#008. City of Lament (2)
“Mister! Hurry!”
The Player shouted toward Jake.
He had been barring the basement door with a long iron bar, but he struggled against the pale hands forcing their way through.
“Damn it!”
Seeing him, the Player threw her weight against the door too.
Crack!
The ghoul’s rotten wrist was crushed, and the door shut.
Slam.
-Screeeech!
The handless ghoul threw its entire body against the iron door.
“Whew… We need to hurry to the assembly hall.”
Jake limped down the stairs.
The Player hurried after him.
The deeper they went, the louder the commotion became.
At the bottom of the stairs, they saw a firmly shut iron door.
Thud, thud.
When Jake knocked, a small iron grille at the top of the door slid open.
Behind it were the eyes of a young man filled with fear.
“Th-that’s….”
“Don’t worry. I locked everything upstairs.”
The iron door opened before Jake had even finished speaking.
Inside the large cavity.
Dozens of people were huddled together in terror.
When Jake entered the chamber, everyone’s gazes converged on him.
“Chairman!”
“Ah! You’re safe!”
They called Jake “Chairman” and felt relieved that he was safe.
They were a secret group of residents called “The Smiling Ones,” people who had run around trying to turn Javelin back when all their neighbors were trying to leave.
But for some reason, the lord had banned their gatherings, calling them a conspiratorial force, and so they had made a meeting hall in a corner of the labyrinthine sewers and were continuing their meetings there.
Then one day, while they were continuing their good deeds in secret.
A mage of unknown identity came to find Jake.
‘I wish to help you.’
‘Who are you?’
‘I am one of the Masters of the Six Towers from Muel. Please understand that I cannot reveal my full identity.’
The holy land of mages, “Muel.”
The six towers that existed there, and the six archmages called their masters.
Mages had visited Javelin almost every day in the past, so Jake had believed those words all too easily.
He never suspected them to be false and showed blind trust.
If he had known that high-ranking mages like the Masters of the Six Towers had no interest in such a place, he would never have believed it.
‘Jake, if you go to the eastern forest, there is an elder witch in hiding. Buy Tears of the Goddess from her. It will save this city.’
Jake, believing only the words of the mage of unknown identity, sent trustworthy people to find it.
The mage’s words were true.
Such a potion actually existed.
And as instructed, he had people scatter the potion into wells throughout the city.
A few hours later, ghouls began pouring out of the city sewers.
Even then, Jake did not know.
That he had taken a step into this terrible disaster.
“Mister, are you okay?”
At the Player’s call, Jake looked over.
“Ah, yes… If it weren’t for you, we’d all be dead… How on earth did you know it would turn out like this?”
“I-Intuition.”
She couldn’t bring herself to say that her status window had warned her.
“How many bottles of Tears of the Goddess do we have left now?”
Jake asked the man standing beside him.
“Four bottles left.”
“Yes, as long as we have that miraculous potion, there is still hope for the city. Let’s endure a little longer here.”
The people gathered together and began to pray.
Hoping this hellish time would pass safely.
And their wish was shattered before long.
-Screeeech!
From one of the six iron doors in the chamber, the ghouls’ shrieks echoed loudly.
The place leading to the sewers.
Boom! Boom!
The heavy ringing of iron echoed throughout the entire chamber.
The people covered their eyes and ears and sang of hope.
They evenly praised the nine gods that existed in the world.
But perhaps it was vexing that they had left out the god of death himself.
The god of death steadily tightened his grip on their throats.
-Screeeech!
-Screeech!
It wasn’t just one or two.
As time passed, the iron door shook more violently.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“P-please….”
Just as the people’s fear reached its peak, another sound was heard.
-Squeak….
Not the roar of prey before its eyes, but the death throes of agony.
The prey trapped inside the iron bars could tell that they were dying off one by one.
Ahh! Has God heard our prayers!
The young man who had been kneeling in prayer stood up.
Chanting prayers, he approached the iron door.
Even though those around him tried to stop him, he drew closer to the iron door as if testing his faith.
He stretched his trembling hand toward the cover of the small iron grille.
At that moment.
Crash!
The iron door was shattered. The man who had reached out was flung backward.
And through the wide-open door, a man drenched in ghoul blood walked in.
Black armor and a massive sword.
