"W-What? I forgot this damn dagger is cursed!"

  [Cursed removed by 'Lyndall']

  "Thanks, Dally!"

  [Congratulations! You have created a Poisonous Cursed Dragon Twin Dagger]

  [Poisonous Cursed Dragon Twin Dagger]

  A pair of blades that should not exist.

  Their edges leak venom that eats at flesh and fate alike. Wounds inflicted by them do not close. They fester. Only a fool would wield this cursed weapon.

  I stared at the last line. I blinked once. Twice. Is The System calling me a fool? My eyes glanced at the next sentence.

  Active Skill: Poison and Cursed Dragon Tornado

  "Skill name sounds lame… but the effect?" I exhaled slowly. "Yeah. This thing's absurd. I really thought it'd melt or just slap poison on the blade."

  ROOAAAAARRRRRRR!

  The scream punctured my eardrum. I looked down and rubbed my injured ears, "Almost forgot about you, bacon boy."

  I activated Isaac's Hunter's Game and Rona's Iron Wall. Unequipped my scythe. Slid the twin daggers into my palms. As I plummeted, I activated Poison and Cursed Dragon Tornado, targeting the boar's exposed cranium.

  The daggers thrusted deep into its head. Poison oozed from the blade, spiraling in a tornado of cursed energy.

  [Target: Ravonsac Wild Boar has been cursed. Target stats decreased by 20%. Target has been inflicted with poison. Due to low poison resistance, additional damage has been dealt.]

  Its HP plummeted to 20% and falling. It squealed and thrashed, my body flailing everywhere as I clung to the dagger for dear life. More HP gone. More squeals. Fury answered the poison.

  "Ouii~ I'm getting dizzy…"

  Still clinging on, I twisted the daggers deeper.

  More HP gone. More squeals. More fury.

  And then... Wham! I was flung through the air like trash. Crashed into the stone wall.

  [Warning! Your HP has dropped below 10%]

  "That hurts so bad…" I coughed blood. "If it weren't for Iron Wall, I'd be jam on the wall by now."

  Pshht...!

  The boar charged again.

  "Oui." I spat blood and activated Heal! Heal! Heal!

  HP ticked back up to 18%. I dodged. Barely.

  Boom!

  The boar slammed the wall. The shockwave alone shaved 6% off my health.

  "If that was just the pressure," I spat, blood flecking my chin, "a direct hit will reduce me to molecules."

  [HP -1%]

  My heart sank. Even talking deals damage. Oh my life.

  [Keep talking. Once your HP becomes 0, know that The System will forever remember you.]

  I seriously want to punch this blue screen. I looked at my HP. There's 12% percent left. Using that remaining HP to punch this obnoxious thing might be worth it.

  It turned. Snorted. Charged again.

  I need a moment to think. You oversized pig!

  I swapped back to the scythe. Swung.

  [0 damage dealt]

  "Uh-oh."

  I dashed sideways, dodging narrowly. A game of cat and mouse, with the mouse slowly dying.

  Time ticked. Poison ticked. I waited.

  My HP trickled down. Breath shorter. Vision doubled.

  [Warning! Your HP has dropped below 5%]

  [Status Effect: Immobilized] [Description: The System has determined your physical vessel is too damaged to continue. Motor functions have been seized for your 'safety'.]

  I tried to take a step. My legs did not respond. It wasn't exhaustion. It wasn't pain. Then, I felt a cold, digital snap in my joints, and my knees locked.

  [Heal yourself before it's too late.... Oh right! You can't.]

  How... That thing...!

  The screen mocked me, glowing a taunting blue as I tipped forward. I couldn't even put my arms out to break the fall. I hit the ground face-first, the taste of copper and stone filling my mouth.

  I was a passenger in my own body, forced to watch the blurry form of the boar loom over me like a mountain about to collapse. I could barely tell which one was real anymore.

  Still. One last chance.

  I picked up my scythe. My fingers barely closed around it. I can't feel my fingers. The boar was getting closer. I don't have a choice. It's better to struggle than surrender. I threw.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  A thud, then a sickening crunch. Somewhere above me, the Ravonsac let out a final, broken cry.

  Not a roar.

  A wet, rattling sound, like something drowning in its own blood.

