CHAPTER 14: Psychopath vs. Psychopath

"Go on, I'm listening," I tell Luro and I can see him smiling and if it gets any wider, the end of his mouth will reach his ear. He sits across of me and instantly materializes a fire pit and two sticks with a snap of his finger. He snapped again, and two fishes popped out of the lake, landing next to him. He grabbed the fish and stabbed the sticks through but suddenly stopped halfway.

“Oops, I forgot to take out the guts. Kukukuku.” He talked to himself as I never reply glaring him down. He snaps his fingers again and the fish heads, guts, scales, and even the bones of the fishes materialized beside him as he stabs the fish slanting in near the far too slowly cook one side. I don’t know why he’s going through all the trouble of cooking a fish if he has that much control of the world, he can just materialize cooked food.

“Ok, so as I say, let me tell you what happened to them.” Luro then continues to explain what the rest of the group did after they got out of the dungeon. I listened to him the whole time, but my attention was focused on the fish that’s slowly cooking.

“Hah! Who the hell told them to save me?” I tell him.

“But they’re your friends~ Are they not? Oh, and that Rikimura fellow is really crazy.” Luro says as he grabs one of the cooked fish and hands it to me. Since I got out anyway, no need to rush things as I waited for it to cool down before taking my first bite.

“And? What? Am I supposed to be thankful?” I say raising an eyebrow to Luro who only gave me a shrug as he bites his own fish. “Don’t tell me you want me to say, ‘oh dear friends, I forgive you in the bottom of my heart.’ Get real!”

I placed the fish back into the fire just in case he poisoned it. Since it’ll be categorized as something I cooked, any type of poison should have been nullified. I bite on the fish and the texture is something out of this world. Even the taste is too good to be true. I listened to Luro as he talks while I devour the fish nonstop.

“Well, it’s up to you what you want to do~ I just gave you information about the current situation.” He says as he snaps his fingers and brought more fish out of the lake. He snapped again to remove the heads and the guts before standing up.

“Fuck them. Stupid cunts pissing in the dark by themselves. Why should I save them? They didn’t even save me.” I say as I started grabbing one of the gutless fishes and using the stick I’m holding to impale it. I place it to cook in the fire and wait patiently not paying attention to Luro.

“Well~ you got a point. Alright before I go, why don’t I give you a bonus?” Luro says that make me look up to him.

“Oh~ I like bonuses. What is it?” I asked. Luro takes out a paper from his pocket and hands it to me.

“Ha? The fuck am I going to do with this shit?” I tell him looking at a map.

“It’s up to you what you want to do with that information~ well then, Ciao!” Luro says as he disappeared into the forest leaving me with a pile of gutted fish and a map of a direct path towards Rikimura and Hiroko.

“Since Rikimura initiated everything, I should pay that bastard a visit and skin him alive," I whisper to myself as I turn the fish to cook the other side. I didn't bother saving the fishes in my bag as I devoured all of them and laze around for the rest of the day. I wanted to take the new view in. Just only a while ago, I was staring at the dark and dungeon walls. Now I can see birds, trees, grass, soil, and the sky. But the one that took the most out of my attention is the planet in the sky. I stared at it trying to sink in the image in my mind until I fell asleep.

I woke up when the moon is up in the sky. I decided to leave and set off to find the cave the next day. I tried to catch a fish myself but it was a lot harder than I thought so I opted on hunting animals that roam around me. So far all I've seen are boars and was quite easy to kill. I was able to catch up to one and using my sword, I slice its head cleanly right of its body. Without a care of its life, I left the head where it laid and dragged its body where the campfire is. No point of praying when these bastards don't pray for me. I slowly gutted the boar and cut chunks of meat off its bones. I wasn’t fond of pork but the minute I took a bite, the pork in this world is amazing even if it’s from the wild. I cooked it as much as I can while checking my status to see if I level up, I didn’t. Once I get things situated, I decided to learn more about my skill and how to utilize them properly.

“Ah, finally some fresh air!” I shout as loud as I can as I stretch my arms. I hear a rustle between the bushes near me and out of nowhere a bear came out slowly walking towards the fish guts. Its fur is a light brown color and it slowly moved towards the pile of fish guts. I slowly grab the sword I kept near me as it ate the guts. I decided to get near it to kits it’s head off and the minute he took notice of my presence, the bear stood up looking right at me. It towered over me but the thought of how small the bear is compared to the gatekeeper made me chuckle a bit. It suddenly went back down and charge straight at me roaring. I evaded it’s claw as it tried to slash me in my chest. I took a swing at its neck while activating my skill and it cut through easily causing critical damage to appear right above its head.

Brown Bear Level 10

HP 0 / 1700

"Well, aren't you lame?" I whisper as I walked to its carcass. I decided to skin it and store the pelt in my bag. I quickly worked on cutting chunks of meat and threw them in my bag without bothering to cook them. “Ah, I have an idea.”

