Chapter 089 - Epilogue: Dawn of a Changed World
Congratulations!
You have completed the [OakWood High School] Dungeon!
Ding!
For surviving a [System] classified Dungeon, you have gained the title, [Dungeon Crawler].
Ding!
New Title Earned!
Dungeon Crawler
Through your own merit and efforts, you have successfully survived through the end of a Dungeon.
Effects:
+100 Stamina
+0.005 HP Regeneration
*Doing subsequent actions that correlate with the given title will cause the title to undergo evolution.*
Ding!
For clearing a [System] classified Dungeon, the [Dungeon Crawler] title has evolved into [Dungeon Explorer].
Ding!
New Title Earned!
Dungeon Explorer
Through your own merit and efforts, you have successfully survived, and completed a Dungeon.
Effects:
+300 in Stamina
+0.015 HP Regeneration
*Doing subsequent actions that correlate with the given title will cause the title to undergo evolution.*
Ding!
Achievement: You are the 9th [Party] to clear a Dungeon.
*Because your party only consists of 1 individual, the reward has been adjusted to match your feat. *
Reward(s):
Soul Bound Weapon - Fynch the Resplendent Sword of Possibility
*Soulbound Weapons are exclusive to its owner and cannot be used by anybody else.*
As a series of blue panels overwhelmed my field of vision, I was momentarily lost in a daze before a soft golden light suddenly appeared in front of me.
The light originated from my open palm, and pulsated like a human heart. Particles of golden dust spilled forth, and undulated vividly, filling the space around me with a vibrant luster and coloring everything within a 10 feet radius in a deep golden hue. After a few seconds, the intense light began to dim, and a grey sword slowly materialized in my hand.
Unlike what its name implied, the sword's appearance was rather dull.
It was a thin, double edged object, with a 30 inch blade, and a 15 inch handle. Its blade was colored a somber, almost lifeless grey. Its edges were worn down, and blunt. The hilt was rather mundane as well, wrapped in simple black leather and tied together with a murky colored white string.
Seeing the disparity between its name and the sword's actual appearance, I could not help but frown. As I thought to complain, the constant flood of blue panels from before sputtered forth, delivering one last message.
Ding!
For clearing the [OakWood High School] Dungeon, the restrictions placed upon this location has been lifted.
Entrance and Exit of the Dungeon is now possible.
Because the [Curse] of the Dungeon has been extinguished, the [OakWood High School] Dungeon has been terminated from the [System]'s [Active Dungeons Archive].
From now on the [OakWood High School] Dungeon does not exist.
As the final screen glowed with a soft blue hue in front of me, I simply stared with an absent minded expression.
After everything that happened... after all the times I nearly died, all the deaths I've seen and caused... After two months of living hell, a simple blue screen was all it took to end it all and relieve the built up stress that had accumulated within me.
It was honestly laughable.
The blue panel that glowed faintly before my eyes... it was such an extremely inconspicuous, and transient box, yet its existence was already something that held immense weight and meaning within my heart. It gave me a sort of reassurance, laughable considering the hell that this planet had fallen to.
It was truly a ridiculous notion, believing that something as flimsy as a floating box in the air had enough weight and power to toy with my life as it pleased.
At the core of it all, it was as if all the death, chaos, and suffering I went through was nothing more than just a game. Like a simple video game that anyone could play in their spare time. People turned into experience points, and magic items dropped upon death, reality had turned into a giant RPG and despite this sudden realization, I could do nothing.
In the end, even when reality tried its damndest to pretend to be a video game, in the end, people could not respawn. Death was death, and reality was reality. The world had become a giant, meaningless, broken video game, and at the very center of such a ridiculous existence were these floating blue panels.
But despite my dissatisfaction, despite how ridiculous it all seemed, all the same, they were still a comforting existence to me.
After all, within this new world, the only thing that stayed constant throughout everything were those blue panels. Through life or death, suffering or joy, these blue panels stayed with you, like a neverending nightmare.
As I continued to stare, like a rapidly deflating balloon, the immense pain and fatigue that had accumulated came surging forward like an unstoppable tsunami. Instantly, all the sensations my pumping adrenaline had kept in check quickly surfaced. One by one I felt it all hit me like a sack of bricks.
