Although the dungeon didn’t have a sun, it did display a day-night cycle. The sky altered between a dusk light and a very dim night and it happened in a mere second
Zoe discovered this the hard way when it went dark pretty quickly just after she found a moon fruit on a grand tree surrounded by wolves.
The only light source was the moon fruit itself as it shone with a dim light allowing Zoe to barely win the fight!
After that, she climbed into the tree, and after picking up the fruit, she used the net bed in her camping bag to make a temporary camp over a thick tree branch. Thankfully, Victor gave her those things before coming here.
Although she didn’t have a very good sleep by the time the sky became bright, her body was rested enough, and she quickly dismantled her camp and descended to the forest floor after a quick scan to make sure it was safe.
Zoe took the fruit from her pocket and looked at it.
“Should I eat it?” she wondered. This thing could be very useful at night… But thinking that it was a system mission, she decided to put it in her mouth.
WOOOOOSH
Before she could bite on it something pushed her from behind making her spit the fruit to the ground.
“Ah…”
Before she could reach for it, the person who pushed her stepped on the fruit and then slipped and fell face down.
“MY FRUIT!” Zoe yelled angrily at the pretty girl who stood up in a hurry, then slipped again and fell on her butt.
“Ah… Sorry…” the girl said.
“Alex?” Zoe asked in shock, forgetting about the fruit.
“Ah, Zoe!”
“What happened to you?” Zoe asked. Why was Alex looking like a girl? A very hot girl.
“Nothing,” Alex said as she scrambled to her feet again.
“Are you a girl?” Zoe asked. She guessed something. She was not stupid.
“No! It is…. It is a curse… Yes, a curse… I ate some strange fruit that made me like this… I am sure I will return to normal once we leave!” Alex answered immediately.
“Aha…” Zoe raised one eyebrow then noticed the squashed fruit on the ground and got angry again.
“That was my moon fruit you squashed…” she said looking at Alex hatefully. “You own me one now…” she added. She really wanted to kick Alex's ass at this moment, but it was not the time for this.
“Ahh, sorry… I was just…” Alex remembered why she was running. “We should run…. the..” she slowly said as she looked to the side and it was there looking at her….” THE RABBIT IS HERE!” Alex said then began to run.
Zoe was shocked but quickly began to run. If experience had taught her anything it was that when Alex runs, she better run too!
Lily did mention something about running from rabbits though.
Looking to the side, Zoe noticed it. A fluffy rabbit was watching them peacefully, it didn’t seem dangerous but Zoe’s instinct told her that this thing must not be provoked.
…
“YOU BASTARDS! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!” the naked girl cursed as the dark-skinned man roughly pushed her forward.
“Shut up bitch!” Another skinny man said, hitting the girl's naked butt with the umbrella he took from her, “Although I don’t understand anything from what you are saying, it reminds me of my annoying mother-in-law!” he said as the group reached a clearing. “If you were not this pretty, I would have already cut you into pieces!” he added shaking his head.
“Boss, stop talking to the girl… she doesn’t understand our language!” a man walking beside them said.
“Do you think I don’t know!” the skinny boss said, hitting his man’s calf with the umbrella. “I am just trying to scare her… But this girl must have some screws loose in her mind…”
“Boss, it should be dark in an hour or two… This place is not bad for a camp…” another man said, licking his lip.
“You are in a hurry to taste the girl ha…” the boss said.
“Boss, you know the tribe’s rules. We can’t touch her before you finish with her…” the man clarified embarrassingly.
“It’s good to know your place! I am pretty sure this girl has a very strong bloodline!” the boss said. “Then let’s make a camp here! I can feel two more of our men are nearby, I need to meditate a little to call them before we have fun! ” he said, making the seven men who accompanied him nod and then scramble to build a temporary camp.
Tulip, who was watching what happened nervously, was quickly taken and tied to a lonely tree on the side of the clearing as others began cutting some lumber to build a rudimentary fence.
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“Damn it!” Tulip cursed again as she began to kick around.
This was her third day here. And it didn’t go well from the start.
After reaching this place, she was first shocked that her storage ring didn’t work, nor did any of the magical treasures she was wearing. So naturally the imperial Armor and flying shoes she was wearing regained its real weight… Those things were made out of Orichalcum, they were not light at all!
So to scale the stairs at the first level she had to take them off. She was not afraid of losing them as they were connected to her, once the dungeon was conquered they would return to her.
So after reaching the 55th step she decided to pass to the next level when the dungeon offered her that.
She ended up here, a lone inexperienced girl in the middle of the forest without food or tools.
She was not an idiot, she knew she needed to hunt and secure a shelter. She had seen Rain do those things for her before, she could do it too!
It was easier said than done… So by the end of the second day, the sleep-deprived girl, exhausted herself fighting a giant crocodile, and then was captured by those lowly guys who waited until she defeated it to attack her from the back!
HATEFUL!
Those men have no honor!
The first thing they did was to feed her some ugly herb that rendered her powerless! She couldn’t use her teleportation or Void dance skill to run away.
Then they pealed the clothes of her like whey would do to a banana, taking all her treasures and storage ring while touching her noble body all over!
Those men were so thick-headed and dumb that she couldn’t even bargain with them and explain that those of low birth like them should not dare to harm an imperial figure like herself!