I went back to the boar remains and grabbed some of its fat that I discarded. I took out my frying pan and placed the fat on top. I placed the pan over the fire and waited for the fat to cook. Once the heat reached it, it started sizzling as oil came out of the fat. After getting a bit more oil, I took the fat out and threw it to the side. Using the oil from the boar fat, I cooked the bear meat and the smell was enough to make me hungry again. Once it cooked from both side, I took a sword and cut the meat into pieces. Using a stick I sharpened, I stabbed the bear meat and blew on it to cool it down before devouring it. The taste was out of this world. Something unexplainable, it was good yet, it was something I never tasted before. Since I slept through the whole day, I decided to stay up and cook all of the bear meat in my bag.

Morning came and I started heading out deeper into the forest. According to the map, I need to walk through the forest till I find a stream and follow it. Then break off the stream halfway and follow what seems to be a trail towards a bear den. I walked through the dense forest and I can’t help feel excited at the new surrounding. Seeing the sunrise was something I dreamt of inside the dungeon but now, I get to see it anytime I want as long as I stay awake long enough. I noticed that my sleeping habits and the time zone outside is quite different. I felt tired and lethargic walking through the forest yet, I felt energized at night. I decided to fix this issue as soon as possible by staying awake till darkness hits the horizon.

I made camp near a large tree that has a hollow root underneath. It is large enough for one person to fit and good enough to be my sanctuary for when I sleep. I climbed the large tree to be able to see the sky since the leaves blocked my view. As soon as I get high enough, I used a sword to cut a branch off exposing the night sky. I sat on a branch at the tree leaning my back on its base while munching on cooked bear meat. I watched the stars cover the night sky yet my gaze kept on going back to one place.

"Wow, it looks a lot better at night," I whisper as I watch Earth in the sky. For some reason, when its night here, it's night there as I see all of the lights on the planet turn on. It looked like a real night Christmas ornament. I thought about my past and my life before everything and I thought to myself, what would have my life been if my Dad didn’t die. I probably would have never decided to study like a maniac and my Mom probably would never need to overwork.

“Damn those rich bastards. They blamed him when they killed him.” I whisper as anger resurfaces thinking about it. “This is why I need to go home, I need to protect my mother.”

I reached for the planet in the sky with my left hand. It feels close yet, it's so far. I started feeling tired as I yawn my consciousness away so I decided to climb back down and sleep under the tree using the broken branch to cover the hole hiding me from the world outside. The minute I laid down on the cold dirt, I fell asleep in an instant as exhaustion caught up to me.

I woke up as the sunlight entered the forest. It was a cold morning and a thin fog has made it way through decreasing my visibility. I waited for a bit and as soon as the sun reached its height, the fog disappeared enabling me to push further. I followed the map using landmarks to try and identify my position. The map itself is missing the direction of north, east, south, and west. It doesn't even label any landmark from trees to mountains. It’s like looking at a kid’s drawing without the key. The best way for me to follow the map is looking at the drawing as it painted large trees bigger and mountains bigger than hills. So far, I felt like I’m going the right way but without proper direction, it’s a lot harder to figure out my exact position. I kept walking through the forest and right when I thought I was lost, I managed to reach the stream of water. It wasn’t a river but it was enough to cup my hands into and wash my face with.

Seeing how it ran through rocks probably being filtered as it made its way down from its source, I decided to drink straight into the stream as the water looked crystal clear. It didn't taste funny to me as I gulped down as much as I can. I don't have any source of water nor container to hold water in so this was a lifesaver. Otherwise, I would have started drinking my own piss. I rested for a bit near the stream and I just noticed the clothes I'm wearing, seems like it was fixed and cleaned as it didn't look like it went through a battle. I remember bloodstains from goblins and trolls riddled my shirt but now, all of it was gone including the holes.

"Bastard must have saved me and fixed my clothes," I whisper thinking about the last thing I went through in the hidden passage. "I wonder what that crab rat tasted like…"

I snapped back to reality as I hear twigs breaking from a distance. Thinking it’s Rikimura since I’m getting closer to the cave they’re in, I hit behind a log on the ground as I listen to the sound gets closer and closer. After a while, I see wolves come out of the forest to take a drink on the stream. I slowly stood up and they all looked at me. I clench my fist thinking they’ll attack me but all of a sudden, they ran back towards where they came from and disappeared into the forest.

"Hah, weaklings. I guess today is their lucky day I have to do something else. I would have ripped their heads off with my bare hands." I say to myself as I started moving following the stream. It didn't take long until I found the path towards the cave. If I didn't have a map, I would have been confused to go which path since there's one on either side of the water stream. Luckily, the map shows which way the stream flows as I picked the right path.