A burning feeling in the core of my chest, a throbbing ache on my throat, the pulsating pain in my ankle, the stinging agony on my wrist - all of this congealed and overloaded my nervous system, causing me to unconsciously take a step back, before I tumbled over into a heaping mess on the floor.
I breathed out heavily, my chest rising and falling like a rupturing crescendo.
"Hah..."
I don't know for how long, but I just laid down and breathed. My glazed eyes stared up at the giant hole on the ceiling, while my mind blanked out. The distant sobbing in the background, the stampeding steps in the distance, all of this faded into obscurity as each thought, and each coherent idea within my brain slowly drifted away.
For a long time, I did nothing. For what felt like the first time, I did nothing.
***
After what seemed like forever, I finally lifted myself up. The ache in my body had lessened, although because I was suffering from [Physical Strain] and probably a myriad of other different ailments, my body was far from perfect.
Nonetheless, the rewards that came from defeating Reeflech were too lavish for me to reject. With fervent eyes, the first thing I immediately dealt with was the grey sword I unknowingly held in my hand.
"Fynch..." I breathed out a sigh as I turned the sword in my hand and reassessed its appearance. Although I thought it was a rather odd name, for it to be the reward granted for being the 9th party to finish the dungeon, I could not help but hold some expectation.
Like before, the unimpressive appearance of the sword left one at a loss, but after staring down at it for a period of time, I could feel faint power that undulated from its core. It was a difficult sensation to describe... it was akin to a humming songstress, or maybe a beating heart, nonetheless, it was a faint feeling that filled the sword with an almost otherworldly vibrance, a sensation that was both hard to detect, yet impossible to avoid.
Without a doubt, despite its appearances, this sword was by no means ordinary.
After turning the sword in my hand several times, I finally used [Identify] on the object. While the feeling of faint power it emitted made me excited, what I was most curious about was the initial description the Information Panel had given it - [Soul Bound Weapon].
Ding!
A light blue panel filled my screen, but as I inspected it, I could not help but scrunch up my brow.
Fynch - The Resplendent Sword of Possibility
Blood contact necessary in order to Soul Bound the Sword.
There was no information aside from its name and the brief instructions it left behind.
After pondering over it a bit, I eventually decided to follow the instructions, after all, the allure of a new weapon was too great for me to resist. I quickly wiped at a bit of the dripping blood that ran down the side of my face with an open hand before I immediately placed the newly bloodied hand onto the hilt of the sword.
Almost instantly, a sharp indescribable pain surged out from deep within my core. The pain only lasted for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to cause my face to scrunch up and my body to go rigid.
After the pain vanished just as suddenly as it had appeared, the information on the blue panel abruptly changed.
Fynch - The Resplendent Sword of Possibility
A soul bound weapon linked to [Mayo Hide].
Fynch is an Archaic, Despotic Sword that was found and once wielded by an ancient and powerful Tyrant from planet's past. Ever since then, it has ended up in the hands of several great figures across both time and space. The Sword was named after its 9th owner, Fynch the Tyrant Warrior-King. It is a sword with a mysterious past, and limitless potential.
Fynch is an evolving sword with the special ability [Devour]. It can strengthen itself through the wielder's own efforts.
Damage: 5 - 10
+2(+10) Strength
+2 (+10) speed
Weapon Skill: Devour
Equip Skill Bonus
+15 Luck
+ 20 Perception
+25 Insight
(???)
(???)
Familiarity Bonus: 10
While the initial stats were horrendous, the weapon skill and equip bonuses peaked my interest.
Fynch’s Equip bonuses were incredible. Not even mentioning the two currently unidentified bonuses, Fynch also increased perception, insight, and luck. Two of these were completely new stats that I’ve never encountered before, and the third - luck was a mysterious stat that was impossible to increase through ordinary methods. Seeing this was enough for me to drool in anticipation.
As for [Devour]... just from the name alone, I could already guess as to what its effects were. Without a doubt though, that weapon skill was probably linked to the “evolving sword” statement on the information panel.
