The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-105

It was a different kind of darkness here.

This space, which looked empty at a glance, was, in fact, filled with many small lives.

And those small lives created their own worlds.

I opened my eyes.

‘Who am I? What happened?’

Everything felt vivid. It felt real.

‘Maybe… this is reality?’

As I touched my face without much thought, I felt large fangs.

What was I?

If I were to guess what I looked like through these fangs, I would think I appeared frightening.

‘Am I alone?’

It didn’t seem like it.

The sounds I heard around me proved it.

Crunch… Crunch.

Nom…

Rip…

The individuals voraciously eating something were children, all with long fangs.

They had red eyes.

‘Urgh…’

For some reason, I disliked them.

It was terrifying to approach them.

Even so, I tried approaching them.

Crunch!

They were devouring the flesh of another creature like savages.

It was the flesh of a human, an intelligent creature capable of conversation.

I couldn’t tell whether their flesh was originally red, or if it turned red from the blood covering them.

‘Urgh…’

My eyes began to turn red, just like theirs.

Wildness cannot be tamed.

It felt like the boiling blood in my body was screaming at me.

‘Do I… just have to accept it?’

Reach.

I stretched out my hand unwittingly.

Even though they disgusted me, I might have been so weak that I couldn’t resist my desires.

‘I’m… hungry… I’m losing to my hunger.’

My hand reached out to the blood-covered corpse.

I could sense it. The moment I put that into my mouth, I would forever be subservient to savagery. Even so, I couldn’t resist.

The corpse’s severed arm was heavy. I had to use both of my small hands to barely lift it. The feeling I had when carrying that weight wasn’t annoyance or disgust, though. It was happiness.

Drool…

I opened my drooling mouth.

‘Huh? I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t… be doing this…’

Then, I felt a gaze from somewhere, looking at me.

I quickly looked behind me, like a criminal caught red-handed.

It was a man. A certain man was looking at me.

What was in those eyes?

‘That… was sympathy.’

Pity, sadness, regret…

Maybe even disappointment.

All of those feelings swirled in his eyes.

Shake… Shake…

The man carefully shook his head. Then he spoke to me.

“Don’t do it.”

‘Don’t eat it?’

He simply looked at me.

For some reason, I felt embarrassed.

I didn’t want to let down his eyes, filled with expectations for me.

Toss!

That was probably why I snorted in anger and threw the corpse’s arm aside.

“I feel nauseous. I won’t eat something like this. Something like hunger… I can just endure it.”

The moment I said that, everyone looked at me. They looked at me, perplexed.

However, it felt like I couldn’t eat this with the man looking at me from afar. For some reason… his face felt familiar.

Hummmmm…

The space distorted.

Beeeeeeeeeep…

A strange beeping sound struck my ears.

“Jamad, you are a troll.”

An unexpected face appeared.

They were the faces of old trolls, the shamans of the previous generation.

Four trolls were also sitting down next to me.

They all looked ridiculous.

“What are ‘brothers’ in the Rock Molar Tribe, Jamad?”

"An eternal comrade and ally, someone with whom you share pain and glory alike."

“From this day forth, the five of you will become brothers.”

“Brothers? These idiots will become my brothers?”

“They are. You will lead the Rock Molar Tribe with them.”

I had a question.

‘It's strange. Besides, isn't it normal to find it strange to become brothers with trolls you just met?’

I refused it.

“...No. I won’t recognize them as my brothers. I will choose my own brothers.”

“It’s pointless to resist. It has already been decided within the tribe. The five of you will now be given the Curse of Brothers.”

“No! I don’t want to!”

Someone… Someone help me… Please…

‘Is there… Is there no one out there? Just look at what crazy things they’re trying to do to me!”

I looked at everyone around me, but they simply ignored my gaze.

All except for one pair of eyes.

Those golden eyes were watching me.

“Help me… Say something for me!”

Though I hoped, I didn't expect anything.

However, the man with golden eyes spoke in my stead.

“Those are not your real brothers.”

Turn!

Turn! Turn! Turn!

All of the trolls looked at him. It was a frightening sight, but he didn’t flinch.

Rather, he boldly held his head high.

Hummmmm…

The space distorted again.

I thought it was a relief that the man was safe.

‘Huh? This is…’

It was an altar, also called the Old God Temple.

Countless trolls bowed down, with their heads to the ground, wailing.

It was a place where sulfur hisses and lightning strikes, a place where strong gusts of wind rips garments.

The Old Gods looked down on the dim-witted trolls that bowed before them. The only thing I could feel from the Old Gods were contempt and arrogance.

“Stop! Don’t do it!”

Don’t serve them.

They only plan to use you.

An offering was being placed on the altar.

