Old People Don’t Hold Hands - Chapter 137



Only Krnovel

Episode 137, The Frost Queen’s Crown (9)

There were two things I learned about the Frost Queen’s hallucinations.

First, the person who enters the hallucination forgets his or her name and does not even realize that this is a hallucination.

And secondly, there is an illusionary entity that prevents humans from breaking free from the illusion.

And according to the Welcome Body, they usually embody what each individual human being desires.

If you live like that, forgetting about reality, and then lose the illusionary body at the moment when you think it is the most precious… … .

That human also becomes a hallucination and is never able to escape from the illusion.

The bottom line is that the key is to deal with the Welcome entity as quickly as possible so as not to become too dependent on it.

… … Of course, the guy I saw back then might have given me false information.

For now, I decided to believe what he said.

As soon as the real welcome body was dealt with, Biella regained her memories without a hitch.

As I was organizing my thoughts like that, one question occurred to me.

If it’s already been a week since I started hallucinating like the Welcome Body guy said…

Then, it means that I too was hallucinating and not recognizing reality during that time.

But why did I naturally realize that it was a hallucination?

What kind of welcome do I have here?

When I woke up to reality, exactly what happened… … .

“mister!”

“……ah.”

Phew.

Before my thoughts got any more complicated, I shook my head and cleared my head.

It didn’t matter what my welcome was or how I became aware of it.

Anyway, I’m out of the illusion.

What’s important now is Diana, who, like Biella before, doesn’t even remember her own name…

Perhaps it was Nowen who was in a similar situation to her.

“We will first destroy Miss Diana’s illusion.”

“Hey, wait a minute! You still don’t know what a welcome is, do you, sir?”

“Just now, while talking, I got a rough idea of ​​what Miss Diana’s welcoming body was.”

“Welcome… … , what is it?”

Instead of answering Biella, I raised my index finger and pointed to the floor.

So, this is the floor of the basement level.

“The floor? What else is on the floor, huh… … ?”

“No, this entire basement level is Diana’s welcoming body.”

The moment I found Diana in a place with no entrance, I thought that perhaps the space itself, the basement level 1, might be what Diana had been hoping for.

When I first heard about Diana’s past in the false temple.

Diana once said something to me.

[… … When I was young, I had no choice but to fight with others to survive.]

[That’s why I always desperately needed a safe space where I could be comfortable.]

[Before and after going to the temple, I always had to be on guard to survive.]

[… … I’ve never really had a good night’s sleep. I feel like I’m more comfortable now that I’m in the labyrinth.]

Diana’s expression as she spoke those words seemed more desperate than usual.

Just like Biella’s expression when she was talking about the guy called ‘Mister’.

So when I ran into Diana on the basement level, I thought that maybe this space was what Diana had been hoping for… … .

Talking to Diana about this space made me even more confident.

That it has been here since birth.

And it was strange that even if it was destroyed, it would be restored after a day.

… … Even Diana, who was explaining it, knew that it was logically impossible, but she was trying to ignore it and was talking.

Just like Biella, who was welcoming us for the first time and insisted that they were family.

So, for now… … .

“Let’s break this down and see how the welcoming body reacts.”

If what Biella’s welcome body said was true, the method to regaining memories was very simple.

Destroying the welcoming body assigned to that person.

In fact, when he killed the bastard, Biella immediately regained her lost memories.

If we apply this directly to Diana… … .

Diana’s illusionary body, that is, the first basement floor, is destroyed, leading to the conclusion that Diana’s memories will return.

But if there was one problem, it was what Diana said.

[… … If it’s a tool, you probably won’t need it.]

[It will be fixed in a day or so.]

No matter how hard you try to break it, you can’t break it.

Because in the end, it will be restored like a labyrinth.

But even if it is restored, the rule that if it is destroyed, the memories will be restored will still apply since it is a welcome body… … .

For now, we had to break things here and there and figure out where they couldn’t be repaired.

First of all.

“Let’s start from here.”

Right, I was thinking of starting with room B3 where we were.

“Are you saying that you’re going to destroy the food warehouse, human… …?”

Inozen smacked his lips as if he was disappointed by what I said.

“Are you planning on destroying not only the food warehouse but the entire line?”

And I was thinking of doing all the other lines as well, just as they were shown.

“Inogen.”

“Why, why do you keep calling my name, human!”

“Let’s start by destroying this food box here.”

“Why, why on earth did I use this precious magic box… … .”

“Use it.”

If it’s going to break, then break it.

Why is there so much talk about dragons?

“Aren’t you going to break it?”

Let’s talk while tapping the refrigerator with our hands.

Inozen took a few steps back as if he was not at all interested.

As if to give a hint, let’s keep an eye on Inogen while placing our hands on the refrigerator.

“Ugh, ugh, I get it, human! Ha, that’ll do it!”

With those words, Inogen immediately transformed one of his arms into the shape of a dragon.