And the [Familiarity Bonus]... while it was my first time interacting with the weapon, the fact that I already have a familiarity bonus of 10 was probably due to the effects of either the blood contract or the soul bind.
Either way, I was very satisfied with my new weapon, and I already had plans to invest some unallocated points into acquiring those new stats it granted…
While I had such grandiose thoughts spinning around in my head, I glanced down towards Reeflech’s corpse. Sparsely hidden by a part of its arm, I caught sight of something glimmering in the faint light that seeped through to the Refuge.
I paused, and looked back down towards Kido’s corpse that laid lifeless besides my feet. The blood that pooled around him, coupled with the vacant, fish eyed glare he maintained was truly pitying, but my gaze was not focused on him, but rather on the object that rested above his chest. After some slight hesitation, I immediately picked up the skill book that was on top of his chest, before I limped towards the Dungeon Boss’s corpse, or more specifically, towards the glimmer that had caught my eye.
With one glance, I could tell that the Boss provided quite a few lavishing rewards.
Upon its death, it had dropped numerous items. As my eyes unceasingly spun and scanned through the horde of objects beneath, I silently counted and organized the items in my mind.
In short, three skill books, one pair of arm guards, a ring, and 5 vials of liquid had dropped. Without a doubt, it was definitely a good haul, enough so that it caused my weary heart to palpitate in excitement.
After I calmed down, the first thing I did was inspect the skill books.
The first skill was called [Nether Flare]. Despite its grandiose name, after reading through its brief description, I quickly learned that [Nether Flare] was simply a downgraded version of Reeflech’s own column of fire. It was a common grade magic skill that allowed someone to conjure up a massive fireball through the consumption of mana.
But despite its common grade, it was by no means weak. If [Nether Flare] was anywhere close to Reeflech’s own attack, then it would truly be something to fear.
Since it was a magic skill, I obviously wouldn’t be able to use it, so I planned on giving it to the others. In this regard, whether it was the girls or Kido, I did not plan on hogging any of the drops for myself. After all, the Dungeon Boss fight was a group effort, and without the full team work and participation of everyone present (well, maybe excluding Kido’s childhood friend), we could have very much failed.
As I pondered over who to gave it to, I took a precursory glance over towards the second skill book.
The 2nd skill was a Rare grade skill called [Nether Drain]. It was obviously a tier above the first skill, and reading the brief description its skill book provided, I quickly discovered that the skill would grant its owner the ability to absorb another’s HP, Stamina, or Mana, and reuse it as their own.
This skill was definitely something amazing, but due to its rather vague explanation, I could not tell whether it had any substantial limitations to counter its unprecedented benefits. In the worst case scenario, [Drain Touch] might even be a magic skill that consumes the user’s own mana for activation… if that were the case, and I unknowingly learned it, that would be an instant loss for the whole group and another wasted skill that I learned but couldn’t use.
I stared at the 2nd skill book with narrow and scrutinizing eyes before I pried my gaze away from its dark green paperback cover and glanced over towards the third skill book.
With one peak, I quickly confirmed that it was less impressive than [Nether Drain]. The third skill book was only a common grade skill, and at most, it was on par with [Nether Flare]. Despite that though, without a doubt, out of all three skill books present, it was the one I was most interested it….
Skill Book - Heated Body
A manuscript depicting the Subterranean race’s innate anatomical ability. The subterraneans were a species that dwelled and ruled beneath their world’s surface, in a place known as the Nether. Due to their close proximity with the world’s core, their bodies grew a natural resistance to heat and fire. This skill book allows one person to learn the magic active skill, [Heated Body].
Effects -
New Skill - Heated Body
Equip Skill Bonus -
Synchronicity with existing skill [Hard Scale]. Over 50% effectiveness boost.
Unlike the other two, what made [Heated Body] unique was the presence of its synchronicity with [Hard Scale]. While the others added minor bonuses towards my intelligence or wisdom, [Heated Body]’s Equip Bonus was undoubtedly much more attractive. After all, first hand experience regarding synchronicity has taught me its true value...
I’ve already witnessed the benefits of synchronicity firsthand with [Dissect] and [Shadow Sprint]. For the former, it completely doubled its potential, while for the latter, it boosted its already good effects. With the lure called synchronicity dangling in front of my face, it was only natural for me to be attracted…
But in the end, I hesitated.
