Nightmare Fantasy Online - Chapter 7

Horror games are the worst!!

I peeked at the hidden chamber, but it would be more correct to call it a catacomb. Unlike the corridor I’m in, which is illuminated with torches attached to the wall with thin metal constructions, thinner than those in the main corridors, I may add, there are no sources of light in there except for a few rocks that emit a ghastly green-blue light. That the content inside the chamber is ghastly as well isn’t helping.

The empty chairs were filled with dried-out husks of what appeared to be humans. They were dressed in lab coats despite this game being classified as part of the fantasy genre. Hey, developers! Sci-fi and regular fantasy shouldn’t be mixed up like this!

Ugh, but I still walked into this space of death. Because the treasure I was looking for is located in the deep end of the chamber. Why did the game developers have to include this smell of death?!

The chamber wasn’t that deep. Around twice the size of some college laboratories, I think. I never finished college…

After walking past the rows of mummified researchers, I reached an area where a single mummy was sitting on a chair. On his lap was an old tome, and he clutched onto it despite his death…, not. His arms have been rotten off for a long time already.

His robe’s different from the others. more wizard-ish…huh? They’re not researchers? Or maybe they researched magic? If so, was there a need to go all the way and make this part of some urban horror flick? Geez…

I grabbed the book, well-fed with all the leaps in themes, while I was forgetting the most important rule in treasure hunting: never take the treasure without expecting a trap.

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

EMERGENCY QUEST!! EMERGENCY QUEST!! EMERGENCY QUEST!!

The sudden System Message, accompanied by a siren-like sound, scared me just as much as when I first saw this place. Then my heart broke when the Quest info was presented to me.

The Horror Remnants. Ghastly things that have remained in this world due to the powers of the Vile Queen that rules the Arcechnia Castle.

Their hunger for the warmth of life has made them trick you into entering their lair for the sake of consuming the power of your soul.

Escape, NOW! RUN! RUUUUUUUN!!

Okay, this is turning so bad that it’s gone funny, and then being bad enough after that again to return the situation to “bad”. You can lose AP!?

But I didn’t even have the luxury to act shocked. Because the corpse of the supposed lab chief was starting to shake as a black light appeared in its empty eye-sockets…and I’m out of here!

Idiot! Do you think I would just stand there as you prepared to wake up? Mwa-hahahaha! I’ve got NO desire to stay in this hell hole! So long, sucker! Who’s scared of the Horror Remnant…s? Remnants? As in plural?

The realization came to me too slow. I had reached the middle of the room as tons of mummified corpses driven by a jet-black light in their eyes walked toward me with shaky steps. And they HAD to block the exit!

I walked with small steps backward to increase the distance between me and the zombie horde, but then I started to hear footsteps behind me. I switched the hands holding the tome from the foremost to the pair after that again so that I could get a rock out of the Boulder-Carrying Bracelet and lobbed it toward the head of the supposed lab chief.

The rock hit the guy straight to the face, but that’s it. Grr, so these guys are tougher than the G-rank spiders…RETREAT!

I quickly ran past the chief as I fled from the zombies. One of them seemed faster than the others, so I grabbed one of the strange-glowing stones on the ground and threw it at him with all my might. The rock hit the guy right into its eyes…and made the guy’s skull start to act as spotlights. Surreal…and freaky.

Oh? The zombies started to beat up the spotlight guy. Maybe…they attack anything that has “warmth” to them? That rock did feel a little warm…or, do they think Mr. spotlight is trying to keep the rock for himself? In any case, I may be able to escape then!

I put the book in my mouth, despite getting the shivers of having something a dead person had been having on them for god knows how long, and started to gather up the glowing rocks and threw them into the skulls of the mummies. The nearby undead started to gang up on those who had gotten their light rock, meaning fewer rotting guys chasing me.

Things were looking great until the chief let out a horrifying howl. Some of the distracted Remnants started to chase me again, despite there being “selfish jerks” close by them. Guess the chief got some authority left in him if nothing else.

Feeling irritated over my plan getting busted, I threw the next light rock into the chief’s howling mouth and down his gullet. That made the other zombies gladly ignore his orders and storm at him. Being a bad boss will only come back and bite you. Literally. I’ve learned my lesson.

