Chapter 1 – Oblivion Dungeon

Dungeon of Oblivion

A disgusting smell, a mix of cold air and mold, slithered up my nostrils.

My blurry vision returned to focus.

‘What is this place? Why am I here…?’

I could not remember anything.

The only thing I remembered was.

‘A dungeon?’

I barely managed to push myself up and looked around the dungeon.

There were four other people besides myself.

A giant of a man whose build was like a mountain.

A woman wearing a robe.

A young boy wearing glasses.

And there was also a dwarf.

‘Why am I here?’

I had no memories, and the surrounding people were complete strangers.

My instincts were telling me.

This was not a situation to feel relieved.

* * *

Everyone’s situation was similar.

They did not know who they were, nor even the reason they were here.

Among them.

The young boy wearing glasses slowly read down the runes engraved on the dungeon wall.

“This abyss is the womb of greed. When one life is extinguished, oblivion will return. Blood calls for blood, and bone tears flesh. Only the last beating heart shall open the door here.”

It was not a dungeon warning to be taken lightly.

The giant man approached the boy with a serious expression.

“Is there no more? Read more.”

“My treasure is meant for only one person… the rest shall be buried in eternal oblivion…”

“Is that the end?”

“Yes…”

“What does all of that mean?”

“I do not know. I just read it as it was written.”

“The content is so eerie, it is as if everyone except one must die here…”

The giant swallowed the words that were about to follow.

He was a man with arms and shoulders bulging like a beast, long braided hair, and blue tattoos.

He looked just like a savage warrior.

Watching the giant man, the man thought.

‘Is it a warning from the dungeon? Cruel. Only one person can leave from here.’

The man’s attention turned back to the giant and the boy.

“But how can you read that? Are you a magician?”

“Indeed? How can I read it?”

“What do you mean you are asking that yourself?”

The answer lay in the bag that the boy was carrying.

Quite a lot of things poured out from the bag imbued with magical power.

“Exposition on Secret Arcane Formulae, Advanced Mana Fluidics? There are even some strange theses. Were you a student of the Mage Tower?”

The boy unconsciously drew a magic formula.

“Huh? Am I really a student? I did this without even realizing…”

The woman in the robe nearby intervened.

“That child seems to be a student belonging to the Mage Tower. I can tell just by looking at the books he has.”

The giant reacted bluntly.

“Is that so? But to me, you look more like a mage.”

Her robe was by no means ordinary.

It was clear she was either a high mage or a noble, judging by the faint luster spreading from the woven threads.

“No. I am nothing like a mage.”

“No? But I get that kind of feeling from you. If not, then what?”

A faint wave of light emanated from her body.

It was not crafted from mana, but divinity blooming from faith.

It was a power fundamentally different from magic.

“Aura? Were you someone from the Holy Order?”

The giant expressed his doubt.

“But the only one in the Holy Order with the power of Aura should be the Saintess, right?”

Everyone was surprised at the word Saintess.

The giant raised his voice.

“I should check what I have too. Maybe something will come out if I search.”

It was the same for the man nearby.

As they searched their bodies like that.

A note came out.

[Trust only in yourself.]

What did it mean?

There was no way to know.

The giant spoke to everyone.

“First, shouldn’t we examine where this is? It is a dungeon.”

They scattered individually and began to examine the inside of the dungeon.

A passage leading outside was discovered.

However, it was a sheer cliff and a wyvern colony was nested nearby, making escape impossible.

And…

“I found a group of corpses nearby. They have not been dead long.”

Everyone was shocked by the fact the giant had discovered.

“Corpses?”

“They were knights bearing the Rose Cross emblem.”

The man could recognize their identity without much difficulty.

‘If it is the Rose Cross… then they are the knights of the Blood Cross Cult.’

The giant’s gaze naturally landed on the woman in the robe.

“They probably followed to escort someone… If the knights of the Holy Order followed all the way here, it is clear who you are now. You, it seems you really are the Saintess we know.”

As all eyes gathered on her.

She responded with silence.

“Be that as it may. Is that the only place left now?”

The dungeon exploration was not over yet.

Everyone moved along the last remaining passage.

At the end was a wide empty lot, and in the center sat a mysterious suit of armor.

An armor with brilliant golden patterns engraved on a pitch-black background.

A Great Demon’s relic.