“Ok, so the cave should be this one," I whisper as spot a cave from a distance, which is covered by grass. If you looked from behind the cave, it looks like a small mound I decided to enter the cave and the quietness made me remember the dungeon. “Hellooo~ anybody home~”

Fuck, this really makes me remember the damn dungeon. I say in my mind as I reached a dead end. I step back out and look around for more caves, I found another one near where I left and noticed a bear sleeping in it. I quickly dealt with it right when it woke up. I cut up its body storing the parts in my bag before stepping out to look for more bear den. I found another one not far from where I was but as the first cave, this one was also empty. The third cave I found had boars sleeping in it and I killed all of them before they woke up.

“ Four, Five, six, Fuck! How many caves are in this area!!” I shout as I lose my patience walking around the area aimlessly. I could care less if anybody hears me. “Fucking hell…”

I decided to camp for the night. I opted out creating a campfire since it’s a lot visible at night than daytime. I found another branch for me to climb and watch the night sky. I started feeling drowsy and as my eyes slowly close, I hear another rustle from a distance.

“Ugh…what is it this time? Can’t these fucking animals sleep? Item bag.” I Whisper to take out a sword in my item bag. “Well, they won’t make a sound if they’re all dead.”

Even if it’s night, the moonlight shone down enough through the forest that it lighted parts of it brightly. Since I was in the dark dungeon, my eyes are used to the dark as I can see everything. I slowly hug the branch pressing my chest against it. I notice the noise is getting louder and louder. I hoped it’s another bear since their meat was delicious. I see a bush from a distance tussling and the minute the noisemaker came out, my grip on the sword tightens as my expression changed into fury. I see him almost tripping at a root of a tree dropping all of his collected twigs. He suddenly cursed under his breath as I see him pick it all up one by one.

Well well well. I whisper in my mind as I tried to blend in with the branch. I see him walking around underneath me collecting more twigs and I had an urge to drop down and stab him straight on the top of his head. But I held back the urge as I cursed him in my mind. Rikimura, you’re dead. You’re so fucking dead.

Even if I wanted to, I’ll never forget his face and everyone else. Wears glasses with long curly hair. He’s not wearing his suit jacket anymore but he’s still wearing his formal shirt underneath the metal armor. I can see blood stains on his armor and also on parts of his shirt.

Looking for sticks at night? I guess he doesn’t want to be caught by the others. Smart move old man. I say in my mind. I heard from Luro this guy is completely loony in the head. He went and tortured some girl named Akane along with that punk Sawada. Sawada fucking deserved it.

I watch him walk around the area picking up as many sticks as he can before retreating back where he came from. I wanted to pounce on him right there and then and rip his guts out with my bare hands, but I didn’t. If I kill him now, I won’t be able to find Hiroko. If I don’t find her, the rest of them might rescue her. If that happens, I’ll miss my chance of settling the score with that bitch. Instead of killing Rikimura, I let him travel to a distance before following him in the dark. I think I have the advantage more in the dark since spending in that hallway where the crab rat was; it gave me scotopia vision.

What the fuck, is he going to collect sticks all night long? I whisper in my mind as I try to move silently watching where I step so I don't make a sound. He started picking up the pace and walked fast towards one direction as I tried my best to keep up behind him without making a sound.

"Bingo," I whisper as Rikimura led me directly to their cave. I decided to camp near a tree around the cave and wait till daylight. If he’s awake at night, he’ll be sleeping during the day. A perfect way to ambush him. As I wait around at night, I was hoping to hear screams but nothing. I waited all night long but nothing. No screams no shouts no voice what’s so ever. Daylight started to rise, I watched the sunrise towards the horizon. I didn’t sleep at all. But my body feels good as ever. In the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Rikimura running out the cave.

“Where the hell is he going?” I whisper as I see him disappear into a bush. I decided to climb down the tree and enter the cave while he isn’t here. I needed to verify if Hiroko is in there. If she is, it won’t hurt to say hello and slap her with my frying pan till she falls unconscious. I walk slowly around and enter the entrance of the cave and noticed the inside of the cave was a rock formation. It was basically an entrance within an entrance. The rock formation is covered by wet mud that probably dried up. This insulates the sound and prevents it from escaping from the inside.

“Smart fucking bastard. No wonder I couldn’t hear anything." I whisper as I carefully read through the cave. I'm wary of traps just in case something is laid out to prevent intruders. But, there was nothing waiting for me. “So this must be the entrance.”

I inspect the skid marks on the ground around a big boulder.

“I wonder if I’m strong enough to push this…” I say to myself as I start to push the rock to the side. It slid sideways with ease making me at awe to my own physical strength. As I peek in, the inside is another empty space and down the other side of the cave is a hole. I approached the hole big enough for me to enter upright. It seems like it was carved out of the rock formation carefully so only one person can come in or out at any given time. Once I got through the hole, that’s when I saw her.

"Heh, what a nasty sight you are," I whisper as I walked towards her body. She was almost naked and the only thing that she is wearing is her underwear, which is soiled in piss and shit. “Is she fucking dead?”

