Chapter 187 – The Longest Terror (1)
23. The Longest Terror (1)
[I was waiting. Mortals struggling.]
As soon as I passed the warning message and threw myself into the dungeon entrance, I heard the voice of a fear bastard.
[And 666 victors and 6003 losers.]
From the start, he showed off his talent for making me feel good with just one word, and the words that followed were even more spectacle.
It was as if he was laughing, saying, ‘Looking at your win rate, you’re a fucking bastard.’
Is it because of the mood?
Clearly, it seemed that the loser of number 6003 was gaining strength rather than the front.
I’m sure I was lucky, and I struggled to come this far, but I’m sure it’s all about this.
“Fuck you bastard…”
The message’s warning wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t see him, he just seemed to be either overpowered or greeted before I met him.
The brief darkness lifted, and the figures of my colleagues were seen again. My co-workers didn’t look too good either. He seemed to have heard thick words like me.
“As expected, I think it was a good thing that he came even if he was overdoing it.”
“Uh?”
“When I think of going through this process again to catch that rotten bastard if I plan on a later date, my stomach boils. You never know when you’ll catch it. I hate that.”
“As expected, that fear is mighty, but not great. That existence is equal to or higher than the Goddess… You can never admit it.”
“It really seems like an existence standing on the opposite side of the warriors. It’s shady, insidious, creepy…”
[You have entered the final resting place.]
[Stamina and mentality cannot be recovered at the final resting place.]
[You can stay at the final resting place for up to 30 minutes.]
A small vacant lot appeared, embarrassing to call it a resting place. The function of this place was that monsters did not appear and mentality was not cut. It was unknown if the 30-minute time limit was really because it was “Last,” Or if the 30-minute limit had been given to them.
‘It could be that the resting place doesn’t completely block the energy of District 4.’
But we didn’t need a break. The preparation was not enough, it was excessive, and rather, the thoughts about the horror increased and only the resolution that was strengthened while entering the dungeon could cool down. It seemed more like a paving stone for psychological warfare than a final mercy.
‘It’s true that he does something with that much power and dignity.’
I looked at the faces of my colleagues. It seemed that they had no intention of resting here either. If I had come here right after District 3 ended, I would have wondered where this was…
‘No. If Lady Justitia and Shay hadn’t paid the price, I don’t know.’
We coolly crossed the resting place. On the way, I spit in the center of the roost. The fear bastard would always be watching us like a voyeur, so it was a protest against the guy who would still be watching us.
I don’t need a resting place like this to kill you.
‘If the intention was to show unreasonable mercy, set up the resting place properly. A pervert bastard.
I got out of the resting place chewing on the fear bastard with my colleagues. Then the straight road came out. It was so straight and measured, that if it weren’t for the atmosphere and location, it would have been like a red carpet.
‘What about the red carpet?’
It was a funny thought. Now that you’ve come this far, you’re telling me to walk confidently, but didn’t that fear bastard set a trap in a place like this?
“Let’s keep it large.”
“Yes, chief.”
Shay, who walked to my left, took the lead, followed by Kaya, who walked to my right. I followed her, followed by Illumina, who was walking to Kaya’s right. It was a very natural movement.
‘Isn’t there a real trap?’
From Shay at the top to Illumina at the end, they advanced while keeping their senses on edge. However, there were no obstacles or attacks from monsters, let alone traps, even after going for several tens of minutes on this straight road that was not completely dark.
“What?”
Involuntarily, my inner thoughts flowed out. The silence that had been maintained since leaving the resting place was broken. The shoulders of his teammates, who had been stiff, trembled.
“It sounds really strange.”
“What intentions might be hidden in this just dark passageway…”
“There’s no way there aren’t plans.”
There was nothing so it was rather stressful. It was rather comfortable that every section, rather all sections, were full of traps. When will the trap come out, what wicked trap will come out, there’s no way the dungeon I know is like this… Judging by what my colleagues were saying, I wasn’t the only one who thought so.
[Mentality]
Shay: -19
Kaya: -28
Eugene: -50
Illumina: -38
I checked my mentality thinking that having nothing like this might be a trap, but nothing has changed.
‘Really, seriously, nothing?’
The District 4 I had imagined was not like this. District 4, which was explained in the dlc information, was not like this. As I recall, the first sentence in the description of District 4 was probably this.
“The horrors the heroes have experienced so far are only a part of it.”
It was not at the level of remembering without making a mistake, but I remember that even after that sentence, it made the players who waited for the DLC about the difficulties of District 4 make their toes and chi tremble just by imagining it.
“Captain.”
“Uh.”
“It’s a door.”
“…”
Even belatedly, there was no reversal of negative events including traps. No, the twist was that there was really nothing for over an hour.
Gulp-
It makes me angry to think that there is a fear bastard behind that door who has been watching us from afar and pissing us off, but that fact alone made the tension multiplied.
Will we be able to face the fear bastard?
If this doesn’t work out, we won’t even be able to compete with him, let alone defeat him.
