Genocide Reality

When I entered the fourth floor, I found the air to be chilly and cold.

Cold, like the temperature of a morgue. Where corpses were not allowed to rot, or decay.

Not much has changed outwardly, the cobblestones, the dim flame of the torches that dotted the place.

Still, it is cold here. It is not a place where creatures live, it is a different world.

“Intermediate level light….”

Ghosts are hard to see, so I decided to make the light source stronger.

My mana limit has been increased enough to allow for that level of luxury. My Magician rank must have increased as well.

“What is this, a person?”

A person is sitting on a stone wall with his back leaning against it. For a moment I thought it was alive, but no, it was all wrinkled up.

I’m glad I increased the light source; upon closer observation, apart from their skin being all wrinkled, they’re also wearing clothes and their original shape is still intact. But they’re dead, a corpse.

The cause of death is unknown, but there are wounds all over the body, so it’s likely one of those.

It’s not a mummy… I think they call this “corpse waxing”.

The temperature here is cooler, so the putrefactive bacteria are less effective.

Blood drained from the wounds, and by chance, preservation conditions were good, leading to this state.

“…I wonder when they died.”

When there is low bacteria and no decomposition, the corpse saponifies and this is what happens.

I was expecting to see a zombie or a skeleton, so when something like this comes out, this is something I don’t like.

“Hey, you’re probably going to start moving anyway. Get up already.”

I poke it with the tip of my spirit sword, but it doesn’t move an inch.

It’s somewhat creepy. And I don’t want to look at it. I picked up the torch that was propped up on the walkway and pressed it against the corpse.

“Oh, it burns well.”

Whoosh, the fire went up and the corpse was engulfed in flames.

It’s not surprising, since the body is waxed, and the fatty parts of the body are like candles, so that’s what’s burning.

Maybe it wasn’t a monster.

It might have been the corpse of an adventurer who had arrived here with wounds all over his body and had run out of strength.

The monsters that appear on the fourth floor of Genocide Reality are always zombies, skeletons, or ghosts. There’s no way something like this would be here.

At least there was no such event in the game.

In fact, if there were people who got lost and died like we did, they would be at….

“There’s no point in dwelling on what I don’t know.”

Of course, there’s a setting in Genocide Reality where there are tried-and-true adventurers in addition to the players. There are also NPC events, although there are only a few.

There may also be differences between versions, North American, European, East Asian, and Japanese ports, and since modding was popular, the basic system may just be the same, with some added extras I’m not aware of.

“Well, I don’t really care either way.”

Either way, I have one thing to do.

“I’m moving on.”

That’s all I need to do.

But before I tackled the boss, I decided to take a little detour.

I was rather relieved to find the next large room full of the usual zombies and skeletons.

Pulling back for a moment, I aggroed them a few at a time, smashing the skeletons’ hip bones and quickly slashing the zombies’ arms and legs into shreds, rendering them immobile.

The process of turning a corpse into a piece of meat is fun.

The spirit sword ‘Onsatsumaru’ properly functions as an undead killer.

Whenever I swing it, the serpentine blade glows pale and returns the rotting flesh and bones that move against the laws of the world to their proper form.

It’s a tragedy that they move around like this even after death. This is a memorial service.

Some of the zombies are non-human. There are orc zombies, kobold zombies, troll zombies, and some even slime zombies.

When they come down from the upper levels, they are all killed and turned into spirits of the dead.

This floor is so dangerous that even scavenger slimes that eat corpses become zombies, so corpses never decompose.

It is quite well done.

The dead spirit zone on the fourth underground floor functions to separate the habitats of the weaker creatures on the upper level from the stronger creatures on the lower level.

The spirits of the dead are like earthbound spirits and do not leave the underground fourth floor. ‘Invasion’ does not happen to the creatures on the fourth floor, so newbies who cannot deal with the ghosts will not be attacked and die.

If they were going to balance the game decently in this area, they should have done something more about the other balances.

Anyway, ghosts are untouchable without magic or weapons to deal with them.

