"Rohan, I have a canteen with a sip or two left. It’s embarrassing and thoughtless that I didn’t restock water before leaving Academy City..."
This place offered no guarantee of food or water. Shion’s suggestion was simple: collect urine while their bodies were still hydrated and healthy.
‘Makes sense.’
Under normal circumstances, Rohan would’ve had to consider her words seriously, squeezing out every bit of survival knowledge. But for him, there was no need.
‘Because I have the shop.’
In Abyss City, the skill was considered minor—used to restock consumables, depending on your proficiency and control. But in a real-life dungeon, it shone brilliantly. Given the monsters they’d already dealt with, there was more than enough to ensure food and water for the girls.
Owning the shop skill made Rohan a literal lifeline in this dungeon. The bottled water Shion was worried about cost only 2 points.
Just as Shion finished speaking, Clara tugged at his sleeve.
"Big brother..."
Clara, her legs slightly crossed and trembling, looked like she was on the verge of tears. Even so, she seemed ready to follow whatever decision was made.
Rohan found her reaction both adorable and amusing and briefly considered letting it play out a bit longer. But he quickly decided against it—teasing her about this would only lead to trouble.
"Shion, don’t worry about the water. Take Clara and go. I have a plan."
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"Understood."
"I-I’ll be back soon...!"
Shion nodded without hesitation and began scanning the area for a safe spot. Clara, her face flushed, kept glancing back at Rohan as she followed Shion.
"If anything happens, shoot or scream!"
Both girls signaled their agreement in their own ways. As they moved out of sight, Rohan turned his attention to the shop. Scrolling through the interface, he located the item at the bottom of the list and made his purchase.
[ You have purchased bottled water. ]
Reaching into the shimmering void, he pulled out a cool, 500ml bottle of water. The bottle was plain and label-free, but it was pristine.
The shop skill worked perfectly, and Rohan felt both relieved and satisfied.
‘I can’t let them go hungry for days.’
After all, there weren’t many people to look after in this dungeon, and the estimated escape time wasn’t months away. Keeping the girls in peak condition benefited him just as much.
‘A little hint should be enough for now. Both of them are tight-lipped.’
There was no way he could keep this hidden from Clara and Shion forever, especially considering the road ahead.
[ +1P ]
[ +1P ]
[ +1P ]
Rohan chuckled at the notifications that popped up while he was thinking.
‘How far did they go?’
He’d heard faint sounds—barely noticeable unless you were focused. The girls had apparently taken care of a monster while he wasn’t paying attention, earning points and casually reimbursing his spent resources.
Rohan waited in the shade, shielding himself from the sun. Before long, Shion and Clara returned, unharmed.
"Nothing happened, right?"
"There were monsters, but they were weak. No issue."
"..."
Clara’s expression was a mix of relief and embarrassment. She looked flustered but also visibly refreshed. Rohan wanted to reassure her that it was fine, but he worried that any attempt might do more harm than good. Instead, he handed the bottle of water to Shion.
"Here, fresh water."
"It’s only been a few minutes since we left... impressive. There’s no visible impurity or foreign substance."
Shion examined the bottle closely. Opening the cap, she sniffed it but found no odd smell. Watching her, Rohan decided to reveal the truth.
"It’s my skill. We won’t run out of food or water until we escape."
"!"
"That’s... an incredible ability."
"But it’s not limitless. It comes at a cost."
"I figured. Even so, I appreciate you revealing it to us."
"Big brother, thank you..."
To Clara, it felt like a miraculous stroke of luck. Just thinking about the alternative made her feel faint. The idea of Rohan having to drink her urine—she didn’t even want to imagine it.
Rohan urged them to get moving again, adding one last note.
"Don’t hold back if you’re thirsty. Keep your condition as good as possible."
"Okay!"
"Understood."
Shion and Clara, perceptive as they were, didn’t press him further. They wouldn’t ask what kind of price he paid or whether the water had been created or pulled from a stash.
