The Loner Who Conquers the Other World-Novel

Day 48: Late Morning, White Weirdo Inn.

Haruka-kun said that he didn’t get any sleep and immediately went to sleep in his room as soon as we got back to the inn. But we shouldn’t be tricked by that! Angelica-san went to bed with him! He has no intention of having a calm and peaceful rest, he is clearly raring to have a very intense rest! And it surely won’t get him even an ounce of sleep no matter how much time he spends in bed.

Meanwhile, the Poster Girl and the Stalker Girl are hugging each other, rejoicing at their reunion. They are overjoyed.

They were convinced that they wouldn’t ever see each other again. They are still so naive.

There is no way such a sad thing would be allowed to happen? Simply – no way.

It won’t be accepted.

It won’t be approved.

A certain someone is bound to reject it.

And as proof of that, you got this happy reunion, didn’t you? So naive.

I don’t know what happened on the other side of that dungeon tunnel, but he must’ve modified it so as to seal all of the misfortune and tragedies on the other side. It seems to be a fake dungeon, but that’s more than enough. I don’t have full confidence that we can even break through that? It’s not that tough, but I have no confidence. The only option is to blast away stone golems and rush through the tunnel, but Haruka-kun seems to have set up traps, in his usual fashion, so I have no confidence that it will end well. After all, in its viciousness, the trap he set up far surpasses what one could imagine and then goes even further beyond? I caught only a glimpse of it but isn’t drawing trompe l’oeil in a dimly lit tunnel simply inhuman? It’s an abuse of trick art? Anyone would fall for that, after all, it doesn’t register as a trap for detection purposes. Because it’s art. And if one tries to dodge it, thinking it’s a trap, that’s where the actual trap awaits. Skills aren’t enough to get past that. Trying to rush through the tunnel only would only end up crashing into the wall and falling into a pitfall. Anyone who doesn’t have Space Perception is bound to fall for this regardless of how strong they are. And even more so are people of this world, since it probably would be their first encounter with trompe l’oeil. A party of level 100 or higher with a rare skill, Space Perception, might be able to get through that, but even so, that last thing… Is impossible. Even knowing all that, I am still not confident. [1]

Oda-kun and others who were watching from the outside while laughing and pointing fingers named it Sasuke Castle. That’s the kind of thing it is. [2]

On top of that, he turned the mountains on both sides into golems, took them under his control, and left them with『Ring of Golem Maker』, so they are going to spawn stone golems infinitely. And since they are tamed by Haruka-kun, they will keep receiving tremendous amounts of EXP and mana from him. The abilities of their master are affecting them. At this point, it might be easier to go a full circle around the world and invade the place through the forest of demons on the opposite side of the domain? Rather than going through THAT place…

So even though there is a passage, no one can pass through it. The only people that wouldn’t get caught by such a twisted trap would be people of a character similar to that of Haruka-kun. Yeah, and since most likely there are no such people around, it’s completely safe. After all, if there were such people, this world would’ve been screwed up a long time ago.

There was a message from the lord, asking Haruka-kun to come when he wakes up, but he definitely won’t. After all, he has to fall asleep first, and if what I’m reading is not an extremely aggressive sleeping posture, then there are no chances of that happening yet. He is too busy sleeping with Her to get any actual sleep. The girls stopped bringing this up entirely. Everyone already got『Detect Presence』to LvMaX and a few even unlocked some kind of advanced version of the skill. They can now get even more detailed information if they focus on a particular direction? I’m the one who actually lacks sleep!

And everyone went to bed. After all, being curious, we also went all the way to the neighboring town to see how it goes, so we didn’t get any sleep either. Although we are going to actually sleep.

After taking a nap I went down to the dining hall and found there were a few people already awake and discussing. Did something happen?

「Okay, how about hanging a few ropes, so one has to swing on them and jump from one rope to another, and after a few ropes, there would be a dummy that will just fall out?」

「Going back to the exit on a slide is way too humiliating, it’s enough to break a spirit three times over.」

「Wouldn’t that be enough then? Yeah, finding an exit among hidden doors, and dashing to it only to find out that it is a painting is cruel enough. That is sure to break the spirit at least once.」

「Yeah, those fake doors are evil. Some of them are simple paintings, some are traps, how are you even supposed to exit that? 」

It seems everyone liked that fake dungeon, and now they are exchanging ideas for possible traps.

「Morning. But don’t enter it. All of the equipment there is enchanted with Weapon Destruction, while the traps are loaded with Corrosion or worse, so you will end up with all of your items destroyed and it will be a huge waste. The girls especially shouldn’t go there. Corrosion melts both armor and clothes. You might be unable to leave after that for a completely different reason.」

「「「That’s the worst!」」」

I mean, what did you expect? The worst kind of person designed that place, so of course, it will end up like that? It will sap your spirit until your soul breaks. Any challenger is bound to have their personality changed by the time they leave it. Gaining distrust of humans is pretty much assured. I mean, just looking at it I doubt that the creator is a human?

