I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 396

We jumped off the bridge.

Well, more accurately, we were thrown off. Those two crazy highway bandits grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and tossed me over the edge.

“You crazy bastards!”

As I plummeted, I saw Crown and the Nightcrawler troops looking down at us from the bridge.

They had that pitiful look, like they were watching someone commit suicide… well, it wasn’t that different, was it?

“Waaaaah! Help meeee!”

I screamed as I fell helplessly.

Then, Salome, who had fallen behind me, reached out her hand.

《Ash! Grab my hand!》

My face lit up as I desperately grabbed her hand.

“Thanks, Salome! Even a slug has its uses, turns out you can fly?!”

《Huh? I can’t fly?》

“Huh?”

《Huh?》

A few seconds later.

《Kyaaaaaa! Help me, Nightmare!》

“……”

Salome was clinging to my back, screaming. Tears and snot were flying everywhere.

Someone, please get this slug off me….

The darkness below the bridge was so deep, I couldn’t even guess how far we had to fall before hitting the bottom.

I gritted my teeth and desperately looked around. Was there anything? Any way to survive this freefall?

‘…No, doesn’t look like it.’

I’m screwed. I’m seriously screwed.

《Ash, still…》

Then, Salome, who had been sniffling behind me, looked at me with pleading eyes.

《I’m glad I’m spending the last moments of my life with you… Kehek?!》

“Hey, get off me!”

I pushed Salome’s face away with my hand. What’s with the dramatic mood, in this situation! Instead of trying to survive!

That’s when it happened.

“Quiet down, customers! Stop screaming!”

Whirr!

A long rope, wriggling like a snake, flew up and wrapped around our bodies, then returned to the hand of the person who threw it.

It was the two highway bandits, Sword Demon and Spear Demon, who had been falling with us. It seemed they hadn’t just thrown us off without a plan.

“Hup!”

“Hiyah!”

The two old men skillfully used the rope to catch me, Salome, and Mason.

Then, they extended their weapons to the side and jammed them into the wall.

Thwack!

A cliff, hidden by the fog in the darkness, was revealed.

The two old men, as if they had done this many times, skillfully jammed their weapons into the wall and slowed our descent.

We had been freefalling for a while, so just stopping wouldn’t have been easy, but the two old men, while supporting the weight of three extra people, calmly slid down without batting an eye.

‘They really are the strongest and worst hostile NPCs [Non-Player Characters].’

Their level of strength was extraordinary. I was amazed by their stunt.

After slowing down by sliding along the wall for a while, the two old men kicked off the wall and soared into the air.

Thud!

…They landed on the ground.

They even caught us one by one as we fell and placed us on the ground. Great after-sales service.

“Ugh, my legs are shaking.”

It wasn’t a bungee jump, I almost died from falling, so my legs were trembling.

Salome couldn’t stand and collapsed on the ground, and Mason also couldn’t hold on and fell to the ground.

In front of us, Sword Demon and Spear Demon grinned, showing their yellow teeth.

“Alright, alright, the short trip wasn’t too bad!”

“Welcome to our neighborhood!”

“Our neighborhood…?”

I trailed off and looked around, and that’s when I noticed it.

In this deep valley, in the thick darkness… a shabby village.

I was speechless as I looked at the houses made of junk and trash. A village in a place like this?

Sword Demon and Spear Demon spread their arms, pointing at the houses.

“This is the ‘Bottom’!”

“The lowest, most terrible neighborhood in this hell!”

***

I thought my life had already hit rock bottom when I fell into the deepest part of the dungeon alone.

I was wrong. There’s always a deeper bottom below the bottom.

“What is this place….”

I muttered to myself as I entered the hidden NPC residence, ‘The Bottom.’

This village, which you could reach by falling through the gap between Area 10 and Area 9… seemed to be built from the trash that had fallen from above.

A village of trash, built on a mountain of trash.

And, surprisingly, people actually lived there.

Fierce glints of light flickered between the piles of trash throughout the village. The NPCs, all dressed in rags, glared at us, the guests, with wary eyes.

