I should have noticed when I passed Abel and the others this morning.
I reflected on my mistake.
Based on what the greengrocer’s wife told me, the quest “Labyrinth of Sacrifice,” which includes a forced Game Over, seems to have started without me, the Player.
In the Game, quests wouldn’t begin until the Player registered as the last participant at the pub. However, in this world, characters move with a degree of freedom.
It might be an exaggeration to say that some of the Player’s authority has been transferred to NPCs, but I should have anticipated such situations.
I might have become too excited about the prospect of reuniting with Maki and lost a bit of my focus.
This quest, “Labyrinth of Sacrifice,” with its forced Game Over, is actually an umbrella term for two quests: “The Sacrificed Girl” and “Labyrinth of Monsters.”
“The Sacrificed Girl” involves going into ruins beneath the western part of Saiga Village to fight Cultists and rescue a girl named Rifa who has been kidnapped by them.
“Labyrinth of Monsters” involves going into a cave beneath the eastern part of Saiga Village to fight Monsters summoned by the Cultists.
At first glance, they seem like entirely different quests, but in reality, the ruins west of Saiga Village and the cave east of Saiga Village are the same location; only their entrances differ.
Participants of “The Sacrificed Girl” will enter the same labyrinth from the west, while participants of “Labyrinth of Monsters” will enter from the east.
Here’s where the quest’s malicious nature truly shows. Participants of “The Sacrificed Girl” are given a Grass Necklace as a quest item, while participants of “Labyrinth of Monsters” receive a Grass Bracelet.
They are told these items protect them from the labyrinth’s miasma, but in reality, the Grass Necklace makes people wearing the Grass Bracelet appear as Cultists, and the Grass Bracelet makes people wearing the Grass Necklace appear as Monsters.
So, what happens?
Participants of “The Sacrificed Girl” will perceive participants of “Labyrinth of Monsters” as Cultists, and vice versa.
When the two groups meet within the labyrinth, they will naturally perceive each other as enemies and engage in a fight to the death, ultimately sacrificing their lives for the Cultists’ Ritual.
In fact, these two quests are a trap set by the villagers of Saiga Village who issued the rescue request.
All the villagers of Saiga Village are either Cultists or demons disguised as humans, and they are plotting to revive something called “That Person” by making Adventurers kill each other, using them as sacrifices.
In my first playthrough, I fell right into this trap. I unknowingly fought and killed Adventurers I had befriended. In the Game, that might have been a laughable mistake, but in reality, it would be a completely traumatic experience.
Fortunately, the secret is already out.
There is a way to deal with it.
“Maki, all the residents you will find in Saiga Village, northwest of here, are Cultists. They are deceiving Adventurers to revive something terrifying. I need you to mobilize the Knights’ Order immediately and suppress them.”
I know it’s an unreasonable request, but there’s no time for explanations.
Maki nodded with an unusually serious expression at my words.
“I-I don’t understand, but I got it! I’ll definitely convince the knights and bring them! D-Don’t worry, if it comes down to it, I’ll use seduction!!”
“No, that’s probably not a good idea…”
Maki puffed out her chest at my worried gaze.
“Hehe. When I put my mind to it, I can be quite amazing, you know? …Look!”
Maki boldly lifted the apron of her apron dress! The hem of Maki’s apron dress revealed a daring amount of skin!
…What is this girl trying to do?
“W-Well, it’s fine. I’m just glad you agreed. Thank you, Maki.”
From past experience, I knew that getting involved further would lead to a quagmire, so I quickly ended the conversation. Though I couldn’t trust Maki completely, I had no choice but to rely on her title as Princess.
“We’re moving. I’ll brief you while we run.”
Judging by the situation, the quest must have already started. I couldn’t abandon the “Labyrinth of Sacrifice” quest. It’s a quest where the danger level spikes if there’s an extremely powerful person among the participants, a quest where “being merely strong isn’t enough to survive.”
Ideally, I’d use KB Cancel to move faster, but if I spammed Air Hammer from this point on, I’d run out of MP.
I proceeded with Godspeed Cancel Movement, explaining the basic quest outline to the two of them.
