Future Diary Survival Game-Chapter 50 : Monster Hunt - 3

Chapter 50: Monster Hunt - 3
The group was crushed under the weight of his madness, their mouths opening and closing soundlessly.
But I was thinking of something else.
“Did you ask Magireta to let you join the next games too?”
“No. She refused. The content of the Quests and the list of first-place rewards change every generation, but the hidden rules remain the same.”
“……”
“If someone participates knowing all those hidden rules, it’s like starting from a different line. As you know, Magireta cares about fairness in her own way. She said she couldn’t allow that since the participants have to be chosen completely at random.”
I thought so too.
After all, didn’t Sienne give up both her eyes to obtain two things—‘a body that does not age’ and ‘the right to participate in the next game’?
If that’s the case…
“You must’ve offered something in exchange as well.”
“That’s correct.”
“What was it? Did you offer up all the first-place rewards you’ve gathered, just as I suspected earlier?”
“No. First-place rewards automatically disappear once a generation’s game ends. They can’t be offered as payment. Instead, I offered up my very existence.”
“……?”
“Except for a few people under certain conditions, everyone else lost their memories of me. I made it so no one would remember me. I discarded my own existence.”
A silence fell between us.
To be forgotten by everyone—
He offered that as the price?
Sienne spoke in a trembling voice.
“W-What are you talking about? I still remember you! Boyle Kanen.”
“Have you forgotten? I was the final winner of the last generation as well. Though, well, that’s always been the case, no matter the generation.”
“The Wish Ticket…”
“Yes. Last time, I didn’t have any particular wish in mind, so I just used the Wish Ticket to gain the right to participate in the next game. After all, my goal is the game itself. I don’t really have anything I desire.”
At the end of every Quest, he created new bonds under a new name.
And at the end of every generation, he offered those bonds as payment to gain entry into the next game…
So, even while being forgotten again and again, Edgar chose to keep playing.
Because otherwise, this world would be far too boring.
‘Ah. My head hurts all of a sudden.’
Still, one thing was certain.
Magireta probably didn’t like Edgar.
She traded with him and let him participate according to the rules, but… there’s no way she would welcome someone who destroyed the balance to that extent.
As Edgar said, Magireta did pay subtle attention to fairness.
As our silence dragged on, Edgar tilted his head as if wondering why the mood had turned so heavy.
“Oh, right. That’s why my real name is indeed Edgar Tyler. I give myself a new name at the end of each generation.”
“……”
“So, in this era, I’d prefer if you kept calling me Edgar. Though I doubt you’ll have the chance much longer.”
“Boyle!!”
Sienne let out a roar.
Clang.
She drew her sword and charged at Edgar—but naturally, Ian blocked her path.
“Move.”
“So you’re Sienne. Despite being the fallen Knight Commander of a ruined kingdom, even in the Empire, many swordsmen still respect you. I did too, when I was young.”
“I told you to get lost.”
“But I wonder if you’re still as strong as before, now that you’ve lost your eyes. Shall we find out?”
The next moment, Ian’s sword exploded.
Of course, it didn’t literally explode—the force behind it merely felt like an explosion.
-Ku-kwagwang!
Before we knew it, the cabin was completely destroyed.
Our heads remained attached to our bodies only because Sienne had protected us in the chaos.
“Brother!”
“It’s already activated.”
Thanks to Berseum’s magic, we survived being crushed by the collapsing roof.
Aina shouted,
“We need to get away. There’s no room for us in a fight between monsters like them!”
“Monsters, huh. Come to think of it…”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Forget it.”
The name of this sudden Quest was Monster Hunt, wasn’t it?
We’d learned a lot of shocking things, but in the end, the main goal was still to kill Ian.
“Would you like to watch together?”
Edgar asked lazily.
Aina answered by throwing a needle instead.
Puk.
It sank deep into his forehead.
Edgar fell to the ground—but soon pulled the needle out with his hand and stood back up.
“Last time you stuck one in my neck. You’re quite consistent—front and back, evenly.”
“You, you…”
“You were probably counting how many lives I had left—three, maybe two? But that doesn’t matter in the first place.”
Crunch.
Edgar snapped the needle in half and continued,
“My lives are infinite.”
“A game where your life is guaranteed, huh. That won’t cure your boredom. Weren’t you joining the games because you hated being bored?”
“That’s right. It’s certainly not the best option.”
He smiled faintly.
“But it’s still better than dying and never being able to play again.”
“……”
“At least for now, I can still feel something called ‘fun.’ If I were eliminated, I’d never feel it again.”
“……”
“In life, you can’t always choose the best option. Sometimes, you have to know how to be satisfied with the next best thing.”
His relaxed, sly attitude irritated me.
And at the same time, something clicked in my mind.
“I see. When you tried to blow up everyone in Deut Territory along with us, it wasn’t because it was the most effective option. It wasn’t because it gave you any advantage.”
“……”
“It was simply because it was more fun that way. Am I wrong?”
“You’re right. I even prepared a bonfire and got ready to watch. But you know what…”
His eyes changed slightly. So did his tone.
“Don’t go figuring everything out without permission like that. It’s honestly annoying.”
We hurriedly took up battle stances.
Even though he’d only changed his expression and tone, the pressure was overwhelming.
Edgar waved his hand lightly.
“Don’t bother. I’ve been alive for a little over 350 years.”
“……”
“And like I said—I was a genius in every field.”
