Awkward silence, good to see you back.
I couldn't help but think as another awkward silence settled between us.
I had no idea how to start the conversation again.
We had both eaten our meals in silence and now that the meal was gone, we couldn't really just sit and dilly-dally.
One of us needs to speak.
Fine, I will be the shameless guy like always.
"Now that we are done with your sob story, can we talk about the main stuff?" I posed the question and was met with a glare. After a few seconds, Lucy let out a sigh, relaxing her expression, she spoke up.
"Yes, let's get back on topic. I am done with my sob story"
There was sharpness at the end of her words but I decided to ignore it for the sake of my well-being.
"Great. So again, details?"
I asked the same question once more that I had earlier.
"You know about the hidden dungeons, right?" She inquired and I replied
"I do"
"That's great. There have been 17 hidden dungeons recorded that have been attempted, out of them only 10 are recorded as successful, and the remaining 7 were recorded as a failure, and as a result of that failure, hundreds of millions of people have died."
I nodded, I knew that much already.
"Out of seven hidden dungeons that have been recorded as failures, Noah attempted 4 of them. Do you understand what that means"
At those words, I closed my eyes.
I figured Noah had attempted the ones recorded as a failure after all I had heard from her but still...
He did 4 of them?
The last recorded failure of Hidden Dungeon was 5 years ago.
In other words, Noah was just a kid when he attempted these hidden dungeons and not to say, he was weak.
"I understand. Noah cleared the hidden dungeon but made it look to the world as if they were a failure all the while managing to hide himself" I spoke, letting her know that I understood what she was implying.
But her next words were not quite what I had expected.
"Wrong."
I give up man. Everything I come up with about Noah turns out to be wrong.
I swear, if I ever met Noah, I am beating the shit outta him.
I urged Lucy to continue.
"Those hidden dungeons were a failure. Noah didn't clear them. Do you get what I mean now?" Lucy looked straight at me and I shook my head as I spoke up.
"He didn't clear them but he still came back alive... he found another way to come back and it also means it's not guaranteed that you will die upon failure of the hidden dungeon" That was the only logical answer that made sense.
"What do you think? Did Noah realize that he can't clear the hidden dungeon and that's why he didn't or ...he intentionally didn't?" Lucy posed another question.
"It's clear that he intentionally didn't. Why? I don't know. Can you fucking stop throwing questions at me every time? Like what are you trying to do? Prepare me for a quiz?"
At that, I swear that her eyes had turned icy cold even if it was just for a moment. She just thought about killing me, didn't she?
"I think I understand why Julianna doesn't like you...." she muttered with a scowl on her face as she continued "It's both, he lacked the strength to clear it that's why even if he wanted he alone couldn't have done it but that wasn't his goal rather he brought things from the hidden dungeon. Also, if he had cleared the hidden dungeon, the portal would have ended up closing itself. That wasn't what he wanted.
His plan was to create a dissonance using energies around the portal and causing it to explode. It wasn't because those who entered the hidden dungeon failed to clear it that people outside died, it was because of the explosion, because Noah did it."
Oh great, my guy is a mass murderer.
Seriously, how could a kid kill that many people without batting an eye? Man, Noah's one hell of a creepy kid.
"Before going further let me tell you a bit about energies, there's mana, aura, and demonic energy that everyone knows about but ...according to Noah, there's more–"
"I know about all that, we can skip that part" I cut her off and posed a question "He entered 4 of them and 7 were recorded fail–"
Before I could finish she cut me off and began to explain as if she understood what I wanted to say.
"He caused the dissonance with all the 7 hidden dungeon portals. He only went in 4 hidden dungeons and they were failures but the other three? I can't say if the people who went inside those cleared it or not, and no one could ever find out since Noah already destroyed the portal."
Ah, great.
So, now you are telling me that even if I clear those hidden dungeon there's still a chance I could get trapped in it if the portal is destroyed.
Way to add troubles for me, world.
The only good thing is there's no one in this world who knows about energies so they can't create a dissonance and the guy who knew that is Noah, isn't here anyway.
"Do you know how Noah managed to come back? Like what's the way he found out?"
"I don't. He only ever shared a short summary of the events and things he knew. He never went into detail and I never asked him about the specifics, I was just happy to talk to him"
....with the guy who was conducting experiments on you.
That was what I wanted to say but I didn't.
She had already had her crying session earlier, I didn't wanna see another one.
"So, what was the reason behind his actions? Anything you got?" I was curious to know if this guy just wanted to see blood or something that he went ahead with his mass-murder plan.
"The reason he did it is related to the Demon Lord. Noah said he wasn't ready to face him, and since he wasn't, he needed to stall for time. I don't know exactly but Noah's aim was decreasing the population which hinders with Demon Lord's objective, which adds to the information you told me about. You said this world will meet its end according to the novel, right?"
No, what?
Wait.
The demon lord is the first boss, yes, but that's not why the world ended but wait that's not important.
Noah knew?
Now, it made sense why he became a mass murderer. Gotta give it to him, the idea ain't bad.
The Demon Lord needed around a billion or so souls in order to get what he wanted but if someone else killed the people he wouldn't be able to reap the souls for himself.
