"Hey, have you heard?" a young man in a sweaty training uniform of white shirt and black shorts asked his friend in a whisper as they walked along a red brick pathway, heading back to their accommodations in the academy.

"Yeah," the friend confirmed, causing the young man to frown.

"I haven't even told you what yet!"

"Aihh…what else could it be except for Daru Finnley's current situation?! Do you actually think I'm dumb?!"

"W-Well, you are correct…Still! You should allow people to have moments of mysteriousness from time to time! What a rotten egg you are…"

People apparently saw Daru — the only F-ranker in history to become the class representative of his class — being carefully transported out of the F-ranker dormitories.

He was enveloped in a small, translucent red sphere as he was brought to a special facility earlier today.

From what they heard, such cases, although rare, had happened in the past, and most were due to a bladeborn being trapped in a special location, often a strange dungeon.

This meant that Daru Finnley was still alive, but there was a fair chance he'd die of dehydration, losing all three lives due to the state of his body in Neo-Earth.

A novice's knowledge of the situation would naturally be lacking.

So, the rumors became wilder and wilder, ultimately settling in a rather extreme one: Daru Finnley will die in 3 days if he doesn't escape the dungeon he was in before.

The news naturally reached the ears of three concerned individuals, one hurriedly heading over to the said facility while the other two to the Faculty Office of their respective buildings to ask for help and permission from the instructors.

Unfortunately, none of them succeeded.

***

**

In a monochrome world where not a hint of time can be seen, only felt, the only color glanced at the sad skies.

'I'll probably lose track soon…' Daru sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep tracking even an approximation of how much time passed since he was trapped in this ashen domain.

Well...because a part of him didn't want to.

Yesterday night — if that concept even existed in this god-forsaken place — Daru was able to secure a resting spot fairly easily.

He merely chose a relatively secluded abode, closed the entrance using ancient furniture, and then made a makeshift partition for himself using the ruined shelves.

He had scoured a third of the entire settlement out before deciding to rest, confirming that only Lost Damnedlings could be found in this area first.

Of course, there was a chance that there were different, stronger Swordspawns, but taking some risks was inevitable, especially since he wasn't too learned in terms of survival knowledge.

He could only make do with defensive measures that his limitedly experienced mind could come up with.

His plan was simple: close the damned door and be informed when someone is trying to break in and murder him.

That way, he would at least be able to defend himself, not going down without a fight.

It was a simple yet effective solution.

As a result, he was rewarded with a restful sleep, his body ready for yet another day of struggle in the monochrome world.

Daru felt both hungry and thirsty the moment he woke up.

So, he consumed the Limbo Celery first, tasting the sweet, hard-earned labor of the hateful abomination that forced him to stay.

The effects of both Satiated and Quenched Soul were now gone.

However, he was yet to feel hungry and thirsty again. This was a pleasant discovery.

From the moment Daru got up from his dusty slumber, he had been able to slay a total of four Lost Damnedlings, one of which gave him yet another Limbo Carrot.

He now had a total of twelve Purge Tickets, two Limbo Carrots, and one Hellberry in terms of total loot acquired in the underworld.

Daru still didn't know how to use the former, but he knew he would learn it in time.

For now, he just had to continue grinding levels and securing survival necessities for himself by continuing to check each of the ruined residences and slaying hunched wretches.

The experience points given by the Lost Damnedlings were inconsistent.

However, they were astronomical compared to the experience points given by the Swordspawns in the Crystal Hollows, especially those of the same level.

Daru's experience bar was quickly being filled up.

Plus, the initial sensation of deep unease had vanished alongside a bit of his inexperience, and more would be peeled away as time passed.

How could he not feel satisfied with this leveling area?

In fact, somewhere in the back of his mind, he hoped that he would find a way to return, but not too soon.

Done resting and recovering his stamina and hitpoints, Daru continued searching the ruined residences, occasionally clashing with Lost Damnedlings that all resulted in his victory — some a bit more chaotic and close than others, but legitimate triumphs nonetheless.

It turned out that it wasn't that easy to find free sustenance.

He just somewhat lucked out yesterday.

Nonetheless, aside from progressing his experience points to more than half despite significantly fewer kills, he was able to acquire yet another unit of Limbo Carrot and Hellberry, replacing the satiated-and-quenched pair that he had just consumed.

Daru had already secured his hunger and thirst for tomorrow.

But as for the day after and onwards, he would have to constantly toil and labor like the other wretches, as though he was truly one of them.

He didn't know what would happen if he failed to secure sustenance, and Daru wasn't planning to ever know.

There was nothing for him to do in this god-forsaken realm except grow stronger for now, so he only continued scouring the residences, moving consistently inside the ancient settlement and fighting for resources with the condemned.

Daru stayed in the location for a while, grinding for levels and survival.

He had also confirmed during this time that Rocante would regularly pass through the main, ancient stone path leading to the ruined arch — a valuable information, as he planned to challenge the hulking horror in the future if he got the chance.

Like so, the wretch labored, and labored…and labored even more…

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