Otherworld TRPG Game Master - Chapter 331



331 – S6. Tumultuous -4

One, this resource is one that I have a grasp on.

Two, while I am restricted and in an ambiguous state, Aisha can still freely use her information manipulation and editing abilities.

Three, the magical girl can be put to work in tasks like magical power-stone cutting and magical power-welding.

Four, this entire process is being reviewed by a scientist and technician who has even created giant robots.

With the following basis, we were able to transform the Celestial Demon Tomb into a heart-thumping, *tadaa* Celestial Demon Tomb.

The gimmick of jiangshi bursting from sealed walls is swapped for a series of rooms you can’t escape *unless* you do OO, and the arrow traps are replaced with squeaky toys instead of arrows.

The unmanned characters we sometimes run into unprepared, we just use on-the-spot improv to trick them. And so, the plan progresses smoothly, and just as budding romances begin to bloom between people, regardless of faction…

“Dad.”

“Yeah?”

“Duck.”

*Whack!* Before I could even lower my head, Aisha grabbed my hair and forced me down. At the same moment, a chilling slash whipped past just above my head.

*Swish-*!

A few strands of my hair are severed and scatter.

Clearly a threatening attack. I lifted my head and identified the assailant who launched the sword energy from a distance. It was the leader of the righteous alliance, the one we met at the inn.

*Jingle.* The leader’s earring swayed.

“What are you plotting in the Heavenly Demon Tomb?”

“………”

“………”

It’s a love variety show.

“And you even have Shura Blood Demon Raksasha Baek Cheonma at your side. Have you converted to the Demonic Cult?”

I quickly spat out a summary.

“We are not righteous, evil, nor demonic. We gathered our intentions to prevent the bloodshed that will happen at the Heavenly Demon Tomb. No matter who obtains the ‘Golden Key,’ war is inevitable.”

“Continue.”

“So, I thought we should prevent the fighting and create a place for harmony. This is a transnational disaster that doesn’t discriminate between right and wrong, so we should join forces, even if it’s just until we lift the Heavenly Demon’s curse.”

Silence. A tense quiet settled.

We laid out our stance. Now we need to watch the leader’s reaction and start responding. With Aisha, we didn’t need hand signals or anything; a single glance was enough. She stealthily took up position at the blind spot.

If the leader spits out some line like, ‘Even so, we cannot join forces with the Demonic Cult,’ it’s an all-out assault. We’ll subdue him, tie him up in rope, and stash him somewhere.

“…There’s merit in that.”

But unexpectedly, the leader was being accommodating.

“I, too, was concerned about the useless bloodshed. But I was at a loss for a way to prevent us from fighting, and I had given up, but as the situation has become like this, I shall cooperate.”

“…Leader’s wise decision, this Zhuge Chae-rin is grateful.”

“We talked him into it, Boss! Isn’t this the best-case scenario?!”

“……..”

I looked at Aisha. Aisha was looking back at me with a somewhat sulky expression. It felt a little *too* smooth, making me suspicious.

Seeing that he’s not asking about the specifics of what we did, he probably checked out the situation of the revamped Cheonma Tomb on his way here. Even so, isn’t he lacking in questions?

The fact that we’re building a romance variety show set with a righteous-demonic crossover isn’t as big of a deal as I thought, I guess…? If it were me, I would’ve asked questions for like, 10 minutes.

But since he’s offering to help, there’s not much to say.

Under the tacit approval of the righteous faction leader, we began to more actively revamp the Cheonma Tomb. If we encountered any members of the righteous faction during our movements, we could smooth-talk our way out of it using the leader’s authority.

And the time came.

The fact that the Cheonma Tomb’s perilous traps are being turned into heart-pounding attractions means the capture speed is getting faster. Because those who would have died from traps are now staying alive.

Thus, half a day after entering the Cheonma Tomb, the righteous, demonic, and third factions simultaneously reach the deepest chamber, where the 『Golden Key』 is located──.

–

The conflict between the factions has been going on for a long time, and the emotional rift is deep. Especially now, with their lives hanging by a thread because of the 『Curse of the Heavenly Demon』. How could they not be fierce?

The warriors of the righteous and demonic factions formed a triangle, drawing their weapons to face off. *Shing*, *shring*, the chilling sound of steel sliding out cuts through the cavernous space.

The faction that obtains the 『Golden Key』 will break free of the curse and be liberated, while the other two factions will die in agonizing pain from the dreadful power of the curse.

