Episode 17 Trauma penalty. (2)
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3.
[Penalty begins.]
[Creates the trauma of the monster Hellfire Maiden.]
A classical Western-style mansion.
Before I knew it, I was there.
No, I didn’t know that it would be strange to say ‘there was’. I wasn’t there. Only my consciousness floats like a ghost, looking at the scenery before my eyes in the third person.
‘what?’
I was embarrassed.
‘What’s happening now…?’
-Sa, please save me.
Then I heard a voice.
Young kid. A child was stranded in the corner of the lobby on the first floor of the mansion. At first, I thought he was telling me to save him, but he wasn’t. The child pleaded with someone else.
-Please save me, please… I’m hungry… Something to eat… Something to eat, please…
-hmm.
A person dressed like a nobleman.
-Orphans like you are a plague on this kingdom.
-Something to eat…
-If left alone, it will eat away at society. Without even working. Wandering from village to village, spreading the disease. I am a prison guard and guard who isolates you from the kingdom.
In an instant, various scenes entered my consciousness.
A time when there was a lack of food and many people wandered.
The nobleman gathered orphans and imprisoned them in a mansion. On the outside, it presented itself as an orphanage. In the outside world, nobles were kind rich people, great businessmen, and intellectuals with a conscience.
-Other people will treat you as rotten seeds from the root. I am not.
But in this huge mansion.
-I will educate you.
The nobleman was just a tyrant.
-A person who greedily craves food in front of him just because he is hungry is an animal. Of course, you were born in the fields like animals, but does that mean you have to grow up to be animals?
-I’m hungry… I’m hungry…
-Be patient. Be patient even if you are hungry. Be patient and be human.
The nobleman said with a smile. A kind smile. She was the one who could laugh while looking down at her child, whose ribs were stiff and bony. There was a world somewhere where laughter was considered a virtue, and did such a time ever exist?
-Repent!
The crazy guy called in another crazy guy.
-Ahh!
-Oh, children of witches! The poison of Zrakua and the plague of our kingdom! Do not worry. God never abandons his believers. Likewise, I do not abandon my lamb!
-It hurts… it hurts… it hurts…
A priest of a god raised his hammer high.
-Pray!
A time when madness was packaged as virtue.
The screams did not stop in the mansion.
-hungry···.
hunger.
-I don’t like it… Please forgive me… Why… Please forgive me…
torture.
-ah. Thank you… kind nobleman. Kind man… A reward for enduring pain. promise. thank you. Thank you, kind man…
Brainwashing.
The orphans were brought to the mansion like corpses and left the mansion as corpses. Although the soon-to-be-dead life was really just a dead life, the children had no idea that there would be such persistent pain between the two.
Dozens of people. Hundreds of people. Thousands of people were in the mansion.
There were dozens, hundreds, thousands of deaths.
‘······.’
I was mesmerized by the sight passing quickly before my eyes.
‘What the hell is this…’
-and. Chew. what’s this?
Fortunately, I came to my senses thanks to a certain gentleman.
‘Were you watching too? ‘I thought it wasn’t there.’
-I was watching it from the beginning. I didn’t know you existed. Because I can’t see it.
‘hmm. It seems like both of us are just flying around in consciousness…’
-That’s none of my business.
Bae Hu-ryeong said.
-Why are there all these crazy people? under? Educate them as humans? These bastards who don’t even look like humans are trying to educate others to be humans.
‘···This is probably the original version of the 10th floor boss stage.’
A voice told me just before my consciousness flew here.
From now on, [I will relive the trauma of the enemy who killed you].
If the enemy who kills me this time is a real doll hiding somewhere in Hellfire Mansion. In other words, the scene shown to us now was the trauma that the doll retained.
‘I had no idea.’
I whispered softly.
‘The monster was a human when it was alive…’
-Not all monsters are like that. Usually only bosses do that. Originally, boss monsters were created based on what actually happened in this world.
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The sound of Bae Hu-ryeong clicking his tongue was heard.
