Chapter 83 – Floor 12: Ah, My Mistake

“Oof…”

Although I had reverse-summoned the Black Bride Spider to avoid further attacks, the kick’s impact had been substantial—my ribs still ached even after waking up.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be a fracture, so nothing was broken, but if I tried that nonsense again, I might die.

Curiosity kills the cat, as they say.

Though I’m not a furball, my overwhelming curiosity momentarily transformed me into a cat-like species.

“Ugh… I shouldn’t summon that one for a while.”

It seemed the onahole state still allowed for consciousness, so if I gave it some time, it might calm down on its own.

If not… well, nothing I can do.

I took the last bottle of alcohol left in the mimic and gulped it down.

As I drank, I felt the burning sensation of high alcohol content in my throat and the rich woody aroma lingering inside when I exhaled. I finished my makeshift breakfast with a can of tuna.

It was nice that even pouring whiskey into an empty stomach only caused minor discomfort for a moment.

“Slurp…”

After my simple breakfast, I needed to complete one last task at the altar before finding the suspicious merchant again.

Having now surpassed level 15, I was eligible to receive another blessing.

The six deity statues looked down upon me.

“..?”

But something seemed strange.

“They seem a bit closer than yesterday…”

Yesterday, the distance between the statues was about 1.5m, but now it was 1.2-1.3m? It was subtle, but they had definitely moved closer.

I wandered between the statues, tilting my head in confusion, but found nothing.

It would have been nice if they’d left me something useful like last time.

“Ah, whatever.”

Slap!

I slapped my smooth Unicellia armored thigh with my palm and approached the statue of an old man wearing a robe with burning arms.

Despite his arms being engulfed in flames, the old man’s face remained peaceful and benevolent, showing no sign of pain.

Truly remarkable, befitting a deity.

The statue representing Mental attributes: The Sage, Rupeon.

I could receive a second blessing from Unicellia, but considering the upcoming mini-bosses and gimmicks, Rupeon’s blessing would be most effective.

I knelt before the statue and clasped my hands in prayer.

Honestly, I wasn’t a devotee of this world’s gods, so I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular—when I asked Unicellia for a blessing last time, she just gave it to me.

‘Mental Barrier, give me Mental Barrier!’

『Mental Barrier』

In my current state, with Health exceeding 15, my resistance to physical status ailments had increased significantly, but with minimal investment in Mental, I remained vulnerable to mental status effects.

However, 『Mental Barrier』 could offset this weakness.

Its effect was to provide a second check against mental status effects, and even if that check failed, it would halve the effect of mental ailments.

For me, who risked getting close in combat, being afflicted by mental status effects could be fatal, making this blessing extremely useful—and necessary for facing the upcoming enemies.

Come on, give me your blessing, Fire Punch!

***

Tread- Tread-

Floor 12, now over 90% mapped.

The cave spiders didn’t attack me, perhaps knowing I had the Black Bride Spider, so I only needed to deal with occasional apostates, making for an easy journey.

And finally, the last room.

[You now know the structure of the current floor.]

With the expected log and experience gain, the now-familiar suspicious merchant waited for me in the center of the room.

Hairless was with them.

“This child’s name is not Hairless, it’s Headless, customer.”

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“A merchant of my caliber can hear the voice of a customer’s heart if I concentrate.”

“That’s scary…”

“Just now, you thought it was scary.”

But I said it out loud this time.

After this brief banter, I approached, and the merchant promptly opened their stall to avoid being kidnapped again.

The counter was restocked with new items.

Several grimoires, equipment, scrolls, and potions gleamed as they were displayed on the counter. They would be deliciously free if I could just take them without paying.

“Give me this, this, and this.”

“These children come with a very fair and reasonable price of 3,200 GOLD in total, customer.”

“What’s reasonable about that? It’s filthy expensive.”

I had chosen three items: two scrolls and one grimoire.

Of course, grimoires were inherently expensive, but two scrolls for nearly 1,000 GOLD? Claiming that was reasonable was quite galling.

Yet every item they sold was something I either needed now or would need soon, making the merchant both loved and hated by players.

‘Let’s see… I’ve spent about 6,000 GOLD and some change?’

The event threshold was 10,000 GOLD, so I would probably reach the limit after buying some consumables or another grimoire from the next merchant.

While I was calculating internally, the merchant jumped up to catch a grimoire from high on the counter and handed it to me.

“Here you go, customer.”

“Oh, thanks.”

The grimoire the suspicious merchant handed me was the 『Elite』 grimoire.

Without any outstanding abilities, it simply added a +2 weight to all stats—simple yet powerful as a passive skill.

For me, who used many stats unlike pure Magical builds that only used Mental and Perception, or traditional Melee builds focused solely on Strength and Health, this was highly efficient.

