I simply realized that I was being watched when I had decided to simply go and look out of the window.
I mean, I am a new resident of this world so I did feel like wanting to see it for myself but I simply came back in the room the moment I felt those gazes.
I confirmed that I was being watched when I ordered my takeaways. Every time I went to take my takeaway and stepped out of the room, I felt those gazes, scrutinizing me.
And I have no idea who they are.
Noah, just what kind of trouble are you in?
Anyway, let's forget about them. Losing those people would be easy.
I have been doing stuff like that for a long time.
Let's get to the main point.
So for you see, my condition worsened, or more accurately, it seems like trying to mess with my already messed brain ended up being counter-productive.
I still should have had some time left before my death at least according to Noah's prediction but guess I worsened it by trying to control my brain.
I mean, what could have possibly gone wrong?
It's a given when you try to use damaged product, it becomes even more damaged!
Noah's brain was like a fragile piece of glass which was on the verge of breaking and I like a dumbass grabbed that glass without any consideration and ...fu*ked up.
Well, in my defense it was my first time using mana. So what if there exists a body memory? I myself have never done this shit. It was a given something wrong would happen.
Besides, I am pressed on time. I have no idea about those stalkers, the academy is soon going to start and the main plot is along with it.
And I am in a body that's dying.
My actions are justifiable.
Ahem.
Next time, I will do it right.
Wearing the protection necklace and the dimensional ring I had bought as I left my apartment, an apartment which looked like a mess, I hadn't cleaned it since coming here, and during the time I was inspecting the place I turned this place upside down. I mean, I found Noah's diary thanks to that.
Leaving the apartment, I made my way towards the car that was waiting for me.
I booked a cab. Why? 'coz the place I have to go is pretty far away.
As I sat down in the car I looked at the driver's seat. There was no one there.
Yes! Finally, automated cars!
You did one thing good fantasy world!
No need to deal with other people!
Besides, if not for the automated car I wouldn't have been able to go to the hidden dungeon.
You see, this hidden dungeon is located in a forest, a forest filled with beasts.
Beasts, as I have once said are creatures who once used to be normal animals but became more dangerous and scary after 'The Great Disaster'.
So the thing is, no one would want to go near that forest, more so, when it's in the middle of the night.
That's right, it's the middle of the night.
Who said you can't work during the night!? I sure am gonna!
Oh, you may be wondering how could a forest filled with beasts not be a restricted area.
Duh, it's a restricted area.
I am gonna trespass.
As for what are beasts? Well, they are just animals, people just changed their names to beasts after they evolved thanks to mana. They become more ferocious, dangerous, and larger in size.
I looked at the sky through the window.
Oh, wait? Did I ever mention we have got 2 moons here? Typical fantasy cliche.
But that wasn't important, what is important are the 7 pillars that I can see, they seemed to stretch as high as the eye could see.
That's right, these 7 pillars were so damn big that I could see them from here.
What are these 7 pillars? Well, they are dungeons located in 7 different places in each domain of each race.
Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Beastfolks, Vampires and Demons. Makes a total of 6 species. So you might be wondering what's the 7th one.
That's still not clear.
You see, there's an island. An island where exists this 7th specie but no one knows shit about them. Why? Because anyone who went there never returned. Any cameras or drones used didn't capture shit about the insides of the island.
There have never been any attacks from that place. I mean, no one got caught leaving that place. Of course, everyone was curious about the island and tried many things until everyone finally gave up.
So, yeah. It's a mystery, no one knows what exists there.
In the novel, the island wasn't explored either but that doesn't matter to me!
And as you might know, recently I asked my system to make a map of the whole world.
That's why, I know exactly what's there.
And man, am I gonna rob that place to oblivion.
Ah, but not now. Time is not right.
Ah, sleepy...
I stretched my hand into the air as I tried to stifle my yawn.
I felt like I would really end up falling asleep if I didn't keep my mind preoccupied with something. I had taken the potion before leaving so I should be fine even if I don't sleep but the 'wanting' to sleep emotion can't be erased.
