262 – Dungeon and Nymph: The Journey of the Nymph #5
How did things end up like this?
Living with the nymphs, I had kept my distance from “past reflections,” but now I was holding my aching head, thinking.
I retraced my memories one by one.
“Surely… we arrived safely at the entrance of the Demon King’s castle…?”
The door at the entrance to the Demon King’s castle was exceedingly large and sturdy.
The five of us joined forces to push the door, and then we heard a voice claiming to be Barbatos, inviting us to a playground.
“After that… three paths appeared in front of us. They were marked with signs saying ‘Narrow Path,’ ‘Normal Path,’ and ‘Wide Path’…”
At a glance, the three paths gave off a sense of traps and suspicious vibes.
As we debated which path to take, the Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi suddenly dashed toward the ‘Narrow Path,’ and I followed after Kkungkkungi to catch him.
“And then, while I was following him… the path suddenly crumbled, and after saving Inoi and Kkungkkungi, I fell endlessly.”
I felt a great shock as I hit the ground and lost consciousness.
Right.
That was the extent of what I remembered.
So what exactly is this?
“It is a room that cannot be exited without capturing ‘─’.”
I found myself trapped in a strange kind of room.
Inside the room, there was just a bed, a cleaning supply-like locker, and the sign that said “It is a room that cannot be exited without capturing ‘─’” affixed to the wall.
There was also a door.
It was an extremely sturdy door, one that I could neither push, pull, nor break with my strength.
“I’m not a fool. ‘It is a room that cannot be exited without capturing ‘─’ must be the hint. It means I have to catch that something in order to leave this room.”
What do I need to catch?
At that moment, the locker rattled.
As I opened the door with some tension, someone popped out from inside.
It was Yu Ara, wearing a plague doctor’s mask.
“Are you okay?”
I asked.
Then, the plague doctor Ara touched her wrist with her finger and said.
“I think I’m fine. How about you? Sacrificing your own body to stop the others from falling is a reckless act. But I also fell while trying to save you, so it’s mutual.”
Swoosh-.
Ara placed her hand on my wrist.
Was she checking my pulse?
“No problem. I think there’s no problem, but to get caught in such a basic trap. This Demon King’s castle seems to be a crack within a crack. You could say it’s the Demon King’s unique realm.”
“Unique realm?”
“A unique realm is like a barrier created by someone with high magical power to manifest their own mental image… The moment we step into the Demon King’s castle, it’s as if we entered the opponent’s belly.”
Ara seemed to have more knowledge about the cracks than I expected.
It would be odd for her not to have knowledge, given that she was an operative…
As Ara mentioned, a unique realm was a space composed of strong magical power.
The “magic deployment” I used to handle animals, in a way, was one of the unique realms.
And within such unique realms, spellcasters wielded overwhelming advantages.
No.
Now that I think about it, it might be appropriate to say that not only the Demon King’s castle but this entire crack could be described as the unique realm of the Demon King Barbatos.
There were magical regulations like ‘status windows’ that could only be used here.
A demon dealing with such a massive unique realm…
Perhaps the Demon King Barbatos had reached the limits of S Rank…
Pop-.
At that moment, Ara stood up.
“Let’s aim to get out of here for now. Don’t worry, Il-do. I will find a way to safely get you out of here.”
“Safely get me out…”
I couldn’t help but smile lightly at the irony.
After all, I was always the one saying, “I’ll get you out safely.”
I never thought I’d hear such words from my junior, Ara.
“What’s funny? Did I just say something funny?”
“No, it’s just that you seem nice compared to when we first met. I thought you were nothing but a villain.”
“A villain… That’s a bit shocking…”
Ara fell silent.
Feeling the awkward atmosphere, I clapped my hands to draw attention.
“Well then, let’s escape this room first. The phrase ‘It is a room that cannot be exited without capturing ‘─’ seems to be a hint. What does it mean to capture? Are there any insects around?”
Ara was sharp.
Even if a bug smaller than a grain of rice was hiding, she would probably be able to detect its location.
Ara said.
“No. There are no bugs. It’s just the two of us in this room.”
Indeed.
There were only Ara and me in this room.
I checked under the bed and the locker where Ara had been trapped and said.
“I thought there might be some other hint, but there isn’t. In escape rooms, hints are often written on walls or corners like this.”
“Escape rooms… Is that the one that couples often go to on dates?”
Ara seemed to show interest.
As Ara mentioned, escape rooms had been used as date spots. The experience involved entering a closed room and opening the door through various hints.
The two of them would work through the challenges together.