Kwaaaaang―!!

With one punch from Inogen, the refrigerator would have been shattered into pieces.

Phew, pusheeee… … .

Inogen saw the refrigerator breaking apart without any sign of its shape and emitting smoke.

“Ugh, that’s too bad… … .”

I unknowingly shed something similar to tears… … .

I didn’t have the luxury of caring about that.

“Just in case, let’s try destroying the entire room.”

Boom, bang, bang―!!

After completely burning room B3 to the ground, we started to attack the other rooms one by one.

After clearing all rooms from 1 to 10 on Line B, turn the corner and this is what you see.

“Number C1?”

… … It’s strange.

Isn’t line C around the corner, the place we passed by earlier?

I passed C and then B, and then B, so according to the rules, I should come out… … .

It should be line A.

I thought it was strange, but for now, I asked Inogen to destroy the rooms on Line C one by one.

Each room had its own unique characteristics.

Some rooms only had a bed, while others only had a toilet.

And then there were some rooms that only had computers, and if there was anything strange about it… … .

It turned out that EndWorld was being played inside it.

Of course, there was no player present, and the normal EndWorld play screen that I had always seen appeared.

“… … Huh? Isn’t this a labyrinth?”

Biella pretended to know everything by looking at the monitor screen.

“Sir! Isn’t this a labyrinth?”

“… … Ah, it seems like a labyrinth.”

I had no choice but to desperately pretend not to know.

After ordering Inogen to quickly destroy room C6 where the monitor is located.

After destroying all the rooms on Line C and turning the corner again, this is what I saw.

“… … Huh? Isn’t this the place we came from before?”

… … It was the B-line corridor that had already been broken and passed by a long time ago.

Unlike Inogen, who yawns and looks like he doesn’t have much on his mind.

Biella seemed to have noticed something strange.

“That’s right. That’s strange. I think we just passed the B-Line corridor.”

After passing through the B Line corridor, you will reach the C Line corridor.

After passing through the C-line corridor, the B-line corridor appears.

It’s like a Möbius strip.

If there are lines B and C, it would seem that there would be at least the corridor of line A… … .

Seeing that no matter how long I walked, I couldn’t find an A-line hallway, a plausible hypothesis came to mind.

The hypothesis is that the welcoming body is hiding an A-line corridor.

And if this hypothesis is correct… …, the method to completely destroy the illusionary body would also be related to the A-Line corridor.

If it’s true that he’s really hiding the A-line hallway from us.

Because that would usually be his weakness.

Since the rooms in Line B and Line C were all destroyed, we just kept walking forward.

But no matter how much I walk, I see something every time I turn a corner.

It’s just the B and C line corridors.

No other space appeared before us.

After wandering around like that for quite some time.

We had no choice but to conclude that we could not go to another space with our own strength.

Perhaps to get to other spaces besides lines B and C… … .

There must be a Diana who is the owner of this space.

“Huh, huh, sir… … , how long are we going to walk… … .”

I stopped walking as I saw Biella looking tired after walking for a long time.

And then I turned my head and looked back and forth.

The place we are now is the C-line corridor.

… … Whether you go forward or backward from here, it will only lead to the B-line corridor.

“We will continue to look for ways to move to other lines.”

“… … Oh my, but, you’re saying there aren’t any other areas at all? Huh… … .”

“No. I’m sure there will be.”

I looked around the B and C line hallways carefully, but I couldn’t see anything like a fluorescent light switch.

… … That’s strange.

When Diana surprised us here, all the lights in the hallway were clearly turned off.

And above all.

No matter how much I searched the corridors of Line B and Line C, I couldn’t find Diana.

If so, there was only one conclusion.

That there is a different line of hallways where Diana stays.

That’s probably the A-line hallway.

“Even if I’m there, I can’t go. What do I do… … , what on earth… … .”

I looked at Biella for a moment, who was now sitting down, saying that it was difficult.

I turned my head again.

Towards Inogen, who was still picking his ears, yawning, and acting like it was none of his business.

“… … ? Why are you doing that, human?”

Inozen hesitated again as if he felt ominousness in my gaze.

… … That guy is sharp.

“I thought I might need someone to go to another area.”

“Who, who are you talking about? The human woman who left earlier?”

“okay.”

“How long has it been since I last saw that human woman, how come… … .”

Of course, that’s true.

“If there was a way to bring Miss Diana back, what would you do?”

“Huh, huh, what method is this… …?”

In fact, the method was simple.

When I first saw Diana here, it was clear that she wanted to guard the basement level.

So, even though it was threatening, they came running right away when we rushed in.

There is an easy way to summon Diana, so there is no reason not to use it.

“Inogen, aren’t you feeling a little tired? You probably haven’t been able to use your strength comfortably for a long time.”

“Ah, no, human! I… … .”

“Let’s start destroying everything from here. Until Diana has no choice but to come back here.”