Let's think about something for now.
'When it's not morning it's night.'
'In every 60 seconds, a minute passes.'
'Why's there a D in the fridge but not in the refrigerator?'
'How did I end up in this guy's body?'
'How much time has passed in my world?'
'Has the manga already ended?'
'Will I be able to binge a lot of chapters when I finally get back home?'
I kept thinking about stupid stuff until I realized something even more stupid.
Goodness, gracious...
I mean, you know... I am going to go and kill some monsters.
What? what's the problem?
Well...
I know this world is different and values here are a bit different but still..
I mean, I am consciously going into a hidden dungeon of my own accord to kill monsters. Let's say, if you stumble upon a wild animal in a jungle, what do you expect it to do? Greet you. Duh, it will try to kill you.
Basically, I am going to kill monsters for my own sake.
Killing people for your own sake.
What's the difference between the two? Both sound like murder.
What? In one case, it's not human.
Animal murdering is a thing you get arrested for, you know. Well, not like they are animals, so they don't have animal rights, I think?
Then again, it's not like it mattered much to me. Except for the fact that this was going to be my first time killing a monster I didn't really care for other things.
To begin with, the answer to whether it's okay to kill monsters or not is simple. As long as the world allows it who gives a damn.
After some time passed I finally arrived at the destination.
I left the car and it went away probably to its next customer.
Now then.
"System-san, can you go and look for a route to the hidden dungeon with no beasts and no people so that I can enter it."
[On it! o7]
In a matter of a few seconds, the system came back.
[Here's the map]
"Alright, let's go"
I said as I took out one of my daggers.
What? Why am I taking out my weapon on a secured route?
Well, it's because the system doesn't make a real-time map. The once safe route might now have beasts there. So, just in case.
I didn't fail to notice the gazes watching over me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My worries proved to be unnecessary, nothing really happened. I didn't have to encounter any beast on my way to the hidden dungeon.
I stood in front of a blue-colored portal.
My ticket inside the hidden dungeon.
"Hey, system-san. You really can't go inside it?"
[Not unless you go inside first. This is the 5th time you have asked this. Why are you making me feel incompetent? TwT ]
..
I ignored it.
Apparently, the system can't go inside it unless I go into this hidden dungeon first. Well, not like it matters since I knew what this hidden dungeon is like from the inside because of the novel.
I put my dagger back in the ring.
"Well, there are only two things that are happening. Either I am dying or I am living"
I cracked my neck as I stepped inside the blue portal leading me to the dungeon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As I entered the portal my vision blurred and I felt as if my body was being stretched and shredded into pieces.
This is quite a peculiar experience...
The feeling lasted only for an instant and I was soon greeted with a sight of a purple screen.
{You have entered a hidden dungeon! Congrats on finding it!
To clear this hidden dungeon you will have to kill the monster located inside a hidden room in this dungeon. Good luck!
Time remaining - 30 Days}
Soon after, the screen disappeared.
Yup, just like in the novel. It's the same theme.
What theme? Well, all hidden dungeons have different themes. It will be easier to understand later down the line rather than me explaining.
For now, let's focus.
Because right now, I am seriously in a dungeon that is crawling with monsters.
Alright, I circulated the mana inside my body and took control of it.
It was easier to move mana in my body compared to my brain and when I say easier, I mean way too easier.
And you see, my condition is pretty worse. I can't even move properly, more like my head's hurting really bad.
Honestly, I wouldn't have come inside this dungeon with this body even if it's a do-or-die. I mean, wouldn't it be useless to come here if you can't walk properly? How will you even fight?
But the common sense of my world doesn't work here.
You see, I wanted to control my brain but it didn't work out like I wanted but remember when I said it's easier to control mana inside my body when compared to my brain?
Yeah, so I am doing that.
I am using the mana in the form of strings attached to my body.
Do you get that? No matter how much a puppet is damaged as long as it's attached to its strings you can move it just fine.
That's what I am doing too.
Like controlling a character of a game using your game controller.
Usually, people move themselves consciously but here I am, moving the mana consciously to move my body.
