Chapter 28: Dungeon [4]   "Thank you"

Sitting next to each other, the party members which were on the verge of death moments before, were now happily munching on some jerky.

I was honestly quite shocked by how fast they recovered. Considering the state they were in when I found them, their recovery speed could be described as 'godly'. I mean, it only took them a little bit over 10 minutes before they were able to sit up straight and comfortably eat and drink the food that I gave them.

Then I realized, I was no longer back on earth.

Though I have reincarnated in this place for about 3 weeks, I was still not accustomed to this world's common sense, and rightfully so.

I mean, how can I adjust to this world's common sense after only having been here for three weeks?

It's not like I can rewire my brain to accept the fact that people could heal immediately when back in my previous world, in which I lived for 32 years, serious cases of dehydration would leave a person hospitalized for weeks.

I was now genuinely curious whether all the people who got reincarnated felt the same way I did.

Well leaving that aside, it seems like I was running low on supplies.

In terms of water, I still had quite a lot as my water bottle could hold up to 50 liters of water, but I was running quite low in terms of food.

I had only bought a couple of kilograms of food supplies, thinking that it would last me about a week, and rightfully so, as who would've been able to predict such a situation?

Moreover, since I was planning on staying here for at most 3 days, I didn't feel the need to bring more than a week's worth of food.

What makes matters worse is the fact that the monsters present in this dungeon couldn't be eaten.

Generally, monsters could be eaten but that depended on which monsters.

Some of the monsters which were found in some dungeons could be eaten, and when eaten could boost up a person's stats, however, that was only for a small minority of monsters, as most of them are inedible due to their meat being poisonous.

…and unfortunately for me, all the monsters in this dungeon were inedible.

"Guess I have no choice…"

Taking out a small black box from my bracelet, a slid the cover up and a small red bottom presented itself before me.

Right above the button, there was a small screen that showed fluctuating wavelengths, indicating the signal strength.

This black box, also known as the 'Safe box', was a device that is given to every member before they entered a dungeon.

By pressing the button, the black box would send a distress signal to the nearest dungeon guardian.

Once the dungeon guardian received the distress signal, they would report it to the dungeon operators, which would then swiftly send a rescue team to come to their aid.

The consequence of pressing the button was of course a loss in the deposit, but seeing how mentally exhausted the party was, I could only sacrifice my deposit.

When I was saving them, I did look for their safe boxes, but they were either damaged or malfunctioning.

…Probably from the fight they just had.

In the end, I was left with no choice but to use mine. At most I could just ask them to refund me since I was not using it for myself…

Taking one last look at the members who although physically looked okay but were anything but fine mentally, I decisively pressed the button.

-Click

-Ding! -Ding! -Ding!

As soon as I pressed the button, the black box started emitting rhythmic sounds that spread across the surroundings.

"Huh? strange…"

Initially, after pressing the button, everything seemed normal as the black box kept constantly beeping.

But it was only after seeing the weird looks the party was giving me that I noticed something strange.

Frowning, I took a look at the black box in my hand, and to my surprise the small screen that showed the wavelengths was flat.

Taken aback, I tapped on the back of the black box multiple times, as I wondered whether it was malfunctioning.

"It's no use"

Shaking his head, the first member whom I saved, the one who wore the bulky rhino-like armor spoke up.

"It was also like this for us"

Turning my attention towards them, I couldn't help but frown.

"Then why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

So in the end, the real reason why their safe boxes didn't work wasn't because they were damaged?

Smiling bitterly, the bulky member couldn't help but scratch the back of his head as he said "We still had a bit of hope that maybe the batch of safe boxes we received were malfunctioning and that maybe yours would work…but it seems like this is not the case"

Looking at the other members, who seemed to have lost all hope, my frown deepened.

"I see…there's this one thing that has been bothering me for a while, but what exactly happened to you guys? --Huh?"

As I was asking them about what had happened, which was my goal since rescuing them, I noticed them flinch in horror as soon as I posed the question.

Soon after, their body went rigid, and their eyes became hollow.

Startled, I stood up and looked around me.

"Hey! Hey!"

After making sure there wasn't anyone around, I went in front of them and tried to wave my hand in front of their faces but it was to no avail. Their complexion turned deathly pale as their teeth soon started chattering.

Soon, as if they were in a trance, they each simultaneously looked at the sky and started speaking nonsense.

"Please…no…I don't wan-…"

"No…no…Ah…AHHHHHH"

"Death…demon…"

"Lucy…I will be late for di…nner…wait for…papa"

"Lord…savior"

Although they were all speaking nonsense, one word specifically caught my attention.

"Demon…"

Turning my attention towards the person that said those words, a brunette young girl with two pigtails and clothing that were proof of her mage status, started spasming on the ground.

Soon after she started spasming, all the other party members showed a similar reaction as bubbles started coming out of their mouths.

"Oy, what's going on here?"

Startled, I immediately moved towards them and tried slapping their faces a couple of times to get a reaction from them…but it proved ineffective, as their pupils quickly disappeared alongside their pulse.

