Chapter 20 - Knowing the importance of time (2/2)

It’s not a hallucination.

It’s a real liquid.

I twist the cap.

[—-Uooohh!?]

The power is now coming back to me.

Is it because of hunger and thirst?

Is it that the status correction is not working?

Or is the correction only applied to my grip strength?

Or is it that the correction value is ineffective to a weak person?

Sh*t—

[Ah wawawawwahhhh!!!]

Pushu ~tsu!

I opened it with vigor.

Well, it’s obvious,

It’s a matter of life and death.

I forcibly twist it open.

I can’t wait to fully open it.

It smells delicious.

Cola…

I jump right to it.

Drinking this.

[~ammuu! NNnn-ggoku~! Gokun~! Gokyun~!]

I know.

It is not good for my throat to suddenly drink something when you’re extremely thirsty.

However, it’s impossible.

A human’s instinct can’t be suppressed.

I can’t be patient!

[~uu– ge hook!? Go hyook! Keehook!]

I choked.

I can feel a burp coming out.

[~uurrrppphh…]

Sniff…

It suddenly appeared.

My tears.

It’s too delicious.

I wonder if I’ve had such a good cola in my whole life.

It’s the oasis the drenched my parched throat.

It’s rich sweetness soak into the core of my body.

Even its Carbon Dioxide stimulates my throat.

My whole body is very delighted with the absorption of sugar.

It’s spreading inside me.

At last, I checked the remaining amount I have left.

I have about a third left?

I reseal the cap.

The next thing that caught the attention of my glittering eyes is this.

Peri~ (T/N: sound of tearing)

Beef jerky.

I sometimes see this at convenience stores.

My stomach might have been stimulated by the cola, and now my stomach is aching.

I need to eat this meat soon.

[Whham, ~mmuu! Guchiii— kucha, kucha! Gokunn!]

That’s one filthy way of eating.

Not like I care.

It’s not like there’s anything here besides me and monsters.

No one would care for some sh*tty manners.

[Hagu~! Gutcha, Gutcha! Gatsu, Gatsu~!]

The feeling of biting through a fairly hard meat in the back of my teeth.

It’s comfortable.

The saltiness is quite emphasized.

Though, there’s still the subtle sweetness that can be felt behind the meat.

A bit of jerky is about to pass my throat.

Pushu ~tsu

I remove the cap of the cola again.

[Just a little bit more– kokuu… gokyuu!]

The piece of salty jerky is dancing with the carbonated drink in my mouth.

The sweetness of the cola is passing through my tongue.

It’s mixing with complete harmony.

Saltiness and sweetness.

I had never eaten them together like this before.

It’s the best.

[Kutcha, kutcha~…]

Delicious.

It’s too delicious.

What the heck is this.

To think cola and beef jerky could–

[Gokuunn.]

This is deliciousness at its finest.

[Fuu…]

I wipe my mouth with my sleeves.

[………]

I have 3 bags of jerky left.

Should I save it?

I slowly extend my trembling hand.

But I put it back away.

I would endure.

I’m afraid of the proceeding days to come where there would be no food.

And so I stopped,

This swelling desire of mine.

[—alright.]

I did my best enduring…

I only have less than half of it, but I still have some cola.

It’s especially dangerous when I became dehydrated.

Nice.

My sense of reason.

I casually take a bag of jerky and checked it.

“A really, really large serving for everyone as large as everyone’s expectations towards us.” was printed on it.

A company like this that has decided on increasing the weight of their products won’t be able to sleep well in the future.

Well this is a different world, so I feel like I’d only be able to sleep on my feet, especially not in this sh*tty dungeon.

Anyway,

[Fuuu~]

I could finally take a break.

Nevertheless, I wish I ain’t stuck in such a lame situation.

Well, there is no other way.

It would be unreasonable to ask for me to behave modestly in that kind of situation.

Anyway– is it thanks to the sugar?

My brain feels like it works properly now.

Strength has also returned to my body.

As for the correction value, fatigue and hunger may reduce the correction effect.

I’m quite surprised.

I quickly look around the surroundings.

This is bad.

The sudden appearance of food and drinks temporarily relieved the alarm.

For now… I’m glad I wasn’t attacked by monsters.

I sit down with the wall behind my back so that I wouldn’t have any blind spots.

I place the PET bottle aside.

I checked the leather bag again.

There’s nothing inside it.

I felt the surface of the jewel with my thumb.

[The jewel has turned gray…]

At first, it was “yellowish green”.

When I injected it with magic energy, it became “purple”.

And when the cola and jerky came out, it became “gray”.

The appearance of the cola and jerky.

It seems obvious that this leather bag is related to the jewel.

That is to say, if I put magic energy in this bag, I’ll get “something”.

It will be transported from somewhere.

Did they transfer this from a certain place or person?

Or are these just duplicates?

I don’t think I’d understand it now.

So, this question can be considered abandoned.

Is the condition to have a certain amount of magic energy accumulated in the jewel?

Most of all,

[Is this jewel ever going to return to that of the yellowish green color of it?]

The possibility of being able to use this only once can’t be denied.

I’ll try to inject the magic energy.

The leather bag began to glow a faint light.

But the color of the jewel remains unchanged.

It’s still gray.

I hope it will be reusable after some time.

And also,

[I hope it’s not just limited to food and drinks next time.]

The leather bag seems to need a little more inspection.

[…………..]

It’s quite ironic.

This is the leather bag that held the “mercy” of the goddess.

A unique item of the worst E-Rank Hero.

Thanks to this, I’ve managed to survive.

[Well even if she calls it “mercy”– that goddess have only just returned the things that she has seized, and this was originally my unique item… now then—]

I stand up.

The PET bottle and bag of jerky.

I put these two inside my leather bag,

[All things set. Rather than that–]

I scratch my head.

[The times I’m speaking to myself have obviously increased.]

Well, it can’t be helped.

It may seem funny to speak silently in this cave.

So, it should be allowed to at least talk to myself.

Well, there’s no one here to ask permission.

Okay.

For the time being, the problem of thirst and hunger has been solved.

There’s still some food and water left.

Then without delay, I’m going to head on.

I looked at the top of the cave.

[Above ground.]