Is this really just an RPG? !

Prison in Ingrid City.

I have been traveling for almost a year since I first arrived in this world, and this is the worst environment I have ever been to.

Not to mention that the air here carries a strange stench that is uncomfortable, even after I turn off the sense of smell, I still feel a little dizzy and want to vomit from time to time.

At the same time, a big red exclamation mark was marked on the left screen for me, and the signs of two abnormal states were enlarged at the same time: "death temptation" and "SAN value drop".

Although the explanation of the former is "it will cause the living thing to die slowly", but that is only for "weak existence". This state has too many effects.

Anyway, for me, I just feel a little uncomfortable, and it won't cause too much trouble.

As for the latter, the existence of the state of "decreasing SAN value" will cause my SAN value to continue to decrease. When the SAN value drops too much, I will have hallucinations, or even go crazy... Well, it is explained in the remarks, However, I still can't understand what the SAN value is. The name of the blue slot on the screen is "SAN", indicating my current SAN value.

There is a lot of surplus, and the rate of decline is extremely slow, but that doesn't mean I can slow down.

[The sooner the better. 】

I thought so and quickened my pace.

The torches that appear regularly solve the problem of light sources. However, in such a closed environment, I have some errors in judging the time. In addition, the current time point is not displayed on the portable screen, so I can't know the end. Go forward how long.

But... there should be some distance, right?

After walking for so long, the scene is still exactly the same. If it wasn't for the delay in discovering the entrance and exit of the secret passage when I came here, I would have thought I was spinning around somewhere.

"Eh?"

Just when I was considering whether to turn back, the end of the corridor finally appeared in front of me.

A painting.

A rather large painting.

The length is close to 2 meters and the width is more than 1 meter.

It is too strange for such a picture to appear in the prison, obviously. Besides, this road turned out to be a dead end. Could it be that the right road is the other side? Thinking of this, I turned my head and glanced in the direction I came from. Although there were torches for lighting, the entire corridor still presented a relatively dark environment, and I couldn't see too far away.

Turn your gaze back to the painting.

The picture frame reflected faint light under the firelight, and it was carved with rather complicated patterns. Even if my appreciation ability is not very good, I can tell that this picture frame is not an ordinary thing, and the golden color that appeared Glossy, can I guess it's made of real gold?

I stepped forward and stretched out my hand to press the picture frame to confirm its texture before retracting my hand, and took a few steps back to look at the content on the canvas.

In the painting is a lady... to be precise, a noble lady?

Her body is covered with all kinds of jewelry, none of which are cheap; in the room as the background, many decorations can be seen, and a few noble costumes are scattered on the bed; at the top left of the picture is a door The window, that is the only place in the whole painting that is painted in a bright tone - the rest of the place, even the lady, is outlined in a darker color.

Obviously, in a painting, the characters are often the main characters, but the place that the author of this painting wants to highlight seems to be the window.

Subconsciously walked forward, wanting to reach out and touch the window.

It always feels like there's something there.

However, when my hand reached out, it was slapped away by a hand.

…………

hand?

Am I the only one here?

"It's me, little girl."

"..."

"What? Surprised? I thought you were ready."

"...I, I just had a hunch, I wasn't prepared at all."

Because of the stimulation, the heart beat violently, causing the sound of "dongdong" to continuously pass into the ears. The limbs were a little weak, the brain was blank, and the body took several steps back uncontrollably and sat on the ground.

He raised his head and looked at the painting with a terrified expression, only then did he realize that the lady in the painting had moved: she turned around and was sitting, with her hands crossed on the table in front of her, and she looked at the painting with a smile on her face. I. Every move seems to be the same as a living person, except... she is in the painting.

Is she really in the painting?

Or am I in the picture?

"Sorry, I seem to have frightened you."

The woman interrupted my thoughts.

I suddenly broke away from the strange state just now, and couldn't help but feel a chill behind my back.

Immediately turned his head to look at the screen on the left, and found that the red liquid in his HP tank had dropped to a dangerous situation. Although I can't understand why this thing is related to my own life safety, I can be sure that if this red slot is empty, I will never encounter any good things.

I hurriedly took out a bottle containing the red potion from my backpack, gulped it down, and confirmed that my HP had returned to a relatively safe position, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"That, hello?"

When I came back to my senses, I looked at the woman in the painting, and after a moment of hesitation, I tried to greet her.

"Ah, ah, hello, hello~ What a polite child. I accidentally put you in danger just now, I'm really sorry."

The woman's tone was a little joyful, but it could also be heard that there was apology in it.

As far as the first feeling is concerned, he should be a person who is easy to talk to.

"In danger?"

I looked at him suspiciously.

It may be the sequelae just now, my body is a little weak, and I will not be able to stand up for a while. Besides, judging from the current situation, there should be no accidents, so I sat cross-legged on the ground... Well, the sitting method is quite unromantic When the woman saw it, she burst into a "puchi" laugh, but she didn't say much.

