Reborn in a Dating Sim: Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Reborn in a Dating Sim:

Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Chapter Four

While it was certainly starting to fall strongly into disrepair the port on the labyrinth was far from lost. In truth Copper was surprised at how sturdy it was. He’d never really be in a labyrinth before, but he doubted that all of them had ports. What he could guess was that someone had attempted to settle at the labyrinth. It wasn’t a horrible idea, but then it meant completely clearing the labyrinth, and he wasn’t sure that was something that was actually possible.

Still, the port had held well, and both he and Artemis 02 were making their way into the labyrinth itself. Old looking lanterns began to light up as they walked. Their flames flickering dimly against the walls. There was just enough light to see a couple of feet ahead, but not enough to truly get a feeling for the area. There wasn’t much of a way to tell where there were turns, if there were turns, and when the monsters would be coming.

All of it almost felt like the kind of thing he’d walked through before in his previous life. It certainly reminded him of a good old fashioned haunted house. Still, he pressed forward, and he heard the first few steps. Standing there he listened as something wet stepped toward them. It almost sounded like someone stepping out of a shower onto a tiled floor. For a moment there was nothing, and then he saw the first few steps of it.

The creature looked like it was the unholy combination of a human and a sky carp. It stood on two legs, its head was formed like a human, but it had the large gaping mouth of a sky carp. Hundreds of needle-like teeth lined its maw, and it let out a shrill sounding call before it began awkwardly running toward them. Wasting no time he brought up his magi gun, and he opened fire.

The normal shell hit the strange creature which stumbled back, and then seemed to shutter. He watched as he turned and seemed to puke something from its mouth. It wasn’t uncommon for the monsters to spit things at people. The sky carp themselves had spat what seemed like acid at him before. They’d been fairly easy to defeat though. A good shot with the magi gun had done the trick. The substance it puked seemed to almost look like a large tadpole. It wiggled for a moment before it sprouted legs, began to grow in size, and with seconds was just as large as the last one.

He watched as the parent of the new monster did what most did after being shot and simply seemed to dissolve into nothing after a moment. There was no core from it though, and he realized why. It had puked up its core, and in doing so created a new monster. Without missing a beat he aimed the magi gun again, and this time he shot it through the head. The head exploded, and it fell over. It didn’t puke anything, and instead it merely dissolved into nothing leaving behind a purplish looking sphere.

He moved toward it, taking the sphere into his hand, and then he placed it into the carrying bag he had. It was a new core to him, but like the sky carp he knew it was something that could be sold, “Captain, it would appear that these monsters are weak against head attacks,” Artemis stated, “Thus, it makes sense to only fire at their heads.”

A very real part of him wanted to call upon his previous self and give her the most, ‘are you a fuckin’ moron’ he could. But instead he held back. Artemis herself likely had limited interaction with people. Most of the people that did interact with her had been dead for over a thousand years. What she knew, and what she was going on, was information they had given her. She was essentially learning.

“Thanks,” he said, keeping his tongue from being too sharp, “I kinda figured that out though. Pretty everything is weak against getting its head blown off.”

There was a slight hesitation, “Was that your attempt at humor?” she asked, her voice sounding strange coming from just the single android and not from all around him in the ship, “Because if it was then I applaud your attempt, but I must warn you that the delivery was poor. Additionally, outside of other warriors and beings designed for war it could be considered a very boorish joke.”

He stopped, turned, and looked at her, “Okay, I’m cool with you pointing those things out, but are you just messing with me?” he asked as he studied her, “Because I’m having a hard time getting a real reading on you. You’re compliant, but you’re not subservient. So, are you like a Tsundere? I’m guessing that’s the case. You’re the kind of girl that’s a little cold, but later shows interest in someone through your own strange way, right?”

She paused, “Tsundere, female love interest for main character in various media. Most often considered a cold or potentially cold individual that has little to no outward interest in the main, or side, character. Additionally may be considered emotionally stunted,” she said before she looked at him, “This information has been recorded, am I to understand that you wish for me to behave as a Tsundere?”

He groaned and shook his head, “Right now I want to get through this labyrinth. There’s a treasure that I can use, and I want to have you learn as much as you can about naturally occurring magic and monsters. That information should prove incredibly valuable when it comes to dealing with potential hazards, right?”

She nodded, “Correct,” she replied, “Any information that I can gain to guard against will be proven most valuable. It will additionally allow me to perform as your machine of war far easier. Thus we can destroy your enemies far easier.”