“That is… the mana armor that knights wear. It is driven by the power of mana stones, and its strength and movement are said to far transcend normal physical laws. They say it makes a mockery of even a mage…”

The mana armor, called the flower of knights.

It was at the heart of the dungeon.

The giant stepped forward.

“The only ones who could wear that without a care are probably players. Since they possess strength powerful enough to make even demons look like a joke.”

“A p-player?”

The boy with glasses was frightened beforehand.

“Aren’t players a disaster? I heard they are more dangerous than witches… I heard they are not bound by the laws of the world. Doesn’t the Holy Order hate them immensely, calling it blasphemy?”

“It is not just dislike, it is almost at the level of hatred. The Holy Order treats them almost identically to demons. The power to mock the world is a problem, but the normal laws do not apply to them. They are out-of-spec existences.”

Just then.

“Ugh! Argh!”

The dwarf who was with them suddenly collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Everyone could not hide their panic.

“W-what is it? What happened all of a sudden?”

The startled boy asked, and the others were also in a state of panic.

The giant guessed.

“Poison…ing?”

The man reflexively scanned everyone.

Though all of them wore bewildered expressions.

Among them, there was someone smiling.

It was a gut feeling.

‘Who is it? Who…?’

The Mage Tower student.

The savage giant.

And the mysterious Saintess.

Which one of them was it?

Who on earth did such a thing?

‘More than that, this is not the end.’

The phrase the boy had read aloud came to mind.

-When one life is extinguished, oblivion will return.

‘Could it be that we lose all memories and start over? Without remembering anything, just like before.’

It was a rational suspicion.

‘Was that why I left such a note?’

The man recalled the mysterious note he had left for himself.

‘It said I am the only one I can trust.’

-Dungeon of Oblivion, the 3rd run is beginning.

Astonishment filled his face.

That message embedded in the empty air.

No, the message that moved along with his gaze.

It was definitely something only visible to himself.

‘Was I a player?’

To think that he was actually a player.

His surprise was short-lived.

His movements grew hurried.

‘I have to leave something.’

However, there was no pen.

‘Then how did I write this? Did I write it before entering the dungeon?’

Though he had forgotten for a moment due to the oblivion.

He recalled that players had a skill to store items.

‘I heard there is something called an inventory. If so?’

No sooner had he thought it than a window suspected to be an inventory opened in the air.

There were various items and even a pen inside.

‘This is it.’

The man hurriedly wrote something on the note.

Seeing this, the boy with glasses expressed curiosity.

“What are you writing right now?”

The gazes of the giant and the Saintess landed on the man.

The two realized it late.

The warning of the dungeon that the boy had read.

The two bustled about to leave something behind like the man, but.

Regrettably, they failed to leave anything behind like the man and lost consciousness.

A new oblivion had arrived.

* * *

It felt like his head had been struck with a hammer.

The man barely managed to regain consciousness.

Then he checked the people sprawled around him.

‘What is this? Where is this place? And… who am I?’

Almost simultaneously.

Everyone regained consciousness.

The man felt the note clasped in his hand.

[Trust only in yourself.]

[I am a player.]

Two lines were written on it.

‘To think that I am a player…’

The giant checked the dried dark-blue foam at the corner of the dwarf’s mouth.

“This guy. He was poisoned.”

Everyone’s eyes gathered on him.

“I do not know what happened here. But this guy. He was poisoned just a moment ago. He has not been dead long.”

“P-poisoned?”

The startled boy covered his mouth with his hand.

“Poisoned… then who killed him?”

The giant grimaced.

“Obviously. Otherwise, there is no way a perfectly fine dwarf would suddenly drop dead from poison.”

With that, his gaze remained fixed especially on one man.

“Hey, mister. I do not know the reason, but I suspect you the most. My animal instincts are telling me. The most dangerous guy here is you.”

The man’s expression did not change, but internally, he was weighing several possibilities.

‘Does that guy know that I am a player?’

That thought crossed his mind first, but he quickly dismissed it.

‘No. If he had known in the first place, he would not have approached me in such a confrontational manner. He is the type of guy who would have charged right at me. He looks like that kind of person.’

“Accusing an innocent person of being a poisoner based on simple speculation. That seems like a bad habit.”

The giant stood his ground and countered.

“If you have a problem with that, let’s have a go. I never avoid a fight.”