I thought the other party was the kind of person deeply influenced by aristocratic etiquette, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

——According to the well-behaved routine, I will not be able to stand it.

"You can probably feel that there is an excessively strong death breath here, and they will try their best to lead the living life into death. Even people who can resist the guidance of this breath will be in danger if they show their feet."

"So I just did?"

"Well, I'm so sorry, kid. But you seem to have a very strong mind."

"Eh……"

I averted my eyes in embarrassment.

It can't be said that there are too many strange things, so it doesn't matter what happens?

"Then, may I ask who you are?"

"Sorry sorry, I forgot to introduce myself all the time."

The woman in the painting looks apologetic.

"I'm Joliet. I used to be a human being. Now...as you can see, I'm just a soul imprisoned in the painting."

"That's it."

It should sound like a tragic experience, but because the person involved is always smiling, and it doesn't look like a forced smile, I don't know how to answer the conversation. It seems that Joliet doesn't mind the current situation very much? Or is this situation just in line with her wishes?

All in all, self-introduction is definitely right.

"I'm Neil, Neil Franks Noyce."

Considering that the other party may be a nobleman, it is rare for me to introduce myself with my full name.

Although I don't know what the last two surnames mean.

Presumably a family name? Or was it taken by the parents? Or a gift from whom?

"oh!"

Joliet raised her right hand to cover her mouth and let out an exclamation that grew louder.

It's like suddenly understanding something.

"What, what's wrong?"

"It turned out to be a descendant of Noyce, and he was also given the surname of Franks."

"..."

Wait, so my surname is something very powerful?

"Neil... Are you a newcomer brave who has a good reputation recently?"

"Although I am indeed a brave man, what is the meaning of the name 'well-known rookie brave'?"

"It's so true, you can't argue with it."

"...well, that's true."

I slapped my forehead and replied helplessly.

As Joliet said, I am a rookie hero, and if I have a "good reputation", it is probably because I have traveled for a while, and I have accepted the commission of the king of the Alexander Empire.

Very fair evaluation.

…………

But the topic is getting further and further away?

"Wait, Miss Joliet?"

"You can call me that."

Joliet crossed her hands in front of her body, the smile on her face narrowed, and she nodded to me with a little seriousness.

"Shouldn't this be a prison? Why are you here?"

I asked like this.

I've never heard of prisons putting up portraits.

Could it be that the prisoners still have to undergo spiritual reform to teach them how to appreciate art?

"No, I only came here today."

"Eh?"

"The entrance is right behind me. If I had been here earlier, those two guys wouldn't be able to get outside through this passage."

Hearing what Joliet said, I suddenly remembered the two men I met in the alleyway.

At that time, I was a little more restrained, but now I will wake up, right?

Hope it doesn't make things more messy by yelling.

"You just came here today?"

I looked at Joliet with a strange expression on my face.

"Yes, to be precise, they were moved here to guard the entrance."

"Keep... the prisoner?"

"Most of the prisoners are actually refugees from other countries who came to this prison to take refuge."

"..."

I seem to know some great news.

"And 90 percent of them are men."

"..."

It turned out that the two men appeared in Ingrid City for this reason!

"Hey, Miss Joliet, why are you guarding the entrance?"

Considering that the young lady in front of me always messes up the topic inexplicably, even though she can give a lot of information, but I hope to solve the trouble in front of me as soon as possible, so I decided to take the initiative to turn the topic back, I hope she will not will be dissatisfied with this.

However, in fact, she doesn't seem to mind this kind of thing too much?

"Ah, that's because something terrible appeared in the prison."

"Scary thing?"

"Probably something like an undead species, but I don't know what an undead species can exude such a strong breath of death."

"……What?"

I looked at Joliet in amazement.

When it comes to undead species, the first reaction is the army of the devil king.

But isn't the Demon King in a very bad state right now?

After all, it takes a lot of energy just to deal with that exaggerated princess, how could the troops come to such a place.

…………

【Refuge? 】

I don't know why I suddenly came to such a conclusion.

"Son, are you planning to go in?"

Joliet suddenly shifted the topic to me.

Looking up at her for a moment, I nodded.

Anyway, since you're here, you can't leave it alone.

What's more, what the task requires me to do is to investigate the cause of this situation.

"Well, I won't stop you, but please be careful, the thing below is really a bit..."

In the middle of speaking, Joliet stopped suddenly, and I clearly saw her body trembling, as if she had encountered something terrifying. Then I could hear the sound of "tick-tick-tick" continuously, and liquid began to appear on the surface of the painting, and the colors were different, causing the whole painting to become a mess, and I couldn't make out what Joliet looked like.

"Miss Joliet?"

"No, it's okay, child, it seems that our conversation has come to an end..."

