Mostly Bugs

Act 4, Scene 4: The Autumn Demon Palace.

Originally, this scenario was meant to unfold before Scene 5, but somehow the order got switched around.

Frankly, that bothers me a little.

‘Act 4 is the foundation for Act 5.’

The groundwork for Lucas to get entangled with the reincarnated beings of Act 5.

In a way, this was an episode I could have skipped.

I already knew all the reincarnated beings, save for Wolfram, after all.

Even so, I worried about the impact of this change in the scenario.

The fewer variables in the scenario, the better.

‘As if *this* blasted scenario needed more variables.’

The most noticeable change, currently, was that this Demon Palace had opened a bit earlier than anticipated.

I didn’t imagine the Demon Palace itself would alter much in the span of a few days.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“This time, the team feels familiar,”

Just then, Seron chirped from beside me.

She was right; the team this time around was composed of familiar faces.

But for some reason, I felt a prickle of unease.

It was because, just yesterday, I had inadvertently awakened Sharin’s affections.

“You.”

At that moment, I glanced back without thinking.

Isabelle stood there, regarding me with a puzzled expression.

“What is it? You look rather pale. Did you overexert yourself?”

“No, not exactly. Isabelle, what are *you* doing here?”

“Just a moment, I came to have a word with Rynn.”

She glanced around.

For Sharyn was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is she?”

“She hasn’t come over from the Department of Magecraft yet.”

“Ah, I see.”

Her lips parted and closed briefly.

As if there was something she wanted to say.

“Isabelle?”

Finally, Isabelle cautiously edged closer to me.

“…You. Did you perhaps, do something to Rynn?”

Don’t whisper in my ear with such a honeyed voice.

Especially not about a subject that pricks my conscience so keenly.

Silent, at a loss for words, I was met with Isabelle’s narrowed gaze.

“Why, is Sharyn acting strange?”

In the end, I turned the question back on her.

“That girl, usually sporting that perpetually sour face, came back to her room yesterday and was grinning like a fool all day long.”

“Perhaps she achieved some magical breakthrough.”

“How long do you think I’ve known Rynn? She wouldn’t make that face for magic.”

Isabelle’s suspicious eyes kept stabbing at me.

My cheeks felt like they were burning.

“Tell me the truth. You did something, didn’t you?”

“What is it, what is it?”

Now even Seron had joined in, voicing his curiosity.

Just as I, unable to withstand their urging, took a step backward…

“Hubby.”

From afar, that distinctively languid voice drifted over.

There, Sharyn was strolling towards us with a leisurely gait.

Her indigo hair billowed in the breeze.

That signature, indolent smile of hers held a captivating allure.

Sharin walked straight towards me, stretching her arms out behind her.

Then, she wrapped her arms around my neck.

A soft sensation enveloped my back, and a cinnamon-like scent rushed into my nostrils.

It all happened in an instant.

Isabelle and Seron stared at us, eyes wide.

It was such an unusually proactive move for Sharin that we were all taken aback.

“…Sharin?”

Even I was frozen, and when I called her name, Sharin tilted her head.

“Why~?”

‘Why’ my foot.

Sharin slowly glanced at Isabelle and Seron.

Then, she nonchalantly greeted them.

“Belle, Seron, hello.”

“Sharin, you…”

Isabelle looked at Sharin, her face filled with unspoken words.

But Sharin didn’t seem to want to let go from behind me.

“G-Get, get off!”

At that moment, this time, Seron charged at us.

If he was going to charge, he should’ve charged at Sharin, but instead, he headbutted me in the stomach.

That crazy forehead-idiot.

“Gck!”

Even I found it painful to have a forehead ram into my solar plexus.

The moment I started to fall, Sharin nimbly slipped away.

Meanwhile, Seron put his hands on his hips and looked up at Sharin.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

“Eung~?”

Sharin tilted her head at Seron’s reaction.

She looked like she truly didn’t understand what all the fuss was about.

“Why are you hugging Prince Sweet Potato!”

“He’s my husband~.”

Sharin responded as if there was nothing new under the sun.

“Th-that is…”

She and I are betrothed.

A display of affection shouldn’t be strange.

But everyone subtly knows my situation – that this engagement was, inevitably, forced.

At least, having witnessed Sharin and I, they couldn’t think otherwise.

Seron looked back and forth between Sharin and me, a disconcerted expression on his face.

He looked as though an entirely uninvited interloper had appeared.

“I-I won’t allow it!”

A shout rang out.

But Sharin was unfazed, her attitude unchanged.

“Rin.”

Then, Isabel called out to Sharin.

She fixed a placid gaze upon her.

Isabel and my relationship is… complicated.

Now, many things have been resolved, and we have a passable relationship, but I’m the one who used to insult Lucas.

For someone so close to him to become such a comrade of mine… Isabel must have many thoughts.

“I see. So, that’s what you’ve decided to do.”

But Isabel said nothing more.

Only, after that last word, she glanced at me for a moment, then turned away.

“You, even in the demon castle, I don’t plan to lose to you.”

With that declaration of rivalry, she left to join her team.

As I clumsily rose from my seat, Seron was still glaring at Sharin.

She was like a wary cat, her fur standing on end.

Sharin, however, paid Seron no mind, focusing solely on me.

