Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 128 128: My Armor!!

"You see? I told you there'd be a surprise."

Charon proudly put his hands on his hips.

"Pretty badass, right? I knew sothing like this would happen!"

「...」

For so reason, Rose unusually didn't respond.

"Rose?"

「Ah! N-no, it's nothing.」

For the first ti, her voice sounded flustered, as if she were trying to hide sothing.

"So? Was I aweso or not?"

「Y-yeah… you were aweso, okay?!」

Rubbing his chin, Charon listened to Rose's sowhat embarrassed and irritated tone and grinned shalessly.

"You know, you've beco way more human compared to when you first woke up."

As he spoke, he even started imitating her old robotic speech pattern:

"'This unit is called Sleeping Beauty, not Rose… Fine, you may call Rose.'"

「…If you don't shut up right now, don't expect to help you anymore!」

"My bad! Please don't!"

Charon instantly surrendered, then changed the subject at lightning speed.

"But seriously, what did that sticky note an?"

「…That thick skin of yours… honestly, maybe that's exactly why you've survived this long.」

Rose sounded helpless.

「Anyway, let's head out first. Usually hints like that are ant for later. And considering there's a chance players might not achieve full completion, it could even be a clue for so hidden route.」

"Got it."

Charon nodded and pushed the door open.

"Let's keep moving."

The mont Charon stepped through the doorway, he realized the world before him was extrely strange.

It was obviously a corridor–anyone with functioning eyes could tell that much.

But the wallpaper on the left side looked like an endless blue sky. It was so realistic that even knowing it was wallpaper, your eyes still instinctively mistook it for the real thing.

The floor was covered in flat grass, yet when Charon stepped on it, it felt more like walking on plastic.

anwhile, the wallpaper on the right side was pitch black, resembling the depths of outer space and giving off an unsettling feeling.

As for the ceiling, it stretched endlessly overhead, the sa beautiful sky blue as the left wall. Yet Charon couldn't imdiately tell whether it was actual sky or rely more wallpaper.

The background music had also changed into sothing cheerful and lively, perfectly matching the environnt.

「A side-scrolling stage, huh…」

"A side-scrolling stage, huh."

The two spoke simultaneously, their synchronization absolutely perfect.

Just as they suspected, the farther they advanced, the more platforming obstacles appeared.

None of them were difficult for Charon, but the experience of playing a side-scrolling platforr in real life felt bizarrely awkward.

Thankfully, the level itself wasn't challenging. Charon quickly reached the end of the corridor.

There stood an ordinary blast door with the words:

[LEVEL 2]

"So we're already at Stage Two? Then let's keep going."

Just as Charon reached for the door, Rose's voice suddenly rang out beside him.

「Wait a second. I detected sothing strange. On the left side of the door… is that a glitched texture?」

"A glitched texture?"

Charon's interest was imdiately piqued.

Following Rose's directions, he walked over and, sure enough, in the center of the wall–about a ter above the ground–there was a tiny square roughly ten centiters wide. Every so often, static flickered across its surface.

He reached out and touched it.

[The Error Block]

The system prompt appeared exactly as expected.

But the na made Charon pause for a mont.

"Rose… do you think this is the 'BUG' ntioned in the sticky note?"

「No idea. But theoretically, it's very possible.」

Rose replied:

「It's incredibly well hidden. Without my abilities, it probably would've been overlooked completely–especially with the door to Level 2 right there drawing attention away from it.」

"See? This just proves how useful you are, RoseAmon!"

「Flattering won't earn you any rewards, so stop it already!」

"What about that lap pillow you promised?"

「...You'll get it eventually, now hurry up and move already!」

Hearing the embarrassnt and irritation in Rose's voice, Charon smiled in complete satisfaction and pulled the Error Block out of the wall.

The process was surprisingly easy, almost as though the thing existed solely to be removed.

The empty space in the wall instantly repaired itself with fresh wallpaper.

Freed from the wall, the object beca a gray cube small enough to hold in one hand. It appeared to have no real material composition. Static constantly flickered across its surface, accompanied by streams of corrupted code, giving it a distinctly sci-fi appearance.

"…!"

The instant he grabbed it, an overwhelming heaviness engulfed his entire body.

It felt as though an extra two hundred pounds had suddenly been evenly distributed across every inch of him, making even basic movent difficult.

He imdiately tossed the thing into his backpack–

But the pressure didn't lessen at all.

「No wonder the note used the word 'carry.' This thing really does place a heavy burden on the 'player.' Want to throw it away?」

"What?"

Charon struggled to lift his head.

"I-I'll adapt to it soon enough!"

Thankfully, he was a veteran fighter. Adapting to evenly distributed weight wasn't impossible for him.

Still, combat definitely no longer felt as natural as before.

Running was reduced to a sluggish jog.

His shooting accuracy would probably decrease too, along with various other penalties.

「There's a chance this is just so hidden achievent in the ga and has absolutely nothing to do with clearing it.」

"Didn't I already say this before?"

Charon forced a grin.

"I've already eaten almost all the bullshit this ga's thrown at . I'm finishing the entire damn pile!"

「Then… good luck with that.」

…

After that, there wasn't much puzzle-solving anymore.

An RPG could certainly have puzzles, but most of the story progression still relied on combat.

Level 2 turned out to be a classic 3D factory stage.

There were a few small switches to operate here and there, mostly just to open paths forward.

But Charon's primary role in this level was simple:

Pull out the giant gun and turn the pixel-machine soldiers jumping out from every direction into swiss cheese.

The Error Block's effects, however, were very real.

He could barely dodge properly anymore, which forced him to take plenty of hits he normally would've avoided with ease.

It hurt his soul every single ti.

My armor!!

And the stage itself wasn't fully intact either.

From ti to ti, Charon noticed sections of the map where textures were completely missing, revealing nothing but purple data voids underneath.

The sa was true for parts of the floor.

And the farther he progressed, the more frequently these voids appeared.

Faced with this, Rose quietly comnted:

「I'm guessing…」

"I know. No need to say it."

Charon sighed.

"This is all my fault."

That Error Block was the source of everything.

But now that he'd taken it, there was no way he was putting it back.

If he was going to do this–

he was seeing it through to the very end.