I felt vibrations in the ground, since the tiger must have roared. My sword somehow slipped through what was before now an iron defense and cut into its leg. Did I finally get a good blow in?
The tiger limped on its now injured paw. I could still feel the vibrations. Its mouth hung open in clear hostility towards me.
'I'm sorry I can't hear you, you're wasting your breath.'
My eyes zeroed in on a point of flesh on its side. I knew that if I could just hit there that I could win. My body seemed to move on its own. I stepped closer to the tiger and ducked under the paw that was the size of my face with my sword stretched out before me.
Another step brought me closer to the tiger's body. The sword slipped between two ribs and as if I was cutting butter. The vibrations stopped and the weight of the tiger suddenly crushed me into the wet grass below. Did I finally use up all of my luck?
I waited for the inevitable. The moment the tiger would use its giant claws to rip me limb from limb, but the body that was impossibly heavy shuddered once before settling upon me. The heartbeat that was strong under its fur stopped.
A sense of relief welled up within me, but the weight of the tiger made it short lived.
'You could seriously lose some weight. What have you been eating?'
Since I had basically flung my body under the tiger in order to skewer it, my legs and hips were caught under it.
I let go of the sword and fell back onto the ground. The tiger was dead and since this was a boss floor it was highly unlikely that anything else would attack me. My bag dug into my back so I slipped it off my shoulders and set it beside me.
The ceiling of this floor looked like a cloudy sky. I could tell it was going to rain, but I was too tired. Why had that thing sent me to this floor of the dungeon after showing me the hidden tower? Was it calling me weak?
I definitely was weak. I was weak in my previous life and although I was stronger now, I still was at the beginner level in this one. I had so many questions about the system and why dungeons suddenly appeared in my world; about why I was suddenly sent back to the past and who was manipulating the significant progress being made this time around.
Asking the system anything was hit or miss and now I had a whole new set of problems. Someone or something was definitely manipulating the system. They were probably the one or one of the ones who caused the dungeon system to appear in the first place.
My fear that this whole thing was probably just some form of entertainment for a sick individual seemed like a fair assumption, given what I had been told in the white room. I also felt the gnawing fear of what exactly they wanted from me. I was entertainment, some sick show for someone's amusement.
It was clear that if I did not perform well enough that the outbreaks would be my punishment. This was all planned out to force us into the dungeons. It all made sense now. The materials from the dungeon were life changing for our society. That was our reward.
I dug my fingers into the dirt and grass in frustration. All of that death and destruction for some game? And now it dangled the possibility of getting those lost back. It was cruel. I knew I would do anything. I was responsible for bringing Kei into the dungeon that day. It was me. I was the reason his family could not see that carefree face anymore.
I did not have anyone to miss me if I died, so it should have been me.
My bag glowed faintly beside me. My attention turned to the bag and a screen-like prompt popped up.
[Collect dropped items? Y/N]
So my reward this time was a new feature for my bag? I felt sick as I pressed on the yes. The tiger on top of me disappeared in a whirl of light as it was sucked into my bag. The bag I had received for getting the best time.
It seemed all the careful actions I took to remain unnoticed had drawn the attention of something else and now I was their plaything. For now I would have to keep playing the game as I collected information.
If there was a way…. No, I shook my head as I got to my feet. I would find a way to end this nightmare for everyone. So that I did not have to watch as friends died in front of me. So that the peace we once enjoyed could be realized once more.
I entered the exit and two circles were now in the room. The white circle would send me back to the white room, but the blue circle would send me to the next floor. It was like whomever sent me to this dungeon wanted to show off that they uploaded a DLC for a game I was playing.
Without hesitation I took the circle that would lead me back to the white room that I had started to refer to as the waiting room in my head. I'm sure that entity would love for me to go to the next floor, but I was too injured to continue at this rate.
[Congratulations on successfully using your Secret Skill: Secret of the Returner! Rewards for being the first one to successfully use Secret of the Returner will appear in your backpack. Would you like to enter the dungeon again?]
My eyes narrowed at the screen. It was the usual green text of the system. I almost expected that blue text to show up again, but nothing happened. I guess it didn't want to talk anymore. I headed to the doorway of faintly glowing light and returned to the dungeon lobby.
"Hey, are you ok? That injury looks bad!" A man about to enter the lobby jumped back at my sudden appearance.
"I'm ok. The boss on the second floor is rough to handle alone. Be careful." I forced a smile on my face and quickly left the scene of gawking faces.
"She took on the fearsome second floor boss alone! She must be highly ranked!"
"So cool! I'm gonna be that awesome too!"
There were a lot of younger looking hunters there. A lot of them looked newly minted. Of course I would make a scene covered in blood if I left like this. It was becoming a regular scene in the city now. However, those new to the dungeon were still getting used to it.
The clinic scanner sent me directly into a patient room this time. I held a bandage to the wound as soon as I realized I was bleeding in the dungeon lobby. I felt bad for dirtying the floor, but the dungeon seemed to be able to suck up anything on the floor almost instantaneously.
The thick pad of bandages was almost soaked through by the time a doctor walked in with two trailing assistants.
"I'm gonna have to cut through that armor. Is that ok?" The doctor took out a pair of scissors with a green sheen on them. It seemed the clinic had been ordering medical supplies made from monster materials as well.
I nodded and the doctor peeled back the bandage and began cutting away my armor and the shirt I wore underneath it. He took what looked like a spray bottle and began spraying a mist over my wound. An irritating burning sensation spread over the wound.
"This is gonna sting, but it should be numb shortly."
I nodded my head once more and gritted my teeth. I could already feel the numbing tendrils penetrate the area. Soon I was able to relax as the clinking of instruments on a tray reached my ears.
"Was this from the second floor of the Silver City Dungeon?"
"Yes." I looked into the blue eyes of the doctor and tensed up slightly.
"I have been treating the wounds of many hunters because of that beast. Please don't tell me you entered alone?"
I looked away from the doctor's prying eyes. How could I risk hurting someone else? In the first place I didn't even choose to go there, but explaining that the dungeon forced me to go there probably would start a panic.
For some reason, I was the only one who seemed to have this ability to teleport to the various dungeons. Or, at least, no one else who had this ability had revealed it. Kei had never even seen the white waiting room I was always sent to. There were too many things I couldn't explain.
"I didn't have anyone to take with me." It was a pathetic excuse.
If I had wanted to go in with someone else I could have just gone to the bulletin board where everyone else gathered to form parties.