novelraw Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Episode 11
"...Why?"
I tilted my head again and again as I came down from the tower.
I didn't even slam a kiss on him, so I had no idea what the hell that Male Lead bastard was so unhappy about that he'd feel a murderous impulse.
At least he still couldn't move, so I was able to hurry up and escape before it was game over.
"Ha... I'll have to go and apologize later."
I scratched my head in annoyance, then stopped by the kitchen to get a spoon and went to the guest room the Count had prepared for me.
And I immediately opened the chat window.
There was a mountain of things to take care of, so I couldn't just dwell on the Male Lead bastard's bad mood.
Me: The Darkness-Eating Centipede, please tell me where it appears.
It would be easier to just say it, but to prevent any mishaps, I decided to type directly into the chat window while I was at the Count's estate.
They said it was real-time chat, and the reply was fast.
GM Ari: Shari-nim! You finally turned on the chat!
GM Jinu: You did that crap and you're still not dead by the Male Lead's hand?
GM Sera: Your improvisation is pretty good. But letting your guard down is forbidden. Earning that bastard Kassel's acknowledgment will be an arduous path...!
The quiet chat window quickly became noisy with the developer bastards' chatter.
Even though I was just seeing it with my eyes, I felt like my ears were starting to hurt.
Me: I don't have time, so just hurry up and tell me where the Darkness-Eating Centipede is…
As I typed the annoyed chat, I glanced at a fixed system window that had appeared in the air.
Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potion Duration: 00:46
It was the time limit that appeared after I fed Kassel the first potion.
I had to return to the tower and feed him a new potion before one hour passed to prevent him from falling asleep, so it was quite tight.
GM Ari: A maid will be there soon with a meal. I can see one on that maid!
GM Ari: By the way, Shari-nim, are you trying to do the 'Build Rapport with Adam Quest'?
Ari asked, as if wondering why I was looking for the Darkness-Eating Centipede.
The method to stop the disaster was relatively simple: stop the Lord of Nightmares from falling asleep.
But if it flowed that easily, there would be no reason for this game to be called hell-difficulty.
The user, having entrusted the NPC with the task of feeding the potions, now had to solve the sub-quests occurring at the Count's estate to gain Adam's trust.
The method is as follows.
The sword stuck in the middle of the prison in the tower where the Male Lead was trapped.
It was, in fact, used by an ancestor of the ancient Hailey family to seal a powerful dark-attribute arch-monster that had attacked the count's domain.
After a long, bloody battle, the Hailey family succeeded in sealing the arch-monster, but after the Lord of Nightmares arrived, the seal's power weakened.
To make matters worse, the sword's lifespan had ended, so the monster's lingering thoughts leaked out, causing trouble by latching onto the people of the Count's family.
Those lingering thoughts were the parasitic monster called the Darkness-Eating Centipede, and it was random which AI it was attached to.
With the item obtained from catching that parasitic monster, you can repair the broken, ancient sword stuck in the tower.
Later, if successfully enhanced, that repaired ancient sword becomes Adam's exclusive weapon.
'Of course, that happens much later.'
At this point, the user, no.
My job is just to repair the sword.
That was precisely why I was pestering the developers to find out where the parasitic monster appeared.
GM Jinu: Isn't it too late to build rapport now?
GM Jinu: If the apothecary suddenly discovers and kills a parasitic monster, they'll be suspicious.
GM Sera: Indeed. Why did you not tell Adam that you are the ★Great Hero☆ who defeated all the mid-grade monsters?
'That's because I'm not doing it to build rapport with Adam.'
Thump, thump.
Unfortunately, before I could convey my intentions to the developers, an uninvited guest arrived.
Just as Ari had said, a maid appeared, holding a meal.
"Come i..."
Beol-keok. Before I could even finish, the door burst open and the maid stormed in.
The maid slammed the dish she brought onto the table where I was sitting, as if throwing it.
'Uuup!'
At the sudden stench that stabbed my nose, I hurriedly gagged and turned my head.
The dish the maid brought was filled with half-rotten, mushy food waste.
Wiii-ing.
There was even the effect of a few flies buzzing around.
"Eat. It is the Count's order to feed you food suitable for a lowly thing like you."
When I looked up, I saw a face full of malice.
Her pupils, having lost their original light, were pitch-black and dilated, looking eerie.
"Why aren't you eating? Do my words sound funny?!"
Seeing me sitting still, the maid suddenly escalated and abruptly scooped up a spoonful of the food waste.
And then she rushed at me with a demonic face.
"If you won't eat, I'll feed it to you myself!"
"Ack!"
I barely avoided the hand trying to grab my hood, pulled a potion from my pocket, and threw it.
Peok, Jjaeng-geu-rang!
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Kie-e-ek!"
The maid screamed and writhed madly.
Along with that, a monster's grotesque cry echoed.
Fortunately, before long, the maid stopped screaming and collapsed to the floor.
You have defeated Lv.1 Darkness-Eating Centipede using Potion Containing Sunlight.
I looked at the system window that popped up and stroked my startled chest.
'If I'd been a second slower, I would have been forced to eat food waste.'
Usually, dark-attribute monsters are defeated with light-attribute weapons.
Originally, the Darkness-Eating Centipede was caught using a light-attribute junk item given as a reward for hunting several hundred monsters as a sub-quest in a nearby field.
But no matter how easy it was to catch the monsters, it took quite a lot of time.
With only three days left until the disaster, I had no choice but to try a little trick, and I was glad it worked.
