Chapter 15 – Floor 3. Medicine to the Pharmacist

“Ugh. It hurts.”

Whatever made his punches so spicy, my whole body felt like it had been pounded with a hammer.

This body’s healing ability would probably make it better by tomorrow to a level I could ignore, but I didn’t have the courage to fall soundly asleep in this situation.

‘Damn. Fighting with a rat or spider is completely different.’

I had thought that despite raising Dexterity and Charm, the difference in equipment would make it no problem, but that was a big miscalculation.

The pressure of a human form rushing to kill me and the soft sensibility of a 21st-century modern human made the sword I was about to thrust slower, and the varied directions of attacks made them impossible to counter.

Even then, it was only because the criminal was in a state of extreme excitement—if he had known how to fight even a little or had ambushed me calmly, I might have really died.

“Fuck…”

I glanced at the criminal, now drooling as he slept, then got up from my seat and picked up my sword.

SWOOSH—!

There was no change of heart during that time; I hadn’t picked it up to kill the incapacitated criminal.

What I slashed instead was empty air.

The silver blade created a crimson trajectory as it caught the flickering campfire light, cutting through the air.

In possession novels I’ve read, people are usually good with swords and magic without anyone teaching them, but unfortunately, I was still just a country bumpkin.

Earthworms can dig into the ground without being taught, so I suppose I’m worse than an earthworm.

‘If I keep fighting recklessly on instinct like I have been, I’ll die soon.’

No matter how much D.D. knowledge I have to deal with traps and non-human enemies, without skill, there will definitely come a section that’s beyond my capabilities.

As proof, I nearly died at the hands of just one criminal.

WHOOSH— WHOOSH— WHOOSH—

After swinging the sword through the air more than a dozen times, my arm holding the sword became as heavy as if a weight had been attached to it.

‘When killing rats, I just had to swing with all my might.’

With each swing, fatigue accumulated in my shoulders and joints, and my tattered upper garment began to be soaked with sweat.

In the dark room where the campfire crackled, I swung my sword at the empty air in a trance, all alone.

It was an excruciatingly painful repetitive action, but the fear of future death prevented me from falling asleep.

I slashed down with all my might, cut horizontally, struck upward, and thrust forward while advancing.

TING—

After swinging the heavy sword for quite some time, my arm, now unable to muster the strength to hold the sword, dropped, causing the sword tip to touch the brick floor of the room, making a metallic sound.

“Huff… hack… f…”

GULP, GULP.

Moving my arm, which trembled like I had a palsy, I forcibly grabbed the water bottle to moisten my parched throat.

How much time had passed?

In this place without a clock, I could only estimate roughly how much time had elapsed, but it felt like quite a bit had passed.

“Is this your first time holding a sword?”

“…”

***

An uncomfortable atmosphere flowed across the campfire.

The criminal, unlike his appearance, was stealing glances at me, checking my mood.

It was natural since I held the power of life and death over him, but that only fueled this awkward atmosphere more.

“…If you’re awake, say something.”

“You were so earnestly swinging the sword that I found it difficult to speak, so I hope you understand.”

In other words, he was saying he stayed quiet because he was afraid he might get stabbed if he spoke while I was swinging the sword so terribly?

‘Is it that messy?’

It was something I had been thinking myself, but hearing it directly made me feel different.

My lips puckered out as my pride was needlessly hurt.

“So… why did you suddenly attack me?”

Even when it was a game, criminals weren’t beings you could talk to.

Like other enemies, they were merely human-shaped beasts that fiercely charged to kill players, so I wasn’t sure if even attempting this conversation was the right thing to do.

“…”

The criminal hesitated to answer my question, moving his lips vaguely for quite some time.

“Is your mouth too small to answer? If that’s the problem, I think I can help you. For someone with that issue, you were quite good at yelling.”

“I-I’ll speak. Please wait a moment. I’m confused too, so I don’t know how to explain it!”

When I picked up the sword to threaten him a bit, the criminal struggled in alarm.

Only after I put the sword back down on the floor did he seem relieved, clearing his throat.

“First, how about we introduce ourselves? To reveal my name, I’m Dave from White Chamber. Before being thrown into these damn sewers, I was a blacksmith.”

“White Chamber?”

“The city built above these sewers. Did you perhaps enter from somewhere else?”

In D.D., the name of the city built above the sewers had never appeared.

Faced with the first completely unknown element, all I could do was furrow my brow.

The DunGal Pack, being just a mod, wouldn’t include such detailed settings, and there wouldn’t be timing for it to appear during gameplay—could this be the influence of it becoming reality?

