The dungeon is as enchanting as the sweet nectar that entices clever flowers to attract insects. Its allure remains unchanged, even though that honey is poisonous, capable of bringing about death.
【Excerpt from the “Collection of Maxims by Nameless Adventurers” 】
“That’s a lie. Definitely a lie. What honey, you dumbass”
The boy tried to recall where he had heard those words, but his thoughts couldn’t coalesce. His mind was foggy, and his body ached, pleading for rest, sustenance, and sleep.
But he could not afford any of that. He walked desperately along the dim, narrow path. He had to, or else he would die.
“GYAGYAGYA!!”
Something grotesque approached him from behind. It resembled a human form, yet was small like a child, with a hideous, flattened nose and a single small horn atop its head. It was a goblin, a creature known as an enemy of humanity, extending its dull-gleaming claws, dragging its body through the dungeon as it approached the back of the young boy.
“GYAAAAAAAA！！！！”
“Shut up…!”
A dull thud reverberated, but it did not come from the boy; it came from the goblin’s body.
It was a slender spear held tightly in the boy’s right hand. He had found it in this underground corridor, the “Dungeon.” Perhaps someone had forgotten it, or it was an abandoned relic from a past death. The boy swung it and impaled the goblin.
“GYA!?”
He brought the spear down on a second goblin, which was surprised by his counterattack. The spear must have been old and worn from the start. It creaked and snapped from the center, breaking into two pieces. Observing the broken tip with a resentful expression, the boy gripped the fractured end with the remains of the spear.
“GAAAAAAAAAA!!”
Even after losing two of its companions, the last remaining goblin continued its assault, unwavering in its intent to kill. It was undoubtedly an enemy of humanity. The goblin swung its claws toward the boy’s head. The boy positioned the broken spear horizontally to defend himself. It cracked. The remaining part of the handle had long surpassed its durability limit. It fractured, shattered, and the claws reached out toward the boy’s head.
“…!!!”
By some instinctual reflex or mere chance, the boy managed to dodge the attack. As the handle shattered, he fell forward, tilting his body down, successfully avoiding the claws. He pushed the goblin’s body aside and seized the other broken spear’s dull blade with his bare hand.
“Yaaaaah!!!”
“GAAAAAAAA!?”
The blade struck, but, perhaps due to having lost its function as a spear, failed to pierce the goblin’s body completely. Nonetheless, the boy held onto the embedded blade, lowered his posture, and charged forward with his entire body. The impact against the nearby wall crushed the goblin, causing the blade to pierce its body and destroy its entrails.
“GA!!!?”
With a jump, the goblin’s body convulsed, then fell lifeless.
“…Thought I was a goner.”
The boy slowly rose to his feet and leaned against the wall, feeling light-headed. He nursed his right hand, which had held the blade, groaning in pain. Meanwhile, the bodies of the three goblins swiftly disintegrated, as if melting into the dungeon. In their place, three bluish-purple stones rolled across the ground—crystals containing magical power known as “magic stones.” The boy looked at them, pondered momentarily what to do, glanced up at the ceiling, sighed, and with his uninjured left hand, picked up the magic stones and stashed them in his pocket. Then, he resumed his journey.
“If I get back, I’ll never explore a dungeon again.”
Uttering this bitter complaint, the boy—Ur—continued walking.
The circumstances that led him to face such hardships dated back several days.
◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆
Age of the Great Dungeon Flood
Isralia Continent
The Dungeon City of Sin, Greed
Dungeons overflowed from the depths, monsters overflowed, and humans lost a significant portion of their dominion. In the limited land that remained, a diverse array of humans coexisted with the higher beings known as spirits.
The boy named Ur was so-called “Nameless,” a wanderer who roamed between cities, unable to live within the safe confines of the city. How did he end up falling into the underground dungeon? The initial trigger was the death of his father from an illness.
1. His father revealed his debt on his deathbed.
“You truly were a good-for-nothing, but I’ll at least give you a decent burial.” -Ur.