There are troublesome monsters like ghosts that can pass through walls; if things like this overflow to other floors, it would become a serious problem.

That only the fourth floor has become the realm of the undead seems most likely due to Genocide Reality’s dev’s conscience.

Well no, it is not really out of consideration for newbies.

I guess the reason for this is so that Genocide Reality as a whole doesn’t turn into a zombie game, since when a zombie kills a monster, the monster also becomes a zombie.

“Well, let’s see….”

Instead of heading straight to the boss’s room, I head to the back room.

I poke the floor with the tip of my sword, and with a crack, a pit opens up. In front of the nondescript hole, a stake is driven in and a rope is hung down.

Using the rope, one could descend without taking any fall damage.

There are two types of traps: those that simply cause damage but still remain on the current floor and those that lead to the lower floor.

The bottom of the pit is the fifth underground floor. Although this pit did not actually lead to the fifth floor, I continued on.

At the end of the pit, there is a door with iron bars. Beyond that, I see another door with a button.

This is supposed to be a point where you cannot proceed in the game.

It may have been abandoned in the middle of development, or it may have been abandoned with the intention of being expanded. Genocide Reality has some rather meaningless and useless spaces, so people don’t pay much attention to them, but I know how to proceed.

At the wall next to the bars, I move sideways while moving forward.

Then somehow, my body slipped through to the other side of the bars.

Is this just a bug?

I don’t think so, maybe it is a kind of secret door.

Then, when I open the door with a button at the back, I find myself in a large room full of light and dazzling brightness.

Sunlight for the first time in a long time.

“It’s bright.”

Yes, despite being on the fifth basement floor, sunlight is beaming down here.

Looking up, one can see reflectors set up in the sky above, separated by a large circle. The light source must have been collected and directed to this spot. It is very realistic in every way.

Perhaps because of the sunlight, plants and trees are growing here, and there is even a wooden log house and fish swimming in a pond that leads to an underground water vein. There is even a small field where one can live a comfortable, self-sufficient life.

I call this place Garden.

I tried to find out why the developers of Genocide Reality had built such a villa in a hidden room, but there was no hint as to why.

“Maybe it’s a rest area.”

In the fifth-floor room from earlier, there are other secret doors as well.

The corridor that runs around the fifth basement floor is a kind of maintenance room, where one can check the circulation of empty holes and springs in the dungeon’s large rooms.

The genius game designer who developed Genocide Reality, Lord Knight, took a break here, just at the halfway point of the labyrinth.

He might have worked up to this point and then taken a break before continuing his creation. Thinking about it that way is quite amusing.

Alternatively, seeing that it leads to a maintenance room, he might have prepared it as a staff room for maintaining the labyrinth.

Genocide Reality, which later became an MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online), may have been designed with this concept in mind from the beginning of its development.

The maintenance system surrounding the labyrinth is said to be a waste of time to create the unique atmosphere of Genocide Reality, but it was prepared from the beginning as a backdrop to make it an MMO.

It makes sense when you think about it that way.

What a far-reaching plan!

Even in the year 1989, Lord Knight had anticipated the current Internet gaming environment and incorporated it into the design….

It’s just my imagination, but it’s a lot of fun to think about.

Right here, the legendary genius game designer was refining his vision.

“Hmm, seems like it’s the same after all.”

I entered the log cabin. There is no sense of life here, just a simple bed, a desk and chair, a bookshelf, a closet, pots and kettles and other cooking utensils, and a cupboard.

When I saw the waxed corpse, I wondered if perhaps someone had arrived there, but I’m not sure if that is the case.

When I opened the item box attached to the log house, I found that it was filled with rare items with some magical effects.

There is an amulet of protection, a bracelet of gale, a pendant of protection, a pendant of health, a ring of mana, a ring of resistance, and a ring of warning…. A smattering of magical accessories.

“So this place is still the same….”

The magic accessories with auxiliary effects have only one effect.

I tried putting a bunch of rings on my fingers to see if effects might stack, but only the first one seemed to work.