An elf with pearl-like skin, a plump orc, a small human, and corpses from other races… But alongside them was the corpse of another troll.

For some reason… that corpse made me feel nostalgic.

I knew who that female troll was.

“M-Mother?”

She was my mother.

I don't know how I knew it, she was just a female troll with a blurry face. But I was sure of it.

And then, I felt an enormous amount of pressure.

“Urgh…”

The Old Gods were looking at me.

Purga breathed out sulfuric fire as he spoke.

"Submit to us, savages. As your power comes from us, bow down and tremble before our strength."

I could neither do nor say anything.

As I was about to fall to my knees…

Suddenly, the fragrant smell of flowers flowed in. As I breathed in through my nose, the Old Gods’ powers, which were pushing down on me, disappeared.

As I straightened up my weak knees, I looked in the direction I smelled the flowers from.

‘Who is it? Don’t tell me…’

It was the same man from before.

He was standing with his back turned.

I realized then why it smelled like flowers.

There was a flower bed filled with different colored flowers. The man stood there at the windy hill, making something.

He was tying flowers together, making a flower crown.

The man then placed the wreath of flowers on something.

Slowly, I passed through the flowers, and approached the man.

He had placed the flower crown on a grave.

‘...It’s my mother.’

The grave must have belonged to my mother. Otherwise, why did I suddenly cry so much?

‘Why?’

Why does he keep helping me?

I was so interested in him that it was on the verge of spilling over from curiosity to hostility.

“Who… are you?”

The man didn’t respond and simply moved his finger.

It was like he was gesturing to me to do something.

“You want me to duck? Why— Urgh!”

And then…

Fwooooosh!

Fwoosh!

The wing flaps were so powerful that I thought it was a storm. I feared my small, young body would be swept away by its winds.

“Krgh…”

Woooooooooooosh!

The strong winds prevented the hill’s flowers from staying tall.

I also knew who created those winds.

Tancreed, the Earth Mother.

She possessed a powerful body and exuded such nobility that I couldn't gaze directly at her. She was a dragon, born with the stars.

She was… like overwhelming violence. And I was mentally defeated by her, by her incredible existence.

“Damn it… Damn ittttttt!”

I felt that, regardless of the method or tactic I attempted, I would never reach her.

As I watched Tancreed’s back as she flew into the setting sun, I despaired, and despaired.

Woooosh!

“I… can’t fly.”

Since I had no wings, I couldn’t fly into the skies like Tancreed.

I couldn’t grasp the skies like her.

And then…

The man appeared again.

He was always like this.

“Jamad, let’s go.”

Grab.

Pull…

The man who placed the wreath of flowers on the grave grabbed my wrists. He was pulling me somewhere.

The man led me through the flowers, and after passing through a narrow path, we arrived at the edge of the hill. As he stood there without a word, I stood there, as well.

And then… I realized it.

Fwoooosh.

I could see the vast land and rivers stretching beneath the hill. I could see countless lives. I was moved. It was a greater feeling than what I felt when I saw Tancreed.

Tancreed was great.

However, even she only had the skies, not the world.

The world was just that vast.

The world also exuded freshness, untouched by anyone. Barley ripened, animals were well-fed, and rivers flowed.

That was how the world existed.

In the end, the land wasn’t smaller than the skies.

“Yeah… that’s right.”

Words started to come together in a corner of my heart.

I am a troll.

I am Rock Molar.

“...I am Jamad. Finally… I finally know who I am.”

My small body slowly began growing.

My body was beginning to be clearly defined by muscles, my fangs grew bigger.

I continued to grow and grow…

Until I fully recovered my original body.

And finally, I opened my eyes to the world.

“I see, so it was you. Kuahahahaha!”

The man who had helped me thus far had disappeared before I realized it.

He had given a wake-up call to the straying young troll. He had watched over him until the young troll grew into an adult.

He waited for him to realize his true self.

“Even though I am the one who will grasp the mysteries of creation and the truth of the stars… Snowman… How annoying. I could have stood up on my own.”

This was a dream.

A very terrible dream.

- If you haphazardly intervene in their memory to help them, not only could your partner succumb to their memory but also you. And if that happens, you’ll both die.

Jamad looked at the land.

The red glow in his eyes almost looked beautiful now.

“I am Jamad. And I… will one day become king of this land.”

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Thud!

[You are in a difficult situation. What do you do?]

“O-Option 4.”

Like everything in life, it wasn’t always smooth sailing.

Right now, Seol made the wrong decision.

“No!”

“Oh no…”

The masked individuals covered their mouths and held their laughs. Seol bit his lips to the point of bleeding. He could feel them mocking him.

