Dungeon Defense (WN)

I looked up at the smoke.

“Happy Humans are generally similar, but unfortunate Humans are all so different…… A wise man once said so. ”

“What's that supposed to mean? ”

I shook my head.

“No, I just came to my head. It's a phrase I haven't seen in years. Human memories are a mysterious thing. ”

When was it, freshman year of college? It was only a few years ago, but somehow it feels like a long time ago....

It was clearly a passage written by Tolstoy in the first part of Anna Karenina's work. It was a black text on a white paper that I had read without any emotion, so why did I think of it now?

Because I'm sure there's only one broken person around me.

Lapis, a hybrid of the Horses and Humans; Laura, sold into slavery by the family; Jeremy, forced into the life of an assassin from childhood…… even Parsi, whose father died and was forced to become chief. All the kids who could be called my family heirlooms were like this.

Parsi didn't become chief because he wanted to be. Jeremy, of course, and Laura also did not voluntarily become a sex slave. I wonder where Lapis wanted to be born as a hybrid. They were all forced to be unhappy, even if they weren't wrong.

It doesn't make sense.

“ ……. ”

I spent the night at Parsi's house. I sat at the window and thought, "I don't need to sleep for a few days."

‘You are unhappy because you are wrong. This is fine.’

You may repent of what you have done wrong, and you may reflect and reserve it so that it will never happen again. So you might be happy. But what if he's unhappy and he didn't do anything wrong?

No remorse, no forgiveness. What is wrong is not the world itself, but the world itself.

In other words, they deserve vengeance in the world.

Now that we have been unreasonably forced into misery, it is time to force us to be unreasonable in the world. We are a group of evil originally, and we have been allowed to do evil in the world.

I am the Demon King. The king fulfills the ideals of the people. As the Demon King, I avenge the gods.

Undiscriminatory revenge.

‘Barbato, that is my royal highway. ’

It will be filthy compared to your own kingdom, which will fulfill all the wishes of the Horses. But that's the only way we can do it. Would you understand, proud girl?

The night went quiet.

* * *

“Hey, bro. Did you sleep well last night? ”

The next morning, I joined Fabian. At the entrance of the village, not only the Fabian, but also the twenty adventurers were in a commotion. They were all adventurers from the city to attack Dalian Castle.

“Luckily, I found a place to sleep. How is Mr. Fabian sleeping? ”

“Damn, I spent a lot of money on lodging at the stable. The villagers here are sharpening their teeth first if they're adventurers. ”

Fabian scratches his bald head.

“At least I got a new straw blanket to see if I had a conscience. It was better than sleeping on a cloud, wasn't it? ”

“Of course... … But there are a lot of people here. Do we have an appointment? ”

I looked around. Then Fabian said as if he was surprised.

“Have you ever been on a big adventure? ”

“Yes, I mainly worked with five adventurers and ten adventurers. ”

“Aha, I see. First time, then.”

Fabian smiles faintly.

“You'll find out soon enough. Look what happens when more than a hundred adventurers get together. ”

A moment later, dozens of adventurers make their move without anyone ordering them to do anything. One adventurer leads the way, and the others follow slowly. I walked by chattering in the Ancient Empire language with Jeremy.

However, this was not only happening in the village where we were staying. As I got closer to Castle Marwan, I started seeing dozens of adventurers like us on the left and right. As the herd gathers, the number of adventurers rises from twenty to fifty in a heartbeat to a hundred.

“Oh.”

Soon after arriving at the dungeon entrance, adventurers were taking pictures. Maybe a hundred and fifty at the most? Fabian said next to me when I was surprised by the storm.

“When the Adventure Party gathers like this, they gather at a certain time and enter together. It's not exactly promising and gathering, but it's kind of irrelevant. ”

“Why is that? ”

“There's a better chance of survival than going in there alone. ”

Fabian shrugs.

“You don't know what magic lives in Castle Marwan and what traps there are. Expect another adventurer to set a trap for me. Well, to be honest, it's a scapegoat. ”

Yes, it is simple but effective.

I don't expect a unified movement like the elite. It is good just to be baited by other humans. Only a small group of protagonist adventurers appeared in the game.

“The more you go in, the more disadvantageous you are." I think everyone wants to go in later. ”

“Haha. You're right, but if you go in later, you'll lose that much competition. ”

If you go in soon, it's too risky. Instead, there is a reward. Is that what you're saying?

“Mana flows through the Castle of the Demon. A magical substance that lives on like that... Leather is tough and strong, so you can sell it to merchants, and bones can be sold to the Magic Guild. It's all money."

“If you want to make a lot, go to Castle Marwan first, but if you want to make a lot of money, go later.... ”

Fabian nods.

