Deather looked at Raydel who was copying the names of the hunters into his list of gold recipients one by one before he started explaining.
"Let me talk about my business first. S-rank dungeons are extremely dangerous. The government's main job is to search for them. You might already know that we use hunters that have the witch's power to 'predict' using the principles of astrology and calculating with the day the country was founded. That way, we always know where and when an S-rank dungeon could appear. For example…." Deather raised his forefinger. "We predicted that on September the 25th of this year, there might be an S-rank babel tower appearing in the capital city, Elysium, at noon precisely."
He raised another finger.
"We also predicted that on February the 8th of next year, there might be an S-rank babel tower appearing in Spinter city at 9pm. And if we're unlucky and some planets orbited toward each other or whatever, we'll have another S-rank dungeon in the next city in the afternoon."
Deather closed his fist.
"When S-rank dungeons in the form of thirty-storey babel towers appeared, we absolutely can't let it stay undefeated for longer than twenty-four hours. S-rank dungeons are a threat on the same level as bombing monumental places or even as dropping a nuclear bomb on a town. So, the thirty-storey babel tower that appeared at Helen Hospital was an abnormal incident because of two reasons. First, the government couldn't detect it. Second, it appeared so suddenly and was destroyed so easily."
"..."
"That's why I want you to tell me what happened."
"The government should have sent someone to ask me the moment I got out of the tower. Why did you wait till now?"
"We wanted to, but you got out of the hospital early and then got stuck in another dungeon." Deather shrugged. "How did you destroy the tower?"
"I didn't do anything except following its conditions." Raydel said. "It told me to wake the boss and survive in a limited time frame. I did it, so the tower was destroyed."
"You know what? That's even more unusual," Deather murmured and clasped his hands together. Raydel smelled his perfume once again. "To destroy S-rank dungeons, the only condition we have ever experienced is 'killing the boss.' It's just like in a game. If you kill the boss, you pass the level. It's always been like that. But why did you need to only survive and not kill the boss when it came to the dungeon that managed to escape the government's watch?"
He lowered his voice.
"Your legendary artifact… is it the boss from that dungeon?"
Raydel stayed silent.
"You don't have to tell me. The answer is already clear why the dungeon can be cleared without having to kill the boss," Deather said. "However, the appearance of the dungeon is a concern for the government. Do you know what they're worried about?"
"What is it?"
"They're worried that it may be the 'bad omen.'"
Deather smiled.
"This country's future depends on the ability to predict when a thirty-storey babel tower will appear. It's the only way this country could survive. In a world where we have no dungeons and towers, the prediction must have been just a silly thing or a useless town's horoscope. But for this world, it's science. And it has always been accurate, so it's not surprising a lot of people thought it to be a bad omen."
"Are you afraid that S-rank dungeons like this will appear again?"
"Out of nowhere, an S-rank dungeon appeared and the government couldn't detect it. Of course, we're worried," Deather said. "It'll be even worse if there are several undetected dungeons left." He rested his chin on his hands and crossed his legs. He looked just like a beautiful woman in that split second. "Even though dungeons and towers a part of the world for decades and people are used to them, we still think they're a sign of the apocalypse. If we fail to clear just one dungeon, it'll be just like a natural disaster. Something like an earthquake or a tsunami. We won't even be aware of it until we suddenly lose a huge number of our citizens in these disasters."
"I think… it may never happen again."
Because when Raydel read the novel 'Ways to Become the No.1 Hunter,' Asphodel could always clear dungeons and towers. The main plot of the novel revolved around hunters trying to climb to higher ranks, so disasters from dungeons or towers that resulted in a huge loss for the country had never happened.
Most importantly, if something that dangerous happened, how would he live a peaceful life as a side character?
But Raydel could see why the government was concerned.
"You don't know the future," Deather whispered. "Science may be able to predict some part of it, but humans can never know the entire future. Wars, diseases, conflicts… we never know."
Raydel sighed.
"I don't think you come to see me just to learn what happened."
The other person leaned toward him. "I was specifically asked by the government to talk to you. We want your help. You're now the owner of the legendary artifact where the boss from a S-rank dungeon is alive. The government wants you to talk to it."
"Talk?"
"Why did it appear? What's its objective? Are there any S-rank dungeons left that we haven't found out yet?"
"..."
Talk to Cthulhu?
Raydel thought back to that time and believed that Cthulhu might be staying with him because of what he told it.
'Now that you're awake, you wanted to learn more about the outside world since you've been sleeping for so long. If that's the case, I can be your tour guide.'
