Chapter 3

Water flows from the water purifier at my house, Chapter 004

2. The television is also strange (1)

"I'm selling potions. Very fresh potions."

"What? What potions?"

In front of the dungeon.

Someone had set up a stall and was selling potions.

The bottles were high-quality, and the liquid inside was red.

At a glance, they were perfect health potions.

"In case you forgot to bring a potion or need more, please get one before entering the dungeon. I'll offer them at a special price."

"Are these really potions?"

"Yes, sir. Look at the color. If this isn't a potion, what is it? It's a health potion made by the HH Guild!"

The famous potions of HH.

Since ordinary Awakeners couldn't afford to buy them, interest grew.

"Why are HH's products being sold here?"

"Actually, these aren't officially sold items. They all have slight defects, so they were brought in before being discarded."

The man spoke without hesitation.

"Don't worry about the defects! They're still perfectly usable!"

When there was no response, he shouted.

"I only have this much prepared today! I'll serve customers on a first-come, first-served basis!"

"Give me one."

At the mention of first-come, first-served, an Awakener raised his hand to buy a potion, and the man smiled.

Then someone stepped forward.

"Are these really potions?"

"Of course! Look at the color!"

"Let me check."

The Awakener suddenly slashed his own arm with a dagger.

"……!"

"Good grief."

People were speechless at the sudden action, and he snatched the glass bottle from the stall.

"What are you doing?!"

"There's no better way to check a potion."

"It's a precious item! Do you plan to waste it like this?"

"If it's real, it should at least make my stomach hurt a bit."

Swallow-

The sound of swallowing was heard, and people focused on the man's wound.

Despite drinking the contents of the bottle, there was no change.

"Fake."

"T-That's……"

"Sometimes there are people like you who try to exploit Awakeners."

"Y-Yikes!"

The man selling the fake potions fell backward, his cheek grazed by the dagger.

"Don't come near here again."

"Y-Yes, yes!"

He fled without even collecting the fake potions.

As the Awakeners were about to disperse, laughing at the simple incident, a figure holding a PET bottle filled with a deep red liquid appeared.

The man asked him, just in case.

"Are you here to sell potions too?"

"……Huh? No, this is just a drink. A drink."

"I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I was just sensitive because of what just happened."

"No, it's understandable. I get it."

The deep red liquid in the PET bottle.

It was even darker than the fake potion the scammer had shown.

The man chuckled as he headed for the dungeon.

"There's no way that's a potion."

A 1.5-liter bottle of potion……

If such a potion existed, with that color and that much quantity, it could bring back life no matter how many times you died.

* * *

"Almost had a close call."

I came here just to scout the area, but selling potions in such a place doesn't seem like a good idea.

"Such scams seem to happen quite often."

The potions the scammer was selling looked quite convincing.

But the keen eyes of the Awakeners couldn't be fooled.

On the other hand, what about me?

I'm wearing tracksuit.

And the potions are in PET bottles.

"If even those scammers failed, I'd probably get beaten up if I tried to sell them."

Even if I transferred them to fancy bottles, it probably wouldn't work.

No, even if it did, it would be a problem.

The moment they realize these are real potions, they might turn on me.

I had to come here to be sure.

This is too dangerous.

What should I do?

What can I do?

I have to drink it.

"Ugh. It's delicious."

Until yesterday, I couldn't even see a potion.

Now I'm drinking a full bottle.

"Since I'm at this point, might as well exercise while I'm at it."

I couldn't exercise freely because of the stone bottle.

But now I have the best painkiller, a potion.

It's a good opportunity, so I started running.

I couldn't run for long before I was out of breath.

"Swallow!"

I immediately drank the potion from the PET bottle.

Energy flowed through my tired body, and my breathing quickly returned to normal.

"……I guess I don't have to worry about exercise anymore?"

Who would drink a precious potion like an energy drink when they're out of breath?

While enjoying a luxury others can't, I was on my way home.

Suddenly, noise started in the middle of the road.

"That's……"

Crackle-

The air slowly split open.

In modern society, there's only one reason for the air to split.

A disaster that appears by creating a small passage, different from a dungeon.

-Creak.

A crack.

When a crack appears, a monster emerges from it.

Although the danger level of the monster isn't as high as in a dungeon.

'F*ck……!'

That's only true for Awakeners.

Not for ordinary people like me.

Normally, the signs of a crack would be detected, and Awakeners would be stationed nearby.

But strangely, there were no standby forces around.

"Let's run first."

I turned to flee, but the monster's eyes turned to a trembling child next to the crack.

"Ah……"

"Big brother……"

A young girl, clutching a doll, was terrified.

A young boy of a similar age was blocking her.

Seeing this, I couldn't run.

If a kid is willing to protect his sister like that, how can I, a grown adult, run away?

"Hey, you f*cking dog!"

-Creak?

The monster, which looked like a fierce dog, turned to look at me.

