Chapter 16 – Floor 3. The Suspicious Merchant

SQUEAK— SQUEAK—

As soon as Dave was freed from his restraints, he tore into the grilled tasty meat, which filled the entire room with a savory aroma, quite voraciously, as if he had been waiting for this.

Seeing him like that, his claim about being hungry for a long time didn’t seem to be a lie.

Not wanting to waste even the oil on his fingers, he licked them clean, and it didn’t take him much time to devour an entire piece of tasty meat.

Meanwhile, I was contemplating what Dave had told me.

A city named White Chamber that had never appeared in any of the text that had appeared in D.D.

The existence of a knight who unified the criminals, who normally act independently, and set out to conquer the underground sewers.

Dave’s statement about going backwards through floors he had already descended.

‘I kept him alive because I couldn’t bring myself to kill him, but I got more than I expected.’

If I hadn’t been attacked by Dave, I would have descended without knowing my limitations and died without being able to resist, no matter who killed me.

‘White Chamber could be background that was set up during development… but who the hell is this knight? Even if he used criminals as followers, he can’t be ordinary if he was able to clear through to Floor 4 without problems.’

This dungeon isn’t so mindless that you can clear it simply by being strong.

Resource management, dealing with traps, and improvisation in the moment are extremely important, which means the knight managed hunger and thirst while leading a group of twenty people to the end of Floor 4.

Although they were blocked by the Wanderer, if not for that, unlike the Wanderer, which is small and difficult to pounce on at once, the King of the Sewers, which is large and has many spots to hit, might have been defeated, allowing them to escape.

‘Would it be dangerous to meet him?’

Judging by how he unified and led the criminals, it seems he wanted to get out of the sewers somehow, but who knows if he might have had other intentions?

‘There’s no point in worrying about this since I don’t know if he died or survived against the Wanderer.’

Personally, I suspected that with that level of ability, he either managed to kill the Wanderer or escaped somehow.

By the way, would a criminal with a knight background really have superior specs compared to ordinary criminals?

With realistic details added now, that element was highly likely to have modified the system.

If I were to pick one thing that had already happened to me, it would be like the abnormally enhanced traps.

“Is there anything else you know about that knight?”

“He was indeed the leader who led the others, but he didn’t reveal much about himself. I just followed him because he was strong enough to actually escape these cursed sewers.”

Unfortunately, it seemed difficult to obtain more information about the knight.

“This might be shameless of me, but I was wondering if I could have just one more to eat?”

“…Go ahead.”

***

“Thank you very much. I won’t forget this kindness.”

The next morning… or what I thought was morning.

After taking a slightly uncomfortable rest compared to usual, I came out of the room and decided to part ways with Dave.

He did offer to travel together, but when I told him I wasn’t bold enough to go with someone who had stabbed me in the back with crazed eyes, he backed down.

Instead, he brightened up when I told him we could meet again if he went back to the knight and waited, and he disappeared in the direction of the stairs leading to Floor 4.

Although I lost almost all my spare tasty meat, I had plenty of emergency rations left, so it wasn’t much of a problem.

Moreover, the information Dave provided would be valuable, so it could be considered a profitable exchange.

“Should I quickly move past Floor 3? There’s nothing more awkward than dying before you get where you’re going.”

I decided to plan out today while filling my water bottle with dew collected from nearby vegetation.

WRIGGLE WRIGGLE. WRIGGLE.

The sight of the slime pushing its soft body forward was surprisingly cute to watch.

Its slick, transparent, bouncy surface was like a bewitching creature that made you want to slap it for no reason.

In the end, I was taking the slime for a walk, something I had promised myself I wouldn’t do.

‘This is so boring…’

As expected, walking through dungeon corridors that all looked similar all day was mentally exhausting.

Moreover, this underground sewer was a polluted environment not very suitable for human habitation.

The accumulating stress increased day by day, so I decided to summon the slime to try something, anything.

If there was enough fuel, and it wasn’t for combat, I could walk with it for about 10 minutes like taking a pet for a walk, which wasn’t a bad way to change my mood.

‘Though there’s the problem of having to refill it with semen every 10 minutes if I want to keep using it.’

Of course, I wasn’t going to do that during exploration; it was just a short 10-minute mood changer.

Wouldn’t it be too unseemly to die while masturbating with a slime just to take a walk with it in these enemy-infested sewer corridors?

WRIGGLE.

“What is it? What?”

As I was walking with the slime beside me, ready to respond to any enemies that appeared mindlessly, it kept bumping against my leg as if trying to alert me to something.

Looking down, I saw it stretching its surface in one direction, as if telling me to look that way.

Wondering why it was suddenly acting like this, I turned my gaze in that direction and saw the silhouette of a dark figure in the distance, with something large beside it.