He kept himself from making a snarky remark. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any in reserve. Ever since coming to this dumpster fire of a game he’d had multiple in reserve for practically every occasion. Far too many for Delicate Emerald if he was honest. Of course he didn’t say them to her. He wanted to, multiple times a day, but he held those remarks back. He’d done so because of his father, brothers, and even his two sisters. Mostly for his younger sister, but his older one wasn’t as kind like the rest of his siblings. She was almost a copy of Delicate Emerald through and through.

So, he’d kept those words in check. He kept them in check now because Artemis was taking in everything he said. She was learning, and she was doing so through every single action. He didn’t want to cause her to become something monstrous, and there was a very real fear with that. Part of him wondered if perhaps he’d already caused that. Did something he say without context imprint itself on her command structure that would prove to be their undoing?

It was a heavy responsibility, and one that he was coming to grips with. Whatever happened from this point on, he would be responsible for her actions. He would be the one that people looked toward when she did something good or horrendous. There was no getting around it. That was the one thing he really didn’t want to focus on. He didn’t want to be constantly reminded that his every single action with her was practically something that would be measured by the rest of the world.

Then again, this was a dumpster fire of a game. Sure, it was his home now, but that didn’t mean that he specifically liked it. He dealt with it mostly because there wasn’t a whole lot of other choices. He existed with the fact that he had to be here because he was stuck. Plus, there was the bonus that he didn’t have to work in a call center. Facing monsters in a labyrinth was a piece of cake compared to answering the phone and getting a massive bitching by some entitled Karen that believed that everyone’s purpose was to kiss her ass and tell her it tasted like ice cream.

He shook it off, and they continued to walk. Within twenty minutes they ran into six more of the Mirelurk King looking things, and he let Artemis handle two of them on her own. He watched with amazement as she moved forward and separated their heads from their bodies with little effort. She had produced a sword made of energy from her wrist, and she had cut the very head from both of their bodies.

Like before they disintegrated and left behind the core. He took that, and he walked with her further into the labyrinth. When they got toward the lower level he stopped her. As he remembered from his previous life this was where the game couldn’t decide if this was a labyrinth or some elaborate trap set by a bunch of pirates. He looked at the floor, and he studied the lanterns that were still lit up.

“Carefully move, follow me, and don’t deviate from the path,” he said as they moved, “One wrong step will likely set off a collection of traps, and we don’t need that kind of trouble.”

The path was one that wasn’t terribly difficult to follow. It seemed fairly basic, and he knew the correct footing thanks to his time playing the game. First they started on the left side, walking with one foot in front of the other, not stepping beyond the one foot gap that was trap free. Then they slowly moved diagonally across the floor to the right side and did the same for another two hundred yards. At that point they came toward a large room with an organ in the middle.

The organ itself was composed of bones, the skull resting on top of it was wearing a pirate’s hat, and clutched in its jaws was a key. That was exactly what they were after. Just ripping the key from the skull would set off the trap in the room, and he didn’t want that. So instead he moved toward the organ. From around them came what sounded like ghostly notes playing through the walls themselves.

The notes that played sounded similar to a melody, and he could remember the game itself. This had been something stolen straight from a kid’s action movie that came out in the 80’s and he knew it. Still he moved toward the organ, and he looked at it. Delicately he reached out, and he noticed that every single key on the organ was made of finger bones. The entire organ was a collection of various bodies put together to form a musical instrument.

He took a breath. When he’d played the game he’d actually found the walk through online. It had given him the key commands to enter on the controller, but here that meant nothing. Instead he had to remember the placement of the character’s hands. He moved his hands accordingly, and he pressed the first note. A ghostly sounding note echoed around them, and he saw what looked like a stone drawbridge lower a little.

“Okay, so I just match the notes, great, except I don’t know how to play.”

“Captain,” Artemis said from behind him, “I am able to copy the notes, perfectly, however I have never seen a piano like this.”

He laughed, “It’s not a piano. This is a pipe organ,” he replied as he studied it, “They’ve made it into the wall, and we’re supposed to match the notes that just played. But, do you know musical scale, and do you know how to play an organ?”

There was a slight hesitation, “No, I was programmed with the information to play a piano, but that is all I’m afraid.”

The answer was certainly something that he was more or less expecting. It was a dim hope that she could play the organ, but then again even if she could he wasn’t sure that she would be able to correctly play the pattern of notes as they appeared. So instead, he called back to his previous life, to the character’s movements and positions of its hands, and he picked the next note. When he did the ghostly note sounded, and the drawbridge lowered a bit more.

Feeling relieved, he moved his hand again, and found what he expected to be the next note. He pressed down, but instead of the ghostly note that had played before a sour sounding erupted from the pipes on the front of the organ. It reminded him of a fog horn, and when it did he heard the sound of crumbling earth. Looking behind him he saw that the floor was starting to crack apart.

