Chapter 57 – Return
9. Return
‘Sea Baal… Only the mind hurts, the body hurts too, so the pain is double…’
There was no such thing as waking up sooner this time just because I had experienced near death once. If you’ve experienced it, it’s at most once, isn’t it twice so far? Anyway, when I got out of death, the pain that I felt all over my body hit me all at once. However, it was strange.
I thought I was lying on the cold dungeon floor, but why does the back of my head feel so soft?
I barely lifted my stiff eyelids, probably full of mucus and scabs, and the first thing I noticed was blood-soaked gray hair.
Gray hair in vertical orientation. Soft feel on the back of the head.
“Ka, hey…”
There was no answer. However, there was warmth and there was a faint sound of breathing.
‘What, what happened?’
It was difficult even to open my eyes, so it took me a year to get myself up. It felt like the bones and muscles of my whole body were playing separately, but strangely, I wasn’t anxious.
I didn’t die Kaya didn’t die either.
‘Shay, Shay is.’
I turned my head away, ignoring the sound.
“Haaa…”
When I wondered where it had gone, her blood-stained golden head lay on Kaya’s left thigh. Shay seemed to be alive, too, from the subtle movements of her back.
A deep sigh of relief came from her.
‘Kaya did it.’
We got out later than we wanted, but seeing that everyone was still alive, it looked like Kaya passed out after feeding us the last blow and putting us on the floor as a lap pillow.
‘It must have been hard enough for him to die, but in the midst of that, he came to his senses and finally took care of us after hitting the finish line…’
Oh, King God Emperor Majesticaya.
I carefully laid Shay’s head on my left thigh and Kaya, who passed out from her uncomfortable position, on her right thigh.
She brushed the dried blood powder from Kaya’s eyelids and the bloodstains that covered more than half of her face. Seeing that his expression was peaceful, fortunately he didn’t seem to have nightmares. I stroked Kaya and Shay’s heads with both hands, confirming the battle message.
[Eugene has entered near death.]
[The indomitable spirit is broken.]
[All effects of insanity ‘Indomitable’ will disappear.]
[All stats are reduced by 33%.]
[Eugene will die if he receives damage while in the state of near death.]
[Where the hopes of the warriors were dashed at the sight of their comrades falling, fear takes over.]
[Shay Mentality – 33]
[Kaya Mentality – 33]
‘Mentality –33 Is it a true story?’
Because of the ‘lethargic’ debuff and ‘fear of the dark’ respectively, the mentality of my colleagues was terribly cut.
[Brightness: 0]
[The light completely goes out. Fear and darkness completely encroach on the dungeon.]
[The warriors lose their will to fight more quickly.]
[The monsters will have more fear.]
When the magic torch was completely extinguished while fainting, a debuff was applied to the warriors and a buff to the monsters.
[The pitch-black darkness is filled with fear.]
[Shay Mentality –6]
[Kaya Mentality –6]
[Eugene mentality -5]
It seems that the mentality has been blacked out once more due to the darkness penalty in the middle.
[Everything according to God’s will]
[Kaya deals 4 damage to Dread Hand.]
[Remaining HP –3/99]
[The hand of fear is dead.]
As expected, Kaya seems to have smashed his head with her mace.
Squeeze- Squeeze-
His hair was clotted with blood, but he continued to stroke it regardless. All I can do now is this.
Thank you, I’m sorry, and I’m proud of you.
And, with a fluttering heart, I started to check the next message.
[The Long Terror has cleared Area 1 of the dungeon of the highest difficulty ‘The Longest Terror’.]
The message confirms the clearing of Area 1.
[If you wish, the Hero Corps HAT can directly enter Area 2 without going through Area 1.]
I passed the message that I was nervous about saying that it was obvious in The Long Terror, just in case it wasn’t here.
[Reward: 33 Gold Coins, Absurd Resistance Faith, Hearthstone, Adaptive Random Skillbook]
‘Oh. Ohhh!’
Like a child opening Christmas presents one by one, I savored the messages with rewards written on them one by one. First, 1-10, the reward obtained by holding the hand of fear was a passing score.
[A zone 1 clear reward will be given.]
[Reward: 66 gold coins, long live gold]
1-10 gold coins worth twice the reward, plus useful artifacts.
Up to this point, it was a reward close to the jackpot by The Long Terror standards.
However.
There is still one step, no, there is still one more left.
[No one died.]
No Death Clear Bonus.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that I couldn’t quit The Long Terror because I couldn’t forget the taste because the reward when I cleared it was so damn sweet. Indeed?
[Reward: 99 gold coins, adaptive random skill book, indomitable flag, passage of darkness]
“Hall-Lee…”
198 gold coins, 2 random skill books, 3 artifacts, and unknown but high-quality consumables.
Haha… Haha! Cool! Puhhhhh!!!”
I laughed and heard it, and my ribs struggled in pain as if I was doing a tap dance, but I still laughed.
‘Whoa, it’s time to get out of this fucking place. At las!’
Reaching for the Hearthstone in my bag, I saw Kaya and Shay attached to me and shouted.
“To Salem!”
**
“Why are you so dead?”
“Ugh, haven’t you heard the news?”
“News? What news?”
“These days, the guild is showing signs of hitting the price again.”
“What? Also? How much?”
“Just overall. Now, it seemed like there wouldn’t really be anything left if we just went back and forth from the beginning.”
“You bastards, after eating like that now, are you going to eat more? They are pigs who eat their livers for fleas!”
“They just look at us like fucks. Aside from them, there are many people who will supply materials, and there are many people who will buy things~ This is it. Outside of Salem, I don’t know what’s going on inside, and I still know it as a big hit city. Mayflies like us keep pushing in. Then, increase the rate at which the guild members take off again. It’s a very vicious cycle.”
