Nightmare Fantasy Online - Chapter 9

It’s the second day after the day when I was testing [Mythical Threads]…, and being so stupidly naive.

On the day I started mapping out the “outer rim” of the main area, I got into yet another big brawl with tons of spiders. This time, the reason was for me getting too close to one of their nests.

It turns out that there are other branches like the dust area. But they are inhabited by the spiders. Essentially, it’s their nests. One for every type of spider that’s living in this Dungeon. A characteristic about these “nest areas” is that the floors change color from black to whatever color the residing spider race has.

The place I found the first day was the green nest. And I learned the special characteristic of the green spiders; they hurl globes of poison at you after they evolve. Bet the G-rank that lives near the Chest Mimic has venom in its fangs.

The day after being poisoned to death, meaning yesterday, I walked past the green nest area and continued. The spiders will only be aware of you if you walk into the branch/nest, but walking past it seems to be not violating any territory rights they may have. I found a yellow nest and a blue nest but reached a dead end that I couldn’t get past after that, so I died and retired early from the game that day.

Today, I took the opposite direction and came across a pink-walled area. But as I didn’t know what these spiders were capable of, and considering that all the spiders until now have been dutiful to the color theme and “sin” of the Color Demons, I decided to skip this place. Horny spiders are the last thing I need now.

And just now, I passed by a red area. The Angry Spiders’ lair. If today’s exploration doesn’t bear fruit, I’ll go on a kamikaze attack on that place and beat as many red spiders as I can before dying in an attempt of reaching Lv.10.

But man, I should have guessed it. The main area’s no square. It’s a body. A spider’s body.

Looking over the map, I can now see that this whole “floor” or whatever it’s called is in the shape of a spider. As mentioned, the main area is its body, and the branches/nests are the legs. The blue nest is the left foremost leg of the spider, while the dust area is the left backmost one.

Maybe the entrance to the Dungeon is located at the spider’s “head” and you can only reach that place by traveling from the middle-most part of the body to it? That would explain the dead ends by the blue nest.

And here’s another branch…, the walls are grey. Just as expected. This is the Sleepy Spiders’ nest.

Decision time! Should I keep on going after this? If things go like I think they do, the next branch will be a nest for some purple spiders representing “pride”. And pride is normally portrayed as the biggest of the seven sins, so the spiders representing it may be the same. In other words, impossible opponents.

On the other hand, the Sleepy Spiders wouldn’t be so bad. The one specimen I’ve seen from that race looked like a weakling, and it may not even be a group of monsters, but NPC. I’ve only got one example to go with, but it feels weird to not have any more quests for players to take, Racial Start or not.

So, with that in mind, I decided to attack the grey nest. CHARGE!!

As I walked through the grey corridors, I kept my guard up and prepared myself to release a barrage of [Mythical Threads] if needed, but no lazy crawlers to see. Or so I thought. Because, after I turned a corner, I discovered two of them. And they were guards for a gate blocking my path.

“Holdt…, or something like that.” – Guard spider A

How sloppy!

The guard spiders were more human-shaped than the other races. They’re standing on four legs while having a proper upper body, which is dressed in cheap armor with a cheap-looking helmet on their heads. They even have a pair of more human-like eyes in addition to their remaining six spider eyes. Both guards are holding on to a spear, but they seem far from willing to use it. The other guy is half-sleeping while using his to keep his body standing.

“Ehm…, can I get past?” I asked, half-jokingly, half-seriously. These guys have the blue marker above their head after all, which indicates that they were NPCs instead of your everyday monsters.

“…can we?” – Guard spider A

“Huh…? …maybe?” – Guard spider B

“…which one is it?” I asked in a desperate attempt to keep the flow going. It’s like talking to corpses! No, corpses may have been better. Their answers can’t tick me off like these spiders’. Corpses can’t speak…, I hope.

“…what’re you plan on doin’ inside?” – Guard spider B

“Huh? Uh…, quests?” – Garami

“…pickin’ up trash?” – Guard spider B

“Huh!? I mean, sure. If there’s a reward.” – Garami

“……come on in.” – Guard spider A

“…make sure…to do a good job…zzz…” – Guard spider B

Oh, sure! And I won’t be taking after you!!

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

You can now freely enter the “Nest of Sloth” in the Dungeon: Arcechnia Castle.

The Quest: “New Location: Nest of Sloth” is now available in the Quest Menu.

Ah, that’s good to know. As for the Quest…

A new area is in front of you. Obtain the privileges to connect your Player Room to this area from the one in charge.

Okay, that’s cool. Save me some travel time every day. Now, where’s the mayor…, OH, MY GOD! Eh, DEVIL! What’s that smell!

I came to a more human-looking settlement than I expected. It looks like someone has built a primitive village with whatever materials they could find in the Dungeon. Most of the buildings are kept together with spider threads, but it doesn’t seem unstable. Quite the opposite. Wonder if I can do the same.

But the positive impressions stop there. Because the place is filled with trash! Isn’t there anyone who cleans up this place!?

“Hey, who are…, ah, whatever.”

