What Decent Person Keeps a Diary?

[The Underworld Flower is tied to the strategy?]

[When you guys were researching the dungeon, didn't you look into its story? There are three maps where you can farm Underworld Flowers. They all share some pretty obvious traits.]

[Didn't they say from the start that there had to be poison people here? Poison people alone don't bring anything to mind, but Underworld Flowers plus poison people means that all those poison people were controlled by the Underworld Flowers when they became sacrifices. In other words, the Underworld Flowers intercepted the sacrifices meant for the evil god.]

[Right! Those poison people are actually avatars of the Underworld Flower.]

[Judging from the story, as long as we can control the Underworld Flower, we can make this dungeon collapse.]

[Boss Caro, hurry up and read it. Once you're done, go find the Underworld Flower or the poison people!]

"Alright." Caroso answered, opening the diary.

[January 12]

[Oh, look what we found—the Underworld Flower! Wherever there is an Underworld Flower, there are traces of Our Lord.]

[Turning surgery into ritual magic, and even nourishing the Underworld Flower... this doctor is truly a genius!]

[January 19]

[We've finally dealt with all these poison people. Once the Underworld Flower has received enough nourishment, we can sacrifice it along with all the poison people.]

[February 7]

[No, it's still not enough. We need blood—vast quantities of blood!]

[February 23]

[Blood isn't enough either. Damn it, could our Descent of the Gods Ritual be wrong? Why hasn't the Underworld Flower taken shape yet?]

[March 7]

[The Underworld Flower seems able to grow in response to fluctuations in human emotion? We, the Lord's believers, seemingly cannot provide the right emotions.]

[April 18]

[I understand. I understand it all now. Give people extreme pleasure and fulfillment, then bring them despair—that can make the Underworld Flower rejoice.]

[And the people providing those emotions cannot be ordinary people, nor can they all be the same.]

[We'll study that further. In any case, I know what to do now.]

[First give them hope, then give them despair. In the depths of hopelessness, give them one last glimmer of hope, then ruthlessly grind that glimmer to dust. We can do it!]

[December 18]

[We've captured enough. Today, let them welcome Our Lord together and shout Our Lord's name!]

Caroso closed the diary.

There was not much in the diary, but it more or less explained the cause and effect behind this dungeon.

First came hope... In the corridor, they had fallen into an illusion and all felt incomparably heroic. That was hope.

Then came despair. That should be when they encountered enemies in that empty room—extremely powerful enemies.

At that point, they were probably meant to struggle bitterly before turning the tables.

Finally, that hope would be ruthlessly crushed.

That was probably how it worked, though it might have been even more complicated.

[But there's a problem here. Why not just keep using mental spells to control them?]

[Yeah, wouldn't that be simpler?]

"It can't be done," Caroso said. "People only refuse to wake up when they're having beautiful dreams. When they're having nightmares, they'll do everything they can to prove whether they're dreaming, then find a way to wake up."

"Our opponents aren't powerful enough. They can only make us sink into sweet dreams; they can't make us sink into nightmares."

[Boss Caro, go find some help, then have everyone look for the poison people together. As long as we find the poison people, I can find the Underworld Flower!]

"Alright." Caroso stood up.

[Wait, there's something wrong with this diary. Boss Caro, burn it with the fuel lamp!]

Caroso froze for a moment, then casually picked up the diary and lit it with the fuel lamp.

As the diary was scorched by the flames, its black cover turned brown. Most of the pages inside burned away, leaving it less than a third as thick as before.

Caroso wore a strange expression. "This diary... was disguised?"

[Hell, I knew that torn corner looked off. Please call me Northeastern Holmes!]

[I remember now too. A small event had a hidden map like this—after burning the diary, you could see the real card-making recipe. It was the recipe for an epic card.]

[A detail freak has appeared.]

"Let me take another look." Caroso opened the diary again.

[January 9]

[Sixteen years. From studying medicine at age nine until now, I have finally become a qualified doctor!]

[January 13]

[Today, I received a very special patient. Her name is Macy, and she is a nun. I think she must be an angel! O gods, thank you for letting us meet. Her beautiful golden hair—I don't think I could forget it even in my dreams.]

[February 1]

[To spend more time around Macy, I became a believer, even though I didn't know what god I believed in.]

[February 30]

[I attended the church banquet. Everyone there was a devout believer. Macy kept sneaking glances at me, hehehe... Wouldn't it be great if she weren't a nun?]

[Come to think of it, can nuns really not get married? I really like her.]

Caroso's gaze sharpened.

February 30? What kind of absurd date was that? Why had he recorded a date like February 30?

Could it be that his mind had already started to slip at this point?

[April 1]

[Macy asked whether I was willing to serve the Lord. If I was, she would bathe in the Lord's glory with me.]

[Only then did I learn that bathing in the Lord's glory meant being naked. Then does that mean I could...]

[No, I won't defile Macy over something like this. I can't look at her that way! What I love is her soul, not her body!]

[April 2]

[Macy has an incredible figure.]

[April 9]

[This is bad. After bathing in the Lord's glory together, I can barely look Macy in the eye. I followed her and watched her enter the washroom... Unlike her holy self, she seemed more human like this.]

[The way she tied up her hair was so beautiful.]

[May 20]

[Today will definitely be the last time I peek at Macy!]

[May 21]

[What did I see last night? Five men—five whole men! They were all missionaries!]

[Macy's face was holy. She believed she was doing something sacred.]

[Damn it, I only wanted to confess to her after watching her. Why did I have to see something like that in her room?]

[May 22]

[I went to confront her. She said it was a ritual that every nun had to go through, and that their hearts held only the desire to devote themselves to the Lord.]

[I punched the wall, but I'd overused my hand yesterday and was somewhat weak. Even my anger looked utterly ridiculous.]

[June 1]

[I wanted to leave Macy, but after just two days without seeing her, it felt as though countless ants were crawling all over my body.]

[I understand now. I love her. Even if she has been defiled all along, I still love her!]

[She's been mentally controlled. She must have been. I'm going to save her!]

[June 17]

[I became a true missionary.]

[June 20]

[Macy, tonight I'll find out what this ritual is really about. I'll definitely save you!]

[June 30]

[Macy, today is the last time. Tomorrow, I'll definitely save you!]

[September 23]

[Macy, I swear to the gods, today is the last time.]