“Stop. Both of you, stop. What is there to gain from fighting each other in this situation?”

Veins bulged on the giant’s temples.

“You, girl, stay out of this!”

The surrounding air froze rapidly.

Absolute zero caused by Aura.

That power started from her toes and spread fiercely to the surroundings.

“W-what! Were you a mage?”

The one most surprised was the giant, who was receiving her hostility with his entire body.

Watching this with interest, the man spoke.

“It is Aura. It is nothing like magic. Or am I the only one who thinks so?”

There was someone who agreed with the man’s words.

It was the boy with glasses.

“That is right! That is not anything like magic.”

Pushing up his special glasses, the boy continued.

“The surrounding mana concentration remains the same. Divine power? I heard that in the Holy Order, there is something similar to magic that borrows the fundamental power of god. That is Aura. Could it be something like that?”

The giant spoke.

“Aura is… the exclusive domain of the Saintess. Then, does that mean that woman is the Saintess, or what?”

The Saintess?

Everyone’s eyes gathered on her, but she averted her gaze.

To resolve the chaotic situation, the man opened his mouth.

“Let’s not fight among ourselves when we do not even know what is what. Instead, how about we find out where this place is? Everyone agrees with me, right?”

Thereafter, they scattered and began to investigate various things in the dungeon.

The structure of the dungeon, and the corpses of other knights who were dead besides the dwarf.

And even the mysterious mana armor in the center of the clearing.

The man happened to spot the boy reading the wall.

“This abyss is the womb of greed. When one life is extinguished, oblivion…”

Perhaps out of curiosity.

The man heard all the content near the boy, while the boy, who had read the phrase, became dispirited.

Sensing a presence nearby, the boy looked at the man and was startled.

“S-since when were you standing there? You startled me.”

“Since you were reading that.”

“I see…”

Lowering his head, the boy said with a gloomy expression.

“Can we… survive? Actually, I am scared. Especially after reading the warning just now. We can live, right? Right?”

The man’s reaction was colder than expected.

“This is a dungeon. It is a place where the weaker are eaten first. So steel your heart. If you want to survive as long as possible.”

After a short while.

Everyone who had scattered gathered back in one place.

They shared everything they had discovered in the dungeon on the spot.

“There were more corpses?”

At the man’s question, the giant replied.

“Rosenkreuz. You must have heard the name. It is the Holy Order’s knighthood. They were all poisoned. I do not know who did it, but they are a pretty despicable and dirty bastard. To use poison among so many methods. Even without knowing, those who died must have perished in terrible pain.”

“The reason?”

“Although I do not know much about poisons, I do know the poison that leaves dark-blue foam on the lips. It is a deadly poison known to the world as the Echo of Pain. It looks like colorless, odorless water, but once it spreads, they say you writhe in agony until the very moment of death.”

Suspicions began to bud in everyone’s eyes.

The giant stepped forward.

“On that note. I think we should search each other. Of course, including myself.”

“Why? Are you trying to find the poison used in the poisoning?”

“Of course. Everyone who died here was poisoned. Not a single one was an exception. If the culprit is here, they will definitely have the poison.”

But here.

There was someone who adamantly opposed the body search.

“Absolutely not.”

Only one person put her foot down, refusing to comply with the body search from the start.

“I am a person who has devoted myself to God. I will never tolerate any act of groping my body.”

The giant fiercely grimaced.

“What kind of crazy talk is that? Then you might be misunderstood as the culprit.”

“I would rather you misunderstand me as the culprit.”

“Kuhuhu… is that so. Then there is nothing I can do. I have no choice but to doubt you as much as you want.”

The Saintess let out a faint sneer.

It was an obvious mockery.

Viewing this with displeasure, the giant furrowed his brow relentlessly.

“I have been letting it slide, but this fucking bitch is pushing it. Is this funny to you? Is this a joke?”

Killing intent suddenly flared in the Saintess’s eyes.

“The conversation we had earlier. It seems it is not over yet.”

A powerful coldness emanated from the Saintess’s feet.

“Would you like to continue?”

It was a touch-and-go situation.

The boy with glasses was caught in the middle, not knowing what to do.

On the other hand, the man standing far away from them looked quite flustered.

It was because of a certain flask he had found in his inventory.

Echo of Pain.

‘Why is this with me?’

The poison that killed everyone.

Was in his possession.