Chapter 42 Character Mission Completed

Killing monsters is a boring yet fun thing.

Especially after the player has been a follower NPC for so many levels, he finally adapted to the pixel style and began to observe his two teammates.

Although at first glance, the three pixelated figures with three heads and black hair look like three identical black balls, with only a little white in the exposed skin such as their cheeks and necks, a closer look reveals that the three people's clothes are actually very different.

For some reason, the player's character did not follow the local customs and was still wearing a black sweater and black overalls. Although it was weird and not out of place, he was the darkest among the three from head to toe.

It can be seen that Kenji Hagihara has a slightly longer hair style, and the pixels of his eyes are made up of black and purple.

He was not dressed like a common wizard in a magic robe, but a simple, close-fitting black outfit with several pieces of brown leather armor at key locations. He looked very agile, like an assassin.

The magic wand in his hand is a bent branch with two gems embedded on it. When using attack magic or healing magic, different gems will light up and release skill special effects.

Jinpei Matsuda is the most prominent in appearance.

It's not that his eyes are made up of black and blue pixels, nor that he has curly hair.

Because at first glance he was dressed in black, in fact, it was a black armor. He didn't look like an adventurer, but like a fully armed knight guarding the king, and he also exuded the aura of money.

After all, not everyone can get a set of armor engraved with magic circles.

Players don't realize how valuable this equipment is, but since Jinpei Matsuda is wearing armor and holding a large sword, it's obvious that he's going for the high-defense, low-attack speed route.

But his attack speed is quite high, even flexible, which is amazing.

[Kenji Hagiwara]: "It's magic! He learned magic!"

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "No one says that people who use big swords can't learn magic, right? It's just more difficult, but it doesn't bother me."

The three-headed figure wielded a sword that was almost as tall as its height, blocking the branches of the tall wooden monster that was about to block the passage. The collision made a crisp sound like iron hitting stone, and two pixel sparks popped out.

The wood monster slapped the ground with its roots and launched a group attack.

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "Can you guys stop chatting during battles?!"

Matsuda Jinpei quickly approached the wooden monster by walking on the broken ground and cut off some of its roots.

A fireball launched as a special attack against the wood monster also flew over and hit the ferocious face on the tree trunk.

But faster than their attack was the black figure that had unnoticed the wood monster as the gunshots sounded. Under a series of attacks, the wood monster had only let out half of its howl before it completely turned into a ball of ashes and disappeared.

[Kenji Hagiwara]: "Ojono, you are the one with the longest attack range in our team, why do you always have to fight me so closely!"

[Jono Hisashi]: "..."

The armored man came back with a big sword, and viciously grabbed the player character's cheek with his cute pixel-style strip hands, and a number sign popped up on his head.

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "You speak when you shouldn't, and answer with silence when you should. You do it on purpose!"

[Hagiwara Kenji]: "Don't bully Kojono! Unless you ask me to join you!"

The little man holding the magic wand also rushed up, and the three pixel men on the screen squeezed into a black ball.

Players who were forced to interact and did not reject the option: "..."

As he continues to move forward, he will drag the two NPCs along with him, and they will look like a new type of black and white monster formed by the fusion of three people.

They were not so enthusiastic at first.

Although you can avoid most monsters on each level, there are always some that cannot be avoided, and the further you go down, the harder it is to defeat the monsters guarding the level.

For the player, this boring monster-killing mini-game has become time-saving and much more interesting because of the presence of two powerful NPC teammates. The short time he has played so far is nothing compared to the previous dungeon, and he does not feel tired at all.

But this is not the case for Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda.

Even if they know some magic, they are still two humans after all. Modern magic is far inferior to ancient magic and is not enough to turn them into magicians who can remain energetic even without food, water or sleep for ten days.

With teammates, you can avoid the loneliness and fear of fighting monsters alone in the dark, and the experience of adventurers can avoid fighting a large number of monsters on each level.

Even if you only fight a small number of monsters and gatekeeper monsters, the energy spent on planning routes and avoiding monsters cannot be replenished by the little rest, not to mention the discomfort brought by the dungeon environment itself.

They will get tired and will not be able to understand why Jyouno Hisaji is like a person who never gets tired and always moves forward with full of energy.

But it must be said that having such a teammate can make them cheer up, keep moving forward without admitting defeat, and express their increasingly tense emotions more freely.