Right, the part where he offered to be its guide…
It could be said that Cthulhu stayed with him because it wanted to visit the human world…
"What if I tell you that it just wants to visit the human world and that's why it's staying with me?" Raydel asked.
"That can't be all," Deather answered immediately.
I knew it…
"I don't know how to talk to it."
"Take your time. You'll eventually get the hang of it."
"..."
"Just ask it the questions I told you when you have the chance to talk to it," Deather said. "Now, back to what we were discussing. You said you'll give me the name of the boss from the A-rank dungeon."
He was talking about the old lady that Raydel met on the train.
He remembered what happened in the novel. The protagonist in that chapter went into an A-rank dungeon to compete against a guild. The dungeon had a boss that loved living with humans because the dungeon had been mutating for so long that the boss could blend in with people. The main point of the chapter was that Han would become stronger when he got a legendary artifact from that boss.
It was quite a strong boss.
"Nyarlathotep," Raydel said, "is its name."
The strange thing was why it appeared so early in the story and in such an insignificant situation. The mismatch between the number of casualties in the dungeon and Nyarlathotep's prediction worried Raydel. Would there be any problems afterward?
None of this happened in the novel, so Raydel had no way of knowing what would happen next.
All he knew was that the fights between Han and the high-ranking hunters would happen. Then, he would become extremely famous from all the dungeons he cleared and the high ranks he defeated. More people would hear about him, and they would challenge him to duels. Han won against almost everyone except Deather. After losing, the story would progress into the training arc. Han would become stronger and come back to fight Deather again. That was the whole story.
The novel told the story of Han gradually becoming the strongest hunter in Asphodel. But what Raydel had been experiencing never existed in the story.
"Nyarlathotep," Deather repeated. "I'll remember it… this boss always disguises as a human?"
In the novel, Nyarlathotep was described as the boss who disguised as a human the most. Raydel was not sure if the other bosses had human forms as well.
"Interesting," Deather said to himself.
Silence prevailed.
The atmosphere felt intoxicated because every time Raydel glanced at Deather, he always accidentally tightened his lips thinking that he was a woman. A man like him never quite knew how he should act around beautiful women. He told himself for the million times that Deather was a man and was even taller than Raydel. He needed to stop feeling nervous around him now!
"I don't think you come to see me just to learn what happened," Raydel repeated the same sentence. Deather raised his eyebrows.
"You think I came here for other reasons? Not for the government?"
"Yes."
"What is it then?"
"You must be the one who tells me."
But Raydel said it out loud eventually.
"You want to know about Han."
Deather smiled softly, but his eyes did not.
"Your friend? He doesn't even have a rank."
"He's my old friend. We're not friends anymore. Not close or anything," Raydel said. "I don't have any information about him for you. As for his phone number, you probably can easily get it from somewhere else."
"You know nothing about him? Like his abilities or his guild?"
"I know nothing about Han. Just like I said, we're not friends anymore."
"Why? Had a fight?"
Raydel stayed silent.
"He just hates me."
Deather listened without saying anything. He stood up at the same moment someone walked into the room.
"He's from the government," Deather said. "They just want to see if they can extract the boss out of the legendary artifact."
Raydel unknowingly clenched his fist around the coin, not wanting to lose it. "Why didn't you tell me first?"
"Why? You're afraid that the boss will be scared? There are ten A-rank hunters waiting outside. If anything happens, we can handle it just fine. This is just a simple experiment. The boss probably won't feel anything."
Raydel did not trust the villain at all, but the government official touched his wrist before he could do anything. A surge of power lashed him like a small whip. Raydel flinched back. The official jerked back from him as well.
He said to Deather, "the boss won't let me do anything."
Deather nodded and said jokingly, "it must really want to travel."
Raydel hurriedly hid the coin. Then, he realized he forgot to ask about one thing that he really wanted to know when they examined his physical condition.
"I'm wondering if I could delete the Hunter Attraction skill."
"It's a shame that we can't do that. But it sounds like an interesting skill. Does it make you attractive?" Deather asked. "But my heart doesn't beat any faster when I see your face, so it can't be the skill that makes you attractive."
Raydel felt like he was being insulted somehow. "You really can't delete it?"
"No, but it's a nice skill to have. It might be useful in the future."
In what way can it be useful?
"See you," Deather bade farewell before walking out of the room with the government official.
When he was finally alone in the room, Raydel slowly relaxed his shoulders that had been tense for several minutes. He lay down before holding the shining coin up to take a look at it.
How can I talk to Cthulhu then?
A few hours later, someone came to visit Raydel.
"Shane and… Minnie?"
