Chapter 41

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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: A Trial of Fears
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At Helios’s unexpected words, my eyes widened slightly.

“I don't know when you became so strong, but there must have been many people who looked up to you. Like Ged and his crew.”

“…”

Well, is that so?

There were certainly people who followed me as their leader, calling me boss.

They only came close because they needed something.

In fact, in this place filled with nothing but villains, Helios was probably the only one who held what could be described as pure ‘admiration’ for me.

“There are plenty who approach me because I'm useful. This master of yours is quite popular, you know.”

“Why are you so popular?”

Helios bristled. I was bewildered.

“…? Why are you bristling?”

“…Never mind. It was a slip of the tongue. Anyway, I want to become as strong as you, Master. Yes, this is admiration.”

Adding a firm “I must,” Helios seemed, for reasons I couldn't quite grasp, to be feeling anxious.

He became as stiff as a wooden doll again. His face turned red. Even his neck.

Helios moistened his lips.

“And let me say one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“I… don’t have any prejudices.”

“…? Okay.”

He bit his lip, then spoke again.

“I said I don’t have any prejudices. I've said it twice.”

“Okay…?”

I had no idea why he was saying this now, but he seemed quite solemn, so I simply agreed.

Helios covered his face with both hands and lowered his head deeply.

“…You don't know anything, Master.”

“About what?”

“…How difficult it was for me to say that. Ha, forget it.”

He seemed to be in a state of turmoil. I couldn't be sure, but based on what Helios had said…

He wants to get stronger, right?

“Don't worry. I'll take responsibility and make you stronger.”

Countless trials still remained in the tower. Trials as wicked as the abyss, and at times, utterly malevolent.

I didn't know how it was in the book, but I found I didn't much want to see the male lead break.

* * *

In the dark space, crimson lights were scattered about.

The red light mingled with the old walls, creating a gloomy and bizarre atmosphere.

“Aaaaaah!”

And there was someone running desperately through a part of the space. To be precise, it wasn't one person, but several.

It was Helios and Ged’s crew.

“Seth, stop screaming and take a proper look! Where are we supposed to go next?”

“I-I don’t know. Ah, aah!! I-it’s scary…!”

A clown drenched in blood was chasing the group from behind. Its face was made up like a clown, but it held a grotesque knife in its hand.

“So you're getting a piggyback from Ged, and you still can't do your part?”

“*Sob, sob!*”

Normally, despite being the most cowardly of Ged’s crew, Seth always did his part.

But now, not only was he no help, he was terrified beyond all comparison to his usual self.

He was trembling so much it looked less like panic and more like he was having a psychotic break.

His back had long since become damp.

‘Scary, scary, scary…!’

It was only natural.

This space looked exactly like the mansion of the human traffickers who had captured him as a child.

Moreover, the various gloomy ghosts that popped out were one of Seth’s greatest fears.

And the ghost in clown makeup chasing them from behind was a brutal murderer from a horror novel Seth had read only once.

Helios scanned his surroundings as he ran.

Sheets with holes for eyes, a nose, and a mouth floated about like ghosts.

They couldn't touch them. The moment they were touched, they would target a person.

Helios thought of Mint, who had vanished somewhere, and recalled how they had ended up running like this.

* * *

20 minutes ago.

[Ah, ah. Stray Dogs. We will now begin the 30th-floor trial.]

Inside the 30th floor, Ged’s crew stared at the door with tense faces.

“From the 30th floor onward, the trials will be completely different from what you've faced so far.”

Helios and Ged’s crew recalled the advice Mint had given them before they entered.

For some reason, instead of proceeding to the next floor immediately as she usually did, Mint had given them a few days.

She had felt it necessary to train because the difficulty was about to increase dramatically.

“Haha, a real man won't fall from just this, Big Bro! Bring it on!”

“Okay.”

“B-Big Bro! Wait a minute, wait! Ack! Ack!”

