Your Majesty, Dinner Is Ready. Chapter 42 - Harmless Dream Dungeon

Chapter 42 – Harmless Dream Dungeon

 

“Everyone, did you have fun?”

As we left the casino, I asked the party.

Each member responded in a way that suited their personality.

“I’ve been constantly worrying because of Asmi lately, so it was nice to finally take my mind off things for a change!”

“……”

Pendrick answered with a bright smile, while Rosalia silently nodded.

“So even though both of you lost a great deal, you still had fun?”

“When every coin you bet is worth one gold, it’s impossible not to have fun.”

This was exactly why gambling addiction was so terrifying.

I, too, had once become so addicted to a pseudo-gambling mobile gacha game that I spent my entire fortune buying books instead, driving distracting thoughts out of my mind and feeding my brain instead.

“Asmi, I’ll attach it to your weight.”

“Hmm, not bad.”

Astrimia seemed satisfied with the pretty brooch, which meant everything we had come to do at the casino was finished.

“Then steel yourselves, everyone. Our fun time is over. Now it’s time for an even more enjoyable expedition.”

It was about time to begin the real expedition in earnest.

“Where are we going, Captain?”

“Just follow me. I’ll take you somewhere very comfortable.”

I led the party to what could be called the key location of this expedition.

“The inn where we started?”

A towering high-rise building stretching into the sky.

Even now, explorers continuously entered and exited through its glass front doors.

Since after today no one could enter again for another ten days, naturally, there was a constant flow of explorers.

“Please watch the rooftop carefully for a moment.”

Pendrick shaded his eyes with his hand and looked upward.

Soon his eyes widened.

“Uh… it keeps getting taller.”

The hotel-like skyscraper continued growing, adding more floors even at this very moment.

Even in a world where Mysteries existed, it was an unmistakably unnatural sight.

“That’s because explorers keep entering.”

“Will technology like this exist a thousand years in the future?”

“As if.”

Though she lacked anything that could technically be called a “head,” the Ego Sword, whose mind worked better than her boyfriend’s, asked me,

“Karr. Is this world made of illusions?”

A smile naturally spread across my face.

Not because she’d guessed wrong…

But because she’d arrived at the truth so quickly.

“Close. Here’s a hint. Think back to how we entered the dungeon.”

“…We lay down on the bed as though we were going to sleep… Don’t tell me.”

“Exactly.”

Pressing my palms together and resting them against my right cheek, I gently closed my eyes.

“The setting of City of Pleasure is a dream world from one thousand years in the future.”

A dungeon whose stage was a dream.

Astrimia immediately realized what that implied.

“It can’t be!”

“A place that doesn’t exist in reality, like a dream, shouldn’t normally become the setting of a dungeon! If a dream persists long enough, or exerts enough influence to be regarded as a place where the world’s laws genuinely exist, then it can be recreated as a dungeon.”

“Oh, dear…”

Hearing his lover’s worried voice, Pendrick blinked.

“What’s wrong, Asmi?”

“Pendrick, do you know the most fundamental rule every explorer must remember?”

Instead of answering the troubled Ego Sword directly, I prompted him.

Realization dawned across Pendrick’s face.

“…A dungeon’s environment is never favorable to explorers.”

“Correct.”

A harmless dream dungeon where people simply come, have fun, and leave?

No such thing exists.

“A dream that acts against people. What do we call that?”

“…”

Pendrick’s posture and expression immediately became much more serious.

“Now you understand why I said this should really be classified as a C-rank dungeon.”

The moment the curtain of happiness covering this city was stripped away…

We would witness an infinitely gloomy truth beneath it.

Just thinking about it made me excited.

“If you’re ready, let’s go inside.”

We returned to the room where we’d first awakened.

Rosalia immediately sat down on the bed and looked at me, giving a small shrug.

“So what do we do now? It’s simple.”

I lay neatly beside Rosalia and stared up at the ceiling.

“We do absolutely nothing. For four days.”

“……”

“I’m serious. Stop glaring at me… It’s not like I’m always joking.”

‘Nod.’

