Chương 329: Back To The Rust

The body of the puppeteered man was now cold. A big puddle of blood had formed beneath him after I slit this marionette's throat. After wiping the blade using my victim's own clothes, I began flipping the dagger a bit, thinking about what the one who had been piloting this man had said.

"To find us, simply follow the compass" He didn't give me anything, or give me instructions on how to find said compass or even how to build it… Which means that he was certainly talking about the 'necklace' I had found hidden inside the Gravescape whilst exploring it a while ago. How could the System Fundamentalists know that I had such a thing? He had said it with confidence too, and promptly ended communications before I could even try to act confused–Which told me that this guy was certain that I had it. …

Were they aware of the Gravescape? It wouldn't be too strange, considering that the necklace seemingly belonged to its creator, and that it could thus be reasonably inferred that he had been a System Fundamentalist himself, which might potentially mean that the Gravescape was something widely known to them. And I suppose that since they know I am the one in control of it at the moment, they inferred that I must have explored it and found the compass? Anyway, I'm not planning on meeting these people just yet.

I don't even know what they are capable of. What if they can somehow affect Nara? Far too risky. In any case, since my entertainment–Also known as this particular final trial–Was spoiled, it was time to swiftly end it. The remaining participants who had been lucky to escape the onslaught of the man-puppet were nothing special. My superior speed and agility were too much for them to handle.

They could only stand idly before I rushed at them from an unexpected angle and let the dagger stab right through the side of their necks. The only pleasure I had left was watching as blood gushed out of their bodies en masse as life drained from their faces. From their perspective, having to look up at a halfling as they bled out was probably quite confusing, as they never even got the chance to see me coming. It made me wonder if some of them didn't even realise that I was the one who stabbed them…

What a nice form that was, though! A shame that some idiot had to ruin my fun, but I'll surely get to use it again in the future. Mmh? Would you look at that! This had actually found the monocle. How nice. I stuffed it into his mouth as he died, and just as all life seeped out of him, the nightmare broke down. … Even counting the ones I didn't get to kill myself, there weren't enough people at all to match the amount I threw headfirst toward the final trial. Seems like my fun might not actually be over just yet!

My vision went dark for several seconds as I let myself be pulled along… I opened my eyes to see the familiar sight of a system panel informing me of the point of a nightmare trial. Participants must find a way to escape This time, things were rather simplistic, but since this was a final trial, it meant that the simplicity of the task was undercut by some form of brutal difficulty. First of all, I woke up in a place all by myself.

The walls were made out of rusty steel, there was a bed and many other pieces of furniture of low quality, the window was circular, and… I could feel myself moving up and down, from side to side, without budging at all. It must have heard my thoughts, as the location of this trial was clearly a good old boat in the middle of the ocean. By putting my ear against the wall, I could even hear the waves bashing against the metallic hull, and also…

Yep, there are definitely monsters in the water, and at least one of them is positively losing its mind right now. It sounds rather small, probably only as big as a human, but it is very obviously trying to climb onto the ship, only to repeatedly fail and fall back into the water. This determination was commendable, so I opened the small window for it. If this creature were good enough to at least get up to the window, then it would enter and cause havoc on my behalf. If not, then… It simply is useless.

In any case, I diverted my attention from my surroundings to myself, being rather curious what kind of form I had been given this time around, and thankfully, there was a mirror inside this room. A dirty, but functional one. For a moment, I was a bit disappointed as it seemed like it was just my regular human self this time around, dressed like I usually would be, but I could actually feel that something was inhuman about me right now.

My strength was akin to the time I had faced Rarelian and Tilimia in a nightmare trial, but I lacked the abilities I had possessed then. Do I have a tail that I am not feeling for some reason…? Horns? Maybe on my… How the hell didn't I notice this? My hands probed for several seconds longer. That's definitely not what is giving me the feeling of being inhuman, but… Oh boy, that's a bit unexpected. Why would this nightmare form have such a big chest? It isn't really big…

Let me tell you, Nara, when you're used to being so flat that a mountain goat wouldn't be able to climb you, this is pretty big. I… Not that I've noticed them, I feel like there's a weird weight pulling me forward. Is this how back pains are born? I wonder how that detective halfling managed to live for so long without snapping in half. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. I mean, hers must easily be heavy enough to bludgeon someone to death, right?

That is certainly an exaggeration. You know so much about men, but you don't seem to know much about women I never asked other girls about how to deal with protruding chests, why would I? It became clear early on that nothing would ever grow there for me. My growth spurt back then was pretty extreme, but nothing happened in this region whatsoever. Right… But haven't you 'familiarised' yourself with Mari and Leou?

