Episode 9 — Droplets
Nada was standing inside a black mist.
He was still in his loungewear.
He wasn’t holding a single weapon.
Not the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, not the kukri knife—he didn’t even have one sword with him.
Nor was he wearing any armor.
And yet, his entire body felt heavy.
He couldn’t even see his legs.
Everything from the shins down was submerged in black water.
This water clung to his legs far more than ordinary water, making even the slightest attempt to move forward an ordeal.
Nada strained his eyes in the darkness, but there was nothing ahead.
All that existed was the gray mist. Whether it was the wind or something else, the mist was constantly shifting, yet it showed no sign of clearing. If anything, it felt as though it was only growing denser.
Next, he looked upward.
Through the gaps in the mist, he could just barely see the sky, thickly covered in clouds. It wasn’t night—just a smoky, ashen gray. And yet, the mottled patterns in the clouds drifted past at an unsettling speed. He immediately lowered his gaze again and moved forward, unwilling to keep looking at that ominous sky.
Then he felt it—the water around his feet was slowly rising.
With each step forward, it rose faster.
Before long, it had risen from his shins to his thighs.
The icy water seeped deep into his bones. It was obvious that his stamina and body heat were being drained. He had no idea how many more minutes he could stay upright like this.
So he forced his whole body forward, almost in a panic.
But of course, the higher the water rose, the slower his progress became.
Eventually, the water reached his abdomen.
Nada screamed.
It was a voice torn out from the pit of his stomach.
He screamed, he gasped, he clawed forward with all he had.
Yet he still couldn’t see anything ahead.
But the water continued to rise, relentlessly.
Nada wasn’t unable to swim.
Back in his village, there had been a river a few hours’ walk away, and he’d often gone there to swim naked as a kid. The current had been fast, but the water was clear—it never felt dirty or suffocating or sticky. It never clung to his skin.
But this water was different.
It robbed him of his freedom of movement.
Nada had no confidence that he could swim in this.
So he panicked even more.
The water reached his shoulders.
It would soon engulf him entirely.
—And then, Nada spotted a red light ahead.
A single thread of hope.
He approached the red light with a face full of relief.
But the true identity of that light was—
—the eyes of a gargoyle.
The gargoyle stood on the water’s surface, its massive wings beating against the mist.
Its blood-red eyes pierced into Nada.
Nada immediately tried to turn on his heel, but the water had risen over his head.
Gobo-bo-bo-bo—
He couldn’t breathe.
A flood of water rushed into his stomach.
Gaba—gubo—bashabasha—gobobobo—
Even so, Nada desperately raised his arms above him, flailing his legs like a duck. But there was no sign he would be saved.
And from within that clear, suffocating water, the gargoyle’s crimson eyes and the tip of its glaive drew closer and closer to him.
—At that moment, Nada woke up.
He was lying on a hard bed.
Nada was drenched in cold sweat, and his nightclothes, clinging to his skin, felt unpleasant.
The night had only just begun.
When he looked out the window, the large moon outside was staring back at him.
If he got up now, it would affect tomorrow’s dungeon diving—so Nada chose to shut his eyes again while lying on the bed.
The nightmare still wasn’t over.
◆◆◆
That day, Nada didn’t have any school classes.
However, he had an errand to run before going into the dungeon.
He needed to restock his healing potions.
He still had a few left, but entering a dungeon with that amount made him uneasy.
Nada was timid by nature.
He avoided entering the dungeon while leaving any unstable elements unaddressed.
So he headed out early in the morning, just as the sun was starting to rise, planning to buy some potions from someone he knew.
Outside was scorching.
It felt like his skin was burning.
Still, compared to being inside the dungeon—where he’d have to carry the heavy Green Dragon Crescent Blade on his back and haul around a large pack full of gear—it was easier. The armor was especially bad: heavy, poorly ventilated, and unbearably stuffy. Compared to that, being in nothing but a single layer of clothing felt like heaven.
…Or rather, Nada was trying to convince himself of that.
Walking down the main street to buy the potions, Nada naturally stood out. His height was the reason. He was a full head taller than everyone else, receiving curious stares from above their eyeline. No one openly confronted him, but just in case, he kept a kukri strapped to his lower back. Not that he’d ever needed it—any adventurer not going into the dungeon could be handled bare-handed if needed. But still, better safe than sorry.
Yet no matter how many weapons covered his body, the insults never went away. He heard them mutter under their breath.
“Vinya’s Great Tree” — that nickname was famous even here.
Whenever someone heard “that huge adventurer,” everyone pictured Nada. And the kukri, that unusual weapon he always carried like a trademark, confirmed who he was at a glance.
Unfortunately, Nada had excellent hearing. Especially when it came to insults about himself—no matter how much he didn’t want to hear them, they slid straight into his ears.
A flood of whispers polluted his mind.
