I clenched the weapon in my hand and shut my eyes as gravity yanked me down into the rabbit monster's gaping maw.
The moment I breached its mouth, a wave of searing heat engulfed me.
Sticky saliva clung to my skin like molten glue, burning through my clothes in slow, awful patches.
The monster's massive throat flexed around me like a living vice.
Crack!
The force was enough to snap my ribs—I could feel it, a sharp stab blooming deep inside my chest.
"Argh—!" I gasped instinctively—
And immediately choked.
The air—was poisoned.
"ACK—!!" I coughed violently, my lungs seizing up.
As if triggered by my struggle, the monster's throat contracted tighter, crushing my chest like a collapsing cave.
Blinding pain tore through my senses.
My vision flickered, darkness nibbling at the edges.
Come on...!
I screamed inside my mind, desperate to stay awake.
Think, Llyne! THINK!
My heart thundered against my broken ribcage, every beat sending dizzy waves crashing through my skull.
I tightened my bleeding grip around the weapon—
And jammed it upward with all the strength I had left, burying it into the monster's fleshy throat.
THWACK!
The blade pierced deep.
A second later, an ear-shattering shriek ripped through the entire creature.
"GYAAAAAHHH!!"
The monster's throat loosened instantly.
The pressure around me snapped away like a burst dam, and I tumbled freely down into the abyss below.
Falling—
Falling—
Falling—
SPLASH!!
I landed hard against something semi-solid with a nauseating squelch.
"Oof—!!" I wheezed, sprawled out like a discarded rag doll.
"L-Lesson learnt... Successful: Keep your mouth closed... w-when falling into... a monster's stomach..." I gasped through the burning ache of shattered bones.
I laid there, panting, until the worst of the dizziness faded.
Slowly, I sat up, grimacing as agony lanced through my chest.
"Yup. Definitely... broken ribs." I muttered.
It was pitch black.
Thick, nauseating air pressed down around me.
I cautiously ran a hand across the ground beneath me—
Solid. Stable.
"Phew, just a board," I whispered, deeply relieved.
At least I didn't land on a second monster.
As my eyes adjusted, faint outlines of half-digested debris floated around me in the sluggish, murky liquid.
"Ugh..." I recoiled, pinching my nose.
The stink was... otherworldly. Like death soaked in acid.
Random objects—broken weapons, bones, chunks of unidentifiable sludge—bobbled lazily around me, sizzling gently from the stomach acid slowly devouring them.
A shudder ran down my spine.
"This place is giving me seriously bad vibes," I muttered.
"If I don't move fast, I'll turn into soup too."
I forced my body upright, feeling my injuries knit themselves together bit by bit.
Even though pain still gnawed at my ribs, my muscles were already strengthening.
"Wow. Virtual reality really spoils people."
I flexed my fists, feeling new strength return to my hands.
Now... the question is: How the heck do I escape?
Unthinkingly, I mumbled,
"Through the anus...?"
I froze.
"..."
A long, heavy silence.
"OMG, I can't believe the first solution I thought of was the ANUS."
The realization hit like a physical blow.
"Ewww... EWWW!" I groaned, slapping my forehead in horror.
"Have I finally lost it...?!" I wailed, clutching my head.
"Is it because I got pooped on... and ate poop before...?!
Is that why my brain's permanently stuck on... poop?"
I fell to my knees on the slimy board, overwhelmed by despair.
Oui... this isn't good. This isn't good at all.
I shook my head fiercely.
"No way. That's Plan Z. We'll leave that for last. There's definitely another exit," I muttered, scanning the grotesque, pulsing walls around me.
I sprinted across the slippery surface, frantically searching for anything—a tear, a hole, a weak point—
But the stomach walls just flexed and pulsed like a living fortress, thick enough to laugh at a cannonball.
"Tch—!"
I threw a full-strength punch at the wall.
BOOM!
Nothing.
Not even a scratch.
Instead, pain rippled through my broken ribs, forcing me to stagger back with a hoarse gasp.
'Not even a dent...?!'
I gritted my teeth.
"Luckily, Ronald gave me a weapon," I said, pulling it up to eye level.
And froze.
"...A mini shovel?"
There was a long, awkward silence as I stared blankly at the tiny, toy-like object in my hands.
"...To do what? Build a sand castle?!"
The words burst out before I could stop them.
"Of all things he carried, he threw a mini shovel?! Couldn't he at least throw an actual weapon?! And WHY was there even a mini shovel in the weapon stand in the first place?!"
I jumped up and down, fuming in helpless rage.
After a while, I collapsed dramatically onto the ground.
"Ugh... my luck is screwing me over again, isn't it?!"
I clutched the ridiculous little shovel in both hands and stared at it miserably.
Still...
A pang of guilt stabbed me.
At the very least... this tiny thing had saved my life.
"...Sorry," I whispered, hugging the mini shovel against my chest.
"I'm sorry for cursing at you. I didn't mean it. Ronald, too. Thanks for saving my life."
I sniffled and rubbed my face against the handle like a crazy person, feeling a weird, bittersweet bond forming between me and the shovel.
Then, with a deep sigh, I flopped onto my back, staring at the dim, sickly ceiling of the monster's stomach.
"What do I do now? This thing's not strong enough to break anything..." I muttered.
Silence.
...
Then something inside me snapped.
I leapt to my feet, eyes blazing.
"TO HELL WITH IT!"
I brandished the mini shovel like a sacred sword and screamed at the top of my lungs.
"WITNESS THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF THE MINI SHOVEL!!"
I stabbed at the stomach wall with wild, furious strikes.
PAP!
PAP!
PAP!
...
...
Absolutely nothing happened.
The walls didn't even twitch.
The only thing that suffered was my pride.
"..."
A cold sweat broke out on my forehead.
With a shriek of frustration, I hurled the mini shovel at the wall with all the strength I could muster.
The shovel bounced harmlessly off the monster's skin—
Boing!—
And plummeted straight into the seething pit of digestive acid.
I watched in numb horror as the mini shovel sank, hissing and smoking, before dissolving completely into nothingness.
"..."
I dropped to all fours, my mouth hanging open slightly.
"My... My mini shovel..." I whimpered.
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I pressed my forehead against the slimy board.
"My saviour...! WHY?! WHY?!"
The heavy silence swallowed my cries.
After a while, I sat back, wiped my snotty nose on my sleeve, and stared blankly into the distance.
Reality crashed back down on me like a landslide.
I tightened my jaw until it hurt and shouted with every fiber of my being.
"I HATE REALITY!! IT'S SO UNFAIR!!"
I collapsed face-first onto the ground again, crying pitifully.
Each second that passed felt like a hammer striking my soul, my fear swelling with it.
Hope drained out of me like bitter coffee dripping from a cracked pot.
...If someone doesn't save me soon, I thought numbly, I'm really going to die here.
The stomach walls around me rumbled ominously, as if responding to my despair.