“Everyone— if we take too much time, other people may arrive.”
“What?”
“As you all know, the fairy wants to recapture me. She has most definitely sent another group of people since you all have taken so long.”
The men give each other unsettled looks.
In zombie movies, there’s always the trope that humans are the real monsters. Even in the modern world, humans compete with other humans rigorously. A rat race.
“Damn it. I didn’t consider that.”
“There’s no certainty that others will come.”
The men start to frown.
“Dumbass. Just think about it, it must be true.”
“Not good. This is not … we just found this guy. Don’t joke with me.”
“Shit. Like we’d hand him over to a bunch of dogs.”
I could tell they were the rough kind of group, the type of guys who had big egos.
“Everyone.”
I speak in a calm voice. Their gaze naturally collects onto me.
“At this moment, other people may already be approaching. How about making our way to the hidden reward first? There’s not a lot of time. We can discuss things while moving.”
The men glance at each other once more and nod all together.
“He’s right. Let’s take the treasure first. Yeah!”
“Let’s get a move on… nothing’s free in life.”
With loud voices, the men resume their march.
Good.
This is enough for now.
I gave them an agreeable suggestion. Their guard against me may not be completely gone, but at least they don’t see me as an ‘enemy’ now.
“New guy, carry him on your back. That’ll be faster.”
“Got it!”
The newbie lifts me up promptly.
“Ah, thank you very much.”
I suddenly ended up getting a piggy back ride, but this was much better than forcing myself to walk.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
I''m required to open the treasure vault, hence giving them a reason to keep me alive. Furthermore, I was able to raise their affection towards me, giving them the false impression that I''m on their side. This is favorable. However, there are still two problems remaining.
The first problem is that I have no idea where I’m going. As soon as they find out that I lied, regardless of affection points or whatever, they’ll murder me.
The other problem is getting rid of my kidnappers. If I can''t solve these two problems then my fate will always lead to death.
‘Inventory’
I move my lips slightly and whisper.
[Error! Not unlocked yet!]
Without being discouraged, I keep experimenting.
‘Item. Status... Mm. Not this either, huh.’
It''s merely an assumption, but I should be able to use the windows other than just affection points.
’Summon.’
Bling!
The sound of a cute bell rings in my head, words appearing on a transparent screen.
[Hello, Wishmaker!]
[Would you like to summon? (Current amount of tickets: 10)]
Interesting, but not helpful.
What exactly am I summoning here? I need more information.
There''s no certainty in winning or losing if I proceed with summoning. Should I leave it to fate and take a gamble?
To risk my life on a gamble… I’m all about that life.
I’ve made up my mind.
“I’m sorry to disturb you all while you’re busy, but I have new information.”
“What is it?”
“I apologize, but the worst possible outcome has appeared… the fairy, herself, is on her way to our location."
“…”
They all freeze immediately.
“What?”
“Since I am a servant of the fairy, I have a mental connection with her in my head.”
I tap my index finger on my temple as the group opens their eyes wide in panic.
“I-Is that true?”
“Yes… and she’s coming from one of those lines.”
I point my finger at the branching path we had stopped at, the left hallway leading to Line 3, and the one on the right leading to Line 4.
“…which one?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t detect from that far."
After hearing my words, the men split into two groups: people who wanted to stay here and fight the fairy, and people who wanted to escape.
“We could win if we hold out in this hallway!”
“Are you insane. That fairy will kill us all... ”
“If you’re going to fight, then leave me out. I not suicidal, I’ll get out on my own.”
As the men argued, I carefully observed the leader. He was rubbing the bridge of his nose, his forehead creased with tension.
“Ah, excuse me?"
I call out to the leader, putting on a serious expression.
“There’s something you need to know…"
He walks towards me, and I gesture for him to lean forwards with my hand before whispering into his ear.
After listening to my words, his expression hardens as he calls out to the rest of the group.
“Attention!”
The men turn to stare at him.
“We’re retreating.”
“But boss!”
“Stop dreaming. You’ll die without being able to do anything.”
“…but boss. There’s no guarantee that things will go well if we escape.”
A man with a scar running across his face steps forwards. From my previous observations, he seemed smarter than the rest of the group.
“What are you going to do if we meet the fairy? We could at least try and kill her all together here, but there’s no answer if we meet her out there.”
“I know, you bastard. That’s why we’ll split up and go down those two separate paths.”
The leader folds his arms and nods toward the branching path.
Excellent.
“……captain. Surely you don’t mean.”
“Yeah. One of the two groups will meet the fairy no matter what. However, oppositely, the other groups will live.”
“We can’t do that!”
The man with the scar retorts loudly. He must be seriously enraged because the veins on his neck are visible.
The other men complained as well, saying things like “That’s not right!” and “We’d rather all die together!”.
“You guys all have a family, right? Man’s pride? That’s good. Companionship? That’s also nice. But what’s the point of worrying about all that if we end up dead, huh? Who’s going to take responsiblity of your families?”
“…”
“What about your kids? What about your families?"
A complicated silence fell upon them.
“At least one of us must survive…"
Wow… bravo.
I resisted the urge to start clapping at the leader’s performance, I can practically hear his actual thoughts in his head.
Please die, my close comrades.
So that way, I can live.
But let’s make one thing clear, though. I’m one hundred percent better than him at acting.
No, one hundred and twenty percent.