Two large, calloused hands gripped my shoulders and hauled me to my feet. There was no effort from the figure behind the movement, like my weight was negligible.

  Before I had a chance to do anything else, the figure started brushing me off, clearing away the ash that had stuck to me following the fight with the sink.

  “You’re a mess,” the figure growled. “Coming into my shop like this! Haven’t even made it out of the tutorial hallway. A good fart could probably knock you over.”

  The figure stopped brushing me and stepped back, giving me a chance to take in what had just manhandled me.

  The figure had to be at least seven feet tall, and you could add another half foot if you included the horns on its cow-shaped head. Looking down from that was a very human, very female-looking torso, which continued its humanness right until you reached the legs, which turned animalistic, ending in a pair of very non-human hooves.

  “You’re a minotaur?” I blurted out.

  The figure threw her head back and laughed.

  “We’ve got a genius over here. Who else were you expecting, an Overwinter Elf?”

  “No,” I paused. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

  The minotaur crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly. She walked around me, looking me over.

  “Yep, you definitely got that calf lost in the woods look.” She moved her gaze over to my right hand, still clutching the fork.

  “What are you planning on doing with that? Going to a meat-eating contest?”

  I felt my cheeks burn. After all that had happened, I was now being ridiculed. I willed the fork back into my inventory.

  “Bet you got questions,” the minotaur said, leaning back against the shop counter. “The problem is, I’m not allowed to answer much. I’m mostly here to take your silver.”

  “You’re not allowed?” I asked.

  “Yep. Management. Bunch of mule-pricks.”

  “What can I ask?”

  The minotaur grinned, sweeping her hands around the shop in a grand gesture. “Anything about my little shop here. Anything outside of that, well that’s a no go. You’re going to have to discover the dungeon’s secrets by yourself.”

  “I can’t ask why then? Why is all this happening?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  She shook her head. “Sorry. It’s the nature of the place. You know about as much as I do. One minute I was part of a raid on some bandits, and now I’m here. Most of my memory is shot too. Aside from being part of a raid, I don’t remember much more about my life. It’s like my memories were scooped out and replaced with everything I needed to know about running this shop. I don’t even know my name.”

  “Ken,” I said.

  The minotaur tilted her head.

  Seeing her confusion, I continued. “It’s my name.”

  She laughed. “Ken? What kind of name is that? Ken the adventurer! Here to defeat the dungeon! We’re saved!”

  My cheeks burned. The fact that I kept getting embarrassed by this nameless minotaur was starting to get on my nerves.

  Seeing my discomfort, the minotaur stopped laughing and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Sorry. It’s probably a mighty name where you’re from. I get the feeling that if you traveled to my home, it would be an unusual name.”

  I relaxed a bit, finding her touch somewhat reassuring. Almost every physical sensation that I had up to that point was negative, and the warmth of another living being was downright pleasant. I was sure with her imposing physical frame that she could rip me limb from limb if she wanted, but at that moment she was choosing to be kind.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “But what should I call you?”

  “Shopkeep’s fine,” she said. “Funny thing, I feel that my name is still out there somewhere.”

  “Out there?”

  She motioned towards the far wall that I had stumbled through. “Yeah, like I’d be able to find it if I was able to leave here.”

  She turned and shrugged. “Can’t do much about that though.”

  I looked around the shop, taking it in. Although the apartment complex’s shitty carpet lined the floors, the rest of the shop looked somewhat medieval. Lighting was provided by a few dimly lit torches, and the walls and ceiling appeared to be stone. Aside from the counter, the place was basically empty.

  “Yeah, it ain’t much,” Shopkeep said. “From what I understand, if you survive long enough, you’ll be able to upgrade the place. Hope you do. It’s kinda boring just standing here. I don’t even have a chair.”

  “So, what do you sell?”

  She laughed again and moved behind the counter, waving her hand over what appeared to be some items sitting on top. I followed her to stand in front.

  “Gotta warn you,” she said. “Try to steal anything and I WILL kill you. I ain’t joking either. It’s part of the reason that I’ve been put here.”

  I nodded, not doubting her in the slightest. I looked down at the items, which there were two of them. Info brackets popped up as I looked at each.

  The first was familiar.

  RATION BAR – UNPERISHABLE

  1 Silver

  The second was highly disturbing.

  Sitting on the wooden counter, pumping away and spurting light splashes of blood, was a heart. I wasn’t an anatomy expert, but it looked human to me.

  HEART

  1 Silver

  The minotaur saw me pause at the sight. “What’s wrong, Ken? Haven’t seen a disembodied, still-beating heart in a shop before?”

  She was joking, and I knew she was joking. But I couldn’t help answering.

  “No.”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, me either. This place is weird.”

  I looked down to my heart display. I had one half-heart left, so the choice was obvious. The first tip I had received when I entered the dungeon told me that this was the way to regain health.

  “I’ll take the heart,” I said.

  “Alright, give me a silver.”

  I willed the silver piece into my hand and handed it over to the Shopkeep. The silver counter in my vision faded away.

  “Go ahead then,” the Shopkeep motioned to the heart.

  I reached out to pick it up and noticed something. I wasn’t being asked if I wanted to take the heart into my inventory.

  It was warm, like it had just been pulled from a body. I could feel the thump thump of the beat as it sat in my hand. Still no display.

  “Well,” Shopkeep said. “You going to eat it or not?”