Is It Wrong To Crawl My Way Back Home, One Dungeon Floor At A Time? by Anco (Danmachi)

Summary: Taking a walk through the forest turned out to have some unforeseen consequences. A city full of Adventurers and Gods along with a Dungeon full of Monsters that can easily kill me stand between me and going back home. At least I have this 'Gamer Mode' thing to help me out

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13217179/1/

Word count:271k

Chapters:15

Chapter 1

My eyes snap open. The first red rays of the Sun peek outside, shining through my thin dirty window and into my small dusty room. It takes a moment to adjust my eyes to the low light of the morning and I see something hanging above me.

[Good morning! Because you've slept in a bed that you own, your HP and MP have-!]

I swipe my hand across the cobalt blue screen that hangs over me and it fizzles out of existence. I quickly sit up on my creaky wooden bed and give my surroundings a look over.

It was a small room. Could barely fit my bed, a wardrobe and a desk with a chair. It wasn't clean either. Almost every surface besides my bed covers is covered in a thick layer of dust and every breath I had felt heavy and musky.

That's more my fault though. I don't bother cleaning and this place was cheap, after some haggling.

It's not like I plan to stay long enough to care anyway.

Like every other morning, I look over my room and find everything as it's supposed to be. No one had come in the middle of the night to steal anything, but it's not like there's anything to steal. I don't keep anything important outside of my inventory anyway.

With that out of the way, I stress my ears and I could hear some footsteps outside my room along with some high pitch chatter. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the girls probably getting to work.

"Stats."

Just as soon as the word leaves my mouth, a cobalt blue screen like before pops up into existence before my very eyes. With a big title that says Stats and containing a set of big, bold numbers and words:

Name: NA.

Alias: John.

Level: 1

HP: 60

MP: 120

STR: 14

END: 12

AGI: 9

WIS: 24

So that still works, unfortunately.

Rubbing my face, I let out a sigh as my shoulders sag. I open my mouth and say:

"Traits."

The blue screen stays the same, but the words shift and sway until the Stats title is replaced with Traits and the sets of numbers and letters are gone and in their place are lines of bold white text with a single trait:

[Outsider: You, who came from nothing and will return to nothing, are emancipated. The Gods hold no sway over you. Their words, empty. Their powers, meaningless. Their appearances, worthless.]

Weird to think that Gods exist here, but I haven't met one yet so it's not like this does a whole lot for me. Suddenly finding myself in a different world for no reason kinda makes a person open up to a lot of possibilities.

And I hope I never meet one either. I know for a fact that the 'Loki Familia' is a thing here and I really don't want to meet the man that fathered Fenrir of all things.

Or any of the Greek Gods. Especially the Greek Gods.

The whole 'no soul' thing is a bit worrying honestly but considering everything else that has happened to me during the days I've been here, I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

My Stats and Traits haven't changed so I doubt my Spells have either so no point checking those.

Just one last thing to check then.

"Objective."

As the word leaves my mouth, I can feel my chest tighten and shoulders set. My heart hammers against my chest like a rabid animal in a cage and my eyes zero in on the blue screen.

Like before, the blue screen shifts and changes until the lines of text are replaced with a single box of text.

[Welcome to the world of Danmachi! A world of Gods, women and adventure! Sometimes all three together! 'Why am I here?! What about back home?! How did I get here!?' I hear you asking and more. Let me answer those for you!

Who cares! You're here now and that's all that matters! The taste of adventure, the tale of Gods and maybe even the possibility of having a woman or two by your side and in your bed! All of that and more can be yours! With the help of this 'Gamer Mode' you don't have to sweat about the small stuff like food or drink!

But...if you're that boring of a person and want to go home, well, that's easy:

Just reach the end of the Dungeon.]

Of course that hasn't changed. Why would it? I feel my hammering heart rate drops like an anvil and my shoulders go back to their sad sagging state.

I still have no idea what a 'Danmachi' is. It sounds like something you eat, but I'm renting out a room in a pub and no one here has heard of it.

I swipe my hand across the cobalt blue screen and push myself off my bed. Just in case, I give myself a look over, making sure my clothes are all in the right order.

Not like anything I met could damage them though.

Trousers, a black hoodie and steel toe capped boots are what I wore when I…'arrived' here and what I wore when I go to sleep. The only things that I own from home.

My heavy boots make a deep thudding noise against the creaky floorboards as I make my way to my door. Taking out the key in my hoodie's pouch, I unlock the door. I walk through the door into an empty hallway and securely lock the door behind me, giving it a few tugs to see that it doesn't open.

My room secured and locked, I take a deep breath as I prepare myself to face the rest of the day.

Time to crawl.

.

.

Loud thunks of wood meeting my boots could be heard as I step down the stairs and I hear the chatter of the waitresses coming from inside the kitchen along with the clatter of dishes being washed.

They could probably hear my heavy footsteps, but it wasn't like I was trying to be sneaky or anything. Maybe I could just leave without-

A head of light grey, almost silver, hair pops around the corner to look at me with a wide smile, her eyes, same shade as her hair, crinkle up with her smile.

"Good morning, John! Up early as always, huh?"

Oh goddamnit.

"Good morning, Syr," I give her a polite nod and I make my way to the bottom of the stairs, "It's not like I'm getting anything done by staying in my room, so I thought of going for a walk."

Not technically a lie. I do indeed walk in the Dungeon.

