37 – Backroom (6)

The interior of the room was as quiet as a rat.

I still had my eyes closed,

The rest of the group didn’t even ask any questions.

In the middle of the silence without the sound of an ant.

──It can be broken into. Just open up when you say good things.

The Oni said while unleashing the sword she was wearing at her waist.

Then I slowly open my eyes.

They were prepared for combat in case of an emergency.

Grabbing the bat tight.

The iron rice bowl aimed the muzzle protruding from the abdomen toward the door.

────Looks like he has no intention of opening it. Then I’ll force open it and go in.

Oni said that at the same time.

hooked

Pierce the blade through the center of the door.

I started cutting out circles like cutting paper.

“W-what is that?!”

Seeing that sight, Kim Young-ji let out a breath he had been holding back.

And, not knowing what to do, I took a step backwards little by little.

On the other hand, after Cha Yu-ra floated an ice pick in the air.

He calmly gazed ahead.

In this area, the difference in skill was clearly evident.

“Lee Hyun-seong. Can’t you tell me what it is now? I guess we’ll have to fight soon anyway.”

“…probably oni. From Scout Ant’s point of view, they looked similar.”

“Oni…?”

Cha Yu-ra trembled.

It was an understandable reaction.

Oni are basically lower 4-star monsters.

Sometimes intermediate or advanced.

Furthermore, it is a monster that even exists at the highest level.

It was information that I found out on the Internet because it was on the evolutionary route of kkaebi.

It seemed that he knew from the beginning that Cha Yura had excellent basic knowledge.

“I hope you are weak. I heard that each oni has a very different strength.”

I was surprised, but not frightened.

The moment Cha Yu-ra swallowed dry saliva and pulled out a frozen sword made of ice.

cooong-

The door was cut in a circle and collapsed to the floor, and the oni entered the room with her hand on the cut edge.

─Well. They are humans too.

As the oni took a step, we instinctively took a step back.

Unlike when I saw it through Scout Ant’s eyes, the pressure was no joke.

‘It’s not a low class, just by looking at it…’

Intermediate and above was certain.

When I saw the feat of cutting the door with a sword.

There was a possibility that it might be an oni of a higher rank.

At that time, tensions were rising.

-Master. Please enter your command.

The iron rice bowl suddenly demanded an order.

Even though the oni kept approaching.

I immediately found out why.

-During battle. multiplication. Zero.

“… there’s no chance of winning?”

─Initial order. Protect. Impossible to fulfill. current survival rate. 0 percent. Please enter another command.

What nonsense…

Are you saying that oni is of the highest rank?

The odds of survival are zero.

It meant that he could never win and could never run away.

When I didn’t give an order, Iron Rice Bowl continued to speak.

─I’m counting down. When there is no command input. It was judged that there was an indirect danger to the master’s safety. I will activate the self-destruct function.

“Yeah, at least that’s… it’s not, self-destruction?”

-Master. Safety is secured. Activate the protective shield.

“······Stay still for now. It’s an order.”

─Confirm command entry. Still.

The self-destruction was too extreme.

After all, you’re going to blow up everyone except me, right?

Anyway, that’s not much.

There was no guarantee that the oni could be killed with certainty by self-destruction, and there was no way to sacrifice the rest of the crew to save myself.

‘Is there any other way…’

I couldn’t rely on the iron rice bowl forever, so this time I decided to find a way myself.

There are quite a few new monsters still dormant in the encyclopedia.

It’s 2 stars at best, but

It could have been possible to escape if it was used well.

“Hyeonseong-ah. You don’t intend to kill yourself, do you?”

“I will not.”

Kim Young-ji, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation, showed an uneasy expression.

Cha Yu-ra glanced at me and slowly moved forward.

“Let me fight first. Because I don’t want to die without doing anything. If I die, then self-destruct.”

Could it be because he heard the iron rice bowl’s 0 percent remarks?

As if Cha Yu-ra was prepared for death,

I glared at the oni with a determined expression.

Then the oni, who was watching us with arms crossed, scratched his head and said.

─··· Hmm. I see you guys are misunderstanding something.

The oni suddenly put the sword down on the floor.

—I have no intention of fighting. prove it with this

He then raised his hands in a surrender pose.

‘What kind of situation is this again?’

I don’t know what your intentions are,

Since it was the words of the monster, of course I didn’t believe it.

Perhaps Cha Yura had the same idea, straightening the ice sword and aiming it at the oni.

“It’s a tactic often used by highly intelligent and wicked monsters. Do you think we will believe it?”

─Trust me. I’m just here to save you.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

I agree with Cha Yu-ra’s opinion.

But there was something odd about it.

It is a monster recognized by the iron rice bowl that it has the ability to overwhelm all of us.

Why would a guy like that have to lie like that?

It was an incomprehensible act.

When I was thinking like that.

The iron rice bowl stepped forward and spoke.

─Lie detection in operation. It’s the truth.

Didn’t you turn that feature off?

But isn’t that a lie?

I moved my gaze to the iron rice bowl and asked again.

“Bob bucket. Are you saying what that oni said is the truth?”

─It’s the truth.

“Even if you don’t believe the words of the oni, you can believe the words of the rice bowl…”

Bobtong turned his head to check the oni.

Then, as if scanning from head to toe, he said.

─Initial order. Protect. Deepening. fulfill again.

─0 percent chance of survival in the initial location.

─15% chance of survival at the current location.

– Oni. during battle. 0 percent chance of survival.

– A monster. Oni. when recruiting colleagues. 90 percent chance of survival.

─Over. Accompanying recommendations.

