Chapter 82
[‘The Voice That Builds Worlds’ is moved to tears of emotion.]
[‘Architect of the Tower of Trials’ wishes you good fortune.]
[‘Inspector of Heavenly Secrets’ declares that they will keep watching.]
[‘Eye that Watches All Chaos in Existence’ says to watch together.]
[‘Sharp-Tongued One Who Adjusts Balance’ looks forward to the original plot being broken.]
[‘Manager of Creative Economy’ requests continued spending.]
[‘Scales that Judge Souls’ urges you to go meet the world’s most handsome man.]
Even the gods’ encouragement feels warm.
“Alright, I’ll be going now.”
I took a jewel from my chest and broke it. A specially crafted teleportation stone with preset coordinates that sends me to a designated location. It bends space and moves my body elsewhere.
“……”
Feeling the wind wrap around me, I slowly opened my eyes.
At last, I had arrived in the world where the original story begins.
Chapter 17. The Beginning of the Original Story
A clear blue sky. Beneath it stretched mountain ranges that formed deep green ridges.
The greenery cascading down to the foothills looked like a velvet carpet spread across the land.
Greenwall was a small village surrounded by a barrier of mountains like folding screens. Because of its isolated geography, no outsiders visited except for a merchant once a week.
But recently, something unusual had happened here.
Women washing clothes by the well chatted excitedly.
“Did you see it this morning? Priests and knights came in droves. There was a ridiculously handsome young man among them—was that real?”
“I saw him. You mean the silver-haired one, right? I’ve never seen silver hair that shiny before. And his face… the holiness of it is beyond words.”
“Why did they come? The church hasn’t cared about our village at all.”
“Right? It’s been ten years since they even sent a proper priest. I wonder if the one who ran away because he couldn’t stand the pig-sty smell is still doing well.”
The sound of washing sticks echoed a little more sharply.
“Old man Paul said a dungeon appeared in the mountains. Maybe that’s why?”
“Oh my, a dungeon?”
“So adventurers will come to mine resources? The village might develop!”
They were happily imagining a bright future, not even considering the possibility of disruption.
“Hmph! Develop, my foot! The church will just take everything as ‘donations’ anyway. Those greedy bastards only care about money!”
An old man suddenly cut in. Though he stood out among the women, his hands skillfully continued washing.
“Now, now, village chief. That’s just how the church is. Don’t get worked up.”
“True enough.”
“Still, you’re out washing again today?”
“My wife hurt her back working the fields yesterday. And I’m better at washing than her anyway.”
That’s enough of the peaceful village laundry scene.
At this point, I closed the system map I had been looking at and approached them.
“Hello. May I ask you something?”
“Oh my! You startled me—an outsider?”
“So the adventurers are really coming because of the dungeon rumor!”
“Welcome to Greenwall!”
Their friendly attitude made it seem easy to ask questions.
“Where is the church in the village?”
“The church? Just follow the road to the right.”
“You’ll see a brick building—it’s easy to spot.”
“But there’s no priest anymore, so it’s practically abandoned.”
The three women answered together. The village chief added:
“It’s just being used as a storage shed now.”
So that’s why it didn’t appear on the map.
If the church isn’t functioning at all, it says a lot about the village’s faith.
[‘Manager of Creative Economy’ calls it a niche market.]
[‘The Voice That Builds Worlds’ sparkles with anticipation.]
“Thanks for the information. It’s nothing much, but please take this.”
I pulled small potion bottles from my satchel and handed them out.
“What is this?”
“A moisturizing potion to keep your hands soft and pretty. Use it after laundry or washing dishes.”
“Oh my, this is the famous beauty potion?”
“It’s amazing!”
As the women marveled, the village chief suddenly shouted:
“Why don’t I get one?! I want one too! For my wife!”
What a romantic old man.
“Of course, here you go. Please use it well, and for more, contact the ‘Lorel Potion Company’. I’ll be off now.”
“Wait, outsider girl!”
The village chief hurriedly stopped me. I thought he wanted more samples, but instead—
He rummaged through his clothes and placed something warm into my hand.
“You don’t have something like this at your place, do you?”
“……”
“Cough, well, you’re an outsider, so I don’t have much to give. Just eat this. My wife boiled it.”
A softly steamed potato gave off a comforting aroma.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. You remind me of my granddaughter.”
Favors should be returned.
