“That’s the last one, right?”
After defeating his clone, Shin looked around and muttered.
He could not rely on his detection skills and might not even notice if he missed anything.
He joined Shibaid and the others as he continued to stay alert. While Shin was fighting, Filma had also arrived. With Milt and Yuzuha having applied recovery, there was no more awkwardness in her movements.
“I’m glad that everyone was safe. But it’s good that you made it back.”
“It’s not like I was being detained. I wish you had told me about the situation a little earlier.”
If Hades hadn’t said anything, there was a possibility that he wouldn’t have made it in time. Thinking of that sent chills down his spine.
After a while, Schnee and the others who had bypassed the black smoke joined them. The black smoke disappeared, probably because the fake was defeated.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m sorry for worrying you.”Schnee’s voice was trembling slightly. Even though she knew through Mind Chat that he was safe, she couldn’t feel at ease until they met again.
“Everyone is okay, right?”
“Yeah, we’re all intact as you can see.”
Next to Shin, who was nodding, Milt and Yuzuha also showed off that they were unharmed. Seeing this, Tiera seemed relieved.
“So, will you proceed with other members next time?”
“No, actually, the conversation is over. The other side is not in a state to talk anymore.”
Shin expressed his apologies for keeping quiet so as not to cause worry, to which Sety replied, “I knew it”. She seemed to have expected the matter to be over by the time he returned.
“We had to move quickly, and if we could all go together, there was no need to call Shin and the others. So, what did you and Hades talk about?”
“Why don’t we talk after we get out of here? It will be a long story, so I’d like to find a quiet place.”
Shin said as he looked around. All the fakes had been defeated, but that did not mean this place was really safe. He couldn’t calmly talk about it because the fakes could be revived after some time. So Shin suggested that they should go outside first.
Sety was not the only one who was wondering what had happened. Shin, Milt, and Yuzuha, two people and one animal, were summoned for a reason. Obviously, the members who were not invited felt the same way and wanted to hear what they had to say as soon as possible.
However, Shin wanted a little time to mentally prepare himself before conveying the information that he would be returning to his original world.
“It’s true that I don’t feel at ease here.”
“I’m curious, but I agree with you.”
Filma shrugged her shoulders, and Sety nodded her head in agreement.
Schnee and the others did the same, and the group decided to escape from the dungeon first.
“I’m taking out a crystal stone to escape the dungeon.”
When a boss was defeated in the game era, a teleportation point for escape often appeared. However, not all of them were the same, and there were dungeons where you had to walk back the way you came. After defeating a boss with great difficulty, it was quite the hardship to walk back the way you came, and it was common to want to make things easier.
As far as he could see, nothing that appeared to be a teleportation point had appeared. Therefore, Shin decided to use a standard item for dungeon escape. This was a crystal stone that, when used, would teleport party members to the dungeon’s entrance.
In the game era, there were many ways to obtain this item, and it could also be used for emergency escape when it was too difficult to proceed any further.
“Ah, we’ve already defeated the boss, so don’t we need to collect the item?”
“The item? But I can’t find anything that looks like that?”
If the fake that Shin defeated was, in fact, humanoid, there might be items that appear as prizes. But as far as he could see, there were no such items.
“No bonus, huh?”
“In a way, the Hades story is a bonus. You can never get this information just by adventuring. I was especially surprised by Milt’s story.”
“I’m the one who’s most surprised.”
Milt said with emotion that the mental impact was not comparable to that of a bad monster.
“Did you fight?”
“No, I’m just saying the content was shocking.”
Shibaid entered the conversation, but Shin broke off the conversation and passed his magic through the crystal stone when he realized they would end up talking here if things continued like this.
The next moment, Shin and the others were on the ground. The sun was already high in the sky, and there was no sign of the undead monsters.
He materialized Moon Shrine on the spot and took a break. Shin entered the room, saying he would talk to the members after a light sleep since they had been through serious battles.
Naturally, the group members were concerned about the talk’s content and said they could not rest. Shin dodged this by asking them to let him gather his thoughts.
Shin took a breath when he detected that everyone had returned to their rooms. Having materialized the Moon Shrine, he was a bit lost.
“Are you afraid?”
“…Have you found out?”
Yuzuha, in her little fox mode, asked while looking up at him from his lap.
Although Shin was reluctant to talk to Hades, he felt a different kind of nervousness when telling the person himself. She would nod. He knew that. He knew that but couldn’t help but think about what he would do if she told him no.
“No, I can’t do that. The more time passes, the harder it gets to say it— Let’s go.”
Shin moved Yuzuha onto the bed and stood up. He’s taking her to the other side. He wanted to tell her this story first.
“Good luck. Kuh!”
After being seen off by Yuzuha, Shin left the room. He headed to Schnee’s room. As he walked down a short hallway, Schnee appeared before him. It seemed that Schnee was also on her way to Shin’s room.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Yes. That’s what I was thinking too.”
They entered Schnee’s room together. The desk and bed were the same type as Shin’s room, but the bookshelves were lined with books on cooking and stories, and there was also a small ornamental plant. The overall atmosphere was calm and coordinated.
Where to sit was not important right now, so he sat on the bed, which was a convenient place for the time being. Facing Schnee, Shin took a deep breath to calm his nerves and opened his mouth.
“I’ll tell you what happened when we were teleported. I wanted to talk to you first because it had something to do with you, Schnee. I have two things to tell you. I need you to calm down and listen.”