It was Virgil.
“Ah… Demon Hunter!”
“You’ve come to save us!”
“Ooh!”
The people welcomed him as if witnessing the descent of a god.
Virgil ignored them, his gaze burning as he searched for his target.
“Player!”
The search didn’t take long.
A bright ring was visible, like a lighthouse in the dark, boundless sea.
Perhaps even if she were hidden among a crowd of tens of thousands, Virgil alone would be able to find her immediately.
The Player, receiving his heated gaze, sprang to her feet.
A gaze entirely different from Virgil’s.
“Hermit! I’m over here!”
The Player’s eyes turned red.
How long she had waited and longed for this reunion! He had come all this way to save her!
Overcome with surging emotion, she choked up.
Virgil took a step closer.
Could it be a hug? The Player gently lowered her guard.
“How embarrassing….”
The misunderstanding didn’t last long.
“You!”
Virgil, filled with rage, grabbed and threw his greatsword.
At the same time, he charged at the Player.
The greatsword passed by the Player and embedded itself in the wall behind her.
Crash!
“Uh….”
The Player stumbled backward in fear and fell.
Virgil ran straight to her, grabbed her shoulder, and slammed her against the wall.
He dragged her right beside the greatsword.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
“H-Hermit, why are you doing this….”
“I told you to stay quiet like I taught you! Why did you have to complicate things!”
“Wh-what did I even dooo….”
The people were frightened, just like the Player.
Unable to bring themselves to approach the imposing Virgil, they could only stamp their feet in place.
Unable to watch any longer, Jake approached the two.
“See here, there seems to be some misunderstanding….”
“Hah… such a fool.”
Virgil struck Jake in the abdomen as he tried to intervene.
Kuheok! A black mass surged out of Jake’s mouth.
It stuck to the floor and writhed like a living creature.
The people could only stare in shock, and Virgil stomped on it, bursting it.
“You were deceived.”
“Wh-what do you mean….”
“The one you met was no mage. He was a warlock.”
“Th-that person… Aah… So there truly is no hope for Javelin….”
“Step aside. I already regret not leaving you in the forest the moment I saw you.”
Jake, strength leaving him, was supported by the people as he fell back.
Virgil’s attention turned back to the Player.
“This city became like this because of the potion you and that fool dumped into the wells.”
“What?”
“Do you know the potion’s name?”
“C-Crom’s Tears….”
At her answer, Virgil pressed even harder on her shoulder and growled.
“Do you even know what Crom is?”
“A goddess….”
“It’s the god of death.”
The Player, roughly grasping his meaning, began to stammer.
“I-I didn’t know! The item description said it was the b-blessing of a goddess that revives the dead! The quest window just said to p-pour it into the wells, that’s all…!”
“What?”
Virgil stepped back.
It felt like being struck on the head with a hammer.
A word leaped from her mouth that felt distant yet close.
Quest window.
He asked in a slightly trembling voice.
“Don’t tell me… you can use a status window?”
“What? Ah, y-yes….”
“Damn it!”
Virgil cursed himself.
He had known this woman was a Player, so how could he not have thought she could use a status window?
“Uh… Uhh!”
The Player was shocked as well.
The Hermit knew about status windows.
As if he knew this place was inside a game.
Moreover, he had called her “Player” just moments ago.
In that instant, the image of the Hermit she had met in the tutorial area flashed through her mind.
The way he had lectured her about this and that.
In the game, he had been the Hermit who killed her dozens of times and even made her delete her character, but after entering the game world, his attitude had completely changed.
In some ways, he had even been kind.
She had thought it was just something that happened because she had entered the game world, but thinking about it deeply, there were more than one or two strange things.
This man had definitely treated her as a “Player.”
Why hadn’t she thought of that until now?
“You… don’t tell me… no way?”
At her trembling voice, Virgil thought, ‘Oh no.’
He decided to change the subject.
“That’s not it. Be quiet and follow me.”
Virgil pulled the greatsword from the wall and headed straight for the sewer exit.
The Player scrambled after him.
“Hey! Wait a minute! Talk to me! Let’s go together!”
***
The two escaped the sewers and ran toward the city center.
Toward the Temple of the Sun and the lord’s castle.
“W-where are we going!”