After all, While [Hard Scale] was a stamina based skill, [Heated Body] was magic based. If things went south, and [Heated Body] becomes the dominant skill, then there’s a very real possibility that the new skill might turn into a magic skill. If that were the case, not only would I have wasted a completely new skill book, but at the time, I would also lose one of my prior pre-existing skills.
The risks were great, but the temptation was even greater…
In the end, after no small amounts of hesitation, I ultimately decided to leave it to fate. I hoped to bank on my new weapon’s +15 luck, as I painstakingly began the process of learning the new skill.
After a while, a familiar panel popped up in front of me.
Due to Skill Synchronicity, you were unable to learn [Heated Body]. Instead, the two skills [Heated Body] and [Hard Scale] have fused together to make a third skill.
Searing Armor (Active)
Skill Type: Rare
Skill Rank: Beginner
Skill Level: 1
Skill Experience: 0%
Effects
A defensive technique that augments the user's skin and increases defenses.
Upon activation, the user's skin hardens and intense heat is produced. Additionally, upon activation, Defense momentarily increases by 100% and strength momentarily increases by 100%.
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Use consumes stamina points. Consumption varies on duration, intensity of heat and scope of skill. No cooldown. Consumption rate lowers as skill level increases. Augmentation increases as skill level increases.
I let out a sigh of relief upon reading through the entirety of the panel. [Searing Armor]’s initial effects were quite similar to [Hard Scale], except this new skill had the added attributes of fire within it. Additionally, from the description alone, not only was its offense vastly improved, its defensive capabilities had risen as well. As expected, with great risks, came even greater rewards.
What probably made me the happiest though, was the fact that the skill still consumed stamina and did not turn into a magic based skill. This feeling of achievement was amazing, and it gave me a splendid idea.
In the future, I would try and find a skill with some synchronicity towards my [All Heal] skill. If there existed even the slightest possibility of turning that dead weight skill, into something useful by changing its magic consumption to stamina consumption, then I would do my utmost to grasp onto that faint hope. At that time, my survival capabilities will surely rise beyond measure!
Next, I decided to check the skill book Kido had dropped.
Detonation [Cursed]
A branch of magic that possesses enormous destructive capabilities. Albeit simple, its use comes with great cost. Not everyone can truly master this type of destructive magic.
Effects -
New Skill - Explosion
Equip Bonus
+10 Intelligence
+10 Wisdom
As expected, the skill book that Kido had dropped was the explosion skill called [Detonation], that Wizard Hat had used. But even though it was such a familiar skill, I could not help but frown.
The contents were definitely [Detonation], but the skill book itself looked a bit corroded, and its edges were blackened. The most damning thing about it though was definitely the [Cursed] tag that hovered in front of the skill’s name. The skill book had no mention of the [curse], which led me to believe that the [curse] tag originated from Kido.
Because he had previously possessed the skill while under the effects of the Dungeon’s [Curse], somehow the title had transferred over and possessed the skill book. Upon this realization, I could not help but let out a bitter laugh. Even in death, Kido still put up quite a fight.
After some consideration, I decided to keep the skill book on hold for now. The previous experience with Kido taught me that in this new world, curses held tremendous power. It was stupidly reckless to just learn a skill that had so many dangers attached to it. If possible, it was best to find a way to somehow lift the curse up from the skill book before anybody tried to learn it.
I quickly put away the corroded skill book, before I inspected the rest of the items.
The ring that had dropped was flesh colored, and undulated with a faint pulsing glow. Titled the [Ring of Persistence], its original effects were quite satisfactory
The ring was able to double the user’s base HP and Stamina Regeneration. Considering my HP recovered at 0.02 per second, and my Stamina recovered at 0.005 per second, this increased by recovery to 0.04 and 0.01 respectively. While in retrospect, this did not seem all that great of an increase, in the future, if I could further raise my base HP and Stamina regeneration, then the effects of the ring will hold greater value.
In addition, what made the ring a lucky find was that its [Equip] bonus actually increased my luck by 5 points. It was a great item, especially since luck was quite a difficult stat to raise.
