FAR - 56

During the raid on the third dungeon.

[This is a two-person cooperative dungeon. It is strongly recommended to enter with a partner.]

When a Ranker and their partner character enter together, regardless of where they were pulled into the dungeon from, they are automatically placed together.

"……"

Archer had agonized over it for days.

In the end, he chose not to give up on the third dungeon.

When Archer opened his eyes, he saw only one other person within the narrow walls. A knight clad in silver armor, someone he was thoroughly sick of looking at.

Archer snapped his head away. He wore a sour expression, much like someone who had just bumped into a highly unwelcome individual. 

Furthermore, he took a few steps back, giving off the distinct impression that he was treating the other man like a hazardous threat.

"It's a coincidence."

Calain stared at him quietly before muttering in an equally displeased tone.

"Right, a coincidence."

They stood side by side and read through the details regarding the Nine Sacrifices. Without a single second of hesitation, Calain turned to Archer and spoke.

"You take all the sacrifices."

"I knew you were going to say that!"

Archer had changed. He no longer clung to Calain. He jumped up and down, fuming with indignation.

"……I'll give up my sight, at least."

Had Archer been in a more rational state of mind, he would have doubted his own ears upon hearing Calain's next words.

"Since you'd be completely useless if you couldn't see anyway. I can still roughly fight even without my sight. In exchange, you sacrifice your hearing and your sense of touch."

However, Archer was in no state of mind to be generous; his heart was bristling with defensive thorns. "Hah." He let out a scoff and tilted his chin up.

"Don't have the confidence to lose your sight and hearing at the same time? And you call yourself a Royal Knight?"

"……? Of course not. If I can't see or hear, I might still be able to feel the presence of the wind, but obviously, fighting would be impossible."

It was a remark meant to grate on his nerves, but because Calain agreed so readily, Archer completely lost the upper hand. He turned his slightly flushed face away to hide it.

---

"Sight and touch must absolutely be separated. One person cannot lose both."

"I think so too, Father."

Whenever Bard spoke a word, a brightly smiling voice would immediately chime in.

The middle-aged man let out a long breath through his nose.

When he raised his head, his partner stood there. A person whose demeanor became as flawlessly smooth as a stage actor's whenever he uttered the word 'Father'.

Unlike the female singers from other theater troupes, Persephone never wore dresses that fully revealed his figure, even during performances. 

Dresses layered with extra fabric or padded with shoulder accents allowed him to cleverly hide his true physique without being caught.

"So we should divide sight and touch between us, one for each?"

"Yes."

"I really want to be the one to lose my sense of touch, though."

Having spoken decisively, Persephone glided over to Bard's side and brought his lips close to the man's shoulder. His large, affable eyes glinted insidiously.

"You never know, right? They say it's temporary and only inside this dungeon, but what if the aftereffects linger even on the outside? If my Father is left with the permanent inability to feel anything…… I think I'd be incredibly sad."

Bard visibly flinched. His jaw tightened as if he were holding back a surge of emotion.

The moment he heard those words, he felt a phantom, dull ache radiating from his lower back. Bard forced his expression to compose itself. In that brief moment, his face looked even more exhausted.

"I'll take poison and blood, too."

"No. I won't allow it."

But at the next words, Bard raised his eyes, looking more resolute than ever.

"Those two won't just disappear when the dungeon ends. You have a performance in a few weeks. If the female lead's condition affects the show……"

"By that logic, Father, you're going to be in the performance too, aren't you?"

"I'm playing the role of your father. It's a supporting role. Even if it isn't me, there are other actors who can replace me."

"As if I'd let anyone replace you."

The smile vanished instantly. Persephone's voice, which had dropped to a deep baritone perfectly matching the older man's, flowed out chillingly.

Bard clamped his mouth shut. A brief silence passed before Persephone quickly produced an elegant woman's voice once again.

"That's exactly why you should have just played the male lead……"

"Do you honestly think that makes any sense?"

Bard snapped back, lifting his head.

Pretending not to hear him, Persephone shoved a hand into his long hood and shook out his silver hair, letting it cascade in waves down his back.

"Forget it. I've lost all my motivation. Maybe I'll just completely ruin the performance."