In simple terms, the mental state gradually deteriorated and began to crawl in a distorted and cheerful manner.

[Hagiwara Kenji]: "...If you dare to describe us like that, I will really drag you down with me, right?"

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "I refuse."

[Jiono Hisaji]: "I can't crawl."

Two pixel men immediately pressed forward with text bubbles saying "I'll help you!"

But the player's character does not have the ability to crawl.

In the end, he carried two pixel men, and the three of them found the guarding monster in a rather twisted posture.

Coincidentally, the monster guarding the level is a mountain of flesh that looks like melted slime, with two claws, one holding a sword and the other holding a magic wand.

The player looks at the monster and then at his own team.

[Jiono Hisaji]: “Exactly the same.”

The two pixel men left him at the speed of light, at least three steps away from him.

[Kenji Hagiwara]: "It's over. I will never forget this monster for the rest of my life."

Matsuda Jinpei silently rushed forward to attack the monster, exuding an exceptionally deep murderous aura.

The meat mountain is not easy to defeat.

It is the monster guarding the 49th floor. Its difficulty is at least ten times that of the monster guarding the 48th floor. It is enough to drive the adventurers who have gone through hardships and exhaustion to this floor into despair.

It can launch forced taunts, physical group attacks, and magic attacks at short intervals. It will also cast healing magic to restore health every once in a while. Even when the health bar drops by 10%, it will release a furious attack that can almost reduce the character's health bar to the bottom.

Kenji Hagiwara's healing magic is indeed only half-baked, and it was completely sufficient when he was not needed for emergency treatment in the past.

But once you get in front of this kind of BOSS, his healing magic can't keep the health bar in a healthy state, and you have to pay attention to the mana bar. He himself is a very fragile person and will be killed instantly if you are not careful.

Fortunately, they have developed some tacit understanding through their strange running-in, and players can even cooperate with Matsuda Jinpei to perform some operations.

For example, when Kenji Hagiwara was forced to taunt, he first used high damage to remove some of the monsters' taunts, and then Jinpei Matsuda used his taunts to completely eliminate the monsters' taunts of Kenji Hagiwara.

After all, his defense is high and his health bar is thick. If he can withstand an attack, Hagiwara Kenji's health bar will be emptied.

For players, this monster is currently the most difficult one. It is the kind that will take a while to defeat even in the big world.

But the result was expected.

After an unknown number of times of his health bar jumping and an unknown number of times of his skills being used, the last bit of his health was completely wiped out by the swords, bullets, and fireballs that arrived at the same time. Only a golden key and a door at the end of the passage remained.

After opening the door with the key, you will be directly teleported to the 50th floor.

The player picked up the key, but was pulled back by his teammates.

[Kenji Hagiwara]: "It will take some time for the automatic teleportation after we clear the level, and we are not sure if there will be a rest room on the 50th floor. Let's take a break first, otherwise we won't be able to defeat another meat mountain."

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "You should also take a break. If you don't want to take a break, think about how to spend the bonus you got."

The dialogue appears with two options.

[I don't think there will be any monsters on the 50th floor.]

[Are you afraid of the Pandora's box that is about to be opened? ]

Players feel that this is still a sentence.

He chose the second one.

The expressions of the two pixel men were surprisingly detailed, at least he could see it now. Hagiwara Kenji was stunned for a moment and then smiled bitterly, while Matsuda Jinpei turned his face away in annoyance.

[Kenji Hagiwara]: "Don't be so blunt. Ever since I had that dream, I've always been a little scared of this dungeon, but at the same time, I feel like I have to go there."

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "I think something important is going to happen here. But it's not shameful to be afraid of the unknown. Do you want to go back?"

[Hagihara Kenji]: "Will you accompany me?"

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "Of course. I don't know if the 50th floor will send people directly back to the ground. If you want to go back, we will wait for you here for half an hour, no, an hour. If you don't show up after that, we will go back on our own."

[Hagiwara Kenji]: "Wow! If I climb back to the 48th floor in this state, I'll die! Don't try to sway me with your corny words, little Zhenping!"

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "...Don't make such a disgusting face. It gives me goosebumps."

[Jinpei Matsuda]: "Tiaoye, I've always wanted to ask you, do you have any spare weapons?"

[Kenji Hagiwara]: "We have entered the stage of realizing this once-in-a-lifetime wish!"

