Part Three

Thankfully, the building's exit emptied into an alley that only contained a couple Zombies that I made short work of. If it had been one of the nearby streets…well I would’ve died. Most of the wider roads I’d seen from the roof were crawling with monsters, enough to cause traffic jams in some spots.

Looks like I’ll need to use the alleyways for the foreseeable future. Getting through the throughways will be near impossible. I’ll need to be careful from here on out. Going the wrong way could mean death.

With only one real way to explore the Dungeon, I was forced to continue moving through the alleys, occasionally dealing with the Undead I encountered. Most of what I encountered were Skeletons and Zombies, though there were Skeleton Knights and Bloated Zombies mixed in.

At first, I tried to map the alleyways as I went, but soon realized how difficult that would be. Each one was basically identical, with the only differences being their length and the number of turns. A single mistake would render my work useless. After three such mistakes, I eventually scrapped the idea, giving up on mapping the Dungeon.

Haaaaah, fuckin hell. Why are all these buildings the same? Honestly, this place reminds me of the Siege Dungeon's forest. It feels procedurally generated. And none of these building have any entrances, or even windows. Where the fuck am I even supposed to go?

Getting lost wasn’t my biggest problem. After exploring for long enough, I realized that no matter which direction I went in, I’d eventually run into one of the larger streets overrun with monsters, preventing me from going any further. But trying to fight my way past all those monsters would be difficult. There had to be a way through without needing to fight all those monsters. I just had to find it.

***

It took awhile, but I did eventually find a way forward. After several hours of searching, I discovered a manhole leading into an extensive sewer system. Unfortunately, it was as monster-infested as the alleys had been, but was a far sight better than the clogged streets.

“EYYAAAAAA!!!”

Dullahans. So there’s Demons down here? Hrm, pretty crazy. Fiend-Type monsters in the buildings, Undead on the streets, and Demons in the sewers. Yep, a city of nightmares all right. And I’m caught in the middle of it. Fuuuu….

Fortunately, I already knew how to deal with the Dullahans, and they lacked any armor, so getting past them was a breeze despite their numbers. Sadly they didn’t count towards the Twin Swords upgrade, so I was making little progress on that front since Undead didn’t count either. The Fiend-Type monsters counted, so hopefully they’d have a larger presence in other areas, or I’d be screwed.

Actually, Hellhounds and Demons should count, as well as any other living Demon-Type monsters. Not that I’ve seen any yet……….

…Huh, I thought that would cause something to appear for sure. Thinking something like that’s normally a jinx, right?

No matter how long I waited, nothing new appeared. Just more shrieking Dullahans, though now some had the metal shells that resembled armor that Analyze had mentioned previously. Honestly, I wasn’t impressed. The Dullahans we fought in the Demon Dungeon were several times tougher than these, though they still had the same level of tenaciousness.

After about an hour of this, I finally came to a different portion of the sewers. I couldn’t really tell you why it was different, aside from the distinct lack of Dullahans trying to kill me. They’d just disappeared, or maybe stopped spawning would be a better descriptor. Either way, I wasn’t encountering them anymore.

Hrm, usually when one enemy type disappears, it’s replaced with something new. Does this mean I’ve entered a different monster's territory? Or are all the Dullahans just dead? Nah, that’s too convenient. There’s no way that could ever happen for me. I’m too unlucky.

As if to prove my words, a distant growling reached me, followed by an instinctive shiver. This wasn’t the effect of a Skill, but my own intuition warning me about danger. Something was coming.

I continued skulking through the tunnels, listening for any signs of whatever was stalking me. Loud, bestial panting echoed from here and there, but the acoustics were such that I couldn’t pinpoint where exactly it was coming from. I tried speeding up so I’d lose it, but to no avail. The creature easily stayed with me.

Attempting to provoke it got a similar response. Whatever was stalking me would not reveal itself willingly, and I didn’t really have any abilities to force it out, so I decided to give it an opportunity. Wild animals would often stalk their prey until they spotted a weakness, so I guessed that the same might apply to the monster. All it needed was an opening to exploit.

Deciding to go all in on this one, I pretended to trip and smack my head on the ground, though my helmet made it so I didn’t really feel anything from the impact. After that, I made sure to spasm a little, like I’d been hurt badly, and laid there on the ground, motionless.

Minutes ticked by, and still no sign that my prey was coming, but I held on, determined to trick the beast into approaching its own demise. I slowed my breathing bit-by-bit, trying to make it appear that I was dying. Honestly, a part of me felt silly for doing this, but it soon paid off.

“Huff, huff. Grrrrroaww…”

The beast was approaching, making excited sounds as it did so. Based on the footsteps I heard, it sounded bipedal, which meant it likely wasn’t a Beast-type monster. Either way, if it was going to get this close, I had to make sure my ambush paid off. It likely wouldn’t fall for this a second time. Even monsters were that stupid.