I study the surroundings and I can see sharpened stick with dried blood in it. I look back at her and noticed her hands and legs are tied together using a vine. She’s lying sideways with her right cheek touching the ground.

“pfftt~well don’t you look funny?” I whisper. I see her whole body was covered in holes making me realize whey there are so many sharpened sticks laying around. The holes on her body are filled with mud and some have begun to redden which early signs of infection. "What the fuck did he use you for? Pencil sharpener?”

I look closer at her face and it doesn’t have any punctured holes. Her face was kept clean. Tears are running down her eyes that leave a sign she was crying all night. As I look at her she seemed familiar. I can’t seem to remember so I didn’t dwell on it.

No point on remembering her, I say in my mind. I took out my dimensional bag and held out my frying pan. Should I beat the shit out of her face until she wakes up? Should I do it? I should. No, I shall.

I lifted up the frying pan above her head and right before I plunge the frying pan down towards her head she spoke words in her sleep that stopped me from doing it.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry….” She mumbles.

“H-h-huh?” I whispered but she didn’t wake up. “Hahaha, well you better fucking apologize you scum.”

“Mom...mom...help…” She mumbles again and this time, I felt a sharper pain in my heart. I remembered my own mother.

What if her mother is like mine? What if her mom is all alone and looking for her? I shouldn’t do this to her mother. I contemplate in my mind as I hold the frying pan over her head. But, Hiroko deserves this. She and the rest of my teammates deserve this.

But…

…her mother doesn’t deserve this.

“Fuck! Fucking hell! Why do you have to fucking mention your mother!!!” I shouted over her but she never woke up. I don’t feel bad for her but I felt bad for her mother. “Fine you stupid pencil sharpener, I’ll leave you alone for now and deal with Rikimura.”

I slowly stood and looked down at her with hatred. I decide to leave the cave before Rikimura comes back. If he catches me in there, he might run out. I have to have to catch him off guard while I block his exit.

It took a couple of hours till Rikimura came back. From afar, you would think he’s a normal person if you didn’t know his true nature. He walks in and I decided to wait a while before following him inside. Once I think its good time, I walked back to the entrance. The boulder is already slid open and I slowly shimmy through the gap. I carefully walk inside the cave and hugged the wall to the far side. I can hear Rikimura talking in a tone even I’m not familiar with.

“Wake up! Who told you to sleep?!” I hear him shout with a demeaning tone. “You have to be awake when I jam myself in you so I can hear you scream~ Kuahahahahahaha!"

I chuckle as his laugh reminds me of a comedy skit. It wasn’t really and seemed forced to sound evil. I hear Hiroko pleading and crying. But her voice sounds weak and her crying suddenly stopped. I guess she might have passed out again. Happily thinking about my grand entrance, I slowly walk in and the scene I have encountered made me want to laugh more but I held myself back as I stare him down. Rikimura was on top of Hiroko who’s on the ground with her back facing me near the entrance. I see her panties are brought down to her knees. Rikimura is also completely naked and holding his junk. Even though I’m standing here, he didn't notice me since he’s too busy trying to get laid so I decided to say something.

“Wow, you got some weird stuff going on here.” I almost laughed at myself for saying a ridiculous line. But Rikimura’s reaction made it all better. The minute he looked up, his complexion lost all color.

“Y-y-you? B-b-but how? How did y-y-“ He asked me as he gets off Hiroko slowly retreating to the other end of the cave.

Perfect, the further you are from the exit the better~ I sang in my mind. I step closer to him to force him to retreat more into the cave. In the process, I step over Hiroko and I noticed she’s partially awake as she stares at my foot.

“J-Junpei?” I hear her whisper and I wanted to rip her tongue out.

Just you wait, I will fucking stab you after this, you bitch. I say in my mind as I focus on Rikimura.

I see Rikimura retreated as far as he can still confused at my presence. “How can it be?! How can you be ali—“

"Oh shut the fuck up, will you? Stop asking me questions. please~" I interrupt him while playfully begging to clamp my hand together.

“W-w-w-who are yo—“ Hiroko spoke weakly.

"Will you also shut the fuck up? Both of you are annoying me with your stupid questions. I’ll kill you if you talk again~” I sang the last part and the whole room got quiet. It feels good to be feared but it will probably feel a lot better to watch them scream as I peel off their skin. I remembered my ordeal in the cave and it's all thanks to them. The sensation of being eaten alive, being cut up to pieces while you watch was something I would never forget. Anger and adrenaline rushes through

“Why don’t we cut the small talk shall we? Item bag~” I tell him tilting my head to the side as I slowly take out a sword from my item bag. Huhuhuhuhuahahaha Sharpen~”

Rikimura called out his item bag in haste as I launch myself towards him. He took out his shield in a nick of time as I tried to slash him from his shoulder. My attack created a loud bang on his shield. I was expecting it to go through, but it only created a small gash on the top as my sword get stuck.

