The Author's POV

"Thank you" Sitting next to each other, the party members which were on the verge of death moments before, were now happily
munching on some jerky. I was honestly quite shocked by how fast they recovered. Considering the state they were in when I
found them, their recovery speed could be described as 'godly'. I mean, it only took them a little bit over 10 minutes before they
were able to sit up straight and comfortably eat and drink the food that I gave them. Then I realized, I was no longer back on
earth. Though I have reincarnated in this place for about 3 weeks, I was still not accustomed to this world's common sense, and
rightfully so. I mean, how can I adjust to this world's common sense after only having been here for three weeks? It's not like I
can rewire my brain to accept the fact that people could heal immediately when back in my previous world, in which I lived for 32
years, serious cases of dehydration would leave a person hospitalized for weeks. I was now genuinely curious whether all the
people who got reincarnated felt the same way I did. Well leaving that aside, it seems like I was running low on supplies. In terms
of water, I still had quite a lot as my water bottle could hold up to 50 liters of water, but I was running quite low in terms of food. I
had only bought a couple of kilograms of food supplies, thinking that it would last me about a week, and rightfully so, as who
would've been able to predict such a situation? Moreover, since I was planning on staying here for at most 3 days, I didn't feel
the need to bring more than a week's worth of food. What makes matters worse is the fact that the monsters present in this
dungeon couldn't be eaten. Generally, monsters could be eaten but that depended on which monsters. Some of the monsters
which were found in some dungeons could be eaten, and when eaten could boost up a person's stats, however, that was only for
a small minority of monsters, as most of them are inedible due to their meat being poisonous. ...and unfortunately for me, all the
monsters in this dungeon were inedible. "Guess I have no choice..." Taking out a small black box from my bracelet, a slid the
cover up and a small red bottom presented itself before me. Right above the button, there was a small screen that showed
fluctuating wavelengths, indicating the signal strength. This black box, also known as the 'Safe box', was a device that is given to
every member before they entered a dungeon. By pressing the button, the black box would send a distress signal to the nearest
dungeon guardian. Once the dungeon guardian received the distress signal, they would report it to the dungeon operators, which
would then swiftly send a rescue team to come to their aid. The consequence of pressing the button was of course a loss in the
deposit, but seeing how mentally exhausted the party was, I could only sacrifice my deposit. When I was saving them, I did look
for their safe boxes, but they were either damaged or malfunctioning. ...Probably from the fight they just had. In the end, I was
left with no choice but to use mine. At most I could just ask them to refund me since I was not using it for myself... Taking one
last look at the members who although physically looked okay but were anything but fine mentally, I decisively pressed the
button. -Click -Ding! -Ding! -Ding! As soon as I pressed the button, the black box started emitting rhythmic sounds that spread
across the surroundings. "Huh? strange..." Initially, after pressing the button, everything seemed normal as the black box kept
constantly beeping. But it was only after seeing the weird looks the party was giving me that I noticed something strange.
Frowning, I took a look at the black box in my hand, and to my surprise the small screen that showed the wavelengths was flat.
Taken aback, I tapped on the back of the black box multiple times, as I wondered whether it was malfunctioning. "It's no use"
Shaking his head, the first member whom I saved, the one who wore the bulky rhino-like armor spoke up. "It was also like this for

us" Turning my attention towards them, I couldn't help but frown. "Then why didn't you tell me beforehand?" So in the end, the
real reason why their safe boxes didn't work wasn't because they were damaged? Smiling bitterly, the bulky member couldn't
help but scratch the back of his head as he said "We still had a bit of hope that maybe the batch of safe boxes we received were
malfunctioning and that maybe yours would work...but it seems like this is not the case" Looking at the other members, who
seemed to have lost all hope, my frown deepened. "I see...there's this one thing that has been bothering me for a while, but what
exactly happened to you guys? --Huh?" As I was asking them about what had happened, which was my goal since rescuing
them, I noticed them flinch in horror as soon as I posed the question. Soon after, their body went rigid, and their eyes became
hollow. Startled, I stood up and looked around me. "Hey! Hey!" After making sure there wasn't anyone around, I went in front of
them and tried to wave my hand in front of their faces but it was to no avail. Their complexion turned deathly pale as their teeth
soon started chattering. Soon, as if they were in a trance, they each simultaneously looked at the sky and started speaking
nonsense. "Please...no...I don't wan-...." "No..no..Ah..AHHHHHH" "Death....demon..." "Lucy...I will be late for di..nner...wait
for..papa" "Lord..savior" Although they were all speaking nonsense, one word specifically caught my attention. "Demon.." Turning
my attention towards the person that said those words, a brunette young girl with two pigtails and clothing that were proof of her
mage status, started spasming on the ground. Soon after she started spasming, all the other party members showed a similar
reaction as bubbles started coming out of their mouths. "Oy, what's going on here?" Startled, I immediately moved towards them
and tried slapping their faces a couple of times to get a reaction from them...but it proved ineffective, as their pupils quickly
disappeared alongside their pulse. "Dead...dead...dead...fuck!" Swearing out loud, I dropped on the sand and dazedly stared at
the red horizon. It wasn't their death that shocked me the most, but it was how they died and the last words that the girl said
before dying. "Demon..." There was only one type of curse that could cause someone to die just moments after they recovered...
'Mindbreaker' An especially vicious curse planted by demons. It now became apparent that this was the work of a demon, as
they were the only species that were capable of implanting this type of curse inside of a human. Moreover, I believe that the only
reason they were still alive was not because the demon let them go...no, it was because the demon wanted to torture them by
making them suffer from dehydration and starvation. "Sick fucker! Ahhhh!" -Pa! Punching the sand with all my force, fine
granules of sand started falling from the area I had punched leaving behind a small crater. Glaring at my surroundings, I swore to
make whoever was responsible for this pay dearly! Although it may perhaps be due to the shock of me witnessing people dying
in front of me for the first time in my life, my emotions were in a state of disarray. I could hardly think clearly, as the images of the
party dying kept repeating in my mind over and over again. The little details that I had missed prior to their deaths started
replaying in my mind, such as the expressions they had before they died, and the last words they were struggling to say prior to
their death. 'And here I was hating protagonists in novels who sympathized with deaths...' Bitterly laughing, I thought back to the
time that I used to leave hate comments on novels where the protagonist sympathized with the deaths of unrelated people. It
was only after experiencing this for the first time that I realized how bang on the authors were when depicting the raw emotions
one felt when death occurred before them. It was only now that I started realizing how cruel and fragile life was. Since

