I Possessed a Game Where I Die If I Don’t Clear the Tower - Chapter 60

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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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Chapter 60. The Shapeshifters
Mina Alkes dreamed.
A very old dream—of the day she first transformed into a cat.
“Why am I a calico cat? I want to become a black cat like everyone else!”
She had wished to be a black cat like her parents, but instead she was cursed with calico fur.
Thoroughly disappointed, she pouted.
“Can’t we ask Grandmother Hatona? We could ask her to make a potion to turn me black, right?”
The moment she mentioned the alchemist’s name—the one who lived on the village’s outskirts—her parents scolded her severely.
They said she mustn’t trouble Hatona with such trivial matters.
But Mina refused to give up.
‘Then I’ll make it myself!’
Hatona, the village’s only alchemist, had taken quite a liking to Mina.
She invited her into her home and even let her read her books.
Surely among those volumes, there had been one describing how to craft a transformation potion.
Mina began visiting Hatona’s house far more frequently than before.
She spread open the pages containing the transformation potion’s formula, and for words too difficult to decipher, she gathered other books to piece together their meanings.
After all that effort, she had discovered every ingredient needed—save one, which remained impossibly obscure.
‘What is shapeshifter blood? Where do I even find that?’
She considered asking Hatona, but since she intended to make the potion in secret, discovery would spell disaster.
So Mina persisted, searching through mountains of books until she found her answer.
Shapeshifters were one of the minor races.
They were descendants of doppelgangers—monsters—and humans, capable of stealing the forms of others to disguise themselves.
‘Just like the people in our village.’
Though not with the variety of shapeshifters, most villagers could transform into animals.
It seemed a curious coincidence.
But it was no coincidence at all.
The fact that they could only transform into humans and beasts—and only weak ones at that—was by design.
The people living in this village were the experimental subjects of the great alchemist Hatona.
“Now that I’ve successfully extracted the shapeshifter’s essence completely, you’re no longer needed.”
Mina Alkes looked up at her Master’s smiling face and thought.
This is a dream.
“But you’re different, Mina. You’re my precious calico cat….”
Mina thought again.
This is a dream.
The burning village, her parents with nothing left but bones, the witch extending her hand toward me—it’s all, all a dream.
Because it’s a dream….
“…Sister.”
Her body shook violently. Dizzy and flailing, a cold hand grasped hers firmly.
“Sister Mina, wake up.”
The familiar voice that followed pulled Mina back into reality.
Mina’s eyes snapped open with a gasp, and she felt relief wash over her as she found the boy staring down at her with an expressionless face.
He must have returned already—he’d said he was going to The Tower with Lord Camilia.
Mina opened her mouth, hoping her voice wouldn’t tremble.
“You startled me, you fool….”
“Sorry. I thought I should wake you.”
“No, you did fine.”
Mina forced herself upright and sat on the edge of the bed.
Vlad poured a glass of water with practiced ease and handed it to her.
Only after she’d finished drinking did Vlad ask his question.
“Are you alright?”
“When have I ever not been? You don’t need to worry.”
“You don’t seem alright.”
Rather than maintain her pointless bravado, Mina simply offered him a smile.
“Did the Dungeon go well? Did Lord Camilia treat you kindly?”
“Yes. Though I was cursed again.”
“Again?”
Mina was taken aback.
Did she still not trust Vlad?
“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I think I’m fine.”
Vlad paused thoughtfully before adding to his answer.
“…Or rather, I’m getting better.”
“What do you mean?”
“When that witch placed a curse, it kept hurting even after it was lifted. But when Lord Camilia places one, it feels refreshing once it’s removed.”
Vlad tapped the side of his head as he explained.
It felt like something that had been suppressed was being torn away.
Mina asked with an uneasy feeling.
“…Isn’t that more dangerous? Isn’t that like brainwashing?”
“If it were, wouldn’t the Priest have prevented it? He can’t lie in his god’s name.”
“That’s… true, I suppose….”
Vlad spoke with an indifferent expression.
Apart from the curse, he hadn’t been treated unfairly or anything like that.
Then he pulled out a handful of candies wrapped in fine paper and showed them to her.
