Otherworld TRPG Game Master - Chapter 336



336 – S6. A Long Escape

In the dead of night, one of the children couldn’t bear the desire to escape. Perhaps it was closer to a giving-up desperation, a wish to end it all.

‘That red door is dangerous, let’s not go in and observe for now.’

Despite the implicit agreement from yesterday, the child gave in to impulse. Slipping quietly while the other children slept. And stood before the red door.

Heart pounding like crazy, cold sweat dripping. Couldn’t tell if this feeling was anticipation or anxiety. And then, opened the door.

Screeeeeak.

Beyond the door was a short hallway. A completely ordinary hallway.

The child throws a small dust ball, made from the dust piled up in a corner of the prison cell. Thud. Roll, roll. But there was no particular reaction.

Then, maybe…really? Could we actually get out?

Guilt stabbed at their chest, but it was fleeting. Anything was better as long as they could get out of this place. Actually, it was the other kids’ fault for not being brave enough first.

That’s right. I’m brave, so I’m getting a reward. The child took a step forward.

About halfway down the hallway.

BANG!

The red door that they’d entered suddenly slammed shut.

Squeak. Squeak.

And from the ceiling of the corridor, a grotesque thing with hundreds of legs slowly descended. Each leg had multiple appendages, and it looked like it would really… hurt.

“No, no, no…!”

The child instantly turned and bolted towards the entrance they had come through. They pulled and pushed and even kicked at the door, trying to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

*Weeeeeeng! Clack-clack, *caga-gagak*.

It’s coming. It’s coming closer.

“No! I won’t go out, I won’t even dream of escaping! Just once, just once, please let me liveee──!!”

*Bang bang bang bang bang!*

The child pounded madly on the red door. The noise woke the other sleeping children. They stumbled out, their eyes still drowsy. And what they witnessed was…

*Weeeeeeeeng──!*

A terrifying sound, like something being ground.

*Bang, bang bang… bang…*

The trembling beyond the red door gradually lessened.

And then, silence.

*Sssrrk.* Red liquid seeped out from under the door. The children understood the meaning instantly. Another child had gained freedom from this reality.

Everyone’s faces paled.

It was a trap after all. A trap where those who entered were brutally murdered. But then, the genteel voice of 『Goat』 echoed throughout the entire prison.

“How unfortunate. He succeeded in reaching the red door, but he did not manage to pass through. He only made it halfway down the 10-meter corridor. As there was no successful participant, there are still chances left. Don’t be disheartened.”

“………”

A 10-meter corridor. He only made it halfway. There are still chances.

The thoughts become tangled. No, rather, they become clear. There was no way these evil sorcerers would release them without any conditions. But… the offer to release them if they simply passed through a murder trap.

This was a wager the cruel sorcerers themselves would set. Some of the children swallowed hard. Maybe they really would let them go. It’d be incredibly difficult, of course, but… maybe…

If only I could succeed.

Thinking coldly, they would have known it wasn’t true. Or perhaps, they already did. The sorcerers, who had crushed their hopes in every way possible up until now, there was no way they’d actually let them go.

But they needed hope.

They didn’t want to accept the awful reality that they were going to suffer here forever and die. They wanted to live. To live, they needed hope. They needed the hope of escaping reality.

Even if that hope was a lie!

The looks in some of the children’s eyes shifted. They sized each other up. Who would be the first to ‘challenge’ it? If someone else ‘challenged’ it first and succeeded, then I wouldn’t be able to escape. But if I stepped forward first and died, that wouldn’t do…

Before this collective escape could take hold.

“…Don’t go in. You all know, it’s a trap. You shouldn’t go in!”

Yuna Yurensto stood in their way.

–

So. Yuna stood in their way.

I used the Great Beast’s ability to read the memories of this floor, pondered them, and then decided how to resolve the situation. It was with a fist.

“If you go in, you die.”

I said it plainly.

But the reaction that came back wasn’t plain. They buzzed like a disturbed hive, shooting hostility in all directions.

“Hah, I don’t know who you are… mind your own business. We’re going to ‘Paradise’ no matter what anyone says.”

“Yeah, that’s right! You seem to be in cahoots with that little brat who keeps slandering ‘Paradise’ as hell, if you’re not interested, just get lost!”

“Even if it’s really a trap, we’re saying we’ll take the risk, what business is it of yours! What do you think you are…”

KuuuNG—!!

I tapped the ground lightly with the right arm of the 『Armored Great Beast』.

“So, you’re someone after all. My apologies.”

“Yes, we’ll drop the matter.”

“Thank you for the advice. We’ll reconsider.”

And just like that, they became incredibly polite, like magic. To change a person’s attitude with a single gesture, that’s another kind of illusion magic.

Alright, case closed.

Just as I was dusting my hands off, Pero looked up at me with a very strange expression.

