#023
I struggled to keep my consciousness from fading as I fed enhancement stones to the mushroom cap fragments with my slippery hands. I fed them again and again. At first, I had planned to feed all the enhancement stones I had, but it didn’t seem like my consciousness and stamina would last until then. I gripped the cap fragment that had consumed three enhancement stones and scraped the inner wall of the mushroom that had swallowed me. A clear straight line was drawn.
“Grrrluk!”
The mushroom that had been motionless like a stone began to writhe. Even thicker digestive fluid poured down, and the stinging pain intensified accordingly. If I kept my eyes open, I felt like I would lose my sight, but if I closed them completely, it would be difficult to repeatedly scrape the same spot, so I squinted. I firmly fixed my position by pressing against the wall with both feet and one hand, and used all my strength to keep scraping the same spot.
It was rather fortunate that the interior was narrow. No matter how much the mushroom thrashed, my position didn’t shift too drastically. Even when the cap flipped over…
“Ugh.”
My position ended up upside down as well.
Crack!
The mushroom seemed to have thrashed and struggled until its cap opened. The relatively soft parts must have been exposed, as Carlisle’s long sword came stabbing in dangerously close to me.
‘Now of all times?’
Was he only helping now that it looked like I might survive?
Carlisle’s sword came stabbing in repeatedly, narrowly missing me each time, making my spine go cold. It reminded me of those magic tricks where they mercilessly stab swords into a coffin with a person inside.
What was this? Did he want to stab me but I was luckily dodging, or did he have some kind of see-through item that let him somewhat grasp my position and deliberately stab around me?
I didn’t know whether he wanted to kill me or save me, but whenever the mushroom opened its cap, attacks on a completely different level from mine came in, and combined with my internal attacks, the mushroom’s remaining health steadily decreased.
The problem was my stamina. I had eaten all the berries and edible mushrooms I’d picked up on the way while wandering through the cave. What remained were either inedible or too toxic to eat raw, so there was no way to recover more stamina.
As my stamina dropped, my hands became slow and my arms trembled. My eyes stung like crazy and my vision blurred, perhaps because the digestive fluid was melting my corneas.
However, I somehow endured and persevered, and finally when the mushroom mob’s health bar hit rock bottom.
Thud!
With the cap fully contracted, I used the last of my strength to scrape the inner wall.
Riiip!
Finally, the boss mob’s health reached 0, and simultaneously the cap split open with a loud sound. This time I was so desperate to survive that I managed to secure the final blow without even thinking about it.
Cough.
I spilled onto the floor covered in the monster’s digestive fluid like the inside of a rotten melon, or like frog spawn. Physiological tears welled up in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. With my sticky, filthy face now streaked with tears, I must have looked quite a sight.
Through my completely blurred vision, I could see Carlisle. His face looking down silently was still unreadable. His hand still held the long sword. I had an ominous feeling.
‘So, what now? Are you going to stab me?’
With my stinging eyes narrowed, I gasped for breath while facing Carlisle. After barely surviving from inside the monster’s stomach, I might now die at the hands of an NPC. And by a character that I had… rather liked, in my own way.
If he was going to kill me, I wanted to at least know the reason before dying, but no voice came out. It seemed the digestive fluid had damaged even my vocal cords.
Carlisle, who had been staring down at me with unreadable eyes, finally took something out from his chest. My tense gaze persistently followed his hand. What he pulled out was a transparent, soft-looking ball about the size of a ping-pong ball. He held it on his palm and extended his arm over me. The small ball quickly inflated to about the size of a basketball. A silvery liquid sloshed inside.
‘What is this? A new bomb item?’
I just hoped it wouldn’t hurt. I hoped he wasn’t thinking of tormenting me more before killing me.
As I stared blankly with such thoughts, Carlisle flipped his hand. When he squeezed the large ball tightly, it burst with a pop and transparent liquid poured out.
Whoooosh.
A much larger volume of water than expected poured down on me like a waterfall, and the sticky filth was instantly washed away.
‘What is this water?’
