“━Kieeeek!!”
━Shrrrng
With a brief shriek, a bizarre monster with the head of a goat and the body of a grasshopper falls over.
“Ugh… this thing is disgusting every time I see it.”
It had the head of a goat and the body of a grasshopper, but it was the size of an elephant. This monster, aptly named Goat Grasshopper, was a B-rank creature, quite a troublesome foe. Even adventurers in parties usually had a tough time dealing with it.
But right now, it was in a very undesirable situation, having been sliced in half by my finely sharpened blade.
“Let’s see… its hide would be suitable for armor…”
No matter how much it had a goat’s head, I wasn’t going to eat a creature with a bug’s body, so I only collect materials suitable for crafting.
It’s already been 10 months and 12 days since I arrived here.
Now, there’s about a day left to spare outside.
I have about a month and a half left.
“This time, it has to be here.”
But I still hadn’t found the key.
This place, Tarlos’ Bottom, has terrain that changes every time you enter, making it useless to memorize the key’s location. Thus, I was wandering around directly, searching everywhere.
It’s been almost a year, but I still haven’t found it.
With time passing, my heart has started to race, and I’m losing my mental composure.
To find the key, I naturally have to traverse the field, which increases the chances of encountering monsters.
Frequent battles were exhausting my body and making me jumpy.
Especially early on, with low stats and sluggish movements, I faced life-threatening situations quite a bit.
Since the Calorie Burn skill requires food, using it frequently becomes a problem, so I only used it in dire situations.
‘But it’s almost no problem now.’
I look down at the cold corpse of the Goat Grasshopper.
A monster that normally I could never catch.
But now I can catch it even without the Calorie Burn skill.
The harsh environment has naturally caused me to lose a lot of weight over those 10 months.
[ Current Body Specs: 175cm, 72kg ]
I managed to trap it when my life was on the line.
The key to dieting was the diet itself.
“No wonder it didn’t work when I was just eating as I trained.”
I thought moving my body would help me lose weight.
I lost some weight through rigorous training with Siegfried, but that still wasn’t enough.
Being trapped in this hell and eating only the tasteless monster meat naturally reduced my food intake.
And that’s how I succeeded in my diet.
“Ah… I want the food Raphne makes.”
But the joy of my diet success wasn’t that great.
It’s a good thing that my survival rate has skyrocketed in this life-threatening situation.
But I really want to get out of this damn place and eat something delicious.
Especially the warm meal Raphne makes.
“…Huh, let’s see.”
I climbed to the highest point in a place I had been searching several times.
I looked around, familiarizing myself with the terrain.
I searched for signs of that building where the key might be.
If I didn’t notice such a building, I’d set my sights on a nearby elevation to resume my search.
“Could I have missed something in the places I’ve already checked…?”
Muttering as I marked locations on my homemade map with a makeshift pencil, I couldn’t shake the thought of possibly having overlooked something.
As time runs short, my anxiety grows.
What if I’m forced to leave without finding the key?
What will I do then? Will I have to come back here?
“I really don’t want that…”
It feels like I’d be rejoining the military.
Honestly, that’d probably bring an even worse sense of despair.
I, having been discharged as a sergeant, know well how much that place sucks.
But at least there are people there.
Here, the environment is tough, but the fact that there’s no one to talk to is the most painful part.
Humans are most vulnerable to loneliness.
“…How on earth did Raphne endure all this?”
Suddenly, I remembered the first time I met Raphne.
She had been so joyful to see me.
Back then, I wondered if it was really that profound, but now I understand.
While I hold hope of getting out in a year, Raphne has been struggling against loneliness indefinitely.
“When I get out, I’ll have to eat something delicious and talk a lot.”
I’m eager to see my companions outside.
Especially, I miss Raphne a lot.
There’s so much I want to say and so many apologies I owe her.
‘I hope she’s doing well…?’
When I decided to fall into this place, I had many worries about Raphne.
I trusted her improved state of mind, though.
