Chapter 40: Beneath the Heavy Clouds

"Ei."

Top Chat: Double tap to the head!
Top Chat: Target spotted, target destroyed! Target spotted, target destroyed!
Top Chat: As expected of Elf-san!

"Yah."

Top Chat: Alright, we shook ’em!
Top Chat: With that much of a ledge, no way they’re climbing up!
Top Chat: At best they’ll have to loop all the way around!

"Tou!"

Top Chat: Whoa, the encounter rate’s seriously going up!
Top Chat: There’s definitely something in the dark!
Top Chat: Go, gooo!

"Yeah!"

We abandoned exploration, scattering and dodging the black silhouettes as we charged ahead.
Without stopping once, we cut across the mansion and dove into the nearest northwest shadow—

"Elf, wait. Not that way."
"Hm?"

Top Chat: Kirishi-tan?
Top Chat: What’s this about?

"From the time it took until we encountered the shadow, and the locations we ran into them… I’ve pinned down the spawn point."

Top Chat: Huh, you can do that?
Top Chat: She’s saying some complicated stuff
Top Chat: I think I heard this in math class once… what was it called again…?
Top Chat: Triangulation?

"Exactly. Considering the interval until encounters maxes out around two minutes, the shadows must be tracking the player’s position and moving with an algorithm that closes in by the shortest route. If that’s the case, you can reverse-calc the spawn point."

"Whoa, Kirishi-tan, that’s amazing."

"R-really?"

"Yeah!"

Top Chat: Kirishi-tan getting shy and Elf replying like a little kid—who am I supposed to swoon over here!?
Top Chat: She’s saying some complicated stuff
Top Chat: The lamb loves shy Kirishi-tan and angry Kirishi-tan both
Top Chat: So true
Top Chat: Get a little angry again
Top Chat: No, more angry!

"Don’t you dare ask me to get angry! Anyway—this is where we’re heading!"

Top Chat: Okaaay
Top Chat: So the target location is… the courtyard?

"Elf, the shadows move faster than the player. From here on, you’re going to have to take them all down to advance."

"Got it."

At last we plunged into darkness. The only way to spot the shadows was with the thin beam of the flashlight in my hand. To search for them, we’d have to stop moving.

But—

"It’s running out."

"Wait, Elf, what are you saying now?"

"The flashlight."

"Huh? …You’ve gotta be kidding, it really is!?"

Top Chat: Oh crap, the light’s really dimming!
Top Chat: It’s gonna go out, it’s gonna go out, it’s gonna go out!
Top Chat: Don’t go out!
Top Chat: Please don’t die on us!
Top Chat: The lamb loves even a flashlight that doesn’t dieeee!

"You idiots, what are you even yelling about!?"

"Kirishi-tan, what do we do?"

"W-what do we do, you’re asking…?"

"I don’t have the gaming experience. Do we conserve the flashlight? Use it up? You decide."

"…Tch! Elf! The game isn’t over yet! Think of it like taking damage and recovering later—switch it off and charge through!"

"Leave it to me!"

Top Chat: Bold call right there
Top Chat: I’d probably assume it ends once you reach the courtyard and just burn it out
Top Chat: How’s the flashlight normally used in regular play?
Top Chat: Honestly, not much
Top Chat: The beam’s too narrow and the battery dies fast, it’s not that useful
Top Chat: So if you want to explore specific rooms, you just reset in the bedroom until you roll a bright day

『Gwah!?』

Top Chat: Took the hit!

"—Tch!"
"Elf, well done!"
"Yeah!"

Top Chat: Nice recovery
Top Chat: Keeping it to a minimum, but…
Top Chat: Their lifeline HP is in the danger zone!
Top Chat: Way too close for comfort
Top Chat: Dead dead dead!

Instead of batteries, we were burning through HP as the price to push forward through the mansion.
We were already on our last legs. The health bar was blood-red, the warning beep nonstop. One more hit and it would all be over.

But then—

『…Begone.』
"Who’s there!?"

Top Chat: Cutsceneeee!
Top Chat: Something’s actually happening!?
Top Chat: No wayyy!?

"Yes! We did it!"

"Kirishi-tan, how’d you know the well was suspicious?"

"There was that obvious big tree too, but if you think about the stage continuing, this made more sense."

"Smart call."

"Elf, your play was just as smart."

Touching the courtyard well triggered the cutscene. A young man confronted the same mysterious voice we’d heard laughing before.

『Leave now. Do so, and I shall overlook you.』

"Hah. ‘Overlook me’? You mean please overlook me."

『…Leave.』

From the well, a black silhouette rose. The young man shot it down.

『Fine. Once I’m done here, I’ll leave. Even I don’t want to linger in a job nobody asked me to do.』

Top Chat: Job?
Top Chat: Wait… by job, do they mean—

『Begone, exorcisttttttttttttttttttttt!』
"Not until I’ve purged you!"

Top Chat: An exorcist!?
Top Chat: The shadows were demons all along!?

The young man dove into the well. Kicking off the walls to slow his fall, he slipped into a side tunnel about three meters from the bottom.

『Alright then—let’s bring a sunrise to this needlessly long night.』

With that declaration, the cutscene ended.

Control returned to me—only now, a sprawling underground passage stretched ahead, splitting into countless branches.