-Creatures that inhabit this world, or heroes that were active in this world. Things like that. As you go beyond the 11th floor of the tower, this tendency becomes stronger.
‘yes? ‘Why didn’t you tell me that until now?’
-You didn’t ask.
‘······.’
It was so shameless that I had nothing to say.
-But this is my first time seeing something like this. Write.
‘What?’
-The original you mentioned. The scenes you see now. I know that the boss monsters are from another world, but how would I know what they went through? I don’t even have mind reading skills…
Bae Hu-ryeong muttered.
-I feel really shit.
I agreed.
‘···Iknow, right.’
Something like that will always happen somewhere in the world, and there are countless things worse than that, but thinking about it in your head and seeing it in person are two different things.
It was just different.
I don’t know if it’s fortunate or unfortunate.
-Boo, it’s fire!
[The trauma] ended not long after.
A servant accidentally knocked over a candle. The servant passed by without knowing that it had been knocked over. dark night. The fire spread quietly while people went to bed. By the time someone noticed the topic, it was already too late.
-Cough, gasp. Cough!
-Hurry up and avoid…
The fire burned.
The ropes in the basement were burning. The chains burned. The shackles that hung the orphans burned, and the orphans that hung in the shackles burned. A brainwashed child, a tortured child, a starving child burned. The flames seemed to burn away all the brainwashing, wounds, and hunger.
-ah···.
The children opened their mouths.
Red-hot iron chains bound the children’s wrists and ankles. I couldn’t move, like a doll. I could barely scream.
But, I heard it.
-I don’t want to die.
resentment.
-hungry.
-I want to live…
-A kind man.
Resentment and resentment flowing directly into consciousness.
-I didn’t do anything wrong. I had no family. It was okay though. I wanted to play a little more. still···.
-It’s not our fault. It’s unfair. I didn’t do it.
-hungry.
The mansion was on fire.
The first-floor lobby with its chandeliers burned down. The bedroom where the owner of the mansion was staying was burned down. Gorgeous bed too. Old-fashioned curtains too. The deep cellar leading to the stone steps was also completely burned down.
-I don’t want to die.
Crack.
Crack-.
Sparks flew into the air.
All I can see now is a mansion burning brightly in the distance.
[Trauma reproduction completed.]
[End penalty.]
And I went back a day.
dot
dot
dot
dot
dot
dot
When I open my eyes.
Bae Hu-ryeong and I said nothing. They both sat on the bed and were silent.
Rather than being shocked… I had no idea how to react.
-hmm···.
After a while, Bae Hu-ryeong scratched the back of his head.
-It’s a really unfortunate and sad story. I enjoyed it though. There’s only so much we can do, right?
“and. Is that the first thing you say? “You really…”
-OK. okay. This is a class to improve my personality.
Bae Hu-ryeong frowned. Have you ever seen a gorilla get angry? It looked quite similar genetically to that.
-But the truth is a bitch! That 10th floor boss is simply a monster, and the original children have already died somewhere in another world. I’m saying this because it happened a long time ago. It’s a zombie. What can you do!
“······.”
-At the very least, if something happened inside this tower, you could die 4,000 or 5,000 times and die again and return to the past. That just happened in a different era, in a different world. Even if I’m alive, I can’t solve this! Even if you are not a sword emperor but a sword god, you cannot do anything that is not possible.
That was correct.
-Find and hunt real dolls. Kill it.
Bae Hu-ryeong said.
-And go up to the 11th floor. There is no choice but to clear the 20th, 30th, 40th, and 50th floors. If you decide to become the ultimate hunter, take care of this yourself!
It was also true.
but.
“I guess the Flame Emperor thought so too.”
-hmm?
“Flame Emperor. pestilence. It’s flowing. “He was the first human I ever hunted.”
I got up from the bed.
I tied the sleeping bag to the head of my backpack. I put my backpack on my back. He wore a sword at his waist. In other words, I am ready to climb the tower. When I left the dorm, I was equipped, albeit clumsily, as a hunter.