“Oh.”

A mask engraved with a pattern that looked like folded wings expressed in abstract lines.

A green hood covering the entire body and a huge backpack that didn’t match the physique.

Beside it, a large, unidentifiable beast with its neck cut off, carrying a wooden cart.

It was the appearance of the Suspicious Merchant, who had been playing hard to get and refusing to appear.

***

“Welcome, customer. I’ve been counting the days, waiting with the items you need.”

‘What the… it’s just a kid.’

As I approached, the already familiar entrance line of the Suspicious Merchant came through the incredibly suspicious mask in a modulated voice.

A merchant whose appearance was packed full with the concept of suspicion.

‘Does it even reach my chest?’

Despite the suspiciously obsessive way of hiding their identity, it was just a kid who would barely be 150cm tall.

If I gave a low kick here, its leg would probably break.

“No money? Don’t worry. From customers like you—”

“You can feel the desire of the lives I’ve taken so far.”

“Hmm… not many humans know this fact… then unnecessary explanations won’t be needed.”

The GOLD in the status window isn’t physical money.

If gold coins spilled out from beating rats or spiders, everyone would have used this underground sewer as a gold mine rather than an execution ground in the name of exile.

Besides, even if they were real gold coins, it would be problematic—my bag was already bursting at the seams with necessary items, so how could I carry gold coins?

The GOLD explained in D.D. is the conceptualization of living beings’ survival instinct expressed as treasure.

And the desire this one is talking about refers to souls.

“Come on— don’t be shy. Only items that can’t be found in ordinary places are here, so it’ll be interesting.”

Though the voice was modulated to be genderless, I was taken aback by the Suspicious Merchant’s voice, dripping with annoyance.

Yet it diligently opened the stall of the cart and showed the items displayed inside.

‘It looked fine as pixels, but why is it both carrying a backpack and pulling a cart?’

Anyway, it was a bit strange.

“Herbs and seeds by type… strength potion might be good to have, should I buy it…”

Looking around at the seemingly messily displayed items at the Suspicious Merchant’s stall, there were many items that would have a low probability of being found just lying on the ground.

Besides that, there were also higher-tier weapons and armor, as well as several types of scrolls.

When an opportunity to buy such things in a dungeon comes, anyone would empty their pockets completely to purchase them without hesitation.

And stacked on top, books.

Looking at the price written below, they were high-priced items with one more zero added to the prices of the items below, making it difficult to reach for them readily.

“You sell grimoires too.”

“Not always available, but items I deal with. With just this, even an idiot can become a master in that field.”

Those books were items with the grimoire tag.

Their effect is nothing less than being the core of a build—when used, you can learn the skill recorded in that grimoire.

‘Grimoires for… Warrior’s Tear, Infection, Battle Command?’

Warrior’s Tear is a dodge rate increase buff that can be used when health is below half.

For a traditional melee character who hasn’t invested in Dexterity and thus has virtually 0 dodge rate, this is good insurance—just activating it makes a clear difference in survivability due to dodge rate, even if it’s not stable.

Next is Infection.

A skill with tricky usage that transfers disease statuses affecting you to a target in a severe state.

But its applications are endless, making it a grimoire that those who like it will definitely pick up if it appears.

Lastly, Battle Command.

“I should buy this even if I have to sell my house. Though I’m homeless.”

Despite knowing that I should avoid buying as much as possible from the Suspicious Merchant, I picked up the grimoire without hesitation, as if afraid someone else would take it first.

It’s a skill that increases the damage dealt and decreases the damage taken by summoned creatures by a percentage equal to your Charm stat.

This grimoire could be said to be the most suitable for me, as the difference in power of an Animal Farm build with and without this skill is like heaven and earth.

“The grimoire containing Battle Command is 1,400 GOLD. No credit or discounts.”

I’ll be broke, but I can afford it.

I nodded in agreement to the purchase and put the Battle Command grimoire in my bosom.

“Now— extend your hand. And don’t resist.”

As I extended my hand as told, the gloved hand of the merchant grabbed mine.

Then the merchant slightly lifted the mask, revealing a mouth—

SLURP—

Along with a soft, mysterious sensation felt on my palm and a sucking sound, I felt something that had been filling me being mercilessly drained.

It wasn’t physical strength, energy, or vitality that moves the body, but something more fundamental, closer to what is commonly called a soul.

Along with the sinful feeling of handing over something that shouldn’t be given, an intense pleasure burned my thoughts.

“NNNNGGGHHH…! Fuck, I’m screwed!”

The true identity of the Suspicious Merchant is a succubus. A being commonly called an incubus.

It’s an NPC that receives souls accumulated by players in exchange for items and offers them to its master.

Though I didn’t know it would be such a small kid.