The Player gasped for breath and called out to stop Virgil.
Virgil didn’t answer and kept running.
The closer they got to the city center, the more ghouls charged at them.
“Kyaaah!”
The Player screamed.
The ghouls drooled at her high-pitched voice and lunged, but Virgil’s greatsword did not rest.
Shlick!
A ghoul’s head soared into the air.
Blood droplets pitter-pattered down, falling inside the Player’s helmet.
“Gyaah! It got in my mouth! Ptooey! Ugh! I spit inside my helmet!”
“If you don’t shut that mouth, I’ll shut it for you myself.”
“Y-yes….”
Slicing his way through the ghouls, Virgil arrived at the lord’s castle.
There was a defensive wall made of spears bundled together and planted densely, and soldiers hiding behind it, fighting back.
Judging by their condition, they already seemed to be at their limit.
If the castle warehouse hadn’t been stocked with countless spears, or if the soldiers hadn’t possessed the technique to make a wall of spears, they would have been breached and annihilated long ago.
“Something’s coming!”
A soldier standing on the castle parapet shouted.
In his sight, he saw a massive hunk of iron swinging every which way and ghouls dying.
And a helmet shaped like a beast’s head.
“Ah, it’s a Demon Hunter!”
At the scout’s cry, the remaining soldiers’ gazes turned.
The archers’ sights aligned with Virgil’s approach path.
They pulled the triggers of their crossbows.
Twang! Twang!
Thanks to their support, Virgil’s sword swings became a bit easier.
-Screeeech!
Before they knew it, they had reached the defensive wall.
However, there was no gate to enter.
Clearing or destroying the spear-made fence would ruin the defensive line.
He gauged the height of the wall.
“Kyaaak!”
The Player shrieked from behind.
Her beginner armor was already in tatters.
It was a wonder she had held out until now.
If she took even a few more hits, it looked like flesh would be torn away along with it.
-Screeeech!
“Mommy!”
Virgil pulled the Player close against him.
He thrust his greatsword toward the charging ghouls.
The ghouls couldn’t stop and impaled their jaws on the blade.
“Listen to me carefully from now on.”
“Y-yes… please speak….”
Her voice trembled even more than before.
“What level are you?”
“What?… Ah! Six!”
“Did you allocate your bonus stats?”
“Not yet!”
She summoned her courage and gauged Virgil’s reaction.
In the meantime, Virgil slit a charging ghoul’s throat with a dagger in his left hand.
“Pump everything into mana. And the moment I get you inside, head straight to the underground warehouse. Equip the items there that boost your mana. Got it?”
“What?”
At Virgil’s murderous gaze, the Player shouted again loudly.
“Yes! But….”
The moment she was about to ask how he would get her inside, Virgil grabbed her breastplate and pauldron and lifted her.
“Uwaah! Oh my! Wh-why!”
He spun the struggling Player around.
Two ghouls were struck by the rotational force and tumbled away.
“Ugh! Y-you’re crazy!”
As the Player squawked, Virgil’s forearm bulged.
With a short breath, he hurled her over the defensive wall.
“Kyaaah!”
Thud!
The impact of the fall shattered the Player’s armor.
Long hair flowed down from the dislodged helmet, revealing her true appearance, but Virgil didn’t see it.
No, he didn’t even care.
In contrast, the nearby soldiers stared at the Player with momentarily dazed faces.
Virgil shouted toward a man among the soldiers wearing slightly more ornate armor.
“Open the warehouse door for her! It was promised to the lord, and I will take full responsibility for what follows! If you’re truly worried, ask Serman!”
Virgil lifted the lord’s crest from his waist.
Of course, he had never made such a promise, but neither the lord nor Serman were here, so it didn’t matter.
At Virgil’s shout, the captain of the guard responded loudly.
“Understood!”
There was no hesitation.
Virgil glanced at the Player, who lay sprawled out with her long hair completely disheveled.
She seemed utterly unreliable.
But what could he do? He had to use what he could use.
Virgil pulled a tightly rolled spell scroll from his waist and threw it.
It flew precisely toward the Player’s head.
“Keck!”
Hit, she collapsed again.
Virgil clicked his tongue briefly and turned around.
Now it was time to retrieve the gifts he had left behind.
He plunged back into the horde of ghouls.