Galaxy Summit

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“The Death Sanctum—how else do you think it became the deepest dungeon?”

“I see. So it suppressed the development of other dungeons… even plundered them… to get where it is?”

Will’s mind raced. He thought of Lucifa, who had managed to make her own dungeon incredibly popular despite being isolated. Though he didn’t know why, she was clearly one of the dungeons that had been ostracized. Was this… a setting the original author intended to reveal?

“If the dungeons and the Adventurer’s Guild… are both yours,” Reibel continued, “then on one hand, you can control the Adventurer’s Guild in the real world, driving adventurers to clear dungeons more efficiently and safely, extracting more resources.”

“On the other hand, you can completely control the birth and development of dungeons, allowing only those that produce what you want to survive, even forcing them to pave the way for adventurers, offering up their resources.”

“Right. And to prevent others from finding out, Carver and that Empress didn’t tell either the dungeon side or the adventurer side—the higher-ups on both sides secretly colluded. Quite a dirty trick, isn’t it?”

Reibel explained with a “helpful” tone.

A perfect cycle formed in Will’s mind—Carver provided a steady stream of adventurers, and the dungeons used them to dig deeper. The Adventurer’s Guild, in turn, developed through its services and the resources it obtained.

No wonder…

After Carver’s rise, the adventurer profession in this world had progressed at a rate that surpassed the previous two hundred years, even eclipsing the Entark royal family, which possessed the strongest military force with “Demon Castle Zero.”

“Wait, then how do you know all this?” Shuna, who had been relaxed, tensed up again.

“You can guess. When there’s a dungeon that he and that Empress don’t like, who do you think acts as the ‘black glove’ to get rid of it?”

As the captain of the Adventurer’s Guild’s top party, the “Radiant Knights,” Reibel, now a captive, wiggled his fingers, which happened to be wearing black gloves.

“Then we really did catch the right person. Oh~ So you’re quite busy, aren’t you?” Will said sarcastically.

“So? Anything else you want to know about Carver?”

“Nothing.” Will glanced at Shuna, speaking as if giving an order to a subordinate. “Because there’s nothing left. Kill him, Shuna. Let’s get out of here.”

“You got it! I was getting tired of holding this.”

“…Huh?”

Reibel, who had been calm, was now genuinely shocked, his composure replaced by panic.

“So, after all I’ve said, you’re still going to kill me? And here I was, answering all your questions.”

“Weren’t you the one who tried to kill me first? Of course, I have to eliminate future threats.”

Will said it with ease, as if he had a wealth of experience in killing—not that he was doing the killing. Shuna would probably pull the trigger with a smile, no psychological burden, perhaps even happy to test out a new weapon.

“Have you not thought about what to do next?”

“Next?”

“After you leave here. For example… revenge on Carver, and all that?”

“…That.”

Will’s original plan didn’t include this step. Or rather… his plan really did “end here.” Only after ensuring he survived could he start thinking about what to do next… for example, finding the other three, and using some “unique” methods to make them submit? And what if the information he heard was different from his guesses—for example, if there were hidden currents beneath the surface of this cycle, he might have to adapt. But these were all things for later. Since he wasn’t going to die, he had a long life ahead, plenty of time to think.

“That’s a good suggestion. As a father, he’s not very competent. As a capitalist… that word might be too soon, but he does sound quite detestable—the resources of this world’s lowest-level dungeons should belong to everyone.”

Of course, he was also holding a grudge. After confirming that Carver was behind everything, a natural anger had welled up. The urge to wring that bastard’s neck—after all, a man who would kill his own child was beyond cold-blooded.

“But, no matter what I think later, it doesn’t include letting you live.”

Reibel looked at Will. The dazzling morning sun was now directly overhead, casting Will’s face in deep shadow, making him look particularly grim.

“Then, let me just say, why don’t you take this opportunity to make your death trap even bigger… for example, by faking your death here?”

Shuna’s gun pressed closer.

“You don’t get to make suggestions.”

“Fake… death?”

Hearing these words, Will’s eyes widened slightly. He seemed to have thought of something… something very “bold.” Something he had overlooked while focusing on “avoiding” death… that sometimes, a “dead person” can do things a “living person” cannot. Both in terms of investigation, and… emotionally.

“Will, you’re really interested, aren’t you?”