“Ara? I was expecting to cut you through~” I sang as I stared at him straight in his eye. I can sense confusion and fear as his breathing becomes abnormal. I felt my skill disappear and I smile as push the sword down with all my strength. He got on his knees as the pressure of my sword got the best of him.

“How can you be alive?!” He shouted as he used all his strength to deflect my sword causing my hand to fling back as I stepped back a few steps almost tripping on Hiroko’s unconscious body.

“Argh! You bitch! Get the fuck out of the way!!” I then grabbed her by the hair and using all of my strength threw her to the side. I watched her body hit the cave fall before crashing down the ground. I look back at Rikimura who had a confused look.

“What?” I asked him. He then snaps back to reality and asked me a question.

“Y-you…How did you get out?! Aren’t you here to save her?!” He shouts at me.

“Huuhh?! Save this bitch? Hahahahaha you must be mistaken you naked mole rat. I’m here to kill both of you~” I tell him as I started walking his way. I see him take out a sword and readied himself to face me one more time.

“You fucking evil scum.” He tells me, and it made me laugh even more.

“Me? Evil?! Yes, I’m evil. I’m the very embodiment of hatred you all gave birth to. Thank you~” I sang to him and I ready my sword to slash him one more time. “Sharpen!”

I ran towards him and I can see he tried to deflect with his sword this time along with the shield. He must have thought I would come down from the top like last time, he was dead wrong. I aimed my sword directly towards his heart as I pointed the tip ready to stab him. If I can’t slice him, I’ll stab him to death. He deflected with his sword but my skill was a lot stronger as it went through his blade cutting it half. I didn't stop as I kept going aiming at his heard which he placed his shield in-between. The minute it made contact, it went through quick and I see him wince in pain as it goes through his arm. I pushed some more and his arm managed to move it away from his heart as my sword stabs through his left shoulder.

“Ahhhhhhh!” Rikimura pain face brought joy to my heart as I laughed and pushed my sword crucifying him into the cave wall. My sword suddenly snapped in half and I see him struggle to take his arm out. I called out my dimensional bag one more time and took out one more sword.

“Ahahahahahahah!” My hysterical laugh made him crazier as he tried his best to break free. The pain he probably feels now is too much as he stops to gasp for air after freeing his arm. “Awww you already in pain?”

I grab his face with my hand clamping on his cheeks forcing him to face me. “Say, want to know how it feels to get your skin peeled?”

I ran the tip of the blade across his cheeks and his eyes brought me more joy as he looked at me with fear. I started stabbing his cheeks with the tip of the sword and he screamed in pain as blood flowed out of the wound. I took my blade out and threw it to the ground as I grabbed the broken blade lodged on his shoulder. I didn't care if it cut me as I jerked the blade around. I pressed his head against the wall as he tried jerking around due to the pain.

“Fight! You fucking ant! Fight the pain hahahahahahaha!" I lost all control of my thoughts as a different scenario entered my mind. I wanted to keep him alive to hear him scream over and over again. I wanted to tie him up how I was tied up and eaten alive. I'm a cook, I should be able to cook a human and eat it. I wondered if I would level up from cooking him and I wanted to try it out so bad. I brought my face close to his as I whispered in his ear, “I wonder if I can level up cooking you~”

His eyes went crazy and he tried to struggle more before shouting, "Full paralyze!" My body suddenly went stiff and I unable to move and the small movement of his head made me fall to the ground.

W-what the fuck! I shout in my mind, as my mouth was unable to move for a brief moment. Rikimura pushed himself off the wall and removed the sword lodged in his body as he screamed in pain.

“You filthy fucking vermin! How dare you stab my precious body! How dare you interrupt my precious moment with Hiroko!” He shouts my way as he walked with the broken sword on hand. He looked down at me with a crazed expression and I wanted to remove his eyes out with my bare hands. “Semi-paralyze.”

The minute he uttered the words, my arms and body came loose from the frozen position but I was still unable to use them. Luckily, I was able to move my mouth to utter a line, “H-hey, your dick is really small.”

I see him grit his teeth as I laughed and mocked him. I see him lift up his hand and in a split second, he jammed the broken sword he had on hand at the same spot I stabbed him.

“Ahhhh~ Hahahahaha is that all you got?!” I shouted at him and he was surprised at my reaction. To me, this pain is nothing compared to the ordeal I went with the goblins and ogre.

“You, you should have killed me when you had the chance. Now, I’m going to have fun with you~” He tried imitating Luro in all aspect. Movement, speech, everything he does annoys me to the core. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my ribs making me lose my breath. He kicked me over and over again and the pain of my ribs being fracture was like being stabbed from the inside. After his seventh kick, he stops as he brought his face closer to mine. I cough slowly regaining my breathing and I can feel and smell his bad breath.

