by Sakon Kaidou
“Yeah. I’m back,” I said.
She said nothing.
“...Hmm.”
Man, this is awkward. The fact that I had gotten the death penalty made our reunion really unpleasant. I’d gotten killed because of my own ineptitude, so I had to apologize to her...
“Sor—”
“No need.” She stopped me before I could finish.
Oh, yeah, she knows exactly what I’m thinking.
“Stop thinking such ludicrous things,” she said. “I’m the one who feels awkward and needs to apologize.”
“Eh?”
Why?
“...Before the incident, I went on and on about how I was the greatest and nothing could ever match me, but the very first time we fought against an enemy Embryo, I could do nothing to protect you from dying. I am infuriated by my own lack of worth and power.” Nemesis expressed her frustration by biting into her lip so hard that I could see a small trail of blood go down her chin. That was just how guilty she felt.
But...
“But you’re wrong.” I said. “If you hadn’t protected me against the second attack, we would’ve been defeated way earlier. Seriously, it’s my fault for being bad at the game. It makes me look pretty pathetic when you consider that I want to join the rankings.”
“No! It’s my fault because my skill wasn’t strong enough to protect you from the final attack!” Nemesis exclaimed.
“Don’t be stupid! It’s my fault because I couldn’t operate in a manner appropriate for our ability!”
Nemesis hit me in the chest. The punch was very weak. And the words that left her mouth...
“It was my lack of power. If you hadn’t been a Master — a player — I... you and me both... would now be gone forever... and that scares me beyond belief...”
The words that left her mouth displayed a fragility far greater than the fist on my chest. The same girl that hadn’t stopped talking about the extent of her greatness was now showing her weak side.
“Nemesis...” I said.
She only sniffled in response. Nemesis was crying. Her permeable tears were a sure sign of fragility and transience. When she cried, Nemesis didn’t seem like a mere game character.
“...you might be right.”
My words made her shoulders shiver. As if to calm them down, I placed my hands on them.
“However, Nemesis, I really don’t think that this failure is only your fault,” I continued. She was one or two heads shorter than me, so I bent down a little bit and looked her straight in the eyes. “And... just as you said, it wasn’t only my own powerlessness, either.”
“Master...?” Nemesis asked.
Nemesis wasn’t the only one who was inept. Nor was my powerlessness the only thing to blame for this.
“This failure... is our fault,” I concluded. That was the only correct answer. “My level was low. You haven’t matured as an Embryo. And most important of all — we both lacked experience. That’s why we were killed by him.”
That defeat was in the past, and the past wasn’t something you could change.
This death penalty might leave a stain on our record.
“Even so, both of us are alive,” I said.
I had gotten killed, but since I was a player — a Master — my life continued as normal. And, if you ignored the possibility of her evolution slowing, Nemesis was okay, too.
“Which means it’s all fine, isn’t it?” I said. “We can still go on and become stronger than before.”
We Masters and Embryos can get back on our feet countless times, I thought. Who cares about a stain on our record, anyway? I don’t want the path I travel to be a bed of roses. Even if we’re slightly hurt, we’re still standing on our own two feet, aren’t we?
“Let’s become strong and have our revenge on that scumbag,” I said.
In fact, we have a new goal now, I thought. We’ll level up, evolve, become better at the game, and eventually grind him into paste, fair and square.
“...You are an unexpectedly demanding man.” My words made Nemesis adopt a wry smile. “However, you couldn’t be more right,” she went on. “Indeed, not letting go of the past when it hinders your march to the future is the height of folly. We still have a road in front of us.”
She wiped away her tears. All that was left on her face was a familiar, indomitable grin.
“I don’t know his name, but that Master will get what’s coming to him.” Nemesis raised her right hand. “Let’s go, Master! Let’s become strong — no, the strongest! No one will be able to harm us then!”
“Hell yeah!” I cried. “Let’s do this, Nemesis!”
