Dark Fantasy Guide for the Summoner - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 3.
Special Circulation Train Armand III
12 million.
It’s certainly a staggering number, but…….
To be honest, I feel utterly indifferent about it.
Of course, Achievement Points are one of the core systems of Po-Op. It’s the New Game Plus mechanic you’d find in any game.
The only advantage you get to face the exponentially climbing difficulty starting from Normal, let alone Hard?
The problem is.
“……this is useless right now.”
In this game, everything before entering the forest is merely a tutorial.
You could argue that no tutorial stage should have a game over, but that’s precisely why Po-Op is such a broken mess.
What does that mean?
Even if I have Achievement Points, the Shop that lets me spend them hasn’t unlocked yet.
‘They make you accumulate currency without knowing what it’s for, then reveal its use later.’
It’s a common design pattern in games, but right now it just irritated me.
“……huh?”
As I was exhaling a sigh, I noticed something rolling at my feet.
An object that looked like a glass marble.
Inside it, some abstract, metaphysical form of light churned and twisted chaotically.
“A Talent Gemstone.”
This item, called a gemstone for short, is one of the primary growth tools in Po-Op.
Simply put, using it allows you to raise your stats.
Not generic attributes like Strength or Agility, but rather something called Talent — a somewhat special stat.
“……this drops now?”
I was surprised, but I could guess why.
This game, whatever else it might be, always rewards you generously in proportion to your effort.
It’s probably a reward for defeating the Man Who Greets and Embraces.
‘Since I started on the Instant Death Route, my current stats are probably…….’
Talent
Physical: D— Mental: D
Art: F Intuition: E
That’s likely how it stands.
As I mentioned, the starting point is determined by the character’s race, age, and initial stats, so this was deducible.
‘Use it right away.’
If I secured more materials later, I could use it more efficiently, but this is the Instant Death Route.
I had no intention of indulging in such luxury.
The problem was…….
Lowest-Grade Talent Gemstone
Randomly raises one Talent grade below D by one step.
As written here, the Talent that improves is random.
‘Damn it.’
The curse slipped out naturally, but this is exactly a distinguishing feature and charm of Po-Op.
Since random elements are scattered throughout character growth, you have to devise the optimal build to match the constantly shifting situation…….
And that judgment becomes the measure that separates skill between players.
‘Art and Intuition.’
Those are late-bloomer Talents.
Physical and Mental, on the other hand, are the most important stats in the early game. The improvement feels most substantial every time they rise a step.
‘Please be one of those two.’
The odds were fifty-fifty.
Not bad. A full half, after all.
I cranked up optimism as much as I could and, with the feeling of flipping a coin, wrapped the gemstone in both hands. Just like my character had done when playing.
A surge of warmth……!
Immediately after, a soft glow seeped between my fingers…….
[You have used a Lowest-Grade Talent Gemstone.]
[Your Intuition becomes sharper.]
“……damn it.”
The coin came up tails.
* * *
Strictly speaking, I’d avoided the worst outcome.
Intuition was at least more useful than Art, which would’ve been completely worthless for survival.
‘So what does it mean if my rating went from E to E+? I can’t really argue, but…….’
Still, what’s done is done — there’s no point dwelling on it now.
That’s when the announcement came.
-Cur, current, currently…… oper…… ―fault…… ―evacuate…….
A mechanical voice crackling with static played, then cut out abruptly.
-……Currently, a temporary issue has arisen with train operations, and repairs are underway. All passengers are requested to remain inside your cabins for safety. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. We repeat: Currently, a temporary issue has arisen with train operations…….
It sounded like a normal announcement, at least.
But I’d just been attacked by a monster and watched someone die — only an idiot would take that announcement at face value.
‘So far, it’s following the script.’
I waited exactly five minutes after the announcement played.
Why?
In the game, the screen went black after this broadcast, and then the situation continued in text form.
[After the announcement, you remained hidden in your cabin, holding your breath in silence.]
[Beyond the door, you heard something being dragged, the inarticulate cries of an unknown beast, and the occasional screams of people.]
[……And before long, the train overturned…….]
I suspect Po-Op’s crude graphics just couldn’t render a train rollover scene convincingly.
‘Either way, the train flipping is inevitable…….’
The problem was what came next — a conversation among the surviving NPCs included this line:
“A survivor? I don’t recognize you.”
“What? You were in Car 13? Wow, you’ve got some luck.”
“Yeah, you’re the only one who made it out alive from the rear cars.”
By “rear cars,” they meant behind Car 4.
I’m currently in Car 13……, which is practically the back end once you exclude Cars 14, 15, and 16 — the cargo holds.
‘If I just stay put here, can I save my own skin like in the game?’
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Not a chance. Only someone with flowers blooming in their head would think that way.