“You know what? Yoo Soo-ha must have found a 100 percent real doll and made her head explode. He either saw the trauma or not. “Without any hesitation.”
-What’s wrong with that?
“I don’t want to be like the Flame Emperor bastard.”
climbed the tower
Just like last time, I deceived the manager.
And once again, I stood at the gate of the mansion.
A Western-style aristocratic mansion that looks exactly like the one seen in Trauma.
-hey! You are not some kind of child. You’re not going to beat the boss just because you don’t want to be like him? What are you going to do? To clear the stage, you have to kill the boss, you zombie!
“Who decided that?”
-what?
I put both hands on the door.
And muttered.
“shit. “I acted stupid.”
-What are you saying now?
“I was being stupid! You were just as stupid. Damn it. “The fact that we don’t even know what to do with the scythe is what’s troubling us right now.”
Bae Hu-ryeong frowned.
-Did he turn around? Zombie, you’re stupid. It’s true all along, but why am I stupid too? I grew up hearing prodigies from a young age.
“Skill card.”
I muttered as if I was getting nervous.
“It’s an S-rank skill card that we didn’t choose. Do you remember? Infernal barrier. “You made a fuss, saying you had to pick this one.”
-huh? Of course I remember.
“Tell me this.”
-Huh, really. Who is this zombie and what does he see… good. Listen.
Bae Hu-ryeong frowned and recited one line at a time. I guess the story about being called a prodigy when I was young wasn’t a lie at all. Bae Hu-ryeong described his card skills without a single mistake.
+
[Inferno Barrier]
Rank: S-
Effect: Resentment. Wonseong (怨聲). Resentment. Your unresolved problem, your unreachable voice, your unfulfilled wish. Burn them all. ‘It’s hot.’ Is it hot? Turn the world into a pile of fire. ‘I think I’m going to die.’ Kill it. If you wish, the inferno of the Aurors will descend in a space with a radius of 2 km.
No one can get out of this hell without your permission.
Anyone.
※However, you must also be within the barrier.
+
I quietly listened to the skill details and asked a question.
“Mr. Geomje. “Don’t you think something is strange?”
-Wow, that’s frustrating. So, what is strange?
“That last part.”
[No one can leave this hell without your permission.]
[Anyone.]
I said.
“They say no one can escape the Inferno Barrier unless the boss monster allows it. Anyone. But how, by what means, did the hunters who attempted the 10th floor so far escape alive?”
-uh?
Bae Hu-ryeong blinked.
-···Huh? f*ck, really?
There is a guild called Black Dragon.
A guild that has reigned supreme since the day the tower opened in this world.
The second-ranked hunter who commands the black dragon. The Black Witch attempted the 10th floor dozens of times. Every time she tried she failed. The second-ranked hunter was defeated, but he came back with all the hunters who participated in the attack alive.
Everyone came back alive.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
I strengthened my arms.
The gate began to open slowly.
“Escape is impossible unless the boss gives permission. It’s that kind of skill to begin with… I escaped unharmed without even killing the boss. And all of them. “It doesn’t make sense.”
-Then…what happened?
“Sickness. “Of course there is only one conclusion!”
I’m sorry.
The gate opened completely, as if spreading out its arms.
“The boss gave permission! Run away!”
The boss of the tenth floor.
A stage that no one in humanity has yet conquered.
The burning mansion of hell is revealed.
[You have entered the boss stage.]
[The challenger is Hunter Kim Gongja. There is only 1 person.]
[May good luck be with you.]
“If you want to run away, don’t you see that I let you run away as much as you want? “The boss wasn’t hostile to hunters from the beginning.”
-······.
[Boss stage begins.]
“I just wanted to hang out with the people who came.”
Candlelight.
Candles were thrown down here and there in the mansion. Flames erupted from the place where it fell.
-Karrrr!
There were dolls among the flames. The dolls couldn’t move, as if they were tied somewhere. He just barely turned his head to look at me.
-Are you going to play?
The dolls opened their mouths.
-Are you going to play with us?