When I moved to place the ring onto my finger, the ring immediately tightened onto my flesh. In almost an instant, the ring’s original white-pink, fleshy color turned a bit darker as it changed to match my skin tone. At the same time, the ring seemingly molded into my skin, its minute undulation increasing as time passed.
The result was that my finger completely looked as if it did not have a ring on it. It was an odd sensation. I could “feel” that I was wearing the ring, but I could not see it, nor physically feel it on my skin.
After marveling at the ring for a good amount of time, I moved on to the next time, a pair of red colored arm guards. The arm guards were simple in design but gave of a rather menacing aura that vaguely resembled the pressure I felt from the Dungeon Boss.
Titled [Nether Bracers], they had a level requirement of 30, and gave a 40 point boost to defense and vitality, and a 20 point boost to attack. It was an amazing item that would undoubtedly increase its user’s survivability and offensive capabilities. This was especially true for me, since with my Equip bonuses taken into account, the bracers would increase an additional 20 points into attack, and 20 extra points into Physical Resistance.
Although it was indeed an amazing item, despite its benefits, I ultimately decided to give the item to the President. After all, out of everyone present, he was probably the one who lost the most out of this battle. Out of his whole group, he was the only person left. It was a bitter reality where even though we successfully cleared the dungeon, to the him who lost everything in the process, our success might not even be worth it in his eyes.
In addition I also decided to give him the [Nether Flare] skill. The bracers and the skill might not hold the same value as his lost teammates, but in the end, it was the only form of compensation I could think of.
After getting through the skill books and equipment that had dropped, I finally reached the five vials of liquid.
I did not hold much expectations regarding these items. After all, they resembled the HP vials and Stamina vials that ordinary mob dropped occasionally. Each individual vial was large, almost as big as a water bottle, and the liquid inside was colored gold, and gave off a warm and pleasant sensation.
Stamina Elixir
Permanently increases Stamina by 200 points.
Equip Bonus
Permanently increases Stamina by 100 points.
*Repeated Consumption will lower the effects of the Elixir*
“Wha-”
Upon reading its window panel, I could not help but stare wide eyed and open mouthed at the inconspicuous vial in my hand. My arms trembled as my original lackluster expectations were blown out of the water. Increasing stamina outside leveling up was next to impossible. The sheer fact that this bottle of gold had such tremendous effects… already, in my eyes, its value was greater than actual gold.
What’s more, due to my Equip skill, if I were to use this elixir, my stamina would permanently increase by 300 points instead of the normal 200. That was quite a substantial increase, and it was moments like this that I witnessed the true value of my Equip skill.
I decided to give one vial to everyone that had participated in battle. While its effects would benefit melee fighters like Cher, the President, and me the most, the increase in stamina would also prove beneficial to magic users like Hina and Cielle.
After I quickly put away the drops we received, I looked up into the hole in the ceiling.
The remnants of the monster horde had ran away before, so I wasn’t too worried about being attacked at the current moment. And even if they did put up a fight, their fighting strength and threat level would take a considerable blow, especially now that the Boss had died. With its death, their sense of cohesion and teamwork was no more. They were now simply remnants of a broken and defeated army.
Though I wasn’t worried, it was still best to act with caution in mind. With the Boss dead, and the drops collected, it was high time we returned to the East building.
But just as this thought flashed through my mind, a abrupt flash of insight took hold of me.
I stared back down onto the Dungeon Boss’s corpse, before I quickly turned my gaze towards the dull grey sword in my hand. The weapon skill [Devour] quickly entered my thoughts as I took a steady step forward.
“Well…” I sighed out as I stared down at the corpse. “It couldn’t hurt to try…”
With the last remnants of hesitation drowned out by my increasing curiosity, I took hold of the sword, [Fynch] and stabbed down onto the corpse.
Woosh!
Even before its blade could sink into the body, I felt my stomach suddenly lurch, as a strong suction force surged out from the tip of the blade. This feeling of suction steadily intensified, before the sword seemingly moved by itself as it greedily dashed forward and stabbed itself into the monster’s flesh.