While I was briefly lost in thought, I felt the gaze of the criminal who had introduced himself as Dave, looking at me as if wondering what I was doing.

“…My name is.”

I pondered.

What should I say? My real-world name? Or that “aaaa” that appears in the status window?

How to pronounce it was also a problem.

I couldn’t say “A-A-A-A” or “Quadruple A.”

“Aa.”

“Is that like a nickname?”

“…You could say that.”

It sounds like “Iced Americano,” but anyway, what could this guy do if I said so? It’s not like he could know my real name.

Dave seemed to accept it adequately, nodding his head.

“Rather than that, tell me your story. I didn’t keep you alive to make small talk. I’m a bit impatient, you see.”

I have no intention of getting friendly with someone who will soon die if left alone.

I just want to hear everything I don’t know and obtain useful information if possible.

“Ah, I understand.”

“I was exiled to the underground sewers, sentenced to banishment for the crime of having carnal relations with a noblewoman from White Chamber.

Oh, of course it was a false accusation! Why would a noblewoman be interested in someone like me?

Anyway, when I was thrown into these sewers and couldn’t do anything out of despair, there were others who were banished along with me.

There were quite a lot of us.

At least a hundred, I’d say.

And among them was someone who introduced himself as a knight.

He showed excellent swordsmanship, effortlessly slicing those hideous creatures that came charging, making his claim seem true.

He gathered the people who were scattering to find their own way to survive, saying that if they followed him, they could get out of these hellish sewers alive.

I also joined his group, which he had swiftly brought under his control like a hero.

For a while, things went smoothly.

The knight’s sword and our numbers suppressed the monsters that charged at us, and though disgusting, we could somehow endure by eating them and moving forward.

But…”

The criminal stopped speaking at that point.

He exuded an atmosphere of reluctance to mention what came next, but wasn’t that the most intriguing part?

“Don’t stop, keep talking.”

“Ahem…”

When I reflected the flickering light off the sword blade toward Dave’s neck, his Adam’s apple bobbed greatly, and a sigh burst out.

“The problem was the floor just below this one.

The passage right before the end of the sewers.

That’s what blocked us.

When we first saw her, she was wearing clothes that barely covered her ragged skin, leisurely spinning in circles in place, so we just thought she was a crazy woman who had somehow survived.

Even though she was dragging a huge greatsword that looked too heavy to hold, we didn’t think much of it.

Some of them, perhaps hungry for women while trapped in the sewers, smacked their lips and looked at the knight for approval.

Though they appeared pathetic and pitiful due to their exile, they were ultimately heinous criminals.

Under the tacit approval of the knight, who offered no particular restraint, they raised what hung from their lower bodies and approached the woman, throwing vulgar jokes.

And they died.

Without adding any lies, it was as if the process had disappeared—I blinked, and the heads of three who had approached her were separated and rolling on the floor!

Do you know how chilling a sight it was?

Though they might not have matched the knight in strength, they were all sturdy men.

I could identify what Dave was talking about.

Ragged clothes, a greatsword too heavy to hold, spinning in circles in place.

‘Is it the Wanderer?’

The mini-boss of Floor 4. And the guardian that must be overcome to face the boss of Floor 5.

“Everyone recoiled in shock, stepping back from that woman, but she, having tasted blood, didn’t know how to stop.

She kept swinging that enormous greatsword with one hand, slaughtering others without changing her expression.

Out of a total of twenty in our party, including the knight, seven died instantly, and two became immobile with their limbs severed.

When the situation became this serious, the knight also hardened his face, drew his sword, and rushed to confront that crazy woman.

The ear-splitting, sharp metallic sounds came several times even in that moment when I blinked.

“…”

“Why are you stopping again?”

“That’s the end of the story that might interest you, sir.”

As if he had finished everything he had to say, Dave cleared his throat repeatedly while glancing at the grilled tasty meat sizzling with oil, and I sighed.

“I’ll give it to you. Just talk. You should at least finish the story we’ve been hearing.”

“Well. It’s really nothing special. I was scared, so I ran back up, and I don’t know whether that crazy woman won or the knight won. And the reason I attacked you…”

Dave licked his dry lips and continued.

“I ran out of food and was so hungry that I picked and ate any herb, losing my ability to discern properly. It was probably a poisonous herb. I’m sorry for what I did to you, so please forgive me.”

“…What color was that herb?”

“It was purple.”

The unknown purple herb was a confusion herb.