POV: Lumine

  Hessien gasped for breath, his eyes darting around in a panic.

  He struggled to yank his pants up, but they were still tangled around his knees. To my horror, a slimy, saliva-like fluid dripped down his ass.

  No way. This couldn’t have happened to him.

  My voice trembled as I cautiously asked, “Did you… get fluids up your ass?” I didn’t even want to say it.

  “Huh?! No! NO! Nothing went in my ass!” Hessien shouted, his denial almost violent.

  That was a relief… sort of. He was still covered in that disgusting crap, but since it looked mixed with saliva, maybe it wasn’t what I feared. Hopefully.

  Then his gaze locked onto a metal spear mounted on the wall. Without hesitation, he lunged, ripped it free, and brandished it like a man possessed.

  With pure determination in his eyes, he declared, “I’m going to kill whatever was in there.”

  “You know, this wouldn’t have happened if you’d just listened to me,” I pointed out.

  He stared at me.

  “Don't make me throw you in it,” he muttered before storming into the bathroom.

  "I'll kill you."

  I followed, keeping close to the wall and as far from the toilet as possible. I also positioned myself near the door—just in case. If I had to, I might need to sacrifice him. He’d understand. Yeah, he would.

  “Show yourself, you little shit!” Hessien bellowed, stabbing the spear into the toilet.

  Loud footsteps echoed from outside—Ghomas and Vacinay must have been rushing to help.

  But it was the guards from earlier—minus the annoying one.

  One stepped forward, concern written on his face. “What happened? We heard a scream.”

  Right. These guys were from this world. If anyone knew what the hell that thing was, it was them.

  I immediately explained, “There’s some weird pervert tongue monster in that damn toilet.”

  The guard raised an eyebrow, then glanced at the half-naked Hessien. His gaze flicked between us, suspicion creeping into his expression.

  “He…?” he asked.

  The other guard muttered, “Sure looks like it.”

  Did they seriously think I couldn’t tell the difference between a person and a damn toilet?

  “No,” I groaned. “It’s in the toilet. It spat some weird fluid on him.”

  At the mention of "fluids," Hessien’s rage flared all over again.

  One of the guards suddenly nodded in realization. “Oh! You mean the shit cleaner.”

  Hessien and I blurted out in unison, “What?!”

  The guard planted his hands on his hips, nodding like this was common knowledge. “You guys were talking like it was some kind of monster. It’s just the regular sewage creature. It lives in the pipes and has thousands of appendages.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  What the hell?! That was disgusting! But more importantly—

  “Why the hell is it in the toilet system?” I demanded. “Shouldn’t it be deeper in the system?!”

  Hessien exploded. “What the fuck?! That thing shot some weird shit on my ass! And it’s allowed to just wait in the toilet for its next victim?!”

  The guard shook his head, looking at him like he was being ridiculous. “It ejected a slime fluid that kills bacteria and ensures all solids and particles drop down the shitter. How else do you think people clean their asses?”

  I stared in horror, trying to pretend I hadn’t just heard that. But I had. Loud and clear.

  Just then, Vacinay and Ghomas arrived, both looking concerned.

  Ghomas glanced at Hessien. “So… why is he half-naked and wet?”

  Hessien practically screamed, “Some weird shit in that shitter did this!”

  Vacinay crossed her arms, frowning. “I’m confused.”

  Hessien ignored her. “I don’t have time for this.”

  With murderous intent, he repeatedly thrust his spear into the toilet, trying to kill the creature.

  Yes. Yes!

  Suddenly, one of the guards panicked. “Don’t!”

  “Why would you do that?!” the other yelled.

  I quickly stepped between them, raising my hand threateningly.

  Then, I turned off my auto-translation and barked, “Move, move, move!”

  They froze, eyes widening. From their perspective, it probably sounded like I was chanting a spell or something ominous. It worked.

  One of the guards shouted, “You have to stop him!”

  Hessien’s expression twisted into something terrifying—pure, evil excitement. He looked like he could be the dark lord of this world.

  But with how freaked out the guards were, this had to be about more than just harming the thing.

  I demanded, “What will happen?”

  One of the guards opened his mouth to answer—then suddenly shut it, shook his head, and bolted. The other followed.

  …Wait.

  Was it going to climb out of the toilet and attack us?

  I didn’t even look back at Hessien. I immediately ran towards the guards.

  "Hey! It's going to attack you!" I shouted.

  "Eh? No way, it hasn’t even mov—"

  Hessien’s words were cut off as something truly horrific happened.

  Brown.

  A pressurized stream of softened brown solids blasted up from the toilet mid-sentence, coating his upper body.

  His mouth was open.

  The waste struck the wall before splashing onto the floor, creating a disgusting shit flood—a tidal wave of filth rushing toward us.

  "What the..." Vacinay gagged.

  Ghomas turned and sprinted away.

  I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door shut—sacrificing Hessien.

  Well, it wasn’t really a sacrifice. He was already the first victim of the shit geyser.

  The door shuddered under the force of the blast, but thankfully, the gap at the bottom was sealed tight.

  It would be pretty funny if he drowned in it.

  ...

  Okay. Maybe that was an actual concern.

  I turned to the guards. They were barely holding back vomit.

  "What happens now?" I asked.

  One of them pinched his nose. "The waste will be sucked back in a minute or two. After that, we’ll send janitors to clean up."

  Oh.

  So that same creature was going to… suck it back in?

  Blegh!

  I barely had time to react before I vomited—right onto my own arm. I didn't even manage to move it out of the way.

  Warm soup and chunks of bread clung to my sleeve.

  Agh… disgusting.

  Ignoring the guards’ reactions, I made my way to the nearest faucet, vaguely remembering its location in the kitchen. I had to wait a minute or two for the restroom door to open anyway.

  I turned on the faucet.

  The design was familiar enough. The water was purple.

  Please don’t tell me there’s another monster or some weird entity providing ‘water.’

  At least it didn’t smell like anything. But after everything I’d seen today, I wasn’t about to take any chances.

  I marched back to the guards and asked bluntly, "Why is the water purple?"

  One of them furrowed his brow. "That’s… just the color of water. What else would it be? Green?"

  Why the hell were we even summoned to this world?

  Still suspicious, I pressed further. "Where does the water come from?"

  "From underground."

  Oh. We had that on Earth too… but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this water came from some creature’s secretion instead of a natural reservoir.

  As much as I wanted to confirm the water’s source before washing this filth off, Hessien’s condition took priority.

  Over two minutes had passed—long enough for us to check on him.

  Ghomas pressed his ear against the door. "Hey! You still alive?"

  Of course he was. There was no way someone could die such a lame death.

  No response.

  I shouted, "Answer, Hessien!"

  Vacinay slammed her foot against the door. "Oi, oi, oi!"

  Silence.

  A sinking feeling crept in.

  Oh, shit.

  Did he actually die?