Chapter 20

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: penny

Chapter: 20

Chapter Title: Melting Shampoo (9)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Chiiiiiik—

Kikikikikikik—

Chiiik— Chiiiiik—

Kikkik— Kikk!— Kikik..

Chiiiiik— Chiiiiiiik—

Kiiiiik!!— Kk—

Spraying insecticide, kicking away the collapsing monsters with my foot.

Spraying insecticide, boot-kicking the collapsing monsters ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠aside... I repeated this process about a dozen times.

And so... the endless march of the Six-Legged Monsters that had been charging in like there was no tomorrow finally ground to a halt.

Inside the house where I was holed up, roughly fourteen or fifteen Six-Legged Monster corpses were strewn about.

"Hoo..."

Misfortune or fortune?

Either way, no more Six-Legged Monsters were entering the house.

There were surely more than just that number of monsters out there, but maybe the rest had starved to death and couldn't make it.

Or perhaps the elevator—the only entrance that could reach this place—had broken down...

Whatever the reason, the fact that no more monsters were coming meant I could finally regain a bit of peace of mind.

"...Huh?"

Clearly, a monster corpse that had been about thigh-height when it fell... was now sunk down past my knee.

'...What the?'

For a brief moment, I felt puzzled by the monster that suddenly seemed shorter.

Then it hit me... On my first day here, Melting Shampoo had dripped from the melted ceiling.

'No way... is it melting?'

The spot on this house's floor where the Melting Shampoo had touched seemed to be melting away.

'...Feels like a waste to just toss 'em like this.'

I started dragging the nearest monster corpses toward me, gathering as many as I could reach.

Of course...

'Guess this is the limit...'

If I walked all the way to the kitchen, I might be able to use all ten or so corpses productively...

But getting there would mean my feet touching the water laced with Melting Shampoo solution.

No way was I risking that, so after stretching to my absolute limit...

'Gotta settle for this.'

I managed to stack three monster corpses in front of me.

'Three... wonder if that'll boost Sanity by 60.'

As I eyed the three corpses, wondering what item I'd craft from them...

"!.."

Sudden thud of something dropping—I looked toward the sound...

'...Why's it melting so fast?'

The floor in front of the sink, where water had splashed, was already melting, and the monster there was starting to drop through.

'Gotta craft these before they fall too.'

I placed my hand on the corpses in front of me and hit the last remaining crafting button in the Status Window before they could plunge to the floor below.

The hefty monster corpses plummeted one by one to the floor below.

If someone lived downstairs, they'd be pretty pissed, but oh well.

Can't blame me for overlooking that monsters might be smart enough to mix shampoo into water... I'd already done my best to kill them.

The downstairs neighbor could just craft some armor, right?

'...That was close...'

The melted floor was already regenerating, so luckily no worries about falling through.

With a bit of breathing room, I opened the Status Window.

'...What the hell happened to my Sanity.'

It had been maxed at 103, but after just twenty minutes of fierce ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠battle, it plummeted to 46. Gave me chills.

If I'd fought ten more minutes here, my Sanity would've hit zero.

'Gotta check the Status Window more often...'

If Sanity hit zero, I couldn't open it again until it recovered.

Time to build that habit.

Alright, now...

'Let's see what got crafted.'

Time to check the most important thing.

With three Six-Legged Monster corpses, what item had been made? I couldn't wait to find out.

'Please... please..! SSR rank..! SSR rank!'

Like a gacha game, with a fun little thought, I tapped the third slot.

"...Whoa."

Better than expected... way better.

'A ring... easy to wear and carry, and... mental attacks too?'

Me, a human, using the monsters' mental attacks...?

Ooh...

'Consuming 80 Sanity looks risky, but in a pinch, might be worth a shot?'

Of course, burning 80 Sanity was dangerous.

But depending on the effect, it was definitely usable.

'Gonna equip it.'

I pulled the item from the inventory right away to check the ring's appearance.

'...Ugh, kinda gross-looking...'

As if proving it was made from monster flesh and organs...

Flesh-colored and red threads tangled into a ring shape.

But no reason to skip a top-tier item just 'cause it's creepy.

As I went to slip it on my finger...

'Hmm...'

...Wondering which finger...

...

Equipped every item I had, and total Sanity roughly doubled—but my sunken belly had doubled in hollowness too.

'Ughhh... hungry... thirsty... hungry... thirsty...'

It was already day four, lunchtime.

No more drinkable water, no edible food left... I was just lying on the floor, weakly scrolling the community.

'I can be hit by mental attacks—'

Knock knock knock

"..!!"

Someone... was knocking on the door.

'...What? Who?'

No monster had ever knocked before.

Forgetting hunger and thirst entirely,

I jumped up, focusing on the sounds outside.

Creeeak... Creeeak...

"..."

I realized a terribly familiar sound—one that shouldn't be here—was coming from beyond the front door.

Creeeak... Creeeak... Creeeak...

Knock... knock...

Knock knock... knock...

Knock... knock... thud...

Thud... thud... thud...

Thud... thud thud...

Thud thud thud...

Thud thud thud thud—

Thud thud bang—

Bang— bang!— bang!