yeah. I don’t know anything!’
<...You’re joking, right?>
‘I swear to the deity that I don’t know anything about this dungeon.’
I wondered if swearing to a worthless deity like this would be taken seriously, but fortunately, the old man accepted my words as the truth.
<What kind of insane nonsense is this?! You stepped into a place created to kill you, even in your poor condition?!>
‘It’s fine at this level.’
<What’s fine about it?!...>
‘What could that filthy Tariki possibly do?’
I responded lightly while sharpening my senses.
Then, amidst the frozen scene of the Burrow mansion, a small sound reached my ears.
The clanking of armor; it must be a skeletal knight.
There were two of them.
As for their weapons... I could hear the sound of a sword slicing through the air.
I instinctively moved my shield, but the wall told me to block elsewhere.
Ah. Not here?
Ting!
Due to an unstable defense, my balance wavered slightly.
Realizing that continuing the battle like this would lead to accumulated damage, I decided to unleash divinity from the shield to halt the undead and retreated a fair distance.
The expenditure of divinity was somewhat significant, but it was better than accumulating physical strain.
<What’s happening?!>
‘Old man, can’t you hear the sounds?’
<What sounds are you talking about?! This place is silent!>
Damn. It seems Ankhir’s ability doesn’t extend to the old man.
‘Do you know about sensory distortion? You can experience it while fighting Tariki.’
<...Is it spread throughout this dungeon?!>
Sensory distortion.
A pattern encountered during the boss fight with Tariki after his resurrection.
A gimmick where your senses are stolen by Tariki’s powers.
In the main game, the screen would turn black, sounds would cease, and the HP bar and status window would turn completely dark.
It demonstrated how strong and tricky Tariki was, but from a player’s perspective, it felt like you would die if you didn’t know.
Of course, there were ways to counter it.
If you brought items like Ankhir that could dispel darkness, you could regain your hearing.
What about the other senses? Those were irrecoverable. You’d have to rely solely on sound to surpass the patterns and defeat Tariki.
Hearing about it was infuriating, and experiencing it was just as frustrating, but the evaluation of this gimmick itself wasn’t too bad.
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After all, it was a gimmick you’d only face once. Once you fully understood how to tackle it, beating it wasn’t difficult.
Among seasoned players, some would grumble that patterns of upper-tier Evil Gods should be more challenging than this.
In reality, the hatred for this gimmick arose nearly six months after the main story was released.
At that time, a particularly malicious mod revealed that he could embed sensory distortion gimmicks throughout Tariki’s entire dungeon.
That bastard was indeed a diligent piece of work. He even made a manual detailing how to insert and utilize the gimmick for other malicious players.
Thanks to that, how many times did I have to face sensory distortion dungeons afterward?
Looking back, it was terrifying. The moment I made a mistake, I had to die, and I found myself cursing repeatedly.
Once again, I heard the sound of wind slicing through the air and raised my shield.
This time, I didn’t trust my senses but relied entirely on the wall’s shout.
I might make mistakes, but the wall only tells me the best moves.
Following the wall’s guidance, I moved as the attacks from the enemies came, but I didn’t dream of counterattacking.
I didn’t feel anxious.
Having been taught firsthand what happens when you gamble with impatience.
Block. Block. Block again.
How long did I do this?
Gradually, my senses began to align with the wall’s shout.
‘Diagonal from the upper right.’
Straight from the upper right... Ah. Is that sound diagonal?
I understand. I’ll correct it.
Slowly but surely.
‘Swing horizontally with great force.’
Swinging horizontally. That was accurate.
‘After that, a charge from the left.’
I got the ambush from the left, but this was a charge.
That’s why the sound was heavy.
The gap between my judgments began to close.
‘Attack together from both sides.’
Attack together from both sides.
At some point, the two judgments perfectly aligned.
It felt strange.
Though my only existing sense was sound.
What lay before my eyes was just the scene of the Burrow family, like a photograph.
But it felt as though the image of the knight standing before me was being drawn.
Shall we start the counterattack?
Even if most of my senses were shot, the enemy still retained theirs.
So they could hear my voice.
If my voice reached them, I could provoke them.
"You filthy perverts♡ What are you trying to do with a girl’s eyes covered?♡ I can’t understand why you’re so devoted to your desires when you don’t even have a cock~♡ Were you frustrated in life?♡ You pathetic losers who couldn’t even hold a girl’s hand?♡ Right?♡"
Before I finished my sentence, I heard the sound of a sword being raised beside me.