“Ladies, chief—please finish your laundry quickly. Things will get dangerous soon.”
“Huh? What are you talking about…?”
With a smile, I turned away.
Following the path they indicated, I walked while nibbling the potato.
By the time I finished it, I had arrived at the church.
The building was so ruined that calling it a “ruin” was accurate—walls collapsed, roof broken, beams exposed. Even the cross was gone.
Pathetic.
“At least the bell seems intact.”
<Want to use it?>
“Yes. Sorry for the noise, Agnes.”
I immediately climbed to the third floor and began ringing the bell wildly.
DONG! DENG! DONG!
The loud, beautiful sound echoed violently through the air. After several minutes of this noise pollution—
“Who’s ringing that bell?! It’s so loud!”
“I was trying to rest my aching back!”
“Who is doing this?!”
The villagers gathered in front of the church.
“Hey! What are you doing up there!”
“Stop making noise and come down!”
“It’s dangerous! The building might collapse!”
Even the village chief, who had given me the potato, ran over with a laundry basket on his head.
“Outsider girl! You ate my potato and now you’re causing trouble?! Come down at once!”
“Don’t bother, chief. She seems crazy.”
I heard the whispering clearly. I almost felt a bit ashamed, but Agnes comforted me.
<It’ll recover soon anyway. Continue.>
“Okay.”
Time was short, so I decided to begin.
I stopped ringing the bell and shouted:
“Everyone, are you all gathered? It’s going to get dangerous soon—please go inside the church!”
“What?”
“What is she talking about?”
Since I had already been labeled a madwoman, they only looked confused.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the awkward moment didn’t last long.
[‘The Voice That Builds Worlds’ holds its breath.]
[‘Inspector of Heavenly Secrets’ focuses.]
THUD.
THUD.
THUDDD.
A heavy vibration, like a heartbeat or the footsteps of a giant.
A deep, massive tremor spread in waves.
‘It’s coming.’
The first event of the original 17th loop.
“What… what is that?”
“What’s happening?!”
Panic spread.
Then—
BOOOOOOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the mountains erupted.
Black masses poured out like madness itself, cascading down the slope like a dark avalanche.
Unlike a natural disaster, they screamed.
KRAAAAH!
KIEEEEK!
Now it was clear what this was.
“Mon… monsters!”
“So it really is…!”
“The dungeon! The dungeon has exploded!”
Dungeon Burst.
Faces turned pale with despair.
The monster horde reached the village outskirts, swallowing everything in its path and heading toward the church.
Even awakened individuals would die if caught in a dungeon burst.
Ordinary people had almost no chance of survival.
In the original story, Greenwall disappeared from the map.
Screams and despair spread like plague.
Now then—it’s time to break the original story.
“Barrier of Mercury.”
An ultimate barrier transformed into a silver fortress, enveloping the area.
“What is that?!”
“A barrier?!”
“Divine power! That’s divine power!”
Whoever it was, they recognized the sacred energy.
They looked up at me on the church roof.
“Everyone, go inside the church. You’ll be safe here.”
The village chief was the first to recover.
“Move it! Didn’t you hear her?! Get inside!”
“Yes, sir!”
The villagers rushed inside.
I reduced the barrier to fit the building, sealing it in.
The monsters surrounded the church.
Although the barrier made it an impregnable fortress, the broken walls and windows still showed the outside, heightening fear.
Inside, chaos reigned.
I trusted the village chief to manage it and looked ahead.
The land beneath a perfect blue sky had become corrupted black.
Such beautiful weather made the catastrophe even more surreal.
I drew down lightning from the clear sky.
“Divine Punishment!”
Lightning spread across hundreds of meters, frying monsters wherever I could see.
But there were too many.
They kept pouring endlessly.
‘If I take too long…’
I glanced between the dungeon’s likely location and the people inside.
On one side, someone named Tesilid was likely close to death.
On the other, there were people I had saved.
Right in front of me was the latter.
If I go into the dungeon, the barrier will disappear.
But I can’t stay here forever.
I have to choose.
Then—
[‘The Voice That Builds Worlds’ stops breathing.]
“……”
Agnes spoke in a trembling voice.
<…Illet.>
“Agnes?”
<…Up there.>
I slowly raised my head.
And saw it.
In the blue sky, something was there.
A figure with black hair flowing in the wind, looking down at this place.
“……”
A beautiful man, gazing down at the world as if judging it from above.
I know who he is.