Oh, so this is just an elaborate ruse to get me to speak of the intimate details of my relationship with Mari and Leou, isn't it? … No… I only thought of it on the fly. It wasn't premeditated! I planned nothing. I'm merely opportunistic… Like a vulture… Or… Or any creature known to scavenge for meals! I don't think comparing yourself to a vulture is the defence that you think it is, Nara. Come on! I may be a little bit clueless about such things, but I'm a system! I'm a grown system!

I can handle it, and I'm deathly curious! Ah, if only I were one of those systems that can give quests to their users, I would be able to learn more! Huhuh… Pretty please? Just a tiny bit? I swear I'll be good with the information, and I won't ask about it for… A week! No… Two weeks? Still no? Alright, a month! I can't go any higher A sigh escaped my lips. So… You want to know why I am so surprised about how having a chest affects me, despite the fact that I should have gotten 'experience' thanks to Mari and Leou?

Precisely! You're always good at gathering information, so I would have assumed that you would have already been able to guess how such things worked, even if you only interacted with such things as an outsider You certainly have a way to make things sound academic. If I didn't know better, I would never be able to guess that you're just trying to hear me talk about what I do with my lovers. It is absolutely academic. I need to know! Listen, it's very simple, actually…

I didn't realise all of this because Mari is nearly as flat as me, and because… I would have thought that you would realise since you can identify species easily, but Leou doesn't have a chest. As in, her specific species of beastfolk can't have one. It's biological. You mean… Yes, there are eight of them, and they are around where the abdominals are. You counted them… By the gods Alright, that's all for today. But… I need to know more! Why don't you learn yourself once you get a physical body, mmh?

I'm only interested in learning about your relationships, though I shook my head. When did this obsession of hers begin? Nara literally wants to know everything without fault, and I do not see how this relates to her being a system, so it has to just be her personality… Regardless, now wasn't the time to have a back-and-forth with my little sister, so I swiftly changed the subject. Anyway, I can feel that there is something more about this form, but I don't really know what I should be doing to figure it out.

Nara was quiet for a few seconds, probably reconciling the fact that she wouldn't get anything more out of me today. It's the face and head. They can… Transform, I would say? Not really, since that's just how it is. I suppose morph would be a better word.

Think of it as trying to open your mouth, but inside, just your lower jaw moving, your entire head does I did as she said, and before I could realise, my entire face had split open, revealing a horrendous, pulsating fleshy interior with jagged teeth protruding from all over the place, with the whole thing leading into my throat, which was definitely larger than my neck somehow. For some reason, I could also still see clearly, even though my eyes were definitely nowhere to be seen amongst this mess.

The moment I managed to open my face up, it was like I unlocked knowledge, realising that I could manifest a tongue-like protuberance from the depth of my throat, which could be used to slash and pierce. Also, I could feel that my stomach acid was more acidic than ever, and that I could spit it out at will. … How interesting this form is. For some reason, only my head could morph into something monstrous. The rest of my body remained perfectly human-like, no matter what.

With just a thought, my head returned to normal. I spent some time trying a bunch of things out, checking how versatile this unusual power I have been granted in this nightmare truly was, and the results were satisfactory. It was then that I started hearing footsteps echoing outside of the room I was in. Looking around, I found a rusted pipe lying on the ground, so I grabbed it before pretending to carefully and slowly step out of the room. I lacked information about the trial.

I didn't know how my prey could escape, if there were multiple escape routes, and I had no idea whether I was the only danger or if some monsters were actually roaming the ship already. Without knowing all of this, it would be complicated to put together a proper plan. I looked down both ends of the hallway without seeing even a smidge of movement. The sounds I heard must have echoed from further away, it seems. Well, I guess I'll explore, then.

The layout is quite different from the previous experiences I had with rusty structures in the middle of the ocean. Although rust was all over the place, it hadn't fully overtaken this ship. Rooms on the edges, like where I had manifested, seemed to have been hit quite hard, but the hallway was actually mostly intact, and the rooms on the opposite side to where I had come from were nearly completely pristine.

Nonetheless, it seemed like the hull was severely struck by the rust, which might mean that there was a hidden timer at play for my victims. If they took too long to escape, the ship might fall apart and dump them into the waters that were very clearly infested with some of the most horrid creatures possible. Frankly, even though they wouldn't attack me in any way, I would be quite uncomfortable submerged amongst them as well. … Oh, now those footsteps are definitely nearby… Let's see what my first prey looks like.