“Try to finish, at least!” – Garami

Ah, I acted like a straight man without thinking. The lazy one who tried to talk to me was a…, a human!? No, she’s a monster.

It’s a woman with six arms, all three pairs being covered in a grey-colored exoskeleton, and has six red “spheres” on her forehead in addition to the normal, human-like eyes. Her legs and the rest of her body look normal. Her hair is notably grey. So are her human eyes. Her skin is pretty pale, but that looks more like the type of paleness that comes from living far from the sun too long.

And her sloppy clothing of a half-worn skirt and a top tank that’s barely on her shoulders proves all that while leaving little to my imagination. Now I get why this game is rated 18+.

“Then…, you are?”

“Someone wishing to see the mayor of this place. You know where I can find them?” – Garami

“Ah…, that’s me.” – Mayor(!?)

“No way!!” – Garami

The many days of no interaction have made me more expressive than I ever believed I would be.

Still, this one’s the mayor? Seems kinda unbelievable…

“Ah, I’m the boss. Nobody else…, cares about that…” – Mayor

Now that she’s mentioning it, I’m starting to notice more people in the shadows of the buildings. And with “people” written in bold letters. They’re all spider-people! That’s strange. All the other spider races I’ve encountered so far have got bigger with each evolution, not more humanoid.

“Okay…, then can I stay here?” – Garami

“…do jobs… first.” – Mayor

Now she wanna push her workload on me! As expected of a bunch of lazy bums!

As the straight man inside my mind shouted as if his life was on the line, a new Quest window appeared in front of me.

The mayor of the Nest of Sloth will think about your request of allowing constant access to the Nest of Sloth if you do some tasks for her.

Go around and ask the slacking Lazy Grey Spiders, Lazy Spiders, and Sleepy Spiders if there’s something they don’t have the drive to fix themselves.

What am I? A handyman-, or rather, a handy demon!?

Well, some of the rewards do look promising. Especially the access rights. I only need to half-clear this thing to get them~. Plus, looking at the size of this village, there can barely be any more than a few dozens of spiders living here. And if they’re as lazy as their names suggest, this should be a clinch.

Let’s get a move on and rack up those quest-clear-jingles so I don’t need to sneak across that long path back here tomorrow!

—

“Get me a soda.”

“Yes! Right away!” – Garami

—

“Make dinner for me.”

“Excuse me, there’s just cup ramen here…?” – Garami

—

“I lost my keys.”

“[Detect Treasure], ON! …except it doesn’t work on regular keeeeys!!” – Garami

—

“Get rid of this trash.”

“I wanted some stress relief! [Mystical Thread] volley!!” – Garami

—

“Deliver this letter to sis.”

“*Wheeze, wheeze*, again…, across…, the whole…, town?” – Garami

—

“Get me a girlfriend for the night.”

“You’re not the only one in this world and others who want that!” – Garami

—

A lot of Quests later:

“*Wheeze, wheeze*, here’s your Sleepshrom extract from the drugstore,” I replied with an exhausted voice as I handed over the items to the Lazy Grey Spider (the humanoid-type spider) with a sorta witchy attire. Justified as she’s the owner of the magic shop in the town. Though, like with the drugstore, the wares aren’t that impressive.

“Thanks, handy demon.” – Magic shop owner

“Where did you learn about that!?” – Garami

SYSTEM MESSAGE:

You have cleared the Quest: “Deliveries for the Magic Shop”.

You have acquired 0.1 AP from the Quest reward.

The completion rate of the Quest: “Serve the Nest” has reached 50%.

You can now access the “Nest of Sloth” from your Player Room and vice versa.

The embarrassing nickname excluded, I’ve gotten free rights to enter this town from now on. Great. This will make it easier to scout the rest of the Dungeon from now on…, but I’m damn tired!

Why? Because there are no rules for the spiders here to ask for more Quests than one! And the new ones seem to be unlocked whenever I clear enough Quests. Or maybe it’s that “favorability” that’s doing its magic.

Thinking about it calmly, you wouldn’t ask any random stranger for fetching important materials you’ve ordered, no matter how lazy your race is. Damn, I fell into that trap…

The good side is that the individual Quests also offer rewards. I’ve collected 0.8 AP now thanks to the Quests,  the main Quest’s points included. Not to mention lots of raw materials and sol. I gotta remember to stuff all that stuff into my Player Room. Can’t let them lie and rot in the corner of the plaza.

“Hey, you are pretty trustworthy?” – Magic shop owner

See! This is exactly what I was-, wait a minute, another Quest? Guess I can hear her out…

“If you have time, could you look for a magic catalyst I lost in the hidden cave? Show this to the guards and you’ll be granted access.” – Magic shop owner

The owner shoved an amulet toward me, but I’m not in the mood for another Quest! And what do you mean with a cave inside a Dungeon? That’s gotta be a monster’s den, no? I’m tired, so I’m logging off for tonight-

The owner of the magic shop located inside the Nest of Sloth lost her magic crystal when she went to the “Dark Cave” for some private time to investigate the strange area. Locate the item and return it to her for future favors.

0.5! And a book about magic!? …sleep is for the weak. Come at me, monster!!