Shuna looked at Will now. The “smile” that had unconsciously appeared on his face was a bit terrifying, reminding Shuna of something Will often described to her. For example, “going dark.” But, Shuna felt that “dark” was more like Will’s base color. He was never a gentle person. He was extremely proactive, individualistic, and always enjoyed watching the most chaotic and entertaining things happen. In a way, he was never quite right. If one had to describe it, Will, after hearing Reibel’s suggestion of “faking death,” had returned to his most normal state.

“That’s a good suggestion, thank you. So… that’s probably the most useful thing you’ve done before you die. Shuna—fire.”

Bang.

Shuna’s gun was indeed unusual. Its “bullet” was not a bullet at all, but a black dagger that shot out from the muzzle like a spring, integrated with the gun itself, but clearly sharp enough. The moment Shuna fired, the “captain” still showed the agility of an S-rank adventurer. He chose to dodge the bullet by sliding to the ground. Of course… this also meant that lying on the ground, he had even less chance of escaping.

“Hey, hey, why are you so insistent on killing me? Is it my fault? Did I not seem sincere and obvious enough?” Reibel sighed, pushing himself up slightly.

“Hands up. Second shot?”

“Miss, since you won’t let me put my hands down, could you take what you’re interested in from my coat pocket?”

“I’ll get it. Don’t think you can trick Shuna into lowering her weapon.” Will interrupted Reibel.

Then, he naturally pulled out… a stone from the pocket of the thick winter military uniform.

A green stone, but its color and texture didn’t look “natural” at all, as if an artist had lazily slapped it together. It was translucent and slightly cloudy. In the bright desert sun, it was exceptionally bright.

“Green-Jadeite?!” Shuna and Will exclaimed in unison.

The beginning of all the strangeness, the start of Will’s investigation, the cause of his three teammates going dark, and even Will’s inspiration for realizing something was wrong with this world…

“How… how did it appear here?!”

“Yes, how? And coincidentally, all the dungeons you chose were where Green-Jadeite appeared… we first met in a dungeon where Green-Jadeite appeared too. What’s going on?”

Will seemed to understand the reason for Reibel’s overly frank state. Perhaps he wasn’t as “loyal” to Carver as they thought.

“Carver definitely didn’t put the Green-Jadeite here. An unstable dungeon would ruin his business. Did… you put it here? Did Carver want you to kill me to prove yourself because he sensed this?”

“You guessed it. But I do have missions from many people, and one person wants me to recruit you—of course, on the condition that you can complete this faked death with me.”

“Why do I have to fake my death?”

“‘Will Hysterm’ must die, so ‘Will’ can be reborn. Only then can you truly join us with a new identity.”

Will stared at him.

“Oh, right, and… only then can I continue to stay by Carver’s side as a high-level informant in the Adventurer’s Guild.”

He was the legendary third force, independent of the dungeons and the Adventurer’s Guild, always stirring up trouble. And for some reason, the force that could obtain the “stones from the game”… Who was he? No, more confusingly… who was behind him? And… who could produce Green-Jadeite?

“Join… what?”

“Galaxy Summit.”

“Galaxy… Galaxy Summit…”

Hearing these four words. The four words that were supposed to be the “start” of the whole story, but now he hadn’t even found the door to that beginning, Will’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe he could hear that name again in this world. He had checked before he came here; Novis Town had not given birth to Galaxy Summit. Galaxy Summit, like the original “Morning Star” and the original “Shu,” had vanished from this world!

But… it had not only appeared again, but it was spoken from Reibel’s lips as if it truly existed in this world. He had no particular feelings for Reviki herself; in his mind, she was just a protagonist from a story, a dungeon empress who took in the protagonist and created exciting plot points. But the appearance of her name was like hearing a familiar phrase from home after wandering in a foreign land for a long time, surrounded by unfamiliar languages and characters.

Will had always been very confused about why this world had turned out this way, why game props and characters had appeared in a world where the plot and characters were more like the original novel. But something that had become “nothing” in this world, something only he remembered, couldn’t even be considered a clue. If… if Galaxy Summit and Reviki still existed, did that mean… he could understand what was behind all this confusion—he could truly understand his purpose here.

“Ms. Reviki assured me that if I revealed this name, you would agree.”

“Wait… Will, is that the name of the empress you talked about? But, you checked before, Galaxy Summit was clearly…”

“I agree.” Will answered decisively.

“But, not without conditions. Both you… and Shuna, I hope you can prioritize my plan.”

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