Well, I run mostly but I sometimes walk.

"A walk?" Syr says with a frown, probably expecting my usual answer, "You're not going to the Dungeon today?"

"I have enough Valis for this month's rent. I don't have a lot planned for today, so I'm going to spend it doing what I want."

Syr's eyes widen for a moment and I make my way past her-

Before she fully jumps out in front of me, wearing her green waitress uniform with a white frilly apron on the front.

And with what I could only call a conniving yet genuine smile.

"Well, in that case, there's no hurry for you to leave, is there?"

Oh no.

I can see a certain elf with dyed green hair along with a certain girl with a pair of cat ears and tail start to look at the both of us, one with a wide grin and the other with a stoic stare. Both of them were working behind Syr, cleaning and setting up tables.

"If you wait for just a minute, I can make some breakfast for you! It wouldn't be proper to have a guest of ours leave on an empty stomach! Or...do you not like my cooking?" She punctuates the end of the statement by looking up to me with a surprisingly convincing timid stare, complete with quivering lips.

Every morning, like clockwork. I get up, Syr finds me somehow and tries to either guilt trip me or convince me to eat something.

Which makes sense, given how we first met.

After a day or two of being homeless and Dungeon crawling, I had enough money or Valis as it's called here, to hopefully rent a place for a bit so I wouldn't sleep outside in a dirty alleyway again.

Cue Syr running up to me and saying that I've dropped a magic stone.

Which was complete bullshit as all my magic stones that I don't exchange for Valis are kept safely in my inventory and I know for a fact nothing goes in or out without me knowing about it.

But, hey. A free magic stone which basically means free Valis. I took it from her with a quick 'thank you' and went on my merry way with an extra magic stone in my pocket.

Or I should have if I didn't have a waitress chasing after me.

She started to shill her workplace to me, saying such things like how nice it would be for me to visit and basically trying to con me into paying her pub lots of money for food and drinks because she did a good deed.

It was honestly adorable.

Too bad for her I didn't care.

I explained to her, in no uncertain terms, that I see through her bullshit and that I wasn't looking for anything that she was offering and that I needed my money for a place to stay.

God, how I wish I just kept my mouth shut.

After some haggling with the scariest woman I've ever met and laying down some ground rules between me and the waitresses, I found myself the current occupant and rentee of a room in the pub known as the Hostess of Fertility for only 2,000 Valis a month.

It was originally 4,000 with free breakfast and dinner, but I manage to cut it down to half because the food was unneeded despite how good it smelt.

And now, every morning and night, Syr tries to cook me a meal to squeeze more money out of me.

I didn't hate her for it and it's kinda turned into a game at this point. Wanting to make money is hardly evil and I can think of worse ways to con people than to just guilt-trip them and cook them a meal.

And I have to commend her if anything. She is quite cute and I've no doubt she's beguiled a many a man with her feminine wiles like she's trying to do now.

I give her a smile.

"Thank you, Syr-"

Her eyes go wide and her quivering lips are suddenly replaced with a bright smile. She opens her mouth to say something:

"But no. I'm not feeling particularly hungry at the moment."

Syr's hopeful smile smashes into a brittle grin before transforming into a full-on pout with cute puffed up cheeks.

"You should still eat something, John. It isn't healthy to skip breakfast, especially as a new Adventurer, you should do your best to keep up your strength."

A calm voice grabs both of my and Syr's attention and we turn our heads to see a green haired woman with long, pointed ears and wearing the same green outfit as Syr along with a girl with brown cat ears and tail.

"You're not wrong, Ryu but it also isn't healthy to force yourself to eat when you're not hungry. I appreciate your advice, but if I get hungry, I'll-"

"You'll eat in the Dungeon, yes you've told us that already," Ryu interrupts me with a frown, "That still doesn't change the fact you keep skipping out on breakfast."

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about it, Ryu!" The small and energetic cat girl known as Anya Fromel speaks up, pointing at my rotund stomach, "John's gut may be big, but I don't think he could survive Syr's cooking yet!"

Syr looks at Anya, shocked with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, her cheeks starting to flush red. Anya, whether on purpose or by accident, just looks at Syr and me with a silly little smile.

"Anya, I think it would be prudent of you if you didn't insult our guest," Ryu lets out a suffering sigh and gives me an apologetic look which I just gave a shrug.

Honestly, I think she insulted Syr more than me but whatever.

Syr goes to say something, but something stops her. She and her co-workers suddenly look behind me and I feel something heavy and meaty fall upon my shoulder.

"Flirting awfully loud this morning, aren't ya?"

"M-Mama Mia!" Syr squeaks out and I turn my head to come face to face with a stiffly smiling woman with long brown hair and squinting eyes. Her uniform was almost identical to Syr's but it was blue instead of green and her sleeves were rolled up, showing off her thick tree trunk-like arms.

Oh good, now this is happening.

"If this is what you call flirting, I hate to see what a date with you look likes."

I feel Ryu's stare bore into my head while Syr and Anya make some sort of noise that sounds like a mix of squeak and a scream.

"Ha!" Mias' stiff smile gives way to a grin and she lifts her hand off my shoulder, her eyes opening fully to reveal brown eyes that sparkled with amusement, "That mouth of yers is gonna get ya trouble one of these days."

