Having had a moment to consider things, Somnu realized he had exaggerated the pain he had been feeling after fighting the Dreadbeast.
Sure, he had lost an arm and almost his entire skin was peeling and throbbing at him, but those were pain he could still grit his teeth through without convulsing or passing out.
Perhaps it had been the lack of the System’s upgrades that suddenly enhanced those pains. However, with a slightly clear mind now, he knew for sure nothing could compare to the pain he had felt on multiple occasions in the past.
The popping of his tongue, his shattering eardrums, the melting of his crotch… Somnu didn’t even want to begin remembering those horrible memories, so he quickly forced himself to stop recalling them.
He also didn’t appreciate his transparent crown Memento from making him relive those moments, and all at once no less.
What was that dream even about anyway? I still can’t figure it out at all… He questioned, thinking back at the scene he had witnessed after falling into that chaotic spiral. The part that was still clear, at least.
“...”
Mr. Emberlyn’s granddaughter is still visiting me in the hospital, assuming that had been something in the present. I have no proof though. Even so, she was worried about me and asked the head doctor to do something to help me. He recalled their conversation at the end. If he can’t do something soon and nothing changes about my condition, they are going to pull the plug on me.
They were going to give up on him.
He was going to die at this rate, whether he could survive the Nightmare Realm or not, none of it would matter if his physical body suddenly kicked the bucket.
What would even happen to my mental consciousness here if that happened? Would I still be aware of myself and continue fighting until I die here, or would I simply disappear…?
Questions upon questions were popping into Somnu’s mind. No matter how often he racked his brain for answers or solutions, he couldn’t think of anything.
If I could see old man Emberlyn again, maybe I could ask him to do something… He guessed, running different scenarios in his head. Actually, if he already woke up and heard from his granddaughter, he probably already tried his best to help and it didn’t work.
Once again, he based that on the assumption his vision had been something happening in the present.
After a month and a half, I wonder how much time went by for the sly old geezer… I’ll have to apologize properly to him the next time I see him, assuming he doesn’t blindside me with another stupid joke…
The scarecrow had made a promise to the old knight before leaving, and he knew centuries must have passed for the trapped Eternal Warden Of The Forgotten Sanctuary.
At least, there was one promise he could keep.
The old man said his granddaughter would show up here eventually, and that our paths would have to cross. Somnu narrowed his eyes slightly, still relying on Mathros to carry him. I wonder when that will be…
Could the two of them become friends?
Could they become even more than friends?
Somnu allowed himself to dream of the different possibilities. His crush on her had been as obvious as the clear skies that day, as unusual as that was for the end of October.
In a different setting, would he have been able to talk to her, to introduce himself and befriend her? Even grow confident enough to ask her out and see where that would go?
He felt she could have been his way out.
Yes, a girl to bring him out of the shell he had trapped himself in, to force him to reconnect with the ones he had been avoiding. A girl, how very typical and cliche.
But that wasn’t the only reason. She was from out of town, someone who doesn’t know of Somnu’s past, and the things he had done to make sure everyone else avoided him like the plague.
She was a fresh start, even if things had led nowhere at all. Simply talking to her once could have nudged him in the right direction.
Perhaps, that’s all it would have taken to change the course of his life completely.
Dreams don’t work, unless we do, huh? Where have I heard that before…? Somnu thought, trying to remember.
Whether his spontaneous desire to dream could lead anywhere, or whether they would be completely shattered when he finally came face to face with her, the scarecrow still needed to know the real reason behind why she was visiting him without knowing him at all.
Either way, it would do him no good to continue dreaming.
I should focus on the here and now at the moment… He snapped himself back to reality. Instead, I should use this time to check the System messages about the monsters we beat and the rewards we got from it.
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature of a higher grade.]
[Rank of Nightmare Creature: Dreadbeast.]
[Dreadbeast Name: Thieving Slime.]
[Thieving Slime: An evolved slime creature based on the fear of slimes, Xyrophobia, the fear of narrow spaces, Claustrophobia, and the fear of aging, Gerascophobia. It typically covers the surrounding area in countless quicksand whirlpools, drawing all the prey around to sink into the confinement of the earth. On top of this, the creature will steal the lifespan and very essence of those affected by its Restriction. The closer one is to the precious souls of the damned, the faster the progress.]
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[Dreadbeast Level: Lvl 72.]
[All rewards have been split and allocated fairly to all contributors.]
[You have obtained 20 Transparent Terror Cores.]
[You have obtained 49 Additional Transparent Terror Cores due to Thieving Slime’s level.]
[Randomizing percentage of obtainable Ego particles…]
[You have obtained 1314 Ego Particles based on Thieving Slime’s level.]
[All rewards have been sent to your inventory.]
[You have successfully overcome the fear of slimes, Xyrophobia.]
[You have successfully overcome the fear of aging, Gerascophobia.]
Looking at those Terror Core rewards, Somnu couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of disappointment. So far, all his rewards had been received in full, but even when defeating a Dreadbeast, doing it as a team seemed very much not worth the trouble.
