Chapter 11 – Out of the Shower, Into a Deadly Encounter
<– Previous Chapter | Table of Content | Next Chapter –>
After cleaning up everything, I hung up the apron in my kitchen. Once I got back from meeting with Venom-san, it was just the right time for dinner. It was a man’s home-cooking, but as always, I made a light meal and ate it by myself.
While bringing rice to my mouth with the chopsticks in my right hand, I opened Dungeon Seekers. It was bad manners, but there was no one left in this place anymore who would caution me about it.
I tried to search DS for something like a forum for players, but I didn’t find anything. Venom-san has probably gathered her information through personal connections. I suppose you can find players all over Japan. Also, this game is going to become a lot more active in the future.
Currently the management seems to employ all sorts of means to conceal the existence of DS, but at some point the time should be ripe to reveal it to the rest of the world.
The female player I met today, Venom-san, provided me with rather useful information, but I felt something was off about her.
“……”
For some reason my hand stopped with the chopsticks inside the retort miso soup. I still sensed the chill which I had felt through the skill.
｡ ₊°༺🫀༻°₊ ｡
Quite a bit of time had passed since I finished my dinner and the sun had gone down by now, causing a veil of darkness lowering itself over the city. Thanking myself for the meal, I finally washed the dishes, something which I had postponed until now. Then I realized that I didn’t do my daily jogging.
However, it’s already dark outside, so let’s not.
I retrieved a towel and change of clothes from my drawer and went to take a shower. Inside the bathroom I shampooed myself, rinsed it off, and quickly got out. It didn’t even take me three minutes.
After putting on my briefs and shorts, I pulled a sports brand T-shirt over my upper body, and left the bathroom.
Just when I left onto the corridor, trying to go back to my own room…
“Ohh! Kurase-kun! We just met, but nice to see you again!”
…someone suddenly tapped my shoulder from behind. Inside my home which shouldn’t be inhabited by anyone but me.
“HAAAAAAAH!?!?!”
Surprised by the incomprehensible situation which shouldn’t be possible under normal circumstances, I dodged with a jump. Being able to take such an evasive maneuver was also thanks to me having started Dungeon Seekers, but if I hadn’t downloaded that app, I doubt anyone would have illegally trespassed into my home in the first place.
“Ah, waaait!”
Ignoring her words, I dashed through the hallway at full speed, leaving onto the balcony. I was overawed by her walking through someone else’s house as if she owned the place, illuminated by the moonlight from behind me. The woman smiling at me while cheerfully waving a hand was Venom-san.
The skill 『Intuition』 was raising all alarm bells about her true nature which was hidden beneath her fake expression.
This girl is way more dangerous than some ogre. I wonder just what she’s concealing under that bright smile of hers.
Seriously, this isn’t funny at all. I could sense it intuitively, but this person was likely out for blood━━━━
“Haah…? Venom-san?”
While forcing out that mutter, I firmly grasped my smartphone so that it wouldn’t be stolen.
“Sheesh, aren’t you way too quick in taking a shower? And here I thought I’d be able to incapacitate you inside your bathroom without a hassle while you’re all naked.”
“J-Just what the hell are you talking about!? Venom-san, what’s the meaning of this!?”
While trying to frantically appeal to her, I operated my smartphone with one hand. I opened the item list, making sure that I’d be able to withdraw 『Uchigatana – Dragon Eater』 from there at any given moment.
“No, you see, explaining it would drag things out. Yep.”
“D-Didn’t you say you were in this for the sake of saving your little sister!?”
Seeing me naturally adopt a combat stance thanks to 『Understanding of Hand-to-Hand Combat』, despite my face showing panic and my voice being emotional, the previous smile on her face vanished. She directed a freezing glare at me.
“Ah, bloody fuck, that’s what I mean. You even discovered an F-Class dungeon I missed and dove into it a few times, right? Tsk…what a fucking bother. I love gradually beating inexperienced newbies to death, and yet…you’re no virgin anymore, eh?”
“No, I’m a virgin, okay?”
“Shut the fuck up, brat. Don’t yap to me with that fake politeness of yours.”
Even though I was just treating her politely by using honorific language━━━━
That woman is going on my balls. Don’t just go busting into other people’s homes, bitch…
“Shut up, hag. What the flying fuck is wrong with you and your head?”
“HAAAH?”
Hearing my question, she immediately flew into rage. Her smartphone released a dazzling light and she picked up a gas mask. Next she snapped her fingers.
My skill 『Intuition』 gave me the strongest warning thus far. At once I dropped from the balcony to the garden, jumped over the fence, and ran away into the nightly city.
“Tsk…don run away! Kurase-kuuun!”
Venom had snapped her finger after putting on a gas mask. Very likely she activated some sort of skill. Maybe a colorless and odorless poisonous gas or something like that. I mean, why else a gas mask.
I ran down several roads, constantly sensing her bloodlust in my back. I run, she chases.
At the same time as she snapped her fingers again, a magic circle appeared on the ground. Releasing an aster-purple light, its beam was aimed at my back━━━━
“gh!”
I powerfully kicked off the ground with both legs, somersaulting forward to dodge the beam attack. And then I rolled to the right, around a street corner.
What passed the location where I had been moments ago blew the fence around a private house to smithereens.
You gotta be kidding, right!? If I get hit by something like that, I’m toast!
“FUCK!? You bloody introvert got some evasion-based active skill or some shit like that!?”
I heard her shouting full of rage from the other side of the corner. Dodging makes me an introvert, eh…?
Using my legs at full capacity while swinging my arms widely, I sprinted across the street. I mean, sure, I had considered her as fishy, but I only assumed that it’d be a level of shadiness where she’d try to use me in order to earn some money. I definitely didn’t expect her to come to kill me on the very first day.
Moreover, why the hell would she do that anyway?
She probably tailed me when I went back home. The station and train were packed with people and it was already dark when I walked home from my station. She’s a player, so there’s nothing strange about me not noticing her either.
First I gotta make some distance and choose another place to fight her.
I’m just out of the bath, so I’m now running along streets barefoot. Sharp stones have been stabbing my soles for a while now. And that hurts, damn it. But, I guess the silver lining here is that I wear some clothes at least.
Getting attacked right after showering also had the possibility of me being completely naked in the worst case. It’s a difficult situation, but as long as I’m not exposing my dick, it’s not embarrassing.
I kept running along the deserted road which was illuminated by street lights.
<– Previous Chapter | Table of Content | Next Chapter –>
Translation Notes: