Episode 14

I saw Abrea, staring at the pit, pop up a speech bubble and mutter, “How were we standing on top of that……?” I was wondering the same thing. It looked like they had only dug it up shallowly, so how had we been standing on top of a pit that deep with just that amount of dirt covering it? Maybe it was simply a gameplay concession.

In any case, Abrea went down first, and white light began circling around the pit along with the instruction for me to go down as well. When I approached the pit, a motion played of me jumping inside, and then the screen went dark as a loading screen appeared.

Before long, a damp cave appeared, but white lights were hanging all over the walls, so it wasn’t especially dark. The cave was the color of ash rather than earth, making it feel as though I had come to a coal mine.

At last, I had set foot in the secret passage. Moved, I hid the UI and took a screenshot. I wasn’t the type to take screenshots often, so it didn’t come out very well, but simply leaving proof that I had been here was enough.

After taking a bunch of screenshots, I was standing side by side with Abrea and taking one together when, all of a sudden, Abrea whipped her head around like she had done at the fountain earlier and stared straight at me. It felt as if she were scolding me, asking what on earth I was doing instead of going, so I quietly restored the UI and spoke to Abrea.

[- Abrea: Good. Since we’ve made it safely inside, there shouldn’t be any fighting. Relax, everyone. We’ll slowly investigate the passage as we move forward. If you discover anything that seems serious, report it immediately to the head of the investigation team and the Eideas executive.]

[- Abrea: I’ll say this just in case. I will not tolerate anyone reporting only to one side simply because your factions differ. This is for the sake of our race. Whether or not you personally wish to, we have agreed to cooperate, so keep in mind that if you violate this and respond emotionally, you will be punished according to the terms of the agreement.]

After that, the conversation ended, and I was able to move freely. The next objective read, “Investigate the secret passage. (0/4)”

I pressed M and opened the map. The secret passage was about the same size as the entire Ateliena area. No, actually, it was probably exactly the same size as Ateliena, only with different paths. After all, the Eunsu tribe had built roads underground in order to move around various parts of Ateliena while avoiding battle.

First, I walked straight ahead. As I did, I didn’t forget to take screenshots here and there. The pure white flames, neither red nor yellow nor blue, looked like dandelion seeds swaying in the wind, so I stood beneath them and took three or four screenshots.

After walking like that for a bit, I began to see a few users, and soon the number of Eunsu NPCs scurrying around gradually increased as well. Normally there would have been more people than this, but the secret passage was divided into channels, so it was quiet no matter where I went.

Just as I was thinking I should stop focusing on screenshots and investigate here and there according to the quest objective, a message suddenly appeared saying the ground was shaking, and the screen shook along with it. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t see ahead. However, unlike the users who were standing just fine, the NPCs panicked, fell to the ground, grabbed onto the walls, and screamed all sorts of things. One NPC even abandoned the wooden box they were carrying and ran away.

They said there was a strange current flowing, so why was the ground shaking? Was that current not the kind of current I had been thinking of? A small question arose, but I didn’t think too deeply about it.

I was thinking it was different from what I had expected and was about to walk forward when white light began spinning around the wooden box that the NPC from earlier had dropped. It was a sign that interaction was possible. I immediately approached the box and pressed F to investigate it.

[(It is a toolbox dropped by a cleaner. After rummaging through it a little, you found a leaf flowing with a strange light.)]

▷ Take the leaf flowing with a strange light.

▷ It is merely strange trash. Leave it alone and investigate somewhere else.

Ah. Don’t tell me the story changes or branches into success and failure depending on what I investigate here?

I had no idea why they had put RPG Maker-like choices into an MMORPG. Still, I had to proceed with the quest for now, so I started thinking. A leaf flowing with a strange light. At a glance, it seemed right to take it, but since it was openly screaming, “I’m a special object!” there was also the possibility that it was a trap.

……But would they really make you rack your brains like this in an MMORPG that wasn’t even a deduction game? I could understand making the combat difficult, but would they go out of their way to make something like this difficult?

I was someone who found thinking very, very bothersome. I gave up on thought and caution and decided to simply trust my gut. Let’s take it and see.