"How are you?"
Shane, who looked healthy like he hadn't just survived a dungeon, greeted him. Minnie, who was in a dress, walked toward him and handed a fruit basket to him. She whispered, "my mother wants to thank you for saving me." She acted as if she wanted to say more but didn't say anything.
Shane and Minnie weren't severely injured, so they didn't have to stay at the hospital. They asked about Raydel's condition for a while before Shane suggested that Raydel should go visit Sheryl who was in the floor below.
When they arrived at Sheryl's room, she seemed surprised to have visitors. She was peeling apples on the bed while watching the television.
"There was a gathering of people who believe in dungeons and towers at noon yesterday. They are the apocalypse cult…"
Sheryl turned off the television. Her face looked healthy with a red blush. She handed the apples to the visitors. When Raydel took it, she looked at his bandaged middle finger but did not say anything.
"Thank you for coming. I'll probably get to go home next week," Sheryl said. "What about you?"
"Probably tomorrow," Raydel answered.
Since they met in a dungeon, they were not close enough to talk about other things. They mostly talked about health and basic information like occupation. Shane was a master student. Sheryl was an office worker who had just quitted her job. Minnie was a junior high schooler. They all met because they rode the same train to take care of some personal business and were interrupted by a mutated dungeon.
When they had nothing left to talk about, they circled back to Raydel.
Shane said, "you're so lucky that you got that one hundred thousand del. That's my entire semester fee."
"I don't have much use for the money. My family's quite well off," Minnie said.
Sheryl did not say anything.
Raydel said, "I have the names of all the hunters that were in the dungeon. I'll share the money with everyone."
When he was done talking, no one said a thing.
"Share the money? But the government prohibits that, right?" Shane said.
"Yes, that's why I'll buy things that can be sold easily to everyone instead."
Shane looked at Raydel in disbelief. "Right, we can do that I guess?" He nodded with himself, not thinking much about Raydel wanting to share the money with all the hunters because it also benefited him as well.
However, Sheryl was staring at Raydel.
When evening came, Shane and Minnie said that they would go home now. They all said goodbye. Raydel, who was about to leave as well, stopped midway when he heard Sheryl calling out his name.
"You're going to give the money to those hunters?"
Raydel turned to look at her, confused.
"Yes."
The woman did not say anything for a moment before speaking.
"I remembered you were trampled when you tried to protect me. Did you like it?"
"Yes?"
"You like being trampled?"
"No, I don't."
"Then why are you being generous to them?" Sheryl asked angrily. "Do you know what I was thinking when I got stabbed?"
"What were you thinking then?"
"I want to kill them… all."
Silence.
"Why?" Raydel whispered.
The last sunlight slowly crosses over Sheryl's body lying on the bed. Outside the window behind her, trees were swaying in the same wind that fluttered her hair. The lightbulb on the ceiling switched on automatically as the room dimmed down, but the shadows still lurked in the corners.
"Imagine," Sheryl started, "that your parents, your sister, or your friends were in the volunteer group and they were killed by the hunters that wanted the prize. Will you still be so kind as to give them the money?"
"..."
"If that's too hard, imagine you won the lottery and wanted to distribute the money to everyone. Then what? They will remember that they can exploit you. They will come back again with so many excuses to take advantage of you. You'll lose everything eventually."
"You're saying that I shouldn't be kind?"
"I hope you don't get it mixed up with going back to help Minnie. I admired you and thanked you for it because if I were you, I'd do the same. Minnie probably never expected to be in that situation in a dungeon. But it's not the same as when the government told us to fight for the prize. Do you understand that those people chose to fight all by themselves?"
She stopped for a second and continued.
"Everyone expected to kill or be killed for the prize. For survival."
"..."
"I do appreciate that you saved me. I owe you. But once I pay all of it back, if we meet again in dungeons and have to fight for a legendary artifact, I won't hesitate to hurt you, or Shane, or Minnie."
She would never do something so stupid like volunteering to be the team leader.
Sheryl clenched her fists, nails stabbing into her palms till it hurt. Her eyes almost teared up when she played the scene in the dungeon again in her head.
Not anymore. If being a leader meant having to watch other people die from her decisions, she no longer wanted to be the leader.
Why would someone do something like that to themselves? Being a leader of a large group of people? That was not her thing at all. She had always wanted to avoid socializing with people and never wanted to be a part of anything. But everyone kept pulling her in and forced these responsibilities on her. And when she performed poorly, they cursed at her and punished her even when it wasn't her choice.
Never again. From now on, she would focus only on herself. Whoever died, died. She would care for no one and nothing.
