Fuck.

Yeah, the situation is starting to settle in. I’m boned, so completely boned. If these monsters are everywhere then I am absolutely dead. I need to take stock of what I have, if nothing else than keeping me distracted from the fact that I’m more boned than a girl in a young adult novel.

I grab my satchel and check inside. Everything is mostly dry, thank fuck for investing in a waterproof bag. There’s my textbooks from class, that copy of “Bad Boys Bite” my favorite vampire novel, a squished but still fine ham sandwich in a plastic bag, my lighter, and a.. bead? Right, that blue screen said something about a bead at first. I was a bit too freaked out to really think about it. It probably has it's uses, it’s cracked though. Wonder if that’s bad. Won’t do any good thinking about it.

Next is… RIGHT, MY PHONE!! I reach for my phone in my back pocket and… broke as shit. Screen cracked all over and bent in a direction it’s not supposed to. There goes that escape route. Oh well, I toss it behind me. Not like anybody’s gonna fine me for littering here.

Now lastly, I reach into my shoe. After digging into the little pocket I made in the heel, surely enough, my switchblade is there! What, a girls gotta protect herself. Not sure how this thing will do against a kraken though.

All together, I’ll probably survive another few hours. One crappy ham sandwich isn’t enough and the only weapon I have is a flimsy knife. Although maybe I could use my textbooks, they’d be a good blunt weapon. That’s definitely not my style tho, if my strength stat is to be considered.

In other words, I need a plan of action if I’m gonna live. Thinking it over, I have two options.

Option one is to wait and see. Not the most glamorous, but the safest. Probably. Wait for someone to notice I’m gone and track me down here. I’d have to live off a single sandwich and try not to shit myself to death beforehand.

Option two, explore the caverns filled with monsters and hope something useful shows up. More glamorous than the first option, and suicidal. I’d be putting a lot on faith, plus my ability to stab shit while not being stabbed back. But if this place really does behave like a video game, then the rewards will be pretty good.

Wait to die or fight and die? What lovely options I have. I just lay down on the wet stone for a second and think about my potential demise. My stomach acts up every now and then just to remind me that my problems don’t end with monsters.

Honestly, after careful consideration, option one just isn’t viable and is pretty much guaranteed to kill me, even if I had more resources. My mom leaves and gets back from work while I’m still in bed. We can go a long time without even seeing each other. I’d give it a minimum of a week before she notices. It’s also summer and I just finished my summer courses, meaning no school for me to miss and mother to get a call about. I don’t have any friends either. I have no one who’s gonna notice anytime soon.

So I have to survive on my own for now. A 13 year old girl who doesn’t get out much needs to survive in a shit cave of monsters. I’m so dead it’s laughable.

I still have that gacha ticket, don’t I? Maybe that’ll give me an edge. Oh boy, time to jump down this rabbit hole again. Sadly I can’t use my moms credit card this time.

I open the shop and spend the damn ticket. Time to pray to RN-Jesus to have mercy on my soul. A bright light appears a few feet in front of me. I shield my eyes and I hear a CLUNK sound. The light fades and a wood and gold chest that reaches my waist is right in front of me. I approach slowly and open it. What treasures await me?

The answer is… mostly books. Disappointing, but I guess it could be useful. I am lacking in information on what’s going on. The first one is thin and blue with a pattern of waves in the middle of the cover. Something to do with water?

Would you like to learn the skill [Water Magic]?

Magic skill? Oh hell yeah!

Cannot learn skill since user has not learned [Magic Manipulation].

Oh fuck off! How the fuck am I going to learn magic? Don’t I need an old dude with a long beard and robes for that?

Then another random notification pops up.

You have learned the skill [Disease Resistance].

The knot in my stomach lessened a bit after I finished reading. Huh, so these are skills. Either way, this is definitely a boon. Not looking forward to what I have to to level that skill up though.

I’ll learn the magic shit later. The next book is a bestiary. Picking this up gives me a similar notification.

