142 Konosuba Side Part 27.

When the group decided on their next course of action and awaited the World's Will's message, two other people were already planning their next steps, despite having much more trouble.

Two people were walking slowly in the green lush forest near a town at a good distance away from Axel. They were a man and a woman, with the former dressed as a rogue and the latter dressed in a combat bodysuit.

Their pace was steady and quiet, as if they were taking a walk, but they didn't seem to be appreciating their surroundings. Instead, there was a rather tense feeling between them.

Two people wandering casually through the forest with weapons would most likely be adventurers, but these two were different because they gave the impression that they were always defending against each other.

"What is the meaning of this?" Looking around at this forest devoid of intellectual life, Kyle came to a halt and turned to face his 'teammate,' Susan.

Despite his expressionless face and calm gaze, Kyle's frustration and rage could be heard in his voice as he held his dagger.

Susan, who was walking with a little grin on her face, came to a halt a few meters from Kyle and asked, "Oh, are you going to do it?"

"It depends on what do you know about this?" Kyle clenched his dagger as his muscles tightened.

"What about me? I don't know much better than you, so why did you think I did?" Susan's grin remained as she spoke casually. As if she didn't notice Kyle's blatant threats.

Despite her demeanor, her eyes were totally relaxed and concentrated on Kyle in front of her.

"Save us some time and don't play dumb" Kyle said this with a blank look on his face, keeping an eye on Susan's every move.

"I'm not sure, so why don't you figure it out, and maybe you'll be able to do something useful for once?" Susan maintained her grin, but she immediately tilted her head when a throwing knife passed near her left cheek and was nailed to a tree trunk.

"With all I've seen, you're really insisting on keeping this mentality considering the situation?" Kyle's face was unchanged because he knew murdering this woman would be very difficult for him.

He can hit Susan immediately and slice her throat before Gene Lock takes place from this distance, but he never knows whether she has a secret card or skill. She might also be leading him straight into a trap.

As a result, dealing with other players is often the most challenging aspect of the mission. Knowledge is important in the Horror Space because it allows for preparation and planning to deal with various world's aborigines.

The players are all very different. When you're about to kill one, a secret ability or hidden cards might appear, making the other players wonder whether they're taking them out of their asses, but then they remember they're doing the same thing... hypocrites.

"Oh, you're not at all a gentleman. I thought you'd play the role of a weakling subordinate just to backstab me later?" Susan spoke as if her words were mocking Kyle.

"Heh, those things aren't even worth dirt in Space, and I don't want to waste my time on someone like you," Kyle sneered.

If it were anyone else, he might lower himself to achieve an advantage later, but this isn't exactly a good strategy against players unless you're absolutely certain.

Do you think an arrogant player, behaving like a Wuxia young master and full of himself, will be an easy target to fool?

Think twice because the player is most likely only acting to draw smartasses who think it is easy to play the protagonist.

The majority of those players, who fell into this trap, either became free loot or cannon fodder.

Politeness, sweet words, cavalierly, and kindness have little value in the Space. Overall, in a life-or-death scenario, people rarely remember their families and lovers.

Susan didn't say anything, but she slowly reached for her bow while Kyle clicked his tongue. While he does not want to sever this glass partnership too soon, the situation has changed drastically as a result of what he saw.

He figured it would be difficult to find a hint at first, but after finding a town near Axel... He began to doubt his eyes, ears, and life in general.

When Kyle reached the tavern, he immediately noticed a few adventurers and casually asked them if something unusual had happened in Axel.

Kyle soon learned a lot of things, thanks to his social skills and the fact that the explorers were a good bunch and drunk, which they started with WRYYYYYY and DIO.

He cleared his ears three times and asked the adventurers three times, but neither his ears nor the adventurers were deceiving him.

Kazuma, the protagonist of Konosuba, the perverted scum and gender equality preacher, has become DIO... what?

Earth Dragon and the huge Whitebeard, the Explosion Magic apocalypse, the cursed sword, and so forth. Kyle's surprise didn't diminish the adventurers' spirits, particularly because his expression was amusing.

So, they talked about everything interesting before Kyle's mind short-circuited while leaving the tavern.

{Dear Horror Space, our lovely emotionless monstrosity, are you fucking sure this is Konosuba world?} Kyle asked himself this question several times, but then he calmed down and began to think.

Let's not get into how Kazuma got the name DIO and shout WRYYY, so what about Whitebeard? Isn't that guy obviously from another world? Could there be a player behind this?

Some players may pay a high price to hire an aborigine as a minion, but Whitebeard? How could anyone turn him into a slave?!

There couldn't be a player capable of defeating Whitebeard in sheer force in this layer, let alone having enough money to pay for the subordinate token, especially in the first layer of the Horror Space.

