NOVEL WEB Chapter 212
<212 - A Trusting Heart>
The Paper Company was in shock.
“Why is Oknodie here!?”
Peeking from around the corner in horror, the scene was quite a spectacle.
Hestia was that child’s friend!
Big and seemingly skilled, but because of her profession, the lonely first-year wandered alone and thought, “If there’s someone with all this free time, they could be useful.”
They only thought of adding a good camaraderie by creating a club for second-years to gain indirect experience in dungeons and adventures in the Paper Dungeon.
But now they had become the delinquent seniors who brought a first-year into a dangerous place only occupied by second-year boys.
If they had to think of a reason why Oknodie invaded here, there was only one possibility:
“You have some guts touching my friend.”
It’s a threat!
Fear made goosebumps rise on their palm.
This was the child who had terrifying revenge enough to make them a teaching assistant just for bothering her once.
What would happen if they crossed her twice?
Maybe they’d end up as a graduate student, a prized disciple entering the professor’s lab, whose big lessons they’d receive.
“But… are they also doing the Paper Dungeon?”
Flustered, Hestia seated Oknodie and brought a book.
The party wanted to be comrades, yet for some reason, Hestia had stuffed Oknodie into the book, taking the role of the librarian.
If the first-year manipulated things carelessly, it could turn into quite a harsh story, leaving a bitter experience behind.
Would it be okay?
What if she inadvertently upset Oknodie’s mood and got caught up in the chaos?
“Hestia, should I help?”
“It’s fine, Paper Company Manager. Apparently, I have an unexpected talent.”
Is Oknodie satisfied?
Curiosity piqued, they slyly peeked at the Paper Dungeon.
━━━
Current Difficulty – Terrestrial Dreadfulness
Features – Realistic, Harsh, Terrible
Progress – Crawling Mint Choco, a traitorous family of the Empire, invaded the dungeon managed for magic stone mining; currently intruding into the dangerous route of the dungeon under the extermination commission.
━━━
“Isn’t this going to get someone killed!!”
The Paper Company exclaimed in shock.
Even though the Paper Dungeon was a space to gain experience, it wasn’t a place to do anything recklessly.
Doing something dangerous naturally brings danger.
The level of risk that the party couldn’t manage could lead to anything from minor injuries to death.
Dying in the book doesn’t mean real death, but experiencing death is hardly pleasant.
“It’s alright, Manager. Oknodie chose this because she wanted to do it.”
Dangerous routes. Challenging objectives.
Oknodie voluntarily stepped into such challenges.
Relying on coincidences.
Getting help from a librarian.
In a clean and convenient way.
Despite initiating a solo play, she didn’t expect any chance or unrealistic help at all.
She was set to clear everything by her own strength.
“Look. You’re doing well.”
“…Really?”
The astonishing progress in the dungeon was baffling.
“Why is this working?”
The same story changes in difficulty depending on whether it’s a lower party or higher party, yet Oknodie was effortlessly unraveling the tough path alone.
In terms of difficulty, she matched the level of a party consisting of four seasoned Paper Dungeon explorers.
Surprisingly, she was playing well.
Like someone who had been playing only the Paper Dungeon the whole time.
And showcasing a considerably hardcore technique at that.
“Finally, upon arriving at the site, the hostage said, ‘Help me! Mint Choco hasn’t noticed you yet. What should we do… huh? Isn’t that weird?’”
Hestia was bothered by Oknodie’s explorer comments that had emerged in the book.
“What’s wrong?”
“She says the difficulty is too low. If they’re truly a traitorous family of the Empire, the hostages should already be choking and pale from Mint Choco, ready for a sacrifice…”
“Wow. I’ve seen kids whining to lower difficulty, but this is a first where one voluntarily raises it.”
━━━
Current Difficulty – Legendary
Features – Realistic, Harsh, Terrible, Ruthless
Progress – Crawling Mint Choco summoned a demon into his body. Furthermore, he plans to flood the dungeon, tainting the nearby area with magic-infused Mint Choco. The only warrior left to stop him is you.
━━━
Oknodie raising an ordinary extermination commission request to the level of a warrior’s request.
‘Aren’t these guys high level in the Paper Dungeon? This first-year is playing harder than a third-year!’
It suddenly dawned on her.
This child was attending a lecture on [The Adventure Stories of Retired Former Warriors].
While they were at odds with Warrior Ishtar, she was embarking on a quest just like a warrior.
