Hearing the explanation of the strange being, Joel suddenly dropped her defensive stance and thought about the whole thing. Sen couldn't tell since he had his back against hers, but he did start to wonder what was going on when, after she looked over the whole room with her trembling eyes, she decided to move back to her desk.
"This...This could be good..." She said, her face as impassive as it could possibly be while staring in front of her, her head resting on her right hand. Seneos knew her enough to tell that she was currently having hundreds of different ideas circling inside her head. She was always like that. No matter the situation, if she had something important to think about, she would make sure to put as much thought into it as possible. She was someone who acted, contrarily to Seneos who always only reacted to situations. He couldn't predict things because he never made any plans. He was lucky to have her.
"I-I mean yeah, but still! This weird-ass voice came out of nowhere, plus...I am just a random guy. How the hell am I going to manage a dungeon? Also, what am I even going to do with it? I get that I can upgrade it and all that, but for what purpose ?" Seneos asked the being. He froze slightly as he heard it try out different voices.
'Wait...Was it merely searching for a voice during the past few minutes ?!... We just fucking panicked for no reasons!' He thought. He felt something circle around him before he heard it speaking again. It seemed to have settled on a fairly neutral female voice to speak to them.
"I am sorry that I have to say this, my data does explain in great lengths how obsessed you humans are with freedom...However, you do not have a say in this. You will be the Overlord, you have no other choice. If you do not accept this, you will simply be killed. There is a reason as to why someone as weak as you were chosen, it was to make sure you would be easy to terminate if you refused your position. Once you have grown strong enough you will be smitten with your dungeon and the opportunities it gives you anyway. At least that is what my data and my own ideas on the topic tell me. Ah..It really is strange, how I can have such a free train of thoughts, I can definitely see the appeal of that free will thing." The being whispered to Sen as Jeol kept to herself while babbling her ideas out.
He looked in the direction of its voice in shock, a droplet of sweat running down his left cheek.
"So I am dead if I don't accept...Alright, then my decision is taken already....What is my goal as a....Hmm... Ah yes, an Overlord ?" Sen asked, stumbling around with his words. He wasn't great at dealing with stress.
The being then started to hum to itself, as though it was actually searching for the answer. This wouldn't have been weird had this thing been an actual human. But at this exact moment and in this situation, it was like an advanced AI struggling to give an answer it already had in its data bank.
"Well, it depends. You are still free enough to decide a lot of things. Since my data is limited, the only answer I have is...Get strong. That's all. I am sure there is more to it, but I cannot give you a full answer until I find a way to complete my information. As an Overlord, you are supposed to constantly upgrade, recruit and lure hunters in to have them die or simply get defeated to steal their equipment." The being explained, forcing Seneos to blink several times until he registered its words.
"Wait a damn second. You want me to lure in hunters, humans like me, to kill them? What am I, some sort of serial killer ?!" Seneos exclaimed. He had been so loud, Jeol had been taken out of her thoughts and frowned at him.
"Sen, I followed what you two discussed, at least a little, and you are not in a good position to say this. Remember your little problems up there ?" Jeol said, tapping her head lightly so Sen would get her point. His cheeks heated up as he lowered his head.
Before he could retort, a knock came on the door. Jeol and Sen froze like deers in the headlights. Jeol was the first to react.
"U-Uhm, yes ?! What is it ?" She asked loudly. Her response came in the form of a little redhead lady slightly opening the door and peeking through it.
"We have a little problem, Jeol. Oh I mean, Miss Jeol. Congrats on your promotion, but we really need you right now. We got a hunter who ain't really happy with how forceful we were to make him go up in the rankings." She explained, getting a nod from Jeol.
The door closed and Jeol bit her lips.
"I....Take care of your business and then message me Sen. I need to know as much as possible. Tell me what you want to do and I'll make plans according to your wishes. Also...Try not to get attacked by thirty meters tall monsters, please. I really don't want to have to worry about you all the time. Having my heart pounding in my ears isn't a pleasant experience." His best friend said as she moved towards the door. She opened it, shot him the last look, and then left.
