Every player has the habit of pressing the interact key whenever a suspicious wall or unusual sculpture appears. I was the same way. And that habit had helped me discover many "hidden pieces"—that is, hidden elements—while playing Dungeons & Stone for the past nine years
…Like with the statue in the fountain here, for example.
"Bjorn?"
"Oh, I'm coming."
Leaving the feeling of unease behind, I followed my group into the city. I decided not to mention the statue
Does a barbarian know something that even a wizard who has dedicated his life to learning didn't know?
It would be best to avoid arousing suspicion.
It was obvious that lying and saying that he had seen it in a book wouldn't work this time, and that thing was an object that couldn't be removed even with distortion magic anyway.
"So this is the inner city."
If the outer fortress served as the first line of defense in the Middle Ages, the inner fortress was closer to the last line of defense. Originally, this area would have housed various military facilities, such as an armory where the lord's vassals, knights, and soldiers were stationed.
Raven looked around and sighed.
"I had heard that it was like that, but it seems I'm not going to get anywhere."
The inner city, which was a third the size of the outer fortress, was horribly destroyed. All the buildings were collapsed, and only ruins remained.
There weren't even any monsters here.
"Let's move on quickly to the next one."
Under Raven's direction, we cleared the rubble for about 30 minutes and found our way to the basement.
"Mr. Murad, can you take the lead?"
"Of course!"
"Ah, I need to conserve my magic, so please light a torch as well."
The dwarf pulled out a torch and put it to his head. Maybe it was because he was short, but he looked like a cartoon mole miner.
Whoosh!
We pushed aside the thick wooden planks and slowly descended the stairs hidden beneath them. Chapter Three of the Bloody Citadel: The Underground Prison
I swallowed and got ready.
[You have entered the first floor of The Underground Prison].
Damn it, I don't know if my stomach can handle this…
***
"Miss Raven, what kind of monsters come here?"
"I know there will be skull rats, banshees, death demons, chimera wolves, ghoul lords, and a corpse golem."
"Except for the corpse golem, they are all monsters I have faced."
"That's right. Corpse golems are monsters that only appear in the Bloody Citadel."
"Hahaha, I'll finally achieve something for the first time in a long time!"
The dwarf was happy to know that he would increase his experience points by fighting new monsters.
But it wasn't. Even their illustrations were terrible. How unpleasant were they going to be in reality?
«Do you have to be careful with anything else?»
«You just have to be careful with the explosion of meat. The range of explosiveness is not very strong, but body fluids are mixed with acid toxin, so it can be fatal if hit at close range. Of course, I'll try to stop it before that happens».
«Hahaha! There is nothing to fear when there is a magician nearby!».
«Anything is possible because there are strong warriors like you, Mr. Murad.»
Do not...
It wasn't that long ago that murderers looked at each other for loot.
Step.
As soon as I reached the last staircase, a labyrinthine dungeon structure unfolded before my eyes. Inside cages, chained dead people roared at us and on the floor, rats with only bones left in their bodies wandered around making strange noises.
«Bjorn, are these monsters too?»
«They are the skull rats I mentioned before».
«I haven't asked you, magician!»
For reference, they had no rank like the dead. In fact, they didn't even have enough fighting power to be called monsters, so we walked forward, crushing those we could see with our feet.
And not long after, we came across a banshee.
«¡Heh heh heh heh heh heh!»
The banshee flew like a vengeful spirit, revealing only the outline of a strange face.
«B-Bjorn...»
Oh right. He's afraid of banshees.
Seeing Ainar cling to me, Raven smiled. I'm glad Ainar hadn't seen it. If not, I would have given him another attack.
«Be careful not to collide with the banshee. Once or twice is not too dangerous, but...»
«... But?»
«Otherwise, you will have a very, very, very, very terrible experience.»
«A very-very terrible experience? What does that mean?! Be precise, magician!»
«Hmm. Should I leave it to your imagination?»
Raven smiled bitterly as she looked at Ainar, who was pale as a ghost. Watching her get revenge like that, it was clear that she didn't have a very good personality either.
I sighed to myself and interrupted their conversation.
«I've heard that wizards have a way of dealing with banshees».
«True, you said you liked to read. You are very well informed, right?».
Was this something to call yourself knowledgeable? Well, since he was a barbarian, that might be the case...
Still, this was probably within the cutoff line.
«Then enough of the jokes. I'll eliminate the banshees first. Tayrun Shell.»
Immediately, an arrow of light generated by Raven's staff was shot and pierced the banshee.
The name of the magic in the game was «Magic Arrow». No time was even required to cast the spell because it was a basic attack spell.
«¡¡¡Keeeeeeee!!! »
We waited a moment, and soon dozens of vengeful banshees began to flock to the area with clear hatred in their eyes.
They had felt the «mark» left by their fellow banshee when she died. Although, for a mage who possesses a large number of powerful broad-spectrum abilities, it must have been welcome.
«Iherno Heindar».
A baptism of fire.
Flames emitted by the magic wand filled the straight hallway.
And, when the fire was slowly extinguished, there were no banshees left.
¡Whoom!
Once again, the mana stones that spilled on the ground floated in the air and found their way to his bag.
This was what he envied more than attack spells. Not having to collect mana stones every time.
Man, how long would it take to add a wizard to my team?
There is still a long way to go.
***
The 2D world through the monitor and the world in real life are different. The chill transmitted through the skin was even more so.
[The character has entered the second floor of The Underground Prison].
The dungeon he was now experiencing firsthand was more like a mad scientist's laboratory.
A three- or four-headed chimera wolf with torn muscles like a mutant.
A ghoul lord carrying around thirty elderly ghouls.
Not only did these rank 8 monsters look grotesque, but the small props surrounding them were also reminiscent of horror games. However, this was the final blow.