“When I asked for candy like the youngest Knight Order member gets, she gave me these too.”
“You don’t even like sweets, so why did you bring back so many?”
Vlad tilted his head as if confused by the question.
“Because you like them, sister.”
“I’m not a child….”
Even as she pouted, Mina didn’t refuse the candies Vlad dropped into her hand.
“Oh, and Lord Camilia said she wants to take you with her to the next floor.”
“Huh? Me?”
Mina was taken aback by his words.
As an alchemist, she hardly qualified as combat personnel.
She’d accompanied them once before, but she’d assumed that was only because of the Gold Slime—a special circumstance.
“Starting from the 6th Floor, we can harvest medicinal herbs, so he wants to bring you along. That’s why he needs to confirm something.”
“He wants to take me to the 6th Floor, but there’s something he needs to confirm on the 5th Floor…?”
Vlad pondered for a long moment before speaking.
“When Lord Camilia fights, blood and flesh spray everywhere. I was fine with it, but you might not be.”
Mina let out a hollow laugh.
‘Does he really think I’m that weak?’
I understand that my appearance makes me seem somewhat unreliable.
But I’ve witnessed horrors beyond measure.
I watched my parents burn, and I’ve personally handled human eyeballs that assassins handed over as “materials.”
When Vlad and I fled for our lives, I even killed people.
‘What’s a little blood spray?’
Mina spoke with confidence.
“Don’t worry. I’m not that fragile.”
“It’s not so much worry as…”
Vlad paused, choosing his words carefully, then said something completely unexpected.
“If Lord Camilia does something strange, just accept it. Trying to understand is how you lose.”
“…What?”
Vlad emphasized once more with a serious expression.
“You understand, right? Trying to understand is how you lose.”
“Bleeegh!”
The moment I saw the monsters tearing into each other, I vomited.
And I cursed Vlad with all my might—the fool who was probably sleeping soundly in his bed right now.
‘Vlad, you idiot! Is this just “a little blood spray”!?’
After retching for what felt like an eternity and emptying my stomach completely, my mind cleared, but I could only think one thing: I was doomed.
The cold, piercing gaze Lord Camilia fixed upon me made that abundantly clear.
The party consisted of only four: the Trainee Knight Girl, the Priest, Lord Camilia, and myself.
Since I was the only outsider among them, I tensed considerably.
“My sincerest apologies, Lord Camilia. For such an unseemly display…”
“No need to strain yourself. Netanel.”
At Lord Camilia’s gesture, Netanel cast purification and healing magic upon me.
Once the nausea faded and I managed to stand on shaky legs, Lord Camilia asked.
“Are you afraid of me? Or are you afraid of the power I possess?”
Was there a difference between the two?
I swallowed bitterly before answering.
“I’m not… afraid. This is more of a reflexive reaction…”
I struggled to find where to begin explaining. I could only manage an awkward murmur while clutching at my skirt.
“…You’re…so similar to my Master….”
Camilia let out an amused chuckle.
“Comparing me to some rustic herb-mixer who merely dabbles in potions? You’ve got nerve.”
I was startled—I’d never seen anyone treat my Master with such disdain.
Camilia, bewildered by my reaction, gently tapped the cat ears that had involuntarily sprouted from my head as she spoke.
“If that’s all, then there’s no real problem. You simply need to endure.”
“Pardon?”
“I said endure. If you manage well, I promise you’ll never have to think of or fear your Master again.”
“Ah, ah…yes…?”
What on earth was she talking about?
Though her words made no sense, I felt an inexplicable certainty that she was right. If I simply persevered and endured, it seemed as though all my troubles would truly dissolve.
‘Has she cast some kind of hypnosis…?’
I stared at Camilia, unable to comprehend my own thoughts.
But she had already turned away.
She gently patted the head of the Trainee Knight Girl, who had cautiously edged closer, and opened her mouth to speak.
“Let us move on.”
What in the world…?
Even as confusion gripped me, I found myself walking after her as though entranced.
Though her explanation had been frustratingly vague, one thing Vlad had said proved perfectly accurate.
You must never try to understand Camilia.

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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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