“Well, that’s not such a good idea, is it?”

If I remember correctly, it was set so that the same ornaments would cancel each other out.

For now, I equipped myself with the bracelet of gale, which increases speed.

There is one more important item here.

A backpack with infinite storage. The space inside the bag is magically distorted, and theoretically, an infinite number of items can be stored.

Theoretically, of course. It also has the effect of reducing gravity somewhat, but the more items you put in it, the more weight it accumulates, and eventually it becomes too heavy to carry around.

On the other hand, it is also a convenient item that can be used in an interesting way, such as packing so many items that you can’t carry them around in any other way and throwing them at your enemies to kill them.

It is a rare item that can be found in the middle level, but since I have no skill to remove traps, I cannot open treasure chests with traps on them, so it is nice to know that I can get it here without fail.

There are also some interesting items here, such as a ‘crystal of far sight’ that acts as a videophone, although it is of no use at all.

There is also an axe for chopping firewood, a rope ladder, a hoe, a shovel, a fishing rod, and other tools lying next to the log house.

There is also a thread-knitting machine and a loom. They are not just for decoration, but you can actually collect cotton to make cloth.

Looking at the environment here, it may have been a testing ground for production skills such as cooking, sewing, lumbering, and carpentry, all of which existed in Genocide Reality but were of little use.

It was a place to use skills for fun, a rare offering that did not upset the balance of the game, and a bit of a service to the players who enjoyed seeking out such secret areas.

Yes, I’ll bring the ‘warning ring’ to Seki, among other things.

It is an item for beginners that vibrates when a trap or a strong monster approaches to warn of danger.

It is of little use to me, but it should increase the survival rate of beginners.

Wait, Kumiko would be very annoying if I gave only Seki the ring.

It’s luggage, but it’s not very heavy, so I’ll just take a few more ornamental accessories as I see fit.

“Well, I think that’s about it….”

Perhaps inside the log cabin, sitting in a wooden armchair, there is Lord Knight, the genius game designer, who welcomes you with a smile and says, “Welcome, player!”.

I had such a fantasy, but maybe there is no real creator of this world.

“Well, if it’s my own private sanctuary, that feels good, too.”

No one knows about this secret area because it wasn’t even listed on any international websites.

Maybe only the developer and I knew about it.

That is the most blissful thing for me as a player.

After a long time in the sun, I ripped a tomato from the field and bit into it, its fresh, juicy flavor spreading in my mouth.

Normally, I was not even aware of it. I used to think that tomatoes were bland and tasteless, but they are really fresh and delicious. Even the leafy smell of the stem was delicious, and I bit into the whole thing.

The tomatoes here are of a variety that can revolutionize agriculture, growing within three days of planting the seeds. But that doesn’t mean they taste particularly good.

It could be that I was lacking vitamins due to not eating properly, and my palate had become accustomed to luxury, so I didn’t notice the inherent sweetness of vegetables. After all, vegetables naturally possess ample sweetness.

“Speaking of which, how long have I been holed up in the labyrinth?”

Apparently, being underground for so long has blurred my sense of time.

At any rate, I thought I would take a bath. In this break room, there is a drum bath. No, it would be more like a Goemon bath.

A dip in the water would have been fine, but since I was going to the trouble of taking a bath, I used a large tub of water and fired up the bath.

With a wooden grate to sit on at the bottom, I won’t get burned if I’m careful when getting in.

Even if I do get burned, it’s a convenient world where I can heal it with a potion.

I picked up some kindling at random and lit a fire with a basic fireball spell. After that, I’ll just wait while heating the bath and whack open a watermelon I picked from the garden to eat.

“It’s probably ready by now. It’s been a while since I’ve had a bath. Might as well do some laundry too.”

It might sound a bit down-to-earth, but it’s quite urgent. Both my clothes and body are covered in monster fluids, so regular washing won’t do much.

Despite all this preparation, there’s no soap or detergent. It’s not something that would weigh me down too much, so I regret not buying them in town.

“Oh well.”