"And girls," I move out of the burly grinning woman as she stands in front of her employees and staring them down, Syr and Anya basically hugging each other while Ryu remains stone-faced, "I hope ya aren't slacking off to bother our guest, now are ya?"

"Of course not, Mama Mia," Ryu bows to Mia, all prim and proper like while Syr and Anya bow as well, though not nearly with as much grace, "It's just that John has refused to eat anything. Again."

"Bah, leave him and get back to work already. If he ain't eating, he ain't eating. It's your job to look after this pub, not try to babysit him."

For a second, I could've sworn that Ryu that glanced at me with a worried look but in a flash, she bows to Mia and drags off her two coworkers to places unknown.

Well I say that, but she's just making them wash the dishes from last night in the kitchen.

Truly, a fate worse than death. Or unemployment.

"So, off for a 'walk' eh?" Mia makes her behind the bar and I make my way towards the double doors, "Hmph, I've heard better lies come from a plastered gnome. Ya off to the Dungeon again."

"Well, I don't see how else I'm going to pay you rent," I turn around to look at Mia wiping down the bar, not bothering to look at me, "Unless you want me to put on an apron and start serving?"

"And when I want to run my pub into the ground, I'll hire ya," Mia lets out an unladylike snort.

Taking her eyes off the bar for a moment, Mia gives me a look that goes straight through me, a chill tingling down my spine.

Mia Grand is a tall woman, about the same height as me at 5.11ft but by god, does she make me feel small sometimes. The first time I met her, she made it crystal clear what would happen to me if I acted untowards her waitresses or made any attempt to seduce them.

Doesn't help that she's built like a shit brick house and had bigger muscles than me. Pretty sure she could suplex me through the floor without much issue. Or worse.

"John, do ya know how much a meal here costs?"

I'm sorry, what?

"Uh…" I couldn't help but look around as if trying to find cameras or maybe someone hiding away like some sort of prank.

I've been in this world for about a week now and I've lived in this pub for about 4 days now without any issues. The first couple of days living in this pub were...cold, to say the least. I think the women here just wanted to see if I would make a move on them or not. After that though, I think they started taking notice of my eating habits or lack thereof. I don't know why they care so much though, it isn't any of their business.

"No? Should I?"

"Hmph," Mia snorts again and shakes her head, going back to rubbing down her bar "If ya have to ask, there's no point. Be careful on your 'walk' now."

"I don't plan to be anything but," I say to her, confused about her attitude but shoving it out of my mind for now.

I put my hood up and walk out to the slowly filling streets of the city known as Orario.

I have some Dungeon crawling to do.

.

.

With my hands tucked in my hoodie's pouch and my hood up, I probably looked exactly like someone about to run some drugs or sell them to some unknowing adolescents.

Doesn't help that Orario itself is still waking up and the only people out right now are shopkeepers opening up their wares and stores or very early bird risers like me. I feel some stares on me like needles on the back of my neck, but I just ignore it. I don't blame them for staring, hell, I would probably do the same thing.

Orario and I presume the world at large, isn't nearly as advance in technology like my home is, but it's weird. Stuff, like freezing food, lighting lamps or even cooking meals, isn't done with technology like it's done back home but with magic instead. Magic stones to be precise.

So 'technology' in this world isn't so much as electricity, gas or even something simple like a windmill as it is about using magic to create new things.

And in return, instead of the sprawling metropolises of home, you get these large, medieval cities but without people's shit being thrown out of the windows. Though, fashion in this place can be a bit weird although I may have to chalk that up to the city being home to the Dungeon and Adventurers as a result of that.

People at the Guild wear actual suits and I've seen all sorts of people, human or not, wear some pretty outrageous things that can barely be called outfits. Hell, I once saw the most ripped man ever, basically Conan but on drugs, wear literally nothing but a loincloth.

With no pants.

God, what a weird day that was. I still remember Eina trying not to blow her top off at that guy.

So thankfully my clothes don't stand out too much but I suppose it's a bit like uncanny valley. They're normal enough to seem like clothes people would wear but they're not common enough to actually be 'normal'.

Or maybe it's just because I'm walking around like a literal thug and I'm overthinking it.

I take a deep breath of the mild air, a stark contrast to the cold mornings of my home, and slowly let it out through my nose. I look up to see my destination up ahead, spearing towards the sky.

A mighty tower, bigger than anything I've seen, stands tall and proud in the centre of Orario. All roads lead to it as if it pulled everything towards it like some sort of black hole.

The Tower of Babel.

Won't lie, I almost choked to death on my spit when I heard that was actually a thing here and that the Gods had built themselves because they destroyed the other one.

Which made sense. Only something like Gods could make something so unnecessarily big that it didn't collapse in on itself.

Gods.

Not just one God. Plural. Multiple Gods.

From multiple regions nonetheless. I've heard about the 'Loki Familia' who I can only guess is ran by the Norse God of trickery and mischief.

But I've also heard about 'Hephaestus Familia', the Greek God of fire, metalworking and forges and even sculpting.

As if that wasn't enough, I once heard a rowdy Adventurer talking about another Familia by the name of Miach.

Miach, a son of Dian Cécht and a Celtic God of healing. So much better than his father, a famous healing God himself, that Miach was able to regrow a severed limb for the king of Gods, Nuadu, whose hand had been cut off in the battle of Mag Tuired which Dian Cécht couldn't do, only able to replace the lost hand with a silver one.

