Data.84 – Old Bowman, namwoB dlO

Go to the left and take a few steps back, one to the left, rush forward, and then to the right…
I looked at the mirror and moved carefully but swiftly.
The trick was to stop and think hard then move quickly once you decide the direction you have to go in.
When I have to go to the right, rush forward as soon as the decision is made in my head.

‘Move while you’re thinking’ sounds cool, but it was too difficult for me.
It didn’t matter what kind of person you were, multi-tasking meant you were concentrating less on a single task.
And so sometimes it was more efficient to do one thing at a time.

Well, I wasn’t sure if it would work for me now…
Because the platforms were collapsing behind me at a fast pace…

“Ah, that’s right!”

A clever person is just a crafty person.
And I had thought of something that was a little crafty.
While skills, charge attacks and items were banned, my weapons were still equipped.
The Blackwind Dark Cloud Bow was close to a Japanese style bow, as it was part of the same set as my clothes.
What I mean to say, is that it was a lot bigger than a western bow.
And so I could use it like a staff to find the next platform!

Tap-tap-tap…

Alright, even the weapon could touch the invisible floor!
It was such a simple trick that I wouldn’t have been surprised if they put countermeasures in place, but perhaps the developers had been in a good mood when making this trial.
While tapping the floor might make me look like some grandpa, I couldn’t care about such things right now.
I had to hurry before I was dropped into the pit…!

“…Ha!”

I realized that I was both using the staff and looking at myself in the mirror…!
Being so worried had made me double check.
Which just meant I was doing twice as much work.
I had to be courageous and keep going with this exploit!

Tap-tap-tap…

I avoided looking at the mirrors.
They also showed me how fast the platforms were collapsing, which made me even more frantic.
I thrust out with my staff until I found a platform and then…walked!
A little more…one more step…!

“Phew! I got across!”

I had managed to reach the treasure chest.
As for the platforms…it had really been a close one…
Now, to see what was inside of the treasure chest…

“Alright, I got the Castor Medal!”

The medal shone so much that it was almost blinding. It was named after one of the two brightest stars in the Gemini constellation.
But even though I had acquired Castor, I would still not get the special reward unless I acquired Pollux as well.
So it was too early to celebrate.

I put the medal in my item box and then I was automatically warped out of the area.
I would have been very annoyed if they made me return in the same way, so I was grateful.
Now, I would continue to move on while also checking the mirrors.

◆　◆　◆

The monsters that appeared after that were still weak.
Thanks to this, I could focus on finding any hidden secrets.
While there were many floors in this dungeon, each floor was on the small side.
Reaching the next floor was just a matter of climbing some steps.

As the outside was a castle, I had assumed that there would be a lot of branching paths, but it was not the case.
There were rooms here and there, but no mechanisms or tricks.
But instead of being relieved, it made me worry that I had missed something…

I continued to check the mirrors, but did not find any hidden passages.
As we had climbed six flights of stairs, we must be on the 7th floor.
I doubted it would be much longer if this was a solo dungeon, and so perhaps the 10th floor was the boss room?
Surely the hiding place of the Pollux medal can’t be too far from here…

“Another small room… Ah!”

I had gone in thinking there would be nothing there again, but there was a giant mirror that reflected the entire room.
Yes…there was no doubt about it!
But the furniture itself was the same as any other room.
There was a bed, table, closet, bookshelf…
It had everything that a NPC from an RPG would have in their room.

It was the same in the reflection as well.
It just showed everything normally.
Hmm. There must be something…

“Ohh…!”

As I looked at the books on the shelf, it came to me.
There were five books with covers of a different color in the reflection!
And when I touched them, I saw that they could be pushed back like a button.
I pushed them until I could hear a click.
And then the bookshelf slid to the side and a hidden door appeared…!

“While it’s a classic, it’s quite exciting to do it in person!”

I put my hand on the doorknob and then the familiar warning appeared.

—The Mirror Puzzle area is behind this door.
—You cannot take your Unison with you.
—Furthermore, skills, charge attacks and items are banned.
—Keep this in mind when opening the door.

I had been expecting it…but still.
Well, I now have a bow staff, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
I opened the door and was enveloped in light. And before I knew it…I was in a corridor again.

This time…there was no bottomless pit waiting there for me.
Well, there actually was.
Only there was a narrow sort of platform that would allow you to walk across.
Not so narrow that you would have to keep perfect balance on it.
It was wide enough for an adult man to walk without trouble.

There was no wind here and the ground didn’t shake.
And since you could see the platform, you wouldn’t step in the wrong place and fall off.
It seemed easy enough… But I didn’t move.
I would inspect things carefully first.

This time, there were also mirrors all over the right side of the wall.
And I could see the other me in them.
However, this time, the floors were exactly the same.
And since the mirrors were supposed to show the truth, this platform couldn’t be fake.
That was nice. But then where was the challenge…?

I had questions, but I wouldn’t learn anything unless I tried.
And so I started walking on the platform that was in front of me.
And then the ‘me’ in the mirror did the same.
So far so good.

I continued to walk. The change happened right when I was a third of the way across.
A monster appeared in the mirror.
It was a bat-type monster that looked rather weak. And so I took aim…and unleashed the arrow!

Kiririri…shu! Cling!

The arrow bounced off.
Not the bat…but the mirror.
The enemies in the mirror could only be defeated by the other me in the mirror!

Uhh…since left and right are reversed, and the bat is on the right side of my reflection, I aimed with my bow to the left…and rapid fire!
1, 2, 3 shots… And then 4. I finally hit the bat.
It really was weak, as it went down in one hit.

However, this was difficult…
It wasn’t just that left and right were reversed, but I had to find the right angle so that the other me would be able to hit the enemy.
It was very confusing…!

But I couldn’t just ignore the enemy and keep moving.
Because both I and the other me were synchronized.
If he was hit by a bat and stumbled, then I would stumble as well.
If he slipped then I would slip…

Even as I thought of such things, more bats appeared.
This time there were two at once.
At the same time, the platform started to crumble behind me.
Oh, so they were bringing that back…

In any case, I can move forward as long as I defeat the enemies.
And this time, I could see the platform.
As skills were banned, I took down the bats with ordinary arrows.
The bats didn’t come close immediately, and they would sometimes just hover in the same place for a while.
And so I kept aiming and shooting and didn’t worry too much about missing.

Kiririri…shu! Zakku!

One of the arrows hit it
Alright, I can do this…!
I took care of the last remaining one and then rushed ahead.

A giant bat appeared next, but this might have been an attempt at raising the difficulty, it was just a bonus for me.
Every time I defeated them, the bats became bigger as if growing more desperate.
But even if they had more health, a larger hitbox was a weakness.
Besides, arrows did more damage against flying enemies.
I was good at defeating large enemies that flew towards me.

Still, this would be scary for someone who fought in the vanguard…
Having to fight something in close-quarters that you couldn’t directly see was horrifying.
If you let your guard down and got hit, you would be knocked off and sent into the abyss. In other words, bows were the best because you could kill them before they got close.

The combat element in this puzzle was strong, but that ended up being to my advantage.
And so I was able to reach the treasure chest before the platform collapsed completely.
As for what was inside… It was the Pollux medal!
It was the brightest star in the Gemini constellation, and was therefore so bright that I could barely look at it…!
I quickly put it away in my item box.

Now I had finished the requirements for the special reward, and could clear the dungeon without regrets.
I would go straight to the final floor!

Next Chapter

Uncategorized