From above, downward.
‘From above, downward.’
A foolish attack focusing solely on power.
‘Strong attack.’
After dodging, I seized the opportunity to smash their head.
‘Dodging is safer than blocking.’
Crack!
The sound of a skull shattering pierced through my eardrums.
It was unfortunate that I didn’t feel any sensation in the hand holding the mace. The most enjoyable moment while swinging the mace was when a heavy sensation transferred to my hand.
Dealing with the remaining skeletal knights wasn’t difficult. Now that I had regained my senses, the skeletal knights were mere toys, unable to even reach the level of Frey or Arthur.
After taking care of the two of them, the scenery at the entrance of the mansion shifted.
The frozen scene of the Burrow family vanished, replaced by the wreckage left from the previous battle.
Not long after, when my senses returned, the first thing I felt was the smell of blood.
It was so thick that it couldn’t be ignored, invading my nostrils.
<Girl! Don’t look down! Never lower your head!...>
What had I seen that made the old man shout in a panic, but at that moment, my chin was already directed downward.
Ah. That’s why they told me not to look.
There was a knight.
Not a white skeleton. Not a decayed corpse.
A person.
Someone whose head was shattered, unable to keep their eyes open, leaving a pool of blood on the floor instead of a farewell.
The moment I faced him, something rose within me.
I tried to force it down, but it was futile.
My body had already left my will behind.
After retching several times, when I finally managed to lift my head, I found myself staring into the eyes of those who had lost their vitality once more.
They were staring blankly, not knowing where to look.
<Lucy!>
Startled by the voice filling my head, I looked up.
<Lucy! Get a grip!>
‘...I’m fine.’
<Then raise your head and look at the ceiling! Then feel the energy below you!>
‘What do you mean by that?’
<Enough with the chatter! Just do as I say! Quickly!>
Half-conscious, I sensed the energy below me without understanding its meaning.
It was strange. My senses determined that the corpses I had just seen were monsters.
I felt no trace of humanity whatsoever.
‘...Fakes?’
<Exactly. Fakes.>
‘But what I just saw—’
<Think about it. This dungeon only allows one person inside. Is it possible for another human to be here?>
The old man was right. Given the dungeon’s restrictions, it was impossible for anyone other than me to enter.
So what lay beneath me...
No matter how I thought about it, what appeared to be human was...
A fake.
A surprise gift prepared by Tariki for me.
...That filthy piece of trash. He was planning this from the start?
He had no intention of overpowering me with dungeon gimmicks.
He aimed to eat away at my sanity, assuming I would be conquered.
<Do you understand? You didn’t kill a person. You merely defeated a monster. So—>
‘I understand, Grandpa. I got it, just give me a moment.’
What a joke.
Is this how Tariki thought I would conquer it?
Suffocating me with guilt?
Ha. That filthy bastard.
It was such a perfectly Evil God-like method that praise involuntarily spilled from my lips.
Alright. I’ll admit it. Your vertical strategy was fucking effective.
Had it not been for the old man, I would still be staring at those corpses.
What frustrated me even more was that even now, knowing this was Tariki’s scheme, I was still scared to lower my head, and the overwhelming smell of blood was nauseating.
...Crack!
Even after smashing the head of the creature mimicking a human corpse, the red emotions bubbled within me.
The joy of tackling a new dungeon had vanished into the evening. Now all that remained was pure rage toward Tariki.
Closing my eyes to steady my rapid breaths, I took a step forward again.
<Girl, are you alright?>
‘No.’
To be honest, I’m not alright at all.
The moment I closed my eyes just now, the faces of the two knights engraved on my retinas made it likely that I wouldn’t sleep properly for a while.
‘But this won’t hinder me from smashing this dungeon to pieces.’
Having reciprocated my opponent's carefully prepared gift, it was time for me to show something in return.
Ah, I hope Nakradr’s face is stiff.
That way, I can smash my mace into it repeatedly.
<...Alright. I understand.>
‘But Grandpa.’
<What is it?>
‘Can you stop calling me Lucy like that?’
<What...? I don’t know what you’re talking about. You must have heard it wrong.>
‘No, I heard it perfectly! It was a desperate voice calling “Lucy!”’
<Enough! Focus on conquering the dungeon now!>
Puhaha. Grandpa. Aren’t you being a bit too cute for your age?
...
Thank you.
Thanks to you, I feel a bit better now.