That’s when he remembered the other part of this small mini game. If he didn’t complete playing the notes in time it would collapse the entire floor, including the organ, and let the character fall to their death. It was a horrible dirty trick, and it was one that was certainly a calling card of a dumpster fire of a game. He breathed in, “Okay, I’ve got to get through this quicker,” he said as he positioned his hands, “I need to go ahead and get through, because if I don’t then like the next note I’m pretty sure we’re going to be flat.”

He looked to see an arched eyebrow on Artemis’ face, “Captain, really, a pun at a time like this?”

He shrugged, “Being able to laugh at situations makes it easier to deal with them,” he replied as he found the next note, and he played. The ghostly note played once more, and the drawbridge lowered a bit more. He looked behind him to see the floor cracking more, still slowly starting to fall in on itself. There wasn’t much of a way around it. He had to finish the notes, and he needed to get them out of here before it fell through.

He pressed the keys again, hearing another ghostly note, and again the drawbridge lowered a bit more. At this point it was about halfway down, and if he could get at least one more good note they could, in theory, be able to get up on the bridge and then go further in. It was the best possible plan that he had at the moment. He pressed what he thought was the next note in succession, and instead the pipes in front erupted in the fog horn sound.

He moved closer to the organ, hearing the floor now giving away, and he could see the cracks were happening faster. He’d cut their time in half. He was certain that there was maybe two or three minutes at most here. He calmed himself, thought back, and positioned his hands. At this point it didn’t matter. If he screwed up he was dead again. There was a very serious doubt that he would be reincarnated again. Instead he studied the keys. And moved his hands to where the character had them in his previous life. Praying that he was right he pressed down, and the ghostly sounding note erupted. The drawbridge lowered just enough, and he grabbed Artemis’ hand and ran toward it.

The both of them climbed onto the drawbridge, and began to walk. No sooner had they started down the drawbridge then he heard the crashing sound of the organ giving away and falling. The trap had taken the room behind them. That meant that it was going to be a pain in the ass to come back this way, but then he wasn’t really planning on doing that. Instead he was planning on making the trip far easier.

Moving down the hall with her he looked ahead. Like in the game there were signs that the cavern they were in had been dug out by the pirates that had claimed this labyrinth. Of course none of those signs were new. He hadn’t really cared about the lore of the labyrinth before when he played the game, so he hadn’t overly paid attention to it. Instead he was just wanting to clear the dumb game so that he could enjoy a couple of days off.

“Captain,” Artemis said as they walked, “From what I can see this is not a naturally formed cave. Instead it appears to have been carved by humans.”

He nodded, “That’s right,” he replied as they walked, “Like the organ back there was evidence of it as well. Pirates likely had claimed the labyrinth a long time ago. I’m pretty sure that there aren't any of them left here though. From the looks of things I’d say that they’ve been gone a long time.”

There was a hesitation, “Yes,” she replied as they walked, “The cavern shows signs of natural growth within it. The formations created by lime water shows that it has been abandoned for approximately three centuries.”

He stopped, “Wait, you can tell how long it’s been abandoned by the formations caused by the lime water dripping?”

“Yes,” she replied back, “It is within my data banks. I have a large collection of scientific knowledge along with my battle tactics. Again, I was designed to learn. My creators wanted to ensure that I would become unbeatable. That meant having knowledge of the natural world align with knowledge of scientific advancement.”

He nodded as they walked, “Well, that makes sense,” he said as he stepped forward, “I mean they’d want you to be able to defend theeeeeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmmmmmm!” he shouted as he fell.

He felt the water behind him, the rushing feeling of flowing down, and he was in the part of the game he hated. He leaned to the left causing his body to slowly shift left. When he did it caused him to toward the left tunnel. Soon he felt something behind him, and he felt Artemis’ arms around him, “I’m here Captain,” she replied as they moved even faster down the tunnel, “What is this?”

He breathed out, “The final trek to where we’re going, lean right!”

She did, and he felt them moving toward the right tunnel, “Once we’re through then we just have to go to the ship itself! Now move left!”

She did and they went to the left tunnel. He saw the opening ahead, and their bodies shot out like a bullet. He saw the water below them, and he could feel it coming up fast. They shifted, and he felt her move so that she’d take the impact. Within seconds they were surrounded by cold water. The two of them came up and he looked ahead of them. There was an old airship. It’s hull was beaten, the black pirate flag still hung, and inside was all of the treasure he could need.

“Okay, let’s go get paid.”