It was almost anticlimactic, unlike the rewards of the Ego Particles. However much Somnu got from that though, he could never be glad about receiving the remnants of the Sleepers who died before him.
At the very least he overcame some more active fears by killing that slime creature. Mathros didn’t have his fear of aging anymore, nor Lulu her fear of narrow spaces. And although he wasn’t around, Somnu could pretty much guess Benji was in the same position as Lulu.
As for Almon, the scarecrow didn’t know if he had any active fears or not for sure, but he never seemed very anxious or affected by the Dreadbeast’s restrictions.
Nevertheless, Somnu continued to command the messages to scroll up.
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
[Rank of Nightmare Creature: Specter.]
[Specter Name: Forever Gargoyle.]
[Forever Gargoyle: A stone statue creature based on the fear of stones, Petrophobia, and the fear of petrification, Petrifophobia. It typically stands in one place, forever waiting for its prey to come to it. And when they arrive, they immediately begin to petrify from the feet up, quickly turning to stone in mere minutes. The faster one fights back and overcomes this fear, the better.]
[Specter Level: lvl 95.]
[Specter Level: lvl 98.]
[...]
[All rewards calculations are complete.]
[You have obtained 9 Grey Terror Cores.] {1 Grey Core equals 10 Transparent Cores.}
[You have obtained 78 Additional Transparent Terror Core due to all Forever Gargoyles’ levels.]
[Randomizing percentage of obtainable Ego particles…]
[You have obtained 3060 Ego Particles based on all Forever Gargoyles’ levels.]
[All rewards have been sent to your inventory.]
[You have successfully overcome the fear of stones, Petrophobia.]
[You have successfully overcome the fear of petrification, Petrifophobia.]
Wait… How did I kill so many of the gargoyles when I was completely overwhelmed by the effects of Veilbinder’s Diadem? Grudgekeeper was also covering my mouth so I wouldn’t swallow any of the water. Somnu tried to remember anything he could have missed, but nothing came. Lulu did say things were too chaotic, and there were remnants of rubble at the surface of the lake…
Either way, he had overcome more fears, was showered with thousands of Ego Particles and got a bunch more Terror Cores. Now the leveling up could begin as soon as the System ranked up his Hollow Core. It still seemed to be processing or initiating that upgrade.
All these were simply the benefits of his efforts. He was just reaping all the rewards he had earned.
With all the other fun Fala and Grudgekeeper had while he was being rescued, Somnu’s current total was quickly reaching-
“Hey! Heads up!”
“!”
Somnu was suddenly interrupted by Lulu’s voice, only to see something that made him want to puke.
Black horrid spiders crawled over the walls of the narrow cave, appearing from tiny holes, only to unravel soon after and grow ten times that size, reaching easily a meter or more in width and length. Patches of matted, bristling hair that oozed with viscous fluid covered its entire body. Its multiple glossy crimson eyes dotted its figure irregularly, peering in all directions.
The many legs jutted out like broken, spiny twigs, each one twitching sporadically. And from the center, a slit-like mouth opened, leaking a thin trickle of dark ooze.
“Nightmare Creatures…” Mathros muttered, unaffected by the sight. He slowly lowered Somnu to the ground. “Can you walk now, or even better, fight?”
“Right behind you.”
“Good, keep an eye out. Now that the Dreadbeast is gone, smaller creatures will begin to pop up.”
“Seismic Stomp!”
““Wait!””
The two tried to shout, but Lulu was already in the air and plummeting down with all her might.
With one last look between each other, Somnu and Mathros ran at top speed, barely passing the point of impact the bunny girl was aiming for.
Somnu ignored all his now manageable pain and summoned one of his sickles alone for his right hand. For now, he would need to fight one-handed.
Some spider Specters weren’t going to stop him now, even if they literally made his skin crawl.
An active fear or two were more than easy to handle for the current Somnu.
***
“There! I see the opening!” The bunny girl shouted, rushing head first to reunite with her childhood friend.
Having barely escaped the cave in behind them, Somnu and company had quickly taken care of the spiders while running.
Now, they were finally only a few steps away from reaching their other party members, although Somnu and Mathros would still need to catch up to Lulu.
She was already out of the cave.
“Hey! What are you-?!”
“?!”
Lulu’s broken, cut off voice suddenly alerted the ones still catching up.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!”
A primal, ear-shattering roar echoed through the entire cave, a bunny girl’s unrestricted rage.
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!”
What is going on…?! Somnu thought, but it wasn’t long before he made it out of the cave too and followed the direction Lulu was running in.
“?!”
His stomach dropped before his eyes could open fully.
There, where Benji was supposed to be resting along with Almon, was now simply blood all around the tank’s motionless body.
“BENJIIII!!”
Is that…?!
And just as the bunny girl crouched down and revealed the wall Benji had been leaning on previously, Somnu noticed something that didn’t make any sense.
It wasn’t complete, in fact, it seemed although the culprit had just begun to draw it before he had been interrupted.
Half a circle was cut short, but Somnu could never forget that curve.
And yet, the blood crawled across the wall and completed its design.
The design of the grinning skull symbol.
And Almon was nowhere to be seen.
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