Even so, when a new person wakes up they also join the conversation, followed by another, and another, all discussing the traps together. It seems to be very popular. The birth of a super popular spot that no one wants to get near. It has plenty of attractions but no visitors. All everyone wants is to see someone fall into the traps they thought of, or so it seems, but if they keep doing such bad things they will turn into Haruka-kuns.

「Morning? Or rather, evening? Sort of awakening? Actually, I still want to sleep. But I want to eat even more. 」

Haruka-kun finally woke up but seems to be sleepy. The reason is always the same. And there is always only one culprit, himself.

「Good morning, Haruka-kun. The lord’s aide was crying, asking to tell you that they want you to come as soon as you wake up? He seemed to be terribly exhausted?」

Upon talking with the lord of this town, Omui-sama, he turned out to be a nice old man, a benevolent ruler, beloved by his people. However, both the people and the troops seem to be worried about the lord, the reason seems to be in the fact that for generations, lords of this region fought to protect the people, and often ended up dying in the forest of demons, which somehow seems to be doing nothing about his excessive energy and willingness to press forward. And yet, he is always lamenting that he can’t protect everyone. That’s the reason why people love and worry about him. Yes, this is a good town. But his aides seem to be having a very hard time.

「Well, food comes first? That’s decided! I mean, I’m hungry? I even have a menu decided already? After all, I found a tomato-like vegetable? So this calls for an omurice? With mysterious bird meat.」

「「「「Kyaaa! Omurice! Omurice!」」」」

「「「Omurice! Omurice! Omurice… (Keeps going)」」」

Some kind of Omurice chant began? What is this excitement?! But I’ll join as well! After all, it’s omurice! Omurice!

By the time the uproar woke everybody up, plates with omurice were being lined up on the table. All those that were still half asleep had their eyes wide open. Angelica-san, who saw omurice for the first time, was looking with bewilderment, but she will understand when she tries it herself. She will know the reason for this crazed feverish chant.

「「「Omurice! Omurice! Omurice!……(Still goes on)」」」

「It’s done? Help yourself? Bon appetite, I guess? Sort of?」

「「「「Let’s dig in!」」」」

The Omurice chant immediately stopped, turning to tranquil quiet as a supreme beatitude of silence enveloped the dining table.

Uuuuuh. Delicious. This is omurice. It’s too tasty, everyone is devouring it. I might cry, after all, it’s omurice. Soo good.

Filling their stomachs, everyone began basking in the aftertaste.

And even Angelica-san, the Poster Girl-chan, and the Stalker Girl have expressions of bliss on their faces from having their first omurice.

But a lecture is still in order.

After all, from what I’ve heard later, the Stalker Girl-chan’s life was hanging by a thread, or rather, the sword was literally only a hair’s breadth away. It was really close. Haruka-kun made it at the very last moment. But it turns out, he was buying tomatoes on the way? He spotted something tomato-like in a village on the way, and that’s why it became so close. A lecture it is.

「No, I knew I’ll make it in time? It’s fine, I mean, if I can’t fly there fast enough I’ll just jump there? If I jump I’ll make it in time? The pimples were alright? Since it was already decided that I’m going to jump I had plenty of time to spare? Tomato-like?」

The lecture in process. And the Poster Girl is extremely pissed. Seriously angry. She is stomping and waving her hands in tears. Is it perhaps an angry dance?

But it seems he jumped. He used the taboo magic of teleportation to make an entry. He needs a great sermon! After all, he avoided using it until now because it’s dangerous? He sealed it since he isn’t sure what is going to happen? A skill so dangerous he didn’t resolve to use it even in the great dungeon! Even during the training he only teleported 1-2 meters in the area with no obstacles while fully focused! And yet he leaped through space, passing all of the castle walls?! Why does he keep taking risks like that?! It seems that midway he realized that he can’t make it in time without teleportation, and since he is going to teleport anyway, decided that he has plenty of time and stopped to buy tomatoes? And he even dares to call this effective time management. Not even a hint of remorse. A great sermon it is.

If he isn’t going to repent then let him have a taste of the Poster Girl’s Dance of Fury! She is flapping in tears. A super-duper angry flapping dance. This Dance of Fury is telling how she was seriously worried about the Stalker Girl and Haruka-kun. You are the one who made her cry, so feel sorry for that?

[TL Notes:

[1] Trompe-l’œil is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions.

[2] A fusion of a reference to Takeshi’s Castle, a game show featuring Takeshi Kitano, aired 1986-1990, which might be better known in USA as Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, which used repurposed footage from there, and SASUKE 1997 – STILL Airing, which might be better known to the outside world as Ninja Warrior, a game show in which 100 competitors attempt to complete a four-stage obstacle course.