Chapter 102 - Chapter 102 (1/2)

"I am Esil, the first-born daughter of House Radiru. And my clan is..."

"No, not that."

Jin-Woo cut Esil off.

He didn't really care about the finer details of a monster family's history. What he wanted to know was the reason why monsters and instant dungeons existed.

How should he go about asking this question, so he'd get himself a satisfying enough answer?

No, he would still be okay if there was no concrete answer. He'd be happy enough to get a single clue, a lead of some kind.

He tried asking the same thing to monsters in the regular dungeons, but the only thing he got to learn was that they could only hear the order of 'Kill the humans' inside their heads.

'In that case, do these guys receive the exact same order, too?'

In order to help him compare the current situation with the monsters of the regular dungeons, he simplified the question a bit.

"Hey, do you also hear a voice telling you to kill humans?"

"Pardon me?"

Esil looked at him with a pair of confused eyes.

Because she was still kowtowing on the ground, he had to continue staring down at her if he wanted to talk to her face to face, and he kinda felt a bit uncomfortable about this arrangement.

'Tsk.'

Jin-Woo lightly clicked his tongue, and as if Esil was a little kid, picked her up and made her stand straight. And then, he stared at her face again.

Maybe she got scared of the unannounced physical contact, he heard her heart rate quicken noticeably. Not minding that, Jin-Woo asked her again.

"I'm asking you if you hear a whisper of someone busy telling you to kill humans."

"Oh...."

Esil hesitated and pondered for a moment, before opening her mouth.

"No. But, we do hear a different voice all the time."

"Okay. What does it say?"

"It tells us to... protect the space we're residing in."

Esil spoke cautiously while being extra mindful of Jin-Woo's reactions.

'The purpose of the instant dungeon's monsters is different from monsters of the regular dungeons?'

The sole purpose of the monsters from the regular dungeons was to kill humans, while the monsters of the instant dungeons were to guard where they were. The nature of the two camps' aim was quite different from each other.

'Wait a minute....'

Now that he thought about it, wasn't Jin-Woo a monster-like existence to these monsters of the instant dungeons??

Esil's complexion was still quite pale after bearing the full brunt of his skill, 'Intimidation', and he couldn't help but feel a wee bit of pity for her.

Just a tiny bit, though.

"How long have you been hearing that voice?"

"It's right after we opened our eyes in this place."

'After opening their eyes in this place, is it?'

Didn't that imply that she and others were living in another location before this? Whether that was a genuine or a fake memory, that's what was left imprinted in her brain.

Jin-Woo continued on with his questioning.

"Okay. Then, where have you been before waking up in this place?"

"We were in the Demon World. We just woke up one day and found ourselves stuck here."

"And what were you doing back in the Demon World before that?"

"We were.... getting ready for war."

"War, you say?"

"Yes."

Did she recall the memories of back then? Esil's expression no longer had any traces of fear when she was begging for her life, now only filled with grave determination.

"We were in the situation of preparing for war against a horrifyingly powerful foe that necessitated every demon scattered around in the Demon World to unite...."

….And that's where Esil's words were cut off.

"..."

No, accurately speaking, Esil was still talking. Her lips were clearly moving up and down even now. However, Jin-Woo couldn't hear her voice at all. Instead, he was blessed with the monotone mechanical voice spat out by the System.

[You have exceeded the allowed information threshold, therefore this conversation has been blocked.]

[You have exceeded the allowed information threshold, therefore this conversation has been blocked.]

[You have exceeded the allowed information threshold....]

Right until Esil's explanations came to an end, that exact same message played over and over again.

Jin-Woo's eyes gleamed suspiciously.

'Had you left it alone, I wouldn't have suspected anything, actually.'

Indeed, he might have thought Esil's explanations as a backstory for the monsters of this place cooked up by the System or some such. Levelling up, instant dungeons, quests, quest rewards, penalties, and even the process of getting his Class.....

He was faced with one situation after another that resembled video games, so if monsters had a game-like backstory as well, it'd not come across as strange at all.

However, the moment the System forcibly intervened, Jin-Woo became sure of one thing.

'Talking to her might give me a clue to solving everything, in other words.'

The System made a clear and definite mistake here, just now.

"Did.... Did I make a mistake somewhere?"

When Jin-Woo's expression became graver, even Esil's own expression darkened.

'What does the System want to hide? This unknown foe the demons were supposed to fight? Or the reason for the war? Maybe the end result?'

In order to figure this out, he narrowed down the scope of his next question.

"What was the identity of those horrifyingly powerful foes?"

However, at that moment....

Like a toy with a dead battery, Esil froze up on the spot. But, that lasted only for a little while. She suddenly lost consciousness and powerlessly collapsed to the floor.

Jin-Woo quickly snatched her, and carefully laid her down on the ground. Seeing that her breathing was steady, it didn't look like she was in any danger.

However, there was a frown on her face; perhaps she felt a bit uncomfortable somewhere. She seemed to be having a bit of trouble breathing properly, too.

In order to help her rest more easily, Jin-Woo began ripping her armours off.

Riiiip.

Her armours came off rather easily. He also tore the mantle on the back of the armour, rolled it up and placed it under her head like a pillow. It sure was a lot of work for a monster, but he didn't think this was him being too nice at all.

Because she ended up in this state, he got himself yet another clue, that's why.

'The foes demons fought....'

The System reacted way too sensitively towards the identity of this unknown foe, or foes.

'Could those beings be related?'

What if those beings possessed some kind of incredible transcendental powers, and for some reason, exerted their influence on Earth and more specifically, him....?

Jin-Woo summoned the Store interface.

He tried to wake Esil up with a potion, but it didn't seem to work.

'I guess I don't have a choice but to wait it out.'

Plop.

Jin-Woo sat down next to Esil.

And until she woke up, he systematically pieced together each tidbit of info she supplied him with.

***

"....Uh?"

Esil quickly raised her upper body.

Sensing another presence nearby, she looked to her side and found the totally-wordless Jin-Woo sitting there. Her shoulders flinched a little, just then.

'S-so, I wasn't dreaming....'

Slowly getting to terms with her new reality, Esil took a look around her. And there were huge piles of dead Superior Demons found nearly everywhere. Her brows shot up immediately.

Demons with little intelligence didn't treat other demons with intelligence as their kin. So, an unconscious demon like her would've been seen as a tasty meal.

However.....

The only reason why she was unscathed like this, was....

"Were you protecting me all this time?"

Rather than answering her, Jin-Woo raised his body up and then, extended his hand out to Esil.