Chapter-00 · EP-000

Tokyo Dungeon Academy

Hono no Murasaki

Preface

Prologue

"Senpai, actually, my second child is going to be born soon."

"Eh? For real? That's amazing! Congratulations!"

I heard this happy news from my junior while we were heading out to grab some lunch together.

"Hehe, thank you very much. By the way, it's a boy."

"I see. Well then, as a congratulatory gift for the birth, today's meal is on me."

"Nice! Thanks for the meal! Then, when you have a child, Senpai, I'll treat you!"

"Tch... I don't even have plans to get married, let alone have kids!"

"Wahaha! Looks like you're always gonna be the one treating!"

Chatting about such trivial things, we walked towards our intended ramen shop.

But this junior, even though he's still in his twenties, is about to become a father of two. Meanwhile, here I am, a single man in my forties, currently without a girlfriend. Our relationship is good, but our circumstances are vastly different.

"Senpai, don't you have any desire to get married?"

"Hmm? I did when I was younger, but as I've gotten older, I've become less sure about it. I do feel envious when I see someone like you living a fulfilling life, though."

"Is that so? Actually, I'm kind of envious of single people like you, Senpai. You can use the money you earn however you want, right? I've got my kids' living expenses and future tuition to think about. It feels like the rest of my life is just gonna be earning money for them."

"Money, huh... Guess we gotta earn it."

"I have insurance, just in case, but it's not like I can afford to die, you know."

"That's true. My parents are already gone, and there's no one who'd grieve if I died, so I guess it wouldn't matter if I kicked the bucket anytime."

"Don't say that. I'd be sad if you died, Senpai."

"You're the only one who'd say that. I'll treat you to gyoza too."

"Nice!"

Just as my hungry stomach started longing for ramen, we heard a commotion coming from the crowded area.

"I wonder what happened?"

Unable to resist, my junior and I turned towards the sound.

People were scattering in all directions, and someone screamed. Something was happening.

Then, a man caught my eye, running towards us while shouting angrily.

The man was swinging a knife as he ran.

The moment I saw it, I felt as if time had slowed down.

The knife in the man's bloodshot right hand was stained bright red. In his other hand was a bag. Was he a purse-snatcher? A random attacker? An extraordinary event suddenly appearing in the peaceful afternoon.

"Out of the way!"

The man tried to push through the line forming outside the ramen shop we were standing in. But the people in line were frozen, unable to react to the sudden situation.

"Get out of my way!"

With those words, the tip of the knife the man thrust forward was pointed straight at my junior.

No!

Before I could think, my body moved.

As I shoved my junior aside, the man's knife plunged into my abdomen.

The man tried to pull the knife out of my belly, but without thinking, I grabbed his right wrist, the one holding the knife, with both hands and held it tight.

"Let go!"

The man panicked, dropped his bag, and punched me in the face with his left hand.

I can't let this guy get away. Thinking that, I gripped his right wrist even tighter.

Crrunch! I heard the horrible sound of bone breaking. The man screamed in pain. Then, the other men around, who had realized the situation, subdued the attacker.

"Senpai!"

My junior called out to me as I collapsed.

I remembered shoving my junior aside just now and felt a pang of guilt.

"Are you hurt...?"

"Never mind me..."

Right, this isn't the time to worry about others. I seemed to be bleeding quite heavily. A pool of blood was forming beneath me.

"I'm glad you're not hurt. You still have to earn money for your family, after all..."

"Senpai!"

"Don't cry."

What if I die like this?

As I thought that, I realized it wouldn't be a problem for anyone. My parents were gone, and I had no family. Work wasn't an issue either, as I wasn't currently tied to any long-term projects that needed handing over.

I had no particular regrets.

I was glad it was me, and not my junior. I truly meant that.

"Senpai... Is it okay if I name my son, the one who's going to be born, after you?"

"You idiot... Of course that's okay..."

And then, I lost consciousness.

My awareness faded away, as if being drawn into a black void, like falling asleep.

... I can't feel my body. Is this the afterlife? Or am I dreaming?

I have no memory of what happened after I was stabbed. But now, I am clearly conscious.

