NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
Creeeak…
With the sound of squeaking hinges, the prison door swung open.
The Hunter led the way, and as Agartha and I stepped over the threshold, we saw a row of iron bars.
So this really was the underground prison from the prologue, huh?
But why is it so bright in here?
Even after I blinked my eyes, the interior of the prison was surprisingly well-lit, contrary to what I remembered.
Normally, underground prisons are dark and gloomy, the kind of place you’d expect to find in a horror game. If you weren’t careful, you’d crash into a wall or end up walking backward instead of forward.
I remembered how, even with the brightness settings maxed out, I’d be anxiously waiting for skeletons or ghosts to pop out at any moment.
Yeah, a game should be this bright.
How wonderful.
“It’s much brighter than I expected. People usually say underground prisons are cloaked in darkness.”
“Huh?”
Agartha looked at me with a confused expression.
Why is she staring at me like that, as if I just told her a joke that fell flat?
“What? Isn’t this bright enough?”
“Are you kidding? This is considered bright?”
She blinked her eyes in confusion, not grasping the situation.
What on earth kind of place have these people been living in for them to think this is dark?
Shouldn’t she, a Thief, have better night vision than an ordinary person like me?
Noticing our chatter, the Hunter turned his head slightly.
“…Shut up.”
“No, but Tanton here is saying it’s bright.”
“Maybe because his eyes are as dim as a fish’s. Quit yapping and look ahead.”
Was he trying to be funny? His tone was a bit less rough, but still…
I mean, making fun of a person’s appearance is pushing it a bit.
Back when I was in my twenties, little kids would follow me around, calling me a handsome older brother.
…I only thought this to myself as I walked, when the Hunter suddenly spoke up.
“Looks like there’s no one here.”
“What did I tell you?”
Agartha smirked and said this, while the Hunter merely nodded.
As we blankly walked down the corridor, we reached a dead end with a staircase leading up.
There were some writings engraved on the wall, as if etched by sharp claws.
The letters I saw instinctively registered in my modern, educated brain.
Without realizing it, I leaned closer.
That’s right… defeating Outsiders is quite the challenge.
Many knights have lost their lives trying to accomplish this, which is truly unfortunate… 
Among the recently discovered methods, using weapons made from Outsider flesh has been suggested for ‘defeating Outsiders,’ but beyond this point, I’m not so sure myself;;
That’s why even now, many knights are studying this, and I hope they find answers soon!
And that wraps up our talk about ‘defeating Outsiders!’
…
What is this, something that sounds like it came from a green-box blog?
Startled by the content, I tried to read it again, but then someone grabbed the nape of my neck, pulling me away from the text.
Looking to see who it was, I found the Hunter from earlier glaring at me with sharp eyes.
“Rondan’s first rule: Do not read words that are written by humans on books or walls. Even a psychopath would know this, right?”
With that, the Hunter practically threw me away from the wall with the writing on it, causing me to land hard on my butt.
“Are you okay? You don’t feel like you’re becoming corrupted or anything, do you?”
Agartha approached me, her face a mix of concern and shock as she began to shake me.
I had almost forgotten the critical rule here in the Snow Castle: don’t read anything.
In the game, it was said that encountering shocking texts could diminish your mental strength.
But honestly, I didn’t feel anything at all.
The writing didn’t shock me; it was more like a kid’s scribbles on a wall, oddly shocking in its own way.
By the way…
“Can you hear me? Stay focused! You can’t give up! Tanton!”
Agartha continued shaking me, as if I were on the brink of death.
I was about to vomit…
I reached out to push her away.
“Huh?”
But Agartha didn’t release her grip on me.
My weight shifted towards her, and to avoid falling, I reached out to steady myself on the ground.
Of course, I ended up tumbling towards her!
When I got close enough that our noses nearly touched, Agartha’s cheeks flushed red.
“I know you’re dazed, but we really shouldn’t be doing this here…”
Startled by her sudden awkwardness, I quickly stood up.
The Hunter, unfazed by our little incident, interjected dryly.
“You don’t actually think you can read that text, do you?”
“Well… why was I able to?”
“Reading it… you can?”
The Hunter’s voice dropped lower this time.
Honestly, I didn’t even know why I could read it.