After all, she just cried in her room for a week after I died, and there wasn’t much issue.
It should be fine this time too.
“…Huh, then this time, I’ll head over there…”
After taking a moment to rest at the mountaintop, I finished my little break.
And then.
In the corner of my vision, I thought I spotted something familiar.
“…No way.”
I quickly turned my head to look more closely.
It seemed small but was at quite a distance.
“I found it.”
I discovered the building I had been constantly searching for since I arrived.
“I found it━!!”
Beaming with joy, I marked its location on my map and hurried down the mountain.
━Suuuk.
Peeking out from the unpleasant purple bushes, I felt a sense of accuracy like from the game.
A small, worn brick house.
It was a peculiar building that showed signs of someone having lived here in such a hellish place.
User speculation suggested it might be a house left by someone who came before Emily fell here.
‘That means… the key should definitely be inside, right?’
The only existing NPC in Tarlos’ Bottom:
Egosode Tirpione.
“Dealing with a nasty personality is hard…”
The key is inside that house.
The important part is that to obtain the key, I need to win over Tirpione to a certain degree.
The problem is, Tirpione is notoriously difficult to raise affection levels with among the NPCs in Epiris Academy.
With her long white hair and alabaster skin.
Her cold, glowing eyes shine brightly.
Being an NPC who embodies a sword, she hardly shows emotion and maintains a cold attitude regardless of Emily’s actions.
As such, those who attempt this shortcut often come laden with items for boosting affection.
‘But such items would be difficult to obtain at this point…’
Still, she’s an NPC I’ve cleared a few times before.
Even though I’m not Emily anymore, I’ll surely be able to do it within the remaining time.
“Alright, let’s go.”
With a sense of tension, I stood up and carefully approached the house.
The house was made of bricks and wood, with only one room.
Indeed, the walls and ceiling were full of holes, worn by time.
Only the door was intact.
Standing in front of the firmly closed wooden door, I took a deep breath.
━Creeeak.
Carefully, I opened the door.
“Ex, excuse me…”
If I were Emily, I would have barged in and run over immediately to speak. But this is reality.
I almost thought about knocking, wishing I could at least show some courtesy.
So, I opened the door as slowly and carefully as possible so as not to startle the owner.
Upon opening the door, the simple interior of the house was revealed.
Inside the brick house were a dark fireplace, a small shelf, a single chair, and a bed.
‘That’s it.’
Right away, I noticed a sword hanging on the wall.
The only elegantly designed item in the worn-down house.
But, due to age, it was rusty and covered in dust.
And finally, in the center of the house.
A woman with her head bowed, quietly sitting in a small chair.
Egosode Tirpione.
“Um, um….”
I stepped inside the house but she remained unresponsive, still with her head bowed, so I softly spoke to her.
━Suuuk.
Only then did she slowly move her body.
Her flowing white hair trickled down her shoulder, revealing her snow-white face.
As her closed eyes slowly opened,
Awakening from slumber, she gazed at me.
The cold, indifferent eyes that bore no emotions from when I saw her in the game suddenly fixated on me.
“Th-that’s… haha, I somehow lost my way and came in here.”
I quickly delivered the excuse I had prepared.
Even this excuse might make the sharp and cold Tirpione forgive my trespass, even if just a little.
‘Ugh, her gaze is scary… wait?’
Our eyes locked.
Tirpione, known for being difficult to raise affection with too even in Epiris Academy.
The emotionless and chilly sword spirit that had slept for a long time.
Therefore, facing her with a nervous heart,
‘…What’s this?’
As our eyes met, her pupils trembled for a moment.
“……Ho.”
“……Ho?”
Her face soon flushed like a ripe apple, her eyebrows arched into an eight (八) shape, and she gently parted her lips.
Attempting to cover her flustered face, she slowly raised her hand toward it.
But distracted by something, she halted her hand near her chin.
And for the first time, she spoke.
“Hoeeek…!”
I never imagined a cold sword spirit would let out such a sound.
