We Were Told Not to Follow Strangers

The moment I saw the symbol of Mortis, the god of Death and Corpses, an inexplicable chill began to run down my spine.

This is an inner world—a world one could only access if a “god” invited them.

The presence of Mortis’s symbol here meant that the god of necromancers was the ruler of this place.

Thrag! I take back all the curses I threw at you earlier! Where are you?!

Drdrdrdrk.

Frantically chanting Thrag’s name in my head as I glanced nervously around, I heard a sound emanate from Mortis’s symbol.

Unpleasant, grating, yet somehow…

A strange sound that brought reassurance.

As a human, I felt nothing but aversion. Yet as a ‘necromancer’, it brought a peculiar sense of relief.

* 〈Mortis faces you.〉

Text appeared before me, just like during my encounter with Thrag. At the same time, blackish-red ooze began to drip down beneath a black crescent moon.

Drooling slowly over the mountain of skulls, the ooze began to gather on the ground and gradually form a shape.

A woman’s figure. However, half of her face and half of her body were skeletal.

* 〈Mortis pities you.〉

Pity? What are you pitying, damn it?

It’s my life; you never lifted a finger to help me, and now you pity me?

Give me money, you jerk!

As I cursed inside my head, the half-human, half-skeleton figure began to approach me.

Is she coming because I swore at her?! Hey, sorry! I’ll apologize!

Even when I apologized, she kept coming. Wasn’t there a weapon I could use!?

Something decent, anything!?

There was. The ‘Blood-Colored Awl’.

I raised the Blood-Colored Awl towards the approaching Mortis.

Go up, stab her, and kill Mortis—

That was my intent, but I couldn’t put it into action.

It was clear that this wasn’t a full incarnation. Even so, I couldn’t believe that I could kill her with the Blood-Colored Awl.

A transcendental being.

A being that existed beyond dimensions—so much so that I couldn’t sense anything from her at all.

That was, ironically, even more terrifying.

“Mortis! I warn you! If you come any closer, I won’t stand idly by!”

Even so, it seemed better to show resistance rather than just stand there.

I pointed the Blood-Colored Awl at Mortis. She paused slightly, then stretched her hands out towards me.

― My child.

A sudden voice echoed—not from someone’s mouth, but ringing directly in my mind.

Of course, Mortis must be its source.

Hey! Get out of my head!

Despite my warning, Mortis drew ever closer.

― Come to my embrace.

Sorry, Ma’am, but I already have someone.

That person is eccentric, always angry for no reason, but still…

Still… hmmm.

Now that I thought about it, wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to switch gods if I could?

Thrag wasn’t even the god of necromancers.

Of course, betraying one’s god would normally bring divine punishment, but couldn’t she fix that for me?

* 〈Mortis smiles.〉

Fix it for me?

Insane! You’re all I’ve got!

“AAAAAAAH!”

Suddenly, a searing pain began to spread from my left hand through my entire body.

Desperately, I looked over to my left hand where the pain started.

There, traces of necromancy—black threads—were coiled around my left arm, and bones poked through the flesh where it had wrapped around.

Obviously, Mortis had used necromancy.

Come to think of it, “Mortis” was the god of necromancers, but “players” couldn’t choose her.

She was an evil god.

Only necromancer monsters dwelling in dungeons served her.

― My child.

Because of that, she intended to kill me. She would kill me and make me a true “necromancer”!

― Come to my embrace.

This crazy witch!

How could I trust a god who kills people just to make them a follower? And I refuse to serve a god who only knows two sentences!

― My child.

Trying to push her away, I stepped back. But the distance wouldn’t widen.

― Come to my embrace.

To block Mortis’s approach, I drew blood from the Blood-Colored Awl and tried to summon a skeleton.

* 【Failed to summon skeleton.】

* 【A powerful force interrupted your magic.】

Isn’t this too much?

In the end, I had no choice. As she drew closer, I swung the Blood-Colored Awl at Mortis.

Approaching with an indifferent expression, Mortis’s face twisted as she touched the Blood-Colored Awl.

“I warned you, Mortis.”

How about that? That “divine” weapon Thrag gave me.

* 〈Mortis is furious.〉

Huh?

While my attention was elsewhere for a moment, Mortis’s black threads touched my skin.

Time seemed to slow down. A slight stinging, a sensation like static, began to ripple through my entire body.

But that sensation quickly changed.

The black threads, as if imbued with will, started to separate my bone from my flesh.

“GUAAAAAAAGH!”

The agony of my bones and flesh separating was far worse than before.

― My child.

The pain, like burning fire, dug deep into my bones. I tried to thrash and escape, but nothing worked.

The pain began to make my mind reel. With half my body already reduced to bone, I realized something unexpected.

It seemed my body was all bone inside.

Am I really going to die here? No, it already feels like I’m dead. I tried desperately to swing the Blood-Colored Awl, but I couldn’t move a muscle.

I won’t get a resurrection, right? Reincarnating one more time wouldn’t be bad—no money worries, no fears for the future.

As those thoughts filled my head—

The pain stopped.

“Huff, huff…”

Gasping for breath, I looked around. Mortis’s black threads had fallen away from my body, for reasons I couldn’t fathom.

