Laughter in the Mist

The fourth floor is called The Gravenben. It used to be the scariest floor in this dungeon…well, I mean, the creepiest. Back then, this place was full of countless graves. Everywhere you looked, you would see tombstones stretching into the distance.

But now, strangely enough, I can’t see a single grave anywhere. My vision is limited because the entire place is blanketed in thick fog. I can barely see three meters ahead of me. Other than this mist, I can’t see anything at all.

It’s eerily silent here, and the atmosphere is incredibly tense. I don’t know how much the concept of this floor has changed in Nightmare level, but what I do know is that The Gravenben normally contains monsters called Hollows and Spirits.

Hollows are monsters created from leftover data of NPCs. They have no consciousness—like restless souls revived into aggressive umbra-type monsters. They resemble humans but with pitch-black eyes, sometimes in the form of people, sometimes twisted into monstrous shapes.

Spirits are different. Spirits are formed from the remaining data of NPCs who still kept their awareness. But Spirits are extremely rare. They just wander the area and avoid players. In other words, they’re mysterious, but not dangerous.

Those two species made this place a nightmare for players who fear ghosts or supernatural things. Unlike the horror atmosphere on Floor 3, this floor doesn’t try to scare you with zombies, it awakens your primal fear itself.

Am I afraid of ghosts? No. Ghosts are nonsense. They don’t exist. That’s why I was able to clear this floor easily before.

But I remember someone who almost gave up on this floor. She was terrified of ghosts, yet tried to act brave during the raid party.

That person was CrimsonAyane.

…

I remember the last time we came here together. At first, she didn’t even want to let me come to this floor, but eventually she forced herself to enter with me. She stepped in with shaking legs and tried to look strong.

“Hey Kyou! Don’t be scared! I’m the strongest player in the game, so don’t be afraid!” she said, even though her eyes were spinning.

“Listen, Ayane… you don’t have to force yourself to accompany me. We can go back and end this dungeon run. I don’t want you to keep suffering like this.” I said to her, putting my hand on her shoulder.

Then suddenly we heard a woman’s high-pitched laugh echo within the graves.

“Hiiiik!! Come out, you damn ghost! EtherCode skill [Fire Slash]!!” Ayane panicked and swung wildly in every direction, wasting EP while screaming.

I tried to calm her down, reminding her this was just a game.

Little by little, she began to relax.

“I just don’t get it… You’re the strongest player, but you’re this terrified? How did you even clear this floor?” I asked her, still confused.

“Kyou… I’m scared of ghosts…” she said, looking down in shame.

“I know already,” I said plainly.

“This is a secret… but I could never clear Floor 4 unless I raided it together with the other faction leaders… I even fainted when the boss ghost appeared. Haha… funny, right?”

“No… that’s not… pfft—” I tried so hard not to laugh.

Her face went bright red as she hit me lightly several times.

“I’m so embarrassed… how can someone as strong as me have such a pathetic weakness…” she curled up on the ground.

Suddenly, the horrifying moans, creepy laughter, and crying spirits surrounded us again. Ayane became terrified and started crying again.

“Hikh… this is pathetic… If he saw me like this, he’d be so disappointed in me…”

“I’m sorry, Kyou… you’re seeing such an uncool side of me,” she muttered while crying.

I immediately tried to calm her down. I sat behind her and gently covered her eyes.

“Kyou… what are you doing…?”

“Ayane, just stay calm. There’s nothing in this game for you to be afraid of. Focus. Right now, what do you see? And those voices..can you still hear them?”

“It’s dark. I can’t see anything. But I still hear those creepy ghost sounds…”

“Listen carefully to those sounds. Your SideLink should let you hear them more clearly, right?”

Ayane concentrated and listened.

“Wait… there’s static noise?”

“That’s right… Hollows sound like ghosts or spirits, but there’s noise in their voices. Even if a real ghost-type monster appeared, this is still a game. Their data creates noise.”

