Chapter Thirty-Six: The Vault

~The Next Morning~

[I can’t believe you forgot why we rushed back in the first place.] I rubbed my eyes as I woke up, trying to clear away the sleep. My mind was as foggy as ever, and I swung my legs around the bed. I sat there longer than necessary, trying to get my brain to work.

“I don't know… What… You…” My words halted as my memory flooded back in. The bread. The guards. The chase. “My corpse!” The words jolted me upright in a panic. I jumped off the bed and dashed towards the door. Mid-stride, I halted, suddenly aware of my undressed state. “Crystal, this isn’t the time for jokes. Put my clothes back on.” I snapped at her.

My hands immediately flew to my delicates, but thankfully, Klericho was nowhere to be seen. Within moments, my usual cloth pants and shirt wrapped around me, materializing out of thin air. Stepping into the kitchen, a wave of aromas hit me — cooking meat mingled with exotic spices. My urgency faded as my stomach growled loudly. Resigning momentarily to my hunger, I pulled out a chair and sat down to wait for the meal.

I started tapping my fingers against the table out of boredom. Then, I was leaning back in my chair. I closed my eyes, hoping the food would be done soon. [Rod? The corpse?] Crystal's reminder chimed in my ear, sharp and insistent.

“Right!” I exclaimed, the word bursting out as I sprang to my feet and bolted outside. Finally, I remembered why I had gotten out of bed in the first place. A shiver ran down my spine, the same cold dread I’d felt the last time I stood over my own lifeless body. I didn’t stop to ponder the eerie déjà vu; there was no time for that now. Instead, I lightly kicked myself to loot my missing belongings.

[You have looted Player Corpse 3 and gained 2 death boons.] But instead of the Parchment, I had come to love, Crystal said, [I'm not displaying the parchment for now, but everything is back in your inventory. I'll display everything in a bit after you buy the vault.]

I immediately equipped a Leather armor in all the slots, except for the sandals, feeling its familiar weight settle into place. I wouldn’t risk wearing cloth again with the guards on the lookout, even if it were less sweaty.

“Crystal,” I said, wanting to get back on track now that the crisis was avoided, “I know I have to buy the waypoint system from you, but is there anything else you can do to help guide me? Maybe you could help me find this vault you mentioned?” I said.

[Oh, that's easy.] She said smoothly. [Tell me everything you want me to transfer to it, and they'll be there. You can even buy upgrades now that you have it. It's definitely worth getting the auto-repair feature. Which should transfer everything you don't need to there before we leave the zone.]

"Zone?" I sighed in frustration. "Can you maybe say that again and this time in common?”

[So touchy.] Crystal replied with a huff. [A zone is just a term for a large area like the Necromancer room on the first floor.]

I paused, eyeing the gear strapped to my chest, burns and nicks from the previous run marring the armor. “And Auto-Repair means?”

[That the item will be... repaired... to full durability... automatically... after you die.] She took long pauses again like she was talking to a toddler. I hated it when she did that.

“That’s… amazing. Does it work with everything? Weapons? Armor? Arrows?”

[Anything that has durability, as long as it's in the vault, will have been brought to full durability at the start of the next run. We also need to talk about the amulet you received. It is an amazing item, but it does you no good to wear it and die with it equipped.]

I thought I had gotten everything I wanted out of the first floor for now, but the second I had access to one of the magic classes, I was going to speed run the first floor. Sure, I hadn’t done the quests, but the death boon rewards had seemed negligible. As good as equipping an item in combat was, being able to skip the first floor was probably better for the interim. Wait a minute. Quests!

"Hey Crystal! I never received the quest reward for finishing the first floor!" My blood pressure started rising. If Crystal hadn't blown up, we'd be fine.

[Oh.]

Quest Log

Quest name

Type

Description

Reward

[Escape]

Floor

Complete!

Escape the sewers.

You can now start on the second floor. You can also access the following new Boons - Waypoint, Auto-Repair, Vault interest, Potion restore, and Upgrade system. 5 death boons.

"Those all sound amazing! Can I purchase any now?"

[I would advise against purchasing death boons now apart from the Auto-Repair, and the Waypoint. They are steep at 10 total, but that is all you should buy. In fact, I would advise against buying boons at any time other than a new run in order to ensure access to a new class. That should always be the priority.]

"Okay, let's buy those two, and worry about the rest later. Also, please store everything in the necklaces in the vault for now. I need a break from the first floor anyway. Moving back to my earlier question, how does this vault work? I want to put everything in there and keep only a few weapons, arrows, and gold."

[Sounds reasonable. This floor has a wider variety of growth opportunities. And if your friend's statement is correct, we must clear this within 96 runs. As for the vault, were you even listening? I told you how it works. You just ask me to deposit things when we are in this first room. And then, on future runs, you can grab whatever you need out of here.]