The corpse trembled for a moment, before it suddenly started to collapse in on itself. The surface of its flesh rolled forward and moved towards the sword. At the same time, as [Fynch] began to [Devour] the corpse, I could feel the lurching in my stomach intensify, as a wave of nausea took hold of me. I could feel myself break out into a cold sweat as my complexion paled, but I kept a resolute expression on my face as the sword continued.
In less than 10 seconds, the Dungeon Boss’s corpse had vanished completely. All of it had entered [Fynch], but despite its greed, the sword’s exterior showed no signs of changing. It was the same lackluster, dull grey from before.
In contrast, my own condition had worsened. After powering through 10 seconds of that nauseating sensation, I could not hold it anymore, as I coughed up a mouthful of blood. I physically felt my stamina drain as I stared down at the dull sword with a dark expression.
Without hesitation, I immediately used [Identify].
Fynch - The Resplendent Sword of Possibility
A soul bound weapon linked to [Mayo Hide].
Fynch is an Archaic, Despotic Sword that was found and once wielded by an ancient and powerful Tyrant from planet's past. Ever since then, it has ended up in the hands of several great figures across both time and space. The Sword was named after its 9th owner, Fynch the Tyrant Warrior-King. It is a sword with a mysterious past, and limitless potential.
Fynch is an evolving sword with the special ability [Devour]. It can strengthen itself through the wielder's own efforts.
Damage: 55 - 60
+20(+10) Strength
+20 (+10) Speed
+10 (+10) Vitality
Weapon Skill: Devour
Equip Skill Bonus
+15 Luck
+ 20 Perception
+25 Insight
(???)
(???)
Familiarity Bonus: 10
Seeing the vast improvement, a small smile formed on my withered expression.
Not only did the damage, strength and speed experienced a meteoric rise, in addition, a new stat had appeared- Vitality. This was beyond my expectations, and if I continued to [Devour] more and more corpses, then without a doubt, [Fynch] would continually grow stronger and stronger.
Although the price for [Devouring] was tasking, the end results were more than enough for me to risk my life on.
With a satisfied smile plastered onto my face, I turned back around to face the rest of the refuge.
In the time that I took to collect the drops and test out my new weapon, the others had recovered to some extent. Currently, they stared wide eyed at the scene that had just taken place.
Seeing their bewildered expression, I ruefully laughed as I moved to scratch my head with my empty hand. Having momentarily forgotten that my empty hand was currently broken, I winced at the minute pain, before I awkwardly coughed.
“We should start heading back now.” I simply spoke to the crowd as I began limping towards the passageway.
The rest of the group interchanged glances with each other, before they too began making their way towards the decrepit hole in the wall.
As we walked, from behind us, an abrupt voice rang out.
“Wait!” The voice trembled as it bravely spoke out, interlayered within was surging emotion that could overwhelm even the greatest of men.
In the face of this desperate plea, I could not help but turn around.
A few meters behind me, was the silhouette of a single girl. Her shoulders shook, while her head hung down. Slight traces of glistening tears rolled down her pale cheeks. At the same time, her hands were clenched to the point of drawing blood.
This girl was obviously Kido’s childhood friend.
As I raised an eyebrow at her sudden shout, she proceeded to speak, her voice trembling with each syllable she spoke. “Y-you guys… a-all of you… D-don’t you care what happens… about Kido- he, Kido… he…”
More and more tears flowed freely from her reddened eyes, while the words she spoke grew increasingly more incoherent. After this persisted for a while, I finally couldn’t help myself, as I frankly asked, “What do you want?”
The girl shook at my words, but for the first time she looked up. Her eyes had a hint of defiance, but that was overshadowed by the melancholy that reflected from her fish eyes pupils. “I… I want to bury Kido. Kido, Saya, everyone who died today… I… I just want to bury them.”
Hearing this declaration, I could not help but widen my eyes in surprise. After all this time, I had gotten used to the sight of seeing corpses strewn about haphazardly throughout the room. Whether they were monster or human, to my desensitized mind, the distinction had long since blurred. Corpses, in this new world, were just part of the background.
Apparently, everyone else had not considered this as well, as they all widened their eyes in surprise. After a while, they could not help but subconsciously turn their gazes to me. As if awaiting my approval, they gazes bore down on me with a hint of expectation and subservience.