As usual, I refused to reveal my sources and only conveyed the conclusion, yet everyone listened without complaint.
To be precise, Ringo listened vaguely from beginning to end, Mitsuki listened while swaying her cat ears, saying, “It really is suspicious, huh?”, and Kuma, whether he was listening or not, occasionally patted my head. He seemed to enjoy sticking to the back of my head lately; perhaps he was planning to play horsey with me.
Putting Kuma aside, our plan is as follows:
First, we will charge into the underground labyrinth at full speed and persuade the quest participants to prevent them from killing each other. Although our departure was significantly delayed, they must have taken time to travel by ox cart and receive quest explanations. There’s still a chance we can catch up.
After entering the labyrinth and stopping the Adventurers, we will remain inside and await Maki and the Knights’ Order. This quest can be undertaken from a low level, and the demons and Cultists in Saiga Village are not particularly strong. The Knights’ Order should be able to suppress them easily.
There’s a reason we aren’t going to suppress the village ourselves. There’s a bug, or rather, a shortcut in the “Labyrinth of Sacrifice.” If you follow the quest normally, you can never save the girl, Rifa, who is “The Sacrificed Girl.”
This girl, Rifa, is trapped within the labyrinth as bait and sacrifice for the Adventurers. Once the Adventurers realize the Saiga Village group’s plot, they will be sent to an altar of sacrifice by the Cultists. In a normal Game, you would defeat the Cultists and then go to the altar of sacrifice to save Rifa, but “Nekoneko” did not implement a map of the altar of sacrifice, making it impossible to save her within the system.
There was no solution in the Game, but it’s different in this world. Rifa is transferred to the altar only when the Adventurers realize the Saiga Village group’s plot and try to leave the labyrinth. So, if we keep the Adventurers inside the labyrinth and have a separate team suppress the village, Rifa won’t be sent to the altar, and we can save her.
However, that’s all dependent on us stopping the quest participants first. If we don’t stop them, not only Rifa, but the entire world might perish.
(Well, I’m not entirely clear on how that would happen.)
In the Game, it definitely resulted in a Game Over, but I don’t know what exactly will happen in this world. It’s possible it could end with just my death, or a nonsensical world destruction. However, considering consistency with the real world, the possibility that “something so dangerous that the inhabitants of this world cannot handle it is revived, leading to the destruction of the world” seems the most natural.
Well, I can make any number of predictions, but one thing is certain: something terrible will happen. We must prevent that at all costs.
“We’ll be at Saiga Village soon,” Mitsuki said urgently.
Hearing that, not only my expression but also Ringo’s became serious. Kuma, as if to pump himself up, patted my cheek. I appreciated his sentiment, but Kuma’s paws were so soft they were quite soothing.
“Let’s enter the labyrinth without being noticed by the villagers as much as possible. Mitsuki, where are Raiden and the others?”
“They’re already inside the west side of the labyrinth and moving towards the center. Where are you?”
“That’s bad. However, collisions usually happen near the center. Given that they are moving, the worst-case scenario shouldn’t have occurred yet.”
“Let’s enter from the west side as well. From here on, we’re going at full speed. Ringo, I might have to leave you behind…”
“…It’s fine. I’ll catch up later.”
My words, spoken with guilt, were casually brushed aside. Now I could move at top speed without reservation.
“This way!”
By now, my MP should hold out. I unleashed KB Cancel movement. Leading Mitsuki, we headed for the labyrinth entrance.
Carelessly, no guards were placed at the entrance. On the wall, the characters “+ | L” were drawn in glowing letters. It was the same as in the Game. This must be the entrance.
“Let’s hurry!”
With a word to Mitsuki, we leaped into the miasma-filled labyrinth.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve repeated this quest. It’s not exactly a pleasant memory, but thanks to that, I have a rough grasp of the labyrinth’s geography.
“First, we’ll head towards the center. If we detect anyone nearby, Mitsuki, you’ll take the lead from then on.”
As I said that, heading for the center, I was told,
“Someone’s nearby,”
“Already?!”
My progress was immediately thwarted. However, I couldn’t just leave it.