Wasn’t she trying to make me into an undead?

Just then, I caught sight of Mortis’s gaze. Her eyes were fixed on a single red dot on the floor.

The very blood I drew with the Blood-Colored Awl trying to summon a skeleton earlier.

A single red droplet, scattered in the pure-white center of this conceptual world.

It looked almost modern art.

Thump.

Lost in these thoughts, the drop of blood began to boil, making a sound.

Thump, thump.

A heartbeat-like sound reverberated through the inner world, and the blood began to expand outward.

Wait, no way.

― That’s my toy!

From that drop of blood came a bellow louder than thunder. Simultaneously, a hand gripping a blood-soaked, crude sword shot out and pierced Mortis.

― I don’t care if you kill my toy! But you can’t take the key!

Bro! You came for me!

As Mortis’s body was skewered by what seemed to be Thrag’s sword, she began to stagger backward.

― He… even if he dies, he will die in my arms!

With those final words, red waves surged across the white, blank canvas of the inner world.

And the waves seemed to be coming towards me.

Wait, bro!?

Before I could even call Thrag’s name, I was swept away by the waves.

The stench of blood filled the air.

* * *

“H-hrrrk…!”

A rush of cold breath filled my lungs, and my flickering vision gradually returned.

Regaining my senses, I quickly checked my body. I had been engulfed by a wave of blood, but there wasn’t a drop on me; the parts where my bones and flesh had separated had returned to normal.

If you’re going to send me back out, couldn’t you at least do it gently? I nearly drowned, Thrag.

Looking around, I saw it was the dungeon beneath Luludane Forest.

“Brother!”

“Brother!”

I was greeted by familiar faces as soon as I opened my eyes—Barkal and Serena.

Seeing the two, my dazed mind started to function properly again.

“What happened to the undead?”

“Sorry, brother.”

Sorry for what?

“We finished them all without leaving any for you.”

Oh, really?

No need to apologize for that.

“When you severed the Goddess statue’s neck, most of the undead vanished,”

Serena said.

Apparently, it worked even on the Dullahan. The “necromancer” who served as the locus lay limp on the ground.

There’s the head he was holding in the corner, too.

“How long has passed?”

“Since you struck the Goddess statue’s neck—not even five minutes.”

Time flows very differently in an inner world compared to reality.

It felt like I was in there for over an hour, but not even five minutes had passed. Lucky for me.

But something seemed odd. The dungeon should collapse when the “dungeon master” dies, shouldn’t it?

“I’m not sure either. When you destroyed the Goddess statue—the dungeon master—it should’ve collapsed,” said Serena, tilting her head as if sensing the same oddity.

Is this a bug?

No, it’s not even a game. In any case, I wasn’t complaining.

Would be a shame to leave empty-handed.

I looked around to see if I could find anything valuable.

I found a mana stone from the Dullahan. It looked similar to the one I got from Scar Claw. I’d have to get it appraised at the adventurer’s guild.

Oh, wow.

What’s this? You were wearing a ring, too!?

Without hesitation, I pulled the ring off the necromancer-turned-Dullahan’s finger. Normally this would be disgusting, but who cares about that when items are up for grabs?

Black Yoke Ring

Grade: special-grade

【Affinity with Death】 1

【Necromancy】 1

【Understanding of Darkness】 2

【Skeleton Promotion】 1

Sure enough, it was a powerful item for necromancers, boosting necromancy skills significantly.

Oh, it even had the “Skeleton Promotion” property.

Allows you to improve the grade of your summoned skeletons by one step.

Since the value is “1”, that means you can’t use it on high-grade skeletons, but it might let you turn normal skeleton summons into “skeleton warrior” summons.

That alone made it a great haul.

Coming after the necromancer was worth it. It was a much more dangerous dungeon than one of the same grade, but hey—I survived.

There was also the necromancer’s staff, which was tempting, but—

* 〈Thrag frowns.〉

It seemed Thrag didn’t want me to take the staff.

“Brother.”

Just as I was reluctantly letting go of that tempting staff, Barkal approached.

He was eyeing a necklace barely hanging around the necromancer’s neck.

“May I take this?”

Wolf Fang Necklace

Grade: low

A necklace with no particular effect. Even if it was good, I’d let Barkal have it, but why would he want this junk?

But from behind his skull helmet, I could see troubled eyes.

“Alright.”

“Thank you, brother.”

Barkal walked over to the necromancer’s corpse, ripped off the necklace, and tucked it in his tunic.

As we finished gathering loot, a new question arose in my mind.

Why is the dungeon still intact?

Thinking this, I walked over to the Goddess statue—formerly the dungeon master, Mortis’s statue.

Without any divine power left in it, the statue no longer emanated an ominous aura.

That must mean it’s lost its power.

“Hm?”

A crack had formed in the statue’s chest. Something glittered inside.

What’s this? To find out, I started digging with the Blood-Colored Awl.

“Brother? What are you doing right now?”

“There’s something inside.”

I gave Serena a vague answer and kept digging at the chest. Inside, I found a crude stone carved with a rough symbol.

It was a Rune of the Abyss.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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