2
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I SAT ON THE DUNGEON FLOOR with a bloodstained wall to my back and tried to make sense of the whole situation. What the hell just happened?
If I believed Naiarotop, then I was now in Cocytus, the most dangerous dungeon on Locklore. Instead of killing me outright, I’d been tossed here as part of some sort of disgustingly cruel show they were putting on for the Higher Gods.
“Well…I can’t just sit around forever,” I said to myself.
Naiarotop said there were fierce monsters here, so it probably wasn’t a good idea to hang around. I didn’t know if I had the skills to stay alive, but I was going to do everything I could to get out of this labyrinth.
Speaking of skills…Naiarotop said something about standard abilities. It sounded like everyone they transported here got those: “Locklorian” and “Status Check.” I had no idea what they did, but they sounded useful.
I seemed to remember Naiarotop saying that I’d get a language skill, so that must be Locklorian. If transporting humans from Earth was part of a show, it made sense they would want those people to be able to interact with the locals. Naiarotop said they modeled their show on isekai novels, so it made a weird sort of sense that I could suddenly speak the local language.
The other ability, Status Check, seemed to pop up in those novels too. An ability that let me check information about myself or other people might be handy. But…how did I use it?
“…Status Check,” I muttered. Since I was the only person around, I tried focusing on myself.
My mind grabbed onto something. It felt…natural, just as easy as moving my arms and legs. A status window appeared in my mind:
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KANATA KANBARA
Race: Human
Lv: 1
HP: 3/3
MP: 2/2
Attack: 1
Defense: 1
Magic: 1
Speed: 1
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Skills: Locklorian [Lv: 1], Status Check [Lv: 1]
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I-it really worked!
I could tell those were my base stats, but without someone to compare them against, I didn’t know how I stacked up. Naiarotop had talked like this world had rules similar to an RPG, so maybe I could level up if I killed a few monsters.
I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. I’d been hit with a series of unbelievable events, but I had to adapt. If this was entertainment, it wouldn’t be much of a show if there wasn’t a way to play the game and stay alive. Sure, there were supposed to be horrific monsters here, but Naiarotop also said that there were powerful items. I needed to find a few of those before I encountered any monsters. Then, with a little luck, I could carefully find my way out of here and learn more about Locklore.
All right. Let’s get moving.
I’d played dungeon crawler games before, delving into randomly generated dungeons to kill foes and get loot. I didn’t like the idea of getting tossed into the deepest part of a dungeon while still at first level, though. If a monster got the jump on me, I probably wouldn’t even be able to run away. I had to be smart and have a plan, or I’d be a one-hit kill.
I placed an ear against the wall to listen for anything moving and then walked out of the room by gliding my feet over the floor so my steps didn’t make any noise.
I’ve got this. I’ll find a way through.
I was actually starting to feel a bit confident despite the dire situation. I guess optimism is one of my few virtues.
Hm…? A dead end.
After walking a while, I came to a rotten skeleton collapsed at the end of a corridor. It smelled of decay and was pretty gross, but I wasn’t too freaked out. I’d seen dead people at funerals—but on second thought, it was a bit different when they clearly met a violent end.
At least this surprise came with some good news. A golden sword glittered in the skeleton’s bony hand. This had to be one of those rare and powerful items. With that sword, I could probably handle any monster I ran into.
I hope you don’t mind me borrowing that.
I grasped the sword and pulled. I’m not sure what I expected to happen, but the bones broke and I had to backpedal.
W-well, now I feel bad.
I considered using Status Check on the gold sword, but…I realized it would be pointless. It seemed that having a skill also meant I instinctively knew how it could be used. Status Check only worked on living creatures. I wondered if there was an Identify or Inspect skill.
I pondered this while swinging the sword absentmindedly. Then it disappeared into the wall along with my hand and wrist.
Wait, what?
A moment later, an excruciating pain ran up my arm. I stepped back. From the elbow down, everything was gone.
“Nom, nom, nom…”
Before my eyes, a massive mouth appeared on the wall. It munched up and down noisily, then spit out blood-stained bones along with the gold sword.
Th-that’s my arm, I realized with horror. At least what was left of it. Without even thinking, I checked the monster’s status and was shocked by the numbers I saw.
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Race: Gluttony Mimic
Lv: 1381
HP: 9027/9027
MP: 5919/5919
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“Aah! Aaah! Aaaaaah!”
Screaming, I pressed down on the stump of my arm and ran back down the corridor. Behind me, I heard the inhuman voice of the gluttony mimic mumble:
“Thanks for the snack.”
I rushed around a corner and collapsed. I knew I had to keep going, but my knees were shaking and I couldn’t stand. I could feel my life slip away with every spray of blood that spurted from my mangled arm. My heart pounded in my chest, trying to climb its way up my throat.
I’d been overconfident. Instead of taking this seriously, I’d fooled myself into thinking it was a just video game—but the truth was that there weren’t any save points in Cocytus. If I died now, it was game over.
The game was rigged; there was never a way to survive Naiarotop’s show. Even if I found an incredible weapon, I was still in over my head.
They dealt me a losing hand.
Consumed with despair, I waited to die.
“Sorry, Kuromaru…”
As I lay on the ground, I heard a loud sound coming closer and lifted my head. I saw a headless humanoid figure coming toward me. Heavyset with gray skin, it was built like a two-meter-tall sumo wrestler. Instead of a head, a huge mouth spread across its stomach.
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Race: Predator
Lv: 1821
HP: 9418/9418
MP: 5081/6054