What abilities did she want to have, and what did she aspire to do?
In the midst of her confusion, the scene of Oknodie steeping Crawling Mint Choco in dark mana, transforming him into Dark Cocoa Choco, and making him her minion unfolded.
“!!”
The Paper Company covered their mouth.
Creating an existence powerful enough to rival a warrior, and making it a subordinate.
There’s only one reason to practice something like this, after all.
This child planned to do it in reality.
Creating her own subordinate to face the warrior.
The rumors about Oknodie, the candidate for the next generation demon king, might not be hollow after all.
“That was fun!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“Did you have fun too, Hestia?”
“Yep.”
“Shall I be your librarian next time?”
Hestia stared blankly at the absurd play data inscribed in the book she held.
“Let’s call it a day. It’s getting late.”
She shyly averted her eyes, hinting that she wished to decline.
Her skills were insufficient to withstand the gap and difficulty between the reality of mercenaries and the reality of demon kings.
‘Wow. I guess friends really are friends after all.’
The Paper Company thought, observing Hestia’s expressive face.
That kid can show such honest emotions too, huh?
The stoic first-year, who had only shown the face of a steadfast warrior and veteran mercenary, revealed this softer side for the first time.
“Have fun on your way home, Paper Company!”
“T-Thanks.”
The Paper Company resolved.
Next time, let’s create an adventure that can draw out the explorers’ genuine hearts with a more realistic story.
…He was planning to ambitiously only after five members had fled the club.
“Good job, Hestia.”
“Th-Thanks… huh?”
After club time ended.
Walking the return path side by side.
As Hestia replied to the greeting, she froze.
“That just now, wasn’t that the kind of talk we only exchange indoors?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“It was me. I said it.”
With perfectly blinking eyes, Oknodie spoke from under the large hat she wore.
Hestia doubted whether she had dozed off while in the Paper Dungeon.
“Does the wall I accidentally broke while propping a hammer still not have a penalty?”
“…I wasn’t imagining things after all.”
As the hat spoke the conversation that was meant only for the room, Hestia was severely flustered.
She thought the voice coming from beyond the room just sounded a bit different from Oknodie, but now that it was coming from outside the room with the exact same voice.
Even the dialogue they shared alone was remembered by just the two of them.
“Could it be… that the one I’ve been talking to isn’t Oknodie, but the hat?”
She had no choice but to accept it.
She had been talking with that.
That she had made that her friend.
“Hestia. Don’t be surprised. This hat isn’t an ordinary hat.”
“Then what is it?”
A toy to play with me?
A ridicule meant to make me miserable?
As the cold dagger aimed at her heart began to stab, Oknodie spoke.
“It’s a hat that knows my precious secret!”
“Oknodie’s… precious secret?”
“The hat knows a secret I wouldn’t want to tell anyone. So it’s someone I can call my secret friend!”
Not a toy or ridicule, but a secret friend.
A special relationship.
Hestia’s heart softened a bit.
“I thought all this time that it was you, not the hat, that I shared my secrets or embarrassing stories with.”
“I’m sorry. But I often step away, and when I come back to the room, I fall asleep quickly. You needed someone to talk to, right?”
“So you let me talk with the hat?”
“…Of course!”
Perhaps unable to readily affirm due to feeling bad, the child looked so innocent.
Worrying that she might be lonely during the time she could not befriend was why she brought the ego item.
“And the hat is really a person!”
“…Ego items are things that sprout in objects; they’re not real people.”
“In that sense, they are even more human! What dwells in the hat is not an item with a budded self, but the true spirit of a person!”
“What…? What are you talking about now?”
A child who pulls souls to enclose them in pearls.
A demon that devours human souls like candy.
A monster mimicking the human heart.
Various malicious rumors about Oknodie flickered through her mind.
“…!”
Maybe they weren’t just rumors after all.
Her heart grew cold.
Her hands and feet went numb.
“Hestia. Do you remember the stories we shared?”
“…What story?”
“The stories people arbitrarily spread, I disregard them. The Hestia I know is one who judges by talking and spending time with me.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
As the hat’s words made her heartbeats gradually calm down, she realized that the warm heart was undeniably human.
If she was being toyed by a cruel existence that plays with human souls, that warmth only felt more precious.
So Oknodie couldn’t be a bad child.
“Yeah, I can trust that…”
Hestia wanted to believe that.