For the record, my mental flowers withered the moment I encountered those two Shadows.
“Hah…….”
After one deep breath…….
I opened the door and stepped out into the corridor.
Creak…….
The frigid train corridor greeted me.
Despite the announcement about trouble, the train seemed to be running perfectly fine.
‘My earlier patrol was just Car 13 and the cargo cars.’
In other words, where I’m headed now is completely uncharted territory for me.
Just as unease began to creep over me, I spotted a mop rolling nearby.
Snap.
I grabbed it quickly, kicked off the end, and snapped it in two — now I had something like a spear for a weapon.
“……This works.”
In the game, that kind of trick would’ve been impossible.
Even if a mop had existed, it would’ve been a non-interactive background object.
That’s how the early sections of the Instant Death Route were — like a horror game with limited options.
‘When it was a game, that is.’
In reality, my choices became infinite.
Oddly enough, just holding this hastily-made spear calmed my nerves a little.
I moved slowly but deliberately, then pulled open the door leading to Car 12…….
“Ugh.”
The moment the door opened, the stench of blood assaulted my nostrils.
The textures I’d seen in the game were now spread out in crimson reality — corpses, blood, flesh, rolling eyeballs……. I forced myself not to look too closely and turned away.
Is Car 12 a total loss? Or…….
“Ah. A, a person……!”
A voice came, just as expected.
How did she end up like this.
I saw the Girl, trapped beneath an overturned passenger seat.
Her face was stained with blood and tears.
“Ah, sir! Please, please help me……. My legs, sob……. My legs hurt so much…….”
“…….”
I looked at the passenger seat crushing the Girl.
The flipped seat was pressing down on her lower body.
It was a two-person seat, so it would be fairly heavy, but with my initial stats as a player, I could move it without too much difficulty.
“Ah, sir…?”
“……”
“You’re a person… aren’t you?”
Maybe it was the silence that made her anxious.
The Girl’s voice began to tremble faintly, but—
I still didn’t move.
Not simply because I was a cold-blooded bastard who cared only for my own skin whether people died or lived before my eyes, but for another reason entirely.
“……”
I observed the Girl carefully.
Her stricken face, her labored breathing, her wildly darting eyes—all of it was indistinguishable from a human’s.
At least, based on physical responses alone.
“You’re bleeding an awful lot.”
“Y-yes…! M-my legs are going numb. My right arm hurts too, quite a lot, but……”
“That’s not what I meant.”
I pointed to the pool of blood spread around the Girl.
“You’ve lost an awful lot of blood.”
“Huh…?”
“For someone who’s bled that much, you’re talking awfully well.”
If I had to guess, that much blood loss would be approaching a fatal level.
It had reached all the way to my feet, several paces away.
“……”
The Girl closed her mouth, and her expression vanished from her face in an instant.
‘Damn.’
Grotesquely eerie.
Could human facial muscles change that abruptly?
It looked exactly like something that didn’t understand emotion was kneading its facial muscles to manufacture an expression.
The moment I stepped back without thinking, the Girl broke into a wide smile.
“Hey. Help me out.”
The Girl flailed both hands with jerky, creaking movements.
“I’m asking for help, you bastard… huh? You selfish piece of shit. Are you trying to save only yourself?”
I picked up my spear.
My fingers gripped it so hard they’d gone white.
A different kind of tension than when I’d encountered a Shadow.
‘Rot…’
What if, what if.
What if I’m mistaken about this?
Of course, with that much blood loss, no human could possibly survive—but this is a fantasy world.
She might have escaped death through some method I don’t know.
In other words, if the Girl is still alive, and her mind has simply snapped from the urgency of the situation—
Then what I’m about to do would be outright murder.
Gulp.
I’m terrified.
Killing a person requires this much fear, this much resolve.
In the moment I grasped a truth I’d known but never wanted to face—
I……
noticed something strange.
Clang!
I sensed movement as the door behind me opened.
The instant I spun around, a familiar face came into view.
“Derek?”
“Hic, hehehic!”
What in the—
The one-eyed Derek who had definitely died was rushing toward me with his tongue hanging down to his chest.
“K-Kay, Kaay, Kake, K-K-Kay! Kaindel! Hehehehehic!”
Goddammit.
Why had I forgotten this possibility?
A fresh corpse is the perfect host for a Shadow to parasitize.
Even in the game, Derek had ended up like this roughly once every thirty runs.
The moment the approaching Derek threw himself at me, I reflexively thrust my spear.
“…!”
Of course my spear hadn’t even touched him—he’d lowered his own body on purpose.
Derek sprawled flat against the floor and began crawling on all fours.
Skitter-skitter-skitter!
He was unnaturally fast, and the darkness around us made his form impossible to track properly.