As she nodded, Shin informed her. The conversation with Hades – and the most important part of the conversation for Shin.
“Go back to your original world…?”
“Yeah, this is something I can’t control, apparently. Just so you know, according to Hades.”
There was no guarantee that Hades’s story was 100% accurate. But Shin had no doubt. Yuzuha, who seemed to have the same knowledge, though not completely, also affirmed it. And there were many aspects of the story that he had to agree with, such as the origins of this world, Shin’s reason for coming here, and the perception of death in relation to the players.
Was it as expected? When Schnee heard that Shin was returning to her world, she was clearly upset. Shin then put his hand on her shoulder, looked her in the eye, and spoke.
“This is the first one. Next is the second one. When I return to the other side, it looks like I can take only one person with me from this world.”
Shin told her what Hades had told him. He talked about life expectancy. The characteristics of his race. The connection with this world. Many things that would be lost.
The following words would have been conveyed even if he had not spoken them. Still, Shin kept his gaze on Schnee and spoke clearly.
“Will you come with me?”
He said. His heart was beating faster than when he had decided to stay here.
“…Yes.”
His agitation had turned to joy.
With a small smile, Schnee nodded. Tears streamed down her cheeks from her moist eyes.
Shin silently hugged Schnee. He was so happy to have her in his arms.
“I was really nervous…”
“There’s no way I’d refuse, right?”
“I know that, but I’m anxious until I get an answer.”
Definitely not. It wouldn’t happen, but it was human nature to imagine being rejected.
“It’s okay. I’ll be with Shin no matter what happens.”
Schnee assured him, putting her hands behind his back and hugging him back. The two embraced each other for a while and then let go. It couldn’t be helped that her feelings were heightened, and she moved on to kissing him.
“So, what should I do to go with you? I don’t think it means I don’t have to do anything.”
“She says you have to make this become one with your body. It seems like you just kind of press it against your body, Schnee.”
They take a few moments to calm each other down.
Shin asked Hades carefully about the use of the items when asking her questions. Is it harmful to the body or the spirit? What is the best timing, time of day, what kind of conditions should be in place, etc. Hades was so taken aback.
Also, he had never materialized the items before, so he tried to materialize them once.
“Let’s do it now.”
“Okay.”
Schnee made a quick decision. Shin could not help but worry, but he had no other choice.
He took out three item cards and materialized them. They look like transparent spheres of about five cemels in radius. Schnee took one of them into her hand and brought it to her chest. Then, it seemed to be sucked in and disappeared into Schnee’s body.
“Are you all right? Do you feel any discomfort?”
“…It doesn’t seem like anything has changed.”
Schnee moved her body slightly as if to check how she was doing, and she nodded that there was no problem. Shin saw no indication that anything had changed.
Then, she continued merging with the remaining two spheres. There was no visible change in either case. However, Shin felt a sensation that he could not put into words.
“What is this?”
A connection was formed between him and Schnee. That was the feeling he had. It was a vague sensation that he could not explain, but for some reason, he was certain it was there.
“Is it the power of Origin? Is it something like a string that you can use to go to the other side?”
“I haven’t heard of it having this kind of feeling, but maybe. Considering the source and purpose, it’s not hard to understand.”
At least it was not an unpleasant feeling. Rather, it was a connection that felt somewhat warm. To Shin, this did not seem like a bad thing.
“Has anything else changed about you, Schnee?”
“That’s right. Besides… my status has exceeded the upper limit.”
“Status? It’s just as Hades said.”
Besides being able to simply go to the world where Shin was, Hades also said there might be some changes in status. The items were essentially from Origin. Even though it was a drop item, the power that was put into it could not be compared to a normal drop item. This was manifested as an increase in status. Shin did not expect it to exceed the upper limit, though.
“Schnee, does my title affect you as well?”
“Some titles have an influence on others, so there is a possibility.”
Some titles had effects on players other than themself under certain conditions. The most famous example was the increase in the drop rate for the entire party. Although the effect was slight, it was better than nothing.
“It seems that the 【Hades Surge】, which I didn’t know how to use, also has the effect of affecting the surroundings, so that’s also a possibility. I have no way of verifying it though.”
“There were really only a handful of people who reached the upper limit for their status, even including those from Rokuten. I never thought I would reach it either.”
In Schnee’s case, in addition to the effects of Shin’s skills, there was also a mysterious power-up phenomenon that seemed to be derived from the Ley Line. Partly because her status was originally high, she reached the upper limit this time. In numerical terms, it was over 1000. Compared to Shin, it still looked insignificant, but against anyone other than Shin, it would be monstrous. According to some legends, her ability values were such that she could easily blow off the head of an average monster with just one finger.
“Well, at any rate, I’m glad you’re all right. Now all we have to do is stay safe until we get back to the other side.”
“That’s going to be difficult.”
“…I guess so.”
Shin groaned as Schnee smiled bitterly.
It would be a different story if they lived in a remote area where no one ever came, never knowing about the outside commotion. It would probably go smoothly from beginning to end without any trouble. However, in that case, trouble was likely to come from the other side. Considering all the adventures they had so far, he couldn’t deny it. Yuzuha also approved of this.
“But I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“That’s right.”
Schnee’s smile was dazzling. I’ll protect you no matter what. Seeing Schnee smiling, Shin strengthened his resolve.
~TNG Vol. 20 End~
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