Chapter 11: Escaping The Dungeon

Unaware of the boss monster’s feelings, Paul continued to stare at the sparkling scroll in the air.

The quest name itself was incredibly intriguing.

Wasn’t it blatantly appealing that it was related to the boss monster sitting next to him?

[King of the Forgotten]!

Considering the strangely filtered dungeon name and this boss monster whose name was still not visible, there was no doubt.

Thinking that proceeding with this quest might allow him to be with him a little longer, Paul ended his deliberation and quickly pulled the string of the scroll.

Then, the scroll unrolled with a soft rustle, and the full text of the quest unfolded in the air.

□ [King of the Forgotten] [?]

▼ Congratulations!

You have discovered a forgotten trace and succeeded in reaching this place.

This is a truly great achievement!

If you are an explorer, and furthermore, if you wish to know more about this world, you will surely be delighted in this situation.

Now, this is a place forgotten by history.

The name you know for this island, [Flora], is nothing more than a name people arbitrarily attached to it later.

Here, there are those who were buried and disappeared along with the history of this land.

The being you are facing now is the same.

You already know that it has no name.

Then naturally, this question will follow.

Why does it have no name?

All questions begin there.

Currently, it has no name.

Therefore, for convenience, it is called ‘it’.

When the world forgot them, ‘it’ also forgot a great many things.

Even itself.

You now have the opportunity to reach the secret ‘it’ holds.

Why does it have no name?

Why was it forgotten?

That is for you to find out from now on.

Why, you ask?

Because you have never once attacked ‘it’, and you have called upon the god of life and light, [Rasis], amidst countless deaths.

Through all those actions, Rasis has learned that you did not come here simply to kill ‘it’, for exploration, or for fighting.

What is the reason you came here, even throwing away your own life?

Do you wish to converse with it?

Why did you not attack it?

Do you want to become friends with it?

What do you want to do now that you are here?

Rasis, who held such questions, has given you a single chance.

The interest of a god can sometimes be a blessing and sometimes the beginning of a trial.

Which one will it be for you?

If you find the answer to that reason in the future, you will be able to grow even more than you are now.

Now, it is time to mark the beginning of a new story.

p.s. Escape the dungeon with ‘it’.

※ Your choice will determine the future course of this quest.

※ This quest is linked to the main quest.

※ This quest is a chain quest.

Reward: Experience, Title, Next Linked Quest

“Wow…”

Paul was so surprised that he let out a dazed exclamation.

‘Isn’t this seriously crazy?’

Then he suddenly turned his head.

And he hugged the boss monster, who was looking at him blankly from the side, with all his might.

At the sudden action, both of their bodies fell backwards.

Thump.

‘Ah, I can’t. I can’t hold this back.’

Paul’s face broke into a wide, goofy grin.

This was a completely, utterly insane quest!

‘What? I have to leave together? With the boss monster? Is that okay? Really?’

It felt like Noah had given him some kind of surprise gift.

Paul smiled brightly as he looked down at the boss monster pinned beneath him.

His face was not just bright, but downright mischievous.

“Let’s get out of here together!”

***

Of course, ‘it’ was flustered by those words.

‘…Leave? What does that mean… I can leave this place? That’s ridiculous…’

‘How could I possibly go outside?’

But looking at the incredibly bright, smiling face, it felt as if those words might be true.

Feeling the weight of another person sitting on its body, ‘it’ pondered.

It was a situation it had never once considered, no, could not have considered.

The very idea of leaving this place had never existed for ‘it’.

Leaving this place.

That single phrase belatedly created a huge ripple in ‘it’s’ heart.

‘It’ thought.

Did it truly have a reason to stay here?

It didn’t even know how or why it came to exist in this place.

‘In that case, wouldn’t it be fine to leave?’

‘That’s right. It doesn’t matter.’

Thinking that, ‘it’ wanted to go outside.

[Yes, let’s go.]

