Chapter 195: Unlucky Days

In the dark labyrinth permeated with the stench of death, violence loomed in every corner—no visible monster figures, yet the gaze and presence of malevolence were ever-present. Casim, an adventurer standing amidst the stone pavement saturated with uncountable amounts of blood and putrid fluids, was left stupefied.

The flickering light of torches illuminated charred corpses, their identities lost in the haze. However, the scattered belongings held a sense of familiarity.

It belonged to the woman he had considered a companion until recently.

Casim held no grudge against the party that had expelled him. Swapping members was routine among adventurers. If things didn’t work out, you kicked someone out or left yourself. Then you found new companions. Worrying or getting depressed about it was a waste of time.

If Casim was criticized for being too talkative, he was aware of it, and, if anything, he had no intention of changing. He had already considered her a stranger, but witnessing such a gruesome death shook Casim. Despite the perilous nature of this zone where a moment’s lapse led to death, his mind went blank, unable to think.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Casim?”

A newly acquired companion slapped Casim on the shoulder.

“Nah, just thinking what a horrible way to die.”

“Yeah, let’s grab what we can and get out of here.”

Saying that, the two companions began rummaging through the scattered items.

“Hey, wait…”

Stop, Casim was about to say, but he bit his tongue. The possessions of a deceased adventurer were everyone’s property; that was the unwritten rule among adventurers for survival. Telling them to stop scavenging like vultures was just Casim’s personal sentiment. In reality, if these weren’t acquaintances, Casim might have eagerly spilled the contents of the leather bag.

Casim stood still. The two companions bent down, searching through the contents of the leather bag. And that decided their fate.

Suddenly, the head of one of the companions erupted in flames. He swung his arms as if struggling for a moment but soon fell backward onto the charred corpse of the burned woman, lifeless.

The other companion turned strangely toward the illuminated corridor. A fireball collided with his face at high speed. His head burst into flames too. He stretched his arm as if seeking salvation, but all that awaited him was death.

“Ah, ahh…”

In Casim’s trembling field of vision, a large man clad in flames appeared.

His right arm, unusually enlarged, swirled flames in his palm, creating fireballs.

The flame demon slowly raised his right arm. It was only then that Casim snapped back to reality. Fortunately, the corner was nearby. Casim threw himself into it, narrowly escaping. The fireball hit the wall, causing a loud noise as it bounced off, breaking the stone wall.

Pebbles struck Casim’s head and arms, the pain reminding him of what he needed to do.

Run. If he didn’t run, he would be killed.

Casim, without hesitation, turned and fled. Three companions, three belongings, all abandoned as he ran desperately.

With a longsword in his right hand and a torch in his left, he ran. Running, he continued to gasp for breath, inhaling the foul-smelling air as he kept on running.

“Grrroooaaah!”

The monster’s roar echoed through the dungeon. Casim had no idea where he was or where the monster was.

“Darn it, why, why is this happening…”

On his way, he encountered a Skull Dead Dog, a canine monster without flesh on its head, but Casim forcefully cut it down. Fortunately, he only encountered small monsters thereafter.

“I really am a lucky boy, you damn beasts!”

How long had he been running? Several hours or maybe just tens of minutes. His sense of time had become vague. At least he was sure he had escaped from the monster. He had to think that way; otherwise, he couldn’t go on.

Further misfortune struck Casim. His field of vision gradually darkened. Looking at it, the flame of the torch was on the verge of extinction.

“Oh no…”

Casim hurriedly tried to transfer the flame to a spare torch. Then he realized it; he had left his bag behind when he fled. He remembered cutting the strap of the leather bag with his sword while running away, and Casim’s face paled.

…Discarding luggage in the depths of the dungeon, am I an idiot?

But if he hadn’t done that, the monster might have caught up to him.

Was it an excessive judgment driven by fear, or was it the right decision? At that moment, there was no time to ponder. Later arguments about what he should have done were pointless.

Was there anything, anything he could use to transfer the fire? Casim propped the nearly extinguished torch against the wall and removed the leather chest guard. It was a leather armor soaked with oil, designed to be tough. Surely, it wouldn’t hurt to let it burn.

But the leather product was too weak to burn. A single streak of smoke rose, and the flame mercilessly vanished.

“Why, why…”

Casim’s front vision went completely dark. A deafening silence, painful enough to make his ears ache, enveloped him. In the dungeon filled with a nauseating stench, even his sense of smell was distorted. Among the five senses, only the sense of touch remained, confirming the sensation of the stone wall under his fingertips.

Casim picked up the sword blindly and stood up, placing his hand on the stone wall while walking. He couldn’t believe he would be able to escape like this.

I can’t see anything; I can’t hear anything. Nevertheless, the feeling that monsters are targeting from all directions seems to grow stronger.

“Gau-gurugagau!”

A strange cry approaching from behind. Probably a Skull Dead Dog. Casim swung around in the darkness and brought down his sword. The sensation of crushing the skull transmitted to him.

“Take this!”

He swung the sword down again towards the fallen monster. Again and again. He couldn’t visually confirm the death of his opponent. He pounded the sword, fearing the phantom of the monster rising again soon.

With a clang, the sword struck the stone pavement, and Casim finally stopped moving. In the darkness, it was unclear, but the monster’s corpse had already been reduced to scattered pieces of flesh.

After managing to catch his breath, Casim tried to put his hand on the stone wall and walk again. However, his legs refused to move, petrified.

I can’t take it anymore. It’s impossible. It’s hopeless.

Casim ended up on his knees right there. Once he sat down, he couldn’t stand up anymore, and he knew that, but he sat down anyway.

“Why, why is this happening…”

Adventurers are always prepared for death; that’s a lie. Even witnessing the gruesome death of a colleague, they can irrationally convince themselves that they are different.

He wasn’t a special existence. Faced with the cruel reality at the moment of death, those two who died without even having time to think were probably happier.

He remained seated for a long time. Ignored by the Grim Reaper, or perhaps the monsters didn’t attack again.

Was it an auditory hallucination? He heard the sound of hard shoes striking the stone pavement. He listened intently, and indeed, the sound continued. It didn’t seem to be his imagination.

Ahead in the corridor, a faint light appeared. Despite being a dim light, it was too intense for Casim at the moment, so he unintentionally closed his eyes.

The footsteps stopped. Cautiously opening his eyes, there was a man tilting his head with a curious expression.

“Hey, haven’t we met somewhere before?”

The man said with a silly voice, but it didn’t register in Casim’s ears, who was trembling with emotion.

Was there a saying about a blacksmith in hell?

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