But there's something that didn't make sense.
I remember what that midget, Eliza, told me.
"If someone notices shit about the Demon Lord then–"
"Then it will cause the Demon Lord to know that someone has realized it." Lucy cut me off and continued "Noah said there's a sort of alarm that will activate if someone finds out about Demon Lord's plans."
Well, the problem is Noah noticed, so how the fuck did Demon Lord's level cap start because of me.
"Hey, how do you think someone knows that you know something? It's when they speak. Noah never said anything or wrote about it directly, it was always a roundabout way"
Oh...
"If just knowing would have alerted Demon Lord then you just being in this world would have caused it to happen since you are a novel reader and you must know all about it" Lucy shrugged.
Nuh, uh.
Lucy if I have learned something since coming to this world then it's that you don't make assumptions.
"It wasn't in the novel," I said.
This time it was Lucy who looked at me in confusion as she frowned and posed the question.
"What?"
"It wasn't in the novel" I repeated my words and Lucy stared at me for a few seconds before she spoke again
"If it wasn't in the novel then how did you... " Her voice trailed off as she seemed to realize something more "No—wait, you didn't alert the demon lord, did you" Her face looked desperate as if it wanted me to say no but alas, the world ain't so kind is it.
"Demon lord knows that someone knows the shit he is on about... that alarm which you refer to it as that's actually nothing but his level cap which has been activated" I trailed off as I averted my eyes and looked at the ceiling, hey, the ceiling design looks good.
"Level cap...?"
"The alarm you keep talking about isn't like an actual alarm, it's more like if someone were to notice it and learn about all the shit the demon lord has been pulling then as a penalty he will end up with a level cap. Unable to grow any stronger, not like he is some weakling right now, anyway, that's the thing" I continued looking ceiling, damn, the designer did one hell of a job.
"Haha. I see..."Lucy let out quite a hollow laugh as she continued to inquire against me "But you said it wasn't in the novel so how do you know it?"
"Ienteredthehiddendungeon" I spoke in a low whisper with a speed that quite surprised me, the design, the damn design is distracting me.
"What?"
"Ieneteredthehidendungeon"
"Look at my face and say it properly!" Her voice was stern and loud as if a parent demanding the truth from their child, leaving no room for argument.
Thud!
Okay, okay, no need to bang the poor table.
"I entered the hidden dungeon"
At those words, Lucy froze. It took her a few moments to speak again, and when she did, her voice was shaky, almost unable to get the words out.
"W-what did you say?"
"I entered the hidden dungeon" I spoke once more
"You, you are telling me every little thing that you have done since you came to this world, everything."
I was tryna do that exact shit when we met outside but someone wasn't listening.
I didn't say anything but simply nodded. I still didn't wish to die.
.
.
.
.
"Oh god.." Lucy clutched her head, ruffling her hair and making a mess of them.
I, on the other hand, looked at the ceiling. I need to know the name of the designer, I gotta tell him how grateful I am to him for coming up with such a good design.
"That's what Demon Lord has planned? All because he lost his lover?"
"That is what you are surprised with? I cleared three hidden dungeons within a week with a weak ass body that was just G+ ranked. I think I deserve some thought"
I am not the type to brag but hey straight-up ignoring my crazy stunt is just not right.
"Some thought? Some thought?" Her whisper had a sharpness that I didn't quite expect, her eyes narrowed looking at me, glaring at me as she continued "I get that you needed to find the cure and entered the hidden dungeon but you went in there again? What you did was risky even if you knew what to expect inside of it. You could have died. It was nothing short of a risky gamble"
Oh, worried about me? Kinda touching.
"Noah could have died. You are inhabiting his body and that means you also have the responsibility to take of it. There's no knowing what would happen if his body dies." Her voice was stern.
Oh, she is worried about Noah. I take back what I said.
Not touching at all.
"...And what's this about gaining control over the system? You shouldn't have been able to gain control over it. No one should be able to. The last condition for doing it requires one to not feel any emotion"
That is quite a radical statement, so I decided to intervene.
"It's to not feel any ill-intention towards it, that's what that midget, Lea, told me."
"You realize that Lea tested you and you clearly failed, she knows you are not Noah. You have already given yourself away."
Man, is there no winning this argument?
Oh wait, I got one.
"Still, you can't seriously call me someone who feels nothing. I am human, you know? That means your Noah was wrong about needing no emotions to gain control. And the ill-intention part Lea mentioned? That's not it either. So, it's got to be something in between those two or maybe something else entirely."
Lucy's eyes locked onto mine, her expression blank. After what felt like a little eye contact competition, she finally looked away, exhaling a deep sigh.
"...Yeah, right." She said, rubbing her temples.
Great job me.
"The academy must have checked your stats, you went from G+ to E+ within a month. You might be able to deceive whoever you want with the help of your system but that will just bring even more attention to you. For someone who is G+ ranked to hold the strength that you do is simply crazy, they will without a doubt trace everything that you did within the last month. They will realize that you went into the hidden dungeon, how are you planning to deal with that" She had a frown on her face as she posed the question
I mean...
that's what you are here for.