" Looks like your friend worries a whole lot about you, Overlord. My data indicates that she is someone worth keeping with you. The Overlord does not rule alone, he needs allies. Only once you reach the very summit, will you no longer require any assistance. However, even the limited data I have makes me think that you won't reach this summit before a veryyyyy long time. Anyway, we need to get to your dungeon as quickly as possible. " The being voiced its thoughts.
Sen asked the being why it was pressed for time, but it wouldn't answer. It just told him to not take his time. Sen ended up sighing and decided to leave the building.
His mood only worsened once he arrived at the entrance of the building and saw the heavy rain outside. He wanted to ask around if anyone had an umbrella for him, however, all the employees were taking care of the hunter currently throwing a hissy fit.
'Well...I never really disliked the rain anyway, and I am not wearing clothes with really light colors. It should be okay. ' Sen thought.
He left the building and quickly made his way towards his apartment. To make sure his life as a hunter wouldn't be difficult, he made sure to live really close to the KHG. The prices were really high but he had sold the mansion of his parents to pay the rent for the apartment, given that at the time he thought they were dead and had no hope for them.
He regretted that decision some days, but it wasn't like he could change it. If there was one decision that he didn't regret, it was entering that dungeon. While he walked towards his apartment, he thought about the immense opportunity that he had been given.
The voice had continued to explain how he would benefit from his new occupation and he couldn't help but allow a little hope to enter his heart. It was funny how he said many times that he had no future, and yet was presented with this golden goose that was his own dungeon. But there was one thing that bugged him off.
"Hey voice, do you happen to know what my path is? Because no one was ever able to tell me about it, and it doesn't give me any....Wait...Don't tell me my path is literally 'Dungeon Overlord' and I was meant to be in charge of a dungeon all my life? It would make sense since I never could do anything special with my path." Seneos spoke to the being while trying to keep his voice low. He didn't want to attract any attention, yet he did nonetheless.
Many people looked at him as he navigated his way through the busy streets of Seoul. There was one person, however, who seemed much more interested. To the point where she, for the figure was a fairly small woman around Sen's age, started to follow him.
He didn't pay any attention to her though.
"No, Overlord. Your path is not something that I can have access to, however, I know it isn't Dungeon Overlord. This is a title, a job, not a path. Once again it is really annoying to have half the information. I know about those things called Paths but they have different names in my data bank and the information I have on them is so limited. This is infuriating." Sen could feel the anger in the being's voice. He tried to ignore how little sense it made for it to have feelings and just satisfied himself with that answer.
Perhaps he would get the actual answer once it completed its data bank. At least he hoped. Perhaps his path was something amazing that required very specific things to be activated. A man could always dream, right?
He arrived at the bottom of his apartment building and felt something tug at his sleeve. He looked back and had to look down to face a small woman with a huge smile on her face.
' Huh? She dresses like she is my age, but she looks like a teenager. Who the hell is that ?!' Sen asked himself. He had a bad memory due to all the alcohol he drank on a regular basis, so he tried really hard to find out who that girl was before he could make a fool out of himself.
It then clicked in his mind. He patted her head and smiled sweetly at her.
"I didn't recognize you there, you must be the landlady's daughter, right? She told me you liked to act all mature and stuff. I am really sorry, but I have something to do right now. I'll be at my apartment tonight though, whatever your mother wanted to tell me, she can do so later. Don't worry about that, I am sure it's just about rent like usual. Oh, and quickly go home, you are going to catch a cold like that" Sen said before patting her head once more and leaving. He didn't even let her actually speak and, while that may have been rude, the small woman gritted her teeth for another reason.
"Sen, after eight years have passed, I am here again because of my neverending worry about you. And we meet again under the cold tears of the gods....But you still see me as a kid..."
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