Chapter 03 …

Foreign Worker of a Trash Game

This Trashy Other World (1)

What emerged while pushing through the bushes were two men.

One was a middle-aged man with a lean build, dull blond hair tied tightly back, and even his scruffy beard was blond.

The other was a large, burly young man.

Nium-mul spoke without lowering the sword she held awkwardly.

“Who are you guys?”

“Calm down, miss. Just take a look at our clothes.”

“I’m not a ‘miss,’ damn it.”

As Nium-mul growled, confusion appeared on the middle-aged man’s face.

He asked cautiously.

“…Did you get possessed into a female character?”

“……”

The exact same outfit as hers, as if mass-produced in a factory.

Eyes shaking in confusion.

And that familiar word.

At this point, there was no choice but to believe it.

Nium-mul sheathed her sword and nodded, half relieved and half awkward.

“You guys are from Dungeon Heroes too?”

“Hey, old man!”

“Right? I didn’t hear wrong.”

The two whispered to each other and then nodded.

“Yeah! We’re from Dungeon Heroes too!”

“When I opened my eyes, I was already here.”

The sense of kinship and relief from sharing this strange situation.

Yet the confusion and suspicion still remained.

The two newcomers were in a similar state to Nium-mul.

Phew.

Still, it was much better than being alone.

Nium-mul bowed her head.

“First of all, I’m sorry. I’m a bit on edge right now.”

“I get it. When I woke up in the middle of some forest and saw this guy staring at me, I thought I’d lost my mind.”

“He even grabbed me by the collar.”

Just as the middle-aged man and the big guy were talking—

Rustle.

The bushes beside the road trembled slightly.

It might have been the wind.

Or… something else.

“Old man…”

The big guy whispered.

The middle-aged man stiffened and looked around.

“Let’s move first. We can talk while walking.”

“Sounds good.”

* * *

When walking alone, this road had felt terrifying and confusing.

But with three people, it suddenly felt manageable.

There was a reason humans formed groups.

During that time, they talked a lot.

About what had happened before being pulled into the game.

Introductions.

And sharing information about this trash game.

“The characters on my monitor suddenly became vivid, and one of them reached out a hand… then I ended up here. Sounds like your situation wasn’t any different.”

The large man’s name was Kang Hyuk.

His in-game nickname was also Kang Hyuk.

Age: 27.

His unusual trait was that he used to be a firefighter.

While playing Duns as usual after work, the monitor suddenly flashed—and when he opened his eyes, he was here.

“Alien experiment? Rampaging AI? Meteor strike?”

The middle-aged man’s in-game nickname was Kkanf Papa.

He hadn’t revealed his real name or age yet, but he was a fisherman from Tennessee in the United States.

Just like his appearance suggested, he really was a foreigner.

Well, Duns was a global game.

Nium-mul shook her head.

“I have no idea. There wasn’t even a status window or guide like in those generic web novels. I just opened my eyes and I was here.”

Then Kang Hyuk said something meaningful.

“Come to think of it… I think I heard something.”

“What?”

“It was something the character I possessed said. Something like… Overcome the nine trials, and the path will open.”

He said he had only faintly heard it when the world filled with light, so he wasn’t sure.

But Nium-mul thought it sounded plausible.

“If it’s nine trials, maybe it means the nine chapters. Excluding the expansion side stories, Duns has nine chapters too.”

“Oh, really?”

Kang Hyuk scratched his head, perhaps new to the game or simply uninterested in the story.

“That does sound plausible. In movies or novels, when someone gets sucked into a game, they usually return to their world after clearing it.”

The American nodded in agreement.

“Then first we should figure out where we are.”

Nium-mul frowned as she looked around.

They had walked for what felt like half a day.

Yet nothing had changed.

Just the same winding, rough road with bushes on both sides.

Well, one thing had changed.

Nium-mul raised her hand to shield her eyes.

“The sun is setting.”

Kang Hyuk, who had completed military service, understood the implication.

“Out here in the open… what do we do?”

“What else? We sleep outside.”

“That’s not what I meant, old man.”

He meant whether they could survive their first night in this unfamiliar environment.

The American fisherman seemed calmer than the other two.

“Don’t go into the forest. Just light a fire in the middle of the road and sleep.”

Or perhaps he was only pretending to be calm.

“We’ll take turns keeping watch.”

At Nium-mul’s suggestion, the American nodded and snapped some branches from nearby bushes.

“Don’t go too deep! Just grab some around here! Dry ones, not wet ones—they burn better!”

The three gathered branches busily.

They collected plenty of dry ones.

But there was one problem.

“Damn… this isn’t working.”

They had all the materials, but couldn’t start the fire.

“Old man, you said you camped a lot while fishing.”

“You brat. That’s not the same thing!”

Firesteel, lighters, charcoal starters, tents.

Modern “roughing it” wasn’t really roughing it at all.

It was fast and comfortable.

Scrape scrape.

“Whew…”

Even the charismatic American looked flustered.

After all, when had modern people ever started a fire using only sticks?

“Give it here! I’ll try!”

Kang Hyuk grabbed the sticks.

“Ah! Hot!”