And then Dian Cécht proceeded to kill his own son in a fit of jealousy. Took a couple of tries, but he did it.

Seriously.

I'm torn between actually wanting to speak to a God and wanting to not involve myself with them at all. The stuff they must know, the history they must've been witnessed to…

Of course, I don't know if they would even talk to a 'mortal' or how they actually are, but the thought is there nonetheless.

But my objective takes priority. And if the Gods are anything like from what I've studied back home, it might just be better to avoid them.

The Hostess of Fertility isn't that far away from Babel, where the Dungeon is located and probably the main reason I stayed there including the cheapness of it. It takes about 20 minutes to walk there, maybe less if I hurry. Not as short as I would like, but it beats sleeping in a dirty alleyway at least even if I was sleeping quite literally next to the Dungeon.

A familiar sign up ahead catches my attention. It's one of the shops that I pass by every day on route to the Dungeon.

The sign itself was a simple piece of wood that had an open book engraved onto it with some letter beneath it.

Thoth's book shop and materials.

Thoth. The Ancient Egyptian God of magic, writing and the moon. One of the wisest Gods of Egypt and so powerful that the Egyptians believe he wrote a book that would make whoever read it the most powerful magician on earth.

That God is having someone run a bookstore in their name.

And not even a big one at that.

Compared to the other stores, this one was almost cute in comparison. Snuggly tugged away between two much larger shops, a smithy and a produce shop. Unlike the other two which had opened upfronts, this one had a single wooden door and two framed windows that had closed purple curtains, stopping me from looking indoors.

I stop for a brief moment as a sudden thought crosses my mind:

What kind of books do they have here?

With all these Gods, with all these fantastical and deadly creatures, would kind of stories would people write? Would it be about worlds of magic and sword or maybe something else? Hell, what would the history books look like?

"Oh my, can I help you?"

A voice breaks me out of my stupor and I turn my head to see a woman standing behind me.

She had chocolate brown skin and long silky black hair that reached all the way down to her back and warm but wary brown eyes. Her clothes were a mixture of a librarian outfit and casual that seemed to hug her figure.

And she is incredibly beautiful. Her skin was smooth without a single blemish and her face had a distinctly exotic look, her cute nose small but sharp.

I've met beautiful women before, but I've met more ever since coming here. I have no idea why, but every man is either a hunk or a pretty boy and every woman has something going for her.

This is...different though. This woman was different, though I couldn't figure out why.

"Sorry," I bow my head to the woman who blinks at me, "I didn't mean to stand around in front of your store, but I was just kinda curious about the name."

"Oh? What about it?" The woman walks closer to me, no longer afraid for some reason, and only coming up to my shoulders.

"Well...it's not so much the name as whose name it is that caught my attention. I just thought it would be bigger if it was owned by someone like Thoth, is all."

"Hmph," The tanned woman puffs up her cheeks and gives me a mild glare, "Well, sorry for not living up to your expectations."

"Why are you saying sorry?" I frown at the woman who just blankly stares back at me, "I was talking about Thoth."

The woman, who I can only guess is the store owner, just blankly stares up at me with half open eyes.

Then her eyes start to squint and her eyebrows crease into a thoughtful frown.

"How much do you know about m-Thoth?"

What the hell kind of question is that all of a sudden? Why does she even care?

"Well, I know that he's a God of wisdom," The woman's eyes suddenly snap open and her mouth gapes open, "And magic, writing and the moon fall under his purview. He was even called a scribe of the Gods so I'm not surprised that he owns a bookshop. Just that it's so small. I mean, he's a God, right? A library or something seems more appropriate."

For a moment, the woman doesn't say anything and just stares at me with that gaping mouth of her and wide eyes.

"...He?"

"Yes?" I raise my brow at her, "Thoth is a man."

Well, I'm sure that he is at least. He does have a head of an Ibis but I'm pretty sure he's a guy.

Apparently, that was too much for the woman.

"Snrk!" She covers her mouth with her hand and her shoulders start to shake violently.

And there I stood next to a woman who was currently in a mad fit of giggles due to whatever I said.

I don't have time for this.

"Well, in any case, I need to get going to the Dungeon. Have a good day, Miss."

Putting my hands back into my pouch, I turn and leave-

"W-wait, I'm sorry!" The giggling mad woman grabs onto my sleeve, her smile bright and wide, "I'm n-not laughing at you."

"Then what are you laughing at?" I ask the now softly giggling woman with a raised brow.

"Just what you said about...Thoth, is all," She smiles at me, her pearly white teeth on display for me to see, "You said you're off to the Dungeon right? What Familia are you a part of? I don't see an emblem on you or your peculiar clothes."

A bit weird to ask me that all of a sudden, but I suppose it doesn't matter.

"I'm part of Yahweh's Familia."

Not like my Familia exists anyway. And I'm so bloody glad for that, I don't think I could take it if Yahweh was a thing here.

"Yeah...way?" The woman rolls the word around her tongue, mispronouncing the name like everyone else, "I don't believe I've heard of such a God before…"

"He's pretty secretive," I shrug my shoulders at her frown, "Miss, if you don't mind, I do really need to get to the Dungeon. I'm already later than I would like to be."

"Oh! Of course, my apologies. The best of luck to you…?"

"John. No surname."

The woman raises her brow briefly before flashing me a smile, "Then the best of luck, John. If you ever in need of any reading material, do come by and give my store a look."