“You should…” I whisper but suddenly stopped as I felt like vomiting. He waited for me to continue talking while pulling my hair forcing my head up to face him. The expression on my face was probably something he didn’t expect as I see his forehead wrinkle from anger. “You should…brush your teeth.”

His expression got more worse and as I laughed and laughed. He let go of my head and my body fell to the ground like a lifeless rag doll. He started pacing back and got on his knees in front of me picking up sharpened twigs. He brought the twig close to my face and the smell of shit reeked the tip.

“Let’s see how tough you are now kid.” He whispers to me trying his fake evil smile one more time and it made me burst out of laughter. “What’s so funny?! Huh?!”

He brought the tip of the twig close to my skin and rather than remaining quiet, I laughed some more. I felt the stick puncture my skin and I didn’t bother squirming around even when I started feeling my body regain its movement.

“Ow~ that hurt ya know?" I tell him while laughing and I can see the confusion in his face. Noticing I regained my movement, He tried to say his skill one more time and as he opened his mouth, I jammed my fist in and I felt his teeth sink into my knuckles. Using all the force I can muster, I punched his face straight down the ground. Some of his teeth flew off while a few lodged in my knuckles and the stinging sensation just made me smile even wider.

He tried screaming cupping his mouth and using the moment he’s distracted, I pulled out the twig and jammed it on his other hand. He shouted in pain as he tried to swat me away with his other arm that I damaged earlier. I caught it right before it hit me and bringing out all of the anger within me, I jammed a thumb inside his wound pressing as hard as I can until I reached his bone.

“Semi-Paralyze!” He shouted his skill one more time and I fell to the ground, again unable to move my whole body except my mouth. “You are a fucking piece of shit!”

He pulled out the twig and threw it to the side. He rolled me over on my back and punched me in the face over again non-stop. I hear him cursing out every word he can think of as I laughed and laughed while blood comes out of my nose and cuts appearing on my face being punched over and over again.

“Sing motherfucker! Sing!” He shouts to me as I kept getting pummeled.

“Happy…punch*….birthday…punch*…to you…. punch*….happy birthday…. punch*….you small penis bastard! Hahahaha!" What I said must have made him more made as he used both hands to pummel my conscience away. I felt my eyes closed and as my body still remained paralyzed, I couldn't do anything but let him beat me to death. But I wanted to try it. I wanted to see one more time. I wanted to know how far my mind break will. He suddenly stops, and I felt like my face was the aftermath of being hit by a meat tenderizer. I hear him standing up as my body regained its movement. I feel his feet stop on my head as I cough out blood.

“You, you fucking bastard. I don’t know how you survived but, this is as far as you go. Torturing you won’t be fun. I’m going to kill you here.” He tells me while putting pressure on my head with his feet.

“W-wh-what no-no. I-i-if t-t-that’s the case, c-c-can I whisper you m-my last words?” I tell him acting like I was afraid.

“Suuuure~” His acting was so bad trying to imitate Luro. I hear him bend down and I feel his breath near my face.

“R-r-rikimura, y-you...have…t-the...smelliest...feet I have ever sniffed my entire life! Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!” My mockery probably made him furious as I hear him scream in frustration right before I felt his feet stomp me on the head making me black out.

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I slowly woke up at the dim light of the cave. My head feels like it's going to split open at any minute. A similar feeling, I had when I woke up surrounded by dead bodies. I slowly sit up and as I got a brief blurry vision of what's around me, I laughed and laughed until I felt the pain in my ribs. I noticed I’m holding onto something and as I brought it up close to my face, I got a clear picture of what it was a severed arm. I looked at it closely and no matter how much I study it, it’s Rikimura’s arm as I noticed the wound I made earlier with my sword.

“Ugh, the fuck why am I holding his arm?” I whisper grabbing my sides as the pricking sensation came back. “Item bag.”

I took out a piece of bear meat and munched on it to slowly heal my wounds. The swelling on my eyes has slowly healed as my vision got wider and wider. On my right hand is a stick that seems like it a sharpened pencil. My hands were covered in blood and I can feel blood pouring out the wound where the sword was lodged in. But other than that, I didn’t have any major damage except my headache and my sides hurting for all the kicking Rikimura did. When I looked around some more, Hiroko was still in the same position I kicked her to but Rikimura was gone.

“Are those teeth and fingernails?” I whisper getting closer to it. “Holy shit, it is.”

It looked like it was yanked off his hands and not only the fingernails, there were teeth and hair scattered around me.

“What in the world….” I whisper picking them up with a disgusted look. I looked around the ground some more and I noticed a blood trail coming out of the cave.

I slowly stood up still groggy from having my brain rocked so many times from his punches. But as I got out, I see Rikimura on the floor near the exit crawling as both his legs were bent the wrong way.

“Rikimura~” I sang at him and he looks back with horror in his eyes. I can see some of his teeth are gone and patches of hair are missing from his head.