Just from the feel of it, I could tell it was far too high quality to use for showering. Especially in these times when contaminated water was everywhere, this was a purity beyond dreams. The water that seeped into my mouth was cool, sweet, and fragrant. It was water too precious to drink. It was a taste I’d never experienced even in reality—I thought this might be what heavenly taste was like.
More important than the taste was that my wounds were healing. The potion that soaked my body and clothes quickly evaporated and disappeared, while simultaneously the pain from my red, peeling skin and stinging eyes also faded away. My blurred vision soon regained focus.
‘A high-grade potion? There was something like this?’
I thought in a daze. I’d never seen a potion that burst like a balloon in the game. But well… there must be plenty of items I didn’t know about. Since Carlisle was in the position of the richest character in the game, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have endless top-tier items. More than that though.
‘I hope he doesn’t charge me for this.’
I couldn’t imagine how much this would cost. No, what concerned me more was:
‘When he pushed me into the boss mob’s mouth, why is he using something like this on me now?’
Could it be that like Muchi’s gang, he planned to burden me with enormous debt and then work me like a slave?
“Don’t you plan to get up? Are you resting since you’re already down?”
Carlisle asked me as I lay there blankly. His face looking down was slightly frowning. Was he in a bad mood because he had to use an expensive potion on me? Or was he annoyed at the situation where he ended up saving me for some unknown whim? Either way, this was better than an unreadable expressionless face.
“Just for a moment… rest?”
My voice returned, though a bit hoarse. My vocal cords had been healed too. Thanks to the potion, my health was charged to nearly full, but the stamina that had been steadily drained in the mushroom’s stomach hadn’t fully returned. Now that the physical pain was gone, I felt even more languidly relaxed. I just wanted to keep lying there.
“If you want to rest more, do that. I’m going out first.”
But at those words, I had no choice but to force myself up. I didn’t want to follow this unpredictable guy, but if that bastard left and the exit closed again, I’d be truly screwed. With energy appearing from nowhere, I jumped up and hurriedly followed Carlisle, asking:
“Did the exit open?”
“No, not that.”
At that answer, I stopped.
“Not that? Why? The boss mob died twice already?”
Carlisle silently pointed forward. Where the mushroom mob had been, something like a stone display stand was rising up, with something that looked like a flat decorative stone placed on top. Carved on the front of the stone was a human palm.
“What is this? Where’s the exit? Where’s the boss mob reward?”
Carlisle shrugged. It meant he didn’t know either. I looked around, but I couldn’t see an exit or any items that could be called rewards for clearing the boss mob.
“Is this the exit?”
I had no choice but to think so, but I couldn’t help being puzzled since dungeon exits had never appeared in this way before. They were usually simple methods like a hole opening in mid-air or a ladder appearing on a wall.
“I guess it means to put your hand here?”
That was the only way to interpret it, but I couldn’t readily extend my hand. It was a mysterious stone I’d never seen in the game. How could I carelessly touch such a suspicious object without knowing what might happen? Perhaps noticing my hesitation, Carlisle stepped forward first and placed his hand on it. The stone’s hand shape was covered by his large hand. Carlisle maintained that position for a moment, and I held my breath watching, but nothing happened.
Carlisle stepped back and gestured to me with his eyes. It was my turn.
‘Ah…’
Actually, I had a feeling from the beginning that I should step forward. The size of the carved hand fit me better than Carlisle, and I was the one who killed the second boss mob. Actually, even if that weren’t the case, I would have had to do it. Whatever happened, I was the player after all.
Still, it was a situation that didn’t exist in the game and that even Carlisle didn’t know about, so I wasn’t very eager, but I couldn’t hesitate forever. Especially with Carlisle staring at me as if urging me on, I had no choice but to reluctantly extend my hand and place it on the stone. Then, after a moment.
Flaaash!
Light spread as the stone reacted. I wasn’t surprised since I had expected it.
Rumble rumble rumble…
The wall behind us, which had looked like nothing but a cave rock wall, began to split in two, revealing another cave. At the same time, a glittering quest window appeared before my eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
