I could see the shock and surprise in the faces of the members the moment I announced the scenario.
I had already been prepared for it the day prior.
“Wait, Squad Leader… Isn’t this scenario a little too low in terms of rank? All of us here have been trained for quite some time, and we’ve long reached the stage where we can do gates above the <F> rank. Don’t you—”
“This isn’t about the difficulty of the gate.”
I cut off Joanna while shaking my head and looking at the other members present.
“This gate here is to better determine the skill of all of you present, and to get to know all of you better. The same goes for all of you with each other. Take this as a learning opportunity to build some synergy between each other.”
I had been thinking about the perfect excuse to have them accept the scenario. In the end, I went with the most obvious excuse, and seeing how quiet everyone became, I could tell that this ended up being the correct choice.
I looked around in satisfaction.
“I’ve sent all of you a link on your mails. Please check it out and give the scenario a proper study. Alongside the file are the things that are required for the upcoming excursion. I’ve already placed an order. You can all collect it later once you’ve read the applicated.”
I tilted my watch and checked the time.
“We have about two hours until the excursion. You can spend the time doing your research, and if you think there are other items that you need for the upcoming excursion, feel free to tell me. I’ll see what I can do.”
Each Squad Leader was given a budget for each excursion.
The budget mainly depended on the gate that we planned on entering. The higher the gate, the higher the budget.
Even so, the lower gate received a good budget.
My budget consisted of 5,000 GP.
For a team of seven, this was a rather acceptable budget. There were quite a few things that I could buy with it.
’…What’s crazy to me is how the Guild Points almost have a similar purchasing power to the SP that the system uses. This makes things a lot easier for me to understand.’
Taking out my laptop, I opened the Guild’s Database, which I now had access to, and looked through all the numerous items that were available for purchase and loan.
The loan aspect was the one thing that intrigued me the most and made me most excited for the Guild ’shop’.
’While the items might not be as crazy as the ones from the system, I can already see a couple that can be extremely useful for me.’
From a cloak that could hide my presence to a doll that could detect nearby anomalies. There were a lot of intriguing items. The unfortunate thing was that all the intriguing items were extremely expensive and most of them were already loaned out to someone.
But of all the things that had intrigued me, there was one in particular that grabbed my interest.
—
[Devil’s Book]
: A cursed tome that grants instant knowledge of any subject upon reading. The effect lasts for 30 minutes.
Beware: Prolonged use may invite whispers from an unknown entity.
Warning: Extremely Dangerous! Use with caution.
Consumable.
Price: 245,500 GP
[On Loan]
—
This was undoubtedly the item I had been searching for. At the very least, it seemed like the most useful tool I could have when the time came to settle my bet with the conductor.
However, there were two major problems.
One…
The price.
It was incredibly expensive. So much so that any thought of purchasing it was out the window.
Secondly, and the most troublesome thing was the fact that it was also loaned out. The most annoying aspect was the fact that it didn’t tell me to whom it was loaned.
’Damn it. Maybe I should ask the Section Chief later.’
I was quite desperate to get this item. I felt that this would be one of the keys to helping me solve the bet.
But…
It was far from perfect.
I needed more than this.
’Ah, how annoying.’
Ruffling my hair, I looked at the time. My eyes jumped up in surprise. I had been so absorbed in looking through the shop that I didn’t realize that it was almost time for the excursion. Looking at the other members and seeing that they were all ready and looking at me, I coughed.
“It looks like all of you are ready.”
They all just nodded their heads slowly.
For some reason, their reactions felt rather cold.
’Did I do something wrong? …Or is it because they know more about me?’
It was most likely the latter, but as far as I was aware, the Section Chief said that these people weren’t very prideful. For them to look at me with this coldness…
’Oh well.’
I shrugged.
This didn’t particularly matter to me as I booted up the main PC.
Right after that, I was presented with a few options as I clicked onto the <F> ranked gates sections and selected the [The Devil’s Hunt] option.
The moment I did, I glanced at the members one last time before pressing ’Enter.’ The PC responded with a sudden, loud whirring as its fans spun up rapidly. The room around me began to flicker, phasing in and out of reality.
I had a difficult time processing the change around me.
I was simply too shocked to properly react.
Flick! Flick!
The fluorescent lights above buzzed violently before cutting out altogether, leaving me in near-complete darkness, save for the glow of the monitor, which pulsed red like a slow heartbeat.
A sharp metallic scent filled my nostrils, something between rust and dried blood, and the faint aroma of damp stone followed close behind.
The floor beneath my feet groaned, warping and shifting into cold, uneven cobblestones. Walls that once held posters and cables peeled away like wet paper, revealing crumbling stone bricks.
The air grew heavy, thick with mildew and the stench of rot, as if something had long since died in the walls.
Clank. Clank—!
Chains clinked faintly in the distance, swaying from above.
A chill crept up my spine as a low wind whistled through cracked arrow slits high above, carrying a subtle whistling sound.
The monitor before me fizzled out, replaced by a flickering torch lodged in a rusted iron sconce on the wall beside me. Its dim flame cast long, dancing shadows that seemed to move in even rhythms.
Then—
Somewhere behind me, I could hear the slow, deliberate creak of a door opening, and as I slowly turned my head, I caught sight of a long, spiraling flight of stairs that seemed to lead toward the unknown.
The office was long gone, and we were now within the confines of what appeared to be an old, middle-aged castle.
Just me.
The others were gone.
I took a deep breath, trying my best to remain calm.
But right as I did…
Ding!
A notification appeared right before me.
[The scenario is now starting…]
[Operation: The Devil’s Hunt]
Class : ■■■
: Seven wooden boards. Seven empty rooms. One harbors a cursed soul, desperate to escape. Each may ask but one question. Find the haunted before it finds you, or become one of its victims. You have 66 minutes. When time runs out, you’ll find yourself becoming part of the board.
[Scenario candidates will be joining shortly. Do you wish to pruchase any item?]
[From the moment the scenario begins, you won’t be able to purchase items]
[You have sixty seconds]
“Huh?”