“P-p-please. N-no more! I-I submit! I give up! Y-you’re the strongest! Please spare me please!” He begs as he looked back before trying his best to retreat. I don’t know how I made him to this state, but I was glad it did. As I got a closer to look at him, he placed his hands over his pace probably thinking I was going to punch him. He had multiple holes on his back and one of his nipples was ripped off as blood was pouring out it. A couple of his fingernails were gone and some of his fingers were bent the wrong way or missing from his hand. One of his eyes was swollen shut and it's turning black. But the best part was, one of his arms is missing. Remembering how he kicked me nonstop, fury came out of me and I ended up kicking him on his side. It was strong enough to roll him on his back and I stopped at what I've seen. His penis was gone. It was ripped off.

"Pfft, ~ Bwahahahahahahahaha! What happened to you?!” I Asked him, but he didn’t answer except when he begged me to let him go. A minute ago, you were punching me and ever gave me a death sentence. But now, you look like shit!! Hahahahahahaha! What happened to your dick by the way?!"

“S-S-stay away! P-please no more! I already ate my own dick as you told me! I- I can’t do it anymore! Please! Stop!” He shouted from fear as he tried to get away from me. I slowly walk beside him like I was walking a pet and he tried his best to crawl out of the cave.

“Where are you going?! We just haven’t even got to the main part yet!” Using my strength I pulled him back inside the cave by his hair. He trashed around screaming which reminded me of his skill.

“Since you don’t want to shut up…” I whisper looking him in the eye.

“P-p-please…l-l-let me go. I-I-I I won’t do it anymore.” He suddenly spoke. “P-please spare me!”

"Ha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This is great!” I shout placing my hand over his mouth muffling his voice. “Say, Rikimura. I heard an interesting story~”

I can see the fear in his eyes and the expression of defiance completely disappeared.

“I heard! that you…ripped a poor girl tongue out? Is that true?” I asked him to remove my hand from his mouth, but he didn't say anything as he looked at me with tears coming out of his eyes. "I also heard, she was too loud for your ears, so you ripped out her tongue. Now, you're too loud for my ears…what a coincidence huh?"

“N-no please-“ The minute he opened his mouth I grabbed his tongue with my hand digging my nail onto it. I yanked it out as far as I can and before he was able to react, I knee’d him in the jaw making him bite his own tongue off. He started shouting as blood came out of his mouth. I circled him as he tried to talk but his speech became mumbles while spitting blood everywhere.

His mouth was wide open and before he tried to say something, I grabbed his tongue and stabbed it with the sharpened stick I had.

“Sing! Motherfucker! Sing!” I shout in his face making him fall back. ”Sing your lungs out hahahahaha!”

The pain and fear must have been too much, and he passed out.

“Now, now, that is no good Rikimura. You can’t sleep on me~” I whispered looking down on him. Without holding back, I slapped him as hard as I can, and his consciousness was jolted awake as he looked around for a few seconds looking lost. As soon as he sees me, his fear came back as he started screaming and talking in mumble tones.

“Now, Rikimura. Say ‘Paralyze’? I want to see if it still would work.” I tell him as I hold the sharpened twig I used to stab his tongue with towards his throat. “If you don’t, your windpipe will get another access to air~”

“N-N-Npalaynze. P-P-Pngayananye.” Rikimura tries to say the word but all that comes out are mumbles.

“Well what do you know, you can still make sounds hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.” I stood up while glaring him down. “Say, Rikimura, how does it feel? It doesn't feel nice right? To be on the verge of death and at the mercy of your enemy.”

My smile and joyful attitude were completely gone as my anger resurface. He didn’t say anything and just looked at me with fear as I walked around him.

“You see, you dick-less piece of shit, you should know the consequence of your actions. You're probably thinking that I'm going to kill you right?" I asked him while kneeling down to get close to his face and he weakly nods in fear. “You know what I’m going to do, I’m not going to kill you. No. No. No. Death is a much easier way. I want you to suffer. Suffer in this world for as long as I let you.”

I move closer to his ear and whispered, "You're going to suffer for as long as you live~"

I hear him whimper and cry as I slowly stood up, He didn't look up to me as he started losing his will to live. Using all my strength, I kicked him directly in the head holding back a bit of my strength to not kill him but enough to knock him out. His body fell to the side lifelessly. I bend down to check his pulse and I can feel a faint heartbeat in his wrist.

"That’s what you get you fucking psychopath..." I whisper as I stood up and stared at Rikimura hoping he would wake up again, but he didn't. “Don't die on me Rikimura~"

I laughed at the refreshing feeling of seeing him at the worst condition he can be in. Even if he survives, without his tongue and one of his arms, surviving won’t be easy. After a few minutes, I looked back at the cave and remembered I needed to do one more thing. I walked back in and the minute I got to the entrance, I fell to my knees as my injuries slowly caught up to me. I took out a few more bear meat and ate them to slowly heal all of my wounds. As soon as I had the energy to stand, I slowly stood and walked towards the far left of the cave where I kicked her. I looked towards Hiroko's body and bent down to check her pulse.