"what happens?"

"Breath, breath is eroding the painting..."

Like an old man in critical condition, Joliet's voice was muddy and feeble, gradually weakening.

Then, the entire corridor fell silent.

The painting is being corroded, not only the scene in the painting has become a mess of color blocks, but even the drawing paper in some places has been corroded by something unknown. The whole painting became a complete waste product, and even the exquisite frame was stained black and began to fall off.

When I came back to my senses, the painting had completely shattered into a pile of black powder.

The only evidence of its existence is the colorful liquid on the ground.

After the entire painting disappeared, a door was revealed behind it, but unlike ordinary doors, this door was a certain distance from the ground. Most of the door has been corroded, but the appearance of a door can be vaguely seen. There is also a strange black breath entwined on it, which makes me dare not approach it at all.

[Burn it. 】

With that in mind, I took out the scroll from my backpack.

"Fire [flame]!"

A very low-level spell, only used when building a camp, but it is also suitable for use now.

The flame ignited the door, and burned the pile of black powder on the ground together. Soon, the door was completely burnt clean, leaving only a hollow. I got into the hole and came to another corridor. Unlike the previous scene, one side of this corridor is a wall made of stone, while the other side is a cage made of iron railings.

This is the prison in Ingrid City.

Similar to the corridor at the entrance, there is also torch lighting here, and the light can barely illuminate the center of the corridor. As for what is inside the iron railings, I can't see clearly. Looking left and right, I couldn't see the end of the corridor, so I didn't decide where to go, but focused my eyes on the iron railing in front of me.

Always feel like there's something inside?

"..."

I could vaguely hear the voice coming from inside, but it was so weak that I even suspected it was just my auditory hallucination.

Even so, I followed my instinct and slowly walked towards the iron railing.

I want to know what kind of guy is locked inside.

Although most of the prisoners in the prison are prisoners, the guy inside feels too strange to me.

"Wuu..."

I can hear the voices coming from inside.

But... why is it a low roar similar to that of a wild beast?

Is it possible that animals are still held in prisons?

Unable to comprehend the situation, I took a few steps forward.

"Wuuuaaaa!"

A distorted face suddenly appeared in the field of vision. It stretched out its arm from the iron railing, and its body kept hitting the railing and waving its arm, trying to grab me, while making a strange roar. No matter how it sounds, it doesn't sound like a human voice...Of course, considering that this is Ingrid City, not a human city, it is understandable that there are non-human prisoners.

…………

But what is going on with this guy in front of him!

Even non-humans wouldn't grow up like this!

The left leg is swollen, but the right leg is like a wooden stick; the left arm is as long as two-thirds of the body, but there is no right arm; the eyes are protruding, and the pupils cannot be seen; the clothes on the whole body are torn, and some liquid is dripping Come on, it seems to be red liquid? That is to say blood?

In short, the guy in front of him, no matter how he looks at it, does not look like a species that normally appears on this continent.

Looks like some kind of mutation?

"Wuuaaa!"

Meaningless yelling and simple and rude movements.

It seems that this guy has no intelligence, just a beast relying on instinct.

Will it act like this towards me because it treats me as a food target?

"Roaring Blaze"

After the magic scroll was shattered, a magic circle appeared in front of me. Afterwards, flames spewed out from the center of the magic circle, and the high temperature melted the iron railings, but the monster did not come out of the cell, but was repelled by the impact of the flames, rolling and screaming in the flames.

Because of the lighting of the flames, I finally saw the situation inside the cell clearly: broken bones and dark red liquid all over the place.

Thinking about what Joliet said before, I can probably guess what happened here.

New tasks are refreshed in the task window on the left screen.

"Sub-quests [The Mutations in Ingrid City Prison]

Mission information: After entering the prison in Ingrid City, you find that there are too many incomprehensible phenomena, and even some strange existences appear. Based on the information available, you conclude that 'some kind of mutation has occurred here'.

Task requirements: 1. Investigate the mutation in the prison in Ingrid City (not completed)

Additional requirements: 1. Solve the mutation in the prison in Ingrid City (not completed)”

Not only is the mission statement more serious, but even the requirement of "resolving the mutation" is only counted as an "additional requirement".

Probably the guy who issued the task felt that the situation in front of me might not be handled by me.

Of course, that's all I don't have to worry about.

The key is that there is another sentence at the bottom of the task.

"Warning: This task is a B+ level dangerous task, and it is possible to come into contact with certain things. The brave should be cautious when making choices...By the way, this task has a high mortality rate, and the brave should be careful."

It couldn't be worse in every sense of the word.

"It would be great if Qiuqiu was here."

I said so to myself.

If my partner is here, maybe I can find something from the "Endless Library".

But now I can only bite the bullet and go on.

"Let's go this way."

Staying as far away from the bars of the cell as possible, I chose a direction at random and continued on my way.