[(This plant is a species you have never seen anywhere on the continent.)]

[System] You have acquired 1 <Leaf Flowing with a Strange Light>.

It seemed to have been the right answer. A leaf no one had ever seen anywhere on the continent suddenly being found in a cave? That made no sense. Of course, of course.

I had only guessed and gotten it right, but I felt smug for no reason. As expected, I’m good at guessing too.

Once I took the leaf, the wooden box that had fulfilled its duty slowly disappeared. I immediately dashed forward to investigate somewhere else. Now that I realized this wasn’t a hopeless investigation method where I had to click every object in this vast place, I needed to quickly find places where light was circling.

The cave was dug out like an anthill, so there were many forks in the road. First, I ran into the left path to check whether there was anything to investigate, then returned to the fork and marked the path I had investigated on the map as I steadily proceeded. Even while doing so, aftershocks occasionally occurred and shook the cave.

I had started from Base 51 and investigated as far as Base 44 by location—in other words, close to the center of the map—and had collected three objects including the leaf, as well as a report. That was when the background music of the secret passage suddenly faded out, and a message appeared at the top of the screen along with a warning sound.

[The flow of the air has suddenly changed. You have a bad feeling.]

[It seems you should hurry and join up with “Abrea Shediana.”]

In place of the vanished background music, the sound of a strange wind could be heard. It was quiet but eerie, to the point that it felt like I was playing a horror game.

Ah, I don’t really like this kind of atmosphere. I slowly rubbed the back of my prickling neck and checked the quest. However, the quest objective was still stuck at the investigation stage. Since it hadn’t updated to an objective telling me to join Abrea, this was clearly either a different event or an event that occurred after completing three investigations.

I didn’t like the atmosphere, but I became curious about the event that had suddenly occurred, so I first checked where Abrea was. Once the investigation was completed, it said to go to the “Cozy Trade Market,” the center of the secret passage, so Abrea would probably be there.

Until now, it had only taken time because I had been investigating; from here to the center wasn’t that far. I opened the map, turned on sprint, and ran there in one go. The closer I got to the center, the more Jeoba tribe members began to appear one by one, but since I couldn’t fight them anyway, I ignored them and passed by.

After running for a little over a minute, I arrived at the center, where there were quite a lot of people. In addition to those progressing through the main quest, there were NPCs, of course, as well as crafting users whose main jobs were gathering and production gathered in little groups.

When I entered the market and stopped to look for Abrea, users recognized me and greeted me in chat. Among them were people I had gotten acquainted with through trading and people I had partied with from time to time, so I gave them brief greetings.

[General] DontSmokeOnTheStreet: Looks like you came to push the main quest

[General] Honeybread: lol yeah but the main quest is scary as hell

[General] DontSmokeOnTheStreet: Huh? Is the Divine Knight story horror?

[General] Honeybread: idk the BGM suddenly turned off and then what was it again

[General] Honeybread: The flow of the air has changed! You have a bad feeling...

[General] Honeybread: Like that

[General] Honeybread: and it told me to join up with an NPC

[General] Honeybread: so I ran over without finishing all the investigation first

[General] DontSmokeOnTheStreet: ?? lololol crazy, the BGM suddenly turning off is sick;

[General] Jwigok: Honeybread, are you maybe in hidden story?

I was chatting with DontSmoke, who had made food for me in bulk since a while ago, when someone approached and spoke to me.

Hidden story? Is that what they mean? Is there something like that this time?

[General] Honeybread: hidden story?

[General] Jwigok: It seems like hidden story is popping up for some people right now. I heard Sugang’s is hidden story too

Jaesugang too?

[General] Honeybread: Do you know exactly what it is?

[General] Jwigok: I don’t really either; hidden didn’t pop for me... I just know the story progression is a little different

[General] Jwigok: You’d probably be better off going to the general board yourself

[General] Honeybread: thx thx

I suddenly became intensely interested. I opened a new internet window, put it on my sub-monitor, went to the Dusk homepage, and found the general board. Then, just as the person with “Jwi” whatever in their name had said, I saw several post titles that seemed to be talking about hidden stories and the like.

First, I clicked on the title that said “Complete Summary.”