“Snowman, pffft… Due to your incorrect decision, your swordsman now only has one arm.”

In that instant, Seol could hear his piece screaming.

“Guaaaaaaaargh!”

Seol’s single mistake left his piece with an eternal scar.

Thud!

“I-I’m sorry.”

The piece on the table turned around to look at Seol. He cried tears of blood as he showed his anger.

“You… You made me like this.”

“But…”

“You should have chosen the correct option. You shouldn’t have made me like this!”

Seol was terrified by his piece and put his head down.

However, the horrific situation didn’t end there.

[[You are undergoing Vanishment. At this rate, you will lose all of your emotions. What do you do?]

…]

“Option 2!”

Creak.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

A woman in a flamboyant mask flashed her teeth and conveyed sadness. However, Seol could tell that she was also suppressing laughter.

Thud!

“Oh no… Your magician lost their eye this time… And you weren’t able to prevent Vanishment either.”

“N-No. This isn’t my fault!”

“Are you making excuses right now? You chose that option.”

A black magician with bandages around one eye looked up to Seol.

“This is all your fault. Did you think you were better than us just because you were looking down on us from up there? Did you think you owned me? Answer me!”

Seol couldn’t say anything.

He simply closed his mouth and lowered his head. He was in pain, like a criminal being interrogated.

Thud!

The gods he was rolling dice with… The pieces on the table…

Even his own shadow…

It felt like the whole world was his enemy.

It felt as if a knife would come flying at any opening he provided to take his flesh.

Thud!

Seol’s vision started to get blurry.

This was a nightmare made from squeezing out every last one of his vulnerabilities.

Seol pretended to be normal, but he was far from it.

He had strange dreams ever since he was young, which continued into adulthood.

And surprisingly, he had still kept his secret. He never once told anyone else.

It wasn’t normal.

Thud!

How did he keep his secret?

The reason was much simpler than expected.

It was because he had contorted and twisted his inner self.

Rather than the cold, lonely world he was compelled to endure, Seol found solace in the sanctuary of his dreams, where laughter echoed, and dice tumbled. For Seol, this was simply his dreams, but it was delusions in the eyes of others.

And like that, the time he spent in reality and in his dreams reversed.

Seol was invested in The World of Eternity to the point that he hated being awake.

‘I… I don’t need any of that. I just need my friends and this.’

His masked friends and his reality-like game.

Seol had been swayed by them, more and more.

No… even Seol wasn’t sure if they were truly his friends.

“Oh no!”

“Hahahaha! Snowman, what are you going to do?”

It was only natural for someone like Seol to feel guilty for his pieces, as their injuries were a result of his own mistakes. He took responsibility for it.

“It looks like… your piece is in an awful situation again.”

It was another mistake.

Seol looked to see which of his pieces were in danger.

The piece looked like Seol as a snowman.

‘What? That’s me?’

The gods laughed wickedly.

Thud!

“Hahahaha! Snowman, Seol’s in danger. What are you going to do?”

“You’ll die if you fail, you know? Hurry up and decide already!”

“You don’t have much time left. If you fail again here, it’s really the end!”

“Choose now…”

The gods revealed their true selves and hurried him.

“Choose.”

Forked tongues and red fangs protruded from their mouths.

“Choose!”

At that moment, Seol despised the pressure to decide. It reached a point where he contemplated abandoning choosing entirely. His mental strain then revealed itself like reality.

[[███ █████ ██████?]

1. ████ ██

2. ███ ████

3. ████

4.██ ██████

……]

Life wasn’t a game.

It wasn’t so easy that you could choose the path you would take in an instant.

Thud!

Thud!

“Aaaaaaaargh! Stop! Stop that damned thudding sound already! It’s been way too noisy!” shouted Seol as he was pushed into a corner.

It really was too loud here.

“What are you talking about?”

“Can’t you hear it? That thudding sound?”

“Thud?”

Thud!

Thud!

Seol stood up from his chair like he was caught in a trance.

“Wh-where are you going?”

“I… definitely hear something here… over here…”

Thud!

Like a doctor bringing their stethoscope to an injured area, Seol leaned his ear into an empty space.

Thuuuuud!

“Urgh…”

Someone was there.

Someone who wasn’t one of the gods enjoying the game.

Thud!

Crackle…

A small crack formed in that dark space. Seol could see someone’s eye from beyond it.

They were the red eyes of a beast.

Seol had seen those eyes before.

It felt like a very old memory.

Seol had saved a child with those eyes before.

That same child had become an adult and was breaking down the walls that were trapping Seol.

Seol then heard a sound from beyond the wall.

“Finally, you’re looking at me.”

Jamad spoke once more.

“I’ve been pounding on it for a while.”