And so, we linked our arms together. I didn’t get any inelegant messages saying something along the lines of “Your bond with Nemesis has deepened,” but I could feel it having happened. Nemesis and I were closer than ever before.
That moment was our true starting point.
◇
By the way, I didn’t care about it while talking to Nemesis, but since the fountain was a save point, we were surrounded by many other players. They could see and hear our exchange with no problem, and when Nemesis and I joined hands, we were greeted by a round of applause.
With our faces red from embarrassment, we chose to leave the place, giving our conversation an unsatisfying ending.
Chapter Four: Tomb Labyrinth
Royal Capital Altea — Paladin Ray Starling.
After running away from the fountain plaza, we went out on a large road surrounded by shops on both sides.
“All right, so we both want to become strong,” I said. “Our best option would have been to level in the hunting grounds surrounding the capital, but the current situation doesn’t allow that.”
“The player killers are still active, after all,” Nemesis agreed.
If we wanted to have our revenge on the player killers, we’d have to level in Noz Forest, but with them still being there, we’d end up getting PK’d the moment we left the capital.
“That’s why we’ll go to the last available hunting ground that my brother told us about,” I said.
“The Tomb Labyrinth, correct?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
Tomb Labyrinth. Out of all the hunting grounds surrounding the capital, it was the only one that was inside it. It was a great, maze-like dungeon that extended below the capital’s graveyard.
While my death penalty had been active, I’d taken a look at the walkthrough wiki and found out some important things about it.
First, it was an underground dungeon with a theme and set of monsters that changed every five floors down.
Second, the deeper you went, the stronger the monsters became.
Third, the lower floors were swarming with monsters so powerful that they put Demi-Dragon Worms to shame.
Fourth, the monsters in the upper floors were weak — about as strong as those appearing around the capital.
Fifth, the walkthrough wiki’s volunteers had confirmed 415 floors so far.
The most important point was the fourth one. In the upper floors, we newbies could level without worrying about getting killed by players.
“Normally, the other beginners would completely flood it, but that won’t happen here, right?” Nemesis spoke.
“Yeah, most of the other beginners should be unable to get in,” I replied.
“...Tough world, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Seriously.”
Once we remembered the reason why the other beginners couldn’t enter, Nemesis and I heaved a long sigh.
After dinner, we arrived at the graveyard where we could find the Tomb Labyrinth.
As obvious as it might’ve been, the graves here were Western-style, not Japanese. We were surrounded by countless tombstones, displaying the names of the deceased and the years they had been born in and died. It was a large graveyard, so there was a map at the entrance. It showed that the Tomb Labyrinth was quite a distance inside. There was even a guardroom for the soldiers statio
ned there.
Making our way to our destination, we walked through the graveyard.
I’ve gotta say... this unfamiliar sight of a Western graveyard at night is pretty creepy, I thought. Though I guess thoughts like that will only get Nemesis to make fun of me and... hm?
“Nemesis?” I asked.
She didn’t respond. There was no expression on her face. In fact, she was making an active effort to not display any emotions.
It’s gonna be our first battle since coming back from the death penalty, so she might be a bit on-edge, I thought.
“Nemesis,” I said.
“What... is... it...?” Nemesis spoke so clumsily that I could almost hear her voice creak like the mouth of some rusty old doll.
“...It’s nothing.”
“I... see...”
I wondered, Is she on-edge or just tense? I can’t tell. Well, I don’t mind if she’s on-edge. We just recently revived, after all. But man, this graveyard is really grim.
Well, nighttime graveyards weren’t lit up by anything, so it was only natural for them to be grim. It was the perfect place for one of those generic horror movie scenes in which zombies crawled out of their graves, banded up into an army, and closed in while losing parts of their bodies.
“...Hm?” I asked.
Right after I pictured a horror scenario, Nemesis took hold of my hand. I could feel it shaking, and when I looked at her face, I saw nothing but anxiety.
