Chapter 37
“Ugh, ugh…”
“If you tremble like that while cutting, you’ll damage the cells. Hold the blade straight and cut decisively.”
I scolded El, who was dissecting the limbs of the eyeball creature while tears streamed down her face.
“What are you guys doing? You too, get to it.”
I handed a dagger each to the black-haired guy and the engineer.
“So, based on the cases we’ve seen so far, a team of five members is the most ideal and reasonable…”
Is this engineer guy still going on about what he was saying earlier?
I don’t remember him being this talkative before. Is he just excited because he got included in the team?
I decided to ignore the engineer’s ramblings for now.
Even if left alone, he’d keep talking nonstop, so I’ll just let him enjoy himself.
Of course, I’ll make sure he properly practices dissection.
“You guys, hurry up and start practicing.”
“Uh, got it.”
“So, historically speaking, the number five has always been…”
The black-haired guy and the engineer also began their dissection work.
The engineer kept talking nonstop even while dissecting the eyeball creature. Is he even breathing?
[He is breathing, though?]
‘Seriously? How?’
[I don’t know either?]
Sometimes, things happen in the world that are hard to understand.
Thinking too deeply about it would just tire me out, so I decided to let it go.
Letting it go gave me some peace of mind, and with that peace, I started looking around.
“Hahaha! Die!!”
Swoosh!
On one side, the eyeball creature was being vigorously sliced apart.
“Ugh! Why is it so squishy?! I really hate this!!”
On the other side, someone was dissecting the eyeball monster.
How peaceful.
[Master, isn’t that a flag?]
‘Shut up! What’s wrong with things being peaceful?!’
[But every time you raise a flag, something happens, right?]
‘Of course, it’s all just a coincidence!’
The world is full of incredible coincidences.
I’ve seen plenty of incredible coincidences myself.
[They say that if coincidences keep happening, it becomes inevitable, you know?]
‘That’s obviously nonsense!’
A coincidence is a coincidence because it happens by chance.
If coincidences keep happening, calling it inevitable is just nonsense.
[But isn’t the result telling you something?]
‘It’s obviously a coincidence. If a coincidence isn’t a coincidence, then it’s a miracle!’
Boom!!
Just then, a loud rumbling sound echoed through the area.
“…….”
[…….]
This feels ominous. Extremely ominous.
[Master?]
‘No, whatever it is, it’s probably not that…’
Boom!!
[It seems like that miracle is about to happen right now, huh?]
‘Shut up! If something happens, it’s all your fault!’
Of course, nothing will happen.
This is a dungeon, a special space, so sounds like that can happen occasionally.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
Damn it, the sudden violent shaking made me lose my balance and fall to the ground.
“Ahhh! What’s with this sudden shaking?!”
“Everyone, be careful! This isn’t normal!!”
Of course, everyone around me felt it too, and chaos broke out.
“This is clearly an abnormal situation! Everyone, move to the entrance!”
“Knights, protect the students first!”
The knights began escorting the students toward the entrance.
“Are you okay, student? Get up quickly.”
“…Thank you.”
With the help of a knight, I got up and started moving toward the entrance.
Crash!!
As we were moving toward the entrance, the ground beneath us began to collapse with a loud rumble.
“The floor is collapsing! Brace for impact! Use your aura if you can—!”
"Those who have must protect those who cannot wield the aura!"
"Raniel!!"
Even in this situation, the vice-captain quickly commanded the knights, and Linia swiftly rushed towards me.
But isn’t her speed a bit too fast?
"Hey, hey! You...!"
In that moment, a strange sense of déjà vu washed over me.
Why did it remind me of that time when a gorilla grabbed me by the collar, shook me, and knocked me out cold?
"Ranieeeel!!"
"Stop! Stop it!! Control your strength...!"
*Boom!*
The moment Linia practically tackled me into a hug, a deafening explosion-like sound echoed, and the shock left me dazed.
'Th-this... damn gorilla...!'
And then, our clueless gorilla, with a startled expression, grabbed me by the collar and started shaking me.
"Are you okay?! Hey! Are you okay?!"
The last shred of my consciousness completely faded away.
"Raniel?! Raniel!!"
* * *
Hmm, did I really die this time?
First thing I see is a pure white ceiling.
It’s definitely an unfamiliar ceiling.
So this damn gorilla finally killed me!!
As I tried to sit up, fueled by my anger towards Linia—
"Ugh!"
A sharp pain shot through my entire body, forcing a groan out of me.
But why does my voice sound so different?
Could this be a second round of reincarnation?
No, but for something like that, the voice feels oddly familiar.
"Professor! You’re awake!!"
Professor? I’m not a professor yet.
I turned my head towards the direction of the voice.
"Ugh."
My neck creaked as if it hadn’t moved in days, sending a wave of pain.
"Don’t push yourself!"
A voice filled with concern reached me.
When I shifted my gaze, I could vaguely make out the figure of a person.
What’s going on? Why is it so blurry? Am I in the afterlife after all?
As I was lost in these thoughts, my mind began to slowly adjust, and bits of memory started to resurface.
