Chapter 57 |
"Soul Yeast is an item that, once you obtain the raw material, can later be cultivated in the Greenhouse."
When he would ever be able to open that damned Greenhouse remained one of Yeon-woo's great regrets.
"It is primarily found in liquid-based Hunting Grounds, including this seventh floor."
Yeon-woo walked through the fog-blanketed town. It had not felt real when it was a sprite image, but confronting it firsthand, the scale was unmistakably that of a 'city.'
The Drenched One followed quietly behind him. It seemed to take great interest in these Hunting Grounds.
"I am glad it seems to be to your liking."
"......"
"Yes, it must be rather comfortable for you, considering you are on land."
"......"
Splash --
Shallow water grazed his shoes.
"It is exactly as it sounds. As you might imagine, there are areas with seas and reservoirs, but zones where blood has pooled are also classified as 'liquid-based' by the system. However, those zones require descending to deeper floors."
"......"
"Not to your taste, I see."
Water and blood were fundamentally different in nature. For The Drenched One, a Water Ghost, water would be akin to a sanctuary, but a zone filled with blood would be an entirely separate space.
"However, the Soul Yeast found in such zones can be obtained in larger quantities at once. That is why one usually descends as deep as possible...."
"......"
"Yes, as you can see, I cannot go there right now. My body is not in a state to withstand such extreme environments, either."
It was only because this was the seventh floor that he could set foot here at all. He had a degree of resistance to water-related threats. Had he needed to go to the fifth or sixth floors, he would likely have lost his life several times over.
To that, The Drenched One asked further.
"......"
"Its uses, you mean?"
A fair curiosity. Yeon-woo nodded and answered.
"Soul Yeast is typically used as a medicinal ingredient. It can be processed into a sedative that stabilizes the mind, or conversely, a stimulant that heightens the senses."
"......"
"Beyond that... it is also used for somewhat specialized purposes."
Such as masking a specific taste or aroma to render drugs or magic undetectable, or destabilizing an opponent's mind to induce carelessness. It could also be used to disguise something and avoid suspicion.
"Ultimately, it is frequently used as medicine or poison, but the essential effect of Soul Yeast is closely tied to 'memory.' Depending on the method of refinement, its uses split into two."
Yeon-woo added.
"Reproducing a memory from the past, or imprinting a memory that never existed."
"......?"
"No, I have never used it on you."
"......"
"There is no need for such concern. It is typically an ingredient used on Human Guests. Its potency is not strong enough to be effective on guests such as yourself."
It was not impossible, but the efficiency was abysmal. Processing it to a concentration effective on Monster Guests required tremendous effort.
"Refining the yeast halves the usable quantity, and processing it further into medicine or poison halves it again. And then, to concentrate it enough to work on a being like you...."
Coco looked at Yeon-woo. The Drenched One did the same.
"...Indeed."
"......?"
"That is precisely the situation we find ourselves in."
"......!"
"I did not deceive you."
You followed along of your own volition.
"The method for obtaining Soul Yeast is simple."
Yeon-woo smiled quietly.
"Just kill everything in sight."
"......"
"I am not joking. It is a randomly appearing item in this zone. If you hunt and gather repeatedly, you will find one tucked among the spoils now and then."
Hunt the monsters here and scrape together the items, and before long, Soul Yeast would take up a corner of the Inventory. Yeon-woo's smile turned wistful.
"So normally, I would run the Hunting Grounds for other items and simply stockpile any yeast that accumulated along the way...."
"......"
"Yes, right now the Soul Yeast itself is the objective."
"......"
"And we are in a hurry."
The path to the 14th Floor had been secured, so now he needed to devise a way to reach the Central Control Room.
"My plan was to buy time for that, but if this small and cunning scheme of mine fails, then there is nothing I can do. My only option would be to drag The Guest Without Taste along and play a friendly game of tag on the 14th Floor."
"Not fine."
"Even Coco says as much. That is correct. This is the reality I face. I must therefore buy time to secure any means of preserving my life, by whatever trick necessary. And what is absolutely essential to that plan is this Soul Yeast."