Wait for it, wait for it…now! The second I determined that it was in range, I used my legs to kick off the ground while simultaneously activating my Skills, now with Accelerate added in. The monster didn’t have enough time to react, though it managed to twist itself to the side, barely avoiding a fatal wound. Still, my blade had pierced through its chest, damaging its internal organs. It wouldn’t be long for this world.

Unfortunately, by standing up, I also got a good look at the beast, and when I say beast, I mean it. It had to be one of the ugliest creatures I’d seen, though its form wasn’t exactly grotesque, just ugly. It had a basic humanoid form, but both of its arms and legs were much longer than its torso, and it was covered in a fine layer of brownish hair. And its face was…warped, like someone had taken a picture of a person, then used a morphing filter to make them appear monstrous. Add in the two little tusks on either corner of its mouth, and it was just ugly.

Wendigo

Rank: C

Description: A former mortal possessed by Demonic energy, now transformed into a flesh-hungry beast, incapable of anything but hunting others, especially their own kind. Despite the fact that they’re created by Demonic energy, Wendigos are not actually created by Demons, but are usually the result of mortals foolishly experimenting with Demonic energy, eventually causing their transformations. Unfortunately, the process often leaves them with an insatiable appetite for mortal flesh, pushing them to cannibalism. They don’t remain sane for very long.

Perhaps the transformation gave it greater instincts, because it seemed that the Wendigo could tell when it was outclassed. In fact, it turned to run almost the second after I pulled my sword free from it, showing that it wasn’t completely dumb. Unfortunately for it, it chose the worst possible opponent to run from. A single [Rot] to the back of the head brought it down, and a sword thrust finished it off.

Hm, not bad. Definitely not something I’d want to fight head on. Chasing it would’ve been pretty hard, and I doubt those claws are just for show, so the C-Rank is warranted. Guess I’ll have to be on alert for more of these things from now on. They’re pretty tough, though this one died too easily.

Now, where to go next? I need to have a-. Oh? Gasp, could, could it be? It is!

Just as I’d been about to move on, the Wendigo's corpse began to dissolve into light, signifying that I was about to receive some loot. I could hardly wait. Most of what I’d gotten here already was either crap or consumable stuff, though there’d been a number of Gems of Hatred. I’d held out hope that one of the Scourges would drop an item, but none ever did. Meaning that this would be my first C-Rank item drop.

I leaned forward while eagerly watching as the light receded, leaving behind a rather familiar pair of boots. Too familiar. A sudden bad feeling overtook me, but I cast it off in hopes that they just looked similar. Unfortunately, reality is a bitch, and life sucks…

Vagabond's Boots

Rank: F

Effect: Slight increase in Speed

Description: Boots that an aimless wanderer would use. They aren’t of very high quality, but are better than nothing.

“But, but why? What did I do to deserve this cruel fate?”

It didn’t make sense. Why would an F-Rank item drop from a C-Rank monster? Did I do something wrong, or was I just misunderstanding something? Apparently, it was the latter.

“Nothing. You did nothing. This is just how it works.”

“GAH! F-fuck, you scared the shit out of me. Where the heck did you even come from?”

“I’m an object directly connected to the System. It’s not hard for it to make me appear and disappear at will.”

That made sense given the way he just appeared and disappeared earlier. Still, it didn’t help when I was in an already shitty mood.

“What do you mean ‘it’s just how it works’?”

“Come now, did you really think high-ranking Dungeons would use the same exact rules as low-ranking ones? The training wheels are off now, kid.”

That made sense, far more than I wanted it to. It wasn’t uncommon for trash mobs in games to not drop anything useful aside from money or XP, so why wouldn’t the same apply here? The World System may not function exactly like a video game, but there were enough similarities that some logic could still apply. I just need to know exactly what logic it was.

“Haaaah, well? Care to explain?”

“Eh, guess it is my job. Okay, listen up! I’m only saying this once, so pay attention. Starting at B-Rank, most Dungeon mobs will drop random items from F through D-Ranks, with the occasional rare drop being something unique to that specific monster. The only way to normally get B-Rank and above items is to either clear Dungeons, Lairs, or to kill Mid-bosses or clear challenges. Oh, and I guess you can make them, but you need to be pretty skilled to pull that off.”

“That seems…a little extreme. Why’s it so hard to get good equipment?”

“Do you want my guess? You do? Aight. It’s got something to do with Dungeon populations. Low difficulty B-Rank Dungeons like this one are fine, but higher difficulty ones are usually stocked with very few monsters below C-Rank. If equipment of equal Rank was constantly given out, it would be too easy for people to clear Dungeons. Trust me buddy, the System won’t outright hinder you, but it certainly ain’t your pal.”

Before I could full digest what the Doppelganger said, he disappeared, leaving me with more questions than he’d answered.

Haaaah, I’m too tired to deal with this right now. Let’s see if I can find somewhere to sleep.