Earth With Dungeon: Saving the World With an Economic Boom

Chapter 200. Curse

“Unbreakable spirit.”

Amidst the pouring rain, that voice somehow reached my ears clearly.

“The will to resist until the end,”

The overwhelming stench of blood filled the air.

“A mad belief.”

The man in front of me spoke in a flat voice.

I listened to his words, drenched and soaked. My body was soaked in red, not from rain, but from blood.

“I failed. I failed.”

Even in the downpour, the stench of death was strong. Looking around, the scene made no sense. No, it wasn’t that it didn’t make sense. My rational mind knew I just didn’t want to understand.

“A strong new game. It should have been, but I failed. I was caught. It ended up the same. And in this era.”

The man muttered nonsensical words ironically.

Just a while ago, this was a peaceful residential area. It was called a downtown, but new houses lacking even a trace of old-town charm lined the streets.

We used to laugh with friends, calling candy stores and monjayaki shops urban legends. I had parents, friends, and a dull student life in which I longed for excitement.

I never had ridiculous fantasies of a girl falling from the sky. I just wished for something interesting, without even imagining what that interesting thing might be, living a passive life.

“What is this… what happened…”

My chest hurt. My throat burned. My head felt heavy.

All around me was rubble. As far as I could see, everything was rubble. It should have been a residential area until a while ago. A typical residential area. But now, my house was crushed and gone, and it was clear my parents inside couldn’t have survived.

I couldn’t understand. Was it a dream? I wanted it to be a nightmare. But my cold body, the stench of blood, the pain told me it wasn’t a nightmare.

Why was there a lizard-like monster among the rubble? That was the only thing that made me think it might be a nightmare.

No, I didn’t intend to deceive myself with the lizard monster. It was a dragon, a well-known creature from games, with a hundred-meter-long body, covered in platinum scales that shimmered like jewels despite the lack of sunlight, bat-like wings, and teeth that could slice through anything.

It was a dragon, a famous monster whose materials and treasures were more appealing than its terror. In games, it was such an entity. Even in the novels I recently read, it was just a monster to be defeated.

But in reality, it wasn’t just a monster to be defeated. I realized it was a terrifying creature that made you feel death just by looking at it.

I saw it flying. That beautiful yet terrifying dragon summoned rain clouds on a sunny day, causing a storm, and its thoughts echoed in my head.

[Be It.]

I was returning from a convenience store, buying bread on a holiday. Suddenly, the dragon appeared in the sky and sent its thoughts.

I stared at the dragon, mouth agape, and felt dizzy. At that moment, the world seemed to change. I didn’t know what exactly, but somehow my instincts told me the air and existence had changed.

I didn’t understand what had happened, but it felt like some incomprehensible force had entered my body, making me nauseous. I barely managed to keep my balance, watching as the dragon’s mouth opened, and a bright white light, as dazzling as the sun, shone from within.

Everything around me was crushed into rubble, without even being exposed to the white light. It happened in an instant. The ordinary residential area turned into rubble. No sound of houses collapsing or being destroyed. A surreal and unrealistic scene.

As I stood there dazed, thinking it might be a dream, the dragon’s form vanished. A gust of wind rose, scattering the rubble, accompanied by metallic sounds, explosions, and what seemed like the dragon’s roar. Before me, the dragon’s corpse lay fallen.

A blood-covered man sat slumped against the dragon’s head. Wearing a mechanically reinforced suit like in a sci-fi movie, holding a faintly glowing crystal-like sword, with one arm nearly torn off and his legs missing from the knees down. His side was gouged, showing his internal organs.

It all happened in an instant. The man must have saved me. He must have defeated the dragon.

But it wasn’t a last-minute rescue, nor did he utter any meaningful lines. It was a surreal and unrealistic scene.

The man looked at me and smiled faintly with irony. He had stubble and a tired face. Though he seemed middle-aged, the many wrinkles showed his fatigue. Yet, even I could sense his aura, feeling his presence as a seasoned warrior.

“Defeating the final boss first. A happy ending starts as the prologue and turns into the epilogue. It was supposed to be such a novel story.”

“Uh, an ambulance?”

It was clear to anyone he was seriously injured. Ignoring the surroundings, I asked him, but he stopped me with a trembling hand.

“It’s useless. It’s an attack that nullifies healing. First, you’d have to cancel the nullification, but… I don’t have any mana left.”

“Mana? Is this a game?”

I knew it wasn’t about a game, but I still asked fearfully, unable to grasp reality. He smiled faintly and shook his head weakly.

“I thought it would turn out differently. In the strong new game, I was supposed to be invincible, prevent dungeons from forming, create a harem, and become a savior of the world. It’s laughable, knowing how harsh reality is.”

I didn’t know if he was talking to me or muttering to himself, but I listened to his murmurs without interrupting.

I swallowed hard, watching him mutter.

“I can’t trust any other plan. That old man’s plan is bound to fail. It will just repeat the same history.”

Slowly, he raised his head and made eye contact with me for the first time.

“Humanity’s defeat is inevitable. We couldn’t win after all.”

With a sigh, he spoke in a tired voice. His words made no sense to me.

“I wonder… my final good deed ended up just saving you. …Hey, what’s your skill? Did saving you mean anything?”