The unfamiliar white ceiling was actually the familiar ceiling of an infirmary back on Earth.
The blurry figures were wearing lab coats, like the ones graduate students in the research lab used to wear.
'It’s a dream.'
It’s the same recurring dream of my past life on Earth.
But this time, it’s clearly a nightmare.
"Phew."
I covered my face and let out a sigh.
I wanted to wake up from this nightmare as soon as possible, but even though I recognized it as a dream, there was no sign of waking up.
I should’ve just kept my mouth shut and waited to wake up, but—
"What’s the situation right now?"
I blurted out something I didn’t need to say.
"Let’s discuss it after you’ve rested a bit..."
"Answer me."
Words I didn’t mean to say spilled out of my mouth.
The woman sighed and began to speak.
"Professor, you... you were running while holding..."
"Ugh!!"
Suddenly, a sharp pain cut off her words.
This must be a really bad memory, something painful, but shouldn’t it be my chest that hurts?
Why is it a different part of my body?
"Ugh!"
"The... artificial... algorithm... failed..."
"Ahh!!"
Wait, why does my cheek hurt?!
Is this dream insane? If it’s a sad memory, my chest should hurt, but instead, my cheek is hurting like crazy.
"Ahhh!! My cheek!"
Forget sad memories, this physically hurts like hell.
"Uwaaah!! My cheek!"
"Huh? Thank goodness. You're awake?"
As I woke up screaming from the intense pain in my cheek, Linia greeted me with a bright smile.
Her hand was raised high, fully extended.
"Put your hand down when you're saying something nice."
"Ah, ahaha."
Linia brought her raised hand to her head and scratched it.
It was so natural that if I hadn't seen her raising her hand, I would have thought she was just scratching her head from the start.
I touched my cheek.
It was swollen.
"Are you trying to kill me?! If you're going to hit me, at least do it moderately!!"
"Oh, I didn't use aura. What."
Yeah, right. If you had, my head and body would be separated by now.
Damn, is your strength control dependent on whether you use aura or not?!
A gorilla can tear people apart even without using aura!
[Master! You're safe! Thank goodness!! I was worried!!]
As I glared at Linia, numerous interface windows popped up in front of me.
'If you were so worried, why didn't you come out when I was in danger?'
[Well, you always said to prepare for the worst-case scenario! I judged that the gorilla was protecting you!]
'Yeah, that was a good call.'
I'm already feeling overwhelmed just after waking up.
Between Linia and the AI.
"Are you okay?"
"Are you okay?"
"Meow!"
El, who was worried about me, the black-haired guy, the mackerel whose thoughts I couldn't fathom, and the delinquent who was avoiding my gaze while doing something else in the distance.
That bastard is avoiding my gaze?
"Why aren't you asking if I'm okay?"
"W-what are you talking about!! A-are you okay?!"
At my words, the delinquent quickly ran over and bowed obsequiously.
After all, I even personally ran the washing machine for him, but there's no one I can trust.
Anyway, now that I've come to my senses, there are so many people worrying about me that it's overwhelming.
To the point where the nightmare I just had feels insignificant.
Come to think of it, our gorilla might have been crude in his methods, but he did help me wake up from the nightmare, right?
I reached out towards Linia.
"Eek!"
Thinking I was about to hit her, Linia flinched, but I ignored it and ruffled her hair wildly.
"Thank you."
"Huh?"
Linia looked at me with a dumbfounded expression as I personally expressed my gratitude.
Her expression was so annoying that I pressed her head down repeatedly.
"Stop it! You'll ruin my hair!"
"Do you even have hair to ruin?"
"Yes, I do?! And I'm not talking about that! I mean my hair!!"
"Anyway, someone as tough as you won't wear out from just a little petting."
"It's more about the principle! How old do you think I am to have my hair messed with like this?!"
"At least you shouldn't be saying that."
I spent a while messing up Linia's hair, turning it into a complete mess.
When we were kids, her hair felt like dog fur, so I used to touch it often out of curiosity.
Every time, Linia would just laugh like an idiot.
"Yikes! My hair!"
"That's payback for my cheek."
Linia, who was shocked by her now completely messed-up hair, seemed to have nothing to say and just pouted, closing her mouth.
After proudly turning Linia's hair into a disaster, I looked around.
There were signs of destruction everywhere, and the only people around seemed to be me, the black-haired guy, El, Linia, and the delinquent.
I wonder if everyone else is safe?
[According to my detection function, there are no casualties, which is fortunate.]
‘Oh, you did well without me even asking.’
[Of course! I’m meticulous, so I always do well even without being told!]
Doing well, my foot. The only thing you’re good at is spouting nonsense.
Ignoring the usual nonsense, I scanned the surroundings again.
Thanks to the debris, it’s easy to hide my body, but since I don’t know what’s going on, I can’t just stay still.
First, I need to assess the situation.
Looking around, there’s definitely a change in the terrain.
As I felt with my body, there’s no doubt an earthquake occurred.
An earthquake inside a gate, no, a dungeon—this didn’t happen in my previous life.