[Eugene]
Level: 9
Max HP: 28
Attack Power (8) : 16~30
Defense (6) : 18
Speed: 7(6+1)
Knight Regeneration/Awakening: 14%
Reconnaissance Probability: 45%
Positive Traits: *Wanderer (Speed +1) / Strong Will (Slight increase in Awakening chance) / Horror Slayer (+10% damage against monsters with ‘fear’ in the name) / Butcher* (+15 damage to humanoid monsters) %) / Luck (increased chance of winning a roll)
Negative Characteristics: Extreme (attack power balance is lowered) / Unstable (accuracy rate is reduced)
[Kaya]
Race/Gender: Half-elf female
Class: Battle Vestal
Level: 9
Max HP: 34
ATK (8) : 21~28
Defense (6) : 19
Speed: 5(3+1+1)
Knight Regeneration/Awakening: 16%
Reconnaissance Probability: 34%
Positive features: Agile movement (speed +1) / Overcoming fear (25% decrease in all mentality) / New conviction * / Raella’s incarnation * / Transcendence * (significant increase in accuracy)
Negative Traits: One-Way* (affected by Eugene’s condition) / Exhaustion (5% health and mentality per round)
[Shae]
Race/Gender: Human female
Class: Crusader
Level: 9
Max HP: 41
ATK (7) : 18~29
Defense (7) : 27
Speed: 5(3+1+1)
Knight Regeneration/Awakening: 20%
Reconnaissance Probability: 37%
Positive Traits: Genius (all stats +10%, min 1) / Desperate (Ignores death and mortification with chance) / Punisher (Critical Hit Damage +10%) / Justitia’s Descent* / Overcomes Trauma* (5 Ignores the following mentality damage, reduces other mentality declining speed by 10%)
Negative Characteristics: Seizure (low chance of mentality loss)/Sadism (low chance of attacking out of control)/Deep aftereffects (10% loss of stamina per round)
[Illumina]
Race/Gender: Male Female
Class: Bard
Level: 8
Max HP: 24
ATK (6) : 13~19
Defense (7) : 11
Speed: 5
Knight Regeneration/Awakening: 14%
Reconnaissance Probability: 27%
Positive traits: Natural diva (main buff value +1, mentality recovery +1), harmony (does not reduce mentality of allies), survival instinct (increases evasion rate when health is below 50%), prepared person* (skill Gain 1 stat each time you use it, up to 3 (excluding speed)
Negative Characteristics: *Exercise (Exercise at regular intervals. Mentality decreases if not resolved)
‘It’s not something that can be done with money, but I’ve raised my equipment and skill levels to the maximum. If that doesn’t work… There’s no way.’
There are only two things that bother me, one is that only Illumina is level 8, and the other is the negative characteristics of Kaya and Shay. It was a characteristic that made long-term battles impossible, namely exhaustion and deep aftereffects. I had never thought of a long-term battle in the first place, but just seeing its characteristics in itself was nerve-wracking. I think they are broken.
Because it’s the last fight.
May this battle be the last trial and tribulation of your life.
“I don’t think there’s any pressure like last time to say it’s beyond the door.”
“Maybe it’s because our level has risen that much.”
“I hope so. I will open it.”
“Okay.”
She looked at Shay’s graying hair and tightened her hand on her axe. Illumina held her mouth tight and her body trembled. She pretended to be calm on the outside, and she put a hand on her shoulder.
Drurrrr-
The door, larger than ever before, pushed smoothly inward with a heavy vibrating sound…
“Ah.”
[Wait.]
Inside the door.
[Heroes who face fear.]
There was a universe
**
The universe was not a particularly fanciful metaphor.
Really, how else can I describe this vast, desolate space where I feel like an extremely insignificant being other than the word space?
The Terror was looking down at us from the center of the universe.
[That will, far from being damaged, has become stronger.]
“…”
Maybe my guess was correct, but unlike District 3, I was able to face him now. There was no pain like my whole body being torn apart as soon as I saw it.
But it was incomprehensible.
I’m sure I’m watching him, but I can’t explain what he looks like.
It looks like a human, then it looks just like a black cloud, then it looks like a monster… Is it that the shape isn’t fixed, or is it that I can’t pinpoint what he actually looked like.
As I kept looking at him, his head started hurting in a different way.
[The mortals who dared to stand up to me.]
The man’s voice rang out.
[Fear exists everywhere and exists in everyone alive.]
A darker black color spread from the center of the already dark universe.
[Do you think that mortals who yearn for survival more than anyone else can escape fear?]
An extremely dangerous and ominous dark red color like gooey blood and a gray color that looks like all hope was burned and only ashes were added to the existing black color.
[I am fear, and fear is boundless and impervious. You guys can’t stop me.]
The ominous colors mingled and became a turbid whirlpool.
[The first mortals to stand alone in the face of fear.]
The whirlpool, which had been randomly mixed, soon became a human-like shape. “That’s it,” He put his arms forward and opened his mouth.
[The only ones who don’t know fear are the dead.]
[Area 4 boss monster, 〈 Longest Horror 〉 has appeared.]
[The Longest Terror ignores speed and starts acting first.]
[The longest fear reveals its true face.]
[Hour of Fear]
[Every 12 turns, all warriors fall into fear.]
[If the resistance is successful, the turn proceeds as it is.]
[If you fail to resist, you will fall into ‘fear’.]
[All heroes lose 5 mentality every turn.]
Before we knew it, we were thrown into a universe called fear.