Kyle's head hurt as he thought further, but his mind was soon drawn away by his 'teammate.'

Susan had heard similar information. She seemed shocked by the facts, but unlike Kyle, she appears to be more accepting of the change.

Kyle couldn't put it into words, but he felt like she was taking this circumstance for granted, as though she anticipated a similar situation to occur and was just shocked by Whitebeard's identity.

"I'm not sure whether you're faking it or not, however I can't afford to lose any more time." Kyle took a step back as he observed the woman in front of him, and Susan did the same.

Susan may be faking it and knows nothing at all, but she's using this technique to entice him with false information. Even if she is aware of anything, there is no assurance that she did not use blatant clues to manipulate him.

This is a tough scenario that didn't leave Kyle with several opportunities other than confronting her and hoping for the best.

The mission timer is going to end in a few days, and if they don't complete it, all their progress will be lost, which is something no player wants to see.

After all, the challenge of each mission will rise with each mission passed. Not making any progress in a mission will almost always result in death, especially for a new player.  

"It seems you're adamant about your ideas, huh? *Sigh* This may be a waste of resources, but there's nothing we can do about it. My wind will blow again." When an arrow emerged in her hand, Susan shook her head in disappointment.

'Alas, this mission is a complete failure,' Kyle grumbled as his finger almost hit the 'give up' button in secret.

While Kyle had some questions about why Susan went through all the trouble of forming a team if she didn't want something from him, he couldn't afford to remain in this odd mission any longer.

When his finger fell on the button, Kyle's eyes widened when he saw it, a faint grin on Susan's lips.

[Your authority and stature are insufficient to exit the current mission.]

Without even looking at the message, Kyle dashed at top speed, turning into a bolt and passing Susan in an instant.

*Pffff*

'Susan's' head flew from her neck in a blur, and blood rushed to the sky. Kyle didn't even bother looking behind him as he maintained his pace and entered stealth mode.

Around the same time, 'Susan' became invisible before dissolving like a mirage, and the blood disappeared as though it had never been.

"Wait, what? Didn't you know this was a part of the 'special mission'?" Susan stood on top of a tree branch, pointing her arrow at Kyle's hiding spot, but he quickly moved.

"My, my, there was no need for such a strong response. We're both in this boat together. Do you still want to hear more about this mission?" Susan lowered her bow because Kyle's position shifted so quickly that she couldn't get a direct hit.

{She... she... It wasn't a coincidence that we met in the woods. She's looking for me, so how and why? Because of a certain reward? Or is it... a mission?} As Kyle saw the Horror Space's note, he looked as if he had fallen into the abyss.

"Um? Don't you want to hear a thing or two? This may be a matter of life and death for you in this situation." Susan had a troubled expression on her face, but Kyle was swearing in his heart {Fuck you, and to hell with any mission with you!}

{Yeah, shit! There's nothing I can do about it; I'll quit and wait for the mission's time limit, however...} Kyle wanted to leave, but when he saw the Horror Space's interface, he became hesitant.

"You must be wondering, if the Horror Space made quitting impossible, there's a chance it'll change the time limit, right? You should already know the answer because of this special mission" Susan said softly, but she didn't get a response because Kyle was hiding quietly and his face was very ugly.

"However, I have no guarantee on that, so it seems the only solution is to keep walking unless you want to find out the penalty of the special mission," Susan said as Kyle clenched his fist tightly in frustration.

She obviously wants to use him, but Kyle has hit a dead end.

He didn't even have the option of asking Susan why she knew anything about this.

Of course, he might flee now, but with the Horror Space's shocking attitude and the information he's learned about this world...

He just didn't have a choice.

{Dammit, I hate these quick-witted people} Susan despised Kyle's swift wit, but it won't help him much in this case.

Susan chuckled and quietly breathed a sigh of relief. The most complicated part of her scheme, luring Kyle into a dead end, was successful.

This, as Kyle suspected, is a part of Susan's mission, but not as a player.

The Horror Space is a fairly neutral entity most of the time. It doesn't favor players, and it certainly doesn't disturb them.

Anything is processed according to the situation in order to maintain its 'own' fairness, which is based on the basic rule of the strong flourishing and the weak rotting.

The law, though, only applies when the Horror Space's interests are not on the stack.

Kyle has never been in a position like this before, but Susan has. She also assumed the special mission wasn't that different until she learned it was a war between two different Spaces.

During that time, she discovered a lot of things, including the fact that the Horror Space isn't some all-powerful, unrivaled being. It's not like the novels where players battle to become the next Lord God or something. They are just soldiers here; in truth, they don't really deserve to be soldiers; they are most likely tools.