But let’s put that aside for now. Just because it didn’t happen before doesn’t mean it can’t happen now.
If this is the only anomaly, I’d be relieved.
‘Is there anything else unusual?’
[So far, only the earthquake you thought of has been detected.]
Since nothing else has been picked up by this guy’s sensors, it seems only the earthquake occurred for now.
[Ah, you might have already noticed, but the positions of the people have changed randomly, right?]
‘That’s definitely strange.’
The bald guys, the engineer, and the unmanned units from the Cliché family who were nearby just a moment ago are now gone.
According to this guy’s sensors, they seem unharmed, which is a relief.
But no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t make sense.
As I was looking around to assess the situation, a familiar voice reached my ears.
“S-so, attacking me isn’t a good idea, as I’ve been saying all along.
So, to explain again, starting from the Imperial Year 1930s… Aah!!”
At the sound of the scream, I turned my head and saw the engineer guy running away, his mouth running non-stop, being chased by a four-eyed creature.
“So, what I’m saying is, in the 1930s, there was a movement for peace… Aah!!”
The four-eyed creature looks particularly angry, and I can guess why.
I was curious how long he’d keep running his mouth, but I couldn’t just leave him like that.
“Linia, rescue him.”
“I was going to do it even without you saying so!”
Linia, who had somehow appeared, looked back and stuck out her tongue, responding to my command.
“Aah, save me! Ah! The origin of ‘save me’ dates back to a very long time ago…”
“Shut up! You’re bleeding!”
Linia leaped over the engineer’s running mouth and jumped straight toward the closing eyelid of the four-eyed creature.
Thud!
In the blink of an eye, she plunged her sword into the creature’s eyeball.
“Th-thank you! Linia, was it? You’re my lifesaver! Speaking of lifesavers, it reminds me of…”
“Raniel! This guy talks too much!”
“Talks too much? That reminds me…”
Linia, horrified by the engineer’s incessant chatter, covered her ears.
I should hire him later and give him a spot in the master box.
Now, I just need to find the three bald brothers and the Cliché family’s knights.
[It seems they’re heading toward the dungeon entrance.]
‘Show me the map.’
At my words, an interface window displaying a map appeared in front of me.
Perhaps because the prototype’s performance isn’t perfect, it doesn’t show everything around, but it’s enough to locate nearby life forms and find the entrance.
“We’re heading to the entrance. Follow me.”
“How do you know where the entrance is?”
El asked in response to my instruction.
Has this guy evolved from a hamster to a Chihuahua? Why does he keep asking questions?
“There are ways to know everything.”
I gave him the same useful answer as always, though it’s been blocked once before.
El squinted his eyes at my words.
"The situation isn't good right now, so I'll follow without any complaints, but I hope you'll explain everything to me someday."
I responded to El's words with the most genuine smile I could muster.
"Why should I?"
Hearing that, El, who would usually shrink back or stay silent, didn't back down and spoke up.
"Because we're friends."
Hmm, that's a bit of a cheat.
It's a bit cringey, but if I argue against that word, I'd probably come off as a real jerk.
Moreover, for some reason, Linia was nodding repeatedly next to El, as if agreeing with her words.
Since it was just a verbal promise, I thought I'd nod lightly and move on.
"Meow."
At my feet, the mackerel (a cat named Godeungeo) was fidgeting and tapping my leg, so I had no choice but to stop.
"What is it?"
"Meow! Meow meow! Mrow!"
Meow, no, Godeungeo, kept tapping my leg with its front paws and meowing.
I had no idea what it wanted, but if I left it like this, I might trip over it, so I bent down and asked the cat.
"What do you want? Strength? Power? Tuna?"
"Meow."
In response to my question, Godeungeo let out a powerful roar, leaped up, and...
"Meow!"
Proudly perched on top of my head.
So you just wanted to climb on my head?! I thought there was something more to it!
It's ridiculous, but thinking about it, it's just returning to its original position, so I should let it go.
"Meooow~!"
"Let's move."
As Godeungeo let out a long yawn, I gave the order to move toward the kids.
Just as we were moving toward the entrance for a while...
"Ahhh!!"
"Darn it! Darn it!!"
Screams were heard.
"Screams?"
As soon as she heard the screams, Linia reflexively darted out.
"Wait! You blockhead!"
I quickly stopped Linia, and whether she heard me or not, Linia, who had run far ahead, stopped and turned back to look.
"What? Why?! That's the sound of someone screaming!"
"Shut up and come here."
Linia hesitated for a moment, then puffed up her cheeks and turned back toward me.
"That's the sound of a person screaming! You're not planning to just pass by without helping, are you?"
"Shut up. I'm not planning to just pass by; I'm trying to explain the situation."
There was a reason I stopped Linia.
First, the number of people who entered here: our team of 9, and the knight squad of 7.
I examined the map in front of me.
Out of our team, six are here now, and there are 10 people moving toward the entrance.
So, the person who screamed is an outsider.
There are three of them.
It's a bit far from the entrance, and the number is small for someone who discovered an anomaly and came in as a concerned party.
Therefore, it's highly likely that these screams are from unwelcome guests.