The most pressing problem was that The Guest Without Taste's patience was approaching its breaking point.
"If negotiations fall through, I will ultimately have to face him head-on. However, in that case, there is a strong chance of serious confusion to my identity."
"......?"
"What a remark worthy of a combined edition of ten thousand nations' Water Ghosts. If you are fine with me transforming into The Guest Without Taste or a Mass of Liquid Blood, then by all means. While we are at it, I shall try being a triple personality."
"......"
"Your friend Lee Yeon-woo, The Guest Without Taste -- presumed lord of a principality in the eighteenth-century Holy Roman Empire, and a self-aggrandizing blood with an uncontrollable compulsion to dominate any body it enters."
"......"
"I wonder if there could be a more perfect combination for a multiple personality. Do you not agree, friend?"
"......"
"I cannot tell you how deeply moved I am by your great concern for my situation."
Yeon-woo thought this must be the truest friendship, forged over twenty-six years with his life on the line.
Perhaps the prospect of merging with an eighteenth-century curmudgeon had made The Drenched One recoil. Its expression was far from pleased. As expected, it did not care for other monsters.
Yeon-woo was lost in thought.
'As I suspected, it's not just the Room 14 monster it singles out. This aspect is consistent with the game, but now that it's become reality, that exclusionary tendency seems far stronger.'
Looking at The Drenched One's face, which had been pale to begin with but now looked more cadaverous than ever, Yeon-woo smiled faintly.
"......"
'It's already dead, so how does blood-flow regulation even work?'
"No?"
'I'd appreciate it if you didn't suddenly read my thoughts, Coco.'
The monsters of this hotel needed to learn to respect Yeon-woo's privacy.
Gently patting Coco in his arms, Yeon-woo continued.
"So there is nothing more I need to specially request of you."
"......"
Splosh....
The sound of waterlogged footsteps.
"As I mentioned earlier. This is the third time I am bringing it up, friend."
"......"
"Would you be willing to assist me with a hunt?"
"......"
Fortunately, it seemed to have no intention of backing out.
***
Sounds like water balloons filled with porridge being burst echoed in every direction.
'I'm not entirely sure what those sounds are, but.'
Splashing, something popping, and detonations far heavier than either. All of it was noise produced by The Drenched One slamming 'drowning corpses' into the ground.
The overwhelming physical force rendered the knife in The Drenched One's grinning hand utterly superfluous.
"Oh."
Another one burst apart.
'As expected of a Common to Both Versions Monster Guest.'
Its disposition was fundamentally different from Open Version-exclusive guests. If the latter at least put up a pretense of decorum, The Drenched One's instinctive aggression was beyond comparison.
'Its concept was a rainy-day killer from the very start.'
The ferocity of The Drenched One, endowed with the identity of a Water Ghost, reached its peak on the high-humidity seventh basement floor. It rampaged so spectacularly that Coco's mouth fell open.
"Oh."
"To think you have learned to express admiration. I am deeply moved, Coco."
Yeon-woo smiled with his hands clasped behind his back.
The drowning corpses, bloated white and glassy-eyed, were tenacious enemies that pursued relentlessly and dragged users underwater, but before The Drenched One, none of that mattered.
'What do you expect to accomplish putting a fish in water?'
They were troublesome monsters in the early stages when one had no decent weapon, but yes. Before two Water Ghosts, 'dragging into the water' was not much of an attack.
"Of course, I do need to be careful...."
Yeon-woo looked down at his own hands in their white cotton gloves.
He could not respond as brutishly as they could. No matter how bloated the hands grabbing him might be, the instant they seized him, his entire body would quickly dissolve into a Mass of Liquid Blood.
"......"
Then Yeon-woo looked at The Drenched One.
"...Hmm...."
He, too, needed to at least make a show of contributing.
In Hoone, hunting skills existed. Like cooking, it was one of the basic skills granted upon completing the tutorial. Yeon-woo fixed his gaze on the pack of drowning corpses being herded by The Drenched One.