She's still alive. I whisper in my mind as I felt a faint heartbeat on her wrist. I picked her up throwing her over my shoulder and even with that much movement, she never woke up from her slumber. I slowly walked towards the exit out of the cave bringing her all the way outside. It’s still daytime probably half past noon. I dropped her on the ground and stared at her with resentment and hatred.

"Fucking bitch," I whispered as I get on my knees next to her. I grabbed her hair and pulled her head up to get a good look at her face. Ever since in the dungeon, I had a familiar sense with her and finally, my memory caught up to me. "I remembered who the fuck you are. After all that I have done for you, you are fucking throw me to my death and followed like a sheep."

I let go of her hair watching her head go back down the ground. My anger was strong but, the sense of betrayal from her was far stronger than anybody else. I clench my fist as I felt frustrated looking at her.

“Hiroko, why would you choose me to spawn back there by myself," I say sitting down on the ground looking up the blue sky. "What did I do to you? Didn’t I help all of you inside the dungeon? You talked to me first. I didn’t have to respond but I did and decided to trust you. I didn't remember who you were, but now, I do. You betrayed me. I trusted all of you and all of you fucking betrayed me. I know my class is weak…but, I also wanted to survive. I also wanted to live as much as all of you did. What gave you the rights to choose my fate? What gave you the fucking right!”

I stood up out of anger while clenching my fist as hard as I can. I called out an item bag and took out a sword held it on top of her head pointing downwards.

“You told me you were sorry, well….Hiroko…..I'm Sorry." I whisper as I look down towards her untouched face. ”I’m sorry…”

huh? I say in my mind as tears came flowing out of my eyes. I touched it with my hand and I couldn’t even focus as my vision gets blurry. I quickly wipe it and place the sword over her one more time.

"Hiroko, I'm sorry," I whispered as I push my sword downwards.

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I walk around the forest looking for Junpei and the rest of the Gold. I’m carrying Hiroko’s body on my back and as I walked, I decided to talk to her body.

“Say, Hiroko, if you were back on earth, and met me on the street, would you say hi to me?” I asked her a question even though I know she won’t respond. “Say Hiroko, I finally remember who you are."

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“Say Hiroko. “My voice cracks but I prevented myself from crying any further as I stop for a moment to relax my mind. I continued to walk through the forest as I talked to her. “I wished none of this happened and we all could be friends back at our world. Even if we all get back, I can’t forgive everyone.”

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“But I don’t regret it. I don’t regret meeting all of you. I don’t regret…giving you the scholarship. I was happy at that moment I was able to help you.” I tell her reminiscing the first time we actually met.

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“Say Hiroko, you want to know why I gave you that scholarship?”

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“It’s simple and easy actually," I tell her while pausing for a minute to tell her the reason.

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“I fell in love. It was love at first sight.” I smile remembering the feelings I had back then. “I wanted to help you and see you smile. But who knew, I would forget your face through time.”

“I guess…I didn’t love you that much after all.” I continued to walk until I hear people shouting making me crouch behind a bush.

“Hiroko! Where are you! Please scream if you can hear us!” I hear Junpei's voice echo throughout the forest and my anger resurfaces.

“Hiroko-chan! Please let us know where you are!” I hear a new voice follow suit after Junpei.

“Rikimura! You asshole! Give Hiroko back!” Another new voice rang out as I listened behind the bush.

“Ah, Hiroko, you have friends looking for you…I wish I had that. I wish you guys screamed my name looking for me. I wished you guys didn’t give up.” I whisper faintly the last words as I set her body down the ground. Since everyone’s voice seems near, they eventually will find her. As I turn around to run the opposite way, a girl was staring right at me.

Fuck, how long has she been there? I said in my mind as I slowly go around her. She stared at me like I’m a dangerous animal but the minute she saw Hiroko behind me, she lost all her fear as she quickly ran to her side and ignored the fact that I might hurt her. She started crying silent tears as soon as she sees Hiroko’s condition. I slowly backed away I and as I began to move, she looks at me again. I gesture to her to be quiet, and she nods weakly without making a sound. Hearing the voices gets closer and closer, I turned around and ran away as fast as I can. I ran away from them. I ran away from Hiroko. I know I might regret it in the future but…I’m glad.

I’m glad I didn’t kill her, I whispered the same line in my mind over and over again as I ran through the forest.

Mom. I remembered her as images of her smile appeared in succession in my mind. I kept running even if my lungs felt like it’s going to give out, I kept running to drown my sorrow with pain.

“Mom, I'm not a monster after all," I whispered as tears ran across my cheeks. I ran as fast as I can to drown my choice. I ran until the voices drowned in silence.