041-060 · 048-ch42

Chapter 42: Encounter with the Unknown

I've been exploring the first floor, but for a while now, I've been sensing a strange presence on and off.

It's not a monster or a person, but there's something unsettling about it.

I'm confident I won't lose to most monsters, even if I can't win, and this presence doesn't feel that strong.

But for some reason, my instincts are sounding an alarm that I need to be on guard.

I started sensing it around the time I found that diary in the food storage earlier.

"This might be a bit bad. Sorry if the stream cuts out or the drone breaks."

>>Wait, what's going on all of a sudden?

>>Scary, scary, what happened?

>>Is something there?

"I feel a bad presence. I've felt plenty of huge, strong presences before, but this disgusting feeling is a first."

I've seen massive monsters and small but powerful ones. Robo's parent was one of them.

So I've experienced the presence, pressure, and aura of strong beings in the deeper parts of this dungeon.

Yes, presence is essentially perceivable pressure.

To put it into words (though this is just how it feels), weak presences are like a slight touch against your skin, while strong ones push against your body so hard you instinctively pull back.

And if you brace yourself mentally, you can endure even strong presences and pressure.

Well, this is just my attempt to put it into words, so I can't explain it perfectly. But presence is about strength, density, the amount of pushing force—I've never experienced anything where the quality itself was different.

No matter how powerful or massive the monster, regardless of species differences in presence, it's still just pressure.

But the power I'm sensing now is strange.

Just sensing this presence makes my spine crawl with revulsion.

It's not the trembling you feel before a powerful opponent.

It's the disgust of stepping on something slimy, of grabbing something sticky.

A presence that makes you recoil in spiritual revulsion.

>>I don't really get it, but retreat if it's dangerous

>>John is irreplaceable, after all

>>Rather than dying, be careful not to cross dangerous bridges

The viewers are worried like that, but unfortunately, they're missing the point.

"I'm always walking a tightrope since I'm exploring a completely new world. I live with the readiness to die from getting caught up in something at any moment. For example, since we have magic power here, magic could suddenly converge locally and explode."

>>Ah, so just being there is dangerous?

>>But that's different from not running from visible danger, right?

>>You don't have to rush into danger within danger

"Well, actually that's—"

The moment I tried to respond to the comments, I sensed that presence more strongly and spun around forcefully.

From a thin, widespread muddy presence that seemed to cling to and envelop my body, it suddenly concentrated into a sludge-like mass.

When I turned around, it was there.

At the T-junction I had just passed through.

Standing there was a man dressed in medieval noble attire.

Or rather, something wearing that skin.

The hollow, pitch-black or squirming darkness in its eyes and open mouth made it clear.

That was just something mimicking human appearance on the outside, filled with something inhuman within.

A mysterious entity standing perfectly upright.

Despite not looking particularly strong, it made me feel an intensely unpleasant presence.

So I drew my sword but didn't attack, instead waiting to see what it would do.

It's fine, I roughly know which wall to break through to get outside.

>>What is that

>>Crap, I can't stop getting goosebumps

>>Just looking at it makes me feel sick

>>Isn't this transmitting through the screen?

I didn't have the composure to respond to such comments. I tried to perceive this unknown being with everything I had, not just sight, and opened my mouth to question it.

"What are you?"

Whether it reacted to my words or not, it moved.

『縺ｪ縺懊％縺薙↓逕溘″縺滉ｺｺ髢薙′』

With its mouth slightly open, a high-pitched, cracking sound—probably its voice—came from it.

But it seemed to come from somewhere other than its mouth and throat.

It seemed to be crawling out from the empty sockets where eyes should have been in the human skin it wore.

Seeing that, I jumped back further to observe.

Even during that time, something black continued to spill out from the human skin.

No, looking at the unbroken parts, perhaps even that skin was something it created.

>>Ugh

>>Gross

>>Is it like an amoeba?

>>The non-Dragon Quest slime

>>That's it

There's a reason I didn't attack immediately.

Simply put, to avoid provoking an unknown enemy.

It might calm down from here, or it might explode if I stab it.

It might attack normally as an enemy without incident, and I can deal with that when it happens.

As I stood ready thinking that, several human-like figures crawled out from the black mass that had emerged from the human skin.

Not human.

They looked human in form and equipment, but they were more like zombies or that sort of thing.

They didn't seem to have clear consciousness like humans.

As they crawled out, they directed vacant gazes toward me while groaning with dirty voices.

Then, after releasing about ten zombie soldier-like figures, I felt the black mass begin to gather something like magic power within itself.

It felt different from normal magic power, but either way, it was definitely gathering power to do something.

At this point, there was no need to just watch anymore.

"Like I'll let you, hah!"

Besides the bastard sword in my right hand, I tried to stop it by throwing the spear that materialized in my left hand.

But just before the spear hit the black mass, the zombie soldiers that had been standing still cut in between.

Because of that, the black mass was hidden from view for a moment.

At that instant.

Crack

With such an unexpectedly light sound, a crack appeared in the space beyond the zombie barrier, right around above the zombie soldiers' heads, and split open.

Space had cracked like glass.

There was no other way to describe it.

A place that wasn't a wall or anything broke, revealing another space beyond it.

At that moment, I jumped back even further due to the explosively increased unpleasant presence, and cut out a section of the wall surface to kick down so I could escape at any time.

But the black mass didn't do anything more after that.

『鬟溘＞縺昴％縺ｭ縺溘°縲繧ゅ▲縺溘＞縺ｪ縺』

After making some sound again, it jumped into the world beyond the shattered space.

And then, as if rewinding the moment it broke, the space closed up.

Immediately, the air became lighter.

The unpleasant presence from earlier had completely vanished.

The zombie soldiers were still there, but that disgusting presence was gone.

Or rather.

"So these guys were the ones from last night."

Now that the source of the unpleasant presence had disappeared, I realized these were the ones who had tried to launch a surprise attack last night and got counterattacked by Robo.

Looking closely, several of them had large claw-like gouges despite not bleeding.

>>It disappeared without us understanding anything

>>What happened in the end?

>>Did John do something?

>>Finally, the grossness is subsiding...

I'll ignore the comments for now.

First, what to do about the zombies in front of me.

Whether the black thing gave some command before escaping, the zombie soldiers were slowly approaching while forming a formation with their shields raised.

"Guess I'll take them outside. Come on."

I could have fought them here, but it would be a waste to damage the castle, so I lured them out.

It was a place like the castle courtyard.

Here, the castle probably wouldn't break even if I went a bit wild.

Probably.

While thinking that, the zombie soldiers approached within range.

"Hah."

I unleashed several slashes, but each of them blocked perfectly with their shields or dodged, taking no damage.

Of course, part of it was that I wasn't going all out, but these were the ones who took Robo's attack last night and weren't one-shot, or rather, only had injuries that didn't impede their movement.

I had expected them to be somewhat capable despite being zombie-like.

"Well, I don't know who or where you were."

I materialized a buckler from the bracelet storing my weapons into my left hand.

In my right hand, I gripped my usual bastard sword.

And I pointed the blade at the zombie soldiers.

"For now, just die again."

Right after I said that—whether they understood my words or not—the zombie soldiers charged at me in groups of several at a time.