“This way.”
I followed Mitsuki, who started running.
We dashed through the labyrinth, turned a few corners, and before us appeared…
“S-Sahzan?!”
It was Sahzan, the genius idiot mage, with her masked face lowered dejectedly.
Seeing us, Sahzan was stunned for a moment, but then quickly regained her composure.
“Ho? I don’t know who you are, but you know my name. You’re quite perceptive. Hahaha, consider yourself lucky? If you wish, I will specially…”
She started spouting some nonsensical delusion.
“That kind of talk is unnecessary!! More importantly, why are you here alone?”
As I interrupted her rambling and asked, Sahzan averted her masked face.
“Hmph. My dark power renders the protective spells created by mortals useless. When my great darkness overcomes the power of protection, my…”
“Ah, so you broke your ‘False Grass Ornament’ and got scared, so you ran out, huh?”
“Th-That’s not true!!”
Upon closer inspection, Sahzan was missing the “False Grass Ornament” that should have been around her neck. That was supposed to be the “Ornament of Evil Ward” to protect against the labyrinth’s miasma, so she probably panicked and tried to leave the labyrinth after breaking it.
“Listen closely, okay? The dark fate that I walk…”
She was still saying strange things, but since her Grass Ornament was gone, she wasn’t in any danger. Leaving her might be fine.
“W-Well, whatever. We’re in a hurry, so…”
I tried to move on quickly, but…
“W-Wait! Are you leaving me here?”
She grabbed my leg and stopped me.
“Let go! I don’t have time to deal with you now!”
“N-No, I won’t let go! I can’t get out of this dark and scary, damp place alone, and I won’t let go until you take me out of this dark, scary, and damp place!”
She’s gotten aggressive. This is why I dislike her.
“We need to get to the center of the labyrinth right now! How are you expecting me to take you?”
I shouted, and…
Sahzan proposed a surprising solution.
“Raiden, he’s such a foolish man, there’s no helping it. He’s a pervert who charges forward with a smile even when he should retreat. I don’t like such thoughtless actions. Fights should always be elegant. Using fire magic is the best. However, that idiot who doesn’t understand the aesthetics of combat keeps lecturing me. Seriously, why is he so angry when I’ve only involved him in my magic a few dozen times? I truly cannot understand such a foolish creature.”
“…”
Taking advantage of my silence, her annoying monologue continued by my ear. Yes, Sahzan’s proposal was for me to carry her. I made the agonizing decision to accept her demand and proceed with her on my back, but…
“Bacala, that’s no good either. For some reason, he’s harsh only towards me. He fusses over the other members to an almost annoying extent, but with me, he acts as if even approaching me is a bother. I’m sure he’s jealous of my overflowing magical talent, but such narrow-minded behavior is truly terrible, terrible. He’s so annoying with his jealousy that I retaliated by adding extremely spicy seasoning only to his meal the other day. …I got yelled at quite a lot afterward. Truly narrow-minded people are incorrigible.”
“…”
My movement speed plummeted due to the increased weight, and she’s been complaining incessantly, which is incredibly annoying.
“Alex, I wish he would reflect on his actions. He and I were the first companions, before Raiden or Bacala appeared. In other words, we are allies. Yet, he sometimes acts as if he’s forgotten about me. Hmm, it’s not that I’m lonely, though? However, as allies, Hyaah! Ow! I bit my tongue! Your back is extremely uncomfortable to ride on!!”
Now she’s even complaining about the comfort of my back. What kind of incredibly troublesome creature is this?
Kuma, stuck to the top of my head, patted my cheeks protesting, as if to say, “What’s going on?”. Mitsuki, running beside me, her cat ears twitching in a scolding manner, seemed to say, “Why on earth did you pick her up?”
Unable to withstand the pressure, I couldn’t help but make an excuse.
“No, even like this, she’s their companion, and if she’s there during the persuasion, it’ll be easier to talk, right?”
Raiden was somehow keeping other quest participants from interacting much with Sahzan, so other Adventurers might not realize Sahzan is their comrade. However, Raiden or Alex wouldn’t mistake their party member.