He burned his hands with friction heat, snapped sticks from pressing too hard—

“This is…”

“Hey! Hey! You idiot!”

It was complete chaos.

Meanwhile the sun kept sinking, now barely clinging to the horizon.

Rustle rustle.

The bushes shook.

Somewhere, a beast howled.

When the two began to show panic—

Fwoosh.

A flame sprang to life.

* * *

“B-Brother?!”

“Nium-mul? How…?”

The American and Kang Hyuk stared wide-eyed.

The one who had lit the fire was Nium-mul, who had been sitting quietly.

She snapped another stick and tossed it into the campfire, shrugging casually.

“I just rubbed the hell out of it and it worked.”

“It’s not that easy…”

The American scratched his head.

Their bodies had changed instantly.

They were stronger now.

Yet even with these improved bodies, starting a fire wasn’t easy.

But Nium-mul had done it effortlessly.

Which meant one of two things:

Either she had excellent hand skills, or she rubbed like a complete madwoman.

The American glanced at the calluses on her hands and the veins standing out.

Either way, impressive.

“Anyway, you saved us! With this fire, I finally feel like we might live.”

Kang Hyuk laughed and moved closer to the fire.

The sun had completely set.

The surroundings were dark.

In this situation, the fire meant more than just warmth.

“It’s nothing.”

Nium-mul shook her head.

Compared to the insane situation they were in, lighting a fire really was nothing.

She pulled her knees close and stared quietly into the flames.

Crackle crackle.

The deep crimson flames flickered like a tail wagging in the wind.

They had a strange pull on people.

Or maybe everyone just needed somewhere else to look.

After a long moment of silence—

“This is kind of funny.”

Kang Hyuk suddenly laughed.

“…?”

“We got sucked into a game… but we couldn’t even start a fire.”

“Outside the monitor, we used to just click the mouse.”

His words carried many meanings.

And they made Nium-mul realize something.

“This isn’t the time for that.”

She spoke.

“Let’s talk about what happens next.”

“Yeah… good idea.”

“If this really is the world of Dungeon Heroes, where exactly are we?”

“When I woke up, I was in a forest.”

“I saw a lake nearby.”

“Then we met each other and walked almost the entire day.”

Yet all they saw was the same rough road.

The American stroked his chin.

“I doubt we’re in the Empire. Unless it’s deep mountains, their roads are well developed.”

“Not the Northern Kingdom or Ariant either. The temperature wouldn’t be like this. So then…”

“The Minot Kingdom?”

The two veteran players clapped their hands simultaneously.

A kingdom south of the great mountain range.

The geography matched.

This old guy knows a lot… must be experienced.

“We can’t be sure, but it’s the most likely.”

“Then next would be Chapter 1…”

Their problem was only partly solved.

Duns had countless intertwined scenarios.

Thousands of possibilities had merely shrunk to hundreds.

“Village Savior… or the Fairy Encounter?”

“The starting point might not match the game exactly…”

As Nium-mul scratched her head in frustration, Kang Hyuk suddenly shouted.

“Whoa!”

The other two jumped.

“What?”

“Why?”

But Kang Hyuk’s next words shocked them.

“I-I found it! The status window! I figured out how to open it!”

* * *

Close your eyes like meditating and imagine your own face.

Ridiculously enough, that was the method.

Kang Hyuk said he discovered it by accident.

Damn it.

Why was this so unfriendly?

How was anyone supposed to figure that out?

Still, Nium-mul followed his instructions.

Level: 1.

Class: Paladin.

It seemed she had inherited the character’s original class.

Below that were the three stats: Strength, Agility, Intelligence.

After checking everything, she opened her eyes.

“Level 1 Paladin.”

The American lifted the bow at his waist.

“As expected, I’m an archer. Level 1, same as you. Looks like we’ve returned to before our second class advancement.”

“I’m a warrior,” Kang Hyuk said. “Same situation.”

“But the stats might be different.”

The American narrowed his eyes.

“What are everyone’s starting stats?”

In Duns, every level up gave 1 ability point and 1 skill point.

Initial stats varied by character birth, but humans usually totaled around 30.

“I’ve got Strength 11, Agility 10, Intelligence 6.”

Strength increased overall physical ability.

Agility boosted sensory and reflex abilities.

Intelligence improved magic and miracle-type skills.

The American’s stats were balanced—quite good.

Then Kang Hyuk spoke.

“Strength 9, Agility 11, Intelligence 5.”

Not as good as the American’s, but still decent.

Archers traditionally favored Strength, while warriors leaned toward Agility.

Now both looked at Nium-mul.

In Duns, leveling was difficult.

Raising stats was even harder.

Every stat point was precious.

Especially in a dark fantasy world that had become reality.

In such a world, your body and power were your greatest assets.

So then—

What were the stats of this player with absurdly beautiful character customization?

Maybe surprisingly low…

Nium-mul looked slightly uncomfortable under their gaze and turned her head.

Then she muttered.

“Strength 18, Agility 15, Intelligence 12.”

Total: 45.

“Are you insane?!”

“Are you some kind of demigod?!”

The American and Kang Hyuk stared with their mouths wide open.