(65)
Author’s words It’s
Christmas . It would have been
great if I could give you a Christmas present as a gift, but
I went to a friend’s house and found out that a friend of a friend had been in contact with a corona-positive
patient
. It was blown away and made impossible. Sorry …
Read from noble mtl dot com
Not everyone is practicing social distancing, but
I will practice social distancing by writing alone at home .
We wish all our readers a Merry Christmas.
＜ 12. Into the crack (6) ＞
Bagratu raised one eyebrow slightly .
“ Why? What is the reason ?”
Andrea was troubled. In fact, his intentions were closer to ‘you must go through the passage on the right’ rather than ‘you must not go through the passage on the left’. The reason was clear .
‘ You have to go to the passage on the right at the first fork in the cave to get the hidden reward of the Red Valley Cave .’
In the Rift, unless you received a quest reward, no matter how many monsters you beat, you couldn’t get any other rewards. It’s not like that, but when you explore the cracks, you can find hidden rewards .
It was clear, however, that this reason would not convince Bagratu. Andrea brought up another solid reason that Bagratu would agree with .
“ Look at this wall. Do you know what this is, Mr. Bagratu ?”
“… Isn’t that a mushroom ?”
As the saying goes, all the things hanging intermittently from the wall of the passage on the left were mushrooms. It was so small that it looked more like a purple carpet than a mushroom, but .
It would have been faster to show it than to explain it in words. Andrea picked off one of the mushrooms. Then there was a very small sound like a child screaming .
kyaaa –
“ It’s a screaming mushroom. If you touch or break it, it emits a human-like scream and emits poison. The poison of these immature mushrooms is only slightly stinging and dry, but the poison of mature mushrooms paralyzes the whole body and rots the skin .”
“… then you’re saying that the scream I just made was from this mushroom ?”
“I ‘m not sure. After all, there were people who came before us. But the odds of that happening are not small .”
Even so, Andrea was convinced. The passage on the left is a colony of Screaming Mushrooms. No matter how many luminous stones there are, if you’re a little careless, you’ll soon touch the mushroom. Be it monsters or people .
“ If the Screaming Mushrooms spit out poison in groups, our level of resistance will kill them in no time. Did you bring an antidote, Mr. Bagratu ?”
“ I only brought one for emergencies .”
“ There won’t be a choice like that. The answer seems to have come .”
Andrea knew that once he did this, Bagratu would break his stubbornness and go with him to the right aisle. However, the barbarian’s convictions were much firmer and firmer than his predictions .
“ If the mushroom screamed, doesn’t that mean that someone who went there anyway touched it ?”
“ It is. I can’t tell if it’s a human or a monster .”
“ I’m sorry. I’m going to go through the passage on the left too. Even if the odds of there being someone in need of help are low, I can’t ignore that. Of course, this is my stubbornness, so you don’t have to follow me .”
“… then our journey will end here .”
Bagratu nodded with a heavy face. He said goodbye briefly .
“ If you can, meet me at the end of the cave. May the earth god’s sublime guidance be with you on your journey .”
“ May Mr. Bagratu be safe too .”
The barbarian ran toward the passageway without looking back. As I turned the corner, I couldn’t see him anymore .
Marco scratched his head with a puzzled expression .
“ Can I send it like that…? He’s a friend with a really good personality and personality, but I’m a bit worried about sending him alone like that .”
“… We only brought 2 antidotes with us. It bothers me that Mr. Bagratu is sent alone, but I can’t take a big risk with him .”
Andrea bought some potions before leaving Hersheba for the mission. However, since one potion that must be bought to defeat the monster was very expensive, it was not possible to prepare enough antidotes and medicines .
’ Still, even if you take the left path, you won’t necessarily die. Assuming the poison in the air has subsided, if you are careful not to touch the mushrooms, you may not be poisoned. Also, it’s possible to go to the deepest part through that road …’
Andrea shook her head, clearing her thoughts. As it is a playable character, meeting Bagratu was a more special experience than meeting a normal NPC. However, I couldn’t risk all the lives of the party to pursue him .
‘ If we’re lucky, we’ll see each other again .’
Andrea made up her mind and spoke to Tricia and Marco .
“ We are also slowly leaving .”
Inside the passage on the right, there were no screaming mushrooms at all. The densely packed luminous stones were far more numerous than those outside, and the road was almost as bright as daylight. Instead, the road was a bit rough. Short descents and narrow dog holes led to a series of passages .
Before passing through the third dog hole, Andrea felt a presence and looked inside first. They were monsters. It wasn’t that many. Three blue-backed centipedes and a black haired spider .
“ Tricia, shoot some arrows inside .”
Trisha nodded and pulled a bow and card from her deck. Arrows reinforced by strong shots and blows crossed the air .
Wedge-f*ck !
“ Sigh !”
The upper was shattered and thick bodily fluids splattered. The blueback centipede, which was pierced by an arrow, struggled writhing all over, and died soon after. The other monsters were vigilantly alert and rushed into the dog hole .
“ Sigh !”
Paeng – Puck !
Paeng – Puck !
A series of shots pierced a centipede and a spider. However, the last remaining centipede quickly crawled towards Trisha .
“ What a f*ck !”
“ Back off, Trisha !”
Andrea forced Trisha to step back and summoned the Earthshatter’s hammer. And as soon as the centipede poked its head into the dog hole, it slashed down without remorse .
Kwa-ang !
“ Sick !”
The upper was crushed and the centipede was sloppyly cut in half. Trisha wrinkled her brow as she looked at the corpse, which was beyond gross and even disgusting. The battle ended abruptly .
