VIP Chapter 561: Suicide (1) (3k)
“So, every time it’s the ‘Death Hall’? Mr. Carver?”
At a tea party, held at a time unknown, perhaps because Carver felt like bonding with his collaborator, they sat at a tea table surrounded by decaying meat paste, speaking freely. Carver hadn’t set a topic for the tea party. Perhaps he always believed he’d have “next time,” and “next time’s next time” to re-enter this world, so he smiled, spread his hands, and indicated to Daisianwei that he would answer any question.
And so…
Facing a vast source of information so different from her own, Daisianwei asked this question. The question she most wanted to understand.
“How to die,” “why to die,” and “what is death” were merely human questions for Daisianwei. But the reason for the birth of the Death Hall dungeon was a “god’s” question.
“Miss Daisianwei, is this your question, or Goddess Reviers’s question?” Carver clearly sensed the true origin of this question and spoke. Carver sometimes called her “Madam” and sometimes “Miss.” Daisianwei saw this as an unconscious “teasing behavior” from the experienced Carver.
“Both. What? Will you get different answers depending on who is asking? Hmm… However, there’s one thing I know: you said that last time, it wasn’t me sitting here.”
Daisianwei stirred her teacup. Yet, the teacup didn’t contain some bizarre drink of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. It was fine black tea brewed from tea leaves – undoubtedly brought by Carver.
“It wasn’t an elegant and dignified vampire young girl. No silver curly hair, no crimson pupils, and no sharp wit with a hint of danger,” she said, pointing to her teeth. “So, I’m not surprised you’re wondering if it’s Daisianwei’s question or Reviers’s question. But what was the last person you saw like? They didn’t seem like someone who would ask such a question?”
“Heh.” Carver chuckled, intentionally trying to evade Daisianwei’s question. “For the sake of our remaining desserts, I won’t describe who I saw last time. Besides, I never consider my experiences as ‘repeatable’ things; let the past be history buried in memory.”
“So, last time… no… every time, it was the ‘Death Hall’ that appeared, right?”
“If you are referring to the last dungeon Reviers appeared in every time, then yes,” Carver answered sincerely. He seemed unbothered by sitting on decaying flesh or the smell. Calmly, he drank his tea. Although he was an outsider, he seemed more like a native of the Death Hall than many of its original inhabitants. Very familiar with this land.
“If you put it that way, then Reviers’s final dungeon was this place.” Daisianwei displayed an emotion of “sorrow.” This sorrow seemed unrelated to death itself. It was a “sigh,” a sigh for something she believed shouldn’t exist.
“Mm.”
“Why is it the ‘Death Hall’? Reviers… I, as the Creator Goddess, have integrated myself into the human world and experienced so much. In the end… why is it ‘Death’?” She seemed somewhat self-abandoning, stirring the teaspoon faster and faster in the teacup, the clear sound of it hitting the cup growing louder. “There are so many desires, so many possibilities that can be expressed in this world. Why is the theme of the final dungeon ‘Death’? What aspect of myself does this represent? What is the ultimate choice of this world?”
“…”
“You’re not speaking because you don’t know either?”
“Heh…” Carver chuckled. “I just find it strange that even a goddess can get angry when she doesn’t know something.”
“Angry? I… I just…” Daisianwei wanted to explain something but held back. She realized that explaining would indeed make her seem more “angry.” She readjusted her hem and returned to her usual elegant demeanor, calmly placing the teaspoon in the cup. “However, Reviers, our Goddess. As a ‘human,’ especially as someone who has experienced so much, I actually feel… there is no dungeon more suitable than the Death Hall to be the final dungeon.”
…
Floor 210.
Daisianwei rested for a short while and, upon opening her eyes, found that Will had already passed ten floors alone.
“Why is it… the Death Hall, I wonder?” she murmured, repeating a question discussed in a dream with someone who had already died. “I didn’t expect to have such dreams even now that I’ve accepted it.”
