These are dangerous people. I knew that from the moment I saw them.

However, observing Margaret’s behavior made it clear that trying to stop her would be futile.

Besides, if there was a unique kind of way to play that differed from the other players, I was curious about trying it out.

But never did I expect it to be like this.

I sat on the bed in the suite of the luxury inn in the capital of Pearl, looking at her palms.

On this bed, until recently, was Magnamalum, a mysterious NPC in a sinister black robe.

The palms I stared at seemed like ordinary women’s hands, with no peculiarities. However, I knew better than anyone that this body was no longer human—or rather, no longer that of Janet, one of the beastfolk.

After that, after taking Magnamalum’s hand.

I was taken to the outskirts of the deserted capital and then carried on the back of a massive two-headed dragon to a forest.

Although the sight of the enormous monster up close was nerve-wracking, it wasn’t that surprising, as it was mentioned on social media that the Seventh Calamity was keeping a dragon.

And at the destination, I was placed in a mysterious crystal container by a suspicious dwarf who looked like a mad scientist, and something was done to me.

Magnamalum claimed it was just an experiment, but it felt more like the scene of human experimentation by an evil secret society.

When I emerged from the crystal container, like playing a different game, the scene was drastically different from before.

Later, I found out it was due to the rapid increase in ability values.

For example, if AGI rises sharply, there may be side effects such as not being able to keep up with one’s own movements. To prevent such situations, there is a system that automatically enhances the performance of various sensory organs, such as dynamic vision, according to the current ability values.

This applies to other ability values as well. For instance, even if only STR is raised without increasing VIT at all, there won’t be any drawbacks like fracturing bones due to one’s actions. Of course, activating techniques like [Lance Charge] that involve impacts, or punching something, would be exceptions.

With an omnipotent feeling, everyone felt the desire to fight. However, that feeling dissipated when stared at by Magnamalum.

Just by opening those eyes and gazing, consciousness momentarily flew away, and before realizing it, I was kneeling before her.

Although a message appeared saying ‘resistance failed’, there was no apparent damage, and only a few seconds had passed, yet facing an opponent who could launch such an attack without any motion made boasting seem impossible.

Then I asked Magnamalum what had happened to my body.

At the first mention that there was no going back, I briefly felt despair, but I had prepared for this when choosing the path of darkness.

I regained my composure and listened attentively to the explanation.

Indeed, it was body modification.

“Well, in terms of combat power and versatility, it’s drastically improved, isn’t it? With these stats, we might even approach the top players in the current player hierarchy!”

“Allison, being at the top of the player hierarchy doesn’t just happen because of high stats. They reached the top because they are good enough. Even if we were to pick a fight now, we’d just end up getting beaten.”

I am technically the leader of this party, the one who needs to stay the calmest.

Though I said that to advise Allison, it wasn’t an exaggeration.

The dungeon with that leopard-bear we were easily defeated by was rated at ☆1, but parties with famous players like Wayne and Gi1gamesh mainly attack dungeons around the ☆4 difficulty.

Speaking of ☆4 dungeons, even the weak monsters there could have the strength of that bear before the power-up.

Players who attack such places every day are beyond the reach of simple ability values.

All the other members were currently in our room.

This was for the quest related to the Magnamalum route.

“Is that so? I think it’s a good idea. Margaret, what do you think?”

“…Septem-sama…”

“Oh, I’ve entered a bad loop.”

Margaret’s muttered “Septem” referred to Magnamalum’s white robe.

When asked how to address each of the two, we were told to call them Magnamalum Septem and Magnamalum Octo. I had initially thought of using simpler names like Magna and Malum for each, but Octo preemptively rejected that idea before she could suggest it.

However, hearing those names, I was convinced that my speculation on the topic was correct.

Because in Latin, Septem means 7, and Octo means 8.

The Eighth Calamity, which was a subject of discussion and speculation on the official forum, was apparently the Seventh Calamity’s sister.

The Seventh Calamity had already swallowed the human nation of Hiers. Although they might not know how they were referred to by humanity, it wouldn’t be susprising if they did.

For a long time on the official forum, the purpose of the Seventh Calamity’s actions, or rather why she headed west first, was considered unclear, but perhaps she went to pick up her sister somewhere in the west.

Then, when something was ready, and while I don’t have a clue how, she empowered her sister who became the Eighth Calamity. That’s probably what happened, given that the older sister is younger in her numbering.