Helios and the rest of Ged’s crew had to endure harsh training.

Finally, they arrived at the 30th floor.

Starting from the 30th floor, like the 20th, the trials were conducted in divided sections with groups of five or six.

“It’s dark.”

Seth, the most terrified, chattered his teeth.

“S-something feels like it's going to pop out…”

“Hey, man. Seth, when are you gonna learn? When you say stuff like that, something always does.”

“Hahaha. We won't see any more of those human-like scarecrows, will we?”

Exchanging words with one another, Ged’s crew, minus Helios, moved forward.

Helios was busy observing his surroundings. He clearly remembered what Mint had told him.

That from now on, trials might appear that had specific clear conditions, rather than just mindlessly eliminating enemies.

‘Where in the world is this?’

It was a completely dark space.

Because the trials from the 20th to the 29th floor had involved killing opponents, including the human-shaped scarecrows, most of the prisoners who reached the 30th floor were either mentally broken or addicted to killing.

Compared to them, Helios and Ged’s crew were in a very healthy state.

Mint, who was watching, was curious.

Would they really be able to maintain this state until the end?

‘The 30th floor is…’

She knew the form the trials took from the 30th floor onward. But since the leader had changed, something different from what she knew was bound to appear.

‘I wonder how much has changed from this floor on?’

Before long, something flew toward Ged’s crew.

“Aaaah! Th-there's something over there…!”

Seth tried to stop the flying object with his telekinesis, but his power had no effect.

“A-a dart?”

What appeared before their eyes was a rather large dartboard and a dart pin.

The dart pin circled above the group's heads.

“Huh. But that doesn't look particularly dangerous, does it?”

“Leader, wh-what do we do?”

“…”

Even for Helios, who usually made the party’s decisions, it was a puzzling situation.

At that moment, the floating dart needle flew at Seth.

“Aaaaaah! Somebody help me!”

Seth squeezed his eyes shut.

Strangely, the dart pin sank right into Seth’s body.

And then, as if it had been waiting, the center of the floating dartboard split open, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.

—It's you! It's you! It's you!

—You! You're scared, aren't you?

“Wh-what…? It’s talking?”

It started from then.

—Hahaha, let's play hide-and-seek! It'll be fun!

—Be scared! Be scared!

—Die! Hahaha! Just die!

The space surrounding them shimmered and changed its form. What appeared was the interior of a large, old mansion.

—Let's play! Let's play!

—It's a ghost!

—It's a novel! It's a murderer!

The dartboard cackled as it slowly vanished.

All that remained were Helios, Ged’s crew, and Mint, left inside the old mansion.

“What is this? This place is…”

“A mansion? Is it an illusion?”

The surroundings were dusty and eerie. Haira narrowed her eyes slightly.

“It looks like something out of a ghost story.”

Haira had an impressive history as a con artist, so she had met quite a few criminals who used places like this as their hideouts.

Ordinary people wouldn't dare come near for fear of ghosts, making them perfect for secret hideouts.

At Haira’s thoughtless murmur, Seth’s shoulders flinched noticeably.

“I think it's best we get moving. What should we do, Leader?”

“That's a good idea. If this is another trial where we have to defeat something, we should find a secure location.”

“Wait.”

The one who stopped the group was Mint.

She approached Seth without hesitation.

“Huh? B-Big…?”

Seth looked at her with terrified eyes.

“You, what are you afraid of?”

“Huh?”

What am I afraid of, all of a sudden?

It was a question that didn't fit the situation at all.

But Seth, already accustomed to Mint’s abruptness, answered without thinking, his face a mask of terror.

“H-human trafficking and ghosts…? Ah, and… h-horror novels with murderers in them.”

“Tsk, this won't be easy.”

It was only a few minutes later that they understood what Mint's words meant.

“Everyone, get back!”

The moment the group had just left the mansion’s hallway, someone began to attack them from around the corner, as if they had been lying in wait.

It was a bizarre-looking human.