“Yeah, I am going to die anyway, so I might as well do some good before the end!”
Of course, it was irritating that I continued receiving looks that said, ‘That person seems very sick,’ until the very end.
Still, when I considered what Yu Danyeong had done for me, I could easily ignore a few looks like that.
- Mr. Kang Seon. There is a strange book under your bed? <Crossing the Line with a Mature Colleague……>
- Get out of my room right now…….
“Hmm.”
Maybe I could not ignore it so easily.
Why was that the first old memory that came to mind?
“I am supposed to meet Yu Danyeong tomorrow at noon. Should I make some preparations beforehand?”
The method for Yu Danyeong to become a Skill Master was simpler than one might think.
She simply had to receive other people’s skills, as she was doing now.
However, she could not accept just any skill. Unless I intervened, Yu Danyeong’s chances of becoming a Skill Master were perhaps one in a hundred.
If I intervened?
Naturally, Yu Danyeong would become a Skill Master with a one-hundred-percent chance.
There was one prerequisite for that.
Money. And one skill.
Leaving the skill aside, I was someone who had never worried about money in my life.
Was it because my family had a lot of money? No. Of course not.
“Why would I worry about money? When I run out, I can just die and fill my wallet again.”
Naturally, I could not use that method now, so I decided to use the method I had relied on during my early regressions.
***
BZZZT.
The old automatic door opened, and I walked inside. Cigarette smoke, noisy machines, curses and cheers, and harsh lights—everything about the place tired my eyes, nose, and ears.
It was a gambling den.
More precisely, it was a Hunter Gamble Center. In other words, a gambling den exclusively for Hunters.
It was more dangerous than an ordinary gambling den, but the money and rewards were far more generous.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes! Is there anything you need, sir?”
The employee greeted me politely, and I returned his greeting with a bright smile.
“I would like to attempt an A-Rank Death Gamble.”
“……Pardon?”
The employee instantly lost his smile. After repeatedly looking me up and down, he cautiously asked,
“Um, sir. May I ask what your rank is?”
“My overall rank is D.”
The employee’s expression became strange.
Well, if some lunatic told me, “Hello, I am in the eighth tier, but I have decided to attend the top medical school in the capital region,” I would recommend a psychiatrist as well.
“Sir. A Death Gamble is, as its name implies, a gamble that requires you to risk your life. If something goes wrong, you could die……”
“Mister. A ‘Death’ Gamble is obviously a gamble where I could die. Do I look like an idiot? Just show me the way. I already know all the instructions and dangers.”
The employee looked slightly displeased, but I ignored him without hesitation.
When I entered the room he showed me to, a pitch-black darkroom stretched in every direction, exactly as I remembered.
The only things in the room were several jars, a chair and table in the center, and a large mirror beyond them.
After I sat in the chair and several minutes passed without any change, I grew tired of waiting and called out irritably.
“Come out already. I do not have time.”
At that, the mirror before me rippled with a soft light. Beyond it appeared the reflection of a beautiful woman.
【My apologies. It has been so long since someone visited this room that I have been discourteous.】
Long, curly white hair. An extravagant dress that seemed fit for a Western noble. A gentle halo that inspired even a sense of holiness.
Perhaps because I had not seen it in a long time, it was quite an impressive……
Cheap trick.
“Stop playing games and start already. I know you deliberately leave gamblers who have entered a life-threatening gamble alone to draw out their tension and impatience.”
The corner of the woman’s mouth twitched for an instant, but she maintained her composure and smiled brightly.
【If that is the impression I gave you, then it is due to my own failing. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the dealer and arbiter of this place, a being who once lived as the goddess of a certain story. I am Goddess Leia. Now, I shall assist you in beginning at once.】
Several hundred glass puzzle pieces fell onto the table.
【Death Gamble was the name given to it by humans, but it originally had a slightly different name. Its true name is ‘Trial.’ The Trial of Restoration.】
I did not need to hear anything else.
I picked up a puzzle piece and looked at the table.
It was a simple, perfectly blank table. I placed the puzzle piece against it.
“The way to win this Gamble is to complete a puzzle by placing the glass pieces on the empty table. I pass once I complete more than half of it, right?”
【You already know. It seems you have heard of it before.】
“The rewards begin once I pass the halfway mark. The higher the completion rate, the greater the reward.”
【That is correct. Then I wish you luck. The time limit is three minutes.】
I looked back and forth between the glass piece in my hand and the table, then used my Ability.
[Ability 「Rapid Reading」(D) has been used.]
Unlike a Skill, an Ability was something each person received only once. It could not be changed, sold, or bought.
The description of my Ability was simply, [You can read faster and more accurately than anyone!], a half-hearted sentence that made it seem like a useless Ability at first glance.
[Rapidly reading the ‘table’ and ‘puzzle.’]