"It's not even been 24 hrs since they learned that I hold more strength than a normal G+ ranker, I didn't leave any traces that could be traced back to me, not within 24 hrs at the very least. In other words, I am still in the safe zone. For how long? I can't guarantee. So, you need to start working already"
"That's what you plan? What if I refuse?"
"Um... well, it's not like there's any proof of me going to a hidden dungeon or anything. As I dived deep inside the pond, I could just say I was practicing there or something you know? No one knew there was a hidden dungeon there, so it's not like there's any evidence to begin with, as long as I deny it, there's nothing they could do. All they can do is make assumptions."
"..."
Lucy rolled her eyes at my answer and after a moment of pause with an exhale she spoke up.
"I will erase any recordings of yours"
"You ready to help me?"
Didn't expect it.
"Not you, the body that you are in, that's what I am protecting."
...Okay.
"But that's not all I want," I said at which Lucy gave me a strange look, urging me to continue. "I want you to hack into the room of my AI and the bracelet ...everything that the academy provides its students with to monitor them"
"Like the virtual device that you brought here?" She asked, I had already told her about the stuff I got from the hidden dungeon and the stuff that I stole when I was in the hidden dungeon.
I nodded.
"...I want that myst book you have"
I was quite taken aback by what she just said.
Met with my silence, she continued
"Just for two days, two days would be enough"
Is she saying she could learn the whole thing in a week? I mean, I myself got it no longer than a week and I have just been playing around but still...
Is she tryna call me dumb or what?
"Fine" I replied and she nodded.
We have a deal now.
"Getting back on topic, what's your plan for the Demon Lord? He is definitely going to be more proactive with his actions. You know the plot of the novel, is there anything that you could use to halt the Demon Lord." She was undoubtedly looking at me with some sort of expectation.
Looks like clearing the hidden dungeon does give me some sort of credibility in her eyes.
The problem was
"I will deal with it, one way or another."
...I had the same idea as Noah. Reduce the population, which would force the Demon Lord to stop his idea of wiping out anyone with the potential for exceptional growth. Instead, he'd be focused entirely on finding me. That way, I could divert his attention away from the main cast and stop the chaos that he would try to stir in the world, instead, he would even join hands with the higher authorities of all other continents to find and kill me.
I can't tell Lucy this was my plan.
I haven't told Lucy about how I actually cleared the hidden dungeon either.
I knew better than anyone what I had done, and I was in that sense no different than Noah, we are both pieces of shit, and considering that I am in the body of Noah I was sure that telling her what I had done in the hidden dungeon or what I planned for Demon lord, it would make it harder for Lucy to interact with me.
"Anyways, let's put all this crap aside we have been talking about. Worrying about the plot is my job and yours is to live your student life. I just want you to take care of academy surveillance for me. What I want to know is what you meant by unresponsive system?" I asked, we have strayed way too much from our initial topic.
Giving me a serious look and a nod, Lucy continued.
"I want you to know that what I am about to say from now on is just my hypothesis." I gave her a nod and she continued "One day, my system just turned glitchy and a few hours later Noah came to me, battered, he was bleeding a lot and I ran to me and tried to ask him about what happened but he just asked me a question..."
"About your system"
"Hmm" Lucy nodded "I told him about how it turned glitchy but he just smiled and before collapsing he muttered They won't be able to watch you. I didn't understand what he meant by that until today." Her eyes met mine "I think back then he was referring to the fairies who you so brazenly call midgets."
What's wrong with calling a midget a midget? Besides, they were never fairies, you guys have just termed them as such.
Ignoring my inner retort, Lucy continued.
"Later whenever I tried asking him about it he just diverted the topic and I also stopped asking at one point."
...
She turned silent, her story finished.
I had nothing to reply with as I was trying to process it all, so silence ensured between us.
"Which hidden dungeon number was Noah on when it happened...?"
"That was his second time in the hidden dungeon"
Uh... huh.
I closed my eyes as I tried to think of what could have happened. This time I had information about Noah unlike back then, I could narrow down the ways of his thoughts to a certain extent.
How did the situations play themself out, how could they have been played out?
After a very long pause, I finally spoke up.
"So, we gonna do what we were doing and confirm it or what?" I asked and Lucy looked a bit taken aback as if she didn't expect such a reply.
"...No, I mean yes, we need to confirm but that's not what I expected you to say. Don't you have anything to say about what I just told you?"
"Nah, it's gonna be morning soon, actually, it is fucking morning already. I ain't stretching this conversation anymore and honestly, the main point of the whole thing is that we don't need to worry about the system, so let's just do it. Why the fuck would I give a damn why your system isn't working or whatever the fuck Noah pulled off. I was just curious since your words without context didn't make any sense and all"
Lucy's expression was quite flabbergasted and I pulled a knife which Lucy slowly reacted to and stretched her hand out.
Heaving out a sigh, I tried to stab her palm, and upon coming in contact with her palm, the knife broke into pieces and the impact made my bones shake.
"Oh god..." Lucy whispered.
And I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
Oh fuck, no, it is the same as it was in my world where I couldn't harm my big sis.
It confirmed that there is a connection between us.