“The conclusion is that the group who are confident in their skills will be the first to enter. Pride fight? An adventure party moves faster than the others, or lags behind. Rumors like that soon become the reputation of the Adventure Party. Look at that."

Fabian points to the dungeon entrance. There are adventurers standing there who are clearly distinct from fishermen. Some wear high quality leather armor. Some even wore chain armor to their chests. At least it's a Class D adventure squad.

They scramble at each other with their eyes wide open.

“Derdhalus of Storms, Crazy Bitch Miriel, and the Viper Diedhart...... Everyone's out there blowing names. Except for the kids who went off to war. They're pretty useful. Hmm. It's not like there's a pile of gold piled up between them. ”

I'm surprised you haven't cut yourself yet, and Fabian says calmly.

“Well, soon it will be settled. ”

It was as he said. A huge adventurer moves his feet like a mountain. Following him, a group of adventurers rushes into the entrance to Castle Crane one at a time. Then the adventurer who was having a nervous war turns around and shouts.

“We're leaving too! ”

“Stay with me! ”

One person cut off the first batsman, and the next, they rushed. Adventurers in charge of the forward-looking explorers - usually from forest keepers or mountain rangers, i.e. hunters - rushed in first. They do not seek assistance in advance, but they compromise appropriately and act like a search party.

I twitched my nose to see if I didn't like Fabian.

“Hmph. That Derdhalus fella's feeling much better. I knew he'd be the first to die. ”

“There is no guarantee of death. ”

“Ah. But there's no guarantee of survival. Don't you think?”

Fabian laughs. We also got swept away by the crowd and went to Castle Marwan.

Unlike the outside sunlight, the inside of the dungeon was shining blue with a marble covered in Mana. In case the dungeon gets dark, adventurers with torches shrug. Fabian was also carrying a torch, but he muttered in astonishment.

“This is more abundant than I expected. At least we don't have enough torches to make it back. ”

“Is that a good thing? ”

“There are pros and cons. The advantage, of course, is that you don't have to rely on a damn torch... Hey, fuck you! We're not clear!? ”

As Fabian explains, he shouts in the background. A group of adventurers are chasing us. Fabian and his men have been giving and receiving insults for a while, and they open the streets as if they were fine.

“Ouch. If it's too crowded, there's no room for a knife to swing, so it's a swarm of death. However, the youngsters were in a hurry... Hmm, how far did they say? ”

“What are the disadvantages of being rich in Mana Castle? ”

“Oh, right. Cons. That's simple. ”

Fabian shrugs.

“The richer Mana is, the more magical she will be. Of course, of course. We can interpret it as a rich prey. ”

“― ― In other words, on the contrary, our side may fall prey. ”

“Exactly. ”

Fabian grins.

Then there was a commotion in the front. The sound of iron and shouting echoes through the cave wall. Someone said, "Goblin!” I yelled. The group that entered first seemed to have encountered the magic potion for the first time.

The commotion quickly ceased. It looks like the adventurers got rid of the Goblins lightly.

“You're not a very good magician. No one's yelling to get away. Well, I'm still early, of course. It feels good.”

I walked for about ten minutes with that feeling.

As time passes, the group of adventurers shrinks. I wasn't attacked by a monster. It was a fork in the dungeon. The passageway was divided into three sections. The adventurers spread their horns to the left, right, or center as they wished.

“…… hmm. ”

Fabian stops at the fork in the road. Did he realize that worrying was useless? Fabian leaves the road to the right, chosen by a relatively large group of adventurers.

After a while, there was another fork in the road. This time there were two prongs. After another fork in the road, the adventurers hesitate for a moment. They worry that their bodies will shrink, but the passageway narrows to more than fifty people.

“ ……. ”

The adventurers are divided again. We went in the right direction. Our expedition, which departed relatively late, became increasingly progressive with the disappearance of those who were ahead.

I'd have walked ten more minutes like that.

This time, the adventurers stop completely. There have been fewer than twenty adventurers starting from 1500. They stopped at one place and looked at each other with a worried look.

Fabian mutters.

“...... This is a little unsettling. ”

In front of them was another fork in the road. A passageway a little narrower than before.

If you split two ways from here, there will be ten of you. It falls to the level of a mediocre small adventure party. It's not uncommon for adventurers who gained confidence from numbers to be reluctant.

While everyone was hesitating, Fabian told the adventurers.

“Hey, guys. How about we stick together here? I think it's better to use one passageway at least a little too much. ”

Adventurers also agreed with Fabian to see if he was nervous. People entered the right passageway in turn, with some distance between each other. They don't know where they're going.

I had no idea this was my new Horseman Castle's beta test.