Chapter 72

14. A World Where You Die If You Don’t Do What You Love

♬♩♪♩♬♩♪~

A beautiful melody filled the air.

Twirl, Clap!

Twirl, Clap!

Thirteen toy soldiers and girls with fluttering red skirts danced in circles to the music.

Adorable clouds floated in the sky, and petals scattered in all directions.

Artists painted on the streets, clowns tossed colorful balls, and a boy with a voice as pure as an angel sang.

Ha ha ha! Ho ho ho!

In a world where everyone did what they loved, happy laughter overflowed.

I opened my eyes, becoming one of the dancing girls.

When the dungeon world and I were perfectly synchronized, a system window appeared.

Ding!

[Dungeon Quest: A World Where You Die If You Don’t Do What You Love]

▸Reward: +1,000,000 coins, return to Valhalla

▸Failure: Death

I turned in sync with the toy soldiers.

Then, my red skirt flared out and gathered like a closed flower bud, repeating the process.

'I need to get off the stage first.'

The soldiers kept making me turn, which was driving me crazy.

In the game, two options appeared at this moment.

[1. Run away now.]

[2. Pretend to dance and then run away.]

The correct choice at this moment was 2. Pretend to dance and then run away.

I elegantly dodged between the thirteen toy soldiers, descended from the stage, and held my skirt, bowing.

I was lucky to have upgraded [Intermediate Dancing] to [Dancing Machine].

'The system had a plan.'

Whistle-! Clap, clap, clap, clap!

The spectators, impressed by my dazzling dance, whistled and clapped.

They seemed to think it was a kind of show.

I sighed and plopped down at the fountain in the square.

Ding!

[Seat 'Question Mark Killer' has donated 10,000 coins.]

[Question: In <God's Play>, is the devil the one who creates the dungeon?]

"Yes. Precisely, because the wish of the contractor cannot be directly realized in the real world, the devil indirectly fulfills it through a 'dungeon.'"

Dungeon. Or a daydream, a mirage, an illusion.

There are countless ways to express it.

Ding!

[Seat 'Famous Detective' has donated 10,000 coins.]

[Error detected. If so, the succubus, Clyde's mother, would contradict the setting where she fulfills Rennox Willow's wish in the real world.]

"That's because she's not just a devil but the king of incubi. There is a clear hierarchy among devils based on their power."

A devil cannot appear in the human world without a contract with a human.

Moreover, they cannot manifest in the human world in their true form.

That's why they appear in the form of a 'door.'

Of course, there were exceptions, as I mentioned earlier.

High-ranking devils like Iliana, the great devil, or the king of incubi, can exist in their true form, though with some power restrictions.

[What phenomenon occurs if the seats fail to clear the dungeon?]

"If the dungeon is not cleared, all humans trapped in the dungeon die. Additionally, the area where the dungeon was created is eroded by demonic energy, accelerating the 'demonization' process."

That's why the penalty for failing the dungeon quest is death.

[How do the seats clear the dungeon?]

"To clear the dungeon, you need to kill the hidden devil in this virtual world. For more details..."

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

I stopped explaining at the heavy, rhythmic sound.

A one-legged toy soldier was approaching me from the front.

The one-legged soldier stood before me and bowed politely.

"Hello, miss. I am the messenger of dreams, here to reveal the dream of the new resident of the village."

The core of this world was to do what you love.

In other words, you needed to know what you liked and what you wanted to do.

"I will reveal your dream to you."

The one-legged soldier handed me a rectangular envelope.

I explained to the seats.

"In the game, the player's skill proficiency, play style, and other factors are analyzed to select the dream."

The one-legged soldier, an inanimate object, responded like an AI that didn't understand my question.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't understand your question, miss."

I said it was nothing and opened the envelope.

"I wonder what my dream will be."

Perhaps something related to paradise.

Or something related to magic?

And the card read:

[Tereze's Dream: Marry Clyde]

"......?"

My dream is to marry Clyde?

"Is this a bug?"

There must have been a serious error.

Otherwise, something like this couldn't be my dream!

Ding!