"You……"

"I think I'd feel motivated again if Father just played the male lead."

Bard felt dizzy and vigorously shook his head.

"Are you really saying that after seeing the troupe leader sweat bullets trying to appease you? What, what was it you said? 'Whether by skill or visual chemistry with me, Perius is the most suited for the male lead'? Hah… If you were the troupe leader, would you cast a forty-year-old middle-aged man as the male lead?"

"Yes. If I were the troupe leader."

Persephone retorted shamelessly without batting an eye. Bard gritted his teeth.

"I have nothing more to say. I'm sacrificing my sight right now, so take my hand and lead the way."

"Okay~"

Persephone walked over happily and took Bard's hand. The way he bent his knee and extended an open hand was entirely serious, as if he were meticulously escorting a lady rather than dealing with a middle-aged man. Bard sighed.

---

[This is a two-person cooperative dungeon. It is strongly recommended to enter with a partner.]

Despite the recommendation, Rankers who could not enter with a partner had a choice.

Whether to enter alone, or to form a temporary alliance with another unpaired Transmigrator.

Paladin stood alone before the gateway, staring at the sentences detailing the Nine Curses.

[Lonely bird. Choose five curses.]

Those who came alone only had to choose and sacrifice five curses. However, if there were opposing teams taking on six or seven curses, the scales of victory would naturally tip in their favor.

From the moment he entered, Paladin's defeat was already set in stone.

Thief had entered with Puppeteer. As soon as they heard the dungeon information, they had naturally found each other in the chat and entered together.

Fighter had entered with Secretary. Word was that Secretary had finally dragged his heavy body and stepped into a dungeon for the very first time.

Paladin had considered asking Alchemist in the chat if they should enter together, but quickly dropped the idea. He couldn't trust Alchemist. Furthermore, he later noticed that Doctor had entered the dungeon alone. Alchemist hadn't even come to this dungeon.

"……"

He reached into his coat. His hand grasped a pendant attached to a thin, clinking chain.

It was a pendant engraved with a divine crest, a white leaf. Ever since the day the pendant's owner disappeared, he had gazed at it every single day.

---

— If I take on all Nine Sacrifices, who will protect you? Since it's a dungeon, there will definitely be monsters.

— Any monsters that rush at me, I'll drop them into the farm. The vegetable legion will figure something out.

— Then what about that man?

Belsus had asked back, hesitating.

It wasn't that their farm was completely empty; there was one more trapped boarder.

— I already told him. Since a situation like this might happen, I told him to protect his own body. I told him to hide in my cabin.

And so, while the dungeon raid was underway.

The subject of their conversation, Endymion, was forced to huddle trembling inside the farm owner's closet.

Yelp! Yeoow! From outside the house came the brutal sounds of feline beasts being choked to death by vines or instantly impaled by poles. 

Endymion wasn't scared of the leopards; he was absolutely terrified of those plants.

'What kind of ridiculous farm is this?!'

Isn't the subspace itself situated on primordial land? If you raise your Hunter level, furniture literally falls from the sky. And now the crops are moving on their own to protect their owner and even attacking things?

If this was what a subspace was truly like, the Temple would have designated Subspace Hunters as the number one priority for excommunication!

Those vines might be catching leopards right now, but what if they get too excited and accidentally impale him inside the house?

'Right. What if I try one more time right now?'

Just in case, Endymion stealthily crept to the back of the cabin and tried to climb over the wall. He had naturally been blocked by the transparent barrier before, but maybe this time?

"…Gasp!"

While pushing against the barrier with his entire body, he suddenly slipped right through and plummeted over the wall. 

Fortunately, because he landed in a rolling tumble, his whole body ached, but nothing was broken.

He had finally succeeded!

At the thought that the farm owner would no longer treat him like a pathological liar, Endymion puffed out his chest with swelling pride, even though he was battered and bruised from the fall.

Let's not go far, just stay around here for a while. That way, if I suddenly lose my strength again or an unexpected variable occurs, I'll be able to go back.

Until the farm owners returned, he roamed around picking up random grass and putting it in his basket, looking for all the world like a genuine herb gatherer.​

________

(t/n : The full novel EPUB version is available on my Ko-fi^^)