reincarnation in this world, I had mentally prepared myself for these kinds of situations, but...it is only after having experienced
this first hand that I realized how daunting it is to see someone die before you. After collecting myself, I took their identifications
and buried their bodies underneath the sand. Taking one last look at the burial site, I turned around and left the area. After
seeing their death, my first instinct was to get the hell out of this dungeon. For someone to be able to get rid of a ranked party
like that, they must be strong... However, in the end, I decided against doing so. If someone was really targeting everyone in this
dungeon, the entrance of the dungeon was probably the most dangerous place to be. In the end, I wasn't really sure whether my
decision was a good one or a bad one, but I just knew...I knew that turning back was a really bad idea. ... -Clank! -Screeeeech!
"Haaah!" A loud screech followed by a loud shout resounded across the surroundings as the silhouette of a small human could
be seen fighting against a gigantic creature that looked to be the size of a small building. The loud shout and screech were soon
drowned by the sound of metal clashing against a hard surface as the small figure slashed towards the enormous creature.
"Huff...huff...huff" Wiping the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead, I stared at the enormous worm that was before me. Its
features which looked like an enlarged version of a sand sprout became even more apparent as its figure emerged from the
sand. The enormous razor-sharp teeth, which layered on the top of its four petal-shaped mouths bore down on me as its
massive body dove towards my direction each time it attacked. It's been precisely twenty minutes since encountering this
creature, and because of its sneaky attacking method where it would continuously dive in the sand as soon as it attacked, and
added with its enormous body, I was left totally helpless against it. Previously, when I fought against sand sprouts, I would
always target their mouth which was their weak point. However, because the boss monster was an enlarged version of the sand
sprout, even though I wanted to attack its mouth the option was no longer feasible as my sword was like a small toothpick
compared to the sheer size of the monster. "Fuuuuu..." Letting out a long breath, my right hand which was gripping on my sword
that was sheathed in its scabbard suddenly clenched, and as I unsheathed it, a beautiful arc appeared in the air as I suddenly
jumped backward. -Schreech! Without even bothering to hide its presence, the large worm arrogantly appeared from beneath
me. Its large mouths which were riddled with sharp razor-like teeth opened widely as its enormous frame slowly appeared from
beneath the sand. -Clank! -Crank! Initially, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of my sword clashing against the
hard surface of the worm causing me to lightly frown in annoyance, but my annoyance soon turned into delight as a small
cracking noise could be heard from the hard surface of the worm as fine miniature threads that spread like cobwebs started
appearing on the tough surface of the worm. "Finally...my hard work has paid off!" Delighted, I started attacking more fiercely. 10
minutes prior to now, I realized that if I were to continue to pointlessly attack the worm I would only find myself become food for
the monster as I would eventually run out of stamina. Therefore, seeing that my current method was not working, I started
devising a strategy. Due to the sheer size of the monster, attacking its mouth was no longer an option. But, just as much of an
advantage its size was, it also had a critical flaw. Its speed... It was incomparable to actual sand sprouts who shot like bullets
from beneath the sand. Not only were they faster, but they were also much harder to detect as their small size allowed them to
reduce the number of vibrations they could create when moving underneath the sand. Taking advantage of its reduced speed, I

started attacking the same place continuously, in the hope of finally cracking its seemingly impenetrable exterior. Finally, after 10
minutes of continuously attacking the same spot, a small crack appeared on the surface of the worm causing me to rejoice. "Now
it's time for the roles to reverse...."