Would you like to unlock the [Bestiary] tab?

Yes, yes I would. The book dissolved into light.

[Bestiary] tab is now available.

Looking at the tab, I see only two entries. One for the Adolescent Kraken and the other for the Prowling Sewer Gator. A bit disappointing, I hoped for something a bit more informative. I guess it’s because these are the only two monsters I’ve seen so far. Kinda defeats the point of a bestiary if you have to meet them first, doesn’t it? I’ll look at the descriptions at least.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Prowling Sewer Gator

* An advanced evolution of the Sewer Gator. This is a Stage 11 creature that prides itself on its large size, durability, and stealth. They are very easy to sneak up on and their bellies are easier to cut through.

Adolescent Kraken

* One of the numerous children of the great Kraken. This Stage 10 creature typically preys on weaker being for food, immobilizing and crushing them for sustenance and EXP. Tend to panic when attacked by a stronger creature.

This does indeed provide a lot of info, some of it more useful than others for sure. No shit a kraken panics when attacked by something stronger, that’s a pretty natural reaction! And what the fuck does it mean by “Stage”? I get that it’s a type of categorizing method, but I don’t have enough information to know if that’s strong or weak. I meant obviously they were strong, but what about the rest of the dungeon? Are they the weakest down here, compared to everything else? I doubt it, but my luck has been pretty shit lately, so who knows.

Whatever, on with the rest of the loot.

Next is a… herbarium? The fuck’s a herbarium?

Would you like to unlock the [Herbarium] tab?

[Herbarium] tab is now available.

Ah, okay. It’s pretty much a bestiary but for plants. And it’s completely empty since I have seen no plants. Well that was useless.

Next was a bedroll, which is extremely welcome. It’s dark blue with what feels like a rubber outside and a silk inside. I pick it up. It’s very nice to touch. Taking a closer look at it, a message pops up again.

Water Sealed Bedroll

* A high quality bedroll that keeps out unwanted moisture and keeps you dry.

I can see the description of things?! This was not mentioned in the tutorial! I want to complain to management, you leave out way too much information!

That aside, I really couldn’t hope for anything better in a dank sewer. Especially with the hypothermia I have. Yeah, I’m shaking and chattering my teeth, I should resolve that soon.

Putting the bedroll aside, next is a… bar of soap. It’s a yellow bar of regular looking soap.

… I guess I’ll examine it before I pass judgment.

Cleansing Soap

* A moderately rare item that when used, will completely clean the user.

Would you like to use the item [Cleansing Soap]?

YES.

The soap dissipates into bubbles and surrounds me. I’m slightly freaked out, but it doesn’t really feel bad, just weird. Like the bubbles are brushing against my body and are soaking up the dirt from my skin.

The bubbles rise up and disappear. I look at myself and holy hell did that soap do work! I’m sorry I ever doubted you! Not only am I now completely clean and dry, so are my clothes! I’m probably cleaner than I was before I came down here. Not like it’ll stay that, given the situation, but it’s nice. Should help with the sickness too.

After that is a necklace. A small chain link, and at the center is a golden circle with a four leaf clover engraved in it.

Lucky Looter

* An incredibly rare necklace that increases your luck with loot! All drops from monsters and chests will have a chance of being a higher rarity and of being more useful to you.

Yup, definitely wearing this. I don’t think I need to explain why I’ll never take this off. Plus it does look cool.

Next! Some alcohol in a red square glass bottle. The paper label says it’s “Harpy Jack Whisky”. Looks pretty cheap.

Harpy Jack Whisky

* A cheap whisky, but effective at getting you drunk all the same.

Called it. Not sure now’s the time to be drinking. Never actually tried it before, my mom doesn’t keep alcohol in the house. Trust me, I looked everywhere. Guess I can use this to celebrate getting out, if I ever manage that.

The last two items in here are in leather sacks. The first one is just filled with beef jerky.

Beef Jerky

* A popular long lasting ration.

Boring, but it’s food, which is something I desperately need.

