VIP Chapter 232: Deep Within Her Fear (3k)
Curious about what the next level of the Dungeon would be like, Will and Shuna followed Lucifer to the Dungeon’s “backstage.” They wound their way through countless hidden doors and small windows with her, finally arriving at the room where they had first met Lucifer.
It was a room with the aura of a little girl’s boudoir, even the wallpaper was in a cute, girlish style. This time, Lucifer did not erase Will’s memories. However, even without his memory being erased, navigating the Dungeon’s “backdoor” made it impossible to remember the way.
“Hmm… the previous twenty floors led to this door. If you want to see, follow me,” Lucifer said, standing before the wall behind the bed and gesturing for them to enter.
“A door? Where’s the door? Shuna, do you see it?”
“Yes, there is indeed a door, but… she didn’t open it?”
“What?”
As Will and Shuna exchanged bewildered glances, Lucifer walked towards the wall, seemingly making a motion to twist a doorknob. Then, she vanished into the wall.
“???”
“Huh?”
Shuna and Will were stunned and rushed to the wall where Lucifer had disappeared. The two of them thoroughly examined the wall from top to bottom.
“In… in my eyes, there’s really nothing here!”
“There’s a door seam and a handle, though…?” Will looked at Shuna in surprise as she subtly applied force to what seemed like empty air. “It won’t open.”
“Wh-what’s going on?”
Will was now left alone and clueless. To him, the spot where Lucifer had vanished was simply “a wall.” There was no “door that won’t open” as Shuna described, nor an “open door” that Lucifer had walked through. Will even reached out to touch the spot where Lucifer had disappeared. He understood well that game developers often left a backdoor in the modeling for quick access or to adjust their view during checks. Could this wall be it?
“No. It’s completely a wall.” There were no visible seams that let light through, nor any uneven textures. Yet, Lucifer had truly disappeared before him, as if walking through a door.
“That’s strange, Will, why can’t you see it? It’s right here…”
“I feel like there’s something here that people like me can’t see,” Will sighed. “Alas, I once again feel the vast difference in status between us, an insurmountable chasm—”
*Bang.*
Just as he finished speaking, Will was sent flying by Lucifer, who had suddenly emerged from the wall.
“Oof… saying that, Young Master of the Hysterm Family, is a bit strange… Huh? Will?”
“A new floor is great; it means new space and resources. It’s been a long time since I’ve had this kind of experience,” Lucifer yawned and stretched. “Huh? Where’s Will?”
“You knocked him away.”
Will got up from the ground and, taking the opportunity, observed the wall again. He had confirmed it. He truly saw nothing. Shuna, however, could see the “door” that couldn’t be opened…?
“Why aren’t you two following me? Once we start working, you won’t have a chance to see a blank Dungeon floor again.”
“We can’t get in,” Shuna sighed. “In my eyes, the door is always closed.”
“I don’t see a door at all.” Will lightly tapped the wall with his hand. “Could it be that people from outside this Dungeon can’t see this door?”
Lucifer, using her “clever” brain, reached this conclusion. “This is indeed the first time I’ve known this.”
“It would be strange for the Empress of a Dungeon to have brought people through the Dungeon door before, wouldn’t it?”
“And…” Lucifer said, placing another black iron piece into Will’s hand. “I just dug this up from inside. I don’t know if it has any value, but do you want to try forging a sword with it?”
Will gazed at the iron piece, and for some reason, the color felt familiar. It wasn’t purely “black”; it seemed to have a subtle glaze, like “colorful black,” if one had to describe it. Such a color… it felt like he had seen it when sunlight hit a certain angle of the “Pot of Demons.” Could it be because they were both “Demons”?
***
After everything was over, Will and Shuna prepared to leave the solitary Dungeon. They stood at the entrance of the “Tenth Demon City,” the luminous Dungeon where they had first met Lucifer. Will pondered for a moment. Only two days had passed in Tsimat Town, yet it felt richer than many cities he had visited before. Perhaps it was because he had spent more time with Lucifer here and learned more from her.
“Well, we’re heading back then,” Shuna waved to Lucifer, who had come to see them off. For her and Will, it was a perfectly ordinary “farewell.” They had passed through so many Dungeons and visited so many cities; they were already accustomed to this process. However…
“Um, you’ll both be… leaving Tsimat Town tomorrow, right?”