They understood the unspoken rule: probing into someone else’s skill was impolite. And so, they carried on without questioning it further.
***
"To save time, I thought about making a straight dash to our destination."
But if they couldn’t shake off these monsters and ended up being swarmed by dozens, or even hundreds, even those two wouldn’t be able to guarantee a clean victory. It was a risk he couldn’t take.
The group pressed on with steady but quick steps.
As the three continued their journey, the monsters gradually became stronger and more numerous.
"Haaah!"
Boom! Shion’s baton smashed into a vine-legged refrigerator, sending it tumbling and breaking apart.
[ +2P ]
At some point, the points they earned had increased from 1 to 2. It was clear that the quality of the monsters affected the rewards.
"Look at this—its parasitic nature is quite vivid."
Shion called the others over to examine the now-defeated monster. The refrigerator’s door had flown off, exposing its interior.
Inside, vines stretched out like veins, intertwining with its components. Even the internal parts that weren’t visible must’ve been consumed in the same way.
It was hard to call it anything other than a monster—its ability to activate without electricity and launch bizarre attacks was beyond the scope of a normal plant.
"It’s not just a simple plant; it’s definitely a type of monster."
Rohan already knew. This plant-like monster was called Parasitic Ivy. True to its name, it was a parasitic vine.
Its strength depended on what kind of object it attached itself to, though its limits were obvious.
Shion wiped the sweat trickling down her face from the heat, put her baton away, and voiced a thought that had been on her mind.
"And personally, it feels like something is trying to stop us from going this way."
"It does seem like we’re heading straight toward the center of something," Rohan replied.
"I-I think the place you picked earlier is the right one, big brother...!"
Rohan didn’t dismiss her guess, even though it was riddled with holes. Maintaining a positive morale and atmosphere in situations like this was just as important.
Besides, they really were heading in the right direction.
"..."
Before they knew it, more than five hours had passed since they’d fallen into the dungeon.
The relentless heat in this place was unwavering. At some point, the temperature had undoubtedly surpassed 40 degrees Celsius.
Step. Step. Step.
The three of them continued moving diligently. Sweat dripped from the tips of Rohan’s and Shion’s hair, and even Clara, who usually wasn’t affected by the heat, had started to sweat.
"Big brother."
"Yeah?"
"I-I was just wondering..."
"Speak freely."
It was rare for Clara to voice an opinion. Despite the sweat streaming down his face, Rohan smiled and listened attentively as Clara hesitated, her gaze shifting to the sky.
"It’s just... the sun doesn’t seem to be moving here..."
"Now that you mention it, that is strange. It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?" Shion added, tilting her head back to look up.
‘Smart girl,’ Rohan thought, wiping the beads of sweat off his face with his sleeve as he looked up at the sky.
She was right—this world was one where the sun never set.
As he was about to affirm Clara’s observation, a buried question he had been ignoring came to the forefront of his mind.
‘But why is this dungeon connected to Solarea?’
It wasn’t something he’d considered when playing as the protagonist. Even the speculative posts written by players hadn’t provided any concrete answers, so he’d brushed them aside.
But now that Rohan himself was tied to Solarea, he couldn’t overlook it.
‘It’s related to the nation, but we haven’t moved south...’
As he racked his brain for related information, the image of the temple where he’d first awakened surfaced in his mind. Without rejecting the thought, he held onto it.
A nation that worships the sun. Solarea. He pondered the connection as the thoughts churned in his head.
[ Rohan’s story is being unlocked. ]
Awareness and realization.
The anomaly occurred as Rohan recognized the implications of his thoughts.
‘Ah...’
A phrase seeped into his mind. It compelled him to speak aloud, to cement it in his memory.
"When the dark ones committed their relentless sins, we became certain."
Words spilled from Rohan’s lips as if they weren’t his own.
Both girls turned to look at him.
"Big brother?"
"Hmm?"
Their gazes fixed on Rohan, perplexed by the sudden words. But Rohan remained in a daze, staring blankly at the sky.
"...They fear this power," he murmured.