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

“What?”

“Is, is this…right?”

“Not exactly the standard clear route.”

Because originally, I wouldn’t even be able to use magic and should be this weak, helpless mess with just my mouth flapping. Back then, I would have had to try all sorts of methods.

People who willingly step into a cycle that’s bound to ruin their lives…they do it when they’ve lost all hope. The reason they cling to that obvious trap called 『Paradise』 is the same.

There’s no hope of their lives getting better in this apocalyptic world, they feel like they’re about to die any minute, and then they hear a sweet story. So, they try to gamble on that tiny sliver of possibility.

If you wanted to lead them, you’d have to show them a new 『Hope』. Or convince Lero, who’s shouting about 『Paradise』.

But why should I, when I have the power?

If solving a problem is difficult and complicated, maybe you should check if you just lacked the power.

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

“Hey, your glare is piercing. Don’t look at me like that. I don’t like solving things this way either. But the situation right now is crazy busy, okay?”

“A god of destruction…”

“And don’t think you’re getting away with just threats. From now on, call me the Creator God.”

It’s not like it’s hard to just build a real paradise here, a solid safety bunker.

“Dreaming Mirror, 『Limited Transformation Release』.”

Shwoosh-shwoosh-shwoosh-!

I switched only my arms into giant monster mode and began resource reconstruction. I’m manipulating the sand that makes up this wasteland, converting it into steel, and catching passing mutants to turn them into organic matter.

This is the power of magic. It’s so refreshing. Even when I was being chased by Abraham and the demons, if I had only had this power, I would’ve crushed them all and started normalizing the world.

After a bit of tinkering, the bunker was complete.

“B-bunker, the location of 『Paradise』… ugh-ge-geck.”

Leia was twitching, like she had a bug. As a hostile NPC, she’s supposed to persuade travelers to come to 『Paradise』, but seeing the bunker appear right in front of her, it seemed her algorithm got twisted.

The travelers who had been hell-bent on finding 『Paradise』 until just now seemed bugged too. They stared blankly at the newly built bunker.

“Who do you think you are to stop us!”

“I’m going to Paradise, ga-gak. Going!”

“Gee-geek. Geegeegeek. Eegeek.”

They started hitting me, surrounding me.

Pero was startled by the sudden situation and asked if I was alright.

“M-my God! Are you alright… you’re alright.”

“Yeah.”

Even though I suppressed the output while in transformed form, my body’s output is still that of a 150-meter giant monster. No matter how much they beat me like they’re picking nits off, it doesn’t even tickle. I just tanked the incoming punches and kicks with raw force.

Then, a 『Golden Door』 appeared near me with a *sharaaang*. Alright, floor 4 cleared.

Pero muttered, looking a bit disillusioned.

“Guess… the world really is all about power, huh…”

“Having it makes things easy, that’s for sure. Pero, there’s something you need to do now. I’m going to leave some of my goo here, and you’re going to use it to coat this whole world. Got it?”

“…Yes, sir.”

That took about eight minutes, give or take. Basically a speedrun for a session. This is why it’s good to follow the character creation conditions GMs set.

If the scenario was supposed to be a modern spy thriller, but someone brings a 9th Circle Archmage, the case would be closed in 5 minutes, and the session would implode.

While I was getting lost in thought, I whipped up a goo tank and a water gun. Pero shot a few blasts at the ground, and after seeing the visuals, he asked me.

“But why do we need to spread the goo? It looks kinda… creepy, like a mutation.”

“Well… it’s how we’re going to consume the world. There’s this nasty witch holding Princess Yuna hostage on the top floor, and this is essential if we want to fight her.”

“Then is that part of the consumption process too?”

“Huh?”

Pero pointed a finger to the sand mountain beyond. It was about 1/3 the size of a mega-monster, and it was being chipped away from the top down at an insane speed.

It wasn’t like a strong wind was blowing. It was rising up in the air, floating, like a UFO was sucking it up, then poof, it vanished.

“…Whoa, she already figured it out?”

That was 100% Mirror Yuna’s doing.

I’m taking over the floor and trying to use it as my weapon, so Mirror Yuna started to recover her resources. The sand mountain evaporated in a blink. And in its place was nothing but a blank, white void.

Guess we’re playing territory wars now.

“Grab the water gun, Pero, let’s finish this prep work and move up.”

“Y-yes, sir…!”

And so, Pero and I began our tug-of-war for territory.

I expanded my territory, flying through the air in my giant monster form, dripping slime, sliding and smearing it across the ground.

Mirror Yuna was also speeding up. Steel structures, cacti, whatever—they’d get sucked into the void and vanish like it was nothing.

Since both the slime and the void were white, the world was becoming increasingly white. In a way, it felt worse than the usual apocalypse vibe. They say locking a person in a white room drives them mad, right?