“That’s insane. I bet I could’ve won on my second run if I’d had half the loot I got that first run. How much gold do I have anyway? Is it enough to buy anything?”

[It certainly should be. At the very least, you can buy a shower and another hot meal. If you didn't notice, everyone else can smell the stink on you, even if I thankfully can't.]

Twenty minutes later, the savory scent of stew filled Klericho's modest dwelling as I sat, the meal's warmth seeping into my body. As a fellow Penitent, he had been a gracious host to me, remembering his early days in the dungeon and how hard it was to find your footing on the second floor. Klericho appeared to have brushed aside my earlier lie, yet a cautious tension hung between us. It was clear he wanted something—his occasional, probing glances said as much—but he seemed hesitant to voice it just yet.

"So Klericho, how did you figure out the 100-run limit for the second floor? That seems a little arbitrary. I thought we were supposed to have infinite runs. That's what my crystal told me." I started tapping my feet as we talked, and my eyes glanced back and forth around the room.

“As far as I know, Penitents like Elric had infinite runs back in the day. But as he returned time and again, the rules of Penance changed. Not only do fewer and fewer people make their way here, but we spend less time here before being forced to move on. Honestly, it's been a while since I’ve seen anyone come through, and all of them have perished fighting the Djinn. He’s invisible. Impossible to defeat.”

“Wait, you’ve encountered other Penitents? As in multiple?” My surprise was genuine. Everything I knew about penance claimed it was a solitary punishment.

"You aren't the only fellow Penitent I’ve met, not by a longshot. I've come across quite a few in my time here. What feels like years ago, I encountered a woman on my 15th or 20th run. Probably the most beautiful I've ever seen. She had hair that cascaded like a waterfall and legs that could stride through eternity. Honestly, I always pictured the two of us conquering Penance together…” His voice trailed off, his eyes again taking on that distant, far away look. An emblem dangled from his neck—a gravestone necklace with a figure of a kneeling man embossed on it. It seemed familiar, stirring a vague memory. But no crystal formed. As the conversation died, I started playing with the lunar locket around my neck. I could end it here and go loot things…

But instead, I shook us both from our stupor by asking, “What happened?”

“To make a sad story short, we teamed up and made it to the Goblin King, the boss at the end of the floor. We had him dead to rights, 10 HP left, and he sent out a stunning attack that killed me outright. I died, but it only stunned her. When I made it back to this place, she was nowhere to be seen. I always assumed she made it to the third floor.” He looked earnest and maybe a bit wistful.

“What if that was her last run, and she didn't make it?” I blurted, instantly regretting my words as I watched the color drain from Klericho’s face. His shocked silence told me he'd never dared to consider that possibility.

I gave the man an appropriate amount of time to process my mistake before asking a bunch of questions rapid-fire. “So, besides her, how many people have you met? How did you team up with her anyway? Are they all as hopeless as you?” I laughed, but Klericho gave me a look, so I shut my mouth.

"Normally, these zones challenge one person. But bring an ally, and it adjusts to the party size. Tougher monsters but better rewards. We thought a big group might be able to clear the dungeon. None were ever successful, though. The Djinn is just too powerful, invincible even.” I yawned. I had just had a full night’s rest, yet I was yawning. I moved to get up and stretch my legs. I needed to know more about Penance. I wanted to know more, but my mind was starting to drift to other things. Goblins, treasure, more food.

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“...at least, that was the theory behind the Penitent groups of Rellum, The Merchant, and Malikap.” He stared at me, and then a brief spark of anger crossed his eyes. “Hey, are you even listening to me?”

“Sorry,” I shook my head. “I got distracted. How about we change topics? Why did you stop trying to make it through?” He glared at me, and I had a sinking feeling he was only talking to me because he was out of options.

“I had a few Penitent friends through my runs, but none I miss more than Thomas. The guy was built to be a warrior. It was like he instinctively knew how to wield a blade. He was like a brother to me.”

“What does this have to do with my question?” I asked impatiently.

“He died, My 98th run, his 100th. And, well, it’s a lot harder to want to run through this place by yourself, especially after so many fruitless attempts. I just decided to settle down and live out eternity here.

"If you knew you'd run out of lives, why would you go so close to the limit? Why not just stay here and keep doing what you've been doing now? Running your little inn? Wouldn't you eventually get enough death—" Mid-sentence, a sudden jolt electrified my body, cutting off my words. It was as if the world had slammed into slow motion, but this time, I was frozen, too. And then, picking the absolute worst timing, Crystal made a parchment appear. I would've laughed if I had been able to move my face.

