Chapter 3

This place was an ultra-dangerous dungeon swarming with countless vicious monsters.

Despite that, I had yet to receive a single effective hit.

Most of the monsters that encountered me would cower and flee at the sight of me.

And the few that did attack, upon realizing their attacks were completely ineffective, would run away just like the Armed Grizzly.

Moreover, no traps worked on me.

Whether it was a pitfall, being buried alive by a ceiling collapse, doused in poison, or hit by a massive explosion, I remained completely unharmed.

"Isn't this body a bit too strong...?"

I wanted to die as quickly as possible.

But because of this overly sturdy body, I couldn't die no matter what.

Just as I was about to give up, that's when it happened.

"Ah, outside..."

I had discovered the exit of the dungeon.

If I were alive, I would have been overjoyed at the prospect of a safe return.

Unfortunately, I had died and become an undead.

Still, I was somewhat elated at the prospect of finally escaping this dim, dark hole.

After all, I would be able to see sunlight again after a long time.

Wait a minute...?

I am an undead now.

I had heard that undead are weak to sunlight.

That's why they only appear at night, in dungeons, or in dim forests.

It was even said that prolonged exposure to sunlight would cause them to vanish.

"Rather, this is what I want...!"

That's right.

I want to die.

If I can die in the sunlight, that would be perfect.

I started running and leaped into the blinding sunlight pouring down from the sky.

"Ah, it doesn't hurt or itch at all..."

Even when directly exposed to the scorching sunlight, I suffered no damage at all.

It might have an effect if I stayed in it for a long time, but it didn't seem to be a weakness.

Still, it's a pretty intense sun.

Since I'm an undead, it's hard to tell, but I can see heat waves in the distance, indicating that the surroundings are quite hot.

It might be midsummer.

The area around the dungeon is a vast wasteland.

Not a single blade of grass grows here.

My memory is vague, but this wasn't the place.

I remember the dungeon being in a forest.

Perhaps the environment around the dungeon changed while I was wandering as an undead.

I realized this when I suddenly turned around.

"What!?"

There was the head of a giant dragon.

Of course, only the skeleton remained, and it was already dead.

The entrance to the dungeon I had just come out of.

What I thought was a cave turned out to be the dragon's mouth.

Upon closer inspection, sharp fangs protruded from the ceiling.

The head alone must be about ten meters long.

It's hard to imagine how big the whole body was, but only the head was visible, and the rest was completely buried in the ground.

"If I were crushed by this dragon... even this abnormal body would probably not survive..."

In any case, the entrance to the dungeon in my memory wasn't like this.

It was just a regular cave entrance.

What happened?

Many questions arise, but there's no way to know the answers.

Suddenly, the surroundings grew dark.

Looking up, the sky, which had been clear just a moment ago, was now being covered by black clouds.

Before I could be surprised by the sudden change in weather, large raindrops began to fall from the sky.

Zaaah!

It was a torrential downpour, completely different from the clear sky just moments ago.

Lightning flashed repeatedly, and bolts of lightning struck the ground.

I hurriedly took refuge inside the dragon's mouth.

It didn't look like the rain would stop anytime soon.

Puddles quickly formed in the wasteland.

No, they were more like ponds or lakes.

Eventually, the water reached the entrance of the dungeon.

Glancing at the surface of the water, I saw my reflection.

"Is this me...?"

There was a young man with hair as white as snow and eyes as red as fresh blood.

My hair was supposed to be black, and my eyes weren't supposed to be this red.

But apart from that, I looked like a regular human.

Even if I encountered someone, they might not think I was an undead.

After that, the weather changed rapidly.

The temperature suddenly dropped, and the rain turned to hail, then to snow.

Then, the temperature rose again, and the rain stopped.

Instead, a strong wind blew, and tornadoes formed in various places.

When that finally subsided, the sky turned blue again, and the heat was scorching.

Indeed, in such an environment, no grass could grow.

In any case, I started walking across the wasteland.

"I'm sure there was a village nearby..."

A village that used to serve as a base for adventurers challenging the dungeon.

It was set up in the forest, and although it was often attacked by monsters, most of the residents were skilled and always managed to defeat them.

"...Is this it?"

Of course, I didn't expect the village to still exist, given that the forest had disappeared.

All that remained were faint traces of the defensive walls that once protected the village.

Still, this proved that my memory was correct.

This place was indeed where the forest used to be.

I continued walking across the wasteland.

Relying on my vague memories, my next destination was the city of Balcaba.

...Surely such a large city couldn't have disappeared.

It wasn't a distance I could walk, but with my current body, which doesn't feel fatigue, it wasn't a problem.

I didn't feel hungry, and I didn't need sleep, so I walked through the night.

As I moved away from the dungeon, the abnormal weather gradually improved.

Along with that, I began to see plants and monsters here and there.

The monsters would run away at the sight of me.

Compared to the monsters in the dungeon, they seemed weaker and perhaps understood instinctively that they couldn't match me.

I didn't intend to attack them, though.

Eventually, it came into view.

The massive walls that protected the city—

"This place too..."

The thick walls, said to withstand dragon attacks, were now in a pitiful state.

They had collapsed in many places, and it would be easy for bandits to invade.

Of course, the city inside was in a miserable state.

The beautiful streets were gone, and the city was a desolate ruin.

I came to a familiar main street.

It used to be lined with many shops and bustling with people.

But now, there wasn't a single person in sight.

The only one here was me, who had become an undead.

"Surely, humanity itself hasn't been destroyed...?"

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I heard a voice from a distance.

"Ooooh!"

"Take this! Fire Javelin!"

"Is that... a person? Are there people...?"

I hurriedly ran in the direction of the voice.

My body felt light.

It was the first time I ran, but I was moving at an unbelievable speed.

I must have run for about five minutes.

It was quite a distance.

Did I really hear a voice from so far away?

It's an incredible sense of hearing.

Then, I found them.

No doubt about it.

They were humans, a group of four adventurers.

They were fighting a monster, a boar with a length of over two meters and sharp fangs.

But now, both sides had stopped fighting and were staring at the sudden intruder—me.

"Snort!?"

"Wh-What..."

The next moment, the monster ran away with its tail between its legs.

On the other hand, the four adventurers had a look of despair on their faces.