...Oh, I see how it is.
“Are you... afraid of ghosts and stuff?” I asked.
She didn’t respond. Instead, she simply looked away.
I guess she is and doesn’t want to say it, I thought.
Nemesis always spoke in a proud manner, ate a lot, and was slightly arrogant. Yet, she was afraid of ghosts. Despite us becoming closer, I still didn’t have a good grasp of her character.
“If you’re afraid, why not just change your form right now?” I suggested.
“...Okay.” Still holding on to my hand, Nemesis transformed into a greatsword. For some reason, I could feel her becoming more composed.
I guess her form has an effect on her mental strength, I thought. Keeping her psyche safe comes at the cost of making me look like a weirdo who hangs around graveyards with an unsheathed greatsword in hand, but whatever. I’ll just go to the entrance before anyone notices.
◇
I finally arrived at the entrance to the Tomb Labyrinth. It took me about ten minutes, which spoke volumes about just how large the graveyard was.
Well, there’s a large labyrinth underground, so it’s only to be expected, I thought. And since I was near the entrance to a dungeon now, no one would tell me off for holding a weapon.
The gate to the Tomb Labyrinth was made of stone and looked really sturdy. There was a soldier stationed right next to it. He quickly noticed us.
“Master, are you wishing to explore the Tomb Labyrinth? You need to have a ‘Tomb Labyrinth Exploration Permit’ to do that,” he said.
A Tomb Labyrinth Exploration Permit. This item was the very reason why no beginners were exploring the Tomb Labyrinth.
It was a possible reward for quests of difficulty level three or a random drop from boss monsters. They were being sold on the player market, too, but one went for an average of 100,000 lir. It wasn’t an amount an average beginner could easily procure. Basically, this was a harsh beginner’s hunting ground that required the players to pay a kind of toll.
Luckily for me, I’d had the leftover money I’d gotten from selling the Demi-Dragon Worm’s drops. So, before going to this graveyard, I had bought my permit. I’d even finished filling it in and actually making it effective, so I was good to go.
When I reached for my items and dug for the Permit with my left hand...
“Oh? You’re a Paladin, aren’t you?” the soldier asked. “Then there’s no need for that. Please go inside.”
He moved away from the gate without me having to show my permit.
...Excuse me? I thought.
“...What about the Tomb Labyrinth Exploration Permit?” I asked.
“Paladins don’t need one,” he answered.
...Are you for real?
“Oh dear, what a waste of 100,000 lir,” Nemesis chimed in.
“Oohhh...” Groaning, I fell to my knees.
Not even the death penalty could do it, but this loss of money had made me collapse in an instant.
The shock was huge. If I had to gauge it, it was about three times worse than playing one of those retro RPGs, spending tons of time getting enough money to buy an iron sword, only to get it from the next treasure chest you found.
Goddammit, that money is the equivalent of 1,000,000 yen... I thought. I filled it in, too, so it’s exclusive to me and I can’t even resell it now...
Why didn’t my brother tell me about this...? Well, I guess he wouldn't know, not being a Paladin and all.
As I kneeled on the ground due to the shock, the soldier called out to me in a worried tone. “A-Are you okay, sir?”
Nemesis chimed in, “I know you’re shocked, but nothing will come out of moping about it.”
“...Y-Yeah, you’re right,” I said.
Time to get a grip, I told myself. I simply have to raid this dungeon with the intention of making up for the lost money.
“So, can I go inside?” I asked.
“Y-Yes. Be careful, sir.” The soldier spoke a spell that opened the gate. Beyond it, I saw a gloomy darkness and a staircase leading down.
“Let’s go, then,” I said.
“Onward,” Nemesis agreed.
We made our first step into the Tomb Labyrinth.
My brother told me about the Tomb Labyrinth during a little break we had while we were buying my gear.
“Here’s something to bear in mind: the largest dungeon in this country is inside the capital,” he’d said.