There were NPC residences in various parts of the dungeon, but this was the first time I had entered one, and moreover, I didn’t even know this village existed during the game.

“Don’t worry too much~ They’re all good people.”

“That’s right. They’re all a little crazy, but their hearts are pure, you know?”

“They’re good people, good people.”

“Kekekeke!”

The two old men laughed as they led us forward.

Other NPCs were smacking their lips as they looked at us, sharpening rusty knives on the ground, or making a throat-slitting gesture when they made eye contact with me… They’re good people, right? Right?

We didn’t walk for long before arriving at the two old men’s house. It was the largest house in the center of this trash village.

It had a wide yard and, surprisingly, a solid house structure. The two old men gestured as they sat on the porch made of worm-eaten wood.

“You’ll have to wait a few days to go outside, so stay here until then.”

“Make yourself at home~ There are plenty of rooms.”

I looked around the house, then raised my head to look up.

Beyond the distant darkness, I could see a towering cliff.

I would have to climb that cliff for a long time to reach the Lake Kingdom city area, and then go through that city area for a long time to reach the entrance of the Lake Kingdom.

“…How are we supposed to climb back up from here? Is there even a way to get out of the dungeon?”

How long would it take to travel that long road?

Besides, I wanted to go back as soon as possible, so why did I have to wait for a few days? Honestly, it was very suspicious.

Then, Sword Demon and Spear Demon clicked their tongues and began to explain.

“In this Lake Kingdom, there’s a time called ‘The Overflow’ that comes every few days, or a few weeks at most.”

“The Overflow…?”

“It’s also the time when the monsters of a certain legion in the dungeon multiply, and when they fill up, they pour out.”

The two highway bandits reached out and pointed to one side of the village.

“It’s also the time when black rain pours down, filling the city floor and overflowing.”

Following their hands, I saw a cliff right next to the village.

There was a large sewer connected to the cliff. It was completely dry now.

“When it rains, that place fills up to the brim. Then, we launch a boat, and if we go out through the sewer following the full water…”

Something suddenly flashed in my mind. I asked in surprise.

“Wait, does that connect to Area 1… the ‘Dried-up Drain’?”

“What, you’ve heard of it? That’s right. It connects all the way there.”

In the Lake Kingdom dungeon, there were shortcuts, routes called Short Cuts, in various places.

They were widely used by game users because they allowed them to skip the complicated battles and reach their target area in one go.

The ‘Path of the Defeated’ that I used to get from the base camp to the ‘Flaming Colosseum’ was also a kind of shortcut.

And there was a rumor among users that was treated like a legend or a myth.

There was a rumor that there was a shortcut that could take you from the early areas to the deepest part in one go.

But there were only rumors, and no user had actually found it, so I never thought I would be the one to confirm it….

‘Under the specific condition of the Overflow, a shortcut connects from this deepest part to the Dried-up Drain in Area 1…!’

The two old men nodded at my surprised expression.

“It would take forever to walk from here to the entrance of the Lake Kingdom, but if you take a boat during the Overflow, it’s instantaneous.”

“So, don’t be impatient and just wait a few days. We’ll take you to the entrance of the Lake Kingdom comfortably~.”

Then, the two old men pointed their index fingers at me.

“When you get out, make sure you bring us the money!”

“You know?! Half of your entire fortune, half!”

“Don’t worry about the money. I’ll give you plenty. Just get us out of here.”

The two highway bandits smiled contentedly at my answer.

“Ehehe, money!”

“Gold coins!”

“Money!”

“Grandma-ney!”

“This old man is doing it again, again!”

I watched the two madmen cackling among themselves… and then I became curious again.

What’s the point of collecting money, even resorting to robbery, in a place like this…?

***

According to the two old men, the next ‘Overflow’ would occur within a week at the latest.

We decided to take a boat through the sewer at that time. In other words, until then, we had to wait endlessly.

“To think I have to wait for a whole week.”