【萩原研二】：“我也想問！小條野你的武器是叫槍？好酷啊！又好厲害！比魔法厲害多了！”

【松田陣平/萩原研二】：“想拆！”

玩家莫名想到了他在藍星時代網絡論壇殘錄看到的一張表情包。

魔法師扛着火.箭炮，說這個可比魔法好用多了。

他也不知道武器能不能交給別人，換成了自己不怎麽用的狙擊槍，示意兩人自己來拿。

但不管萩原研二和松田陣平怎麽努力，都沒辦法從他手上把槍拿走，也沒辦法開拆。

最終，兩人只好遺憾放棄。

鬧騰完這一波後，他們打開了通往第五十層的門。

屏幕一黑，随後亮起了并非漂浮燈的白光，那是三個像素小人所在的通道盡頭傳來的。

玩家操控角色行動卻沒有反應時，他知道這是進入了劇情模式。

冒險家小隊謹慎的走出通道，剎那間，世界都有一瞬變得白茫茫的，出現在他們眼前的，是一團極大的閃爍着無數魔法咒語的白色光芒。

它與這個漆黑又危險的地下城極不相稱，适合放在燈塔上、魔法師協會的巨像上、國王的王座上這種被仰望的地方。

可它偏偏又在這裏，光芒毫不微弱的照耀着。

于是愈發顯得漂浮在它中央的那只打開蓋子的金色懷表是如此醒目，甚至能聽見秒針走動的聲響，透過光不可思議的看見它即将走完這一圈、全部歸于零的長短指針。

玩家聽見了陌生又好聽的青年男聲，帶着痛苦與了然。

“……原來如此啊。”

“我們已經是第八次來到這裏了，可一切都沒有改變，什麽都無法改變。”

那是萩原研二的聲音。

劇情極其自然的切入了過場動畫，閃現出了萩原研二和松田陣平的一幕又一幕。

這已經是第八次了。

他們是這個世界最厲害的冒險家組合，縱使這是最危險的一個地下城，對于他們來說難度也絕不簡單，可他們依舊在一次又一次的失敗後，成為了第一隊抵達五十層的冒險家。

但他們沒有成為勝利者。

因為第五十層沒有傳言中的寶藏，也沒有吃不完的食物水源，更沒有什麽遠古魔法師留下的傳承。

只有一顆地下城核心。

上面的所有魔法陣制造的怪物，全部都是用來保護這顆地下城核心的。

而他們也通過地下城核心中記載的一切，知道了令人恐懼的真相。

從古代魔法師們知道了世界毀滅的預言後建造的地下城，到自然派的魔法師此後将其他九十九個地下城核心偷走銷毀的事，只有這一顆能連接所有地下城的核心最為隐蔽，也幸免于難。

至于那些建造地下城的魔法師為什麽沒有對抗這些逃過遺忘魔法的自然派魔法師呢？

他們大多在建設地下城時耗費了所有精力，施放遺忘魔法過後，許多魔法師已經走向生命的盡頭。于是他們自己來到了這最後一個地下城核心，讓死前的自己成為供給核心的能源之一，并封閉了地下城。

直到當代，生存環境愈發惡劣的人們挖掘到了地下城，并從中能獲得相當于食物和水源的資源，因而誕生了大量的冒險家與追逐着地下城而活的村落。

如果那九十九顆核心仍在，也許這個毀滅的危機真的能扛過去，直到人類發展到足以在惡劣的環境裏生存下去。

但那只是幻想。

現在的一百個地下城，全靠這一顆核心的能源供給着，因此，它堅持不了那麽久，也沒辦法讓人類靠着地下城長久的生存下去。

萩原研二與松田陣平發現了這個真相。

可他們想不出任何解決的辦法。

他們沒辦法把地下城核心帶走，這些遠古魔法太過厲害。

也沒辦法大批量的把人帶下來，至今為止那些厲害的冒險家大多止步于三十多層，而組隊的上限人數是五個，若是隊伍裏有三個與他們實力相差太大的隊友，他們說不定反而下不來。

在沒有解決辦法的前提下，把這個真相帶上去，只會讓人恐慌。

但災難馬上就要來了。

地下城核心能源即将枯竭。

一旦枯竭，讓所有地下城完好保存至今的魔法陣也會立刻失效，這一百個地下城将即刻塌陷。而它們每一處的地面上都有些大大小小的村落，每一處地下城中都有着數量不一的冒險家。