Of course, as a dark side player, I have no intention of spreading this information because of my allegiance to the mastermind of the scenario. Such a thing would be entertaining, and many players in general play would not want to obtain this information through boring, underhanded means.

Or rather, there are now reasons why that couldn’t be casually discussed.

Octo mumbled something like “The Novem might also rise up in time”, indicating that Magnamalum might be staging the birth of a Ninth Calamity.

In other words, our group were now assisting Magnamalum in creating a new world boss.

When we heard this, even I, who had now fallen to darkness, felt a chill down her spine and her knees trembling.

The ultimate goal of my and my now fallen companions’ scenario was the birth of a Ninth Calamity.

For players playing normally, whether on the side of humanity or monsters, it would be an event of such magnitude that they couldn’t easily get involved.

This was undoubtedly an extremely intense development.

Furthermore, though our group hadn’t been very involved this time, there was currently the hottest topic among players, the official event involving the angels.

It was about one of the so called Calamities, the invasion by the angels. In fact, a raid boss event for defeating the Archangel was taking place in the city called Hugelcup, located in the central part of the continent.

I knew about the announcement in the system message, but considering our strength, we had refrained from participating.

However, that didn’t mean we weren’t gathering related information.

In the forum’s event threads, discussions about angels and the Archangel were endless every day. Among them, I found one post that caught my attention.

It was a post by a player with a hard-to-remember name like “Healthy-something”, and the content suggested that the Seventh Calamity had annihilated the Archangel in the present day and caused the fall of the Sky Castle, its residence.

If Magnamalum Septem’s true identity was the Seventh Calamity, it meant she had recently been in a fight with the Archangel.

In other words, even if they were the same as World Bosses, it didn’t necessarily mean they were in a cooperative relationship.

Currently, Magnamalum Septem and Octo loomed over our group. And maybe, Novem might be added to that later.

Considering the power balance, if that were to happen, it would be reasonable to assume that the opposing enemy force would be a World Boss of a similar Calamity level.

This implies the possibility of a world-domination conflict between calamities, a showdown of World Bosses against World Bosses.

And probably, entering as a third party in that scenario would be the human faction led by players.

Normally, our team wouldn’t have been able to stand at the forefront with our current strength.

We might have been satisfied watching from a distance and experiencing it through the forum, as in the case of the raid against the Archangel.

But now, what we hold in our hands is a ticket to participate in that world-class war.

For that, the price we paid – our human bodies – seems insignificant.

The series of special events that started with encountering Magnamalum in the Abhang Marshlands sends shivers down the spine when thinking about the future.

Somehow, we now owe one to Margaret’s shenanigans.

“Septem-sama is fine, but personally, I prefer Octo-sama.”

“Huh? Are you serious?”

“Allison has a thing for tanned skin, right? Septem-sama’s pure white is nice, but Octo-sama’s tan is a color you can’t create with the initial character creation.”

Returning to reality from contemplation, Allison and the others were quarreling about such trivial matters.

Which one is more beautiful is utterly irrelevant.

With the same face, both are undoubtedly beautiful.

More importantly, it’s crucial to handle the task assigned by Magnamalum rather than arguing over such things.

“Yeah, yeah. More importantly, let’s complete the quest given by Magnamalum.

Fortunately, since we still look like beastfolk, with a bit of finesse, we should be able to infiltrate even the royal castle.”

* 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

It was actually mentioned by Septem that infiltrating would be easy.

Despite having just met, Septem seemed to hold us in high regard. Quite adept at manipulating people’s hearts. I initially thought that it wouldn’t be surprising if Margaret fell for it, but that wasn’t the case.

Casually surveying the main gate of the royal castle, the guards noticed our group. Surprisingly, they beckoned us over.

Apparently, these soldiers at the main gate were under the influence of Magnamalum. Similar to the inn in Kiefer, by unknown means, they had been turned into their helpers.

In contrast to other countries, the residents of the Pearl Kingdom had high individual combat capabilities. However, the nobility was scarce, mainly limited to the royal family and close relatives. Consequently, there was no knight order exclusively for the nobility, and knights were only directly affiliated with the royal family.

Magnamalum seemingly judged that, despite their skills, the soldiers of Pearl lacked loyalty. This might be the reason for enlisting these gatekeepers.

There were already several traitors among the soldiers, and our group could borrow their armor and uniforms. Guided by the gatekeeper who initially approached us, we infiltrated the royal castle as a group of five.

While a small group, it wasn’t uncommon for soldiers to operate in such numbers within the castle, and we didn’t attract any particularly strange looks.