I sat in front of the dried-up sewer and picked up a stone, throwing it into the sewer. The dry echo of the stone hitting the bottom returned, thud- thud-.

“Everyone at Crossroads must be waiting…”

I wanted to return to Crossroads as soon as possible.

But the more I tried to go back, the more I felt like I was getting further away.

‘Besides, the Overflow means that monsters are overflowing out of the dungeon… which means that a defense battle is taking place on the ground.’

I had to do a defense battle without me.

Of course, Lucas was reliable as a commander, and my companions were strong enough… but the defense facilities weren’t fully repaired yet, so I wondered if they could defend properly in such a chaotic situation.

I wondered if everyone was confused or worried because I had suddenly disappeared.

Worries piled up. I wanted to go back quickly.

“……”

But.

If I succeeded in going back, what would happen after that?

Would I choose the tactic of sacrificing the prisoners again, and my companions would try to stop it, and it would be a repetition of that?

Would we have to carry out the defense battle, and lose another companion….

Would we have to keep fighting like that?

The road ahead was so distant and far that I was suddenly scared. I hugged my knees.

《Ash? What’s wrong?》

Then, Salome came up behind me, swaying gently. I was startled and turned to look at her.

And Salome, who met my face,

《…Ahaha.》

She smiled, narrowing her eyes as if she had noticed something.

I frowned, feeling annoyed.

“What is it. Why are you smiling like that?”

《I can tell just by looking at your face.》

“Tell what?”

《You have a look that says you want to run away.》

“……!”

《Those who surrendered to our legion all had that look. The feeling of wanting to turn away from the harsh and painful reality… it’s written all over your face.》

Salome came closer and whispered in my ear. In a sweet voice that didn’t seem to belong to this world.

《Just say the word, even now. I’ll let you run away.》

“……”

《Into a happy and perfect dream, where there is nothing you dislike…》

Then, Salome reached out her arms and wrapped them around my neck.

Whack!

I reached out and pushed Salome’s chin away.

《Uboob?!》

“Didn’t I tell you when we first met, you Nightmare bastard.”

I gritted my teeth.

“I’m not here suffering like this just to get self-satisfaction from some dream… I came here to take what’s mine.”

The conversation I had with Aither at the beginning was still vivid.

– You have a wish you want to fulfill, don’t you, Mr. Classic Otaku? Not something like money, but a more precious wish.

– I’ll grant that dream for you.

– As long as you still hold it in your heart, that dream hasn’t failed.

That’s right.

I’m fighting with my life on the line, to get my wish.

I’ve come to another world and I’m struggling like this.

“I will achieve my wish in my reality, with my own efforts.”

It’s painful and terrible, but.

If it was something I would give up on so easily, I wouldn’t have started it in the first place.

“So, stop talking about running away, and stay far away from me for about a week. I don’t want to associate with you.”

《…….》

Salome, who was pouting and looking at me, slowly opened her mouth.

《That wish of yours. Is it really ‘your’ wish?》

“……What?”

What was she talking about?

I didn’t understand, so I turned around, and Salome smiled, narrowing her eyes just like before.

It wasn’t the foolish smile she had shown until now.

《When I brought you out of the spirit world, I said I saw your dream. Ash. I scanned your past, down to the bottom of your soul.》

It was the smile of the Succubus Queen.

The daughter of a Nightmare.

A dangerous smile that a great seductress would make.

《Are ‘you’ Ash? Or are you Classic Otaku? Or are you a player? A tyrant? A monster?》

Salome whispered, scanning through the worries I had hidden in my deepest place.

《If you can’t clearly define who ‘you’ are, how can you be sure that ‘your’ wish is still the same?》

“……”

《If your essence changes, your purpose will also change. If ‘you’ are no longer ‘you’, how can your wish be intact?》

To me, who was frozen and unable to move.

《Now, ask yourself again… what is the wish that you truly desire? What do you truly want to do, and how do you want to do it?》

Smiling ominously and seductively, Salome asked.

《Who is the real ‘you’?》