«By the way, Miss Raven, you are amazing. Doesn't it scare you at least a little?»
«Hmm. I love anatomy, you see. This doesn't scare me».
Shit, I hope that's not barbaric anatomy.
Come to think of it, the reason barbarian hearts were sold at high prices was because they were magical ingredients...
«Ah, we have arrived.»
Hunting all the monsters in The Underground Prison and reaching the third floor of the basement, we discovered a hidden door that led to the underground space of the collapsed lord's castle.
Originally, we would have had to get the map of the guard room first, but...
«the door was hidden behind the wall. Thank goodness I memorized the map beforehand».
Thanks to Raven, who had studied the map in depth, we didn't get lost. Even if he had been alone, he wouldn't have had any problems either.
The Underground Prison had an identical structure to the one in the game.
But all that is only possible because I am a player.
Once again, I realized the tall stature of a magician.
Powerful attack magic; very useful support skills, such as the Wound Exacerbation Curse; and even knowledge that would have been accumulated by reading numerous books.
It is not in vain that magicians are more appreciated than priests on the team.
«It would be better to leave our backpack here in front of us. Especially that of Mr. Yandel».
Feeling a little embarrassed, I placed the huge backpack that went down from my head to my thighs in front of the door.
...When I make money, I'll have to buy a magic backpack first.
It was not the first time that this backpack caused discomfort.
«Oh, from now on, Mr. Yandel, you should light a torch too».
Following Raven's instructions, I also fixed a torch to my head. With this, all preparations were complete.
Crujido, crujido, crujido-
When we turned the round valve to open the iron door, a putrid stench stung our nostrils.
«This is a completely unexpected place».
«Wizard... Do we really have to go in?»
«I would like nothing more than not to enter, but there is no other option».
A space reminiscent of a wastewater treatment plant. The cylindrical walls were lined with large water pipes, and black dirt dripped.
Additionally, broken and severed limbs and heads piled up like a mountain on the ground, and the gas that would have built up as they decomposed stung my nose and gave me a headache.
Unfortunate.
The first to vomit was the doorman.
The guy who had continued standing next to Raven, solemn, as if he were her bodyguard, emptied his stomach on the floor.
The second was Raven.
Unfortunate.
Even with a lot of dissection experience, he was still vulnerable to odor.
Surprisingly, I survived. Even the scene before me would have made me faint in the past, it had no effect on this barbarian's strong stomach.
«I'm glad you're at least okay. Come on, walk forward».
Feeling an indescribable sensation invade me, I slowly approached the center.
Squish.
Each step sounded like stepping on a sponge. And as the light approached the center, the enormous shape that was just an outline in the darkness became clearer.
«Hola».
Surprisingly, he spoke to us.
It was a female voice, like a broken audio guide.
«Heek! Help! I... Help me! YO! Crunch, crack, Sabr-oso, father, hehe!»
Uh, um, uh.
Honestly, it was a little shocking.
Suspired.
Damn, you used to be calm in the game. Why are you doing this to me?
I couldn't help but complain, but nothing is going to change by saying «oh me!» When I looked around, even the trusted dwarf was frozen in place.
«Wake up everyone!»
I screamed immediately, waking my stunned companions. But this seemed to stimulate him even more.
«Father! Father! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!!!!!!!!
The pile of corpses crouching on the ground rose and stepped forward with something that looked like a foot.
¡Boom-!
The middle chief of the Bloody Citadel.
It was a corpse golem.
***
Dungeon and Stone is the definition of a minor game, but it was not without popularity. At least the game's illustrations were famous. This was due to realistic illustrations that appeared to have been photographed in black and white and were often used as memes on the Internet.
But very few people knew that those illustrations were really from that game.
I realized once again,
«Shit».
No matter how realistic the drawing was, it did not compare to reality.
«¡Duele! ¡Duele! ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡Duele!!!!!!!
Is this what a monster that has gathered thousands of human arms, legs, and heads looks like?
Each member moved individually as if they had their own will.
The same was true of the hundreds of mouths. Each one poured out what it wanted to say, unchecked. Most of those words were cries of pain, of cold, of resentment, begging to be killed, to be saved. Illogical and chaotic emotions.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
Other times, it was just a scream.
Everyone froze once more at the eerie cacophony created by the merging of all sorts of strange voices
"Hikurod! Be careful!"
A wizard skilled in human anatomy.
A three-year veteran dwarf who must have faced numerous monsters
A humane man who exuded a distinguished aura for a porter.
These people had treated the two barbarian rookies like benchwarmers, but… Surprisingly, at this precise moment, only Ainar and I didn't lose our cool.
"What are you all doing!"
Ainar, who hadn't taken his eyes off the dead golem, grabbed the dwarf by the neck and lifted him up. And at that moment,
Bam!!!
A pile of corpses that flew like a shot exploded instantly. Blood and flesh splattered and stuck to Ainar and the dwarf
Czzzzzz!
Fortunately, Ainar wasn't hurt because of his clothes, but the dwarf was different
"Ahh! Eyes! My yes!"
Damn, it looks like it somehow got through the narrow opening in his helmet and hit him in the eye.
In an instant, the dwarf was incapacitated. And the sorceress who told us not to worry and to trust her…
Wretched woman!
She kept vomiting her intestines.
… What are you doing?
It doesn't surprise me, things had been going so well until now.
Of course.
"Ainar! Take the dwarf back and protect the wizard!"
After shouting that, I raised my shield and faced the corpse golem
I had no choice. I didn't want to stand out as much as possible, but… The bastards who used to boast about their skills on the front line were now playing it cool.
"Behell-aaaah!"
In order to survive, he had no choice but to be on the front line