37 : Go Ahead – 3

“Login”
“Chuchuu”
Today was Wednesday’s login time.
The location that I logged out at yesterday wasn’t at the entrance of the『Tower of Mice』but rather, a safety area that was in the depths of the dungeon.
However.

“It’s almost the exact same as the one near the entrance.”
The safety area I was standing in now was completely identical to the safety area at the entrance of the『Tower of Mice』
Dangling meat fern flowers drooped from the ceiling and the rats’ bones were also piled up in the vicinity along with their pelts.
Apparently, it would appear that safety areas were individually separate for each player. No matter which barrier door you entered, you’d end up in the same safety area.

“Mmn”
“Chuu?”
Wait, it seems like that wasn’t all there was to it.
When I came in contact with the metal door, a translucent screen appeared.
It listed the areas where the door would lead to.
In all likelihood, once you opened and entered through a barrier door, it would serve as a warp point.
If we consider how the world of『CNP』works… then this safety room I was currently in may possibly be some sort of interdimensional room forged through a curse.
That being the case, it would make sense for the curse concentration in the safety area to always be at a constant value.
On top of that, depending on the materials and how you curse it, you might even be able to create something like a portable safety area item.

“Though for now, let’s just continue on with the exploration.”
“Chuu.”
Well, I’ll leave my train of thought at that.
The dangling meat fern flowers in the safety area were stunted in terms of growth anyways, so I opened the metal door and stepped out of the safety area.

“Now then…”
Of course, when I left the room, I returned to the depths of the 3rd floor.
If I went back and away from the corridor, I’d arrive at the hall with the countless number of rats. If I proceeded onward, I’d draw closer to the source of the curse.
Between the hall and the corridor, the pathway had a few bends here and there, but whichever way you chose, the corridor itself was limited to a one-way course without any sidetracks or the like.

“It’s almost guaranteed that the rats will show up again, but I wonder exactly which kind they’ll be.”
I started hovering towards the direction that I haven’t been to yet.
After advancing for a bit, the path began to curve so I checked around the turn using the method that I always used.

“… I guess this is what the 3rd floor was originally supposed to be.”
Located beyond the veer in the path was an office that was similar to the one in the 1st floor.
Only, it was similar, not identical by any means. There wasn’t a door that divided the room from the corridor and the cries of rats could be heard from throughout the room.
Also, there were dangling meat fern flowers hanging from the ceiling and the corridor was completely clear of any litter or debris. Other than that, there wasn’t anything else worth mentioning.

“Hmm, I can’t decide…”
I carefully progressed and switched to a room where I hadn’t heard any squeaking.
There was nothing within the room.
If it was only just this room, it’ll would’ve been fine. Sometimes, you end up picking the wrong option. However, the other rooms were the same.

“…”
“””Chuu chuu chuu”””
With caution, I went to look at what was going on in the room with the rats squeaking and found… a cage with the corpse of a guinea pig inside.
What kind of curse was this? The dried shriveled up corpse of the guinea pig was still crying out.

“Appraise”
If you’re presented with strange information and have no idea how to make sense of it, the『Appraisal Loupe』was your best friend.
With that said, I appraised the guinea pig’s moving corpse.


△△△△△
Zombie (Guinea Pig)　Level 1
HP: 10/10
▽▽▽▽▽


“Well, I guess it does seem zombie-ish.”
I was completely unaware of something like this. Rather, I haven’t come across anything like this. Was it because I usually processed all of the dead bodies? In any case, zombies apparently existed in『CNP』.
If this was caused by someone using sorcery, then that’s not really an issue, but if this was the result of a corpse that didn’t disintegrate from the curse and was left alone long enough to become a zombie, then I may need to play it safe in the future.

“Poison… I guess that wouldn’t work since it’s not living after all. Though if I crush its head or heart, then it might die.”
I tested it out since I had the opportunity to, but『Taruwiveno』didn’t work on the zombie.
Furthermore, if I didn’t destroy both its head and heart, it would take a while for it to stop moving.
I’ll note that down.

“Hmm?”
After my little experiment on the zombie, I took a proper look at this room once again.
There were actually around 10 of those cages stacked up inside of the room with guinea pigs in them.
One of the cages looked like it was pried open from the inside.
In addition, there was a desk for office-use in the room and several pieces of paper could be found laying in its drawers.
The papers had heavy deterioration, so it was nigh impossible to read and get any information out of them, but…

“They’re using literal guinea pigs for experimentation, huh. So, does that mean that the rats in the『Tower of Mice』were originally all guinea pigs?”
Nevertheless, the guinea pigs in this room appeared to have been used as subjects for research.
I don’t have the slightest clue over why they’re experimenting in the middle of a city on one of the upper floors of a building, but it would seem that the origin of the rats in the『Tower of Mice』were almost undoubtedly these guinea pigs.
By now, I’m sure it’s possible that they’ve gone and mingled with other rats and rodents outside of here though.

“I guess this is all of the information that I’ll get out of this. Well then, let’s keep on moving.”
I ventured further into the depths.
Along the way, the path would turn a few times as I continued to wander deeper and deeper.

“… Have I finally arrived?”
Before long, I noticed that the bend in the path immediately widened and was leading into an open hall. I tightened the grip I had on my Rat Flail and readjusted my Poisonous Rat’s Pointed Hat.
What laid beyond that corner was…

“Jyuuaaaa?”
An enormous rat that nearly stood 4 meters tall.
Not only that, but between its front and hind legs, were an extra pair of legs counting 6 in total. Next to its native eyes were 2 more new ones and on the top of its head was a tiara-like object seemingly made from a human skull and some sort of string.
Make no mistake, it was a grotesque-looking creature.

“I see, so you’re the insolent pest that has been flying around recently.”
“…”
The giant rat tossed away what appeared to be the fruit of the dangling meat fern flower and placed all 6 of its legs on the floor.
It then disturbingly spoke in clear human language.

“If you’ve come here without serving as feed for my underlings, I will gladly devour you myself.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Jyuaaaaaa!”
Revealing its bloodlust, the gigantic rat turned towards me and pounced.