Top Chat: A legit new map just dropped!
Top Chat: The theory was right! Theory confirmed!
Top Chat: There’s a story! There’s actually a story!?
Top Chat: I’m stunned
Top Chat: The biggest shock is Elf-san never stopped believing in the devs’ passion

"Sometimes it happens, right?"

"Happens how?"

"Like when ‘there’s a solution no one would’ve found if it had been an indie title’."

Top Chat: Oh, like maze games
Top Chat: Ahh… yeah, we did talk about that
Top Chat: Elf-san picking up weird trivia again and putting it to use
Top Chat: Hey, if it works, it works lol

"Being with you, Elf, really makes me feel how fragile common sense is."
"So you think?"
"Of course."

Top Chat: Totally feel that.
Top Chat: But that’s what makes it fun.

"That said, with your HP at one-hit-kill range, I guess this is the limit, huh?"

Even after the cutscene, the young man’s health didn’t recover. The same went for the flashlight batteries.

"Well, we’ve made it this far. That’s good enough. Even if we lose, I can accept it."

Top Chat: Yeah, can’t be helped.
Top Chat: Nothing you can do about this.
Top Chat: Just finding this route was hype enough!

"We can still make it to the boss, you know?"

Top Chat: …Uh oh, Elf-san is at it again?
Top Chat: Oh no, oh no, common sense is crumbling…
Top Chat: It’s over, it’s all over (the final boss’s life).
Top Chat: Count the seconds till the end (of the game).

"…How, exactly?"

Top Chat: Kirishi-tan opening Pandora’s box.
Top Chat: Definitely gonna turn into something weird.
Top Chat: Love that Kirishi-tan still asks after all that inner conflict, though.

"First, we lure the black shadow to the entrance of the underground passage, right?"

Top Chat: Yep.
Top Chat: Uh-huh.

"Then dodge its attack to the side, right?"

Top Chat: Yep.
Top Chat: Uh-huh.

"Circle around behind it and fire just one shot, right?"

Top Chat: Huh?
Top Chat: Wait.
Top Chat: Ah—

"Once it gets shot, it collapses and falls into the bottom of the well."

Top Chat: Um, wait, no way.
Top Chat: Does this mean—

"Then just leave it there and go find the boss."

Top Chat: Uwaaaa!?
Top Chat: Elf-san broke the game again!
Top Chat: Common sense really is gone…

"They respawn even if you don’t kill them?"
"How should I know?"

Top Chat: Any veterans here?
Top Chat: No, they don’t respawn…
Top Chat: Knew it.
Top Chat: Never once ran into multiple at the same time anyway.
Top Chat: And now another insane idea pops up…

"You guys were the ones who suggested it."

"…Did I?"

"You literally said, ‘exploit the computer’s quirks,’ didn’t you?"

Top Chat: Oh, ahhh… you mean that first sewer pipe game.
Top Chat: Still, no, you never said that.
Top Chat: Elf-san just overinterpreted it.
Top Chat: Elf-san keeps learning weird stuff and putting it to use.
Top Chat: Useful, sure, but I’m starting to think this isn’t good…

After that, they safely made it through the ups and downs of the underground passage. The moment they touched the all-too-suspicious door, a cutscene began.

『Yo, kept you waiting.』
『Begone! Don’t come any closer!』

Beyond the door lay nothing more than a withered, pitiful corpse.

『Fear the demon! You’re just a human! Just a mere human!』

The young man easily gunned down the black shadows that had welled up. It was clear there was no chance for a comeback.

『I’m a demon… I’m a demon, you hear!? How can a mere human… How can just a human be so strong!?』

『There once lived a boy in this house. His name was Alfred.』

『…!』

『Of course, the boy was no demon. Just an ordinary human. Raised by a wealthy and loving family, he grew up without want and was destined to become a respected figure in the land.』

『Stop…』

『But whether out of jealousy or at someone’s bidding, I don’t know. What I do know is that the boy suffered cruel, relentless bullying at his middle school.』

『Stop it.』

『And he couldn’t bring himself to tell his family. So he sought another solution. Yes… he sought it out.』

『Stop it! Stop it!』

『――A demon’s summoning.』

『Stoooopppppp!!』

A flash of lightning split the air. Not in the game—but in reality.

"Kyaaaa!?"
"Whoa."

Top Chat: That scared the hell outta me.
Top Chat: The timing was TOO perfect!
Top Chat: I screamed louder than Kirishi-tan out of shock, that was me.
Top Chat: …That was me too.
Top Chat: Same here.
Top Chat: Same.

"It’s pouring… I’m closing the curtains and turning on the lights."

"…Do whatever you want."

Top Chat: She looks like she’s just witnessed every shame this world has to offer.
Top Chat: LOL.

By resorting to summoning a demon, the boy did manage to drive away the bullying. But it left a deep fracture between him and his family.

Before long, he lost both wealth and warmth, was despised by his kin, killed, and cast into the well.
What the demon’s power brought into being was nothing more than a single vengeful spirit, bound forever to this house.

『Stop… don’t come… don’t get close… don’t let them get close…!』
『It’s over now, Alfred.』

The young man gently placed a cross upon the corpse.

『Amen.』
『—ah.』

The once-raging voice was heard no more.