Thud.
What—?
What just happened?
When I came to my senses, Aina was rolling across the ground.
He had torn through Berseum’s defensive magic like paper and punched her in the abdomen.
“Ghhk…”
She spat blood repeatedly.
“What do you think happens when a genius keeps advancing for 350 years?”
“Aina!”
“Damn it. Spirits of the earth, gather—urk!”
Berseum tried to cast a spell, but Edgar’s kick slammed into his side.
Crack.
With the sound of breaking ribs, he went flying.
I instinctively pulled Armelia behind me.
Then I grabbed the Diary Book and spoke to it.
[Your Highness. We must run. Aina and I will hold him off while you and Brother teleport using the teleportation bead.]
[Ah, understood. Where to?]
[To Deut Territory.]
And at that moment—
Thwack.
Suddenly, Edgar lightly tapped the ground with the tip of his shoe.
What was that? What is he doing?
No—this isn’t the time to worry about that.
I gripped the bead tightly and muttered,
‘I want Aina and me to go to Deut Territory.’
……
But nothing happened.
Huh? I should’ve been able to teleport under these conditions before.
That was when Edgar smiled faintly.
“Trying to run away?”
“……”
“It won’t work. I made sure it wouldn’t.”
“What?”
“Still, you’re trying hard. Hiding your woman behind you even though you know it’s pointless.”
I ground my teeth.
“You can joke at a time like this?”
“Jokes can be made in any situation. You should know that people who can’t appreciate a good joke aren’t very popular.”
Crack.
What?
Edgar disappeared from my sight for an instant—
And when I came to, Armelia was collapsed behind me.
He had struck the back of her neck with the edge of his hand.
The direction her neck was bent was anything but normal.
My vision went dark for a moment.
‘D-Diary Book!’
[Yes.]
‘Anything. Anything’s fine. Find some kind of information that could be that bastard’s weakness!’
[Understood.]
Edgar began walking toward me.
I tried to buy some time by speaking.
“With that level of strength, why did you even take Ian as your subordinate? Even dozens like him couldn’t beat you.”
“I learned it from you. I was inspired by how you lead a pack around.”
“……”
“I’ve played through the last four Quests under all sorts of different concepts. Doing things normally gets boring fast. If I ever start feeling bored even in this game, that would really be the end.”
“……”
“So this time, I decided to go with a concept where I gather subordinates.”
I ignored his words and scanned through the open Diary Book.
[Using search function to find Edgar’s weakness in the Future Diary.]
[Cost: 100 points]
[Remaining points: 518]
<When I came to my senses, I was a mummy.
A mummy with my entire body wrapped in bandages.
Strange. I clearly remember… I should’ve been blown away by Edgar in the previous Quest.
I even remember my nose bleeding.
Did he really spare me?
……
……>
So at some point in the future, it seemed I’d end up doing a Quest alongside Edgar.
In that Quest, I’d been on the brink of death, yet Edgar had saved me.
Why?
Where in those sentences was his weakness hidden?
“Once I finish you off, it’ll all be over.”
-Ka-kang! Paaat!
Fierce battle sounds echoed behind me.
I didn’t even have time to look back.
Edgar gazed leisurely over my shoulder and muttered,
“As expected, Mr. Ian’s getting completely overwhelmed. I should join him soon.”
“……”
“You’re the first person in a long time who’s made me feel something close to ‘fun.’ That’s why I wanted to watch you for as long as possible.”
“……”
“But I don’t like how easily you’ve been figuring me out. Let’s end this here. Farewell.”
Swish.
He reached his hand out toward me.
And in that moment, one word flashed through my mind.
Nosebleed.
I drew my dagger in a flash.
Then I cut across my own forearm, drawing blood.
“What kind of performance is that supposed to be?”
“I’m not sure if this will work or not, but it’s the only clue I’ve got.”
“What do you—”
“This is my noble blood. Be grateful.”
Whoosh!
I flung the blood on the dagger toward him.
He didn’t even try to dodge.
It was the kind of desperate move that shouldn’t have mattered.
But the next moment—
“Ghhk. W-What… is this?”
My blood was eating away at his skin!
The flesh where it touched turned a charred black.
A burning smell filled the air with a sizzling hiss.
Like an earthworm writhing in the scorching sun, Edgar twisted in agony, resisting the pain.
“Uaaaaargh!”
He wiped at the blood on his face—
but that only spread the damage.
When he wiped with his palm, his palm burned.
When he wiped with his forearm, his forearm burned just the same.
“W-What are you… what are you, really?!”
“That panicked look suits you. You should keep that face. It fits you best.”
“Mason…”
“I don’t know either. So let’s test it again, shall we?”
I slashed the other arm and let the blood gather.
“Ghhk. D-Don’t do it.”
“Now that you said that, I want to even more!”
I flung the blood again.
This time, he jumped several meters back.
But even so, a single drop of my blood splashed onto his knee.
Though it had landed on his clothes, it sank inward as if sucked through fabric.
And again, a sizzling sound rose from his knee.
“Gaaaah!”
“This is starting to get a little fun.”
“Ghhk… ugh…”
“Don’t cry. It’s a joke. You think I’d find this kind of thing fun?”
I grinned as I spoke.
“I said it’s a joke. Smile, come on, smile.”
“……”
“They say people who can’t enjoy a joke aren’t very popular, you know.”
His eyes rolled back in rage.