How many women are going to shill me their workplaces? What's next, a brothel?

"If I have the time, I'll come by," I lie through my teeth and nod to the woman again, "Good day, Miss."

With that, I turn around with my hands in my pouch and my hood up. The Tower of Babel loomed there in the distance, stoic and still, as if waiting for me.

What a strange woman.

.

.

The first thing I learned about the Dungeon is that's alive.

Not alive as in a creature that breathes, sleeps and eats.

But more in the sense, the entire thing is 'aware' of both itself, of me and anyone else that enters it.

The saying "In the Belly of the Beast," is scarily accurate for the Dungeon and how it works.

It took me a while, but ever since I first came here, I had this niggling feeling at the back of my head whenever I fought against a group of Goblins or a Kobold.

Until it struck me.

The Dungeon, at its very core, acts as an immune system.

Foreign bodies enter in the veins of the main body and in retaliation, it sends in the antibodies to get rid of or even eat in some cases the potential viruses.

Belly of the Beast in fucking deed.

That's not even taking into account that parts of the Dungeon that get damaged are repaired next morning. Or the fact that I've literally seen Kobolds birthed from the walls of the Dungeon itself in some sort disturbing caricature of something being born.

Too bad this immune system is my one-way ticket home when I reach the bottom.

The first floor of the Dungeon had dark blue walls, the colour reminding me of the sky that hanged above my head not moments ago. Despite being deep underground, I could see just as clearly as I could in the day due to the sparkling specks on the ceiling, far above me. I don't know if they're gems or just the Dungeons way of making sure I don't trip over and die.

I had taken my hands out of my pouch and they hang listlessly at my side, though my hands are clenched tightly into balled fists. My hood was taken down and I kept glancing at the dark blue walls every second, my eyes never resting once.

I had my hood up the first time I came here, but I didn't realise how much that thing actually limits my vision.

Never again.

Something blinks to life in the corner of my vision.

A small cobalt blue box with a green bar on top of a blue bar. The green bar had the letters HP next to it and the number 60 in the middle. The blue bar was the same except that had MP and the number 120.

And here we go.

From ahead of me, I heard various yelps and yips coming from the deep darkness of the Dungeon. In no time at all, the first monsters of the day finally appeared.

Three Kobolds, monsters that looked like a mix of a man and dog, run towards me on all fours. Pure red glowing eyes zero in on me and dog-like snouts growl at me, showing off their razor-sharp teeth.

I raise my hand towards the three sprinting Kobolds, the distance between us getting shorter and shorter in a frightening display of speed.

"Earth Spikes."

Out of the corner of my eye, my MP bar trickles down to 110 before steadily trickling back up.

From around me, three stakes of rock break off from the walls of the Dungeon with loud cracks that echo out throughout the hallway. The three floating sharp stalagmites shoot off like bullets, one for each Kobold.

A spurt of blood, a high pitched yelp and three thuds could be heard as the Kobold's dead bodies hit the floor.

I put my hand down and I look around on the dark blue walls of the Dungeon, searching for any signs or tall tale noises of monsters being born.

Nothing. The only sound that I could hear is the sound of my steady heartbeat.

That was easy.

Kobolds aren't the hardest thing I had to deal with down here, but they are fast and they usually run with a group or a pair from what I've seen. Running away and spamming Earth Spikes usually does the trick if there is more than three.

"Inventory."

Like before, a blue screen pops up in front of me, larger than any other. In the screen were multiple boxes, probably more than I'll ever need. Only two boxes had something in them. A key for my room back at the Hostess of Fertility and a knife that I bought from the Guild when Eina browbeat me into buying it. It had also had some lines of text at the very top that read:

Valis: 19,465.

Magic stones(small): 0

Weight: 5/50

Gotta love having the world's most secure bank quite literally in the back of my mind.

I point my finger at the knife and another but smaller blue box filled with white text springs to life in front of me.

[Guild knife.

A knife you bought because you can't say no to a woman. Surprisingly well made and durable for a stock standard knife. Essential for any Adventurer, whether for combat or for cutting up monsters for their stones.]

Ignoring the stuff about a woman, I click the knife again and the small box blinks out of existence and I feel a sudden weight appear in my right hand.

Gripping the knife until my knuckles turn white, I walk through the blue screens and they fizzle out of existence.

The bodies aren't going anywhere. There's no need to rush for some fingernail-sized magic stones.

I slowly make my way towards the still bodies of the Kobolds, knife clutched in my hand like a lifeline.

2 of the 3 Kobolds had the stone spikes pierced through their eyes and coming out in the back of their head, but the third one had a spike in their chest, piercing what should be their heart.

"Earth Spikes."

Another three rocks break off the dark blue walls of the Dungeon, another three sharp stalagmites shoot towards the Kobold. Two pierce through their ribs while one goes through their head.

I could feel myself let out a sigh as I basically double tapped the Kobold and my grip loosens on my knife if only a little bit.

"Time to get to work," I mutter grimly to myself.

Kneeling over the bodies, I bring my knife down onto its chest and warm blood spurts everywhere.

My body goes on autopilot as I work on extracting the magic stones in the Kobold's chest and my brain wanders.

Specifically onto this whole "Gamer" thing.

I have no idea how it even works.

It basically turns me into an RPG video game character and…

And that's it. That's all I got.