She did not want to take responsibility anymore.
Raydel took a deep breath, trying to find even a glimpse of anything in Sheryl's eyes hinting that she was joking but failed.
"Don't you find it weird that you and the others are willing to kill each other for the prize of one hundred thousand del?" Raydel asked.
"Why is it weird? That money and the legendary artifact are worth more than you think," She replied. "In a world with no towers and dungeons, I may be a normal office worker that works her life away. I'll probably save some money to invest in something and travel abroad and retire when I'm old. I don't think I'll ever think of hurting someone. Unfortunately, I wasn't born into a world like that. In this world, if we can't get rid of a dungeon within the first twenty-four hours, our country may crumble down…. For me, it feels like an apocalypse could happen at any moment. I don't have the time to be worried about having to kill people to make myself stronger."
"..."
"Raydel, do you know that if tomorrow there's an S-rank tower that isn't destroyed within the first twenty-four hours, if that tower destroys several areas of Asphodel, if the apocalypse happens tomorrow, what will follow?
"..."
"Any rules you ever know will no longer exist. The jobs, work, and lives that you used to know will perish. The only thing left will be the danger from dungeons and towers and monsters and bosses with their ridiculous conditions to survive. Only prepared hunters can survive."
"I don't understand."
"What the government is doing right now is preparing for that world," Sheryl said. "They want us to kill each other so that only strong hunters survive."
Silence.
Then, Sheryl smiled.
"I want to live. Even if that means I have to step over everyone to become stronger, I'll do it."
Raydel's face seemed cold and distant.
"I want to live too, but not as a hunter."
"Right," the woman said, "but you'll have to continue doing it since you want to give away all that money you need if you want to live a peaceful life outside the hunter's world."
"..."'
The fact that Sheryl was talking about this seemed unusual. Was it because of the news that she was watching before they visited? But a person with leadership and confidence like her would never believe something immediately just because some news said so. It had to be a belief she always had, something that she clung onto. But it just happened to be expressed out loud after she was stabbed in the dungeon.
Raydel could not stop himself from thinking about it. Actually, he always saw the world through the lens of the main characters. For them, it probably did not matter much whether they could clear a dungeon. The main plot still revolved around Han trying to get higher ranks. But Raydel knew that Sheryl and he were just side characters of this world. They would never be as lucky as those main characters. The reality was just like what Sheryl said; an apocalypse could just happen at any moment.
And when that day arrived, his own kindness would be useless.
'Imagine that your parents, your sister, or your friends were in the volunteer group and they were killed by the hunters that wanted the prize. Will you still be so kind as to give them the money?'
Suddenly Raydel wondered why he wanted to help others this bad.
Was it because of his past life before he got transmigrated into the novel?
Or was it because of the words he had been listening to his entire life?
'Son, help me just a little. I have no money.'
'Stop wasting your time with those things. Come help your own father. Isn't that your duty?'
'Always be grateful for me and help me, son. I'm your mother…'
'Right, be a good boy and listen to me. A child needs to protect his mother with his life. Bear with it even if it hurts.'
That was his past crappy life.
He never had a chance to choose for himself. Every thought buried deep in his head came from the family that only wanted to take advantage of him. If he refused to help, they would curse at him till he hated himself. He grew up with an environment like that, and so it became his unreadable habit to help others. He had learned that he needed to help others if he did not want to get hurt.
However, …
"I believe you must have gone through something that completely changed your worldview. I won't judge you for it because we all went through different experiences. But I want to tell you that, even though you've made up your mind to do everything for yourself, I didn't," Raydel spoke slowly. "I used to have a miserable life, a life where I had no choices. And I asked myself the same question you asked me. Did I like being hurt? Was that why I kept helping others? If I could, I would run away. I didn't choose to be there."
"..."
"And now I finally got away from it. Now, I have choices. And because I have choices, I chose to keep being kind toward others."
"What's the difference then?"
"It's different. This time, I wasn't forced to be kind. You might see others hurting me. You might see others choosing to be in this loop by themselves. But that's all because of this country and its conditions that force everyone to be like that. I believe they all have the right to receive good rewards from risking their lives just like you and me. I don't have to be wicked just because this country tries to force me to be. Actually, we should do something about this system."
"Like…? Permanently destroying dungeons and towers? It's probably the only way to make the world normal again."
Raydel shrugged. "If we could, we should do it."
"It's impossible to destroying dungeons and towers."
"It seems impossible, but I won't give up that easily."
"But I did a long time ago." Sheryl narrowed her eyes. "You need to play by its rules if you want to survive."
