NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1: I Became A Corpse
「Haa, Haaa, Haa….」
My breathing became heavier and my body felt like a lump of lead.
It felt like it wasn't my own body.
Splash.
That was quite an unpleasant sound.
When I came to, my body has fallen onto the ground.
The unique, earthy smell of the sand and stone assaulted my nose.
I've reached my limit.
I used up all of my potions.
My wounds are deep enough to reach my internal organs. I wouldn't survive unless I received medical treatment.
I wasstill far from reaching the surface and yet, I kept walking, believing that there was still hope in this dangerous monster-infested place.
But, this is the end for me.
Aside from staggering and trying to reach the surface, I couldn't even spare any energy for walking upright.
「Just… What… Became of my life….」
My life would’ve ended far too quickly.
I, Zion, was born in a small frontier village.
Though my village was just a backwater village, I grew up happily.
But I, who yearned to become an adventurer, choose to leave my village.
And yet, thanks to my naturally shy personality, I couldn't make any friends at all.This resulted in me becoming solo adventurer up until now.
Though this might be strange for me to say, I might've talent in this occupation.
I mean before I noticed it, I, who kept raising my adventurer rank without encountering any difficulties, has become a B-rank adventurer by the age of twenty.
I mean only 3 out of 100 new adventurers who could reach that rank.
That's how rare a B-rank adventurer was.
You might call it a rank that was only granted to a hard worker or a talented person.
…. And that's why, overconfidence could spell your own doom.
I, who got full of myself, challenged this super difficult dungeon by myself which left me in this sorry state after so many encounters with dangerous monsters.
「If… I… Reincarna-」
My voice won't come out.
My vision gradually turned dark.
If I reincarnated, I'll make sure to choose a safer and steady job.
And have a talkative personality.
I wanted to have many friends, fooling around with them, and being serious at times….
And lastly, I don't want this kind of lonely death, I want to die with a smile on my face, surrounded by my fami――
=====
「Oi, someone has collapsed over there.」
「It's true. Let's go to help him.」
――I sobered up when I heard those voices.
Is this, a dream?
Nay, the voice I heard was real.
Moreover, I heard the footsteps of people approaching my direction.
Finally, I saw four adventurers arrive in front of me.
The two men in their party seemed like a scout and swordsman.
While the other two were women who seemed like a healer and a wizard.
It was a good and well-balanced party.
Worlds apart from a solo like me.
If it's them, I'm sure that they could dive even deeper into this dungeon with some leeway.
Ooh, lucky me.
To think that I met an adventurer party in this huge dungeon.
Moreover, they were concerned about my safety too.
I'm really grateful that they're not the cruel adventurers who robbed dying adventurers of their assets and kill them.
…. No, wait a minute.
Something wasn't right here.
The healer girl stopped the male swordsman who was about to use his potion on me.
「…Unfortunately, we're too late.」
「Eh, why?」
「I mean, he's already dead.」
Already…. Dead?
I couldn't understand what that healer girl meant.
There was no way I'm dead.
I mean look, I'm still alive.
I heard your exchange just fine.
「There's only one thing left we can do for him……. Let's purify him so that he won't turn into an undead… He almo—」
You are… joking, right?
Otherwise, are you telling me that I could hear their conversation just fine even though my physical body has been dead? Or is it just my soul or something else?
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
It was at that moment.
The ground shook as soon as I heard that earth-shattering sound coming from above.
「W-…. What the?」
「EARTHQUAKE!?」
「No way! Inside a dungeon?」
The earthquake’s vibration became even more turbulent.
A crack formed in the ceiling, along with an avalanche of soil and rock from above.
「T-The cave is… Collapsing, isn't it?」
「Are you kidding me!?」
「R-RUUUN!」
They ran at once to save themselves.
They left me behind, of course.
Oi, are you kidding me, please wait for me!!
At this rate, I'm going to be buried aliv— Nay, they said I'm already dead, right?
I lost my fear as soon as I recalled that fact.
My feeling about this situation was "Whatever".
Soon enough, the ceiling really did collapsed.
I just stared dumbfoundedly at the soil and rocks that were raining down on me.
◇ ◇ ◇
That day, a severe earthquake hit the Emarina Empire that ruled over the western continent.
Amongst the dragons who were well known as the most powerful demons, there are four Dragon Emperors who reigned on the top.
Two out of the four, the Ice Dragon Emperor and Flame Dragon Emperor were having a deathmatch right on top of the airspace of the Emarina Empire.
Flames and Ice incessantly rained down while creating a typhoon-like storm that devasted everything around their battlefield.
It was something akin to a natural disaster.
No matter how great the empire, it was completely unprepared to protect itself from the sudden calamity that struck their territory.
Balkaba, the second-largest city in the Empire was annihilated and became collateral damage due to being in range of the terrifying battle of the two dragons.
Asides from that, their battle had changed the terrain of the entire region too.
Soon enough, that fierce battle concluded.
The defeated Ice Dragon Emperor was burned until there was nothing left from its corpse.
On the other hand, the Flame Dragon Emperor who came out as the winner was suffering from a mortal wound.
It couldn't stay afloat after losing the majority of its power and fell to the ground.
The place it fell was…
The dungeon in which that certain adventurer met his end――