A warrior of the prestigious Namgung Clan, renowned within the orthodox sects, drew his sword and roared.

“You wicked fiends of the Sima Clan! You treacherous eels, muddying and confusing the martial world! I will judge you here!”

His spirit was as unyielding as bamboo, and the Sima Clan’s warriors readied their unique weapons, their killing intent rising. Yet, one among them couldn’t quite do the same.

A master of the Demonic Cult’s swordsmanship hugged his great blade, staring sorrowfully at the warrior with a wounded expression, murmuring.

“You, you grunt of the orthodox sects… was our friendship… a lie…?”

“Wha, what…?”

“I knew it, of course. You despicable orthodox… it was all, all a fabrication! The orthodox sects are nothing but two-faced dogs…”

“Ah, no. That’s…”

The rigid bamboo softened, becoming limp and wilted. The warrior, who had so bravely stepped forward to draw aggro, swayed like a pickled radish, and the atmosphere deflated. A feeling of uncomfortable awkwardness, like barging into someone else’s lovers’ quarrel, permeated the hollow.

The Blood Fiends of the Demonic Path couldn’t stand the sight and stepped forward. They were supposed to be fighting a life-or-death battle, a brutal clash, but this was hardly exciting.

“Ha! Orthodox b*stards! You preach about righteousness, yet you’ve come all this way for the ‘Golden Key,’ risking your lives, haven’t you? Pathetic. This Blood Fiend will tear apart your thick faces and drag out your true intentions!”

“………”

However, when the orthodox sect’s sound arts master, holding her pipa, stared intensely, the Blood Fiend faltered and changed his words. He had a history of getting utterly thrashed by her while playing twister.

“Ex-, except for you… yes, except for you, and your family, relatives, acquaintances, and friends, I’ll tear off those masks and expose what’s hidden inside!”

“………”

“A-, also, excluding those from the same hometown!”

The Demonic Path warrior who had tried to grab aggro second also fell apart in the same manner, and the atmosphere became even more bizarre. By now, the other warriors were slowly realizing something. They weren’t the only ones who had experienced these sorts of things.

They began to subtly make eye contact or move closer to the people they had been flirting with. If a love had blossomed on the battlefield, it would have been a tragedy, but since most of them were doing it, it was more like a sitcom.

Finally, a master of the Demonic Cult’s sword arts stepped forward. He had failed to find a match, and he had come through the traps that were still working just fine, so his frustration had reached a boiling point.

These crazy lovebirds coming to the battlefield and making a big spectacle of themselves… he couldn’t stand it!

＞ If I kill just one of them here, that’ll be the signal. The moment they smell blood, those b*stards will be stabbing each other just to save their own hides!

＞

＞ And just as he made up his mind to swing his blade—

＞

＞ *Crush*. A delicate hand, yet with a grip that could pulverize bone, seized his shoulder.

＞

＞ “Hey. Get a grip.”

＞

＞ “Kuh, K-Kuh! Asura Blood Demon, Rakshasa Baek Cheonma! Are you defending those b*stards now!?”

＞

＞ “……Don’t use my title, and get a grip.”

＞

＞ “Weren’t you the one saying to say the whole thing, without skipping anything, just now……?”

＞

＞ The seed of discord was removed.

＞

＞ Now, it was a situation where it was awkward to fight or not fight. Only uncomfortable silence and glances were exchanged without a sound. It was perfect timing.

＞

＞ At this, the mad wizard tried to step forward and steer the atmosphere—

＞

＞ *Clink*. Along with the sound of an earring swaying, wouldn’t you know it, the leader of the Righteous Sect Alliance stepped forward first?

＞

＞ “This pointless fighting ends here.”

＞

＞ “……Alliance Leader!”

＞

＞ “Thanks to the arrangements of this young hero, it seems we’ve gained an opportunity to talk. The 『Golden Key』 is a path to mutual destruction, so let’s not fight, but gather and find a solution to oppose this curse.”

＞

＞ With the Alliance Leader’s suggestion, the atmosphere shifted. Those gathered there thought that, perhaps, they really could move toward peace and harmony.

＞

＞ And who knows what else could happen? If the three factions of the Righteous, Evil, and Demonic joined forces, they might find a meaningful way to oppose the Heavenly Demon’s curse.