也許他們從五十層爬上第一層，将這個消息帶回地面的過程中，能源就已經枯竭了。

在這種絕境面前，有一個不知道算不算好的消息。

地下城核心裏，有一只來自天外的懷表，這只懷表具有扭轉時間的力量。

每當地下城核心能源枯竭、世界步入毀滅災難時，懷表就會将時間逆轉到發掘出第一百個地下城時。

最終，松田陣平和萩原研二選擇讓自己的生命成為地下城核心的能源，并将希望交給未來的自己。

于是，輪回開始了。

他們會做關于這個地下城的夢，殘留的死亡的恐懼圍繞着他們，但過去交托給未來的使命也驅使着他們，讓他們來到這裏。

當他們自認為是第一次，實則第二次來到了五十層，見到了地下城核心，恢複了之前的記憶。

可他們依舊什麽都沒能做到，什麽都沒能改變。

兩個人的力量，還是一無所知的兩個人，在即将坍塌的世界面前，連舉起一粒時代的灰塵都做不到。

他們再次選擇了死亡，再次步入了輪回。

第三次。

第四次。

第五次。

直到這一次，第八次。

他們的隊伍裏多了一個人，一個言行舉止怪異卻無比強大的人。

此時的萩原研二和松田陣平并不光鮮亮麗，他們經歷了很多的戰鬥，也沒有玩家這種血條掉完外表都紋絲不動的能力。

他們臉上有血跡，身上有傷痕，皮甲開了裂口，铠甲留下凹痕。可他們同時用克制又無比期望的眼神看過來時，那些他們自己的屍體堆出的前路，似乎也一同呈現在了玩家面前。

那麽，玩家走上前去，搭上他們伸出的手，也是一件很理所當然的事了。

過場動畫結束時，不知不覺屏息的玩家松了口氣。

也許是這個副本只有這倆NPC隊友，又引起了他的注意力導致他看了不少他們的對話，還觀察了他們的外貌行動技能攻擊。

這些逐漸累積起來的熟稔質變成了他此刻對于他們所做出來事情的些許感動，以及他不再是走劇情而是自己也期望的拯救這個世界，讓他們能夠停止這趟無望的旅途。

黑漆漆的像素小人走到地下城核心面前，他觸碰到了那個萩原研二與松田陣平怎麽也碰不到的金色懷表。

【是否将特殊道具【時之沙漏】與【時之懷表】融合？融合後可提升時間權能，但不能再拆分。】

【是】【否】

玩家果斷選了是。

一只空沙漏出現在懷表旁，它化成散開的時之沙粒，融入到懷表中。

玩家取出懷表，撥動了它。

時間長河為之倒流。

那一天，參與謀劃盜取地下城核心并銷毀自然派魔法師遭到了恐怖的報複。

所有地下城核心都沒有遭到破壞。

而未來那趟沒有結果的無望之旅，自然也就不存在了。

【角色任務完成】

【獲得任務獎勵：時之沙粒*200，日元*200000，高級經驗書*16，精煉礦*60】

【你聽到了世界樹的呼喚】

玩家出現在一處熟悉又陌生的空間中。

依舊是無邊無際的黑暗空間，依舊是唯一亮色的蒼翠巨樹，依舊萦繞着白色的霧氣。

但不同的是，玩家這次踏着黑暗向世界樹走去時，地上已沒有多少會絆住他的枯枝。

那些因為異化被世界樹截下的時間，都已經恢複了生機，回到了世界樹上，搖晃着翠綠的葉子，像是在對他表示謝意。

【多謝你，讓這個世界的時間逐漸歸于正常】

玩家：“……”

等等，這個世界的時間有不正常過嗎？

似乎明白他的疑問，或者是對玩家玩游戲的不認真有所了解，插入了一段劇情動畫。

那些他在大世界做過的任務，他從未注意過的淩亂時間，無比清晰的展示在他面前。

前一天是情人節，第二天就是夏季花火大會。昨天是秋天，今天是春天，明天是冬天。更甚者，一天的時間變得無比漫長，仿佛二十四小時翻了十倍。

三天能穿季節完全不同的三套衣服，店子能連過四五個節日，毛利偵探事務所三人組出游一天能連續發生八個案子，安室透能連上幾個月的班不休息。

還是幾份兼職一起的那種。

太慘了！前任凱瑟琳！

玩家都要替他抹一把淚了。

但随着玩家完成了第一個副本後，就像是做了重病的重要一環治療，使身體開始恢複，之後做過的任務越多，這些時間變得越來越正常。

They no longer jumped so violently, as if the flying piano keys were pressed back to their proper positions little by little, and gradually played smooth music.

