I couldn’t breathe. It felt like I was slowly sinking into the pits of hell. Why did I fall for that bitch’s lies?

I could feel my anger beginning to bubble over. However, I tried my best to calm myself down. There wasn’t a point in getting mad at what was already done. Besides, I was pretty much dead so there wasn’t a point spending my last moments getting angry at that woman.

As I was dragged deeper into whatever this was, I found myself pondering how I even fell for this trap. What compelled me to try and help that woman? Was it friendship, a desire to win her affection, or something else? I had no idea.

While I thought about this, I found myself remembering how Lily mentioned she bribed some teachers or something like that. The bribe was probably to send us down to a floor far more dangerous than the actual floor two.

I didn’t have any proof this was what happened, but that’d explain why whatever grabbed my legs prevented me from using my magic. This trap had probably been here way before I had come along.

Well, whatever. No point in thinking about it anymore. It’s probably best to just accept my death. Because at this point, I didn’t see how I could possibly survive this.

Just then, as if on cue, I felt the current shift a bit.

Weird. Am I being dragged in some way?

Not surprising considering I was pulled down by what I assume was a tentacle before. But I haven’t felt it on my leg for some time now. Had I just adjusted to the feeling of it attached to my leg?

It was either that or it had let go of me at some point. Nonetheless, I still felt like I was being dragged somewhere.

All of a sudden, I heard a strange splash sound and my body felt completely soaked.

It took me some time before I could open my eyes. But when I did..

“Gah!”

Surrounding by cold black stone, the only things that stood out were the green-colored lake behind me and the monster that was staring at my face.

The monster appeared to be a giant orange toad with pure black pupils. And after staring at me for another moment, it opened its mouth and a thick, nasty tongue began flying atm my face.

“Wind Push!”

Acting on instinct, I cast a spell and shot myself backward. Splashing into the cold water. My body hurt like hell, so getting a bit wet didn’t matter to me.

Dragging my weary body to its feet, I focused my vision as best I could and glared at the toad.

“Now what the heck do you think you’re doing you blob of gunk?” I muttered. Clearly annoyed.

Keeping my focus on the toad, I started remembering everything that brought me to this point and I couldn’t help but grit my teeth. Just thinking about that experience really pissed me off. Not just because of that bitch’s betrayal, but because I didn’t even see it coming. If I’d just dropped that stupid nice guy act and showed those royal assholes just how tough a commoner could be. But no. Instead I let them walk over me just so I’d have the chance to get with a girl. How pathetic.

Holding out my hand, I tried attacking the monster.

“Fireball.”

Muttering those words under my breath, I felt the balls of fire form in front of my hands and I charged at the monster.

All it did was stare at me as I got close. Not wanting to let it get the first move, I burst forward.

“RAAAH!”

Using all the strength I could muster, I thrust the fireball at the toad and the attack smashed into its slimy orange body.

“Hah! How do you like that you sack of flesh!?”

I shouted as smoke rose from the toad. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it was already dead.

“Wah!”

That’s what I thought. But moments later, a giant tongue shot out from the smoke and grabbed hold of my waist.

With insane speed, I was yanked towards the giant toad's mouth.

“Tsk. Watershot!”

Without much time to act, I formed a water spell and it at the beast's tongue.

It let out a shout of pain and loosened its grip enough for me to slip out.

Not wanting to waste any time flaunting my success, I turned my body towards the monster.

“Wind Ball!”

Trying to send the monster flying, I shot a ball of wind at it. Hoping that would be enough.

But to my surprise, it jumped out of the way right before the move hit.

“Crap,” I growled.

The beast landed and attempted to catch me with its tongue once more.

“Don’t you dare!”

Ducking out of the way, I began running to my right in hopes of circling around to the monster's back.

Why the back you ask?

Because that’s where the majority of monsters are most vulnerable.

However, when I tried to do so, I felt something come up from behind me.

“What the-!?”

Somehow the toad's tongue was following behind me and it didn’t look like it was gonna stop any time soon.

“Just how long is this thing's tongue!?”

As I imagined its tongue being longer than my body, a shiver ran down my spine. Talk about a disturbing thought.