I have my own inventory, I have an HP and MP bar, I have my own stats which I can only guess to what they actually do because this stupid thing doesn't come with a manual and there's no 'menu' or 'options' that I can just open up and read. Hell, I even have bloody magic, but that was rather...lackluster all things considered.

I just say the words and the spell actives. Sometimes I move my hands to direct it, but it's rather cut and dry for something like magic.

Like a video game.

Shame I couldn't just pick up a sword and start swinging, but I'm not going to fool myself. I have no idea how to fight in melee besides wildly swinging and I started out with these spells anyway and my WIS has increased because of that, so no point fixing what ain't broke.

Turns out, being quite literally dropped right into another world that has a completely different currency system makes it quite difficult to buy weapons and armour. Who would've thought?

At least spells don't cost money to use, thank God.

"And that's three."

As the last Kobold turns to ash I shove its magic stone, more of a shard than a stone, into my pouch and a notification pops up by my 'HUD' I guess I could call it.

Acquired three magic stones(small)! Automatically moved to inventory.

Swiping away the annoying blue box, I look at my HUD once again, scanning it for something.

My bright blue bar is slowly but surely trickling back up to 120 and my green bar remained unchanged.

It didn't have anything else on it. Not my name, real or fake.

And certainly not an experience bar.

I've heard other Adventurers mention something about 'Level 2' and 'Level 1' but I don't think they have the same thing that I do. Something about a 'Falna' whatever the hell that is.

It seems like common knowledge and I couldn't risk outing myself as a complete outsider, at least not this early, so when Eina asked me if I had a 'Falna' I just lied through my teeth like I usually do.

This thing didn't call itself a 'Falna' though, it called itself 'Gamer Mode'.

I suppose I should stop worrying about this stuff, at least for now. I'm in the Dungeon right now, I should just concentrate on getting past Floor Six today.

A Floor a day.

That's the goal I set myself. The one I'm currently failing at.

It's the goal that'll get me closer to home, after all.

.

.

I'm thrown back against the wall by the great scaled beast known as a Dungeon Lizard rams me and pins me against the wall with its great big thick hide, my arms pathetically trying to push it away.

It doesn't budge.

With slithering turn of its head, a crossbreed between a Komodo dragon and a snake, the Dungeon Lizard hisses at me, its glowing red eyes glaring at me and blood dripping from its mouth. As if taking its sweet time, the thing slowly opens its bloody gaping maw, blood coloured slime drip onto my arms. No sound was made as it dislocates its jaw big enough to swallow my head whole and then some.

So of course, I do the smart thing.

I stick my hand down its throat.

"Fireball!"

I ignore the slimy and constricting throat of the Dungeon Lizard and I notice my MP bar goes from 80 to 20. The human-sized lizard doesn't have a moment to react as it bursts into flames and its whole body quickly turns into ash as its magic stone is destroyed in the blaze.

I'm dropped onto the ground and onto my knees, gasping for air. The rancid smell of blood permeates the air and with it, I feel the tangy taste of cling to the back of my throat.

A half-eaten corpse of a man stares at me with dead, glassy eyes, his whole lower half nothing more than guts and organs that had fallen out and around him were the corpses of 5 Goblins, untouched besides the large slashes on their bodies.

It wasn't the first time I've seen a dead body.

The first time was my first day here.

It was a girl with short brown hair. Her face and throat had been torn to shreds by a Kobold.

I think that was the first time I killed anything as well.

After that, I had asked Eina about the policy on finding dead bodies of Adventurers. Eina, sweet thing that she is, gave to me gently but the message was clear:

It's not the Guild's problem and it's not my problem unless I make it my problem.

Adventurers die. That's just a simple fact that I or anyone else in my line of work have to deal with. As I stare at the glassy-eyed corpse, one of the first things that Eina ever told me and subsequently the first piece of advice I've received upon arriving in this world:

"Adventurers shouldn't go on adventures."

I slowly make my way over to the dead body, the glassy eyes almost tracking me as I close in on the corpse.

I kneel down and, as gently as I could, I flip him over onto his back, his face set in a perpetual scream. I ignore the sounds his organs make as I twist him around. The sword in his grasp falls away, his fingers loosely holding it despite his death.

The first time, I didn't bother looking. I just killed the monster and ran as fast as I could.

The next day, the girl was gone.

The stairway to the Fifth Floor is just up ahead. If I go down, this guy probably won't be here when I come back.

With slow movements, I close his screaming, silent mouth and gently close his eyelids, making it seem like he went asleep more than anything else despite his lower half effectively gone.

I pick up his sword, giving it a good look over. I could probably sell this or even use it if I really wanted to. It's a simple longsword, but clean and sharp.

I gently lay the sword down onto his chest.

I know no one will know if I take it. But this guy went down fighting. He should at least be given that much.

And then it strikes me.

How old is this kid? He looked older before I closed his eyelids, but now…

He couldn't be older than 17. Maybe 18 at most.

"Who sends a kid down here?"

I could feel something akin to acidic bile rise in my throat with every word I spoke and every moment I spent looking at the kid in front of me, I could feel my heart hammer against my chest in rapid angry beats.

From what I know, Familia's are groups run by Gods and everyone in a Familia has something called a 'Falna' which the God in question bestows upon their followers or 'children' as I've heard some call it. I don't know how a 'Falna' works but it's more or less required to go into the Dungeon.

Apparently, something bestowed upon by the Gods wasn't enough to save this poor kid.