However, players who think everything in the game is normal don't notice these foreshadowings at all.

After the plot animation ended, the only option available to the player appeared.

[Can I leave this world now? ]

[There is one last thing left, but it depends on you. Please accept its gift.]

The World Tree said softly.

The revived branch that was saved by the player floats to the player and gives him a thousand hours of sand.

【Regarding my thank you gift, is there anything you would like? 】

The players' eyes lit up.

When he left the space where the World Tree was, he did not return directly to the big world, but came to the copy after it was freed from the influence of the will and returned to normal.

The 2D pixel-style dungeon mini-game no longer exists, and a city landscape similar to the big world appears before the players.

NPCs with names on their heads came and went, the sun was not too bright, and the wind was comfortable. It was a nice day today.

He was standing on the street when someone suddenly tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

The half-long-haired young man came over with a smile on his face and said, "What are you doing here alone, you little idiot?"

The player stared at him and thought for a moment: "Who are you?"

"Kenji Hagiwara!" Hagiwara Kenji's expression fell pitifully, and he pointed at himself in disbelief and said, "No way, can you really forget such a handsome little Kenji?! We relied on each other and fought side by side on that big case!"

Just kidding, players' memories aren't that bad.

Besides, these two are probably the NPCs he is most familiar with in this game.

Even her predecessor, Catherine, had to step back a bit.

"So disgusting." Matsuda Jinpei, who had put his arm around the other shoulder, rolled his eyes at Hagiwara Kenji. "Jouno, you're still the same, relying on that silly face to make your jokes sound real."

The player silently took out his gun.

He was pushed back by Matsuda Jinpei's dead eyes.

"Even if you have a gun certificate, that's not how you can use it! Be careful or I'll handcuff you and send you back to eat pork chop rice!"

Hagiwara Kenji stretched out his arms and embraced both of them. He cleared his throat, pointed to the store across the street, and said in a rhythmic voice full of emotion and pride:

"Today is a good day for me to pick up my car, and I happened to meet you, Kojono. The enthusiastic Hagiwara-sama decided to take you for a drive in the new car and treat you to a meal. What do you think? There is absolutely no reason to refuse, right?"

Players really have no reason to refuse to get free NPC services.

However, players cannot accept the fact that Kenji Hagiwara boasted while driving that he was the best driver in the world.

He drives a mecha!

Even though a mecha is not a car, you can’t claim to be the best in the world in front of it!

"Xiao Tiaoye! Don't jump out of the car! Zhenping, catch him quickly!"

Matsuda Jinpei, who failed to catch the suspect, cursed and watched Jyouno Hisaji nimbly get into the car that a driver had just gotten out of on the side of the road and drive away.

The two of them were in the car, stunned and confused in the wind. Hisaji Jyouno skillfully used the air wall to wed himself to the roof of another car. Amid the screams of the car owners, he took off into the air and disappeared into the dust!

Matsuda Jinpei slapped the backrest and said, "What are you standing there for? Chase him!"

Hagiwara Kenji made a bitter face: "... Kojono is so wild, how can he always be beyond my expectations!"

Hisashi Jyouno found a loudspeaker from somewhere and said provocatively, "No one can drive a car faster than me, not even the god of driving in Akina Mountain, Kenji Hagiwara!"

“Hahahahahahaha!”

Hagiwara Kenji: “Hmm?”

As soon as he stepped on the accelerator, the car did a tailspin and flew out. The strong push on Matsuda's back made him fall directly onto the back seat.

"Hold on tight, little formation, my car can't give up, and neither can I!"

"Don't speed!" Matsuda Jinpei said again, "Show him some power! We chose this car together!"

Hagiwara Kenji: "Don't worry, I will let Kojono see how powerful I am today!"

On that day, two unknown bomb disposal police officers were stationed in the Ministry of Transportation and were scolded so badly that they could not even raise their heads.

As for the other culprit, he had already escaped.