The Cave

Des opened his eyes to a dimly lit cave.

'A-ahh…?'

His head was resting on a soft cushion, allowing his face to point directly at the ceiling. He could see tiny glowing gems fixed there, and that was what allowed the room he occupied to have some illumination.

It wasn't enough to brighten up the whole room, but Des could pretty much see his surroundings.

"U-urgh…" He groaned slightly, knowing why the instant he took one good look at his body.

He was missing an entire arm, and one of his legs—from a bit over his knee—was missing. He had lost his genitals too, and while he couldn't see it with his only remaining eye, one of his ears was also gone. 

'Two toes are gone from my remaining leg, and I only have two fingers left.' He thought to himself as he observed the rest of his bandaged body.

'Everything itches and hurts.' 

The creatures—those disgusting things—were gnawing on his skin, digging deep into his flesh, which made it so that even his surviving parts were damaged.

All in all… a huge mess.

'Still, though, where am I? What is this place?' 

From the way the place appeared, he was still in the Dungeon, but he could feel a tinge of civilization attached to his surroundings.

He was currently laying on a soft, but firm platform, and his head was resting on an especially cushiony mass. It felt like a pillow, but based on the smell, he considered it to be some plant-based 'thing'.

Perhaps Moss, or something of the sort.

"And there's also a pot and barrel in that corner. A few boxes too…" He whispered. "Ventilation isn't an issue either. Someone did this…" 

The room didn't seem especially large, but Des couldn't see a door around. Perhaps it was hidden in the darker parts of the room, but that wasn't his current priority. He couldn't even properly leave the room if he wanted to.

'Do I even want to leave?' 

Out there, only Horrors awaited him, but it seemed like a fellow Native was living in this place. 

Des instantly knew which one he preferred to deal with.

"I vaguely remember what happened before I passed out. I think a naked woman saved my life…" He whispered, his eye fixated on the ceiling above.

"Wow! Spot on!" 

A loud feminine voice followed his bumbling comment, causing his body to stiffen almost instantly. 

'H-huh…?' Des had felt no presence prior to her speaking, and he had assumed he was the only one in the room—at least, for that period.

Suddenly hearing the loud, cheerful voice of a woman nearly frightened him. It made his entire body go numb and his heart raced. Still, he managed to suppress any outward reaction, instead slowly turning his head to his side—the place where the voice came from.

The moment he cast his sight on her, he was met with another round of confusion.

'W-what?!' His cheeks instantly turned pink, and his single eye widened, causing him to lose all the composure he had gathered from earlier.

The woman beside him had long red hair that trickled down her bare, pale skin. She was completely naked, exposing her voluptuous chest and amazing physique to him. One of her eyes was covered by an eyepatch, while the other was shining bright orange as she stared fixated at him.

It could have just been Des' imagination, but her smile was creepy—almost as if she was both fascinated and aroused by his presence.

It made no sense in his head, but that was the best way to explain it.

"E-erm… I… well… you…" Des stuttered, lacking the right words to utter as he couldn't take his eyes away from her despite feeling the need to.

"Hm? What is it?" 

As she cocked her head and stared at him curiously, still maintaining her smile, the long strands of red hair brushed past his body.

It caused him to tremble slightly, even with his best efforts to stay still.

"T-thank you for saving me." Des managed to finally make a coherent sentence after trying a few more times.

The moment he said this, her lips stretched upward even more, making her smile creepier. Her eyes also narrowed, almost like she was squinting. He shuddered as he witnessed her unnatural response.

In an attempt to do away with his nervousness, he looked away from her very quickly.

That was when he spotted them.

'A-are those…?!' Lying next to the darkness were several skulls that evidently belonged to Natives. Des' eyes widened as he witnessed how fresh they looked—almost as if they were brand new or something.

'Skulls? Did she kill people recently?' 

They couldn't have belonged to his comrades since he witnessed their deaths, and all of them were killed beyond recovery. Not even their skulls remained.

'So… who are those? And how did they end up like that?!' 

"What are you staring at?" The voice of the woman in front of him caused cold sweat to appear on his face. 

"Ahh… the skulls, huh?"

Something told him that she knew how they ended up that way—and that she was also involved in it. Her casual way of addressing it, and the fact that a creepy smile remained on her face told Des that he wasn't as safe as he initially wanted to believe.

'D-did she kill them? Did she… eat them?' There was no seeming source of food in the Dungeon, which meant anyone who was in this place either had to bring food from outside or find some unnatural ways to feed.

Which one did she do? No… how long had she been here, to begin with?

Almost as if to answer the last question of his, Des spotted markings on the wall. He strained his eye to see it well, and he noticed they were tallies—all in groups of five—meant to calculate something.

He instantly realized that it most likely reflected how long the woman had spent in this place.

'Dozens, no, I spot at least two hundred groups. Each of them is grouped in five, which means… over a thousand?' His eye bulged as his brain began to calculate everything he was perceiving as swiftly as it could.

'If those marks stand for an hour, then… she's been here for over a month. If they represent a day, then… she's been here for over two years. No—nearly three years!'

But that was too much, wasn't it? Was it even possible for anyone to survive in this place for even a year? Des doubted it to his bones, but… those tallies had to stand for something!

What did they stand for?

"H-how long… have you been here?" He didn't even realize it when he blurted out the question in a slow mumble.

"Hm? What was that? How long I've been here? Ah… I've lost track!" He heard her excited voice, and the swift words the proceeded from her lips.

'E-eh…?'

Des was stunned, since he thought those tally markings belonged to her.

"I haven't filled that out in quite some time, you know?" She shrugged, referring to the markings that his eyes were still fixated on.

'S-so that means… the estimate is longer than that?'

"I mean, time flies so fast here, so it's hard to keep track of each week and mark them down." Once again, the lady dropped another bombshell on Des.

His eye turned bloodshot as his brain struggled to understand what he just heard.

"Y-you mean… each of those markings… represents… a week?"

"Yeah? Why?"

"A-ahh… ahhhh…!" 

If those tallies counted hours, then the woman would have been stuck in the Dungeon for over a month. If they counted days, it would mean she had been here for nearly three years.

But… for weeks… the number shot up dramatically.

'She's been here for almost twenty years!'

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Honestly, these next few chapters will explain a lot of things, so hopefully you have fun with them.