Gods. I hope I never meet one for as long as I'm here.

Shaking my head, I slowly stepped over the body and made my way towards the staircase lower into the Dungeon.

I can't get distracted for too long. I don't know how long it'll take for the monsters to respawn, but I know it won't be any time soon. This kid seems to have exhausted this bit of the Dungeon before the Dungeon Lizard got the drop on him.

I take a quick glance at my HUD:

HP: 21

MP:40

Probably due to my high WIS stat, but my MP regenerates fairly quickly compared to my HP. If I had to guess, that might have to do with my low END stat.

I wonder if that would increase the regen rate of my HP or my HP in total? I'll probably never know though. I have no interest in experimenting with my HP of all things.

Raising my hand over my arm, I open my mouth and say:

"Soothing Waters."

My MP starts going down steadily as if being drained. At that moment, a large globule of water forms into existence and splashes itself onto my arm.

I try not to hiss at the sensation of the cold water seeping through my clothes and my skin, chilling me down to the bone. A quick glance told me that my HP had started going back up, already hitting 30 and that my MP had gone down to 20.

I don't know why I only have these three spells. I didn't make them or thought them up. I only realised that I had them during my first day of being here which was…

Well, I rather not think about that day.

I force myself to move forward, leaving the body of another dead Adventurer behind me.

.

.

HP: 60

MP: 70

"That should be good enough," I mutter to myself and pull myself up from the stone cold floor. I check over myself once last time before I set off.

My clothes are just as clean as when I got here despite what I've put them through. No crusty blood marks or soaking patches due to Soothing Waters. One of the benefits of being a video game character I suppose along with a couple of others.

Unlike the Floors above me, the Sixth Floor is a drastic change. Unlike the dark blue walls and wide corridors, the stone walls had changed to a light green colour and the wide corridors are absent in exchange for twists, turns and multiple paths. It would be easy to get lost and end up in a dead end. At which point Goblins start to spawn from the ceiling and literally drop on your head.

That was a fun day.

"Time."

A blue box appears in front of me with the numbers 13:43.

I get up at 6 sharp, so I've been down here about 7 hours, more or less. Probably would've been here faster but that Dungeon Lizard from before kinda shocked me.

Most Adventurers don't go in as early as I do which is precisely why I go in so early. If I go in late mornings or early afternoons like most people do, I wouldn't have a solid grasp on the respawns of the monsters.

That and…

I've seen some very seedy Adventurers. Some I wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley let alone the Dungeon. I suppose one benefit of living in a well-known pub is that you can get a pretty good grasp on whose trustworthy or not simply by how much they drink and what they say or do around attractive women.

In wine lies truth. Or beer in this case.

As I walk among the closing, light green corridors of the Dungeon, the only sounds that I can hear are the sounds of my footsteps reverbing against the stone walls ever so slightly. Every step is accompanied by another one, a phantom echo that makes it seem like someone was walking with me.

Or walking towards me.

My heart goes thump thump, pumping blood in my veins that rush to my ears. My eyes dart wildly onto every surface, on every wall and never keeping still on just one light green wall.

Then I see something up ahead.

"Oh, what the fuck."

An intersection that splits off to three hallways. One to the left, right and straight on.

Was this here yesterday? Last time, it was mostly a straight path with a few split off hallways here and there. I never bothered going off exploring and just focused on going deeper into the Dungeon. Did I just not notice or have I twisted myself around?

Actually, how far have I been walking? I've only encountered the odd Goblin group or Kobold so far.

No War Shadows to almost kill me again.

"Bloody bollocks," I mutter under my breath. I twist my head to each direction, raking my brain for something.

This isn't good. I don't have anything to mark the hallways with and they all look the same. If I didn't have my back to where I came, I'm pretty sure I would get lost in an inst-

The sound of stone cracking open like an egg echoes out as a rattle that shoves itself into my brain.

The sound came from behind me.

I snap around to see a figure shuffle its way out of the green Dungeon wall as if being birthed by the very stone itself. The messy 'afterbirth' is heralded as the figure turns its face to stare up at me.

Except it doesn't have a face. The whole figure is completely smooth pitch black with a single large silver oval thing in its head that could be called its 'face'. Its head is in the shape of a cross and its arms, almost as long as its lanky black body that ended in three sharp talons. It was like a living shadow built to kill.

Though I have to stare down to look at the War Shadow, I feel my body take a step back all by itself.

Then the wall starts to crack again.

From the opposite wall, another War Shadow slithers out, a picture-perfect copy of its 'brother'.

The two War Shadows look at me with their emotionless silver disks. Their only movement being the stretching of their three sharp talons on each long, black arms.

I don't hesitate.

"Earth Spikes!"

Three sharp stakes of rock snap off from the walls of the Dungeon and spear through the air as if shot from a gun, straight towards one of the War Shadows.

Movements that resembled more like swimming rather than running, the War Shadow weaves under the three rock spear tips while the second one leaps towards me with nary a sound, its talons outstretched in a massive downward swing.

It barely misses me as I force all the strength in my legs to leap backwards, my muscles firing off all unison as the black claw swings downward and slices into the stone.

The other one from behind, the first War Shadow, rushes me like a rabid animal with its arms outstretched.

"Earth Spikes!"

From behind me, three sharp rocks fire off yet again and race towards the sprinting War Shadow. It leaps towards the side, but the spray of black oily liquid that squirts out of its shoulder tells me that enough.