“Do you think this situation is like… a date, Il-do?”
Did I say something unnecessary that might have upset Ara’s mood?
Thinking I should clarify, I racked my brain.
But Ara spoke first.
“Have you ever been to one, Il-do? An escape room?”
“No.”
I hadn’t had the time.
It would also have been awkward to go alone.
“Then it’s your first time with me. Actually, this is my first time too. Despite the situation, I’m a little nervous and excited.”
Though Ara’s voice was altered, she seemed to be in a better mood. Given that she must have been busy with work, she probably hadn’t had the chance to enjoy something peaceful like an escape room before. So, she might be feeling a bit of interest in this situation.
“There are no hints, and it’s just us two here… Could we perhaps be the hint? How about you catch me, Il-do?”
“Oh.”
Ara was indeed smart.
Speaking of which, Ara’s intelligence in the status window was described as “Intelligence: Very Cunning.”
It meant she was very clever.
Not just anyone could be a doctor.
“Try catching me.”
I grabbed Ara’s shoulder, but nothing particularly happened. Ara seemed slightly flustered and trembled slightly.
“Nothing is happening… What if we end up being trapped here for life…? For life…?”
Ara trembled.
Was the ‘fear’ that had been suppressed in this strange situation finding its way back?
Nevertheless, Ara was a naive junior.
She might have found the situation frightening.
“Perhaps we need to hold on tighter? Try holding me like you really mean it! As if not letting me escape!”
It was a somewhat reasonable suggestion.
I did my best to embrace Ara, wanting to help her out of this place.
Creak-.
“Did something change?”
“Ahwaah! My heartbeat and pulse are increasing!”
Is that so?
But there was no change in the room.
Just catching Ara didn’t seem to open the door.
Or perhaps that phrase itself was a ‘demon’s’ trick.
Or…
Swoosh.
With hope in my heart, I took Ara’s hand.
I also wanted to try holding her side, legs, and feet.
“Il-do, what are you…?”
Click-.
Just then.
When I held Ara’s hand, I heard the sound of something unlocking from the door, and it opened.
Creeeak-.
The door opened wide, revealing another room.
“Oh! The door opened!”
I raised my hands high like a nymph in joy.
Bang-!
Click-!
Then the door that was opened quickly slammed shut.
“Wait….”
Is it a room that you can’t leave unless you’re holding hands?
I realized that Ara seemed to have understood it as well.
Ara removed the gloves from her suit and extended her white hand toward me.
Swoosh.
When I held that hand, Ara said.
“It really feels like we’re on a… date. Actually, I’ve never even held someone’s hand like this in an escape room. I’ve been too busy…”
Was that the case?
Ara was a beautiful woman.
At one point, she had been as popular as Seo Ye-rim.
But she had also had a non-ordinary home environment and had to live a secret agent life that I was unaware of.
She probably never imagined she could have a normal romance.
“Il-do, the next room is also a closed room.”
As we approached the next room, the door of the room we had visited was locked.
It became a complete closed room again, and the walls of this room had the following written on them.
“─You cannot exit without doing this.”
# # #
Crack-.
A vein popped on Seo Ye-rim’s forehead.
Seeing that, Illinois trembled and said.
“Hyahhik…! It seems Core Ye-rim has entered into a state of great anger…! Great anger…! That is just a step before extreme anger!”
Illinois divided his companion Core Seo Ye-rim’s state into five levels: calm, slight annoyance, moderate anger, great anger, and extreme anger.
Calm was as it said, a calm state.
From slight annoyance onward, Seo Ye-rim was angry.
While slight annoyance was tolerable, he knew well that moderate anger and beyond could result in terrifying consequences.
Now Seo Ye-rim had fallen into great anger.
If she took one more step, she would reach extreme anger and could burn the town and city, setting the world itself ablaze.
Seo Ye-rim said.
“I just had a really bad feeling. I don’t know where Haildo and that Yu… that plague doctor girl are, but we need to save them quickly. My instincts are surprisingly reliable, you know?”
Creak, heeheehee-!
Kyaahhh-!
Demons appeared before Seo Ye-rim and the nymphs.
“Demon Commander. Level 11.”
They were all level 11 monsters and among the S Rank demons, they appeared to be quite high-tier monsters.
“I am one of Barbatos’s three Demon Commanders, the Commander of Annihilation, Bardius!”
“I am Ruthless Arpera.”
“I am Cruel Bolvardida.”
The three Demon Commanders, directly under the Demon King, were nothing short of terrifying monsters.