And that was the difference between them.
Raydel stood still for several moments before continuing.
"Just know that I didn't regret volunteering to go into the dungeon instead of the elementary school kid I met on the train. I didn't regret going back to help Minnie. And I won't regret sharing the prize with other hunters even though they tried to kill me. If the world is so cruel that everyone is forced to be cruel also, I want to be one of the people that defy it."
"So you really believe your kindness can change the world?"
"I do."
"...Stupid kid," the woman mumbled.
Raydel stayed silent for several minutes after saying what was stuck in his head out loud. His face was so cold and emotionless that Sheryl started to worry. But before she said anything, Raydel looked up. Something in his eyes shifted. He no longer looked like a high school boy, and that made Sheryl freeze.
"You don't have to worry that I'll give away all the money and leave nothing for myself. And for what you said about owing me, I'd say you haven't paid back the favor yet. I still can't think of what I want you to do for me," Raydel said.
"..."
"And you deserve some of the prize because you helped me fight the Plague Doctor. Shane and Minnie as well."
Raydel walked out of the room once he finished speaking what he wanted.
Thud.
The door closed softly. Sheryl thought to herself in silence.
It feels like the boy changed…
Raydel was standing outside Sheryl's room. He sighed as he looked down at his phone. He opened the gold store app where he had created an order in advance. There were still many hours left before the prize was distributed to the hunters he listed.
He read through the order with an extremely long list of recipients before thinking about what Sheryl had said earlier.
About the moment that nobody helped him fight the boss. About the time that the hunters were hunting him in the dungeon.
About the crappy life in this country.
His finger hovered above a button on the phone screen.
Raydel made up his mind at that moment.
It did not matter who he was in his past life, or what he had been taught since he was a child. Right now, he was 'Raydel Klein,' a side character in the novel 'Ways to Become the No.1 Hunter.'
I just don't want to die like in the novel. I just want to live a peaceful life.
And the others must have wanted the same… if they could choose.
Ring.
Raydel turned off his phone. He did not cancel the order.
He let out a big sigh before calling Jinny who picked up the call right away.
"Brother! Are you in the hospital again?!"
Raydel smiled when he heard his sister's voice.
"Jinny, at which school do you want to learn ice skating? And ask dad and mom if they want to eat anything tomorrow."
Since this was the last night he would stay at the hospital, Raydel allowed himself to relax by watching television and playing games on his phone. The hospital was in the capital city, so his family could not come visit. But Raydel would be able to go home tomorrow, so they decided to wait for him there.
Raydel tossed and turned many times in bed before turning off the bedside lamp. He suddenly recalled Deather's words before he closed his eyes, so he held Cthulhu's coin in his hand. It glistened in the dark. Raydel blew on it and said,
"Cthulhu."
Nothing happened.
"Cthulhu."
Silence.
"Plague Doctor…!"
Suddenly a surge of power hit Raydel's hand. He jerked his hand back and patted it softly.
What is this?
He tried calling Cthulhu's name again, but there was no reaction. Raydel frowned. He could not think of any other ways he could try to communicate with the boss, so he decided to sleep.
When he finally fell asleep, he had a dream.
He was in a strange place, where there were white ruins under the sky that looked like the endless universe. The white of the ruins contrasted with the jet black of the universe, giving Raydel some weird sensations. It looked nothing like what he had ever seen.
Raydel was sitting on the ground. The sky above was reflected in the ankle-level water flooding the ground. After a while, he stood up in confusion.
In front of him were tentacles.
They were enormous and were slowly crawling over the ruins. Raydel knew what was happening the moment he saw it. He asked out loud instinctively.
"Are you staying with me because I told you I'll be your tour guide?"
The tentacles slithered toward him, their tips touching his feet. Then, they wrapped themselves around his legs. Raydel blinked and saw a blurry figure resembling a human standing before him.
A man that was taller than him.
"You can't remember?" he asked. "You promised."
Promised?
The person moved closer before raising his hands up. He was holding a mask that looked like a beak.
"Human, explain to me who this is."
Raydel's jaw dropped.
"What did you do to him?!"
…
The morning sunlight pierced through his eyelids.
Raydel lazily woke up from the weird dream. He blinked several times before looking at himself lying under the blanket. The feeling started to come back. He felt like he had been clenching a coin in his fist all night long. When he opened his hand, he saw red bruises in the shape of Cthulhu's coin.
Dream…
He dreamed of Cthulhu?
"..."
Raydel read the urgent mission in the skill page again.
Well, how could he stop two bosses from fighting each other?