Daisianwei watched Will skillfully cut down the giant Undead Warrior before them with a series of convenient magic spells he had brought. This Undead Warrior was, of course, not the one she had lent to Carver at the time. That one was her favorite, her pride, her most powerful; this one seemed weaker. However, facing the same enemy, Will’s experience and deep understanding of dungeon monsters came into play. He cleared these ten floors quite quickly. And quietly. No one spoke to him. He was like a hero at the end of his rope, pushed to advance as if he had lost everything – of course, both Daisianwei and he knew that once they got out, his women would all come back to life.
Floor 211.
Floor 212.
Floor 213.
…
Will’s clearing speed was fast. From him, Daisianwei saw a trace of a “lone wolf.” It was then she remembered that Carver had told her he fought alone for a period when Will was in fake death.
Floor 214.
Floor 215.
Floor 216.
…
As he reached this point, Will hesitated.
“It’s… too simple.” Standing amidst bat and vulture entities, he first looked around and remarked this. “Even if we guess that the Death Hall used a lot of high-level power to attack the Zeroth Heaven and failed… we shouldn’t be encountering so many levels that seem intentionally lowered in difficulty here.”
As he spoke, he seemed to be searching for something. Then… he looked up. Through the guillotine screens and his lenses, his deep blue eyes, like the deep sea, pierced through to Daisianwei. As if making eye contact with her.
“Did you notice? I’m watching you?”
“Indeed. Even if there’s no sound, it’s not uncommon for a dungeon’s Emperor to monitor those clearing it.”
“Alright, you did notice.”
“It’s just that, given Daisianwei’s personality… if she’s watching me, it must be because there’s something she’s particularly interested in.”
“Mhm~ You guessed that too?” Daisianwei “pretended” to converse with Will on the screen, replying sentence by sentence. Of course, Will couldn’t hear her words.
“Is she… watching what I look like after experiencing them dying for me, time and time again…?” Will muttered to himself and continued forward.
Floor 217.
Floor 218.
Floor 219.
…
The second to last BOSS battle room. Will appeared somewhat fatigued, with frayed edges on his clothes. As a ranged mage, his weapon looked fine, but his ammunition supply was indeed depleted. He stood at the entrance to Floor 220, gripped the doorknob, and hesitated.
“Daisianwei will surely leave me some kind of surprise, right?”
“Sigh. If you had given up early like other teams, you wouldn’t see the surprise.”
Will pushed down the ornate brass-plated doorknob and opened the BOSS room of Floor 220. The atmosphere in the entire BOSS room was very “gloomy.” It wasn’t like other rooms, which were either abstract challenges or large open spaces. It felt more like a BOSS room designed for a “vampire.” Like the highest floor of some ancient vampire castle. And the highest floor that had already experienced countless great battles. Above, a chandelier with a few flickering candles illuminating the night hung precariously, seeming like it could fall at any moment. On the ground were broken bricks, shattered countless times, and half the room was destroyed, revealing a crescent moon clearly in the damaged void. In the center of the room was placed a massive coffin—not even a coffin custom-made to fit one person. It looked custom-made to fit a monster.
Hoo—
The wind blowing from a corner of the dilapidated room permeated the entire eerie space. Will’s eyes widened. He saw… long black hair scattering in the wind. Despite the cold and eerie night, it reminded Will of the summer when he first met her.
The BOSS of Floor 220 slowly rose from the coffin. Picking up her short blade, she twirled it in her hand. Her lips curved into a smile. Wearing high, black heeled boots, a black leather jacket with claw marks, revealing a waist with distinct abs. Her black heeled boots and ripped denim shorts left a gap of over ten centimeters of white thigh.
“I… I should have expected this… Daisianwei is… is such a person with a twisted sense of humor… she definitely wouldn’t let this chance pass…”
Will took a deep breath.
“Shuna.”
He uttered the name that he hadn’t used as a form of address in far too long since they parted.
“…” She let her hair fall loose, not even tying her single ponytail as she used to do when going into battle. This also revealed both her eyes hidden beneath her hair. One eye was an endless void. The remaining eye held no light. Even when she smiled, her eyebrows showed no joy. Regrettably, even Will couldn’t do what he imagined, bringing her consciousness back with a “call.”
“As expected, on the second to last floor, if she didn’t choose to kill you…”
“The BOSS must be you.” Will said, a wry smile appearing on his face.