GM Sera: Oho. So potions work, not just light-attribute weapons!
'Seriously, what kind of developer doesn't even know that?'
I grumbled my complaint inwardly and picked up the fist-sized black orb that had fallen by the maid's head.
You have acquired one Essence of Darkness.
Me: I'll ask again via chat later, so let me know.
Me: And it'd be even better if you could take care of this maid.
GM Sera: Should I process her as dead?
Me: No! I mean, return her to her original patrol route!
GM Ari: Shari-nim. In that case, are you not going to show Adam this situation and tell him?
I didn't answer. I didn't have time.
Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potion Duration: 00:17
The time to feed the Male Lead a potion was already approaching.
It was the moment I hurriedly left the room and was about to close the chat window.
GM Jinu: But you know that the probability of stopping the disaster with the Insomnia Potion isn't 100%, right?
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
"Hah, hah! I know, that's why I'm suffering like this...!"
I muttered the words I hadn't been able to say to Jinu and ran up the stairs like crazy.
Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potion Duration: 00:04
No matter how much I knew the story and quests, it was my first time clearing them myself, so I had wasted too much time.
'Crazy, why don't teleport scrolls work inside the castle!'
It seemed to be restricted to make the user trudge through all the quest locations.
Thanks to that, I was now running straight for the tower, my feet sweating.
Fortunately, my stamina was full, so running wasn't a problem, but the precariously short time left me breathless.
If I wasn't careful, the absurd situation could occur where everything was ruined just because I missed the potion-feeding time...
'Nooo!'
Kwang!
"Hah, hah... Sir! It's time for your potion!"
When I breathlessly arrived at the top of the tower, opened the door, and entered the prison, there was only one minute left.
I quickly approached Kassel, who was still lying there with a status abnormality.
The red eyes that had been floating in the air turned toward me.
I clearly remembered the 'faint murderous impulse' from before and wanted to be a little more considerate, but I had no time.
I urgently pried his mouth open and roughly shoved the muzzle of the Monster Tranquilizer Gun in.
It was a huge relief that I had pre-loaded the potion while running to the tower.
"There's not much time... Please understand, Sir. I'm sorry. Sorry, sorry..."
With a lengthy apology, I prayed that the Male Lead wouldn't feel too much anger and pulled the trigger.
Pshuk----
The liquid in the glass tube immediately shot into Kassel's throat.
Maybe because he'd experienced it once, he thankfully didn't show any signs of coughing or trying to spit it out this time.
As his Adam's apple bobbed as if swallowing the potion, the time in the system window changed.
Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potion Duration: 00:59
"Haaa..."
Feeling like my legs were about to give out, I flopped down carelessly next to Kassel.
What felt like one hour passed in a daze, feeling like one minute.
'To think I have to do this for three whole days...'
With a hopeless heart, I stared at the sword stuck in the middle of the prison.
Then I staggered up and approached it.
In any case, I had brought the item, so I had to use it.
I took out the item I got from catching the parasitic monster earlier and touched it to the sword.
Using one Essence of Darkness on the Broken Greatsword That Lost Its Light.
When the black orb touched the chipped sword blade, it disappeared as if absorbed.
Uuuuung.
Soon, the sword emitted a faint light and vibrated weakly.
The Broken Greatsword That Lost Its Light resonates with the evil energy.
Broken Greatsword That Lost Its Light Restoration 1/99
'...Should I just give up on this?'
Looking at the remaining number, I felt my vision go dark.
It was only the beginning of the quest, but I was already having weak thoughts.
'Anyway, the main goal is just to stop the disaster...'
If it were before I heard Jinu's words, I might have given up on the quest to restore the greatsword right away.
GM Jinu: But you know that the probability of stopping the disaster with the Insomnia Potion isn't 100%, right?
Remembering that chat, my mind snapped to attention, as if cold water had been dumped on my complacent thoughts.
'Give up, my ass!'
I had briefly forgotten that was the whole reason I started the greatsword restoration quest.
The reason this game is a hell game is...
Because, damn it all, even though there's the easy method of stopping the disaster by keeping the Lord of Nightmares from sleeping, that's not all there is to it.
Sometimes it would pass without incident by feeding him the Insomnia Potion, but other times he would suddenly develop a resistance to the potion and require a larger dose.
In the worst-case scenario, the crazy situation existed where the potion had no effect and the Male Lead would just fall asleep.
Literally random. It's a lottery, in other words.
All the quests that occur at Count Hailey's estate weren't just about building trust with the main characters.
Every single one of them was connected to the one main quest: stopping the disaster.
Therefore, I had to prepare for all the various possibilities.
I did make and bring a ton of potions in case he developed a resistance, but if my lottery luck was the worst...
'Fuck, fuck...!'
Staring at the system window announcing 57 minutes remaining, I held back my tears and resolved to go out and find the Darkness-Eating Centipede again.
It was then. Jeol-geu-reok.
I flinched and turned around at the sound of someone's presence.
The Male Lead was still lying in the corner of the prison, and next to him was the carelessly tossed Monster Tranquilizer...
No, the potion-injecting magical tool was visible.
As if he could move his head now, Kassel was lying perfectly straight on his back, his head the only thing turned, as if cocked, to stare at me.
Unlike when I first faced him, my hair stood on end when I met his brightly flashing red eyes.
At that moment, my anxious premonition became reality.
The Lord of Nightmares reveals a certain level of killing intent toward you.