Losing speed is a pain, but fast movement skills are hard to use in a winding labyrinth anyway. Even if my speed decreased a little, I thought bringing her as a persuasion tool for Raiden and the others would be beneficial, but I might have been hasty.
I did explain the situation to Sahzan, briefly. Even though she understands the situation, she’s acting like this. I’m starting to think she might be a big shot in her own way.
But that hellish time is coming to an end.
“We’re close to Raiden. Also, there are many people detected further ahead. Combat… doesn’t seem to have started yet.”
This was the report I had been waiting for from Mitsuki. It seemed we made it in time.
“No… there’s another group nearby. They seem to be from the ‘Labyrinth of Monsters’ group.”
“Really!?”
The situation seems more critical than I thought. If one side spots the other, combat could break out.
Just then, a group of Adventurers came into view. These must be the participants of “The Sacrificed Girl.”
(This is bad!!)
They were holding their weapons, the atmosphere tense. I don’t know about them, but they seem to have already spotted the participants of “Labyrinth of Monsters.” There’s no more time.
“Mitsuki, can you handle the ‘Labyrinth of Monsters’ group?”
“I can handle it.”
Her confident reply gave me strength.
“Then, I’ll leave that to you. As for this side… I’m going!!”
I used Shukuchi, which I had sealed because I was in the labyrinth, and accelerated towards the Adventurers!
“Then I’ll… H-Hey, hurry up and say something before you go!”
Ignoring the grumbling from my back, I leaped before the Adventurers.
First, I need to divert the attention of the leading group from the participants of “Labyrinth of Monsters.”
(Step Horizontal Slash Step High Step Air Hammer, Step High Step Shukuchi!!)
I weaved through the weapon-wielding Adventurers with quick, intricate movements, drawing their attention and blocking their path. When I canceled the final Shukuchi by crashing into a wall, Kuma protested by hitting the wall, but I had no time to deal with it.
“W-What are you supposed to be?!”
The bearded man at the front cried out, his voice laced with fear. I raised my voice, appealing to him.
“Everyone, put away your weapons! The Cultists you saw were illusions created by the real Cultists!! The real Cultists are somewhere else!”
Will they believe me…? I was worried, but the bearded man nodded at my words.
“…I see. I understand.”
“W-Wait, Rad?!”
An Adventurer, seemingly his companion, panicked, but the man called Rad remained unfazed. He looked at me and nodded again.
“The real Cultists are somewhere else, right? I understand perfectly. Meaning… you *are* the real Cultist!!”
“Wh-What in the world?!”
I was met with a completely off-the-wall conclusion.
“How can you say that! I was just…”
“Shut up! Anyone can see you’re not human just by watching you move! Whether you sold your soul to a demon or are a demon yourself, you’ve done something foolish!!”
“Eh, no, eh!?”
As I stammered in confusion, Rad pressed on.
“And what about the moving plush toy on your head and the suspicious masked man on your back?! I’ve never seen anyone as suspicious as you!!”
“N-No, this is…”
Wh-What do I do…! I have no real defense against that!
“Heh, just as expected of Rad! Everyone, get ’em!!”
At the words of the Adventurer next to him, the Adventurers all raised their weapons simultaneously. And they were aimed at me…
Me + Kuma + Dead Weight vs. 19 Adventurers
The battle of the century begins!!
“Honestly, if you had noticed, you should have said something earlier.”
The curtain on the battle of the century did not fall. Raiden, who was behind the group, intervened at the last moment.
“Well, sorry. My desire not to be associated with you just got the better of me.”
It seemed he had noticed much earlier, but upon seeing us, he suddenly didn’t want to claim acquaintance.
Others who had less contact might be one thing, but to pretend not to know even his party members… Sahzan truly has an astonishing lack of charisma. Conversely, Raiden surprisingly seemed to have some charisma, as the Adventurers who had pointed their weapons at us all stopped at his words. Alex seemed to understand the situation poorly, but he went along with it somewhat.
“So that’s how it was! Damn you, Cultists! Yeah, I thought he was suspicious from the start!”