Since there was no one else around, I undressed and casually washed my clothes in the tub, splashing water around, and then hung them up to dry. I’m not sure how to care for leather armor. It’s probably best not to mess with it. All that’s left is to enjoy the bath.

After all, I’ll get dirty again in no time exploring the labyrinth, so as long as I can get rid of the sweat and grime from my body, I won’t worry about the details.

“Phew, I feel revived.”

The human body cannot form vitamin D without exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

It’s advisable to deliberately expose yourself to sunlight like this, as avoiding it may lead to calcium deficiency and illness.

Perhaps a recovery potion solves those problems, but there is also a mood problem.

If I were to stay cooped up in the dungeon for a long time, even a reclusive person like me would get depressed.

I decided to sunbathe thoroughly until my clothes were dry before returning to dungeon exploration.

**

Once again, I proceeded through the fourth floor toward the boss’s room.

I was dealing with a rather troublesome enemy, a ghost. Even if I ran away, its transparent body would attack me over the wall, so I had no choice but to defeat it quickly before it encircled me.

If I didn’t have the spirit sword, I could only defeat it with a monk’s prayer or an anti-spirit magic that works on enemies that have no actual body.

Moreover, they even have magical long-range attacks such as the fireball.

“Damn!”

You can avoid the magic attack if you keep your distance, but it is faster to slice and dash while taking the hit.

Facing these attacks allows my resistance to fire and magic to grow, treating the pain of burns as experience points.

Even though I know that wounds can be healed with recovery potions, the sensation of my flesh burning is truly unpleasant.

The only way to overcome the pain and discomfort is to let the excitement of battle fill my brain with adrenaline.

“Oooohhhh!”

Despite being a spirit, when I slash with my spirit blade, I can feel the impact.

Even ghosts can be properly cut, they can be killed.

“Gaaaah!”

The ghost also screams in pain when it is cut.

This is what happens when you don’t quickly go to heaven.

“Huff… huff…”

My body is fine, but I can’t do anything about my clothes and equipment getting burnt to a crisp.

At this rate, my hard leather armor will be ruined in the near future.

Even if I want to get new equipment, I can’t open any treasure chests except in the boss’s room.

That’s because deadly traps start appearing on the fourth floor and beyond. For someone like me without the thief skill, it’s an insurmountable obstacle.

The most frightening trap is the stunner, a paralyzing toxin.

In a place crawling with enemy monsters, if you are alone and paralyzed to the point that you can’t move your body, it’s no different than dying instantly.

“Well, I don’t really feel like complaining.”

The challenge around here is the essence of solo play. I came down here fully prepared from the beginning.

Even on the hardest difficulty, Genocide Reality is a well-made game. It is not impossible to conquer, and if you think about it properly, there are breakthroughs prepared for you.

I found myself in front of the boss’s room.

The boss here is a zombie carrier. It is not a very strong opponent, but it is an enemy you must be careful of.

Even if you are attacked by the undead, you will not become infected and turn into a zombie unless you are killed, but the zombie carrier is a strong source of zombie infection.

Even players can become undead after a certain amount of sharp claw attacks. If that happens, you’re done.

No, Genocide Reality is a fun game, and the game continues even if you turn undead, so there is a way to play it the other way around, by staying undead until the end, but I have no intention of doing that with my own body.

It’s not some eccentric light novel, so having a zombie protagonist wouldn’t make sense nowadays.

After preparing potions for recovery and detoxification and completing my physical strengthening dope, I burst into the boss’s room to find a large mass of dead flesh.

At first glance, it looked like a fat, bloated zombie, but the closest I could get was a flesh golem made from dead flesh and shaped like a person.

The sight of writhing dead flesh is physiologically repulsive.

Furthermore, it had sharp venomous fangs, and it could even cause zombie infections, which made it even worse.

“Intermediate-level Flames, Shoot!”

It’s a Fireball spell. Zombies being weak to fire is a basic principle. I cast it relentlessly until I reached the limit of my mana and then threw a nearby torch at it.