Adjusting his glasses, he quietly extended a hand.
'...Like this,'
Was it?
BOOM—!!!
"......"
"......"
KER-SPLAT, SPLAT-SPLAT-SPLAT!!!
"...Hmm."
Yeon-woo silently lowered his hand.
An eerie silence settled over the harbor where every drowning corpse had been reduced to pulp. Amid the landscape of drifting fog and scattered flesh, The Drenched One slowly turned to look at Yeon-woo.
Yeon-woo touched his lips as if embarrassed and managed to speak.
"...A misunderstand...."
"......"
"This is a misunderstanding."
He meant it.
He could not clearly explain what the misunderstanding even was, but judging by the other's expression, those were the words that needed to come out first. The Drenched One, having been hit in the face by rotten flesh in rapid succession, looked thoroughly baffled.
"I did not expect it to turn out like this, either."
He was not being polite. Who could have known that a hunting skill without a single level-up would produce this kind of destructive power? He had no weapon, and the skill was only at level one. Above all --
"Originally, it is not this crude a skill."
"......"
"No, truly. Please believe me, friend. I had no grievance with you."
"......"
"Yes, of course. I truly... did not expect this."
"......"
"This is not how this skill is supposed to work...."
"......?"
Only then did The Drenched One furrow its brow and look down at him. It must have been hard to believe it was unintentional, but even assuming it did, there was a clear air of puzzlement as to why such an anomaly had occurred.
"Well, it is...."
"......?"
"...Most likely."
Yeon-woo smiled awkwardly.
"It seems to be because my body is not in a normal state."
That was roughly how it could be summarized.
"......"
"No."
"......"
"No, I am not going."
"......"
"I will not get in."
"......"
"I will not enter no matter what you say."
Yeon-woo shook his head firmly. This unruly Water Ghost kept trying to shove him into the water, and it was nothing short of exasperating. He was decidedly one who aspired to live as a human being.
"From the perspective of someone with ordinary sensibilities, it is unsettling."
It had been the same just moments ago. This creature had neither interest nor concern for Yeon-woo's well-being. That was why it ceaselessly tried to drag him into the water.
"Is that not so?"
"......"
It did not care if he was hurt or killed by another Monster Guest.
Just now, had he not informed it that he might merge with The Guest Without Taste, it would never have agreed to help.
'What it wants from me is simple.'
A 'friend' that provided warm comfort. That alone was what it sought to protect. It was obsession and possessiveness. Nothing more than a child's tantrum, demanding sole ownership of a toy.
Its 'protection' stemmed from precisely this tantrum.
'Maintaining its possession so it does not spoil.'
It merely defined that under the name 'friend.'
"......"
"......"
The Drenched One, which had been silently gazing down at Yeon-woo, broke into laughter. A long, thin laugh echoed eerily.
Coco poked its head out.
"Hello."
"Yes, the Water Ghost's infamy is alive and well."
"Danger. Danger. Danger."
"This is genuinely frightening...."
Even at this very moment, it was watching for any opportunity to drag Yeon-woo underwater. It seemed to have taken quite a liking to this zone, so the moment his guard dropped, it would not hesitate to act.
"I am sorry to say, but I have no intention of dying for your convenience."
"......"
"Please do exercise caution. As you saw just now...."
Yeon-woo adjusted his gloves and narrowed his eyes.
"Controlling my strength is difficult."
***
"Controlling my strength is difficult."
That was what his friend had said, a short while ago.
"......"
That he, too, had not expected it to turn out this way.
A worn-out soul and a ruined body. That transparently visible state lent credibility to his words, yet the Water Wraith did not take them at face value. None of the monsters in this hotel would have.
Naturally so.
"It would be best if we moved on."
"......"
"Do you not agree?"
It was not that he had not expected 'this.' He had not expected it to go 'this far.'
"......"
The Water Wraith walked behind its friend and thought.
'...Ah....'
What a shame.
If only he were a little more stupid. A little weaker.
How wonderful that would have been.
"...--."
...A slow humming trailed behind.