[One Week Later]
"Awww! Come on, cheer up!"
Eve's voice pierced the air as Des lay on the ground, blankly looking at the ceiling above him.
He had been like that for most of his time in the place, not even budging unless it was time to eat, or drink, or to talk to Eve. In fact, even when he spoke to her, Des did very little to move from his position.
Of course, he felt bad about all of it… but somehow, nothing changed.
Thankfully, Eve was hardly ever around.
She often came to the room very early to check up on and feed him, before leaving for somewhere. Wherever she went, Eve spent a ridiculous amount of time there before returning back to feed and check up on him again.
Once he ate to his fill, they would have a discussion mostly regarding Des and his experience on the surface.
It was during one of these sessions that he told Eve of his childhood—how his parents abandoned him, and how he had to work for the man that they owed so much money until he turned eighteen.
His story only went downhill from there as he journeyed to Freedom Town, getting robbed of all his meager valuables before he even made it to the Land of Opportunities. Still, even after all of that, Des clung to his will to live.
He struggled in the streets, engaged in a few odd jobs, and did everything he could to ensure his survival. No matter what happened, he would fulfill his goal.
—His grand dream!
'No more…'
All of those optimistic thoughts had long evaporated in the bog of despond.
Des no longer felt any shred of optimism or drive within him. He didn't want to die, but… he saw no real point in living either.
'I can't leave this place, and the dangers here are impossible for me to survive.' In his current state, the only thing he could do was rely on Eve to feed him and take care of his every need.
How long would that last, though?
The only reason he was alive was due to Eve's benevolence, but even that had its limits.
'Sooner or later, she'll grow bored with me and my stories. She'll also discard me, and I'll probably die of starvation and thirst—that is only if a Horror doesn't find and kill me first.' He constantly thought.
He simply had to wait it out and see.
"Come on, Des! You've been like this for too long! Don't tell me you plan to stay here and keep lumbering around like this till you die."
'Ahh… I get it.' He smiled to himself. 'She's already feeling the inconvenience I cause. Of course, she does.'
Who could blame her?
Here he was, eating free food that she had to hunt for. He took up free space, and he didn't contribute to anything at all. Sooner or later… she would give in to her thoughts and kick him out.
"I don't really mind this, you know? At least I can be entertained by your stories after a long day, and it's always nice to have company. So, even if you choose to remain this way… it's not really a problem for me."
Did she really mean that, though?
"I'm saying this for your sake, Des. Are you sure you want to keep living like this?"
How else could he live?
"You talk like there's another option." He finally responded, looking at her with tears filling his one eye.
Des hated relying on others because he knew the pain of being abandoned too many times. He always tried to shoulder the burden of his life by himself, but recently he realized there was only so much his weak self could handle.
He found himself relying on more and more people, and they all kept leaving him.
Even Eve would one day leave him.
"I'm a liability, don't you see? I can't walk well, and I only have one arm. I'm blindsided on one part of my body, and it's not like I have a strong constitution, to begin with."
It wasn't like Des hadn't thought of ways to help Eve, it was just that there was nothing he could do. The second he went out of the cave, he would be dead meat.
The Horrors out there were the stuff of nightmares.
He stood no chance.
Des wasn't even the type to dwell on self-pity, but this was the kind of situation where he found no other way out.
'Why? It's just misfortune after misfortune…' He wanted to cry even more, but his head was pounding again, so he had to stop.
"If not for that stupid accident… I couldn't be here. Why did it have to activate when it was my Party? Why couldn't it have just let us go to the Second Floor? Am I… cursed or something?"
There was silence in the room.
Eve stared quietly at Des as he displayed more of his pathetic self to her. After more seconds passed, she finally spoke up.
"You are not cursed, Des."
He sighed and nodded. "I know. That was just… yeah, I know it had nothing to do with me. After all, the same random occurrence transported you here too."
"Hm? Who said it was random, though?"
"H-huh?"
Des was surprised to hear Eve say this, especially after their joint experience with the trap that brought them to the depths of hell.
"I-I mean… that's the only explanation, right? Several Explorers use the same Pillar, yet nothing happens to them. There are no special qualities that tie my Party with yours—at least, none that I am aware of—so it only makes sense."
Besides, it wasn't like Des was just speaking out of assumptions or presuppositions.
Dungeons were known to be largely random and unpredictable.
Parties that entered the First Floor often spoke of varying experiences—both in terms of their encounters with Horrors and the difficulty they experienced. The only constant was the landscape, and even that could change depending on the Floor.
Dungeons remained an enigma to Natives, and that was a well-known fact.
"So you don't think there's more to the occurrence than a random effect? Not some phenomenon that has some logical and underlying cause?"
"I mean… you said it yourself. The bones you found here were ancient, and you calculated some to date at least a few hundred years. The youngest one you found was about only ten years before you arrived, which means their deaths don't correlate with your arrival."
"There could be an earlier death that we are unaware of, though."
"Sure, but what about you? You're not dead yet, so why am I here? Tying the death of the previous victim to the arrival of the next doesn't seem to be the cause, and I honestly don't see any cause in sight." Des sighed, shaking his head.
"There are too many mysteries surrounding Dungeons that there's no use trying to figure out why the trap keeps appearing after a seemingly random passage of time and bringing Explorers to this place to die. There's no point!"
"...."
Des felt bad for raising his voice, especially after noticing Eve's silence.
He acted like a brat, and he regretted it instantly.
"I'm sorry for—"
"Hey, Des…" Her voice sounded a little different this time, displaying tinges of skepticism and mild aversion.
Her face was blank as she drew closer to him.
"Why did you become a Dungeon Explorer?"
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading!
What do you think so far? Yes, he is a Pathetic Mc for now... but do be patient and stick around, okay?