Chapter 100: Trial of the Forsaken (4)

When Misha opened her eyes, there was nothing. No ruined throne room, no Goblin King, and no gold rushing around her from the teleportation rune. Just white.

Misha stood in the middle of a room that did not appear to have walls, ceiling, or an end. The floor beneath her boots was smooth and pale enough that she could barely tell where it stopped and everything else began. No shadows followed her boots. There was no visible source of light, yet the entire place glowed with the same sterile brightness.

She turned slowly, there was nothing. Then she looked behind her, still nothing.

"Great." Her voice traveled only a few feet before disappearing. There was no echo.

King floated nearby, apparently unconcerned. His black fur stood out against the endless white so sharply that he looked like someone had spilled ink over a blank page.

Misha stared at him. "Where am I?"

King ignored the question. [You forfeited a boss reward nya.]

She looked around again, searching for anything resembling an exit.

"I kept my head."

[Boss rewards are valuable nya.]

"So are my organs."

King’s golden eyes narrowed thoughtfully. [With sufficient healing, several are replaceable nya.]

Misha slowly turned her face toward him. "Remind me never to let you negotiate my medical care."

[Your lack of ambition is appalling nya.]

"My ambition is reaching the upper floors." She started walking, mostly to determine whether the white space was actually a room. "Fighting everything the Tower places in front of me is a good way to become a corpse."

King followed without moving his paws. [You disgraced the noble tradition of facing one’s enemies nya.]

"It was a goblin."

[A king nya.]

"A giant goblin wearing a crown."

[A sovereign remains a sovereign regardless of species nya.]

She rolled her eyes. "You two should have fought. You have so much in common."

King stopped while Misha continued for another three steps before realizing he was no longer following her.

She glanced back and saw his little face had become remarkably severe.

[Comparing this King to that malformed green mongrel constitutes lèse-majesté nyauh.]

Misha gave him a tired look. "Oh no, how terrible of me. I’m absolutely heartbroken that I offended you."

King opened his mouth–

Ding!

Both of them stopped as a blue window unfolded in front of Misha.

She expected the abandoned quest notification, or maybe some delayed penalty for escaping. Instead, the first line made her blink.

「 〔HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED〕

’Trial of the Forsaken’

Hidden Condition Fulfilled:

Escape after being chosen to remain behind.

—

The trial demanded that one be forsaken.

You refused to accept that fate.

Rather than endure the path prepared for you, you found another way forward.

Congratulations! You have cleared the ’Trial of the Forsaken’! 」

「 〔SYSTEM NOTICE〕

Clear Method: Escape

Evaluation: Exceptional

Bonus Condition: No Floor Boss defeated

—

Rewards will now be calculated. 」

Misha stared then read it again. Her eyes stopped at the same line.

「 Clear Method: Escape 」

"You have got to be kidding me." She slowly turned at King. "Did you know?"

King’s ears twitched. {Obviously nya.]

"You spent the last few minutes insulting me for running away."

[I was judging whether you possessed enough conviction to follow through nya.]

"You called me disgraceful."

He lazily licked his paw before answering, [You were disgraceful nya.]

"You said I lacked ambition."

[Both may be true while still satisfying the trial nya.]

King turned toward the quest window, his expression settling into something strangely contemplative.

He wasn’t surprised, and not even particularly impressed. That bothered her.

"You knew there was a hidden clear condition and you didn’t tell me."

[Then it would hardly have been hidden nya.]

Misha folded her arms. "That has never stopped you from being annoying before."

King ignored her, his golden eyes remained fixed on the blue screen.

For the first time since she had met him, the arrogance in his face quieted into something older.

[The Trial of the Forsaken was never meant to test strength nya.]

Misha glanced toward him but King continued before she could interrupt. [Anyone capable of reaching Floor 10 may possess enough strength to challenge the Goblin King. Perhaps they win, perhaps they die, but neither result is particularly interesting nya.]

"That sounds unusually harsh..."

[It is merely accurate nya.] He floated closer to the notice. [The true question is whether the chosen Raider notices that the trial never commands them to fight nya.]

So she made the right decision after all. The realization eased something inside her.

King spoke slowly, almost as though reciting something he had heard countless times. [One person is selected, the others leave. The portal closes, a monster appears. Most Raiders immediately accept the role placed before them nya. They believe being chosen means they must endure.]

Something about the way he said it made Misha study him more closely.

It was not ’they have probably believed’, and not ’the Tower expects them to believe.’ He spoke like someone who had watched it happen. That was obvious enough because of his position as a Guide.

"How many people figured it out?"

[Before you? Five nya.]

Misha straightened. "Five?"

[Do not look so pleased. The Tower has processed an obscene number of Raiders nya.]

"Exactly. Five is ridiculously low."

[Most people are obedient when fear is dressed as necessity.]

Out of however many thousands, or millions, had climbed through Floor 10, only five had looked at a boss waiting behind a locked door and decided the obvious solution did not deserve their cooperation.

A faint thrill ran through her before she could stop it. Not because she had defeated something strong but because she had noticed.

King’s gaze shifted toward her hand where the broken rune disappeared. [That rune was an inelegant solution nya.]

Her eyes narrowed. "Still worked."

[It did. Teleportation Runes are boss rewards nya. Normally, they can send their users anywhere below the highest Boss Floor they have cleared. Master later tied them to the Settlement Protocol, so now, the destination is stabilized instead of being chosen at random... unless its damaged nya.]

Misha frowned. "But the First Generation hadn’t defeated a boss before Floor 10, right?"

[Correct nya.]

"Then they wouldn’t have any teleportation runes. So... how did they complete the hidden quest?"

King’s tails swayed behind him. [You are assuming the rune is part of the quest nya.]

"Is it not?"

{Yes, it is not nya. Those who cleared it before you escaped in their own ways. One possessed a spatial ability, another realized that the gate Goblin King entered through was an escape route. He ran through it before it could block him nya.]

"So... that’s an escape route?"

[Yes. Assuming you could get past the Goblin King before it caught you nya.]