And was that how the text was written?
I hadn’t progressed enough in the story to even find out.
How would someone like me, pure as fresh water, know?
“Right now, there are very few humans who can read. Most of them would actually use magic to erase memories related to reading. If you understood the markings made by Outsiders, you’d go insane. Yet here you are, completely fine.”
The Hunter stepped closer, scrutinizing me with an intense gaze, as if trying to discern something.
“What are you?”
I couldn’t even begin to explain why I could read it!
If I had just followed the game’s story, I wouldn’t be feeling this frustration.
Now Agartha was leaning in with bright eyes, coming closer.
“Are you perhaps a mystic? Or maybe you’re a psychopath who can read based on what was written?
If that’s the case, you might not go insane from it, since you can’t drive someone who’s already insane to madness.”
Maybe claiming to be a mystic would be better?
In this game, a mystic was one of the builds the Hunter could take.
…But I had never tried that route, so I had no clue about it whatsoever.
And if I tried to bluff my way through, I would eventually be found out and suffer the dire consequences.
Both of them were staring at me, as if they were waiting for an answer.
Couldn’t I just ignore them and walk away? Seriously.
Swallowing my frustration like blood from a wound, I blurted out the words that were scribbled on the paper.
“I’m a psychopath… so that could be why I’m fine, right?”
Ah, damn it.
The whole world seemed bent on making me out to be a psychopath.
“Did my words touch you?” Agartha exclaimed, shaking her fist and shouting.
“Of course! You got caught for wandering around naked because of your insanity, right?!”
“No, it’s not quite that extreme…”
Agartha tightened her grip on my shoulder.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed!”
They say the loudest voice wins, don’t they?
Agartha’s voice was booming, as if she had swallowed a train whistle, dismissing my excuse in one swift motion.
She even looked like she was about to tear up, which put me in a seriously awkward position.
Yet, her lips were trembling.
Was she trying to hide that? She bowed her head and began admonishing the Hunter.
“How could you frighten someone who’s already hurting? They might read it by accident!”
Caught off guard by her antics, the Hunter’s eyes widened for a moment before he furrowed his brow and pressed a hand to his forehead.
“What a perfect duo you two are.”
The Hunter shook his head disapprovingly and started walking ahead again.
Sigh.
Life is just… ugh.
But seriously, why am I able to read these texts without losing my mind?
I can’t possibly have a mental illness, right?
Surely not.
It can’t be that I’m just a little different since playing the game.
…I bit my lip and rationalized this in my mind as I followed the Hunter.
As I climbed the last step, I was met with the enormous hall of the underground prison.
If I remembered correctly, there was supposed to be a massive ‘thing’ here.
The Outsider, who first appeared in the story.
The so-called Watcher of the underground prison.
I didn’t know why an Outsider would be in a prison designed to enclose people since I hadn’t gone that far in the game, but I had suffered terribly because of that thing, which was infamously dubbed the “Newbie Cutter.”
Just thinking about it ignited my anger.
Around that moment, I began to uncover the location of the Outsider.
However, I was taken aback when I saw what was inside.
“What is this?”
The thing that was supposed to be there was absent.
Instead, a cute girl with wolf ears was snoring softly inside.
I felt an odd sense of déjà vu.
Not knowing how to react to this unexpected turn of events, I glanced at the Hunter and Agartha, only to find their expressions even more bewildering than mine.
Agartha was trembling in fear, her pupils dilated, while the Hunter looked more murderous than ever as he glared at the girl in the prison.
The Hunter’s expression mirrored the one he wore when he faced an Outsider.
Which meant that she was indeed an Outsider, but she didn’t appear to be one to me.
The underground prison was strangely bright.
The writing on the walls seemed like something a blogger would scribble rather than the rough script I expected.
An Outsider in the form of a girl.
The events of that day replayed in my mind like a panoramic film.
“Join the Super Coward Club, you little fool. If you like what you see, just shut up and hit that recommend button!”
Finally, I felt the coherence of the experiences I’d gone through until now click into place.
That’s right.
I hadn’t simply been reincarnated at Snow Castle.
I had been sucked into the Snow Castle where the ‘Super Coward Mode’ had been installed!