When the Iron Rice Bowl finished speaking,

Cha Yu-ra, who was on high alert, slowly withdrew her sword.

“I can trust robot words, though.”

It seemed that even Cha Yu-ra’s trust in Rice Bowl hit the ceiling.

Plus.

Since he had heard that the odds of survival were zero anyway, he must have decided that it was more reasonable to believe in the iron rice bowl than to fight.

-Thank you for trusting me.

After Oni said that.

Make eye contact with Kkaebi once,

It started slowly walking towards me.

Kim Yeongji saw it and waved his hands, creating a protective barrier between me and the oni.

─That’s annoying. put it away

“Hee, heeup…!”

When the oni spoke in a low voice, Kim Young-ji swallowed the hiccups and shook his legs.

“…Uh, what do you do?”

“Release. Because it doesn’t seem like a dangerous monster.”

Kim Young-ji carefully released the protective shield.

The oni came right in front of me and stopped.

‘Looking at it up close, it’s really big.’

Her eye level was much higher than me who is 190 cm tall.

It was at least one head difference.

-Are you the leader of this group?

“uh···. for now···?”

There is no leader

He swallowed what he was about to say, saying that if there is a leader, an iron rice bowl would be perfect, and nodded moderately.

—As expected, it looked like that just by looking at it. anyway···.

Oni turned around again and continued.

—I’ll cut it short and start with the main point. follow me right now

if you want to live

With those words added, the oni left the room.

Cha Yu-ra looked blankly at the back of the oni and asked.

“What are you going to do?”

The decision has already been made.

“You have to trust Bob’s judgment. Let’s follow.”

To trust the Iron Rice Bowl’s judgment to the end.

*

*

*

While walking down the hallway.

I saw a white bone in a yellow protective suit blocking the way.

Oni seems familiar.

He lifted the white bone with both hands and placed it in the corner.

—Like you, they are people who have lost their way here.

And without hesitation, he took the lead again.

Silence flows again.

I wonder if I walked another ten minutes without any conversation.

Kim Young-ji, who had been following the oni, cautiously stopped talking, as if his mouth was itchy.

“Hey, Oni-san… no Oni-san…?”

-Don’t call me Oni. His name is Ryoji Kuroda.

“Ah yes! Mr. Kuroda! May I ask you a question…?”

─Do it.

“That···. Where are we going now…? It’s not that I doubt it, I’m just curious…”

─It is my residence. It’ll be the safest there.

Starting with Kim Young-ji talking to the oni, a conversation sprung up little by little.

The oni looked at me first and asked a question.

-I said Lee Hyun-seong… Anyway, was it you who suggested hiding in that room earlier?

The suggestion was an iron rice bowl, but

The judgment was made by me, so I nodded.

─It was reckless. I was just lucky to live. Because half of the room is a monster called Room Mimic.

I raised my voice and asked again.

“Room mimic, huh?”

─Yes. When a living creature enters its body, it exhales sleeping gas and digests it slowly.

room mimic.

This is another monster I’ve heard of for the first time.

A monster with characteristics similar to the flytrap?

I don’t know if it’s a special dungeon,

Unfamiliar monsters seem to be seen quite often.

The centipede monster whose iron rice bowl was destroyed with a flamethrower on the way was also a monster he had never seen before.

—That room wasn’t a room mimic, but… If I hadn’t forced the door open, the others would have come sooner or later. It was dangerous to stay there all the time.

That’s how Oni continued to talk.

Cha Yoo-ra touched my arm and whispered softly.

“Did you see it?”

“What?”

“The necklace that oni is wearing.”

“ah···. I saw you earlier.”

Contrary to her usual appearance, Cha Yu-ra was a little excited.

so will it be,

Because Oni’s necklace had the only Awakening Stone attached to it.

“That oni, you mean guardian, right?”

“I don’t know about the Guardians because I’ve never seen them myself.”

“If you’re not a guardian, there’s no way you’re carrying the only Awakening Stone.”

What is the guardian Cha Yu-ra said?

It was a monster that was occasionally seen in the Hidden Boss Room and possessed one of the only Awakening Stones.

It means that it is not a monster that runs around the dungeon like this.

Of course, since this was a special dungeon, I couldn’t have thought of it with common sense.

When I heard that it was a guardian, I stared at the oni.

Then our eyes met.

─Is there anything you want to ask?

“…Ah, that’s it. Could you tell me why you are helping us?”

It was also the reason I was curious, so I asked at this point.

The oni was briefly silent in response to my question for a while.

The oni looked forward again and answered quietly.

─I promised.

“A promise?”

-It’s a promise I made with my best friend. Safely bring humans who have lost their way here…

“Me, over there!”

Suddenly, Kim Young-ji cuts off Oni’s words,

I screamed in amazement.

Following Kim Young-ji’s gaze, I saw a green-skinned monster glaring at us from across the hallway while licking his lips.

Three horns sprouted from its forehead.

An extremely obese body that seems difficult to stand on.

“I think that’s an ogre…?”

As Cha Yu-ra said, it was an ogre, a 4-star monster.

The oni put her hand on the scabbard and said as she moved forward.

-I’ll take care of the guy in front. Do your best to block it behind you. I will support you soon.

“······back?”

After hearing the oni’s words, I turned around and saw

Another ogre was watching us, rubbing its groin.

With everyone staring at the ogre in disgust.

─Dirt detection. kill immediately.

The iron rice bowl kneels,

The upper body was deformed while the legs were fixed on the ground.

Heavy machine gun… No, it looked like a high-velocity grenade machine gun.