“S-Skill? Game?”

“The good thing about this era is that you understand games. Come on, kid, mutter it. Status open. The cursed words.”

Even though he looked like he was about to die, the man still joked around. I could hear the resignation in his voice.

[Status Open]

As I muttered those words, a translucent board appeared in front of me, and I recoiled in surprise.

“What skills are displayed? I want to know if saving you was worth it.”

“M-My skill is――――――”

You don’t need an explanation for Status Open or skills. Any friend of mine around my age would understand. No one hasn’t played a game before.

But the name of my skill sounded ominous. It was an ordinary name, yet it evoked a sense of dread, like the Monkey’s Paw or a pact with the devil, suggesting a tragic future.

But when the man heard the name of my skill, his sharp eyes widened, and he grinned.

“I see, I see. So… there might be some hope then. Alright, I’ll give you my skill. My [All-Encompassing] is powerful without any drawbacks. It’s the ultimate skill created by combining all of humanity’s power.”

“[All-Encompassing]?”

Just hearing the name made me gulp. It sounded like a powerful skill. But the man chuckled.

“That’s a lie. I’m not giving it to you. I’m not going to make you a typical protagonist who suddenly gets a great power. You’ll likely fail. You’ll probably show off your power and die midway through, just like I did. Despite having all the power, I died in the first battle.”

The man pointed his trembling index finger at me and said.

“Unbreakable Will.”

You’ll suffer because you can’t break.

“Will to Fight to the End.”

You’ll despair because you can’t stop fighting until you die.

“Mad Conviction.”

This mad conviction will constantly drive you into battle.

“[All-Encompassing] activate. Thou shall use my power. I’ll give you my three cursed wills, which will make your life terribly negative. Not a powerful skill, but my sheer will.”

My body moved against my will. I was about to use an unknown power without my consent.

“I’ll use this dragon’s power to balance the negatives. You’ll only get a faint amount, like a candle’s flame. You might die tomorrow because of it. You’ll endlessly fight and die somewhere.”

I wanted to refuse. I wanted to say no and run away from the man who tried to make me do something terrifying, even if he was my savior.

But my will didn’t matter, and I used the unknown power.

I absorbed something from the man. A mist-like power. I also took a faint amount of black mist from the dragon he was sitting on.

[Bought three cursed wills. Your destined life has been sold. Due to severe drawbacks, the compensation is insufficient.]

[Purchased a faint fragment of existence. The will is connected.]

[You have been commanded to become one with nature.]

[The cursed will has canceled the command.]

[The will has been repelled, and the faint fragment of existence has altered.]

As soon as I inhaled it, my head spun, and I felt nauseous, collapsing, and vomiting. The nausea turned into severe pain, and I lost consciousness. Through my blurry vision, I saw the man and the dragon turning into sand and disappearing.

[――――You have become an existence――――]

The man smirked dryly as he vanished.

“I don’t feel any power… So it was meaningless after all. Try to become the world’s savior. From now on, you must protect humanity. Well, I don’t have high hopes. Goodbye, kid from an unknown world. If you manage to survive, find the device sent before me and use it well.”

Those were the man’s final words. I was angry at his words but couldn’t argue. It was my last chance to shout, “Don’t take my life away,” even though he had no expectations of me.

“You’re not getting any cheats, but do your best, world’s savior. As humanity’s protector, save the world. Though I don’t want to calculate the odds.”

It wasn’t like in novels where the protagonist is given power with hope. He just dumped it on me because he was dying, without any expectation. With those resigned, sarcastic words, my consciousness snapped.

Reality is harsh. There’s no perfect protagonist. I was given his will forcibly just because I happened to be there. It wasn’t a cheat power, just a will. I was handed a ticket to death.

And so, I…

When I woke up, there was nothing but rubble. The rain had stopped, and the sky was clear.

The dragon and the man were gone. Helicopters flew above, and police sirens echoed. But the residential area turned to rubble was quiet. There were no groans of the injured, no cries for help from the debris.

Everyone else was dead. I was probably lucky.

“No, it’s not luck. I feel like I’ve been dragged into something troublesome.”

I stood up, dusted off my body, and wiped the blood off my hands onto my clothes.

“A savior of the world, huh…”

I moved my index finger and opened the status board.

[Error! Error! You have bought cursed wills. Your destined life has been sold. Due to severe drawbacks, a faint fragment of existence has been purchased. The will is connected. The cursed will cancelled the command. The existence has altered, and the compensation trade has changed to an equivalent exchange store.]

“I don’t understand the log… Hm, will this skill be useful?”

I looked at the Equivalent Exchange Store display and tilted my head, pondering.

“A savior of the world, huh… I might as well aim for it.”

As I considered checking my current situation, the memories of the man and the dragon began to fade as if it were a dream.

What was it? I shook my head but couldn’t remember.

“It feels like I got involved in something ridiculous… What was it?”

I felt something had changed me. But I couldn’t remember.

“Well, if I can’t remember, it probably wasn’t important.”

I pondered how to live from now on and started walking. For some reason, I felt no sadness for my dead parents or lost life.

Ten years later, I went by the name Amano Sakimori, a man erased from the records.