“…Why?”
As I descended from the tower, I couldn’t help but tilt my head.
I hadn’t even kissed him, so I couldn’t figure out what the hell he was so unhappy about that it led to a murderous impulse.
At least I had a chance to escape before I got a game over because he was still immobilized.
“Sigh… I should apologize later.”
I irritably scratched my head and went to the kitchen to get a spoon before heading to my guest room, which was prepared by the Count.
Then, I immediately opened the chat window.
With a pile of tasks to handle, I couldn’t just dwell on the protagonist’s discomfort.
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― Me: Tell me where the Dark Eater Centipede will appear.
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It would’ve been more convenient to say it out loud, but I decided to type directly into the chat window while at the Count’s estate to prevent the unexpected.
Since it was a live chat, the responses came quickly.
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― [GM Ari] : Shari! You finally turned on the chat!
― [GM Jinu] : You haven’t been killed by the protagonist yet?
[GM Sera] : Junior, your improvisation seems quite good.
But don’t let your guard down. Gaining recognition from
Cassel won’t be an easy task…!
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The calm chat window quickly became noisy with the developers’ chatter.
It made my ears hurt, even though I could only see the text.
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― Me: I don’t have much time, so hurry up and tell me where the
Dark Eater Centipede will appear.
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As I typed the frustrated message, I glanced at the pinned system window that appeared in the air.
「 [Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potion] Duration: 00:46 」
It was the time limit that appeared after I fed Cassel the first potion.
I had to go back to the tower before the hour was up and give him a new potion to prevent him from falling asleep, so time was pretty tight.
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― [GM Ari] : The maid will be here soon with the meal,
and I see one on her!
― [GM Ari] : By the way, Shari, are you
going to do the ‘Earn
Adam’s Favor’ quest?
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Ari asked, seemingly puzzled by my search for the [Dark Eater Centipede].
The way to prevent the catastrophe was relatively simple: it was to not let [The Lord of Nightmares] fall asleep.
But if it went that smoothly, then this game wouldn’t be called Hell-level difficulty.
Players who had entrusted the task of feeding the potions to the NPCs had to resolve sub-quests at the Count’s estate and gain Adam’s trust.
This was the method:
The key to it was the sword stuck in the center of the prison where the protagonist was imprisoned.
It was, in fact, used by an ancient Hailey family ancestor to seal a powerful dark attribute monster that attacked the Count’s territory.
After a long battle, the Hailey family succeeded in sealing the monster, but the seal’s power weakened after the appearance of the [The Lord of Nightmares].
Moreover, as the sword’s lifespan came to an end, the monster’s resentment leaked out, attaching itself to the people of the Count’s family and causing trouble.
That resentment was the [Dark Eater Centipede], a parasite monster that randomly attached itself to an AI.
By capturing that parasite monster and obtaining an item, it was possible to repair the broken greatsword stuck in the tower.
Later, the repaired greatsword would then become Adam’s exclusive weapon once he successfully enhances it.
‘Of course, that will happen much later.’
At this point, my task was simply to repair the sword.
That’s why I’ve been pestering the developers to find out where the parasitic monsters are coming from.
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― [GM Jinu] : Isn’t it a wrong move to
build a good impression after
coming here?
― [GM Jinu] : If the apothecary suddenly finds and kills a parasitic monster, they will be suspicious.
― [GM Sera] : That’s right, junior. Why didn’t you tell Adam that
you are the ★Great Hero☆ who defeated intermediate demons?
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‘That’s because I’m not trying to gain Adam’s affection.’
Thud, thud—
Unfortunately, an unwelcome guest arrived before I could relay my intentions to the developers.
As Ari had mentioned, a maid came in, carrying the meal.
“Come in…”
Before I could complete my sentence, the door opened, and the maid hurriedly rushed in.
The maid placed the tray she was carrying directly on the table where I was sitting.
‘Ugh!’
Suddenly, a stench that made my nose prickle filled the air, and I quickly turned my head, feeling nauseated.
The tray brought by the maid was filled with half-rotten and messy food waste.
Whiz—
There were even several flies flying around.
“Eat it. The Count ordered us to feed a suitable meal to a lowly person like you.”
As I raised my head, I saw a face full of malice.
The pupils were eerily dilated, having lost their original glow.
“Why aren’t you eating? Do you find my words ridiculous?!”
As I stood still, the maid suddenly went into a frenzy and scooped up a bunch of food waste with a spoon.
Then, she rushed towards me with a demonic expression.
“If you won’t eat it, I’ll force-feed you myself!”
“Argh!”
I barely avoided her hand that was trying to grab my hood and immediately took out a potion from my pocket, throwing it.
Thunk, clang—
“Kyaaah―!”
“Kieeek―!”
The maid writhed in pain, screaming, while the eerie cry of a monster rang out as well.
Fortunately, the maid stopped screaming after some time and collapsed to the floor.
「 You have defeated [Lv.1 Dark Eater Centipede] using the [Potion with Sunlight]. 」
I looked at the system window that popped up and swept my hand across my chest in surprise.
‘I would’ve eaten food waste if I hadn’t acted quickly.’
Dark-attribute monsters were usually defeated with light-attribute weapons.
Originally, the [Dark Eater Centipede] could be captured with a light-attribute item. This item could be obtained as a reward for the sub-quest ‘Hunt Several Hundred Monsters’ near the Count’s estate.
But no matter how easy it was to catch monsters, it took quite some time.
With only three days left until the catastrophe, I had no choice but to try a trick, and luckily, it worked.
