Leah, Reincarnated As a Dungeon Core!

Whatever I see or do. Stays inside. The question being… What will I see inside? The house itself was shady, sure it looked nice. But if my instincts were telling me to run, then… It was a bad house! No, it seriously was a red-flag… 

 

“Em, what do I do?” No seriously. I can’t just barge in there and say: the collector has to do some collecting. And cool-ly push some imaginary glasses up. It would be cool though…

“Alright, so this is a special case. You see, this is a slave house.” 

“Eh?” Like… slave dealer house?! 

 

He nodded at my astonishment. “I can’t tell you what’s the right thing, since it’s a pretty shady area. And while the major acknowledges the problem he has no intention to fix it. So this is when… you do whatever you see fit. This is a test.” 

“So… Do I need to announce myself or something?”

 

He sighed and shook his head. “What part of test do you not get? If things go wrong I’ll barge in, sounds good?” I nodded. I didn’t ask for this. But it’s all for a goal, it’s something I must do… However...

 

"But, what am I even doing here? Is there even anything to collect?" It didn't make sense... I received no reply for a second. Looking up he was frowning. I had made a mistake... After a short sigh, he finally opened his mouth. 

"You go in, do whatever you see fit. These types of places are a necessary evil. Whatever happens, in there stays in there. The major won't do anything about it."

"But..." This still doesn't make sense...

"You wanted to work? This is work. If you get in trouble I'll come. Now shut it." I could tell, he was really annoyed. 

 

Will he really come? Is what I wanted to ask. But I knew he would. At least I thought so... Was I relying on my instincts too much? Perhaps. Unfortunately, there was not much I could do aside from stand there and swallow my saliva in an attempt to calm down. I didn’t expect it to be so sudden. Nor to be thrown into it. Nor not knowing what this all was actually about... No choice, sigh...

 

I patted my thigh, made sure that I could take out my dagger as fast as possible. Re-checked my pockets and verified that everything was in order, checked myself… Checked the icons in my UI or whatever it was at this point; everything seemed fine. Even the collar icon was active, which normally didn’t happen when I was with the collector. I was ready. 

 

I sighed and looked up at the barren gates, there was no gate. Just the metal poles broken down on the ground, even though the place looked fancy it also felt shady. I didn’t notice the metal bars on the ground; nor had I noticed the patches of dead-grass ⁠— the clearly mistreated lawn. Sure, it had beautiful flowers, but with just a careful glance and once could tell… the tips of the leaves were already dying. Nothing more than an attempt at keeping up appearances. 

 

I took a step forward, stepping into the gravel that lead to the door. It was almost calming, hearing the sand-like sounds coming from the gravel, every single step a different sound. The wind blew, the plants rustled, the gritty sound continued — I stood before the door. It all happened so fast. The wooden door suddenly seemed to be a lot taller, and a lot more imposing. I can do this...

 

I steeled myself; it was now or never. Raising my hand towards the door I took a final breath. 

 

Knock. 

             Knock. 

 

The deed was done… After a short sigh, I began to hear footsteps, making me tense again. They were calm and coming my way… they stopped. I started to hear some faint whispering from behind the door, but I couldn’t make out the intelligible sounds. After some more chattering, the footsteps resumed. 

 

I started to shake, would I need to attack as soon as the door opened? What about the slaves? Do I kill them? Will I have to kill them?! Such questions flooded my mind… I didn’t want any of them; neither of them was a good choice; nothing but terrible choices. 

 

The door opened with a click, smoothly opening. A tattooed man peeked outside, he had a hood that covered his face and torso, only his slender arms with toned muscles to be seen. I don’t know what I expected.  

 

“A collector?” He was oddly surprised. “You look like a collector, albeit a weird one…” He said as he scanned me from head to toe. Don’t panic… don’t shake… don’t… 

“You selling?” My voice came out awfully cold, I didn’t even sound like a girl at that point. 

 

He took a step back. “You scared me for a second, bro… sis.” Hah… “I thought you were a collector outside the loop. Familiar with the process?” Fuck… 

“So, are you selling?” He sighed. 

 

Finally, he opened the door and gestured me to come inside. Even though the place was spacious it had almost next to no furniture. The ground was stained with something, although I couldn’t really tell what it was. Shady stains on the ground, check. No furniture? Also check. 

 

We walked past what seemed like a living room; it had a fireplace but it was built with the house itself. It was pretty weird all around, the ground remained stained and the walls were stained with things as well. It was oddly unsettling, the place was barely lit as well. Nothing but small seams of light entering through the barricaded windows. 

 

I kept walking before we stood before a room. Two people were playing some type of card game on a small table next to it. Both of them had metal helmets and shoulder pads, their muscular torso exposed; leather straps securing their pads. One of them had a maze dangling from their pants and the other one had no visible weapon; well aside from the spear on the wall. 

 

“You two, guard. Meeting with a client.” They nodded without saying a word, the person I had been following opened the door and entered the room. I also did the same thing and closed the door behind me. Sweat ran down the side of my head. I was now isolated. 

 

The room was well-lit by the same type of ceiling light system. Carpeted floor with what seemed wolf fur. Paintings on both walls, the wall itself was clear white and the place was arranged with furniture. A small coffee table along with a pair of couches to sit down for discussion. A desk at the very far end of the room filled to the brim with documents. If I was told this was a reputable salesman’s office I would believe it. 

 

The tattooed mob boss sat on one of the couches. And gestured me to take a seat as well. 

 

“I see you are rather tense sis.” 

“Sorry, it’s been chaotic as of late.” Had to make small talk. 

“I had never seen you before among my Collector clients. So I am going to be real with you.” He frowned. “Die or tell me who was your previous seller.” Aah… straight into the fray… 

 

“So?” I could feel the hostility increasing, causing me to start sweating. I had to think… 

 

Who the hell is shady as fuck?! The Collector of course… and… How did I meet him?! Right, it was right after that. You go unpunished by the death of… 

 

“Gartz…” Aah, I said it… 

“Ooh, that fucker?!” He started laughing. “Haa… I am sorry sis.” He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “Just how stupid do you have to be to die to your own slave?!” Yeah… “I have to say, his death has allowed more stability within our dealer hierarchy! The strongest get killed first after all!” Right… 

 

He laughed some more. “I am sorry that you lost your faithful seller to a slave.” I awkwardly smiled. I was the slave after all… He stood up and walked to his desk. “Let me offer you a drink, for a successful business partnership!” 

 

“Yes…” I wanted to kill this guy as well… He was just as rotten as Gartz... 

 

As I relaxed myself he brought back a small cup of what seemed like tea ⁠— a clear deep brown liquid that was steaming hot. He also had one as well. 

 

“Sorry I only have tea at the moment. Cheers.” Our cups clanked for a second before I brought it close to my mouth and started drinking, he also did the same as well and smiled. It was pretty tasty. 

 

[Race trait activated — Dungeon cores cannot be poisoned.] Of course…