＞

＞ “How can we trust th— Hmph, fine. This event made it clear that there are some decent ones among the Righteous b*stards after all…….”

＞

＞ The discord that should have naturally arisen was also suppressed.

＞

＞ So, what should be done with this 『Golden Key』? In response, the Righteous Sect Alliance Leader introduced Mima and suggested,

＞

＞ “This one is neither of the Righteous Sect, the Evil Faction, nor the Demonic Cult. At the same time, he has connections with people from each faction. He is the one who gave us an opportunity for harmony. How about we entrust him with the 『Golden Key』?”

O Hye-in, Woo Chae-rin, and Aisha quickly jumped onto the flow.

“I swear on my name! The boss is someone you can trust!”

“Je Gal Chae-rin speaking! He’s a man of his word, so you righteous heroes can trust him, I think.”

“Anyone who opposes this is this Asura Blood Demon’s enemy.”

The leader’s proposal was accepted. The mad wizard glanced around the room, then approached the direction of the 『Golden Key』. His expression was ambiguous. He’d been feeling a strange unease continuously.

But either way, the 『Golden Key』 was a key item. They still didn’t know the clear condition for this floor, but touching it would surely lead to another hint.

Thinking this, the mad wizard grasped the key.

Then.

Fwooosh──!!

Dark light began to pour out from the 『Golden Key』. It wasn’t a benevolent light. It was clearly malevolent information.

“Wha, what is this? Wait, this is…”

Crack, crack!

The malevolent information flowed over the mad wizard’s body, altering his physical structure. Parts of him swelled or twisted, an uncontrollable transformation beginning.

“Damn it, Papa! Let go of that key!”

Aisha’s warning was too late.

The mad wizard’s vision went black──

–

The first thing that needed to be broken was the trust between the children. The test subjects mustn’t pool their mental strength. That would disrupt the experiment.

They needed to suspect each other, hate each other, betray each other for the environment to be suitable.

That’s why, even before the full-scale experiment began, the wizards had already secured one of the twelve children as a spy.

An earringed kid.

“If I turn them against each other, you’ll let me live, right…?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Of course that promise was a lie, but the earringed kid cooperated with absolute devotion. She took a position against the magicians, displaying leadership, solidifying her character.

And when Yuna Yurensto requested cooperation, urging them to ‘pool their strength’, she readily agreed. Then, the very night after she convinced all 11 children and secured their promise that none of them would use the 『Golden Key』.

The earringed kid, after using up all the 『Golden Key』 herself. Screamed out to the children, who were suddenly awakened by an intensified pain:

“Yuna used up all the keys! Yuna betrayed us!”

–

My vision’s blurry and my ears are ringing.

So… I picked up the 『Golden Key』. And then malicious information exploded from the key like a claymore. Was I too complacent?

No. I wasn’t complacent. On the previous floors, there weren’t any sudden transformations into monsters, or the 『Golden Door』 turning out to be a fake, setting me up.

This floor… something’s changed. Something decisive. It’s strange.

Through my ringing ears, I hear the head of the Righteous Alliance yelling.

“That fiend has absorbed the power of the Golden Key! I opened my heart to his claims of peace and harmony, only to be met with lies. I’m sorry, my martial arts brothers and sisters. I failed to see through his deception!”

“…W-what do you mean, Leader! He’s been set up!”

“Set up? No! Look at him. Back at the inn, he had no inner strength, but now he’s gained monstrous power! He’s always been despairing of his own nature that prevented him from learning martial arts, and so he’s been plotting to gain the power of the key!”

“That’s absurd…”

Well, well.

That’s right, it was the Alliance leader who led me along with all this Golden Key nonsense. Was this the whole plan? I can tell this is a trap. But it’s okay.

The level of slander is practically kindergarten.

Since there’s no evidence or anything, if I just had a little time I could easily sway the mood. I opened my mouth and moved my tongue.

“Krrraek…”

……?

“Ker-luk?”

What the fuck.

No words are coming out. Just this disgusting animal noise like I’m clearing my throat is echoing. I panicked and looked around, Aisha pulled out a hand mirror and held it out to me.

My reflection in the mirror was… a petite giant monster.

“Krrraaek?”

A human-sized ‘giant monster’ about 2 meters tall. And the power I had was proportionally tiny compared to its size.

I panicked and rolled my eyes around. I opened my eyes and I’m a monster, is this… a sequence from that magical girl session that Rodelus went through? They twisted it around and used it like this?