“Ah, it’s Vinya’s Great Tree. What an eyesore.”
“Heard he’s still pretending to be an adventurer. Even after being kicked out, he’s pathetically trying his best.”
“Hey, hey, is it true that Vinya’s Great Tree is just waiting for the chance to quit being an adventurer? Great—one less pest at the academy.”
“He’s still carrying that stupid weapon. I laughed the last time I saw it. Having such a big weapon in a party is just a nuisance. What if the blade swings toward you? It’s a miracle the people in Aghiya put up with him. Oh, wait—guess they couldn’t, so they kicked him out.”
“Apparently, that giant weapon is just for show. He can’t actually use it. He only carries it to look impressive.”
“Haha, I knew it. He’s the academy’s embarrassment.”
Every voice dripped with amusement.
Blended in with the crowd, Nada couldn’t pinpoint who said what.
But he knew some of them were laughing at him directly.
They had good faces for it—eyes gleaming strangely, women hiding their mouths behind their hands because showing a wide-open grin was considered crude. Men whispered into each other’s ears, pointing at Nada and chuckling quietly.
The insults toward him kept piling up.
“That guy’s trying to get close to Miss Iris, right? Did he bribe her? Rumor says he’s the son of some local nouveau-riche noble. Probably threw dirty money at her.”
“No, no—that’s wrong. Miss Iris is a noble too. Listen, the version I heard says he’s threatening her. He’s got some big secret of hers.”
“If that’s true, he must be forcing himself on her too. Miss Iris is beautiful—even as another woman, I can see that.”
“No, listen. This is from a friend of a friend. Apparently, Miss Iris was forced by him in the past—he drugged her or something, and after that, she had no choice but to obey him. He’s trash as an adventurer, but up on the surface, he’s actually strong.”
“Then Miss Iris is really pitiful. Someone should free her. Why isn’t anyone doing anything?”
“Because anyone who gets involved with him gets killed. Rumor is he skins them and feeds them to monsters. He’s alone now, right? They say the only reason he survived is that he used others as bait.”
“Ugh, terrifying. I’m never going near him.”
Nada had been hearing this kind of abuse so much since childhood that his ears could’ve grown calluses from it.
They’d started increasing about two years ago. He’d thought the peak had been when he joined Aghiya. Once the “failure” label had gradually been burned onto him, the moment he entered Aghiya—a party belonging to the school’s top caste—the darkness everyone hides beneath the surface finally spilled out. The jealousy and envy from back then still lingered in his chest like a dark, smoldering flame.
But as Nada walked down the main street, he’d learned something:
Human malice has no upper limit.
Whispers, insults, nasty looks, sighs—those only ever increased, never decreased. Nada had learned that firsthand. Their repertoire of insults just kept expanding. Nada was honestly shocked that they had so many things to pull from.
Still, that didn’t mean he was the type to act on it.
He was an adult.
Or rather, he’d grown used to it so much that he still considered this “better than before.”
Because at least there was no direct harm being done to him now.
The rumors had grown extra legs, turning him into some kind of “frightening being.” Like some monster out of a story. That alone meant only the boldest fools even tried to mess with him.
It wasn’t like that before.
Back then, the harassment had been direct.
They’d pick fights just because he brushed shoulders with them, or punch him for simply passing by. They’d slip bugs into his food at the cafeteria, dump water on him while he was in the toilet stall, or surround him with a group and beat him until he couldn’t stand the next day. Of course, Nada didn’t stay quiet about that—he made sure every one of them carried injuries afterward.
Compared to all that, the current situation only hurt his heart—his body remained untouched.
Ignoring emotional wounds was simple. Physical wounds weren’t.
They affected dungeon exploration.
He planned to dive into the dungeon today and tomorrow too.
Damaging the body he used for his livelihood wasn’t even an option.
So he kept walking in silence.
He didn’t let the nightmares falling into his ears get to him.
“Just looking at that guy’s face feels like he’s gonna knock you up.”
“I heard he’s got a hobby of torturing little kids. Leaves tons of knife cuts on them and enjoys watching them slowly weaken.”
“I heard being near that Vinya’s Great Tree will get you cursed. Apparently, even the gods hate him. Honestly, it’d be better if he just died.”
“Haha, if he died, everyone would be happier. Does he even have any worth living for?”
“Of course not. Trash like him shouldn’t even be in this school. He should just die.”
“The priest told me everyone has a purpose in life, but looking at him… I’m starting to think that’s not true. Just seeing him makes me sick.”
Dark droplets fell onto Nada’s body.
With every step, the mud of those droplets at his feet tried desperately to drag him down. His legs wanted to run away, as if they no longer belonged to him. He didn’t know where he was supposed to go. His legs were sinking into the dark puddles.
Ah… what even is this?
Heading toward his destination, struck by the downpour of malice, Nada still didn’t understand.
It soaked him to the bone.
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