136 – The Returner’s Deception (3)

The dwarves’ warehouse was destroyed. Of course, that’s what I did. Of course, the process was not easy.

“I didn’t know it was littered with traps like that… “

At first, I thought I could just run over and destroy the warehouse. However, as it was a core facility of the fortress, the warehouse was not usually heavily guarded. Of course, there were always guards on standby, and various traps were set up.

However, there is no perfect thing in this world. As a result of devoting an entire episode to understanding the guards’ movements, I was able to find subtle loopholes.

“What? “Why are you coming alone during your shift?”

“That… Because of a recent unfortunate incident… You know. The substitute will be arriving soon, and he said he will finish the tanning work… “

“… Tsk. Okay. “Have a hard time.”

Until now, the stubbornness and single-mindedness of dwarves has been emphasized, but dwarves are originally a generous and affectionate race.

“My family died… I need to give it time… “

Dwarves were not merciful enough to assign guard duty to those whose family members died. I’m already very distraught, but wouldn’t it be too much to ask him to do guard duty?

“Mr. Greg… “When are you coming?”

However, if there are people who take time off from work, there are people who take up the work. This was also the reason why black companies prohibited people from using their vacations carelessly, but because dwarves were different from evil capitalists, they did not pay attention to people taking breaks.

Instead, another dwarf just fills the place.

And when work overlaps, time inevitably becomes slightly different. Basically, work can increase or decrease as you do it.

“Well, he’ll be back soon.”

The dwarf in charge of actual tanning arrives 5 minutes later. However, for a superhuman, 5 minutes is a very long time.

“Why don’t you bring snacks when you come…?” “Wow!”

“Please rest for a moment.”

Overpowering one person and subduing two people are on a different level of difficulty. Especially if the guards are wearing whistles around their necks.

After overpowering the guard waiting alone, you can finally enter the warehouse. But the real problem starts here.

“The trap… Why are there so many… “

The dwarves had set up several strange traps in the warehouse.

When entering a warehouse, you must always start with your left foot, or when passing between shelves, you must not be taller than a dwarf… You can’t step on certain boards… There were numerous traps that you could not help but fall into if you were not aware of them.

Of course, after finding out all the traps using regression, I was able to successfully sneak into the warehouse and destroy all the contents inside.

How did you use regression to figure out all the pitfalls?

“… “

How could you find out? Don’t ask.

Anyway, with this, the dwarves can no longer stay hidden like turtles.

“We’re really here… “

Now it’s time to watch the dwarves’ reactions.

**

Late at night. Inside the courtesy conference building.

There are so many dwarves that the large building is completely filled. The important thing is that their expressions are all so sad.

“The barrier needs to be strengthened. “As long as it has been confirmed that the barrier can be overcome, it cannot continue like this.”

“The warehouse has collapsed, so we need to find food and water. “I don’t have anything to eat for breakfast tomorrow.”

“I think we need to increase the number of guards… “Isn’t that what blacksmiths do these days?”

“Beer… My beer… “

It is a crisis. It really is a crisis.

Dwarves are a race that is willing to die to protect their pride, but they are not a liberated race that can accept death without any problems.

“The culprit is… “It seems highly likely that he is the ‘skeleton killer’ who threatens climbers.”

The meat was covered in dirt, and the barrels that stored beer and water were smashed. The criminal who destroyed the warehouse did not take anything with him. It just cut off the dwarves’ food line.

If I had stolen the meat, I would have been suspicious of other players… Since I didn’t take anything with me, there was no need to suspect the players.

“… “I will summarize the current situation.”

The store owner calmly reads the lines of text written in advance on the bark of a tree.

“First, we need to find drinking water. “This is the most urgent.”

What to eat… If you give in a hundred times and eat the meat that has been covered in dirt and trampled, it will be a temporary solution.

But the real problem is water. All living things cannot live without water. And now all the water containers in the fortress have been smashed.

“Of course, everyone knows that there is a river 20 minutes away, but… “

There was a river near the fortress. Unless a water pipe was built, it was common sense to build a residence near a water source. Finding drinking water was never difficult.

“Just going out of the fortress is a burden… “

If there wasn’t a crazy killer wandering around.