Moving past that, this was bad. I’d planned to just attack it from the back where it couldn't reach me, but unless I do something about this tongue, I’m done for.

The tongue appears to lack any weak points. The safest bet is attempting to wrap the tongue around the toad.

It’s worth a shot. Let’s do this!

Shifting my feet, I began directing the tongue towards me as I ran around in different directions. Hoping to entangle the tongue around the toad's body.

It seemed to be working for a little bit. However…

“What the hell!?”

Out of nowhere, the amphibian's tongue started growing slippery and its tongue began loosening itself up.

Cursing my misfortune, I tried to ignore the goosebumps on my skin. However, that wasn’t my only concern as due to my surprise, I failed to notice a rock in front of me and my toe slammed into it. Causing me to lose my footing.

Taking advantage of this, the monster shot its tongue forward once again and coiled around my waist.

“Gah! Let go of me!”

Pushing my hands down, I tried firing multiple spells to get it to loosen its grip. But unlike before, this time the toad didn’t budge and started reeling me in.

“Stop! Let go!”

I struggled as much as I could. But with nothing I could do, I simply watched as my body flew into the monster's mouth. And after a few mere moments, everything went dark.

Still conscious, I felt a rather sticky but warm substance covering my entire body.

“Is this…toad slime?”

As I tried feeling around for something, I found myself touching what appeared to be a wall of some kind.

But it wasn’t just any kind of wall. This wall was soft, squishy, and slimy. Why would a wall be like that?

“Wait a minute.”

Feeling the wall a bit more, I began to realize the situation I was in.

It appears I’m in the belly of the beast.

Having reached this realization, I lowered my hands. And after a moment, I clenched them tightly.

“I see. So this is my fate.”

Having finally accepted that, I found myself falling to my knees.

Feeling my anger starting to boil, I tried slamming my fists into the slimy ground below me.

“Dammit…Dammit! Dammit! DAMMIT!”

Repeating this process, I found myself gritting my teeth.

“This isn’t fair! I worked harder than any of those shitty nobles! Why do I have to suffer a fate like this!? Tell me you stupid room god thing! Why would you send me to a world like this just to kill me!? Is this just a sick game to you or something!?”

Shouting out in anger to that stupid god, I glared into the darkness around me.

Letting my feelings out, I smashed my fist into the ground once more.

“Well, you know what? Screw the harem crap! Screw everyone and everything in this world! If everyone wants me to die then just say so!”

Trying to hold back my tears, I continued smashing my fists into the ground.

After all this, I was done playing a goody little two-shoes. That idiot MC could have those girls for all I care. The only thing I want at this point is to be free of this world and its corrupt society.

“RAAAAH!”

Not able to say anything more, I let out one more scream before collapsing to the ground.

With nothing else to do but wait for death, I ended up lying there in silence. Waiting to be eaten.

So I waited…and waited…and waited.

“This blob of flesh sure is taking its time eating me. What’s the holdup?”

Deciding it was time to get some light in here, I cast a fire spell and got a look at my surroundings.

“Geez. For a toad’s stomach, it’s surprisingly barren.”

Everywhere I looked, there was only more of the strange goo under my feet.

Getting up, I began walking through the sludge.

After a few minutes of searching, I came across something rather strange.

“Is that…another stomach?”

Reaching the end of the pool of goo, I found what appeared to be a pit that seemed to lead toward another stomach.

“Wow. I knew this thing was huge but I didn’t think it was this huge.”

Not wanting to fall even deeper, I stepped away from the pit and began making my way back to where I came from.

Upon doing so, I looked up at the pitch-black ceiling above me.

“Well, it doesn’t seem to be eating me for now. So what should I do?”

Honestly, I was expecting to die so this whole thing is kinda awkward.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Hmm…guess I’ll try coming up with a solution for now.”

As I said that, I began running different ideas through my head using my expanded thinking.

I may have lost everything else I had on me, but at the very least I can still rely on that.

Thus, I started concentrating. Trying to find a solution. And after a few minutes…

“…”

Nothing.

Letting out a sigh, I ended up thinking back to the fight from before.

Back then, the expanded thinking couldn’t come up with any good ideas either. No matter what attack I threw at that thing, it just tanked them all.

“...Wait!”