There was a principle of this world that I had known even before I regressed.
The more mediocre an Ability seemed, the more dangerous it was.
Several dozen lines appeared on the table, guiding me toward the place where the puzzle piece in my hand belonged.
Rapid Reading.
If one understood it simply, it was an Ability for bookworms who wanted to read quickly.
However, since it did not specify what I could read, I could use it on anything.
Books, paths, situations, human psychology.
And even puzzles like this.
As I placed the glass pieces one by one where Rapid Reading directed me, I spoke to Leia.
“You do not like this, do you?”
【What do you mean?】
“The fact that humans touch this puzzle, and that not one of the humans who has touched it has ever succeeded in completing it.”
Silence followed. Naturally. How many times had I seen you?
【Human Guest, this is not a Trial gentle enough to solve while conversing. You may not be able to see them now, but the things inside those jars are……】
“Human body parts. Each jar probably contains eyes, noses, teeth, arms…… things like that. You were trying to pressure people with the smell of blood coming from them, so why are you pretending you hid something?”
【You know that and remain so calm. Human Guest, you have two minutes and ten seconds remaining.】
She was politely telling me to shut up, but unfortunately for her, I had always been exceptionally bad at listening to what she said.
“Do you not want to return to ?”
CLANG!
A sharp metallic sound came from the mirror before me. Several icicles that had formed beside Leia seemed to have tried to pierce through from the other side of the mirror, only to shatter.
“Give it up. You know that, because of the contract, you cannot harm a guest who has not failed to meet the stipulated conditions.”
【……Who are you?】
“A guest.”
【Those are not things that an ordinary guest could know. Especially not a human who does not look capable of even exceeding B-Rank.】
“Then does that not mean what I know is not something an ordinary guest would know?”
【Wordplay……】
CLACK.
I deliberately placed a glass piece down hard enough to make a sound, and Leia’s face twisted visibly.
【When did you already……】
More than ninety percent of the puzzle had already been filled in. As I filled the few remaining gaps, I asked,
“I do not like beating around the bush, so I will ask plainly. Do you want to return to ?”
【……Do you even know a way to return? Me, who cannot even leave this mirror?】
“I told you that I do not like beating around the bush.”
CLACK. CLACK. CLACK.
The empty spaces on the table nearly vanished. Only after I left the final three pieces did Leia finally speak.
【……I want to return. Even if there is no one I know left there……】
“You should have said that from the beginning.”
CLACK.
The table was completely covered in glass without a single gap.
The colorless, patternless glass gradually became dyed and began forming a massive picture.
A white snowfield.
A tall tree, barren yet unmistakably alive. Falling snow. Blue butterflies flying through the air.
At the center stood three people, holding hands happily.
A young couple and their little daughter.
The Winter God and the Fairy of Blessings, a married couple, and the goddess Leia, born between them.
It was not exactly a story that suited my tastes, but still. This was……
“It is an item designed so that you can see the picture only when someone else completes the puzzle. Your taste really is terrible.”
【Ah, ah……】
It was a cruel contradiction.
Humans had imprisoned her here, and they used this picture, which held memories of her painful separation from her family, like a mere gambling card.
But without those humans, Leia would never have been able to see her family.
【Father, Mother……】
I understood that she was happy to see her family.
But time was of the essence, so should I spoil the moment for a while?
SNAP!
I snapped my fingers and looked at Leia.
“You should guide me.”
【……Human Guest. You have perfectly completed the Trial. Please choose your reward.】
A notification window appeared before my eyes.
=====
<Normal Quest: Death Gamble (A)> - Completed
You successfully showed a wanderer who had reached the end of a story her hometown.
The girl, grateful for that beautiful scenery, wishes to give you a sufficient reward!
Reward List (Choose 1)
▶ 800,000 Coins
▶ Skill 「Ice Bullet」(B)
▶ Item [Goddess’s Tragedy (A)]
=====
A reward? Was that really a question?
“Obviously, it is money. Money. That is why I came here.”
[‘Kang Seon’ has been awarded 800,000 Coins!]
Leia wiped away her tears and extended both hands through the mirror. They held a bulging bag of coins.
【……Thank you, Human Guest. To be able to see my hometown, even for a moment, I……】
“For a moment? What are you talking about?”
【Pardon?】
“You still have a lot to do. Why are you already thinking of resting? You said you wanted to go to .”
【H-Human Guest. I said that without thinking earlier, but I cannot leave this mirror. Extending my hands when a Gamble ends is the most I can do……】
I accepted the bag of coins, took Leia’s hand, and placed it on my shoulder.
“A hand is enough. You have an attack Skill, right? Ice Bullet. Shoot me with it.”
【……An attack Skill?】
“Yeah.”
I gave her the friendliest smile I could manage. That would make her a little less wary and suspicious.
But why was this woman looking at me as though I were some perverted b×stard?