“This isn’t the only thing. The walls need to be reinforced higher, and the number of guards needs to be increased. We also need people to hunt and find food… “

There is a mountain of work to be done. But it is not safe outside the fortress. Even inside the fortress it is not completely safe.

“I didn’t want to say this either, but… “

In the end, the dwarves had no options left.

“… “Let’s cooperate with the climbers.”

Crisis situation.

A temporary alliance was concluded.

**

Choi Ji-won, player representative. Dwarf representative store owner.

After the two representatives talked all night long, a temporary alliance was concluded between the dwarves and humans.

Players provide full assistance in reinforcing the dwarves. Instead, the dwarves also promise full support to players. If you think about it, this was an alliance that benefited both humanity and dwarves.

Dwarves gain manpower. Whether going to fetch water from the river, hunting in the nearby forest, or even reinforcing the fortress, the presence of players will be of great help. The players were basically skilled at the task thanks to their superior physical ability, and if a crazy killer attacked, they could offer minimal resistance.

On the contrary, players gain a rich haven. Instead of sleeping with the sky as a blanket, they would be given a soft bed and warm blanket, and it was promised that they would be served delicious food as soon as food supply was normalized.

“Wow, look how sharp this thing is.”

“Armor too… “It’s really light.”

In addition, players in the role of ‘guard’ were given dwarven weapons for free, and the quality of the weapons was so good that the players were constantly amazed.

“… But if you wear this… I guess we have to fight… ”

“… “Umm.”

The problem is that the players are all people who ran away because they were scared of the ‘killer’. Because of this, the number of players applying for the escort role did not exceed five, including Choi Ji-won.

In the end, the majority of players were sent to the task of reinforcing the barrier…

“… “

“… “

Anyone who has worked hard knows that communication is more important than you might think. Construction progresses quickly only when the hands and feet work together according to the engineer’s orders.

“… “Move the cut logs here.”

“… Well, I got it.”

But just because an alliance has been concluded, is there any way that the awkward relationship between the two races can be narrowed in an instant?

From the dwarves’ point of view, humans are disgusting bastards who killed their own people, and from the human point of view, dwarves are just crazy discriminators who persecute people for nothing they did.

There was absolutely no reason for them to like each other, and in reality, their relationship was not good, so the construction site continued to be creaky.

First day of construction. The work ended in a bloody atmosphere.

But is it not for nothing that the adage, ‘Time will tell?’

“They say that because the five players stick together, the killer won’t approach!”

“I brought water! “Take a bowl at a time!”

“We caught three forest cows! “Tonight’s dinner is meat, meat!”

“… “What is a forest cow?”

“I don’t know, is it important?”

Thanks to the performance of players led by Choi Ji-won, the drinking water problem was quickly resolved, and there were signs that the food problem would soon be resolved. This is because the dwarves were well-versed in the surrounding geography, so it was not difficult to obtain the necessary resources.

“Wow, isn’t that person Choi Ji-won scary…?” “

“It’s different… “

In addition, Choi Ji-won showed great performance befitting his reputation as a ‘hero’, to the point where voices of approval were gradually flowing out not only from the players but also from the dwarves.

“… On the other hand, those bastards… “

“Ahh, tsk…” “

“… “

And if Cheolsu from next door gets good grades, it is a natural law that my son and wife will be mistreated. As Choi Ji-won showed outstanding performance, the players in charge of reinforcing the defense could not help but become impatient.

“f*ck, I’m a pretty good player too… “

“I feel so bad about being ignored… “

The players who were ignored did not sit still.

Although they were scared and hid inside the fortress, they also have the pride of being top-tier players. If I was going to stay behind like this, I wouldn’t have come this far in the first place.

Boom!

“All the logs have been moved!”

“Buh, already? Now, the pile of stones over there… “

“The stones have already been moved. “What are we going to do now?”

As the stimulated players began to truly focus on reinforcement work, reinforcement work also began to ease. Wasn’t it already proven on the 4th floor that if superhumans really put in the work, they can do 5 people’s work?

And naturally, when you work hard and sweat your body.

“Strength is good… “

“You’re as dexterous as your thick beard… “

Somewhere in your heart, camaraderie is bound to arise.

“It was good.”

I, who was watching the scene from afar, carved a mark on the tree to send to Choi Ji-won and then left.

Now it is time to move on to the final step.