That’s when it hit me. Yes, it did tank all my attacks. All except one that is.

My mind flashed back to when I tried using a wind ball attack. When I did so, it dodged the attack instead of taking it. Why? There was only one way to find out!

Wanting to put that theory to the test, I made my way over to the wall I’d found earlier.

The wall of flesh slowly moved up and down. More than likely indicating that the beast was breathing.

“Wind Ball!”

Attempting the attack I tried earlier, it hit the flesh with a surprising amount of force.

As it did so, the ground beneath me began to rumble as the wall of toad flesh instantly started shaking rapidly.

“Looks like my theory was right.”

Grinning to myself, I began chanting.

“Wind Ball! Wind Pulse! Wind Ball Again!”

As my attacks continued hitting over and over again, the rumbling under my feet got louder and louder.

During my barrage of attacks, however, I failed to notice the sludge under my feet was beginning to rise.

“Wah!”

By the time I realized it, it was too late as my whole body was thrust into the air.

A few moments later, a cold breeze hit my body as I slammed into the stiff rocky ground. Causing pain to shoot through my back.

“Ouch. That hurt more than I thought it would,” I muttered.

Rubbing my back in order to soothe the pain, I turned to find the toad glaring at me for a few moments before jumping away and leaving me be. Guess it lost interest in having me for dinner. Thank goodness.

Getting up onto my feet, I scratched the back of my head as I looked around the now empty cave. As I did so, a wave of exhaustion slammed into me like a truck. I guess I did push myself a bit after waking up here.

Sitting on a nearby wall, I felt my consciousness beginning to slip away. And before I knew it, I was out cold.

During this time, Dianne, one of the main love interests of this game, made her way through a hallway she was all too familiar with.

Upon reaching a certain set of doors, she walked inside and approached a man sitting at his desk.

“Uncle. May I speak with you?”

The person Dianne referred to as her uncle had been working on some papers up to this point. But once he heard Dianne’s voice, he looked up to find her staring at him.

“Hello, Dianne. Am I to assume this was because of the letter I sent you?”

Dianne nodded.

“Is what you told me true? Was that boy really killed by the nobles in his group?”

The man rested his hands on his chin.

“I don’t have concrete proof, but that’s what I believe to be true.”

“But why do you think that?”

As if expecting her to ask him that question, the man presented her with a photo.

“A girl? Is she a student at this school?”

Her uncle nodded.

“Lily Acantha. Apparently, back when she was in middle school, she would constantly get close to other royals she hated in order to achieve her own means. But thanks to her parent's backing, she always got away with everything she did. From what I’ve heard, she was getting rather close to the commoner. And considering her past, I’d say it’s safe to assume since the rest of the nobles hated the boy as much as she did, they were all too happy to help her get rid of him.”

Hearing all this, Dianne couldn’t help but clench her fists in anger.

“Thankfully, upon discussing this with the principal, I’ve heard the students who helped with pulling this stunt will be expelled as soon as the break is over.”

“I see. What will become of them after that?”

“I’m afraid that’s entirely up to their parents. Even if the school can punish students, there’s only so far we can go without overstepping personal boundaries.”

“So…you’re saying they’ll get off with little to no repercussions?”

“As sad as it is for me to say it, yes.”

Gritting her teeth, Dianne looked out at the window behind her uncle’s desk.

“What will become of the commoner's belongings and spot at school?”

“While it may sound silly, it’s been decided his room will remain untouched for the next two weeks if by slim chance he manages to survive. So while it’s unlikely, if he makes it back, he’ll get his room and spot. And his life at school will move on like normal.”

“...Is there really a chance he’ll survive?”

Dianne’s uncle looked to the ceiling.

“It’s hard to say. As I stated before, it’s unlikely. However, considering what that adventurer has done up to this point, I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.”

After hearing that, Dianne thought to herself for a moment before looking at her uncle.

“Thank you for your time Uncle. I must be on my way now.”

“Take care.”

With one last bow, Dianne left the room.

After the doors closed behind her, Dianne’s Uncle rubbed his eyes.

“While it may be wishful thinking, I pray that adventurer isn’t dead. For both his sake, as well as for the sake of my niece's goal.”

Having said that, the man turned his attention back to the paperwork in front of him.