Though it knew the intruder wouldn’t understand its words anyway, ‘it’ nodded its head in affirmation.

At that, the intruder smiled as if to show it could smile even more brightly.

And it hugged the one pinned beneath it once more, whispering let’s go.

‘It’ thought the warmth of the one embracing it was quite ticklish.

And so, ‘it’ remembered the feeling of being tickled.

It was like this just a moment ago.

It had remembered the feeling of ‘strangeness’.

Realizing that, ‘it’ thought that if it followed this intruder, it might be able to remember the things it had forgotten.

For a very brief moment, ‘it’s’ purple eyes took on a green hue.

***

Paul wanted to stay stuck to the boss monster like this for a little longer if possible.

But the situation did not help him.

Rumble—!

Just after the boss monster said something and nodded at him, and Paul, delighted, hugged it once more, the entire dungeon suddenly began to shake as if an earthquake had occurred.

Cracks appeared in the ceiling, and stone fragments and sand rained down, followed by a succession of red warning windows that appeared before his eyes, dizzying his vision as if this were just the beginning.

[System: The ‘Dungeon’ has detected an internal anomaly!]

[System: The ‘Dungeon’ will begin a forced reset to resolve the situation. 30 minutes remaining until reset is complete.]

[System: Warning! The dungeon is beginning to collapse!]

Thud—!

[System: The time limit for the [King of the Forgotten] quest is changed to ‘Time Attack’!]

[System: Escape the dungeon within the time limit!]

[System: Failure to escape will result in [Death] and a [Failed] judgment for the Unique Quest!]

“What?!”

‘What is this?!’

Paul was momentarily stunned.

But the system messages did not wait for him.

[System: Commencing countdown!]

Beeeep—!!

<00: 30: 00>

<00: 29: 59>

<00: 29: 58>

<00: 29: 57>

***

“I knew it!”

Watching the seconds tick by rapidly, Paul jumped up from his spot and stomped his feet.

He was a fool to think they would give him a quest like this for free!

Why was a Unique Quest unique?

It meant that only one person could receive it, but it was also named that way because if you failed once, you could never receive a quest with the same content again.

But for the quest content to suddenly change to a time attack like this was no different from telling him to fail right now.

[■■■?]

“Quickly! Quickly! We have to get out!”

Paul hurriedly grabbed the boss monster’s sleeve and urged it on.

He had to get out of here first.

But where to?

If Paul had defeated the boss monster, an escape gate would have opened on one side of the boss room, but of course, no such gate was open now.

Run to the 1st floor?

That seemed like it might be barely possible.

He had opened every door he could on his way down here, and he had also defeated all the enemies he had to.

There might be some left, but he could just avoid them…!

The mini-map was also activated.

Paul made a quick decision.

“Let’s go!”

Paul grabbed the boss monster’s hand without a second thought and headed for the wide-open door.

The boss monster seemed a little flustered by Paul’s action for a moment, but it soon followed obediently.

‘Ah, I should have bought a two-person mount beforehand. To think that not buying a mount because I liked traveling on two feet would bite me in the back like this…!’

As Paul, busily planning his escape in his head, exited the boss room first, the boss monster followed and stepped out of the door.

Clatter—!

“…?”

When the one following him suddenly came to a halt, Paul reflexively stopped as well.

At the same time, at the clattering sound of metal from behind him, he hastily turned around.

At that moment, Paul was truly surprised.

It was an irresistible urge, enough to make him take a screenshot without even thinking.

And for good reason, because what he saw as soon as he turned around was the boss monster, bound by golden chains that hadn’t been there just a moment ago.

In fact, although he called them chains, he couldn’t tell if they were really made of metal.

They were just something in the shape of chains that glowed with a faint golden light.

They shot out from the darkness of the boss room beyond them.

They wrapped around the boss monster’s body one by one, binding it as if to restrict its movements.

First, it was the neck, then both wrists, and finally, both ankles.