It's a strange feeling.

Worried about whether I was dead or still alive, I had to check.

If I'm sleeping, I'll just open my eyes.

Thinking that, I concentrated hard, trying to wake my body up.

........

"Ow ow ow ow ow!"

I woke up not from pain in my abdomen, where I was stabbed, but from a sharp pain in my right foot for some reason. Touching the painful foot cautiously, it felt like a bone was broken.

Next, I realized I had no memory of my surroundings. It looked like I was inside a cave surrounded by rocks, with no one else around.

"What the hell is this?"

My mind was in chaos.

It wasn't just my foot; my whole body ached as if I'd been severely beaten.

First, I needed to assess the situation. For some reason, I was holding a wooden sword in my right hand. I was wearing a helmet. Was that why I didn't have a serious head injury? My body felt bruised, but I had no headache.

I didn't seem to have any other belongings. I was wearing unfamiliar work clothes, like a set of coveralls.

It seemed the only broken bone was in my foot. I opened and closed my palms to check if there was any abnormality there.

I checked my pockets but couldn't find my cell phone. To go to a hospital, I'd need to call someone. Either way, I wanted to get out of here.

Could I walk using the wooden sword as a cane? Sweat beaded on my forehead from the pain of the fracture as I tried to sit up and stand.

"Hmm?"

Just then, a strange object came into view.

It oozed out from a crack in the rock.

It was X, a slimy, bright blue substance.

It dripped thickly to the ground and slowly began to move towards me.

"Gross!"

When it got about a meter away, I instinctively struck it with the wooden sword in my hand.

Squish. After a strange sensation, the thing suddenly vanished, leaving behind a single black, round stone.

"What the hell is this..."

My head was spinning even more.

That gooey thing was clearly... that. The kind you see in fantasy role-playing games. Yeah, a slime. It was gooier than in games, though.

Since it vanished when I hit it, I guess I defeated it. If blunt force hadn't worked because it was a slimy creature, I'd have been hopeless, but it went down with just one hit. So, just like in games, slimes really are weak in reality.

Maybe it was because my mind was in chaos? I was thinking such nonsensical thoughts.

I didn't know if the stone left behind after defeating the slime was valuable, but I picked it up and looked at it. It was a spherical stone about a centimeter in size, hard like rock. It might just be a regular stone. I put it in my pocket.

Still, the pain in my foot was severe. Walking was still too much. I tried to crawl using my hands and one foot, but dragging the broken foot sent a jolt of pain.

"Guh!"

At that point, I gave up on saving myself and decided to call for help.

Maybe there was someone else nearby.

"Someone! Help me!"

Why was I in a place like this anyway? Wasn't I stabbed in the gut in front of a ramen shop?

I touched my abdomen again, where I was supposed to have been stabbed. There was no trace of a wound.

"What's going on?"

I still couldn't grasp the situation.

Anyway, I wanted to get out of here quickly and get treatment for my foot. I'll call for help.

"Someone!"

There was no sign of a reply.

Was there no one here?

Thinking about it, there might be other dangerous creatures besides that slime from earlier. If so, shouting loudly might be dangerous.

That thought had just crossed my mind.

Then, a yellow slime appeared from behind the rocks again.

A different colored slime.

I was glad it was a slime and not something that looked stronger.

Thinking that, I gripped my wooden sword tightly.

The yellow slime slid across the ground towards me.

Just like before, the moment it entered the range where my sword could hit, I struck it hard.

Thwack! I felt the impact, but unlike before, it didn't disappear with one blow.

Sensing danger, I rolled my body to dodge the slime.

The slime lunged at me, just grazing the sleeve of my coveralls.

Sizzle.

After confirming the slime had passed by me and moved a short distance away, I looked at the sleeve that had made the sound. A faint white smoke rose, and I saw a hole had formed in the sleeve.

"It dissolved me?"

Do slimes have dissolving properties? So they melt their prey to consume them. That makes sense somehow, but if their acid is strong enough to dissolve clothing in an instant, aren slimes actually very dangerous, not just weak?