I couldn’t exactly understand where I was at this point.

Upon waking up, I started walking down a dark tunnel that the giant toad had run through earlier. I didn’t wanna have a rematch or anything like that, I just hated the idea of standing around without doing anything.

So, while carefully trying to avoid making any sound, I made my way through the dark tunnel with only a single fireball to act as light.

While I did so, a plan began forming in my head. You see, my main goal right now was to get out of here. And since the dungeons were part of this game, that meant there was something down here that could help me. The only frustrating part is that my memory is a bit fuzzy so I don’t remember the exact details of how to get it.

Guess it just goes to show you shouldn’t believe those stories where the MC happens to clearly remember his past memories from over a dozen years ago. I just felt lucky my memories weren’t completely gone after living here for a few years.

The biggest downside to my fuzzy memories, sadly, was that even though I’d played through the story of this game, it wasn’t like the path to find what I was looking for came with directions. Since it was a visual novel, the game basically stated the MC was somewhere deep in the dungeon. So that didn’t really narrow down any location.

But moving past that, I first had to get a read on where the heck I was. As this was a visual novel and not an RPG, there weren’t any directions leading me towards an exit. That’s why I’m searching for this thing in the first place.

Even if there was only a slim chance of finding what I was looking for, it was better than doing nothing.

But finding it would probably still be a challenge.

“Hm. Maybe I should…”

Guuurgle…

Just as I thought about trying out a plan that began forming in my head, a loud gurgling sound entered my ear.

Looking down, I found myself looking at my stomach. Not surprising considering how long it’d been since I last ate. Around eighteen hours to be exact.

But to my disappointment, I didn’t have any food on me to eat.

I’d considered eating some monster meat if I ever came across something I could kill, but it’d have to be a special type of animal that didn’t disappear after being killed. Yes those do exist. They aren’t impossible to find, but normally they’re only things like pigs, cows, and other things you’d be required to eat in order to survive.

More than likely it was just an excuse for the creators to include meat in the game despite normally making the monsters disappear upon death.

Sadly, however, a majority of the animals you could actually kill and eat were impossible to find in places like this. A majority are just bred and fed on farm-like locations which earn money from consumers who sought out the different kinds of meat-related dishes.

Stretching out my arms, I tried to ignore the sound of my stomach as I continued making my way through the tunnel.

Trying to keep my guard up, I was cautious while walking forward searching for food all the while.

It was then that I found something that looked somewhat edible.

Moving closer, I saw what looked like a mushroom sprouting out of the ground.

“I guess this is better than nothing.”

Deciding to test it out, I tried plucking out the mushroom when…

“REEE!”

Sensing danger, I jumped back a few steps.

To my surprise, I found myself looking at what appeared to be some form of miniature crocodile.

I’d like to say it was cute, especially since it had a mushroom on its head, but considering the way it kept snapping at me, I knew it’d probably be best to avoid contact with it.

While doing so, I figured maybe it didn’t like that I took that mushroom so I attempted to open my hand to give it back. But when I tried doing so…

“What the hell!?

Losing all feeling in my hand, I looked down to see what was going on and that’s when I saw that the hand holding the mushroom had started growing stiff and rocky.

“Is this what I think it is!?”

As the strange feeling began rising up my arm, I saw the rest of it starting to turn grey and harder to move. So, not knowing what as to do, I did the first thing I could think of.

“Wind Ball! GAH!”

With the spell being applied at blank range, the bottom half of my arm went flying off.

Trying to hold back a scream, I applied a fireball spell to what was left of my arm. Sealing it shut.

The whole thing hurt like hell, but doing that stopped things from getting worse.

“So that mushroom thing has some kinda petrification spell on it huh? Really funny you reptilian jackass,” I grumbled.

I was still freaked out about not having an arm anymore, but I didn’t wanna show any fear to this monster, so I tried putting on a brave face.

“Well!? You gonna come at me or what!?”

I tried taunting it. But for some reason, the crocodile just stared at me.

“What’s your deal?”

After another moment, the reptile let out some kind of odd screeching sound that caused me to clutch the one ear I could cover.

A few seconds later, it stopped and blinked at me.

“What was that about?”