Okay, we got half the distance to the goal, and half the stragglers left. But I’m down to my last glowing rock! The others are underneath the zombie crew’s feet. I could get past those guys if I wanted. They’re your typical slow zombies, even more so because they still got that web on them that slows them even more down.

And my top three stats are SPD, DEX, and LUC. Perfect for weaving through a mass of people-, er, zombies. The problem is the exit. Some idiots have gathered there and refuse to move. Rather, they can’t move. They want to get out of the chamber, but the webs are preventing that. Why…! So that’s it!

Seeing a path to victory (and escape), I started to run to the side of the chamber. The zombies tried to follow, but I retrieved and threw a normal stone from the Bracelet and used it to hit the closest stone that illuminated this side of the chamber. And like billiard balls, the glowing rock was sent flying towards the next rock and sent it flying as well.

The zombies’ attention was turned toward the moving rocks, but before they could comprehend things, I threw my last glowing rock toward the opposite side of the chamber compared to the first rocks. The zombies started to move to each side, thinning the middle of the horde just enough to let me slip past them. But god, why couldn’t more of them have moved away! It’s damn scary being so close to them!

But I got through! All that’s left in front of me are the stragglers who’re trying to get out. Or more correct, get what’s outside of the chamber.

I jumped onto one of the lab tables and used it as a stepping stone to jump even higher up. This body has an incredible jumping power, something I learned from my constant rounds of dodging the spider monster’s attacks, and with the assistance of the table, I got high enough to aim at the prize the zombies wanted.

The unstable torches. Just, just outside the zombies’ reach.

I threw a rock with all my back at the torch, with a prayer that it would do the trick. A sharp *clang* rang out throughout the chamber and then…the web around the path-blocking zombies started to burn. The zombies as well.

Getting more “warmth” than they agreed on, the zombies ran around in panic, as much as you can call that “running”. But, they got away from the exit. I used my arms to cover my face and the book and ran past the burning zombies and the fire, getting back into the passage and leaving the chamber of burning undead behind.

After exiting the hidden passage, I could hear that a System Message had arrived, but I refused to stop and continued to run, thanking myself for having taken mental note of the path I used to get here. Soon, I reached the dust-covered passages, but my feet refused to stop as I continued to run, all the way to my Player Room.

After all, zombies are scary!!

—

Phew, that was one heck of a sprint. Think I’ll feel it even when I log out.

I drank some of the restorative water (blood-colored water) from the fountain and praised my luck over being able to return without meeting any spider monsters. I got damn lucky there. Or maybe a gang-turf had just happened, reducing the numbers of patrolling spiders?

Now that I’ve calmed down, let’s see what the System Message from was about.

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

You have cleared the Emergency Quest: [The Horror Remnant’s Wrath].

You have obtained 1.0 Aether Points.

You have acquired the title: [Emergecy Quest Clearer].

Safe…now I can certainly say I’m safe. The extra AP is a good comfort gift. As for the new title…

Proof over having overcome the sudden threat and emerged victoriously. Be prepared, because you never know what may happen in your life.

Wow. That’s nice. It’s the most stats I can get from equipping a single title. Let’s swap some titles.

As for this book…I brought it with me, but is it safe?

Skill…, a skill book!? As in, the thing that lets you learn new skills in other games? Please tell me it works under the same rules here!

Ah, but it’s a consumable. And [Mystical Threads], is that something a demon with the Scout class can learn? It won’t fail, will it?

Maybe I should try to sell it…, but I’ve yet to see anyone else talk about a skill book on the bulletin board…

Let’s test it. I’m too tired of both being scared and running around all day. Better to get this done and log out.

I opened the book on some random page and saw…unreadable text. But not because I don’t have [Lingustics]. Because after a moment, the strange letters started to glow and disappear from the book. After all the text was gone, the book itself followed suit, and then-

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

You have learned the skill: [Mystical Threads Lv.1].

That was easy. I’ll go and confirm its effects tomorrow. I’m sleepy…and I need to watch a comedy marathon if I want to sleep after today’s events. Stupid zombies…