Now, I finally understood what Sharin meant by greed.

She was truly intending to knock away everyone around me, with a vengeance.

Born to a life of taking everything she desired.

It was clear that more than just talent made her the daughter of the Blue Magic Tower Lord.

“Sunbae-nim.”

“We’re here, uh, uh.”

“Heehee, seems like chaos has already erupted!”

Just then, Aisha, Poara, and even Grantoni returned.

I approached Seron and gave her shoulder a light tap.

It would soon be our turn to enter the Demon Palace.

We couldn’t just stand around like this forever.

Seron whipped around to glare at me, then pouted her lips.

“You must be ecstatic, being loved by two beauties!”

“…Two beauties?”

Before a fist could fly, I deftly dodged away.

“Even in this situation, your composure, senpai, I truly envy it.”

Aisha gazed at me with a face that suggested I was admirable in many ways.

I was admired for something strange.

“Hanon Iray Team.”

At that moment, our team was finally called.

All the preceding teams had already entered.

I barely managed to shove the Seron grinding her teeth towards the Demon Palace entrance.

This time, instead of the usual five, our team consisted of six members.

This was to break through the floors faster using firepower.

We wouldn’t be able to enter the room of the Evil Honored One, which only allowed five, but our goal wasn’t to reach that far anyway, so it was fine.

Vaganon, standing before the Demon Palace entrance, glanced at my face.

Then he swept his gaze over Sharin and Seron before relaying,

“You won’t be able to come back if you act like that inside the Demon Palace.”

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

Seron and Sharin weren’t fools either.

They might be like this now, but it would be different once inside.

“Hanon Iray Team, enter.”

My foot reached out towards the Demon Palace.

The Demon Palace entrance tugged at my body, and the surrounding scenery began to change.

Today’s goal was the sixth floor.

To reach that place, with all possible haste.

That was the resolution, born in a flash.

*Thwack-*

Suddenly, before my very eyes, a stark, absolute blackness.

*Kugugugugugu!*

A sensation of consciousness unraveling, followed by the gut-wrenching feeling of my stomach twisting violently.

What in the—

There wasn’t even a moment to react.

I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek, trying to drag my fading awareness back.

A savage, raw pain bloomed in my mouth, and my eyes snapped open.

*Hooosshhh!*

A gale slammed into me, whipping my hair across my face.

Before me, only a precipice.

I was falling, plummeting from a cliff.

“Ah.”

The instant my body slammed into the cliff face, a jolt reverberated through every nerve.

It did, at least, shock me a little further into wakefulness.

“You goddamned lunatic!”

I had, only moments ago, stepped into the Devil’s Palace.

So why, then, was I suddenly plummeting down a cliffside?

Even before I could truly understand, my hand shot out.

And then, without hesitation, I slammed a blade-hand strike into the rock face with all my strength.

*Kwaduk! Kwagagagagagagagak!*

My arm felt like it was being ripped from its socket, a shudder running through my entire being.

But I hadn’t been honing this body of steel for naught.

Desperate to arrest my fall, I swung my other arm, driving it deep into the wall.

From the point where my arms had dug in, a long scar began to tear down the cliff face.

I endured the near-tearing sensation in my arms for what felt like an eternity, until finally, my descent ground to a halt.

My arms feel crushed to splinters.

But more pressing than that was understanding the situation.

‘Just what sort of situation is this.’

My head swam with confusion.

Yet, something had transpired, and I was here.

I hastened to scan my surroundings.

Across from me, I saw a wall like the cliff I’d fallen from.

It felt as though this place was a vast, cylindrical plaza.

Moreover, I was alone.

A sigh of relief barely escaped my lips.

The others who fell with me weren’t here.

That alone was enough to bring a measure of comfort.

And thanks to that, I finished grasping the situation.

‘This… it’s the Demon Palace transfer.’

During my Flame Butterfly play-through, the most troublesome event, a bug that triggered only when luck was truly against you.

A bug where a character was abruptly flung somewhere else entirely.

I never imagined I’d suffer this bug even after transmigrating to reality.

“This is messed up. For real.”

I’d only ever encountered this bug once during my time playing the game.

I never thought I’d get hit by it now, after becoming real.

My head swam again for a moment, but first, I decided to descend.

Climbing upwards from here was impossible anyway.

It was better to go down and find another way.

‘Just how far did I fall, anyway.’

Unable to know for sure, I slowly descended, pulling out my palm blades.

When my arms grew numb, I carved into the cliff face to rest.

Using magical engraving explosions made creating holes a simple task.

Chewing on the jerky I’d packed in my bag, I felt my strength returning.

I need to get down as quickly as possible.

With that resolution, I shoved the remaining jerky into my mouth, about to descend the cliff again, when–

Whooosh!

I heard the sound of something falling from above.

Hastily, I raised my head, and there, someone was falling.

By the time I could utter a choked “uh,” their legs had already kicked off the cliff edge.

My body moved to snatch their plummeting form.

Never would I have imagined someone else would share my fate, tumbling from the precipice.

And so, the moment I saw her face, I froze mid-air.

She, too, opened her eyes, widening them in astonishment.

“…You?”

Isabelle Luna.

Another soul caught in this wretched magical labyrinth translocation, just like my own unfortunate self.