Dragging a centipede out of a hole was never a pleasant experience, but Tricia and Andrea managed to get through it safely. As I already knew from looking out, the inside was not a narrow passage, but a small empty space .
Andrea summoned Marco again and looked around. There were many luminous stones in the passage leading up to here, but not as much as here. I felt like I was looking at the world through turquoise lenses because of the densely packed luminous stones .
‘ I came to the passage on the right to come here .’
This was the entrance to the space where the treasure chest was hidden .
In order to open the passage to the secret space, certain conditions had to be met. Between the luminous stones that emit blue-green light, there are luminous stones that emit reddish light depending on the viewing angle. All you have to do is press down on all those luminous stones …
‘ Huh ?’
Andrea’s expression hardened as she moved back and forth and inspected the wall from different angles. All the luminous stones that glowed red were already pressed down .
” What’s wrong, Andrea ?”
“ Uh, no . . .”
Andrea explained the situation to the party. There is a secret space here, and someone has already activated the conditions for opening the secret space. Marco tilted his head and asked .
“ You mean someone has already entered the secret space ?”
“ I guess so .”
It was a disaster. The distasteful warrior and priestess might have discovered and entered the secret space first. Besides, if that assumption were true, Bagrati, who heard the screams and went to rescue the two, must have been fooling around .
Still, you won’t know until you confirm that it’s really two people. Andrea escaped into the clearing and turned the corner to check the entrance to the secret room. As expected, the entrance to the passage hidden in the rocks was wide open .
“It ‘s dark inside, so I’ll go in alone. Trisha and Marco, please keep this front. If something happens, I will summon Mr. Marco .”
There was not a single luminous stone inside the secret passage. complete darkness. Andrea was rather relieved. If I walked with the sound of my footsteps muffled, no matter who was there, I wouldn’t be able to easily find myself .
Shadow imprinting was used to aid detection. The penetrating pain and the sharpening sensation. I saw a corner where the road bends. Originally, there should have been only a treasure chest containing rift stones and rewards in the back. But now, even the presence of a person was felt together .
Andrea was drenched in suspicion. The person in front of the treasure chest was crouching, hugging his legs and trembling. He was small and looked terribly frightened. It is mixed with a small whimpering sound. It wasn’t just the two of them who got commissioned together and went ahead .
‘ What, no way …?’
Andrea hurriedly turned the corner. Then a shrieking voice was heard .
“ Who, who are you ?”
It was just like the one we had met before. Light blonde hair that reached her shoulders and a petite frame. Although it was covered with dust, it became a little groggy .
Andrea called her name in a low voice .
“ Priestess Emilia ?”
“ Yes, yes? Yes? Who, who are you ?”
When her name was suddenly called, Emilia took out something in a hurry. It was a half of a cane with buds sprouting .
Andrea barely held back a laugh and raised her hands even though she knew she couldn’t see it .
“ Priest Emilia. don’t you remember? It’s me, Andrea .”
“ Yes ?”
Emilia put down her broken staff and rubbed her eyes. He seemed to doubt whether he was looking at something in vain. Actually, it was dark, so I couldn’t see anything .
“ Uh, how did you find me?”
“… that ‘s what I want to ask. Why are you hiding here ?”
” That, that’s …”
Emilia, who stopped talking, brushed herself off and got up. Seeing that he kept rubbing his eyes, it seemed that he was not suspecting that he was looking at something, but that he was just wiping away the tears. Andrea hinted .
“ If you rub your eyes with dirty hands, you get eye disease .”
“ Oh, it’s not messy… it’s messy, but… I’m not messy !”
Emilia was in a fit of fuss, then made a gibberish excuse that even she couldn’t understand. It’s a very sad and funny look .
‘ It must be difficult to have a proper conversation here .’
Andrea decided to go out of the aisle after checking the whereabouts of the items in the treasure chest. When asked about him, Emilia readily answered .
“ I took everything here. I couldn’t even go out anyway …”
“ Good job. You’ll hear what happened later, and then go out with me .”
“ Yes, yes. That, but I, I can’t see …”
“… then could you lend me your hand for a moment? I can see ahead, so I will guide you .”
Andrea grabbed Emilia’s hand. Emilia trembled slightly, but did not withdraw her hand. It seemed awkward to hold the man’s hand in an obscure place .
“ Those hands are dirty …”
“You said it wasn’t messy ?”
“ Cow, only your hands are dirty !”
“ It’s okay. Some of the friends I know have hands like sandpaper .”
“…?”
Leaving behind Emilia’s question, the two of them were able to get out of the dark passageway safely. Trisha and Marco, who were waiting outside, widened their eyes as soon as they saw Emilia’s face .
“ What? Priest Emilia ?”
“ Are n’t you a priest ?”
“ Oh, how are you guys? It’s been a while …”
Frayed robes, smashed staffs, and faces covered in soot.
It was a good thing to know .
As if feeling overwhelmed when she met people she knew, Emilia began to cry again, as if she had wiped away the tears .
“ Nice to meet you, everyone. I’m sorry I couldn’t wait in the waiting room .”
Andrea and the others waited silently for Emilia to stop crying. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Emilia recovered her emotions and rubbed her face with a cloth .
Andrea and the others returned to the clearing and sat down in a circle. While looking at each other to see what to say, Andrea opened up a conversation .
“ Are you calming down, priest ?”
“ Yes, yes. It’s fine now .”
“ Then can you tell me what happened now ?”
Emilia let out a deep sigh and looked at the staff in her hand. It was a face that did not know where to start talking .
After a long time, Emilia finally cleared her mind and opened her mouth .
“ Yes. Then, I’ll tell you about what happened in the waiting room first …”
＜ 12. Into the Rift (6) ＞ End