This ‘coloring over’ was basically just simple grunt work, so Pero mechanically sprayed his water gun while talking to me. It was about love advice.

“…You know I have a crush on the princess, right…?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Well, um. But she doesn’t see me that way. So every night I’m agonizing. Maybe… maybe it’d be better to just give up this feeling.”

“I know a girl who said even if it hurts her, she can’t give up on love. But why all of a sudden, and why now? If you need love advice, there are tons of people in the bunker who are better at it than me.”

Pero looked around this world with a strange expression.

“…Isn’t this floor about that? The ‘hope’ that will kill you no matter what you choose…and the wanderers who fall for it. I was wondering what would’ve happened if the god hadn’t come.”

“And?”

“If the god hadn’t instantly made the bunker… the only hope those people would have had was that fake hope Leao presented. Even if they weren’t fooled by Leao, their lives wouldn’t have gotten better.”

A life predestined for ruin and death.

A life that only leads to despair the more you think about it, where a poisoned apple is secretly offered.

“I think people who don’t know that ‘hope’ is fake should be stopped. But what about people who *do* know it’s fake, but choose it anyway? If they know and accept it, do I even have the right to stop them…?”

“…….”

“Is there ‘hope’ in this world that you have to give up…?”

To declare you’ll gladly endure love even if it only brings pain.

And to decide you’ll throw yourself at hope knowing it will lead to death, because there’s no other reason to live.

From noble mtl dot com

Those two propositions looked so similar that Pero was wavering between them.

I paused for a moment to think.

“…I’m not sure which side is right or wrong. But, I think I know how to accept the question.”

“How?”

“Ultimately, it’s up to each person to decide.”

The standards for right and wrong vary wildly, change with circumstances, and aren’t clearly defined. There’s no absolute imperative to end their escape.

That’s why the choice is difficult. All sorts of modifiers blur the vision.

“You, me, everyone has to stand at a crossroads and make a choice. Profit and loss, stress and joy, sometimes even conflict with others.”

“…………”

“But if you add up all those arrows… surely your heart will converge in one direction. So what we need to think about isn’t whether this ‘hope’ we must abandon exists.”

It’s whether *I* can accept that ‘hope’ or not.

“…You couldn’t accept it?”

“Yeah. To knowingly walk into a situation where you’re destined to fail, what a miserable way to die? I can’t accept that kind of approach. No matter what the person says, I have to stop it. I believe that’s the path to a happy ending for everyone.”

That’s how I’ve lived my life.

I’ve changed the hearts of princes and princesses, reformed a black magician, given an assassin a chance, helped a boy grow, released a knight from his yoke, and thrown myself into danger for the people I loved.

This time is no different.

After flicking mirror Yuna on the forehead, I’ll shatter the drab dream of ‘living happily in a world where everyone you love is gone.’ And then I’ll bring Yuna into my arms.

Because.

–

*Whack-!*

Fists and kicks flew. Her tender skin quickly bruised, her lip split, and blood flowed from her nose. The girl, rolling on the floor from the beating, whimpered and stood up again.

This process has been repeating for ten hours already. Now, even the kids who were throwing the punches are exhausted, gasping for air.

The kids, desperate to embark on their long escape, scream.

“Get out of the way! There’s only 10 minutes left!”

“No, I won’t move. Beyond that door… nobody goes!”

“We know. We know that door’s a trap! But it could be the real escape… It’s my life to throw away, why do you keep interfering-!!”

“……..”

The girl wipes the blood from her nose, then her tears. She spreads her arms, once again blocking the kids’ path.

Why does she do it? Why emphasize harmony to these kids, resist the magic users of the tower, and move to save their lives despite being wrongly accused? Why, for god’s sake?

“Because…”

The girl shouted.

“…Because I believe it’s right!”

“……..”

The kids flinched at her words. There was something…powerful in them. She had the will, the spirit.

But then, one hot-headed kid, furious that he was being held back by this tiny girl, yelled,

“Then I’ll kill you to get out! If you don’t move, I’ll kill you-!!”

“Ugh, hack…!”

He pushed the girl down, climbed on top of her, and squeezed her delicate neck with both hands. Her face, starved for oxygen, paled instantly, taking on the color of a corpse.

Her eyes started to lose focus, her breath about to stop, when-

*THWACK!*

The kid choking her was struck unconscious by a chair swung from behind, falling to the floor. The girl coughed, desperately gasping for air.

And with vision blurred by tears, I look up. There, a girl stood holding a chair valiantly in both hands.

“Idiot? You should be trying to save your own skin, but instead you’re meddling like this. You’ll die before your time, you will.”

“Cough, coughcough… A, Alice?”

“You ruined my act. Do you have any idea how hard it was, chanting the scriptures about black wings and all? I’d fooled them all so well until now…”

It was the moment Yuna Urensto made her first friend.