Dungeon Exploring (P.5) - Chapter 9

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"Haaa…. Haaa….. Haaaa… Haaa…"

An heaving breathing could be heard in the background.

~Aya... ~

And as the breathing patterns got slower after regaining the needed oxygen, dripping noises were the next thing that was clearly heard.

"Haaaa…..haa….haaaa….haaa"

What those dripping noises were was liquid, which was sliding down through the delicate hands that were holding two daggers painted red. That wasn't the blood of the wielder of those two daggers, but rather whatever they were used on.

"Haaaa…..haaaa….haaa"

~Can you hear me, Aya? If you can, respond to me.~

The voice in the white-haired girl's head continued asking in a slightly worried tone while trying to regain her attention.

"Haaaa…..haaaa….haaaa….haaa…."

Aya, who had her head hung low, continued breathing slowly until her eyes opened, as if something of a shock came to her mind.

"Ah!" She looked to her left and right, unaware of what had happened.

~Aya.~

"….what…. happened?" She inquired, her voice almost hoarse from being in that state.

~You weren't responding to me anymore. I was asking whether you were okay during the fight, and you suddenly went quiet.~

"The cave goblin boss. R-right! What happened!? Wasn't I supposed to…" Aya gasped, recalling the last thing she remembered doing.

~....You don't remember? Aya—~ Hiroki confusedly responded.

Unaware of how Aya's condition was right now, she quietly listened to Hiroki with the hope of finding out what was going on. She was sure that she was fighting the boss of this level, which is why she found it confusing that she was standing still, unharmed.

~—You defeated it.~

"Eh?..."

The moment Hiroki hit Aya with what had happened, the girl looked underneath her feet, only to find the most gruesome sight that she had ever seen in her whole life.

It was the appearance of a massive cave goblin whose face had been brutally cut many times, its legs and arms amputated, and half of its mouth completely cut off.

Her eyes widened to their full extent before she tripped on her legs as she looked at the gruesome corpse in front of her.

Even though she had already experienced the feeling of killing another human, she still couldn't believe that a goblin, which somehow had a humanoid-looking body, could look like that.

Cold sweat ran down her forehead before she felt a burning sensation inside her throat. She immediately looked down before coughing out puke from the unbearable sight in this place.

"Cough!! Ugh.!Cough!! UeeeghhhhhhhhH!!!! !Cough!!"

Hiroki, who felt Aya's unwell condition, came out of her body and tried head-patting her back, even though she couldn't actually feel his hand. He only did this as a reflex in order to somehow make the girl feel much better.

"Sorry you had to go through this…"

Hiroki tried to reassure the girl as she was trying to wipe away the last bits of puke from her lips.

"...It's not your fault, so you don't need to apologize. It's my fault for being this weak despite being given the chance to change."

Aya forced a smile on her face while trying to make Hiroki feel less guilty for making her come to this place. She knew very well that this was her decision to come with him. This is why she had accepted the fact that whatever was going to happen next, she was going to accept any consequences.

"Aya…."

Hiroki looked at her with raised brows before trying to change the subject.

"I know this might sound unreasonable, but I think we should move forward before any other adventurers catch up to us. This territory is not a safe place in case the boss of this place can actually be reborn. "

Aya looked to her side before meeting Hiroki's eyes once again.

".....I understand."

Once Aya slowly got back up on her feet, Hiroki possessed the girl again before opening up his own status after the boss of this fight had been defeated.

[ STATUS ]

Name: Hiroki SF: 350/350

Race: Ghost Points: 95

Title: Monarch of The Undead

INT: 1,007 STR: 0 AGI: 0 VIT: 0 DEF: 0

[ Skills ]

<Appraisal> < Possession > <Curse> <Skill distortion> < Ruler's Wrath > < Night Vision > < Danger Sense > < Airblade > < Fast thinking > < Quick Shield > < Memory Call > < Mind's force > < Perfect Aim >

'So even though I'm using Aya's body, I can still receive new skills from the monsters that get killed for as long as I'm related to the defeat. Directly or indirectly.'

Hiroki concluded in his head while looking at the invisible status in front of Aya's eyes.

'But for now, I should be focusing more on raising Aya's strength and agility so she won't need my assistance since she will be doing solo quests without my help in the future….'

[ STATUS ]

Name: Aya

Race: Human

Title: Bound for Eternity!

INT: 59 STR: 38 AGI: 88 VIT: 69 DEF: 10

[ Skills ]

<White Glow> <Muscle boost> <Precise balance > < Night Vision >

'...And I can see that her status has grown as I had expected. Since she is more of a close combat type of fighter, her agility and vitality are the ones that increased the most. While her other stats are important as well, I think she should be focusing on this sort of fighting style.'