Chapter 24 – Hound Dog Party

“Ugh… Наh…”

Whеn consciоusnеss returned, Аsuto found himsеlf сlutсhing his оwn сhеst tightly.

If he hаdn’t, he felt likе hе might losе his vеrу sеnsе of рlaсe in the wоrld.

“Whаt… wаs thаt… just now…”

Thе halluсination he’d just sееn wasn’t the current Каnzaki.

It was likely a mеmоry from the previоus Кanzaki’s рath.

Вut hе’d nеvеr heard of being аble to sее sоmeonе еlsе’s memoriеs—memoriеs of someonе nоt in this world—in a drеаm.

Dreаmdrop wаs, as the namе suggestеd, аn item that let you drеam.

Frаgmеnts оf the usеr’s own memоriеs, sеlectеd at rаndоm, wоuld соnneсt rаndоmly tо gеnerate a dream.

You’d remember it clearly even after waking, making it similar in nature to a lucid dream.

It was said to have no other effects, not even addictive properties, making it of no use to civilians.

However, just as Paul McCartney came up with the melody for “Let It Be” in a dream, dreams occasionally provide creative ideas.

Because of this, it was a popular product among creators and the like.

The phrase “makes dreams come true” in the product description wasn’t exactly a “lie.”

Which made it all the more malicious.

Anyway, it should have been concluded that while Dreamdrop had the effect of inducing dreams, it didn’t have the effect of letting you dream about events from another future.

(…Could it be because of Return?)

Asuto possessed the Return Skill.

Thanks to this, he could guess that events that occurred in another future had become connected to Asuto’s current consciousness.

(That might actually be an undiscovered effect of Dreamdrop.)

For something imagined, it felt far too vivid.

It was so shocking it made him nauseous.

He couldn’t possibly believe that was created solely from Asuto’s own memories.

“Ugh… Ah…”

Hearing Kanzaki’s groan, Asuto temporarily halted his contemplation.

“Miss Kanzaki, are you okay?”

“Huh… Ah, yes… Um, that just now… the dream? …What was it?”

A bad feeling washed over him.

He should just not ask, leave the Dungeon as if nothing happened, and part ways with her.

He thought that, but right after seeing such a terrible dream, he couldn’t help but ask.

“…Did you not know?”

“Know what?”

“Dreamdrop is an item that makes you dream.”

“But it makes dreams… come true…”

“In a sense. It gives people who want to dream the exact dream they wish for, so you could say it ‘makes dreams come true.'”

“…………! Aim, you tricked me!!”

Kanzaki glared sharply into the air with a fierce expression.

That’s where the Aim in question was.

—The lowest Angel who had maliciously tempted a weakened Kanzaki.

“…But, Aim said with this I could save my mom… Huh? He didn’t say that? That can’t…”

Kanzaki’s eyes filled with despair.

Angels don’t lie.

But “that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re telling the truth.”

Kanzaki had actually said it.

She’d said she’d learned from the Angel that if she got an item that could grant wishes, she might be able to save her mom…

Asuto, who knew the Angel’s methods, could immediately see through it as “not a lie, but not the truth either.”

But Kanzaki—

“That’s… so cruel. I thought… I could save Mom. I believed it… I really did.”

She had truly, from the bottom of her heart, believed the Angel’s words.

As if she’d lost even the will to stand, her knees buckled and she fell flat on her rear with a thump.

Tears began to spill from Kanzaki’s eyes, one after another.

Plip, plip, plip.

At the small sound of teardrops hitting the ground, Asuto clenched his fist so hard it trembled.

His nails dug into his palm, popping through the skin with small pricks.

“If only I’d realized sooner.”

Asuto should have realized much earlier that Kanzaki might be misunderstanding the effect of Dreamdrop—that she might be being tricked by the Angel.

In fact, he had felt something was off.

Yet, he hadn’t tried to dig deeper into that small sense of unease.

He had overlooked an important clue.

That was because Asuto had been superimposing Kanzaki over the Ice-Blood Princess from her strong days.

The Ice-Blood Princess wouldn’t make such a simple mistake that he could point out.

She must have had some plan.

For example—maybe selling the Dreamdrop would get her enough for a Recovery Item… or something.

But that wasn’t the case.

(The Kanzaki I knew was from ten years later. The figure from her days of consecutive victories, when she was strong.)

(I hadn’t been looking at the current Kanzaki at all…)

Because of his own preconceptions, he couldn’t save Kanzaki, who was being neatly tricked by the Angel’s sweet words and falling into the abyss of despair.

Regret burned fiercely in his chest.

Just then, someone approached the Boss Room.

○

“Huh, someone’s here?”

The Leader of the Hound Dog Dungeon Conquest noticed the presence and stopped.

Straining his eyes, he saw there was no Boss in the Boss Room, only two humans.

“Hey, you three lookouts! You let some outsiders slip through!?”

“Eek!” “Sorry!!” “W-we were watching properly, but it didn’t seem like anyone entered—”

“—Shut up and die!!”

Driven by anger, the Leader punched the three lookouts.

As they fell, he kept punching them from above, punch after punch…

“G-gurgle…” “F-forgive…” “Ugh…”

The lookout men begged for forgiveness, their faces covered in blood.

But the Leader would never forgive them.

In Hound Dog, strength was justice.

If he went easy here, it would set a bad example for the others, and if they thought they could get away with it, the chain of command would collapse.

By the time the men had rolled their eyes back and lost consciousness, the Leader finally lowered his fist.

“Now then.”

He turned and looked at the two Hunters.

One was a man, appearing to be around twenty years old. With his well-proportioned features, if he wore a cool expression he’d probably be popular with women.

(Tch, damn pretty boy, I wanna beat him to death.)

The other was a woman, though her face wasn’t clearly visible.

Neither had Equipment beyond the Beginner level, and the Weapons they barely had were the cheap ones sold at the Gold Shop.

(They’re just fucking weaklings!)