“...” I silently considered for a moment, before I finally responded, “You… what was your name?”
Hearing this abrupt question, the girl bit her lip, as she replied, “Minakawa… Minakawa Sayuri. B-back when Kido moved back here from the States… that idiot mistook my last name for my first name.” A bitter, reminiscent smile formed on her trembling face. “What’s more, that idiot couldn’t even pronounce my name correctly back then… in the end, he just called me ‘Mindy’... I- I go by Mindy...”
“Minakawa.” I abruptly called out, interrupting her musings. “... The rest of us are pretty injured right now, so you’ll have to do most of the digging yourself. Is… is that fine?”
Her eyes went into a sort of a daze upon hearing my response. This hazy expression lasted for but a fraction of a second, before she hastily shook her head, and nodded.
“Even if I have to bury them alone… I’ll do it… For Kido, for everyone, I-I’ll do it.”
****
Minakawa Sayuri buried the bodies underneath the soft soil of the passageway. It was the only available place with actual ground and dirt, but even then, without a proper shovel, the process was tasking and consumed an enormous amount of time.
In the end, she buried Kido, the transfer student, and everyone who died from the President’s group, even the charred remains of the girl who had saved Kido’s life. She buried them in the cold hard ground, she buried each and every one of them.
After some consideration, as she continued to dig, I made my way to the 1st floor. After unearthing the spot where I had hid Wizard Hat’s unconscious body, I came across her corpse. Her eyes were tightly closed, while a peaceful expression masked her pale white face. A single wound, a sword stab straight through her heart was visible. Beneath her, was a puddle of pooled blood.
Just going by her expression alone, she had died a death that was truly rare in this type of world. A quick and painless death.
I brought her corpse back down to the refuge, and Minakawa buried her with the others.
2 hours passed, and Minakawa finally buried all 6 corpses, in 6 holes, each underneath 5 feet of tightly packed dirt and soil. After erecting 6 hastily made crosses, Minakawa’s constantly working body finally crumpled to the floor.
Her shoulders drooped, as her neck craned to dazedly stare up at the soil packed ceiling above her. She arched backwards, and for the first time in 2 hours, she cried. The moment of silence that was supposed to take place was replaced by her desperate sobbing, but even then, in the end, nobody moved to stop her.
We stood to the side, as the disheveled and broken girl beneath us cried until her throat grew hoarse.
“....”
In the end, it took her 30 minutes before her throat finally lost its voice. With her eyes puffed up and reddened, she despondently turned towards the passageway. She paused as she stared out into the receding darkness, before she quietly walked forward with heavy and lethargic steps.
As her silhouette gradually disappeared, everyone else followed suit.
Our steps rang out in the silence, while our eyes steadily stared at the encroaching darkness.
The world that we had yet to step into. The new world that awaited us outside of this building. That world was like this all encompassing darkness. A world filled with the unknown. A world with which one entered with a mix of both trepidation, and anticipation.
A new world that was built on the rubble from the last. A world that had changed. A changed new world.
*****
Author's Note:That's it guys. That's epilogue. Was the title drop a bit too forced? No matter, the first arc has come to a close. What were your thoughts? How did you like the first arc? It took a while, but we finally completed the dungeon.
Since this is the end, I'd like to ask the readers a couple of questions, you know, in commemoration of the end of the first. What were you're favorite parts? Who were you're favorite characters? Who did you hate the most? What stood out in the arc? What were the things that you did not like about the arc? Thoughts, criticisms, whatever you can think of, I want to know.
As for me, I enjoy writing this story. If there was one thing I'd change, or fix though, it would probably be the werewolf fight. I felt dissatisfied with that whole mini arc, and I wouldn't be lying if I said I almost dropped the story then and there. Its a good thing I didn't though. Haha. Also, thank you to those who donated to me. It meant a lot, knowing that people were willing to show their appreciation through monetary value.
Well, that's that. I'll probably start writing the new arc in a week or so. Meanwhile, I might PR some old chapters. I'm also thinking about starting my own wordpress, you know, to spread my story to a wider audience.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and see you in the next arc.