Susan almost died a couple of times during the mission, but she survived and received the Gene Lock as well as a chance. An opportunity to advance above the level of a normal player. It's classified as an Executioner.

She doesn't know anything about this new identity, but based on the name, she can already guess what it does and who it is directed at. The current mission is a trial by the Horror Space to see if she is capable of becoming an executioner.

Susan thought quietly while waiting for Kyle to make up his mind {With your intelligence, you could find something out in a normal situation, but this is one of those things far beyond your expectations}

To be honest, there are still a lot of clues about how odd this mission is. Normally, when players begin a mission, they receive the message 'Loading Replica XX,' but this time it was 'Entering Reality XX.'

Her mission is the same as everyone else's, except there's a little twist. The identity of 'devices' is not as clear as it sounds. After all, a player can never believe that the Horror Space counts them as 'devices,' whether they are dead or alive.

Yeah, they are similar to the cold metal sticks in the Horror Space's eyes. Susan was angered by this fact, but at least she can escape that fate. One of Axel's planting points is already used by a player in her quest bar, leaving her with only one.

Now she just needs to prepare the final device or, if the case calls for it... Make Kyle die there, which also counts as a planting.

The mission is now moving forward at a solid pace. She was concerned about Kyle's interference, but his lack of knowledge has left him almost unable to intervene.

Susan would prefer not to be involved in these things if she had an alternative, but there isn't one. You can either push forward and step on others, or you can let others step on you.

Just as she was about to say something else, the Horror Space's screen leaped in front of Susan and Kyle's faces.

It was a bloody red screen with several alarm signs blinking in the background. Susan and Kyle both widened their eyes at the contents of the window as utter silence descended on the place.

In the meantime, the members of the Chat were busy at work on the new strategy. There's a lot to do, and there's only a little time before the World's Will arrives.

First, Kaguya tossed Leone, who had a helpless smile on her face, into the teleportation spell that directly leads to the Capital. She wouldn't even give her a bottle of alcohol.

Misaka went to prepare materials for the spell, amid her mixed feelings about this apparently non-satanic ritual that continues to send demonic vibes. Minus  pigeon's blood, which she would never handle, Misaka went to the blacksmith to find some things and, most specifically, to make the odd Lotus Staff.

Kazuma followed her because he was the one who had to obtain the blood from the pigeons. Misaka took a few steps away from him because he seemed to be looking forward to killing those damn pigeons.

Whitebeard continued to consider how to form his guild. According to his understanding, he cannot immediately turn the guild's members into a family, particularly because the Chat's members need a large amount of manpower to assist them in this task.

Whitebeard thought for some time on Kaguya's suggestion of giving them a reason to participate before agreeing to give Navy Six an exclusive skill for those who join. He'll propose his own path to power, much as the guild does with adventurers' cards, but only after he checks the new recruits with his own eyes.

Kaguya was preoccupied with identifying specific locations and overseeing various aspects of the spell's execution. After she completes this, she will go search for certain people all over the world, which will be a great assistance to the Chat's members.

Kazuma's party saw Kazuma and his friends come and go in a very busy manner as they had no clue what was going on, but only Aqua had a very bad feeling about this.

However, just as everybody was getting productive for the first time in their lives, their attention was interrupted by a glowing screen that nearly hit their faces.

[Annihilation Maker(Admin) has started a stream. Do you wish to join?]

"This nearly gave me a heart attack," Kazuma said, placing his hand on his chest. He'll never get used to this screen in front of his face and vision, even now.

Because of this damned jump scare, he nearly shot someone instead of the pigeon!!

Despite his irritation, Kazuma was curious as to why this demon (Leo) wanted to open the stream. Maybe something interesting happened in his world, but they are too busy to care, so Kazuma decided to check briefly before departing.

As he decided to enter the stream, the other members had the same thoughts as Kazuma. What awaited them, however, was an orange screen with no other image.

"What exactly is this?" Kazuma stepped closer to the screen, expecting to see more, but it was just an orange screen.

{Is he playing a prank on us?} Kazuma thought it was the most possible reason, but then he felt the image moved.

"GA!!!!!" The orange screen morphed into an orange slime creature with black bead eyes that leapt onto the screen with its slimy 'hands' raised up.

"AHHHHHHH!!!!" Kazuma and Misaka, who were totally unprepared for this, yelled in the middle of the street.

"Heh, gottem," Leo said as he approached the floating SCP-999 and gave it a high-five while watching the reactions on the screen.

Kaguya blinked her eyes, and Whitebeard had no idea what was going on. Leone had already left without taking a second glance.

Kazuma and Misaka, on the other hand, were looking at the screen with flaming eyes. 

They'd have already punched Leo through the screen if they could. Yup, this is a normal day in this Chat Room.