  Then everything went dark.

  [Warning: Vital status unstable.]

  Ah... Is this what death feels like? How peaceful.

  My nose took a few sniffs. It smells like the dungeon. Not just that, my back is not lying on a cloud but rather stone hard ground. Awful. This can't be Heaven neither Hell.

  I slowly opened my eyes. Only to be met with that familiar, cold view. Light. Ceiling. Stone.

  I'm not dead?

  For a fleeting second, I felt wrong, like my body had been snapped back into place from somewhere it didn't belong. The mental fog was thick, a heavy grey veil that made my thoughts feel sluggish and distant. I lay there for a long minute, just breathing. Waiting.

  I checked my chest. The gash from the stone wall was gone, replaced by smooth, unscarred skin. But as I tried to sit up, my spine gave a series of agonizing pops. The System could knit my flesh back together, but it clearly didn't care about the lingering stiffness or the phantom ache of hitting a wall at sixty miles per hour.

  A tear formed at the edge of my eye. I need more calcium. No. Let's push that thought aside.

  "Ugh… What happened?"

  I turned.

  The boar lay beside me. A pool of dark blood had soaked into the stone beneath it, already cooling, already drying.

  Seriously. What happened? Did I sleep next to a dead body. I can't be. That's bad luck.

  I sat up. Poked it.

  "...You're asleep? Now? Way to ruin an opportunity."

  [Congratulations! You have killed Ravonsac Wild Boar.]

  [Fatigue: 0]

  [Due to enemy's level difference, extra EXP awarded.]

  [You and your teammates have leveled up to Level 30!]

  [Skill Level Ups: Dodge 6→7, Dash 3→5, Info Gathering 7→8, Eagle's Eye 5→6, Merry Go Lucky! 7→8, Iron Wall 2→3, Heal! Heal! Heal! 2→3]

  It's really dead? No way.

  I walked around the corpse.

  My scythe plunged into its eye. My twin daggers still in its skull. I looked up at the ceiling where I was dangling. "Rona's skill works better than a charm. I owe her big time." I retrieved my weapons.

  [Do you wish to put Ravonsac Wild Boar in your inventory? Yes / No]

  Seriously? I can do that? I licked my lips. Free meat!

  "Heck yes!"

  I hit 'Yes'. The boar vanished into thin blue light.

  Ping.

  Isaac: What was that noise?

  Rona: You alright, Lil?

  Isaac: Why aren't you replying?

  Rona: Lil dead?

  Isaac: Maybe? I will find someone who can make a great gravestone while Rona will find a place for her to rest in peace.

  Rona: Okey Dokey!

  I groaned and typed back.

  Llyne: I'm fine.

  I didn't bother checking the rest of the 999+ unread messages. One sigh later...

  "I don't know if I should be proud or insulted."

  I scanned the boss room. Dozens of treasure chests gleamed around me.

  "Just from killing one boar? Maybe because I almost died."

  I opened the first chest.

  It was empty.

  Frowning, I leaned forward, sticking my head and shoulder inside. My dagger hung loosely in one hand.

  The lid slammed down.

  Metal teeth snapped inches from my neck as the chest tried to bite me in half. I jerked back on instinct, my dagger scraping across its inner rim.

  The mimic shrieked. Its body convulsed once, then went still.

  [Congratulations on killing your first mimic!]

  "Mimic?! Of course!" My rotten luck is being paid overtime again.

  I eyed the rest of the room. Silent. Suspicious.

  I stabbed every chest before opening it. Most screamed. Some bit back. A few even tried to run.

  Out of 999, 994 were mimics. I was offended on a personal level.

  "If Rona was here, I'd have had better luck." I was sitting on the ground, my legs folded in half, my arms resting on my legs. Despair leaked out of me.

  Or is it because I slept next to a dead body? A chill blew, my body shuddered.

  [You and your teammates have leveled up to Level 35!]

  [Skill Level Up! Stubbornness 5 → 6]

  "It's not stubbornness! It's perseverance!"

  Silence.

  "Oh... What's the use of getting mad with a dumb screen."

  I let out an exasperated sigh and turned away, rummaging through the meager loot I'd earned from the non-mimic treasure chests. "Let's see... a splintered human bone, a dry writing pen, one mana potion, two bent paper clips, and a seed?" I held the tiny speck up. "A seed? Really?"