Crack, crackle…
Even as he moved, his body continued warping into something alien—I could hear the wet sound of bones and muscle twisting.
‘Damn it!’
The moment my eyes darted frantically across the space, Derek’s body shot upward toward the ceiling.
Clinging upside-down like a cockroach, he scurried directly above me before suddenly plummeting down.
I gripped the spear horizontally and thrust it upward to block.
Crack!
“…!”
Pain shot through my knees, my spine throbbing.
I hadn’t thrown out my back, had I?
If I wrenched my spine in a situation like this, there was no crueler joke.
While that thought flickered across my mind, Derek fell from above, chewing at the shaft with his teeth and drooling profusely.
“Be, before, before sleeping! Pa, pa-patrol… don’t forge-et…!”
His eyes had gone pitch black as he spewed senseless words.
Seizure symptoms—the common sight when a Shadow kneads flesh and mind.
Saliva dripped from his gaping maw, carrying an oddly foul stench.
“Ugh…!”
Nausea rose in my throat, my balance faltered, and Derek’s claws found the opening.
Rip!
“Argh!”
Pain I’d never known surged from my flank, nearly forcing me to release the spear.
“Damn it…!”
No. Not this.
If I lost my weapon now, I was truly done for.
“Ugh, ugh, eek…! Kay, kay…!”
My vision went white.
Even as searing pain tore through my flank, I forced Derek away from me.
And in that moment, I understood something.
This bastard wasn’t that strong in pure strength.
The Shadow hadn’t inhabited him long—its physical cohesion was still weak.
“You damned thing!”
In other words, whatever speed it had, raw muscle power fell short of mine.
I roared and swung the spear with all my strength.
Thud-crash. Derek tumbled across the floor, bared his teeth, and charged again.
“Hee, hee-hee-hee…!”
I leveled the spear directly at him, the shaft rigid and straight.
It wasn’t the result of calculation, but it wasn’t thoughtless either.
My gaze fixed on Derek’s throat, and naturally, the point of my spear aimed there.
Thrust.
After the sensation of piercing something soft and rubbery, there came a feeling of resistance, as if catching on something.
Could anything feel more revolting than this.
“Gack, gaaaaugh…!”
Derek thrashed. Even as he did, his bloodshot eyes remained locked on me.
“Kay… aaay…!”
My back was slicked with cold sweat.
His throat was punctured, yet still his voice emerged.
The tenacity of a Shadow exceeded all imagination. Left like this, Derek would linger for some time, and perhaps recover quickly at that.
Wrench!
Twisting the spear once more was reason enough.
“Guh.”
With that final gasp, Derek’s movements ceased.
[Shadow defeated: ‘Man Who Scratches and Bites’.]
“Huff, huff…!”
My breathing came ragged.
As my head spun and nausea gripped me, only the pain in my flank cut through with perfect clarity.
…It hurt.
The pain is so damn excruciating I feel tears streaming down my face. If I could, I’d roll across the ground and scream myself hoarse.
Yet, ironically, this unbearable agony was restoring my sense of being alive.
“Hah, haaah, haaah…….”
My breathing gradually steadied.
The world spun in circles around me, but my fingers alone remained ice-cold.
The moment that coldness spread from my fingers to my head, I finally understood what had to be done.
Squelch…….
I withdrew the spear from Derek’s throat and walked toward the girl.
The girl, who had watched everything unfold, didn’t seem particularly shocked or flustered.
“Mister.”
“…….”
“Please save me. I don’t want to die yet.”
Her expression was calm, at odds with the frailty of her voice.
Those words were likely the girl’s final plea—not the Shadow’s.
Just as Derek had rushed at me spouting some nonsense about patrols, the dead often mechanically repeat their last words. It’s one of the Shadow’s habits.
“Ha…….”
Long streaks across the floor marked where blood had been wiped with a mop―
and the girl’s distance from me had shrunk considerably. This was no illusion.
While I fought Derek, this creature had crawled closer to where I stood.
‘How in hell did it get out from under the seats?’
Simple enough.
The creature had abandoned its lower body.
It had twisted and wrenched itself until its lower half tore away completely, then crawled toward me as stealthily as possible with what remained.
‘If the fight had lasted just a moment longer.’
If the girl had grabbed my ankle at that crucial moment.
Then who would be the corpse lying on the ground right now.
“…….”
The pain in my side felt almost like it was urging me toward a decision.
Squeeze.
My grip tightened on the spear shaft.
Yes, the situation was clear now, and I had already decided.
The instinctive action I took the moment Derek lunged—that was my most honest answer.
‘……Die, or kill.’
When only two choices remain.
I―
Thud.
[You have defeated the Shadow, ‘Seductive Black Shadow.’]
I would gladly take up the spear.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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