” I’m sorry that these will be my final words but, Ur… the truth is, I had your little sister Akane became collateral for the debt.” -Ur’s Father
“What??” -Ur
2. Caught by debt collectors.
“Sorry, take care of Aka-..….” -Ur’s Father
“What? Wait, don’t fucking die before I kill you! …..Seriously, you died.” -Ur
“Heeey, debt collector here! Is there any trash around~!!” -Debt Collector
“That was fast.” -Ur
3. Forced into slave labor in the dungeon mines surrounding the City of Sin, Greed.
“Your dumbass old man used your sister as collateral for his debt. It’s a legitimate contract. Look, here’s the documents.” -Debt Collector
“I’ll work and repay the debt, so please spare my sister.” -Ur
“It’s 10 gold coins ya’ know?” -Debt Collector
“I’ll kill that father of mine for real.” -Ur
“He’s already dead, though.” -Ur
In this way, Ur and his sister’s fates swiftly and effortlessly plummeted into the abyss. Ur was separated from his sister, forced to venture into the dungeon to hunt monsters and excavate “magic stones,” the energy resource for city operations that could be obtained within the dungeon.
Needless to say, hunting monsters in the dungeon was dangerous.
Even adventurers who made a living by hunting monsters would gather in groups, equip themselves, and choose relatively safe monsters to defeat. However, the same could not be said for this workplace. They were not provided with decent equipment.
In other words, it was an exploitative working environment. If he continued working here as it was, sooner or later, he would be dead. Ur understood this very well.
However, the ten gold coins from his sister’s sale were an amount that could never be accumulated with the meager wages he earned here.
He had to do something.
“If you’re so desperate to repay the debt, I have a good job for you.”
It was at that moment when a proposition was made to Ur by the hobbit who oversaw the prospecting of this dungeon. [1]
According to him, deep within a separate, small-scale dungeon apart from the dungeon where Ur and the others worked, there had been a reaction that seemed to indicate a dungeon “Core”. His request was for them to act as scouts and explore the depths.
Why did such a request come to Ur? Because no one else wanted to do it.
The fact that there was a core meant that there was a “Ruler.” Even among the dangerous monsters, these were exceptionally perilous ones that protected a dungeon’s core. Even though it was a small-scale dungeon, the risks remained the same.
No one who knew of the threat wanted to go there.
And thus, the story reached Ur.
“If you’re going to go and scout, I’ll give you a silver coin just for that. It’s a far better deal than your current wages, right?” – Hobbit Manager
“I’ll go if you promise to clear my debt once I bring back the core.” -Ur
“Bastard, who the fuck do you think you’re trying to extort?” – Hobbit Manager
Ur was punched in the face by a beastman who seemed to be the man’s guard. His nose bled, but Ur didn’t mind.
“I won’t go unless you promise.” -Ur
With a steadfast gaze, Ur stared back at his employer, who peered up with a stern expression from below due to his short stature, a special trait of Hobbits. As someone who had lived as a “Nameless”, being belittled and extorted was an everyday occurrence for Ur, and thus, he knew it well, in such situations, he couldn’t afford to take even a single step back.
“Ha, fine. Give it a try. You’ll probably die.” -Hobbit Manager
(After all, he would die working here anyway.)
Ur swallowed these words he had prepared and nodded.
“I’ll do it.” -Ur
And so, a challenge that bordered on recklessness began.
Ur understood all too well that this choice was an overwhelmingly bad gamble. However, if he continued like this, he would slowly weaken and die. He was confident of that. Those who had been pioneers of his predicament had already become silent bones which lie on the ground. It was a desperate gamble for him, who was cornered.
These are the events that led him to him ending up exploring the depths of the underground dungeon alone.
When considering the circumstances in which he had fallen into the dungeon, a crucible of evil and desire, it was quite frankly a somewhat clichéd tale.
Indeed, the boy named Ur was undeniably ordinary, having lived his life thus far without anything exceptional happening to him. The only one who could truly be called “special” in any sense was his younger sister.
And so, just like countless other ordinary individuals who had succumbed to the depths of the dungeon, he was supposed to join the ranks of nameless corpses, marked by tombstones.
Little did he know that this gamble, this decision, would determine the fate of
himself,
his sister,
the dungeon,
the dragon,
the hero, the demon king, the spirits, God, the world,
and everything else, as they were all swept away in the torrents of destiny.
But at this point in time, he was utterly unaware of what lay in store for him.
TL Note(s)
[1] I chose hobbit as the translation for 小人, but that’s just because that seemed to be the best way to get the idea for what type of race he his.
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