  Naturally, I sniffed it.

  Then I licked it.

  "Odourless and tasteless. Yuck." I wiped my tongue against my sleeve and stared at the strange collection. "The only useful one here is the mana potion… but I better keep all of it. You never know when a cursed paperclip might come in handy."

  The screen blinked.

  [Title Acquired: Hoarder Queen]

  [Effect: 'One Man's Trash'. Inventory weight limit is now ignored for items classified as 'Junk'. +10 Hidden Luck when searching through literal garbage.]

  "I'm not a hoarder! I'm being practical!" I yelled at the empty air.

  The screen enlarged the title, the gold letters pulsing as if laughing at me.

  "You're doing this just to piss me off, aren't you?"

  It vanished without a word.

  "..."

  Ping.

  Isaac: You're fine? What took you so long to reply just 2 words?

  Rona: Isaac's already picked out your headstone.

  Isaac: I did not!

  Llyne: Check the inventory.

  Isaac: Ravonsac Wild Boar?! Where did you get it?!

  Llyne: That was the boss I had to kill. It nearly killed me.

  Rona: Meat!

  Isaac: Good job. I can cook it later.

  Llyne: Thanks. I need my revenge.

  Isaac: Ok...

  Rona sent a sticker with a question mark.

  Llyne: I'll be continuing then.

  Isaac: Sure.

  Rona: Good luck!

  I closed chat and moved forward.

  Behind the boar's throne stood a towering metal door. Black, unmarked, and radiating a chill that bit through my armor.

  Cold. Why is it so cold?

  I placed a shaky, blood-stained palm on the surface and pushed.

  Creak…

  A haunting voice floated on the wind; soft, feminine, almost weeping. A heavy, stagnant breeze rushed past me, smelling of ancient dust and the metallic tang of dried blood.

  I swallowed hard and stepped inside. As I crossed the threshold, the world changed. No. The world didn't just change; it vanished.

  A soft chime rippled through the air.

  My body went light. Warmth washed through me, every ache vanishing too fast. Too clean.

  The space beyond the door swallowed me whole.

  [Stage 2 cleared.]

  [World of Dreams constructed.]

  [Beware. They are not mere illusions.]

  The system notifications flickered in my vision, but for once, they felt small. I was standing in a void so absolute it felt heavy against my skin, like being submerged in ink. The air here was thin and tasted of ozone. The sharp, electric scent that lingers after a lightning strike.

  There was no ground beneath my boots, yet I didn't fall. There were no walls, yet the space felt cramped, pressing inward on my eardrums with a pressure that made my head throb.

  The silence wasn't empty; it was loud. It was a thick, velvet quiet that seemed to swallow the sound of my own heartbeat.

  Pitter. Patter.

  The sound of water drops echoed from everywhere and nowhere. I looked down, expecting to see my reflection, but the floor remained a stubborn, dry nothingness. No ripples. No puddles. Just the haunting rhythm of a rain that wasn't there.

  I began to walk, my footsteps sounding unnaturally crisp in the void. Time blurred. Every step felt like a mile; every second felt like an hour.

  Then, I saw her.

  A woman was sitting in the distance, a splash of violent crimson against the black. She was dressed in flowing red silk, regal and traditional, her back arched as she wept softly.

  Or was she singing?

  Her head was bowed, her long dark hair spilling over her shoulders like silk. Her presence felt like a tear in the fabric of the dream. Unnatural and overwhelmingly sad.

  My heart thumped against my ribs, a frantic bird in a cage. Everything in my "Hunter" instinct screamed for me to Dash away, to teleport, to run until my lungs burned. But the song or the sob held me.

  Ma always told me to help people in need, but she never told me what to do if my instinct is screaming for me to vanish into the air. What do I do?

  I couldn't look away from her sorrow. I couldn't just turn my back on a grief that felt more real than the stone walls I had just left behind.

  Even if it killed me.

  Luck stat confirmed: -999.

  RNG analysis:

  ? 0.5% chance of normal chest × 999 = statistical mockery

  ? Reward: one (1) seed and psychological damage

  On the bright side, “Hoarder Queen” sounds like a mid-tier passive ability.