The charm bonus would also benefit the onaholes, which was attractive.

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

The suspicious merchant didn’t release the grimoire after handing it to me.

Were they crying behind that mask because of their whole “calling items children” concept?

“I’m not crying, customer.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Uncanny creature.

“So you killed the master of this layer too. You’re quite the rascal, customer.”

“What are you suddenly talking about? Are you going to give me this or not?”

Looking closely, the masked face had moved slightly closer, as if sniffing me.

Did I smell bad? I bathed recently.

Sniff Sniff.

I instinctively sniffed myself but didn’t detect any unpleasant odor. Maybe not? My nose could be broken for all I know.

“What do you plan to do from now on, customer?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I’m asking about the floors below, customer.”

For a merchant who usually just sold items, this was unusual. Given their affiliation, it was a meaningful question, but they had never interfered with players before, so perhaps they could be trusted in a different sense.

I pondered for a moment.

Though I had much to do, I had no reason or desire to linger on the upcoming floors.

“Probably… I’ll go down quickly. Just doing what I need to.”

I had no intention of exploring Floors 13 and 14 completely to finish the map.

I didn’t want to eat human flesh, after all.

“Is that so?”

The suspicious merchant tilted their head, then released their grip on the grimoire.

“GYAAACK!!!”

Thud! Having been pulling quite hard on the grimoire, I fell hard on my backside when the resistance suddenly vanished, making me shed tears of emotion at the hardness of the stone floor.

Damn… my tailbone.

If an X-ray shows it’s fractured, I’m billing for medical expenses.

I rubbed my sore backside as I stood up, opened the mimic’s mouth, tossed in the scrolls, and shrunk it again.

“…”

And the suspicious merchant stared intently at the mimic.

“What now?”

“Customer, are you sure you don’t want to sell that child?”

For a moment, I nearly destroyed the merchant’s entire musculature and made a rib stew rice bowl, but I managed to restrain myself with superhuman willpower.

***

“Urrgh… I said suck more gently.”

I sat on the mimic, holding my arm that the suspicious merchant had drained, trying to regain my senses.

This energy extraction never got easier.

“Mmm, you’re truly different, customer. That was delicious.”

A deep-colored tongue moved seductively, licking the pale pink lips visible beneath the slightly raised mask.

Though they appeared childlike, a succubus was still a succubus. I reminded myself again of the merchant’s danger, thinking I should eat plenty of stamina food when I returned.

“I’m not food.”

“The concept of ‘delicious’ isn’t only applicable to food, customer.”

“…New knowledge. Much appreciated~ Yeah.”

Sighing deeply at the merchant who wouldn’t yield a single word, I suddenly recalled something I’d obtained earlier.

That thing.

“Hey.”

“My name isn’t ‘hey’, customer. Such contemptuous addresses should be avoided.”

“Then tell me your name.”

“I’ll tell you when you’ve built up more rapport with me. Not yet.”

I didn’t know what to make of this. As an educated adult, I would have to be patient.

“Fine, fine. Sorry. Anyway, do you also appraise items?”

In D.D, suspicious merchants also handled appraisals. There was a GOLD cost, of course, but it was certainly more reasonable than their selling prices.

The appraisal mainly revealed whether items had undisclosed prefixes or were cursed.

Whether they could appraise items the system window didn’t reveal at all was unknown.

“If it’s something I can identify, then anything. What would you like to know, customer?”

“This.”

The liquid in a bottle that came from Alraune’s silver box.

Blue Tongue had said it felt like holy power but was also ominous.

Taking the bottle from me, the merchant stared at it intently for a long time.

I thought they might use a magnifying glass or cast magic, but the suspicious merchant just examined it with the naked eye, turning it around.

‘Are they faking it?’

But contrary to my assumption, the merchant quickly handed the bottle back and revealed its identity.

“It’s Spirit’s Tears, customer. More precisely, tears shed by a grieving spirit.”

“Spirit’s Tears?”

I swirled the liquid, but it just looked like water.

“A mana entity created when a transcendent being born from nature, a spirit, feels sadness and concentrates that emotion.”

“So… spirits don’t normally cry?”

The suspicious merchant nodded as if my answer was correct.

“Spirits don’t leave byproducts, so these impossible yet definitely real Spirit’s Tears are extremely valuable.”

“…What are they used for?”

No matter how rare something is, it’s just a white elephant if it’s useless.

And I couldn’t sell this when I returned.

“Drinking it might raise the quality of your soul. It is a ‘spirit’ after all.”

“Raising the quality of one’s soul…”

I suddenly thought of one possible use.

“That’ll be 200 GOLD, customer. But if you were going to do this, why not mention it before we traded? Are you perhaps addicted to being sucked?”

“Ah.”

Shit.