Trudge, trudge.
My steps are heavy.
Part of it is exhaustion from running at full speed, but the shock hits even harder than the fatigue.
My beloved My Home is gone.
My steel heart — the one that hadn't flinched even after turning into a spider or eating grotesque creatures — now had a hollow little hole punched right through it.
Ahhh... I mean, I'd steeled myself for the possibility that I might eventually have no choice but to leave My Home someday. But when the moment actually arrived, the shock was worse than I'd imagined.
And thinking I'd have a little more time didn't help either.
I'd wanted to hold on to My Home until I hit at least Level 10.
Ughhh.
Ughhhhhh.
Ughhhhhhh— gaah!
Alright, moping session's over.
Let me get my head straight.
First things first — decide what to do from here.
There are a few options.
One: build a new My Home somewhere else.
Two: keep wandering around this Dungeon.
Three: head for the Dungeon's exit.
That's about all I can think of off the top of my head.
When I factor in safety, option one is what I'd want to pick.
But I'm going to deliberately rule it out.
My Home was wonderful.
It fulfilled all my needs for food, clothing, and shelter, and I hardly had to work at all.
You could call it an ideal paradise.
But if I keep sitting pretty in that environment, I'm going to deteriorate — both mentally and physically.
If I only ever hunt safely within My Home, I'll turn into a helpless blockhead when something unexpected happens. This whole ordeal made me realize that.
The way I am now, any enemy that could break through my spider webs would leave me with no option but to run.
That's not good enough.
If I keep breaking down like this every time I flee, there'll be no end to it.
More than anything, having My Home destroyed has ignited something smoldering inside me.
I don't think I can forgive myself for being the kind of person who just keeps running away.
That's right — I was angry.
My Home had been torn apart, and I couldn't do a damn thing about it. Worse, there was a version of me that thought running was just the natural response.
Yes, that's right — the one who'd been considering fleeing without a second thought was none other than me.
But now that I've actually fled... look at me!
A frustration, a humiliation so intense it felt like my very body was about to split apart!
And I'm supposed to run again?
There's no way I could stomach that.
The fact that my heart is boiling over like this probably means My Home wasn't just some convenient spot to me — it was truly that important.
In cliché terms, I guess you could say it was the place where I truly belonged.
In my previous life, I never had a place like that.
My family had fallen apart, and I never fit in at school.
Even in games, those were just fictional worlds in the end.
I had no place.
Well, I'd always put on a brave face and told myself I'd do just fine without one.
But My Home was a place I built with my own hands, just for me — a place that existed solely for my sake.
A place that was mine alone, where I never had to hold anything back.
And it was taken from me.
That was tantamount to robbing me of my very existence.
If I conceded here, I'd never be able to hold my head up again.
"Just being alive is happiness"?
Heh — guess I really was a card-carrying, peace-addled Japanese person after all.
Living without pride is no different from being dead.
This whole situation drove that lesson home.
My Home is lost.
My pride has been wounded.
From here on, I have to become stronger — so that no one can trample on my pride ever again.
To do that, just holing up in a new My Home and playing it safe with easy hunts isn't going to cut it.
I need to gain real combat experience.
Which means I'll either have to wander aimlessly through the Dungeon, or make for the exit.
Though honestly, either option doesn't make much difference right now.
Because I have no idea where the exit even is.
In the end, wandering aimlessly is pretty much my only real choice.
I don't know the first thing about this Dungeon.
Even though I was born and raised here, I don't even know its name.
How big it is, how difficult it is — I don't even have a rough idea of the layout.
Nothing but question marks.
Huh?
I feel like I was in a similar situation once before — drowning in things I didn't know...
Oh!
Right, right, right — when I got the Appraisal skill!
That's it, I have Appraisal!
I couldn't level up inside My Home anymore, but now that I'm outside, I can. Maybe gaining some Levels will help. And from now on, I'll keep using Appraisal nonstop.
So without further ado — Appraisal, begin.
"Dungeon Wall." "Dungeon Floor." "Dungeon Ceiling."
Just as useless as ever.
Ugh... but with every step I take, Appraisal results keep popping up one after another, so my Proficiency should be building up steadily.
Blegh, all this information flooding into my head is starting to feel a little gross.
I'll have to grit my teeth until I get used to it.
When I Appraised that massive horde of Monsters the first time, it didn't feel this nauseating, though.
Maybe back then the shock and disbelief overrode the discomfort?
Anyway, I guess I'll spend a while wandering through this Dungeon while Appraising everything in sight.