After climbing stairs and walking through corridors for a while, the lead gatekeeper instructed us to stop in front of a particular room.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll check if our collaborator is inside.”

“Yes.”

The gatekeeper silently entered the room labeled “Archive”. Here, we might obtain the desired information from documents.

The sought-after information was the conditions for the reincarnation of beastmen, especially the method for ordinary beastmen to reincarnate into a higher existence akin to the nobility. We were instructed by Magnamalum to investigate this information.

This was likely also part of the rewards for completing this special quest.

‘Reincarnation’ was not well understood, but when I first met Magnamalum, they mentioned that ‘the reincarnation of the bear was a success’. If so, it likely referred to power-ups similar to what was done to the bear.

By achieving this quest, our team might be reincarnated and elevated to a higher existence. It was a straightforward reward.

While human-side quests often rewarded items or coins, for combat-oriented players like myself, the main goal was undoubtedly becoming stronger.

Rather than money or items, clear and tangible rewards like this served as more motivating incentives.

“…Okay, come in.”

The gatekeeper gestured from the doorway, and all of them entered.

It was a concern whether five people could fit, but the archive was unexpectedly spacious, providing ample room.

“But, this means there’s a lot of information to investigate, right?”

“Actually, I’m already super excited. I mean, who gets a chance to enter a country’s royal archive during regular gameplay? This kind of stuff definitely never happens! Without a doubt, we’re the first players to do something like this!”

“Before that, we’re probably the first human-side players who turned to the dark side, right?”

“See, even Ellie and Sis aren’t exploring; they’re researching!”

Prompted by Margaret’s excitement, they began walking towards the back of the archive.

If you intend to examine everything, it doesn’t matter where you start, but if you want to stow away books containing important and confidential information, they would likely be kept towards the back.

“So, about confirming whether there’s a collaborator or not, did you find one?”

“Yeah, it’s taken care of. An old man who manages this library is our collaborator. While we’re in the library, he ensures that no one else enters this room.”

“Huh? If the librarian is the collaborator, why didn’t you just ask him to check in the first place?”

“That’s the tricky part about this country. Only illiterate old people are allowed to be librarians here. I guess it’s because if they can’t read, there’s no risk of information spreading, and it’s probably difficult for an old person to learn to read at this point. It seems like there are some pretty sensitive facts hidden away here.”

“I see…”

I had initially thought that this gatekeeper had been turned into a collaborator by Magnamalum’s influence. However, from the current conversation, it seemed like he might have harbored suspicions about the country’s practices even before. Since he didn’t know Magnamalum’s true identity, he likely perceived us as regular human collaborators, and perhaps he had come here intending to investigate independently.

“Anyway, even if people don’t come here often, going through all this information is still quite a task…”

“Ja-nee, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

“Why don’t we just throw all this stuff into our inventory and walk away quickly?”

“Ah-“

“I see! You guys are foreigners!”

Problem solved, apparently.

We were strictly instructed not to reveal that we were players to others. Margaret had indirectly informed them about the existence of social media like the forums when we turned dark, and Magnamalum was likely concerned that if a player working for the mastermind were discovered, it could jeopardize the flow of information on social media. Without the information about the unique foreigners, our group might lose appeal.

Regardless, this restriction didn’t apply to NPC collaborators. Although we were cautioned not to be detected even by regular NPCs, if it were a collaborator, there was no problem. The gatekeeper seemed to have known about us from the start.

Following Margaret’s declaration, we systematically stowed all the books in our inventories and left the royal castle without arousing any suspicion.

＊

When we returned to the inn, Septem was waiting for us. Margaret proudly took out a large number of books from her inventory and greatly pleased Septem. Allison seemed to be looking for Octo, but she had already returned to the town of Kiefer. We packed away the books again and were instructed to return to the town of Kiefer by carriage.

For Magnamalum, it seemed that obtaining this information was their main purpose in the capital of Pearl. Although we only explored the library this time, Septem expressed satisfaction and appreciation for their efforts. Considering the security measures of managing the library with an illiterate elderly person, if the information was not stored there, it would likely be in a private area accessible only to the royal family. At the moment, there seemed to be nothing more they could do. This directive reflected a character who disliked unnecessary actions quite well.

By the time the carriage arrived in the town of Kiefer, the large-scale event was coming to an end.

Although our group could hardly participate in this event, we experienced an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. After this, the game would soon enter a maintenance period, but it was the first time that the maintenance actually felt so inconvenient.

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