I cross the threshold again.
The dungeon doesn't welcome me. It never did. But this time, it feels… aware.
The air grows colder the moment I descend past the point I turned back yesterday. Light thins, not fading but bending strangely, as if it's being swallowed instead of extinguished. Every step echoes too long. Every breath feels heavier than it should.
I tighten my grip on the sword.
Focus.
This is still an F-rank dungeon.
The lowest gate.
That fact should comfort me.
It doesn't.
The hidden route waits where I marked it—a fracture in stone that shouldn't exist, a wrongness in mana flow that presses against my senses like a held breath. Yesterday, I stopped here.
Today, I step through.
The passage slopes downward sharply, forcing me to brace myself against the walls. Stone gives way to something smoother, darker, veins of dull black running through it like fossilized shadows.
My mana reacts.
Not violently.
Reluctantly.
I feel it thinning, stretching, like mist pulled apart by a slow wind.
"…So this is what you do," I murmur.
Black Nox doesn't announce itself.
It erodes.
The moment I take the third step, pain blooms behind my eyes—sharp, sudden, disorienting. I stagger, slamming one hand against the wall to stay upright.
My breathing stutters.
Something clamps down on my core.
Not damage.
Interference.
A translucent panel snaps into existence before me without my intent.
===Status===
Name: Eren VeridianRank: F+
Strength: F+Speed: F+Stamina: EMana: FLuck: BCharm: C
Skills:
Calm Mind (C)
Arts:
★★★ Basic Sword Art — Practitioner
Debuffs:
Mana Erosion (Minor) — Continuous mana leakage, reduced regeneration
Void Chill (Minor) — Increased stamina consumption, lowered mana control
====================
I stare at the debuffs.
"…Already?"
My mana has dropped back to F.
So this is the price of entry.
The corridor ahead twists, narrowing until I'm forced to turn sideways, my shoulder scraping against cold stone. The darkness feels thicker here—not absence of light, but presence of something else.
I move slowly.
Too slowly.
A sound reaches me—wet, dragging, accompanied by a low, broken hiss.
I freeze.
From the darkness ahead, something crawls into view.
A Stone Crawler, but wrong.
Its shell is cracked and blackened, joints leaking viscous shadow instead of ichor. Mana clings to it unevenly, flaring and collapsing like a dying flame.
A corrupted variant.
Still F-rank.
Still dangerous.
It lunges.
I react on instinct, blade flashing out to intercept—
The impact rattles my arm painfully.
Too heavy.
My footing slips as Void Chill saps my stamina faster than expected. I bite down on a curse and roll aside as the creature slams into the wall where I stood moments ago.
I force mana into my legs.
It resists.
Leaks.
The crawler charges again.
Think.
I stop trying to overpower it.
I wait.
As it rears back to strike, I step inside its movement—closer than comfort allows—and drive the dagger up through the gap beneath its shell.
The blade sinks deep.
The creature shrieks, convulses, then collapses.
I stagger back, gasping.
My hands shake.
Not fear.
Exertion.
Mana erosion is subtle—but relentless. Every action costs more. Every mistake compounds.
I crouch and retrieve the monster core with numb fingers.
It's darker than usual.
Corrupted.
Sellable.
If I live.
I press my back against the wall and breathe.
Why am I doing this?
The thought slips through before I can stop it.
I left safety. I left the Veridian cage. I came here chasing something buried in a novel written by someone who never had to survive their own world.
What if I was wrong?
What if Black Nox kills me before it ever empowers me?
The dungeon answers with silence.
I push forward.
The passage opens into a small chamber, its floor etched with faint circular patterns. At the center, something grows.
A cluster of dark-veined herbs—Void Mistroot.
Advanced.
Rare.
Dangerous.
Perfect.
I kneel, ignoring the way my core tightens in protest, and harvest carefully. The moment my fingers touch the plant, the debuff flares—pain lancing through my chest as mana drains sharply.
I grit my teeth and finish quickly.
Status window flickers again.
Mana: F (Unstable)Stamina: E → E-
I laugh softly.
Bitter.
"So even the world thinks I shouldn't be here."
I stand.
My legs tremble now. Void Chill gnaws at my endurance, and Mana Erosion leaves me feeling hollow, like something essential is leaking out of me drop by drop.
But I'm still standing.
Still thinking.
Still choosing.
I turn back.
Not retreat.
Not yet.
Just… survival.
As I climb out of the hidden descent, one thought burns quietly in my mind.
This novel world isn't kind.It isn't fair.
But neither was the last one.
And I survived that too.