"Dead…dead…dead…fuck!"

Swearing out loud, I dropped on the sand and dazedly stared at the red horizon.

It wasn't their death that shocked me the most, but it was how they died and the last words that the girl said before dying.

"Demon…"

There was only one type of curse that could cause someone to die just moments after they recovered…

'Mindbreaker'

An especially vicious curse planted by demons.

It now became apparent that this was the work of a demon, as they were the only species that were capable of implanting this type of curse inside of a human.

Moreover, I believe that the only reason they were still alive was not because the demon let them go…no, it was because the demon wanted to torture them by making them suffer from dehydration and starvation.

"Sick fucker! Ahhhh!"

-Pa!

Punching the sand with all my force, fine granules of sand started falling from the area I had punched leaving behind a small crater.

Glaring at my surroundings, I swore to make whoever was responsible for this pay dearly!

Although it may perhaps be due to the shock of me witnessing people dying in front of me for the first time in my life, my emotions were in a state of disarray.

I could hardly think clearly, as the images of the party dying kept repeating in my mind over and over again.

The little details that I had missed prior to their deaths started replaying in my mind, such as the expressions they had before they died, and the last words they were struggling to say prior to their death.

'And here I was hating protagonists in novels who sympathized with deaths…'

Bitterly laughing, I thought back to the time that I used to leave hate comments on novels where the protagonist sympathized with the deaths of unrelated people.

It was only after experiencing this for the first time that I realized how bang on the authors were when depicting the raw emotions one felt when death occurred before them.

It was only now that I started realizing how cruel and fragile life was.

Since reincarnation in this world, I had mentally prepared myself for these kinds of situations, but…it is only after having experienced this first hand that I realized how daunting it is to see someone die before you.

After collecting myself, I took their identifications and buried their bodies underneath the sand.

Taking one last look at the burial site, I turned around and left the area.

After seeing their death, my first instinct was to get the hell out of this dungeon. For someone to be able to get rid of a ranked party like that, they must be strong…

However, in the end, I decided against doing so.

If someone was really targeting everyone in this dungeon, the entrance of the dungeon was probably the most dangerous place to be.

In the end, I wasn't really sure whether my decision was a good one or a bad one, but I just knew…I knew that turning back was a really bad idea.

…

-Clank!

-Screeeeech!

"Haaah!"

A loud screech followed by a loud shout resounded across the surroundings as the silhouette of a small human could be seen fighting against a gigantic creature that looked to be the size of a small building.

The loud shout and screech were soon drowned by the sound of metal clashing against a hard surface as the small figure slashed towards the enormous creature.

"Huff…huff…huff"

Wiping the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead, I stared at the enormous worm that was before me. Its features which looked like an enlarged version of a sand sprout became even more apparent as its figure emerged from the sand. The enormous razor-sharp teeth, which layered on the top of its four petal-shaped mouths bore down on me as its massive body dove towards my direction each time it attacked.

It's been precisely twenty minutes since encountering this creature, and because of its sneaky attacking method where it would continuously dive in the sand as soon as it attacked, and added with its enormous body, I was left totally helpless against it.

Previously, when I fought against sand sprouts, I would always target their mouth which was their weak point. However, because the boss monster was an enlarged version of the sand sprout, even though I wanted to attack its mouth the option was no longer feasible as my sword was like a small toothpick compared to the sheer size of the monster.

"Fuuuuu…"

Letting out a long breath, my right hand which was gripping on my sword that was sheathed in its scabbard suddenly clenched, and as I unsheathed it, a beautiful arc appeared in the air as I suddenly jumped backward.

-Schreech!

Without even bothering to hide its presence, the large worm arrogantly appeared from beneath me. Its large mouths which were riddled with sharp razor-like teeth opened widely as its enormous frame slowly appeared from beneath the sand.

-Clank!

-Crank!

Initially, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of my sword clashing against the hard surface of the worm causing me to lightly frown in annoyance, but my annoyance soon turned into delight as a small cracking noise could be heard from the hard surface of the worm as fine miniature threads that spread like cobwebs started appearing on the tough surface of the worm.

"Finally…my hard work has paid off!"

Delighted, I started attacking more fiercely.

minutes prior to now, I realized that if I were to continue to pointlessly attack the worm I would only find myself become food for the monster as I would eventually run out of stamina. Therefore, seeing that my current method was not working, I started devising a strategy.

Due to the sheer size of the monster, attacking its mouth was no longer an option. But, just as much of an advantage its size was, it also had a critical flaw.

Its speed…

It was incomparable to actual sand sprouts who shot like bullets from beneath the sand.

Not only were they faster, but they were also much harder to detect as their small size allowed them to reduce the number of vibrations they could create when moving underneath the sand.

Taking advantage of its reduced speed, I started attacking the same place continuously, in the hope of finally cracking its seemingly impenetrable exterior.

Finally, after 10 minutes of continuously attacking the same spot, a small crack appeared on the surface of the worm causing me to rejoice.

"Now it's time for the roles to reverse…"