Just as I said those words, I got my answer from the sound of pattering feet.

Seeing something in the darkness ahead, my eyes went wide. And after a moment, I started running like my life depended on it.

“What the hell!? Were those things always behind me!?” I screamed.

Behind me, several more crocodiles with strange mushrooms on their heads dashed after me and it took all the energy I could muster to run forward.

Before long, I started to stumble. Having still not eaten anything, I didn’t have much energy to run properly.

“Grr..Come on!”

Pointing my spare hand behind me, I glared at the monsters.

“Fireball!”

Uttering those words, balls of fire shot from my hand. Slamming into the creatures.

Much to my disappointment, they didn’t appear to slow down. Some fell to the ground having been burnt to a crisp, but a majority of them didn’t even bat an eye at my attack and just continued to run after me.

Feeling like this wasn’t going anywhere, I wracked my brain for ideas.

“Since fireballs aren't getting up anywhere, what if I tried something that prohibited their movements?”

With that in mind, I started using my expanded thinking.

Three options are currently available. One: fire some magic into the ceiling to cut off a majority of the monsters. Two: Use earth magic to block the path behind me. Three: Accept my death.

“Why is the third one even an option!?” I shouted.

Deciding to work with the first two options, I aimed my hand toward the ceiling.

While this move wouldn’t completely remove all of them, it should cut off the majority and make taking down the rest a lot easier.

“Water Shot!”

Considering how useless fire would be for a plan like this, I opted to try using water.

Upon hitting the ceiling, however, the water just sunk into the rocks and failed to do anything.

“Alright then! Wind Ball!”

Using wind magic to slice into the rocks, I saw a few tumble down but not enough to block anything.

Sensing I was nearing the end of this tunnel, I knew I didn’t have much time left. If I happened to stumble into another cave, these things would instantly have me surrounded and I wouldn’t be able to do anything.

“Crap! Guess I’ll just have to roll with this!”

As nerve-racking as it was, I had no choice but to use option two.

Stopping in my tracks, I began chanting. As I did so, a few crocodiles jumped at me and began biting down on my skin. This was the exact reason I hated using earth magic. It was the only one that require you to stand completely still.

“Bring forth a wall to protect me from danger. Stone Wall!”

At that moment, earth shot up from the ground and instantly blocked the rest of the crocodiles from following me.

Still feeling the nasty bites from the monsters still chewing on me, I yanked several of them off and shot them with fireballs.

A few minutes later, I finished burning the rest of them to a crisp and they vanished into nothing.

Realizing I was finally finished with them, I let out a loud sigh of relief as I collapsed to the ground.

“Who’s bright idea was it to have a place like this at a school?” I groaned. Thinking all this was finally over.

Guuurgle…

Just then, the sound of my growling stomach entered into my ear.

Slowly sitting up, I looked at all the bleeding teeth marks covering my body.

“Great. Now I’m both hurt and hungry,” I grumbled before letting out an exhausted sigh.

Sitting there, I found myself once again being reminded of just how crappy this world really was.

“If I ever get out of here, I’m definitely gonna make sure to give those royal assholes one hell of a whooping.”

And before you ask, no, I don’t want to kill them. They may be monsters and idiots, but that doesn’t mean I have to be.

Honestly, it’s less that I want revenge as much as I want them to compensate me for my troubles. That may sound stupid considering how much I hate them all, but that’s just how I feel.

Is this world shit? Absolutely.

But just because the world is shit, it doesn't mean everyone is.

Dianne is a good example. And who knows, maybe some of the other heroines would’ve felt the same.

But again, I’m done with that harem life.

As long as I have a chance to escape this place and live my best life, I’m perfectly content with that. It may seem like I’m ending this whole plan at the drop of a hat, but it hit me while I was in the toad. I wasn’t gonna get anywhere in the world if I only ever acted as the good guy. That wasn’t my role after all. So it was time to start being me and just let go of the stuff prohibiting me from doing so.

Well anyway, it might be best to search for food with the little strength I had left, so while it hurt, I pushed myself onto my feet and began moving forward.

No matter what I had to do, even if it meant losing a hand or a leg, I would escape this hell hole. That’s my goal right now. And I’ll make sure I succeed.