Opening the second one reveals a bunch of coins, copper, silver, and gold. Counting them, I find I have 50 copper, 20 silver, and 2 gold. I’m assuming gold’s worth a lot, but it could flow like water down here for all I know. Not that I even know someone I could trade with. The Item Shop takes SP, not money.

Speaking of which, I’m curious as to how much another premium gacha ticket would cost. If I could get some more magic stuff, even if I can’t use them right now, it'd be pretty nice. I scroll to the gacha section and my jaw drops.

1000 SP?!?! I’D NEED TO KILL TEN FUCKING KRAKENS BEFORE I COULD AFFORD THIS!!!

Once I’m done throwing a small tantrum, and subsequently dry heaving because of it, the golden box bursts into light and vanishes, once again freaking me the fuck out. Can’t something be normal down here?

That aside, I’ve got all my equipment situated. Now I just need to figure out how to go about using it. The water magic book I’m just shoving in my bag until I can find out how to use magic. That’s when I see that bead again. Guess I’ll see what it does now.

Second Chance Bead (Used)

* An extremely rare item that will revive the holder once upon death. This one has been used.

… oh. So I… on the fall… this does not help with my mental state. Guess a kraken isn’t as good of a cushion as I thought.

I’ll just not think about it. I’m alive now and I’d like to keep it that way. And speaking of kraken, what the hell am I going to do with it. And the gator. They’re taking up a lot of real estate in here and are already starting to decay.

I go up to the massive body of the squid and am greeted with yet another message.

Would you like to dismantle the Adolescent Kraken?

Can you please tell me I can do this shit in the tutorial?! Yes, get rid of this thing.

The big pile of tentacles dissolved into light, leaving behind three things.

First is a weird black sac.

Kraken Ink Sac

* Kraken ink is very rare and highly sought after. It is most commonly used in magic contracts between high nobility or as an ingredient in alchemy.

Well I am neither a noble nor an alchemist, so this ain’t worth shit right now. I’ll just throw it with the others. Maybe I’ll actually have a use for this crap someday.

Next is like the bag of beef jerky, but replace the jerky with tiny tentacles.

Raw Calamari

* A delicacy in many places. Best eaten while fresh.

… ew. I’m gonna have to eat them, aren’t I? I hate my life.

Then there’s another bag of coins. Twenty one silver and a gold. I like money, I like money more when I actually have a place to spend it. Let’s hope there’s a snack stand somewhere down here that takes copper.

I move to the giant lizard and repeat the process. This time it only dropped two things.

Gator Leather (High Quality)

* Some of the best quality leather you could ask for. This leather is thick, sturdy, and has a high affinity with water magic and stealth. Would make great leather armor if given to a tailor.

Again, very useless to me as is. I doubt I’ll run into a tailor down here. Piled with the other trash.

And more coins. 15 copper, 15 silver, and another gold. I’m rolling in dough I can’t use.

Now that I have some room to work with, I guess my first goal is to make this place a camp. The bedroll is a great start, but there’s more I need. Namely, a fire.

Looking at the Item Shop, yup, I can buy a fire pit for 3 SP. I can also get a pretty decent amount of dry firewood for only 1 SP. I also look to see if I could buy any food and drinks on here, but no, there’s nothing edible. They wouldn’t make it that easy for me, of course. I definitely need water, I’m getting thirsty and the diarrhea alone will dehydrate me. I would rather have been eaten by the kraken than shit myself to death

Problems for tomorrow. I feel like crap and I’m tired, time to sleep. I pile the firewood and light it with my lighter. The warmth feels so damn good. I take off my shoes before going in my bedroll, because I definitely don’t want to track sewer water in my place of rest. I realize I need a pillow and subsequently spend one SP on one. It’s pretty comfy.

It’s hard to sleep with the constant sound of the shit waterfall banging the rusty grate, but it all eventually fades into the background as I give my brain some much needed respite.

Tomorrow I explore. And hopefully I don’t die.