"Yeah, you! What did you eat to make your breath stink all the way over here! You f*cking dog!"

-Creak!!!

I don't know if it understood me, but it seemed to get the gist from my angry expression.

It left the children and quickly ran towards me.

'F*ck……! It's fast!'

I rolled to the side as soon as it charged.

I barely dodged once.

The monster quickly changed its path and tried to bite my neck.

I hastily raised my left arm to block the dog's mouth.

To say I blocked it, my left arm was being bitten.

"Aaaah!"

The pain of being bitten by a beast while alive.

I couldn't help but cry.

If I stay like this, my arm will be torn off.

"R-Right……!"

I quickly put the PET bottle in my right hand to my mouth.

I bit the cap off and drank the contents in one gulp.

-Creak?

The monster made a strange sound.

My arm, which was about to be torn off, started regenerating in real-time.

The pain was no longer felt, as if my nerves were numb.

Now it's all or nothing.

"Here!"

I picked up a rock from the ground.

I hit the monster's head, which was biting my arm, with a bang.

-Crash!

The monster bit even harder.

I clenched my lips and said to it.

"Bite as much as you want. You f*cking dog."

Let's see who dies, you or me.

I still had two PET bottles left in my bag.

* * *

"Brother! Thank you so much!"

"Big brother…… sniff! Thank you!"

"Uh…… Yeah. It was dangerous. Go home quickly."

"Okay!"

The children, whom I thought had run away, approached me after the fight to express their gratitude.

It was more of a chaotic scene than a fight.

The f*cking dog kept biting my arm.

I kept hitting it with a rock while holding the PET bottle in my mouth.

But in the end, I was the one standing.

"Ugh……"

I burped.

I'm the only one who fought a monster and is now full and tired.

The police arrived late.

"There was an error in the crack detection system! If it weren't for you, Awakener, it would have been a disaster!"

I'm not an Awakener.

Seeing the dead monster, they must have mistaken me for an Awakener.

That's because my body was completely unharmed.

My clothes, however, were torn to shreds.

'……How am I going to get home like this?'

"Get in. I'll take you home."

"Ah, thanks."

"What are you talking about? We should at least do this much for a hero who saved citizens."

When I arrived home, he took my contact information.

He said he would contact me when the commendation and reward were issued.

Not being able to sell the potions and coming home empty-handed, this was a welcome event.

After taking a shower and sitting down, I sighed.

"Phew. How am I going to sell these potions?"

When I checked the water purifier again after returning home, the potions kept coming out.

It was good that the potions were flowing, but I had no idea how to sell them.

"Proving that these are real potions isn't easy."

As the Awakener suggested, I could make a cut on my arm, but I decided against it.

"If I get involved in the wrong way……"

A person carrying 1.5-liter PET bottles of potions.

With a plain appearance and nothing special.

Surrounded by Awakeners.

It wouldn't be strange if I was dragged into a dungeon and killed.

"It would be nice if I could entrust them to a company."

I supply the potions, and the company puts them in fancy bottles and sells them.

Since I only need to fill the bottles with water from the purifier, I wouldn't have to do much.

"But how do I connect with such a company?"

A place that won't treat me like a fool.

Someone who will be fair and enter into a contract with me.

I had no idea how to find such a person.

"Ah, I don't know. I don't know."

My head started to hurt.

To have such a valuable item and not be able to sell it.

I turned on the TV to take a deep breath.

A small, old-fashioned TV.

This was also something I brought from my previous house.

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[Ch.1]

[Breaking news. At around 5 PM on the 17th, the combatants of the Twilight Guild, who entered the dungeon for a raid, were reported to have been wiped out inside. According to the investigation, it was found that there was a Doppleganger among the guild members who entered the dungeon……]

========================

"Tsk. What a thing to happen."

A Doppleganger is a monster that can transform into a human.

I don't know how it infiltrated, but if it got into the dungeon without being detected, the game was over.

"If one person trolled openly inside the dungeon, the result was obvious……"

The dungeon is a place where anything can happen.

If a trusted teammate turns out to be a Doppleganger?

It was a perfect setup for a total wipe.

"Poor them. If they had known it was a Doppleganger, it wouldn't have ended like this."

Despite its excellent mimicry ability, the Doppleganger is not considered very powerful.

It might be stronger than an average monster, but the combatants of the Twilight Guild would have subdued it quickly.

"Phew. I should look at something else."

I was already feeling down, and now the TV was showing a gloomy story.

I pressed the remote to change the channel.

But it didn't change to another channel.

The same news about the Twilight Guild being defeated by the Doppleganger kept repeating.

"Damn. This old thing."

It was an old TV, so it made sense, but only one channel was showing.

"Wait, hold on."

As I kept watching the news, I noticed something strange.

The Twilight Guild's disaster happened at 5 PM on the 17th.

I checked the time, and it was indeed 5 PM.

But there was one difference.

"……Today is the 16th, right?"

The news on the TV was showing events from the next day.