“We’ve said that many times already.”
“Mmm…” Lucifer sighed and forced a smile. But saying goodbye to “Adventurers” was not something she experienced often. After a few breaths, she felt her heart, which she had only “installed” two hours ago, begin to beat a little slower. Although they were Adventurers who had been led here by someone, these two had given her a unique experience.
“Will is going to the Capital to see your Princess. And Shuna…”
“I’m with the Shining Star, so I’ll go wherever he tells me to go.”
“Shuna…”
“Alright, since you’re going to the Capital, I’ll give you one last warning…” Lucifer leaned closer to Will and whispered in his ear, covering one side with her hand, “There’s a very ominous, ancient demonic aura emanating from you. It seems someone from the ‘Zero Demon City’ has left some traces on you.”
“!? ”
“As the ‘Tenth Demon City,’ I don’t know where the ‘Zero Demon City’ is now. Theoretically, it should have been eliminated, but the marking of the trace seems to be like this. Be careful when you reach the Capital.”
“Understood.” Will nodded.
“Well, in human terms, I wish you a safe journey. If you miss me anytime, you can always come to the ‘Tenth Demon City’ to find me again—if it still exists then.”
“No problem! See you later!” Shuna waved.
Lucifer watched them disappear into the night street. However… this “farewell” seemed to be a happy occasion for her. As the “Empress” of the Dungeon, forming friendships with Adventurers was rare but interesting.
***
“Zero Demon City, that sounds like a really awesome ‘starting’ name.” Will tied the cursed cloth scraps Lucifer had given him with the iron piece. He looked at the item, which would become a gift for Treya, under the moonlight. In the original work, Treya’s connection to the Entak Sword Style and demons was explained much later, with no specific description of the beings within the “Pot of Demons.” Therefore, everything linked to the concept of “demons” was essentially new information for Will. He should have realized that if there was a Tenth Demon City, there should be a Zero Demon City! After all, programmers always start counting from zero!
“Phew—I’m back from my bath. Let’s get an early night’s sleep today. Aren’t you going to take a bath?” Shuna somehow found shower facilities within the Adventurer’s Guild. According to her, it was built because Tsimat Town historically had a swamp Dungeon, and after entering, everyone needed to wash up upon returning.
“Yeah. Speaking of which, Shuna, back in the Dungeon, when we saw the ‘most terrifying thing,’ did you also see something?”
“You noticed?”
“Because you, who are usually very lively, showed an abnormal mental fatigue for a moment. Hmm… you wouldn’t normally be like this, would you?”
“…”
“So what was it? Something that could even scare Shuna…” Will wanted to know, as that incident would help him understand this “Protagonist” better.
“It’s not something I’m afraid of.”
“Then what is it?”
“Mmm…” A mischievous smile appeared on her face, and she suddenly leaned close to Will, unashamed of her body beneath her towel. “Someone like me, what do you think could possibly scare me?”
Will felt that Shuna, who normally answered everything frankly, was trying to brush him off, but… “Alright, go get some good sleep~” —she seemed determined to gloss over the matter.
“Okay, good night.”
…
Watching Will actually lie down, Shuna sat in the moonlight, gazing at her exceptionally pale right palm illuminated by the moonlight. She had lied, a rare occurrence, but on the matter of her origins, she had never truly described the earliest “origins” in her memory. She looked at her palm in the moonlight. Perhaps the moonlight was too cold, casting a pale glow on her palm. For some reason, even with all her mental resistance magic stacked up, she couldn’t block Lucifer’s attack. As expected, facing the full power of a mental-type Empress, she was still relatively weak.
She had known for a long time what her most “terrifying” thing was. It had been her constant nightmare, and even now, as she looked at her palm and her mind wandered, she would fall into that nightmare. The most “terrifying” thing was… her “birth.” It was her earliest memory. Unlike most naturally born “humans,” her earliest memory was vivid because she already possessed a fully developed brain at that time. The moment she opened her eyes, she had no memories, like a blank page. But… she saw…
In her palm, she held a knife. Both hands were covered in blood, dripping from the ends of her palms. It was… the blood of the Dungeon’s “Emperor,” lying on the ground on the final floor of the empty Dungeon. She repeatedly, endlessly, relentlessly, brought her blade down upon the Emperor’s “body” until more blood… flowed past her toes.