The two War Shadows go back to standing up to their full height and just stare at me blankly with those silver disk. The one with a bleeding shoulder ignores it, a somewhat large gash currently bleeding some sort of black liquid. The flexing of its talons though told me the wound either wasn't that fatal or it just didn't care.

I resist the urge to cast Earth Spikes again. I need to let my MP regen as much as it can before I start flinging that spell again.

I run out of MP, I die.

God, I hate being a spell caster some times.

With only a sudden stiffness to alert me, the uninjured War Shadow shoots off to my left.

I snap my body around and like last time, my legs shoot off the ground-

Something displaces the air behind me with a quiet whoosh.

I don't get the chance to look as I feel something smash against my ribs and I'm lifted off the ground by the force. My vision swims swirls and spins wildly as my body is forced careering against the stone cold floor until I feel myself smash against a wall.

HP: 3

MP: 55

Well, that isn't good.

I lie motionless on the ground, feeling little more than just a numbness that spreads throughout my body. The War Shadow that I had lost sight of slowly shambles its way towards me while the other one at the end of the corridor follows suit.

"Inventory," I whisper under my breath and a familiar blue screen filled with boxes pops in front of me. The bleeding War Shadow looms over me, its emotionless silver disk staring down at me for but a moment.

It raises its shadowy talons.

"Earth Spikes!"

I was already moving when two stalagmites of rocks stake the War Shadow through the shoulders and the third one goes right through the raised talon and pinned it against the wall opposite me.

Shoving my hand through the knife in my inventory, I feel its comforting weight on my hand and my tight grip turns my knuckles white.

Spurts of black oily blood splash onto my face as I roughly thrust my knife through the smooth neck of the War Shadow and the sharp tip poking out the end of its neck, oily liquid bubbling forth like a broken tap.

Out of the corner my vision, I see the other War Shadow suddenly sprint towards me, its black knife-like talons reaching to gut me like a fish.

Grabbing the dead War Shadow's body, a disgusting wet rip of flesh invades my ears as I separate the body from its pinned talon, thick black oil sprays showers down onto me.

With as much force as I could muster, I throw the handless corpse of its brother at the War Shadow who, just like last time, leaps to the left.

"Earth Spikes!"

But unlike last time, it was already in motion when three sharp stalagmites of rock shot towards it.

Three satisfying thuds of flesh being stabbed ring like music to my ears as I look at the War Shadow, unable to do anything, its chest is pierced with two Earth Spikes with the third one going straight through its blank silver disk of a face. Oily black blood pours forth with some sort of glug glug noise.

It didn't even hit the ground as its whole body disintegrates to ash, dropping a pebble size magic stone.

My lungs feel like they're going to explode with each breath that I take. Every beat of my rapid heart bangs against my rib cage and rings out in my ears, my face feeling like it's been ignited.

I could only take two more gasps as my legs give way to underneath me and I land on my arse right onto the rocky ground.

With a shaky breath, I cast Soothing Waters twice in a row and the bone-chilling sensation calms down my raging heart if only a little. With a sigh, I watch my green bar slowly filling up to safe levels again but my MP to almost drop down to 0.

I scan my surroundings wildly in case of any more openings and keep my ears open despite the ringing in them.

...Wait a minute.

I look down one hallway.

And then the next.

And the next.

And the next.

"...Which way did I come from?"

None of the walls had any of the tall tale markings when the War Shadows were birthed from. The Dungeon always closes the tears when it does that and I can't find any of my Earth Spikes.

Forcing myself up with a grunt, I walk to the centre of the intersection and kneel down to pick up the two pebble size magic stones.

Only to find something extra as well.

With a frown, I reach down and pick up a thin, small black...talon?

The talon of a War Shadow?

Is this suppose to happen? I thought if the body was damaged enough or the magic stone was severed, the monster would turn into ash. Why would it leave something behind?

Opening up my inventory, I click on a box with the black talon and I watch as the monster piece quite literally disappears into thin air and a small image of it shows up in a box. I click on the box and a blue screen spring to life in front of me:

[War Shadow's Finger Blade.

A finger blade of a War Shadow you killed. Sharp and black as night, you very nearly didn't see it coming until it was too late.

Uses:?]

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know.

Damn, is this a normal thing to happen? Did Eina mention this during one of her lectures?

I really should've listened to her more outside of what the Dungeon is and its monster spawn.

Oh, she is going to have my arse after this. She already blew her fucking top when I off handly mentioned to her that I went down to the Third Floor on my second day.

Speaking of which…

I stand up fully and I scan my surroundings to find myself presented with four hallways.

Four identical hallways.

"...Which way did I come from?"

...Fuck me.

A one in two chance for it to either be another room or a dead end.

A Floor a day.

That's the goal I've set myself. The goal that'll get me back home.

I don't know how many Floors this Dungeon has.

No one does.

The lowest anyone has gone in recent times are the Floors that number in the 50s by the Loki Familia, which is why I know about them.

If I go down a Floor a day, I can get home sooner rather than later. There can't be more than a hundred floors in this fucking thing.

I don't belong here. I will never belong here. The faster I get home, the better.

HP: 45

MP:13

I have one Earth Spike left in me, maybe two if I let my MP regenerate.

I can feel my grip tighten around my knife dripping with black ichor.

A Floor a day.

*Continued on next chapter*