“…How can you nod without the slightest hesitation? I’m serious this time.”

The first step toward fulfilling the dungeon’s completion condition:

Spend four days inside the room without doing anything.

“You absolutely must not go outside. Don’t even stick an arm out the window.”

“Captain, so we just… wait?”

Pendrick asked.

I shook my head.

“You simply must not leave the room.”

“What about eating? Or using the bathroom?”

“Hunger, thirst, even sleepiness… They’re all illusions. Because we’re inside a dream. So just relax. Feel free to chat with one another.”

Had I come here alone…

My only conversation partner would’ve been Eyes That Perceive the Truth.

Fortunately, I had two party members and one sword with me.

“Now I understand why the completion condition for City of Pleasure is treated as a Hidden Piece…”

Astrimia let out a mental sigh.

“If what you’re saying is true…”

“You have to remain inside this room for four straight days. Who in the world would ever do something like that? Especially in a dungeon everyone visits to have fun.”

For veteran players who loved experimenting…

It was actually a very simple requirement.

In the game, you simply leave it running while doing something else.

Reality, however, wasn’t nearly so convenient.

“There’s no way to make time pass faster, is there?“

“If we had a Chronomancer, perhaps. But where exactly would we find such a high-level specialist? So simply enjoy the leisure.”

Taking out a bottle containing Abel’s special tea, Flower Garden Within the Lake, from the subspace inside Radiant Faith, I lazily swung my feet.

“This is all you have to do. Sis, would you like some?”

Rosalia accepted the bottle without refusing and took a sip.

After drinking nearly half of it…

She reached into her shadow, took out one of the poisonous plants she’d purchased earlier, and handed it to me.

“Is this your way of returning the favor?”

Or perhaps… Was she subtly telling me to die?

That didn’t seem likely.

So, like a cat bringing its owner a freshly caught animal as a gift…

I merely pretended to munch on the hideous-looking poisonous plant.

Seeing that…

Rosalia quietly gave me a thumbs-up before taking out a poisonous mushroom and nibbling on it herself.

“…Mm.”

Her face twisted as the poison took effect.

But after a while…

She smiled more brightly than I had ever seen before.

“The brooch really suits you, Asmi.”

“Really?”

Meanwhile…

Pendrick simply stood there for a while before sitting on the sofa beside the window and quietly chatting with Astrimia.

It was an unexpectedly peaceful time…

Considering we’d supposedly come to conquer a dungeon.

Thus… One day passed.

“Sis. Your skin’s turning blue. I think you should slow down a little.”

“……”

“Honestly, just talking like this is enjoyable.”

“I know.”

Two days passed.

“Ahhh!“

“Karr, why are you eating poison too?!”

“My mouth was bored.”

“Then let it stay bored!”

“Your skin’s turning blue too!”

“Sometimes… Living as a blue person isn’t such a bad thing.”

Three days passed.

“Everyone. It’s about time you became alert.”

And finally… The fourth day arrived.

As dawn broke across the sky of the dream world outside the window…

The city’s scenery was suddenly swallowed by darkness.

Nothing could be seen.

Nothing could be heard.

An oppressively absolute silence.

“…Captain.”

Standing by the window… Pendrick trembled and slowly stepped backward.

Within the darkness buried beneath that silence…

An unimaginably enormous eye was staring directly at us.

Meeting the gaze of eyes that embodied fear itself…

I slowly stepped forward.

“Now… The real beginning starts.”

C-Rank Dungeon.

Nightmare World.

“Let’s begin the expedition.”

 

***

 

It was so quiet it was suffocating.

Silence had swallowed the entire world.

The sound of Pendrick swallowing his saliva echoed like thunder.

As the oppressive stillness squeezed at our consciousness…

The gigantic single eye never looked away from us.

 

[King of the Dead (? Level)]

[A giant of unimaginable size. The difference in rank is too great to analyze further.]

 

A monster incomparably stronger than even the fully strengthened Corrupted Meterd Statue.

It merely looked at us.

Yet overwhelming pressure washed over my entire body.

Its very presence seemed to gradually crush our minds.

“…This is overwhelming.”