“So that means… they’re not ghosts…”

“Exactly. So there’s nothing to fear. They’re just impostors. I covered your eyes to help you hear better, not to scare you. Even if someone fears the supernatural, that’s normal. You’re human. You don’t need to be ashamed. But what you’re fighting now is just data, not real ghosts.”

I slowly removed my hands from her eyes. She opened them again.

“I’m not scared anymore… thank you, Kyou.”

Ayane stood up, her trembling stopped completely. She raised her sword with fire in her eyes.

“I guess I’ve shown my embarrassing side long enough, hahaha… But that’s over. Let’s finish this floor, Kyou!”

I stood next to her and drew my sword. We stood back-to-back, ready to slash through the Hollow swarm.

“That’s what I wanted to hear, Ayane. You really are the best.”

We fought through the Hollows together. I didn’t have an Aether weapon yet, so it took me a while to kill them. But Ayane was different. She had the rare Ascension EtherCode Ignis skill whose flames had a holy effect—similar to Aether.

From what I heard, that was one of her signature abilities, the reason she became the number one player in the game. Her flames shone brightly and gave warmth to the people around her. It left me even more in awe of Ayane.

After some time, we reached the boss zone. Ayane cast Blessing of the Holy Fire on me, cloaking me in holy flame that allowed me to damage the boss effectively.

The two of us defeated the boss quickly.

Ayane ran toward me and impulsively hugged me. I froze, but then hugged her back.

“I did it, Kyou! This is the first time I cleared this floor without my guild or the other faction leaders… I conquered my fear!”

“That’s right… you were incredible, Ayane. I always believed you could.”

Our eyes met for a moment. Ayane blushed. I could feel my own heart beating fast too.

Even if this is just an avatar model… she’s still incredibly beautiful…

We both pulled away slowly.

“S-sorry, Kyou… I got too excited hehe.”

“It’s okay, Ayane… I really don’t mind.”

She blushed even more. The normally energetic Ayane becoming this shy was… honestly, adorable.

“Pffhh—”

“Haha… hahaha!”

“Hahahahaha!”

We burst out laughing together.

…

Remembering that time with Ayane made me laugh by myself now in this silent, lonely floor.

“Haha, she really is amazing. I want to see her as soon as possible again.”

If anyone saw me, they’d think I’ve gone crazy.

Suddenly, I heard laughter behind me.

“Hahahahaha! I don’t know what you’re laughing at, but I’ll laugh with you! Hahahaha!”

It sounded like a high-pitched child’s voice. Like a mischievous little girl.

I turned around, but saw nobody. I searched for the source of the voice, but found nothing.

“Don’t tell me… that was a real ghost? That laugh is so annoying.”

“Are you kidding me? Look down here, you stupid blue guy! I know you’re tall, but look downward, you stupid blue idiot!!” the voice snapped angrily, yet somehow it still sounded cute.

I looked down and saw a tiny girl about waist-high. She had long white hair and bright pink eyes. She wore an old-style kimono. Her face was all scrunched up in anger like some kind of angry marmot.

“What the heck? Why is there a little marmot here?”

“I AM NOT A MARMOT!!!” she yelled and bit my leg.

But it didn’t deal any damage at all.

“That only makes you look even more like an angry marmot, you brat.”

I grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up, forcing her to release my leg.

Now she was wriggling around like an upset kitten.

“Alright kid, explain your name and why you’re here. I’m in a hurry. If you get in my way, I’ll throw you far away.”

“Hiiihh! You blue idiot! You’re cruel! Heartless! Yae hates you!” she yelled with the dumbest face.

I prepared to throw her, but then she quickly begged.

“Please listen, you stupid blue man! Yae hates you but Yae needs your help!”

“Why should I help you?”

“Because Yae commands you to! So you must help Yae!”

After hearing that, I readied myself to throw her again.

She screamed in panic, and suddenly a system notification appeared.

[QUEST FLOOR 4: PROTECT YAE! DO NOT LET HER DIE!]

[REWARD: DEFEAT THE FLOOR 4 BOSS]

Great. Another one of these annoying quests…

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