And that light blue one earlier vanished with just one hit, but this one didn't die from being hit. It was a different color; maybe it was a higher-level species?

At that moment, more than fear, I felt an excitement within me, as if I were playing a game.

The yellow slime came towards me again.

I struck it with the wooden sword, once, twice.

When I failed to dodge, the slime touched not only my clothes but also my skin.

It felt hot! After that sensation, I felt the pain of my skin melting and being burned.

After repeating this exchange several times, the yellow slime disappeared.

I had won.

And there, a small, bright blue ball about a centimeter in diameter was left behind.

I caught my breath and picked it up.

Unlike the hard black stone from before, this blue ball was slightly soft, like a gummy candy, and on its surface was written the number '4'.

"This is different..."

The previous one was pitch black, but this one had a nice color, and for some reason, a number was clearly displayed.

I felt like I could eat it, but I refrained, thinking it might not be wise to eat something I found on the ground.

I put this blue ball in my pocket, just like the other one.

Still, my injuries had gotten even worse.

The coveralls I was wearing were full of holes in various places, and my left arm and shin were burned.

It hurt. I wanted to wash the wounds with water. These will probably leave scars.

The pain in my foot was reaching its limit. I wanted a painkiller.

As the exhilaration from the battle faded, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of distress.

If I kept getting attacked by those slimes like this, I might die.

Just as that anxiety crossed my mind, I heard a noise from above the slope behind me.

Thinking it was another slime, I quickly turned around.

"Hey! Are you alright?"

It was a person's voice, coming from the top of the slope.

Feeling like I had been granted a second chance, I called out for help.

"Help me! I've broken my leg and can't move!"

After a while, a rope ladder was lowered down the slope, and a man wearing the same kind of helmet and coveralls as me climbed down.

I felt a wave of relief. I was saved.

"Those are some serious injuries."

The man muttered, looking at my condition.

The broken leg and dirt on my clothes were one thing, but the ragged holes from the slime attack earlier were not something I wanted anyone to see. The skin visible through the holes was red and raw. I hadn't checked properly, but it was clearly a bad injury. It was a small mercy that my face hadn't been burned.

"Sorry, I didn't expect anyone to get this badly injured on the first floor, let alone on the first day, so I don't have any potions on me. What should we do? Can you wait while I go get one?"

"Potion?"

"Yeah, a potion. They explained it in class yesterday, right?"

"Class? Sorry, I seem to have hit my head... I have no memory up to getting injured..."

"What? Amnesia? You hit your head too? I see. Well, a potion is that thing. Among the gems dropped by monsters, the blue ones heal injuries when you put them in your mouth. Don't you have any on you? I hear some students even buy potions on the first floor just in case, as a sort of charm."

"Student? ... Blue gem?"

The incomprehensible words kept coming, adding to my confusion, but I noticed something I might know.

I rummaged through my pocket.

"Is this the blue gem you're talking about?"

It was the blue ball that appeared when I defeated the yellow slime earlier.

"Yeah, that's it! If you had a potion, you should have just taken it and healed your injuries quickly!"

"I just picked this up after beating a yellow slime earlier."

"I see. Eh? Yellow? Hmm? Hey, what rank does it say on that potion?"

"So if I drink this, my injuries will heal? Is this number the rank? It says 4."

Despite never having heard the word 'potion' before, I didn't doubt the man's explanation.

After showing him the number on the potion, I didn't hesitate and put it in my mouth.

"A Rank 4 Potion?!"

The man's eyes widened in surprise.

I felt a mysterious power surge through my body as I swallowed the potion.

"Oh?"

I felt heat in my broken foot and the burned skin. Was this the sensation of injuries healing?

Then, the feeling quickly faded. When I looked at the injured areas, they were back to normal, healing visibly before my eyes.

As I was amazed by the sight of my own body healing, I felt my mind clearing up.

Memories started swirling back.

Yes, I remembered what happened before I was injured.

That's right. This is the first floor of the Dungeon. Today was our first time diving into the Dungeon.

And I also remembered who I was.

My name is Shirou Ichinose. I'm a new student here at the Dungeon Academy, and I'm 15 years old!