[Seat 'Fact is Violence' has donated 10,000 coins.]

[Oh lol, Tereze's dream is correct lol]

"That's impossible......"

As I muttered in shock,

"......"

"......"

"......"

"......"

Suddenly, all sounds stopped.

People's movements stopped as well.

They all turned their eerie faces toward me.

'...Huh?'

This was the phenomenon that occurred in 'A World Where You Die If You Don’t Do What You Love' when you didn't do what you loved.

In the game, performing tasks determined whether you were doing what you loved, but now, in reality, even negative statements affected the judgment. Damn.

If I didn't resolve this situation, the residents would turn into devils and attack me.

I smiled widely and happily exclaimed,

"Marrying Clyde is my lifelong dream!"

……♬♩♪♩♬♩♪~

The music started again, and the eerie gazes withdrew.

The one-legged soldier handed me a round bracelet.

"This is the 'Happiness Bracelet,' which measures whether you are doing what you love. If you don't wear it, you won't be recognized as a resident. Will you wear it now?"

"Yes..."

As I put on the bracelet, the one-legged soldier said,

"When you find your groom, you need to get your marriage approved by the lord. Please come to the castle. Have a pleasant day."

Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

The one-legged soldier, having completed his task, turned and left.

I stared at him with a dazed look and muttered,

"I needed to increase my anti-demon activity score, but I didn't expect to do it this way."

In the original game, you didn't get suddenly involved in a dungeon like this.

[You feel an ominous presence here.]

...such a hint would appear.

"At least it's fortunate that Clyde is here with me. He has no particular interests, so the game difficulty is low."

Should I go meet Clyde now?

I headed to the castle's exterior, where Clyde would be summoned in the dungeon.

However, I couldn't see Clyde anywhere.

Since this was reality and not a game, I was worried that Clyde might have moved on his own, and it seemed he had indeed gone somewhere.

Ding!

[Seat 'Question Mark Killer' has donated 10,000 coins.]

[Can't you find him with magic?]

"There is no magic in this world. It's a rule set by 'Delve.'"

Rumble.

To make matters worse, I was also hungry.

But in this world, like any other, you needed money to buy food.

However, all I had was the clothes on my back.

"I need to work to earn money."

And it had to be something I loved.

If I didn't do what I loved, I would die, as the dungeon's name suggested.

"What do I love?"

Ding!

[Seat 'Quiet Observer' has donated 10,000 coins.]

[Magic]

"I already said I can't use magic."

The only thing I knew how to do was play games. What could I do...

"...Oh?"

* * *

In this dungeon world filled with nothing but enjoyable things, what was the most popular activity?

Since it was a virtual world created by Delve, one might think it would be art, sculpture, music, or theater.

But it wasn't.

Although the residents here were virtual, they were still 'people.'

What most people liked was similar in any dimension.

It was 'games.'

"Wow! That lady won again!"

"How many times is this? Amazing!"

[Chess match. Win and get 30,000 gilangs!]

[Five-in-a-row match. Win and get 10,000 gilangs!]

[Darts match. Win and get 50,000 gilangs!]

And so on, Delve's dungeon had various mini-games.

I chose the games I could win and was already on a six-game winning streak.

The reason I loved games was simple: I was good at them.

Moreover, the mini-games in <God's Play> weren't particularly difficult.

Ding!

[Seat 'Gambler' has donated 10,000 coins.]

[Your skill at taking the dungeon residents' hard-earned money is top-notch!]

I arrived at the last game that was advantageous for me.

[Drinking contest. Win and get 100,000 gilangs!]

"I'm here to challenge."

The owner, a large man wearing a small apron, put down the glass he was carefully polishing.

"Wow. A challenger. It's been ten years, hasn't it?"

We took our positions on the street in front of the shop, each holding a glass.

"Incredible, a tiny lady challenging a drinking contest? She can't win for sure."

"But that lady is incredibly good at games! I'm betting on her."

"I'm betting on the owner!"

One hour later.

"Ugh... I lost..."

Thud!

The owner slammed his head on the table, defeated.