Rod - Run 3 Corpse

Gold: 459

Name

Amount

Condition

Effect

Description

Enchanted Blood Ruby Of The Sewage Goblin Tribes

1

NA

While in your possession, you can speak Goblish. While in your possession, once per run, you can equip an item during combat. You can skip the normal rooms on the first floor and choose to fight only the Necromancer and the Goblins.

A dark, gleaming ruby imbued with the ancient magic of the Sewage Goblin Tribes. The ruby is also one of the seven keys needed to escape Penance.

Iron Helm

1

Def + 2

10/20

A well-crafted iron helm that offers solid protection for the head. Its reinforced structure provides excellent defense against blunt and sharp attacks.

Iron Short Sword

1

Deals 1-6 damage

16/20

A sturdy iron short sword with a simple yet effective design. The blade is sharp and well-balanced, perfect for quick strikes and precise cuts.

“Careful, its sharp!” 4 fingers Lasalle.

Iron Mace

1

Deals 1-6 damage

14/20

A heavy iron mace with a solid, spiked head. This weapon deals devastating blows, capable of crushing armor and bone alike.

The Staff of the Necrobolt

1

Deals 1-20 Necrotic damage. Has 10% chance to blind target.

17/20

An ominous staff carved from dark wood and adorned with eerie runes that glow with an otherworldly light. The Staff of the Necrobolt channels dark energies, unleashing powerful necrotic bolts that can wither flesh and bone.

Casts the spell “Necro Bolt” Deals 1-8 necrotic damage: 5% chance of turning the target into a zombie minion.

Gurgle’s staff of noxious Fumes

1

Deals 1-20 Poison damage. Has a 20% chance to poison the target.

16/20

A twisted piece of wood that seems to writhe with a life of its own, emitting a faint, eerie green smoke. Hanging from the top are five potion bottles that cannot be removed, each containing bubbling multicolored concoctions swirling inside. Casts the spell “Noxious Fumes” Deals 5-12 poison damage. Has a 5% chance of poisoning the target.

Empty bottle

1

You can put potions in this.

NA

An empty bottle.

Torch

3

10/10

Deals 1-4 physical damage. 5% chance of causing burn effect on target

A simple wooden torch wrapped in oil-soaked rags. When ignited, it produces a flickering flame that casts a warm, golden light in a small radius.

Gold

338

N/A

The Currency of Penance.

A simple gold coin on one side is the visage of the Merchant of Death, and on the other is a Thumbs up.

Death Boons

8

N/A

Death Boons are power. Spend them wisely.

A metaphysical currency provided by the Merchant of Death. The currency allows you to get progressively stronger as you face new threats in Penance.

Dagger of Penetration

1

15/15

Deals 3-7 damage. Ignores 2 points of defense.

A sharp and durable iron dagger with a well-balanced design, perfect for quick and precise strikes.

“A very sharp dagger.” — Photonius The Dead.

Iron GreatAxe

1

/25

Deals 4-14 damage

A massive iron great ax with a double-edged blade, designed for powerful and sweeping strikes.

Copper Mace

1

15/15

Deals 1-6 damage 5% chance to stun.

A robust copper mace with a heavy, rounded head. This weapon deals devastating blows, capable of stunning opponents

Arrows

15

4/5

Allows you to fire a bow.

A simple wooden arrow with a stone arrowhead. Stronger arrows provide additional effects.

Rat Teeth

1

NA

None.

The Incisor(s) of a Giant Rat. Who knows? If you collect a lot, something good may happen.

Rat Meat

1

NA

+5 health 80% chance of poison if consumed.

Juicy, full of protein, and only tastes a little like sewage! Who knows? If you collect a lot, something good may happen.

“Tastes like chicken!” – Photonius the Dead

Goblin Ears

2

NA

???

Waxy, flaky, and oddly heavy these ears are likely a waste of space! But who knows? If you collect a lot, something good may happen.

Cloth Shirt

2

10/10

+1 defense.

It's a shirt!

– My friend went to Penance, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt!

Leather greaves

2

15/15

+1 defense.

A worked and treated pair of leather greaves covering the waist down to the ankles.

Leather armor

1

13/15

+1 defense.

A worked and treated leather vest covering the chest and arms down to the wrist.

Leather helm

2

15/15

+1 defense

A sturdy leather helmet crafted to provide basic protection for the head.

Cloth Sandals

1

10/10

+1 defense

Simple yet ‘comfortable’ cloth sandals that offer minimal protection but great mobility. – “Don’t worry, you’ll miss sewer feet after an hour with these!”

~Photonius

Chest key

1

Na

Unlocks one chest of any rarity.

A small, intricately crafted key that glows faintly with a magical aura.