He said something arbitrary and went along with the story. Of course, most were still half-convinced, but if we showed them a live demonstration using the necklaces and bracelets, they would probably believe us. Now, the crucial point is whether Mitsuki managed to persuade the other group, but it’s probably fine. Mitsuki is also a famous person, so she’s likely better at persuasion than I am.
Not betraying those expectations,
“Mitsuki!!”
Mitsuki appeared, leading the Adventurers from “Labyrinth of Monsters.” A stir went through those still wearing the Grass Necklaces, but it seemed they understood the situation, as no one raised their weapons. We could consider the immediate danger of a forced Game Over effectively avoided.
“It seems to have gone well,” I said, finally relaxing my shoulders somewhat, and spoke to Mitsuki. I thought Mitsuki would be wearing a delighted expression, or rather, her ears would be perked up, but the cat-eared girl didn’t seem very energetic.
“I’ve managed to persuade most people. However…”
“Is something wrong?”
To my question, Mitsuki’s cat ears drooped as if to say, “This is troublesome.”
“There’s a group of three Adventurers who seem to be acting independently, and I haven’t been able to explain the situation to them yet.”
“…Who are they?”
“Abel, Beat, and Cliff.”
“Those guys,” I frowned. They really never do anything good.
It doesn’t matter what happens to them, but if they find Rifa, her life will be in danger. I have no choice but to go look for them. As I sighed,
“Ah, um, sorry. My team also has one person who’s acting independently…”
Raiden arrived, bringing further trouble. With a vague sense of foreboding, I asked.
“Um, who is this person acting independently?”
Raiden replied with an embarrassed look, giving the worst possible answer. In other words…
“It’s one of our party members, Bacala.”
According to Raiden, shortly after Sahzan left, Bacala said something like, “I sense the presence of prey from this way,” and walked off somewhere.
(Why, of all people!!)
While desperately suppressing my unfounded rage, we ran desperately through the labyrinth.
“Mitsuki, hurry! If they meet, it’s over!!”
Bacala is one of the members of Alex’s party, with formidable specs. Their level probably easily exceeds 150.
On the other hand, Abel and the others are merely rival characters from the early stages of the Capital City. Their level should be around 70, if that. Even in a 3-on-1 situation, it wouldn’t be a match.
Furthermore, Bacala is wearing a quest item that makes people wearing a Grass Bracelet appear as Cultists.
(If this continues…)
The worst possible future for those three flashed through my mind. I felt a bitter taste rising from my stomach. Kuma, as if to soothe me, stroked my neck, but it didn’t help.
“You’re quite desperate, aren’t you? They’re the people who insulted you at the entrance of the Capital City, aren’t they? Are you really going to be this desperate for people like that?”
Mitsuki was trying to say that I get too invested in people connected to me again. But this isn’t about that level of issue.
“No! This is a matter of human, no, of male dignity!!”
As I shouted that, Mitsuki flicked her cat ears once, saying, “Hmm.” Although she didn’t seem convinced, I should be grateful that she kept moving without slowing down.
(Make it in time, make it in time!!)
Praying that, I advanced under Mitsuki’s lead. The agonizing time continued, and finally,
“Their signals are close. They should be appearing soon.”
Finally, the goal was in sight.
However, the moment I let my guard down slightly. From up ahead,
“AHHHHHHHH!!!”
A scream echoed throughout the entire labyrinth.
“No way!!”
I mustered my remaining MP and sped up. But by the time I reached the scene, it was all over.
“I didn’t make it…”
I murmured with regret and pity.
At my feet lay the half-naked Adventurers, Abel, Beat, and Cliff, piled on top of each other. Their clothes were disheveled, and they were twitching violently.
And standing nonchalantly beside them, a muscular man turned to me.
“Oh? You’re quite a handsome one too. Is there something you want from me?”
He was the last member of Alex’s party and one of the strongest Adventurers in “Nekoneko.” Due to his speech and behavior, he had an extremely long nickname: “The Terrifyingly Sacrilegious Hole-Digger Rose Piercer.” He was a genuinely gay fighter.
He had a skill to distinguish people by their musculature and hip line (but only men), and his name was…
“Bara Kanbi.”