It kind of feels weird and uncomfortable.
Okay, that was a lie. Feels hella weird and uncomfortable!
There's even lag when I move.
Not like I have a choice.
You might think that using mana like this would drain me of all my mana pretty fast but that's not true.
Mana is like blood. As long as I don't bring mana outside of my body it won't drain.
So, yeah I am fine in that department.
'Time to take a look around...' I thought as I decided to observe my surroundings.
What should I say? This place needs some lightening maintenance. The only source of light in the dungeon is its walls which were emitting faint glows. The visibility here isn't good.
I pulled my night vision goggles and wore them.
'Yup, way better but..'
Yikes.
The quiet eerie silence that enveloped this place definitely gave it the vibe of the haunted house except it's more gloomy, more creepier. The air surrounding me felt cold and most of all, this place gave me the feeling of being thrown into a detached world where life is almost ..bleak, exhausted.
That's all I can say about this place.
"System-san, check out the whole place, find the location of the boss room, make a map, and mark the places with monsters"
[Got it!]
The system left.
That's right, if you were wondering how the hell am I gonna clear this hidden dungeon which has a time limit of 30 days fast enough to not die, then it's because now that I have entered the hidden dungeon, the system can go and scout the whole place.
Unlike the villain in the novel, who wandered all around the place and stumbled across lots of monsters while trying to find the boss room, I don't have to worry about that stuff.
Truly, finding out about the system is the greatest thing I have done in my 16 years of life.
'Alright then, time to get to work~'
I turned around to see an amorphous creature hiding behind a pillar watching me. The name of the monster is slime. It's sized around an elementary school kid's bag. It started to run away.
Without wasting time, I pulled my assault rifle to kill the running slime. Slimes are weak monsters, so they are cautious and only prefer sneak attacks, so when they are found, they decide to run away.
Slimes are transparent globs of sticky gel that are small in size. No matter how much you try to cut or smash the gel it won't die. The only way to kill the slimes is to damage the small brain you see inside their body. There are no other organs inside them except their tiny brain.
Gross.
[Done]
Oh, you are back.
"Wait a minute, system-san"
I aimed toward the brain of the running slime monster and pulled the trigger.
Swish~
The sound of the bullet as it cut through the air entered my ears.
The slime stopped moving.
I looked at the monster's corpse, I could sell it for money.
The sticky gel is actually useful.
But..
Yikes, I ain't touching it. If the fact that thing there is a corpse isn't enough then its transparent brain which is visible and is gross as hell to look at is enough for me to not touch it.
I am rich anyway!
"!"
Huh? What?
All of a sudden I felt the sense of being watched, being watched from all the directions.
I ran towards the nearest pillar hiding behind it.
"System-san, show the map" I ordered.
Complying with my request system showed me the map of the dungeon.
Figures..
There were no monsters marked by the system around me except that one slime that I killed. I tried to take a peek by poking out my head a bit.
Swish!
A spike grazed past me and I hid behind the pillar once again.
Yikes. It's a hidden dungeon for a reason.
These monsters must have been summoned after I killed that slime. After all, the system made the map first and I killed the slime after. The system doesn't make a real-time map either. So that's the only possible explanation.
Anyways, the spike that flew past me is a solid gel. Slimes are able to shoot it from their body not to mention they can stick themselves on walls at any angle and they are hiding right now. I don't even know if it's only Slimes that got summoned.
It's gonna be annoying.
"System-san, mark all of the monsters near me again."
[Understood]
I waited for the system and it came back pretty fast.
[Here]
"And these are all monsters that are G-ranked, right?"
[Cannot disclose the information unless you confront them.]
"Name of all these monsters?"
[Slimes.]
Guess, the dungeon only called for slimes.
It should have been clear by now but yeah, the system can't tell me the rank of any monster not unless I see them for myself.
I already had a talk with the system, so I knew about it. But I wanted the confirmation. It will tell me the name of the monster though and that's more than enough for me.
I reloaded my assault rifle.
What can I say, it's time to start hunting some slimes.