He had just finished telling me about the beginner’s hunting grounds surrounding the city, so this info was like a little bonus.
“Inside the capital? What do you mean?” I’d asked.
“Bear-ly a few dozen meters below us, there’s a dungeon called the ‘Tomb Labyrinth,’ and it’s the largest one in the Kingdom of Altar — no, this whole continent,” he’d explained.
Nemesis and I had stared darkly at the ground we were standing on.
“It doesn’t seem like Dryfe even needs to do anything for this country to be destroyed,” said Nemesis.
“Just bear with me here. The Tomb Labyrinth is a created dungeon,” my brother had continued. “The monsters inside will never crawl out — you can be paw-sitive about that.”
“‘Created dungeon?’” I repeated the unfamiliar term, and my brother instantly began explaining it.
“Dendro has two bear-ly similar types of dungeons,” he began.
You really like giving explanations, don’t you, bro? I thought.
“The first type is a ‘natural dungeon,’” he continued. “It’s used fur places that weren’t dungeons before, but that got the function due to various circumstances. The Old Orchard is the bear-fect example.”
He went on to add that natural dungeons also included dens created by intelligent creatures and fortresses felled by monsters.
“The other type is a ‘created dungeon,’” he went on. “Just as the name implies, these are places that were created fur the sole purpose of being dungeons. Bear with me if I sound a bit meta here, but they’re basically dungeons made by the devs.”
“Oh?” I asked, expressing my desire to know more.
“There are three main differences between natural and created dungeons that you must always bear in mind,” he answered. “First of all, monsters in created dungeons never go outside.”
That makes sense, I thought. Living in the capital would be too dangerous otherwise.
“The second difference is that monsters automatically respawn regardless of any ecosystems and reasonable causes,” he continued.
The
people of this world had realistic personalities and lives, and monsters normally weren’t different in that regard, since they adhered to proper ecosystems. They wouldn’t simply appear with no rhyme or reason. Just as dead tians wouldn’t come back to life, entire species of monsters could be made extinct.
However, that didn’t apply to created dungeons, where monsters respawned without limit. It was perfectly natural for there to be undead-type monsters despite the lack of corpses.
“The third difference is that every few floors you run into a boss monster that — along with its standard drops — gives you additional rewards,” he added.
Unlimited monsters meant unlimited treasure. The grade of the drops increased the lower you went, and — in the deeper levels — items that could be sold for 1,000,000 lir weren’t uncommon.
This dungeon was a real cornucopia.
“There are other created dungeons, but the one with the most bear-able entry requirements is the Tomb Labyrinth,” my brother added. “When you look at Dendro as a game, this is obviously the best reason to choose the Kingdom of Altar. After all, to get in, you only need to have a permit and be aligned with the kingdom.”
He paused for a moment, then continued.
“Just like the fertile land around these parts, it’s one of the reasons why Dryfe wants to conquer this country. They can’t enter the Tomb Labyrinth until they do that, you know?”
So, to Dryfe, the Kingdom of Altar is like a treasury with an endless supply of commodities, eh? I thought.
“Did you stay with the kingdom so you could raid the Tomb Labyrinth?” I asked. “Is this the reason why you didn’t switch to the country you like once you got your suit?”
“I’ve bear-ly been there,” he answered.
Not the reply I’d been expecting.
“Why?” I asked.
“...Baldr’s fifth and higher forms are too large to use in the dungeon,” he admitted.
I had no words. The saying “less is more” crossed my mind. I didn’t know if it fit his case, but it was a clear example that there were pros and cons to everything.
And holy crap, what kind of Embryo is larger than a tank? I thought.
◇◇◇
And now, Nemesis and I were exploring the very same Tomb Labyrinth my brother and I had talked about. Since it was underground, I expected it to be pitch black inside, but it was actually relatively well-lit. This was because the walls and ceiling were covered in luminescent minerals.