"Damn it."
I shouted at the top of my lungs as I was still going down these cursed stairs—I've been descending for two hours now.
Why didn't that damn author mention that the stairs were this long…?
I kept moving forward in despair; if it weren't for the certainty that a treasure existed, I wouldn't have continued this.
After about thirty minutes, I saw the bottom of this basement, and it seemed that I had finally reached my destination.
The first thought that crossed my mind as I looked at the bottom was that this place resembled the basement of my old world to a very great extent.
Yes, it's huge, but there's nothing special or modern about it.
An ordinary basement—some cabinets here and there. You can be sure that there's something or a secret door, but it can't be found easily.
That made me raise my guard.
And, ironically, my suspicion didn't fail me, as I saw a gigantic, ugly green monster with one eye, carrying a massive club. This monster was an orc.
Making a sound as ugly as its appearance, the monster began moving toward me.
At this very moment, you might be wondering: what am I doing now?
The answer is that I'm currently running from this monster with everything I've got.
I mean, for heaven's sake, this monster is Rank C.
I recognized it from the novel. It was one of the very common monsters in this world, and it matched what was described about it in the novel almost perfectly.
"What should I do?"
I said as I hid behind what looked like a large cabinet.
What the hell brought this monster here?
And yes, you might ask how I managed to run faster than it even though it's Rank C.
"…"
Come on, it's an orc, my friend—slow and stupid, but strong as hell.
I noticed that the monster never approached the cabinet I was hiding in, which was a good thing, I suppose.
After standing there and thinking of a plan to get out of this predicament, I took my spear out of my dimensional ring and resolved to injure its eye so I could escape.
"Alright, I can do this,"
I said, breathing heavily as my heartbeat accelerated.
This is my first day in this world, and it looks like I might die in it. I laughed at myself, then took a deep breath and began executing my plan.
Let me tell you something: in normal life—or rather, my past life—I was a professional RPG player.
Man, I was good at all kinds of games, and I'm somewhat talented in situations like these.
You might wonder why I'm mentioning this random stuff right now.
Well, I'm following a plan I used to apply often in one of those games. It's fairly simple and always works—but there's a small problem.
I'm weak!
I mean, seriously, there's a difference of almost three ranks between us.
That means this orc is at least three times stronger than me.
Which means I have to be a little crafty—well, very crafty, but you get the idea.
I started throwing the smoke bombs I had to prevent the monster from knowing where I was. Primitive, but effective.
And of course, with the help of a reader's mind, I was calculating everything—from the monster's paths to my own, down to the timing.
And let me tell you, my plan seemed, somehow, to be working quite well.
Then I started moving without making the slightest sound, so as not to alert the monster to my location.
It's worth mentioning that orcs mostly focus on what they see, and since it has only one eye, its field of vision is quite limited.
"Alright, this seems to be working,"
I thought quietly as I tried to get out and reach the door leading to the next room.
But without any warning, something massive struck my back so hard that I almost lost consciousness from the force of the blow.
Boom
"Urgh!"
A gasp escaped my lips, and I felt the air leave my body like a popped balloon.
I panted as I spat blood from my mouth.
Where did I go wrong? I didn't even realize the orc had approached me, let alone struck me.
The good thing is that the blow sent me relatively far away from it.
The bad thing is—it's coming toward me.
It's walking slowly, smiling with the ugliest grin I've ever seen in my life. I don't even know why it's doing that.
"Bad."
Really bad. My situation is deteriorating, and all I could think of was throwing another smoke bomb and starting to run in a different direction.
You might ask why I'm so fixated on reaching the book.
Well, according to the novel's timeline, the book is taken a month or two before the academy begins.
And since I don't know the exact time, it must be around these days.
The funny irony is that I can think about all this while I'm bleeding and in the worst condition possible.
"I need to write down the information from the novel that I know, if I manage to get out of here alive,"
I said as I ran and swallowed a healing potion.
You might ask why I have so many potions.
Well, it seems my parents spoil me a little, and as their only child, I have a decent stock of these potions.
On top of that, my father is a Gold-rank guild master, which is pretty great.
A blow that shatters the ground beside me snaps me out of my thoughts as I run, and that idiot keeps chasing me.
After hiding from it in one corner of the room, fear began to creep in, and my heartbeats truly started to accelerate.
Honestly, I don't know what to do.
Man, even my escape route has been blocked by this orc.
Which means one thing: one of us has to die so the other can live.
My mind raced, thinking rapidly—mental skills are extremely useful.
And after long, deep thought compressed into a short time, I found a plan that seemed somewhat good.
"This has to work, or I'll really die."
Sometimes I genuinely wonder where this composure comes from.
Because I swear I was a coward in my previous world.
"Well, that doesn't matter now, does it?"
I muttered quietly, tightened my grip on my spear, and started running from right to left and from left to right. The monster seemed to be having trouble focusing on me under the effect of the smoke, which showed in how it struck the ground beside me or far away.
After getting a little closer to the monster—
"Now or never."
I clenched my grip on the spear and shouted my only skill.
"Critical Strike!"
It's worth noting that I managed to climb up using the club that had struck the ground beside me and did the only thing I could think of—I struck the monster in its eye with a swift blow.
It seemed to affect it, as it started clutching its eye and screaming in pain.
At the same time, I began running with everything I had toward the gate that led to the next room.
After running, I reached the gate and started pushing it with all my strength. As soon as the gate opened and I went through, I noticed a warm liquid coming out of my mouth—it seemed to be my blood. I lowered my head to find my beloved spear, but there was one problem: it appeared to be piercing my chest, right near my heart.
"Damn you."
That was the last thing that came out of my mouth as I collapsed inside the gate.
It's worth mentioning that I could almost swear I saw the orc laughing while holding its eye.
"You'll regret this."
Those were my last thoughts before my consciousness faded and my body began to grow cold.
…
In front of the gate appeared a woman with red hair and a body that could only be described as perfect.
She was holding a paper fan that covered her mouth and part of her face.
"Well, well, what do we have here? It seems the Chosen One has arrived. It's unfortunate that he's almost dead, which means we won't be able to speak face to face,"
she said, with a hint of sadness evident on her face.
"But this is the prophecy, and I must fulfill my duty to the end, right?"
The woman took the young man, her face filling with several kinds of emotions—the most apparent being sadness and longing.
"I have a lot to do."
With a simple motion of her hand, the orc fell dead, then vaporized into particles of dust.
Just like that, the first enemy of Eren in this world died.
….
Elsewhere on planet Earth.
A young man with a handsome face and short, light-blond hair.
His face was distinguished by dark red eyes, from which coldness and anger seeped.
"I will return to my world, no matter the cost."
He clenched his fists so tightly that blood flowed from them, anger clearly visible on his handsome face as he seemed lost in thought.
His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar notification sound.
A transparent screen appeared in front of him, carrying a message that did nothing but increase his anger.
[Major changes are occurring in the world. To survive, you must reach the end of the story with the hero in order to save the world. At that point, you may wish for whatever your heart desires.]
"Damn the one who sent me to this world."
…..