Her mother would be furious if she knew that her daughter was touched inappropriately like this!
Tulip knew that she would also take a portion of the punishment. Her mother was very strict regarding such matters as social status and etiquette.
Yes, she was more scared of her mother than the prospect of those men raping her.
She really wanted to cry and beg them to leave her for a second at first, but remembering her mother’s lessons, she decided to act as a dignified lady to the end!
Maybe if she took her own life her mother would not punish her…
She cursed again then frowned… Why did those guys stop shouting? Did they finally realize how vulgar and unpolished their primitive language was?
Looking around she almost gasped.
The two men who were at the clearing were dead with arrows sticking from their foreheads. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the others who went to collect materials were the same
This was fast!
A man who was holding a crossbow slowly entered the clearing.
He was tall, muscular, and had flowing silvery hair.
He was easily dragging a headless dark-skinned man's corpse.
He threw the man to the side after taking something from him, he stood up and looked at her… He froze in shock.
“What?” she asked as she tried without success to cover her naked body by trying to turn around. She didn’t usually feel shy when insects looked at her, but even though she couldn’t see this guy’s full face that was covered partially by a black mask, she could tell that he was damn hot as he looked at her with his golden eyes, inspecting her body. It was as if all her secrets lay bare in front of him.
“Pretty…” he said a little absent-mindedly then shook his head.
“Ah… Can you untie me?” she asked, her face blushing like a tomato, what is wrong with her? She quickly tried to remember her mother’s mantra. ALL MEN ARE INSECTS, ALL MEN ARE INSECTS, ALL MEN ARE INSECTS, HANDSOME MEN…. NO... ALL MEN ARE INSECTS...
She stopped when the young man finished approaching her, then stopped. He didn’t untie her, but just squatted and began to inspect her body.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she yelled angrily as she tried to kick him away. Too bad her legs were tied firmly to the tree trunk. Her desperate struggles let him see more.
“Considering what this emperor should do with you…” he said, pondering as he stood up and looked at her. “This one is really considering his options…” he said, telling the truth.
“Emperor?.... Can’t you just release me?” she asked. “I would be really thankful…”
“No… This emperor would never do such a stupid thing! What if you decided to kill this emperor because he saw you naked?” he said as if he was reading her mind. “We can tell that you come from some good family…”
“I would never do such a thing!” she lied.
“We will see… What’s your name?” he asked.
“T…. It’s a secret…” she said after hesitation. She was really considering killing this guy, but in case she couldn’t she had to make sure that this shame would be buried here forever. No one must know what happened to her… Especially her mother.
“Oh… Then this emperor shall name you… Let’s see…” he said as he inspected her as if he was naming a puppy. “Yes! Juicy… It suits you!” he said, squeezing her butt.
“Juicy?… FUCK YOU! LET GO YOU BEAST!” she flared angrily. This was the first time in her life she used such vulgar words, but she couldn’t help it, no one had ever dared to call her something that shameful before. No one has ever touched her like this before… No, those guys earlier did the same, but those were not considered humans.
“Yes, Juicy… I will give you two options, Either to become this noble one’s slave or to die…” he said as he slowly let go of her, glaring her in the eye.
“I would rather die!” she said directly.
“Ok!” he said raising his sword and bringing it down on her.
She could only close her eyes shut and look away as a single tear fell on her cheek.
Nothing happened.
She opened her eyes and saw the sword standing an inch away from her neck.
“You are too pretty to kill…” he said pondering. “Still, this emperor can’t let you go… How about this proposal, for the duration of this dungeon, you will act as this emperor’s maid… “ he said, watching her facial expression. “Don’t worry, this emperor will not violate you… You are not my type after all!”
“FUCK YOU!” she cursed again, just being near those peasants had already started affecting her, damn it!
“This is your only option…” he said. “After you die, I am sure some pervert would find your corpse and violate it… Maybe one of those rabbits would...” he paused as he watched three rabbits enter the clearing, hopping innocently.
“What?” she asked and noticed the rabbit. “What’s wrong?” she asked again, seeing the fear reflected in his charming eyes as if he was reading something horrifying.
“We need to run!” he said as he cut the rope in one move, then carried her like a princess and jumped away, quickly leaving the clearing.
Tulip gasped in shock as she felt his body embrace hers and then speed up.
She could only look back and notice the rabbits, they slowly approached the corpses of the dead men, and then transformed into grotesque nightmare monsters before beginning to feast.
A shiver ran through her back, thinking what would have happened if he left her there.
“Listen Juicy, you have two choices. Sign a contract and become this emperor’s maid for a few days, if not we would let you go play with those nice Demonic Rabbits…”
“Ah… Bastard! How dare you….” she tried to kick him, but his strong hands stopped her from moving.
“This emperor will give you ten seconds… ” he said looking at her eyes so close she could smell his scent and feel her bloodline begin to boil. It was as if her body was submitting to his aura.
“FINE!” she screamed finally as he noticed one of the rabbits had finished feasting and was looking in their direction. For the first time since her mother discovered her cookie stash, she felt fear.
“Let’s find a safe place then and sign the contract!” the young man said with a smile that was visible despite him was wearing a mask. He squeezed her tighter as he sped up again.