Its dead flesh was burning up, and the zombie carrier jumped at me.

“GAAHHH!”

The wild voice, thankfully as unintelligent as the third-floor Murder Troll.

“You don’t talk or anything, do you, huh!”

“Guoooooooooooo!”

Letting out a cry that seemed like a mix of a scream and a mournful wail, the monstrous mass of flesh swung its poisoned claws at me.

It is quicker than it looks, but the lack of intelligence made its movements rather predictable. Using a hit-and-run tactic, I continued slashing at it with my spirit sword, ‘Onsatsumaru’.

“Hey, hey, Heeeey!”

“Guoooooh!”

As long as the thick arm with the poison claw is crushed, I win.

While avoiding the attack of the arm swung by the opponent, I continued to swing my spirit sword until the arm was shredded.

“Gyuga gyuga gyuga gyuga!”

With a wet thud, the arms of the Zombie Carrier fell to the ground, and the mass of decaying flesh emitted an indescribable roar.

I wondered what the enemy would do now that it could no longer attack with its poisonous claws, but now it lunged straight at me with its huge figure.

“Oh, it’s a body slam!”

I hastily dodged, and it crashed onto the stone floor, rubbing its face against it as it fell.

The Zombie Carrier dexterously got up, using only its head and legs. Of course, I didn’t leave it there, and I slashed at its back with my spirit sword as well.

“Giya, Giiyaaa!”

“It’s quite tough.”

The Zombie Carrier is rampaging around with only its legs and head, but even so, the slash damage is sure to accumulate.

With each slash, its violent movements gradually became slower and slower, and eventually, it stopped moving.

“Haah, haah…”

I gulped down the recovery potion, catching my ragged breath. I also took a dose of detoxification potion, as I had been hit by the poisoned claws a few times.

If the cumulative damage is too great, you can really become undead. The antidote potion is not a panacea, but it should work since it is poison damage.

The treasure chest is out, so I assumed he’s dead, but just in case, I take the torch from the room and burn the remaining chunks of dead flesh. I can finally rest easy after burning them all.

It would be terrible if they suddenly resurrected when I turned my back on them. You can never be too careful with undead enemies.

“Well then, the treasure chest….”

As usual, I discarded the gold coins since they pile up and become a burden. When you’re alone, the weight limit becomes a challenging aspect, increasing the difficulty and adding to the fun.

All I need are some disposable gems and items that are very useful like mana recovery potions.

“Mantle of Diminishing.”

Rare item, as expected. This chest usually yields either a ‘Black Cloak’ or a ‘Cloak of Darkness’.

Both are made of non-flammable cloth and have their own magical durability as well as a concealment effect,

This ‘Mantle of Diminishing’ is a rare item with a higher level of magical resistance. It has the effect of reducing the power of all long-range attacks, including dragon’s breath, not just magic.

Originally, it has only a very low chance of appearing, but when one defeats a boss alone, the rate of appearance of the rare item is extremely high.

In GenoReal, there’s something known as the ‘Solo Player Bonus’. It’s like a reward for solo play.

Genocide Reality is balanced to allow advanced players to play alone, including the fact that only the treasure chests of the bosses are not trapped.

The ‘Diminish Mantle’ was a bit of a heavy fabric when I put it on, but it seems to have a stronger protective effect for that reason.

It is not bad that it can be equipped over armor. Of course, it also has a strong effect on concealment.

For example, Genocide Reality has a skill called Hiding.

This is a skill that thieves and ninjas are most adept at. Samurai are not very good at this skill, but to survive alone, there will be a need to get past strong enemies.

From now on, that too should be trained gradually. My goal is to become a versatile type who can survive alone.

And finally, I opened the door to the fifth floor with the ‘key of the dead’. It seems to be a pattern. Let’s quickly head to the fifth floor.

Zombies and skeletons, while not particularly strong, were difficult to kill since they were already dead.

But there’s not much satisfaction in cutting down enemies that are already dead so I don’t really want to come back to this floor much anymore.