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― [GM Sera] : Oh, I see. Potions work as well, not just light-attribute weapons!
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‘But how come the developers didn’t know that?’
I grumbled internally, picking up the fist-sized black sphere near the maid’s head.
「 You have obtained [Essence of Darkness]. 」
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― Me: I’ll ask you about it in the chat
later, so please let me know.
― Me: It would be even better if you
could handle this maid for me.
― [GM Sera] : Is it okay to dispose of her, junior?
― Me: No! I mean, make her return to her original behavior!
― [GM Ari] : So, you’re not going to show Adam the situation
and tell him, Shari?
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I didn’t respond. There was no time for that.
「 [Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potion] Duration: 00:17 」
The time to give the potion to the protagonist was fast approaching.
As I hurriedly left the room, I was about to close the chat window.
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― [GM Jinu] : By the way, you do know that the probability of
preventing the catastrophe with the
awakening potion is not 100%, right?
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– ̗̀ ˚ ·* ༊*·˚ ˊˎ-
‘Pant, pant! I know that! That’s exactly why I’m struggling like this…!’
Muttering the words I couldn’t tell Jinu, I sprinted up the stairs.
「 [Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potion] Duration: 00:04 」
Despite knowing the story and quests inside out, experiencing it firsthand for the first time took up too much time.
‘This game is crazy! Why can’t I use the teleport scroll inside the manor?’
It seemed like they were limiting it so that players would have to wander all over the quest location.
Thanks to that, I was now running towards the top floor, my feet sweating like crazy.
Luckily, I had full stamina so running wasn’t an issue, but the limited time left made me feel out of breath.
If I wasn’t careful, I could miss the time to give the potion, and everything could end up in an unimaginable disaster…
‘No―!’
Thump―!
“Cough, cough… Sir! It’s time to take the potion!”
Breathless, I arrived at the top of the tower, opened the door, and entered the prison with just one minute left.
I hurriedly approached Cassel, who was still lying there in a daze.
His crimson red pupils, which had been floating in mid-air, turned to me.
I wanted to be more considerate upon remembering the ‘slight murderous impulse’ from earlier, but there was no time.
I quickly opened his mouth and pushed the muzzle of the [Monster Tranquilizer Gun] inside.
Thankfully, I had equipped the potion while running to the tower.
“Time is running out… Please understand, Sir. I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
With a string of apologies, I pulled the trigger.
Pshh—
The liquid in the glass vial immediately shot into Cassel’s throat.
Perhaps because he had experienced it once, he didn’t show any signs of coughing or trying to spit it out this time.
As he seemed to struggle, swallowing the potion, the time in the system window changed.
「 [Insomnia-Inducing Awakening Potion] Duration: 00:59 」
“Haah…”
Feeling like my legs were giving out, I haphazardly slumped down next to Cassel.
It felt like an hour passed in a blink of an eye.
‘I can’t believe I have to do this for three whole days…’
I looked at the sword stuck in the center of the prison with a heavy heart.
Then I suddenly got up and walked over.
I’d gotten the item anyway, so I had to use it.
I took out the item obtained by capturing the parasite monster earlier and brought it to the broken sword.
「 Using one [Essence of Darkness] on the [Broken Greatsword, Bereft of Light]. 」
As the black sphere touched the broken blade, it disappeared as if being absorbed.
Wooong—
The sword soon emitted a faint light and weakly vibrated.
「 The [Broken Greatsword, Bereft of Light] is resonating with the evil energy. 」
「 The [Broken Greatsword, Bereft of Light] Regeneration 1/99. 」
‘…Should I just give up on this?’
As I looked at the remaining numbers, it felt like everything was turning dark.
It was just the beginning of the quest, but I already felt weak.
‘Anyway, the main quest is to prevent the catastrophe…’
If I hadn’t heard Jinu’s words, I might have given up on the quest to revive the greatsword.
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― [GM Jinu] : By the way, you do know that the probability of
preventing the catastrophe with the insomnia
potion is not 100%, right?
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Recalling the chat, I snapped out of my complacency.
‘No, giving up is not an option!’
I reminded myself of the quest to restore the greatsword that I had already started.
Then, I realized.
The reason this game was a hell-level game…
Dammit, even though there was an easy way to prevent the catastrophe by keeping [The Lord of Nightmares] awake, that wasn’t everything.
Sometimes, the potion’s tolerance could suddenly increase, requiring a larger quantity.
In the worst-case scenario, the potion might not take effect at all, and the protagonist might just fall asleep, causing a crazy situation.
It was truly random, like pulling a damned lottery.
Every quest that occurred in [Count Hailey’s Territory] was related to building trust with the main characters, but not just that.
Each one was related to preventing the catastrophe.
So I had to be prepared for all sorts of situations.
I had prepared a lot of potions in case the tolerance increased, but if my luck turned out to be the worst…
“Fxck you, fxck you…!”
Staring at the system window that told me I had 57 minutes left, I decided to go back out in search of the [Dark Eater Centipede] with tears in my eyes.
Then, suddenly… thump—!
I turned around at the abrupt sign of a presence.
Cassel was still lying in the corner of the prison, and next to him, a Monster Sedative…
No, a potion administration tool could be seen.
As if he could now move his head, Cassel turned his gaze towards me while lying straight, his head cocked.
Unlike when we first met, I could feel my hairs standing up as I locked eyes with his crimson pupils.
At that moment, my uneasy premonition became a reality.
「 [The Lord of Nightmares] is revealing a certain level of consciousness to you. 」
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