-Ice? Has the Rose of Sharon flower bloomed? hide and seek?
-The ice has melted. The flowers are all torn. Let’s play hide and seek!
-OK! Come play with us! Let’s play hide and seek!
-Crackling!
The fire burned.
The first-floor lobby with its chandeliers burned down. The bedroom where the owner of the mansion was staying was burned down. Gorgeous bed too. Old-fashioned curtains too. The deep cellar leading to the stone steps was also completely burned down.
In it, the children were turned into dolls and had not burned yet.
“······.”
I gritted my teeth for a moment.
“okay. “I’ll play with you.”
[Activates the skill.]
A skill gained from the last death. I applied the fire immunity skill to myself. The moment the skill was activated, the heat I felt from my entire body disappeared as if it had been washed away. My breathing became easier. The scenery that had been obscured by the fire was also visible a little more clearly.
The faces of the dolls were visible.
-uh?
-Uncle, I’m not riding.
Each doll had a different face. Even though there was no expression, I could tell.
-Isn’t it hot?
-Strange man.
-Can you play?
-Are you going to play with us?
I nodded again.
“okay. It’s hide and seek. be careful. “This guy has never lost a game of hide and seek when he was young.”
-Karrrr! What a strange man!
-behind! Everyone hide!
The dolls laughed. I told them to hide, but none of them were moving dolls. Everyone was stuck in place and couldn’t move. Dozens of people. Hundreds of people. Thousands of children laughed.
-Hide tight, let your hair show. hide···.
The game of tag began.
“···Gotcha.”
I walked around the mansion. I walked around and grabbed each doll one by one. When you pat its head, the doll gets excited and raises its head. Each time, the doll opened its mouth and spoke.
-Dang! I’m not!
The dolls laughed and disappeared.
-I’m not!
-I’m not!
No matter where I turned in the mansion, there were dolls. There were a lot. As I walked, I held each doll one by one.
-······.
one person.
-Hey, this is…
One more person.
-This is… a memorial order.
Bae Hu-ryeong muttered.
Memorial spirit.
To comfort the soul of a dead person.
I toured the mansion in silence. I saw the shackles that hung the orphans, and the chains that bound the children. There was always a doll in place of the shackles and chains.
The fire burned.
-I’m not! I’m not! I’m not!
-no! I’m not. I… I’m not… I’m…
-I’m not···.
Time passed.
Trudging.
Before I knew it, my steps stopped in the basement. It was a walk down a long stone staircase. There were dolls on the stone steps too. The dolls were lying on the stairs. It was as if he was climbing to escape to the ground and then suddenly stopped.
“······.”
After helping all the children who had fallen on the stairs, I finally stood in front of the last doll.
cellar.
-Are you going to play with us?
The doll was leaning in the deep part of the mansion.
Hammers, awls, and jigsaws were scattered around the doll.
-······.
I walked slowly.
Then he stroked the hairless doll’s head.
“Gotcha.”
The head of the child who created the inferno was small. So much so that her head could be wrapped in one hand.
“…Now you are the tagger. “Kid.”
There was silence.
The doll slowly raised its head. Like the other dolls, this child had an expressionless expression. The doll opened her mouth with her face losing its expression.
-A kind man.
It wasn’t just the voice that flowed from the doll’s mouth. Lips. skin. pupil. The doll’s body flowed like candle wax. The flames engulfed the doll in an instant, and even as it was being engulfed, the doll muttered like a broken record machine.
-thank you.
And it melted.
-thank you.
The doll burned. The chains melted and flowed. Shackles, hammers, awls, jigsaws, everything burned. Hunger too. Even traces of hunger. The fire that had reached the end of its life disappeared like candle wax flowing down.
There was no trace of death.
I was standing in the middle of the ruins of a mansion that had burned down without a trace.
“······.”
Many years.
[Congratulations.]
A place that no one in the human race has been able to break for many years.
[Normal stage cleared.]
[Hidden stage cleared.]
[The boss stage has been cleared.]
On this day. The tenth floor of the tower has been cleared.
etc,
