Chapter 168. Scenario Gate (2)
A little while later.
I led the survivors I met in the dungeon towards the hill the fairy pointed out.
During this process, we exchanged minimal greetings among the challengers.
Before leaving the festival area, we also sought additional advice from the fairies there for exploration.
-Do you know where the other hunters who came a few days ago went?
The fairies in the plaza replied to the question about the whereabouts of the Treasure Hunter Team:
-There were indeed other guests who came here, as you said.
-Right.
-They also went to the hill we mentioned! I don’t know what happened after that.
That means, to conquer the dungeon and rescue the missing advance team, we would ultimately need to meet that ‘Apa’ entity…
While organizing my thoughts, I heard voices from behind my party.
“Well, I’m really relieved that Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter is here. I mean, even if you came in by mistake, you’re an S-Class.”
“Isn’t that right?”
“Can’t we somehow manage now?”
They seemed greatly relieved just by my presence.
However, Seonwoo-yeon, who knows the truth about the EX-Class Gate, looked gloomy throughout the walk.
These types of gates usually don’t have specific rankings, and she even witnessed the fairy’s magic power skyrocketing to an unimaginable level when it revealed its true form.
‘If they assume the worst, like during the [Baek-ui Maze], there could be a section that demands a sacrifice.’
I kept silent and led the way.
Even while doing that, I could still hear the voices of people behind me.
“By the way, it’s crossed my mind, but how on earth can the fairies living here communicate?”
“I wonder.”
“A sentient being in the gate…”
“What could their identity be?”
For reference, the one currently speaking is an analyst from the association with an emotional skill.
I eavesdropped on their conversation and let out a cynical chuckle. The truth is, it would be difficult to consider those fairies as truly sentient.
‘They’re not thinking and talking independently. They’re just machines reciting set responses.’
But I didn’t bother to inform the Earthlings of that secret.
After all, such information has nothing to do with strategy, and even if it could help in escaping…
It seemed that Earth had never encountered a scenario gate before.
Knowing a previously unknown phenomenon too well would naturally make me look suspicious.
‘Better be careful.’
It was necessary to remain taciturn today, even to avoid being discovered as an alien.
As I thought that, I scanned the surroundings, and soon noticed the large tree the fairies in the plaza mentioned.
To be precise, it was just a cute little plant barely reaching my shins.
‘This is still sufficiently large to the fairies.’
I bent my knees to check the cabin hidden in the shade of the tree.
What I could see through the cabin’s window was a small shadow moving busily.
What now? Should I just call the landlord?
–Knock, knock, knock.
“Huh!”
I gently tapped on the cabin’s door.
The survivors who had been severely hurt by the fairies were surprisingly startled by my action, but fortunately, nothing concerning happened.
Creek.
Soon after, the door opened a crack, and the owner of the cabin warmly welcomed us.
“W-Who are you…?”
A timid voice. A calm appearance.
The newly appeared fairy had an appearance that felt somewhat out of place, but I quickly realized the root of that feeling.
‘Ah, it has no wings.’
The entity that the creatures in the plaza referred to as Apa is a wingless fairy.
“Are you perhaps the guests who came to the kingdom?”
But the flying ability seemed intact.
Flap, flap.
The fairy soon flew out of the door to about my shoulder height, and I followed it with my eyes as I spoke.
“That’s right. But if it’s okay, I’d appreciate it if you could tell us where the guests who arrived before us are now.”
Annoyingly, the association employees standing behind me had the duty to search for the dungeon’s lost victims.
I inquired about the whereabouts of the previously departed Treasure Hunter Team on behalf of Seonwoo-yeon.
“Guests? What guests? I don’t know.”
Wow.
The reply I received was not what I expected.
“The ones in the plaza definitely said they went to this place.”
“N-No. You are my first guests. I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
The wingless fairy shook its round head, claiming it had never seen any humans.
“Is it lying?”
At first, I considered the possibility of false testimony, but surprisingly, that probability was extremely low.
The ki-simche creatures don’t seem to grasp the concept of ‘deceit’ very well.
In fact, the rules presented in the dungeon, while sometimes somewhat distorted, mostly tell the truth.
‘Is it a design flaw?’
I contemplated a few more possibilities.
Honestly, whatever the case, we were currently unable to ascertain the location of the advance team. It seems that Seonwoo-yeon hadn’t captured them either. Perhaps the fairies had already devoured them.
Thus, it was better to spend our time more efficiently.
“Then do you know the way out of here?”
I finally brought up the stiff, no-frills main point.
“The way out?”
Fortunately, there was no communication problem. The fairy recognized the topic brought up and continued the conversation smoothly.
“If it’s the way out of the kingdom… there’s a place that comes to mind. I can’t just tell you, though.”
“Then?”
“If you grant me just one wish, I’ll guide you.”
The fairy’s suggestion made my expression shift slightly. I frowned.
“A wish? What kind of wish.”
“I can’t say until you promise to grant it.”
“No, but I need to know what it’s about first…”
“I can’t say until you promise to grant it.”
I didn’t expect that this artificial being would have such a setting.