Leaning against the wall just to remain standing…

Pendrick whispered quietly.

“……”

Even Rosalia’s complexion had turned noticeably pale.

This was exactly when a party leader needed to step forward.

“Drink this.”

I distributed the Mental Barrier Potions we’d purchased at the exploration supply shop.

Upon successfully entering Nightmare World, the King of the Dead’s gaze gradually shattered one’s sanity.

These potions prevented that.

“I finally feel like I can breathe again…”

Pendrick smiled once his complexion improved.

 

“So, that’s why you bought nine expensive Mental Barrier Potions?”

“Yes. That eye alone can inflict mental damage simply by looking at us.”

“As expected… Lord Lidni really does know everything!”

“Don’t relax just yet. If more than four days pass… Even the potions won’t stop your sanity from collapsing.”

It was, in effect… A time limit.

If we failed to clear the dungeon within three days…

We would die.

“But there’s no need to worry.”

After tearing down the cumbersome curtains and tossing them aside…

I looked each of my companions in the eye before smiling.

“This may be a C-Rank dungeon. But as I said before… If we’ve prepared thoroughly, it’s effectively only D-Rank.”

Unlike Bloodbird’s Banquet Hall, which we’d cleared relatively comfortably…

This dungeon would require considerably more hardship.

There was no need to mention that.

Sometimes… A leader needed to carefully control how much truth they revealed so as not to crush everyone’s morale.

There was one more encouraging fact.

“Fortunately… We don’t actually have to fight that monster.”

“Strictly speaking… As long as we don’t provoke it, it’s harmless.”

The King of the Dead a Level 9 monster. A transcendent enemy that normally belonged inside an A-Rank dungeon.

However… It had only just awakened and was still half asleep.

Unless we attacked first…

It wouldn’t assault us.

It would merely continue staring at us with unbearable intensity.

“Our objective is to locate the only tiny patch of white light within that dark land.”

Its location was completely random.

If luck favored us… We might find it within a single day.

If not… We could waste all three days searching.

“Please put these on.”

I took out the dark-colored robes we’d bought alongside the potions and handed one to each member.

 

[Exploration Tool — Night Sky Veil]

[Makes the wearer difficult to notice in dark places.]

 

They weren’t masterpieces.

Just ordinary equipment.

Still… They would help.

After quickly putting on my robe…

I placed one foot on the windowsill.

“We’re moving.”

I jumped outside.

Landing upon a surface that was almost impossible to see.

It supported my weight…

Yet it wasn’t the ground.

Fwaa…

Astrimia emitted a faint starlight from Pendrick’s hand.

Only then could we see where we stood.

A vast land colored entirely in icy blue.

At first… It was too enormous to properly comprehend.

But the longer one stared…

The true shape became obvious.

“…It’s a hand.”

The King of the Dead’s hand.

More precisely… It’s palm.

 The room we’d been staying in rested atop the giant’s open palm, submerged in eternal silence.

“Let’s hurry.”

There wasn’t time to hesitate.

Even I had no desire to die inside a C-Rank dungeon.

So I took the lead, descending the giant arm.

“Astrimia. Please extinguish the light. We need to remain as hidden as possible.”

“Understood.”

Then…

As we reached one of the arm’s joints amidst the suffocating silence…

Without the slightest warning…

Multiple figures suddenly appeared from the opposite direction.

“…Foolish.”

Vague silhouettes slowly approached.

Priests clad in ceremonial robes.

I couldn’t properly see them myself.

Fortunately…

I possessed a partner capable of effortlessly piercing the darkness.

 

[Priest of Solitary Silence — Demon (Level 4)]

[A cultist who manipulates flames of annihilation and power that defies death. Due to the demon race’s innate ability to grow stronger by feeding upon negative emotions, its physical capabilities are also exceptional. Exercise caution.]

 

Demon cultists.

In reality…

They were a weak combination burdened by double prejudice and hatred.

Inside this dungeon…

They represented the exact opposite: Authority and Power.

Nightmare World was a possible future in which demon cultists and dark mages had completely conquered every intelligent race across the entire continent.