Any one of them could potentially destroy a kingdom within a week, and they were the kind of creatures that would appear in legends or myths, but Seo Ye-rim nonchalantly snapped her fingers.
“Get lost! I have no time for scum like you!”
Whoosh-!
In an instant, the Demon Commanders ignited in flames.
They screamed as they turned to ash while being engulfed in fire.
“Gyaaaaah! Burning demons that can withstand the flames of Gehenna!”
“This is the Witch of this realm! She’s too powerful!”
“This, this scorching fire…”
“Okay, Kkungkkungi, where should we go next?”
Seo Ye-rim asked Kkungkkungi, who was sitting on her shoulder.
However, Kkungkkungi did not respond.
Kkungkkungi was the top Squirrel Beast.
Due to its strong pride, Kkungkkungi was not warm or friendly to everyone.
Kkungkkungi would only kindly follow the nymphs, Haildo, or Lee Jin-A.
“Tch, what a temperamental squirrel. I guess I must resort to this. Hmm, hmm, aaah—.”
With that, Seo Ye-rim relaxed her voice.
Seo Ye-rim sang a tune that could fit into a princess movie that little girls would love, and upon hearing this song, Kkungkkungi responded by wagging its tail gently.
Kyaaw…!
Seeing that, Inoi put his hands on his cheeks in great surprise.
“Ahhh! It’s the ‘Cori Vidigi, singing’! It’s said that since ancient times, cores sometimes sing out of nowhere…! Cores are supposed to be good singers…!”
“Of course…! All cores must possess an unwritten rule to be good at singing…! That Il-noi reminded me of this when the World Dazni was founded…! When talking about dreams, hopes, and despair, Dazni princesses suddenly break into song, and that’s the reason…!”
It was not uncommon for birds, squirrels, and deer to open their hearts to singing cores since ancient times.
Kkungkkungi decided to cooperate with Core Ye-rim and, like before, scurried ahead to reach the front of another door.
“Explosive Bunker Buster.”
As Seo Ye-rim projected intense magical power to shatter the door into flames, a place that could be referred to as the King’s Hall appeared.
Among countless demons, there was a throne.
Seo Ye-rim spoke to the woman sitting there.
“You are the master of this crack? If I defeat you, everything will return to how it was, and Haildo and that wretched girl will be thrown outside the crack.”
Upon Seo Ye-rim’s overt aggression, the woman on the throne chuckled and crossed her legs.
“I never expected anyone to reach here directly. Seeing the flames that shattered the door, you must be someone who handles the ‘Flames of Annihilation’ as well. I’m glad to meet you. I am also a wielder of the flames of destruction—”
The woman stood up, and blue flames began to flicker around her hair.
Fwoosh, fwosh-!
“I am the Master of Blue Flames and the Blue Flame Demon King, Barbar Barbarotos. How about it? Would you like to share the temperature among those who possess the same flame of destruction?”
Seo Ye-rim, as a person who had broken through many T-ranked cracks, sensed that the ‘Demon King Barbatos’ was on a different level than ordinary demons.
“Everyone, get back! Flame Dress!”
Swoosh-.
As Seo Ye-rim extended her hand into the air, intense red flames wrapped around her body like a dress.
A complete defense that burned away any attacks before they could even reach her.
Seeing Seo Ye-rim in her seldom-seen battle stance, Barbatos said.
“Oh, red flames. How unfortunate. The hottest flame color is blue, just like mine. Is there a limit to the flames a human body can produce?”
“So, the hottest flame is blue? Who says that?”
Snap-.
As Seo Ye-rim snapped her fingers, red flames erupted from Barbatos’s body.
“Ouch, hot, hot…!?”
The Demon King was taken by surprise.
Seeing that, Illinois remarked.
“It seems that when someone who turned 180 degrees turns 180 degrees again, they seem to normalize…! Core Ye-rim’s flames were so hot that they surpassed the blue flames and returned to red…!”
“Th-That’s absurd—GUAAAAAH…!”
Barbatos screamed.
It was a scream akin to a nymph that had sustained soul damage.
“F-Fall back for now…!”
Moments later, a boom sounded, and Barbatos fled, leaving behind its long, sharp demon king’s tail.
Inoi rushed over to retrieve the tail.
“This Inoi have picked up an incredibly splendid tail…! It’s clear that this Nymph, who acquired such a splendid tail, is the first one among all Nymphs…!”
Pop-!
Words began to float in front of the overly happy Inoi.
“Demon King’s Tail: It resembles the tail of an imp in some way. The Demon King may actually be a greatly grown imp. It itself serves as an excellent magic staff and grows stronger when processed.”