“Is it time to seriously think about retirement…”
“Retirement? Arthur Arthur. I wonder if he’s going to move to another city altogether, someone who knows that retiring here will make you more miserable… Uh huh?”
“What else?”
“Person! Hurry up and call someone!”
“What a fuss all of a sudden… Fuck Hmmm!”
Like all ephemera, the two men who were chewing on the guild that was in charge of Salem’s axis were excited when they saw three bloody men and women who suddenly appeared.
“Look! Hey! Wake!”
“Ugh…”
“You are alive! Alive!”
“Here…”
“Somewhere in Salem! I must have gotten into a very dangerous place and barely got out. An acquaintance of mine has gone to call someone, so you don’t have to worry about talking on the street.”
“Thanks…”
“Ah! Are there any inns where you stayed before? Then I can take you there too.”
“The warrior’s cradle…”
“It’s a pretty good place. Rest well, and later when someone comes out of the castle and asks who helped you, be sure to say Akerman!”
The bloody man who barely responded then lowered his head. Soon, four men carried three men and women on their backs and headed to an inn.
**
“Turn it off…”
Unfamiliar… It was an unfinished ceiling. A stench coexisted on the skin and armor, and pain and great nausea coexisted on the inside.
“Oops.”
Nausea came out. If I ate too much, I was so sick that I would have vomited.
‘Damn the hearthstone. Wouldn’t it be nice if I returned it nicely?’
As soon as I joyfully shouted ‘To Salem!’, I would have thought that I would feel like riding on a roller coaster with a can of soju on an empty stomach. Even the body is like a beggar.
I wanted to pass out quickly, but then I desperately maintained my consciousness because I didn’t know what would happen to me as soon as I returned, but thanks to the kind-hearted people I didn’t know who it was, it seemed like I had arrived at the inn I stayed at before.
‘Did I say Akerman when someone came out of the castle?’
Looking back on it, it seemed like I was hoping for some kind of reward, but it didn’t matter. Because no one did anything wrong, and no one was robbed. In Salem, which boasts murderous water prices and a stark, sharp atmosphere, that seemed like a very nice person.
‘First, let’s wash.’
I tried to organize my thoughts, but I kept trying to vomit at the stench that kept coming up. My body was screaming for me to get some sleep, but I thought it would be better to sleep clean and refreshed even if I suffered a little more. So I headed to the bathroom, and I saw my colleagues who were in a more serious condition than me.
‘… We all worked hard together, but I can’t rest comfortably.’
I approached my colleagues with zombie-like steps again. It took more than a minute to go from end to end of the inn room. With trembling limbs, he took off the armor of Kaya and Shay, who were lying uncomfortable in their armor. It was a very exhausting task.
‘It’s great!’
Then the thick smell of blood and sweat came up. The clothes worn under the armor were dyed red. This time, I didn’t add an exaggeration, and it came up slightly. And I was about to faint.
‘I can’t. I can’t leave it like that.’
The bathroom was small, but what can you do? It’s hard to control my body, but I have no choice but to wash it while washing it somehow.
Soaked in blood, I took off the clothes that were more difficult to take off for no reason. Then I hugged them one by one and leaned them against the bathroom wall and turned on the hot water.
Shoot ah-
“Huh…”
It felt like my whole body was melting. I wanted to become mushy right away and become one with the bed. However, he barely maintained consciousness after seeing the blood that continued to come out even after washing and the body stained with the blood of his colleagues. Their bodies were beautiful, but they weren’t in a situation to get excited about, and they didn’t have the stamina to do so.
After roughly washing my body, I first washed Shay, who had scars all over her body, and sent a message to maintain consciousness.
[Conviction of absurd resistance]
– Applies to: Heavy Armored Knight, Guardian, Crusader
– Increases defense by 1
– Increases defense against humanoid monsters by 1
– Decrease Pitch Critical Hit Damage by 1
– Awakening chance slightly increased
– Decrease speed by 1
“Anyway, in a situation where the space for artifacts is overflowing, if it’s enough to make you squeamish, you should bow and eat.”
As I watched intently, I found myself unknowingly rubbing Shay’s breasts. I hurriedly buried the foam elsewhere and checked other artifacts. No! My eyes are closing!
[Hail Golden]
– Applies to: Bounty Hunters, Looters, Treasure Hunters, Assassins, Dungeon Traders
– Get 1 gold coin every time you clear a room
– Obtain 1 additional gold coin when defeating an elite monster
– Acquire 4 additional gold coins when defeating the boss monster
– In exchange for artifacts, you can get a discount at the shop in the dungeon
Artifact ‘Golden Age’ received by clearing Area 1. This was a money-making artifact. Depending on the combination, it could be useless, a small pocket money earner, or a goose that lays golden eggs, but the money is good.
It was by no means a bad artifact. If the 4th member is set as a treasure hunter as initially thought, the effect of the artifact will be doubled, so this will be pretty good too. Aside from that, just being able to hit the store’s price once wasn’t bad.
“Ugh… !”
After wiping Shay, who was barely washed, I put him on the bed and covered him with a blanket. I wanted to wear underwear and casual clothes, but…
‘Because Kaya is still there. Sorry Shay.’
After moving Shay, who was heavier than expected, the last stamina he had squeezed out was showing its end. As soon as she got back to the bathroom, the world went round and round.
‘No… Even Kaya needs to be washed…’
Having experienced near death, the boundary between life and death, twice, and suffering from motion sickness from the Hearthstone, the body refused to engage in any further activities.
Shoot ah-
‘As much as Kaya, a cold floor won’t work!’
Just before collapsing, as soon as I managed to change the direction of the hot water to Kaya, I fell over.
‘Sorry, Kaya.’
While apologizing in my heart that it was the inside of her thigh that had fallen over.