To have to accept a proposal without knowing what the request would be. It felt unsettling.
“Hmm.”
But there was no alternative.
We needed to quickly conquer the dungeon and escape. And listening to that wingless fairy was the only option we had.
“What should we do?”
After a brief discussion, we agreed to grant the fairy’s wish. It was unanimous.
“Really? You’ll really grant it? Promise?”
However, what the fairy wanted was…
“Uh, um, can you play with me for just 10 minutes?”
I couldn’t believe that was the request.
We momentarily stared blankly at the fairy’s words, and that round creature began to flit around us, chatting excitedly.
It was a joyful display.
“I have no friends! I’ve always been alone! So I hope you’ll play tag with me!”
“Tag?”
“I want to try it as my wish!”
At face value, it seemed like a rather trivial request…
The problem is, that the fairy race has a history of killing hunters through the act of balloon games.
“The rules for tag are that one person becomes ‘It’ and goes to catch the others. If you get caught, that person becomes the next ‘It’!”
“That’s easy.”
“And after going back and forth like that, when the 10 minutes are up, the last person who’s ‘It’ receives a ‘penalty’!”
“Forget what you just said.”
As expected, the wingless fairy delivered the declaration we feared the most.
Eek, the penalty!
Most of those here have experienced what the ‘fairy penalty’ entails.
‘The loser gets their head ripped off and killed.’
This meant that we were essentially being forced into a 10-minute torture session passing a bomb of instant death between us.
I felt a jolt of confusion.
This prey box must surely be a trap laid by a ki-simche with distinct tastes. Therefore, it shouldn’t particularly care about human death and suffering.
‘Did they intricately embed a process that ensures casualties in the necessary path to dungeon clearance?’
As my expectations unraveled, I adopted a nervous stance, contrasting sharply with my earlier confident promise to grant the wish.
But now, I couldn’t go back on my word.
“Starting now, it’s 10 minutes!”
Immediately afterward, the resident of the dungeon announced the commencement of the wish.
Twinkle!
Suddenly, a bright light erupted from my right eye. I turned to check, and I found one of the survivors undergoing a transformation.
A beautifully designed ring of light enveloped the shoulders of a man in his 30s.
“This is the sign of being ‘It.’ When it touches your friend’s body, it will automatically transfer.”
Well, that’s what they say.
The fairy with glimmering eyes the color of autumn leaves opened its mouth in a wide smile.
But the response was a sharply edged voice.
“What, what the heck! What is this! Why am I ‘It’?!”
“The first ‘It’ is random.”
“Damn it! So why the hell are you deciding this on your own…?!”
“Anyway, as long as the last ‘It’ is important, it doesn’t matter, right?”
Suddenly thrust into a great danger, the challenger forgot his fear of the fairy and began cursing.
Well, that ring of light was practically a mark of a death row inmate. Who would dare rejoice at that?
Shifty shifty.
Realizing the situation, the other party members began to carefully distance themselves from ‘It.’
Just moments ago, they had been united, relying on one another to conquer the gate…
“Giggling!”
The wingless fairy made a sound that was either mocking us or something else as we dispersed.
Laughing with a piercingly high voice, it resembled the fairies in the plaza.
“What a—this goddamn monster…”
But at that moment.
The hunter chosen as ‘It’ flooded his veins with magic power.
That fairy had explicitly requested to play tag with ‘itself,’ and that meant that those rules applied to the creature as well.
‘Right. Come to think of it, there’s no need for us to fight among ourselves!’
Bam!
The selected ‘It’ was none other than a C-Class employee from the association.
C-Class. While that could mean someone capable of dying instantly from the Hydra’s venom, they were still relatively close to superhuman compared to ordinary people.
That C-Class hunter acted when the fairy flew low.
He stomped his foot and, using that momentum, closed the distance to reach out for the fairy’s body.
It was truly a split-second action.
The analysts present here likely didn’t even notice that move, and I blinked, missing most of the action.
“Ack!”
Flash.
At that moment, just as I thought a soft light had appeared, the fairy was already floating in the far distance.
“What, what…?”
“Kyaaa! This is fun! It’s fun!”
The hunter who missed the fairy was lost in confusion as to what just happened, but that scene made me abandon one flicker of hope in my heart.
‘What the hell, why the heck does the fairy have the [Blink] spell…?!’
What the fairy just performed was a short-range teleportation, and with that ability in play, we had no chance against a half-baked mage like us.
‘There’s no way we can catch that! Even if Jeong Ha-seong came in bare-handed, it would be tough!’
I was freaking out.
The C-Class hunter, who had no way of knowing the truth, continued to flail around trying to catch the fairy, but after several attempts, the result remained the same.
Flap flap.
The fairy laughed, bright and clear, evading its status as ‘It.’ The losers in this game had to arise from among humans.
‘They really designed this gate to be a nightmare.’
In any case…
Once those ki-simche regain power, I’ll have to wipe them out once and for all…
I tried to ignore the chaos surrounding me, taking a moment to glance at the ceiling of this alien world.
It was a habitual escape from reality.