“Dad, we gotta bail. Since your pretty-boy face turned into a monster, the humans are acting weird. They started drawing their swords.”

“……”

Shit.

Yeah, first things first, I need to get out of the Cheonmachong tomb. While they’re still unsure and the martial artists are hesitating. If only I could speak properly, but like this, it’s hard to do anything.

“So, we’re supposed to catch *that* thing?”

“It did absorb the golden key right in front of us. And it turned into a very evil… disgusting monster. Isn’t what the Leader said correct?”

“Let’s catch it first and think… It’s running away!”

*Thump!*

I hit the wall with my soft, slimy hand, activating a mechanism. A section of the wall spins, revealing a secret passage. I dashed toward it.

* * *

*Whirr*, like a throwing knife or arrow flying. I was braced to take a few hits before the wall closed, but—

*Whish whish WHIP!* *Thwack!*

“⋯⋯Ket!”

It flies off course. The aiming line was off.

Right, the *Great Beast* had a target-nullification ability. It must be working, even if just a little!

A small opening is made, and Aisha moves.

“Dragon Scale Asura Burst! Don’t follow if you don’t want to explode.”

*Fffft-ffft-fft!*

Aisha launched explosive scales, using them as cover fire behind me. I’m thinking as I flee. This is… malicious by design. Definitely.

I recall. When I tried to read Woo Chaerin’s data to find the clear conditions, it was blocked with a [Prohibited Access Before Act 2 Begins] message. The clear conditions were intentionally hidden.

Then, after being led to the Royal Tomb by the NPC… I stepped on a landmine called the *Golden Key*. It’s a structure designed to give the players a good fucking over.

And the session’s host is Yuna.

“Kreeeeeee-!”

“What’re you saying, Dad!”

Is it possible that Yuna harbors some ill-will toward me, treating me so cruelly? The thought tore at my heart and made me cry out in sadness.

“Krooo-oo.”

“I said, what are you saying?”

But, thinking calmly… it can’t be Yuna’s trap. There’s proof.

If it were a trap made by Yuna, she wouldn’t have mixed magical girl and giant robot worlds into a martial arts setting, on top of the firearms I brought. She, a lover of pure martial arts, would never make a hybrid martial arts world.

*Tap-tap-tap.* *Splish-splash, splish-splash.*

I bolted out of the Cheonmachong, through the secret passage, and the world was night. A stark, bright full moon lay sprawled across the night sky, gazing down on everything.

The situation was fucked, but the sky was disgustingly pretty, which just made me even angrier.

Okay, I get it. Who laid this trap. Who’s trying to cut me out by messing with Yuna’s Tower.

On the first floor of the tower – I met someone who looked just like Yuna.

She attacked me and Yuri Lanster, firing “Subtract” at us, and Yuri declared she’d hold her off, sending me up to the higher floors.

Yuna’s doppelganger. It’s her. She’s the one who set up this trap.

“…Dad, it’s nice that you’re figuring things out, but maybe you should be a little tense right now.”

“Krrrk…?”

From noble mtl dot com

“Look at the moon. A monster’s come.”

And in front of the full moon, the image of a witch on a broom flickered.

Yuna, all grown up… but the thing swirling in her eyes was clear hostility toward me. Against the moonlight, the witch spoke softly in Yuna’s voice.

“Yuna knows you’re a monster. She knew if she left you be, who knows what you’d do, so she blocked your magic, restricted your physical abilities. And now… you’re trapped in the ‘Great Beast’ frame.”

“Keek.”

“You know what that means too. The moment you were given the ‘Great Beast’ attribute, you became part of the NPCs. Now, you can’t escape from this ‘Tower of Illusions’. You can’t escape deletion.”

kk—!!

The world twisted with a screeching sound as space crumpled. A dark red mass swirled into a spiral on the witch’s hand. My danger sensors screamed, blasting out a bright red siren.

Even Aisha was sweating and tense. This witch’s output… even if I were at my peak, victory wouldn’t be guaranteed.

The witch, aiming countless arms that crawled out from under her pointy hat, declared,

“Die here, magician. ‘Yuna’ will protect Yuna.”

BEEEEEEP—!

Dozens of hands, glinting with the light of ‘Subtraction.’

“……KYYYYaaaH!!”

“You’re telling me to dodge?! You don’t have to scream, I knew that, Dad!”

We need a way out.