Before long, the group had made it through the first floor.
Only two short hours of a morning.
Ren walked in silence, his eyes fixed on the narrow corridors lit by faint light, quietly comparing them to the first time he'd set foot here.
Back then, everything was unfamiliar. The dark tunnels felt like they led straight into a bottomless pit, and even the slightest sound echoing could make his heart leap.
Ren remembered that feeling clearly, each step feeling like a tightrope walk between life and death.
Now… it only took two hours. So fast it felt almost cruel.
Not because they were stronger, but because the area had been too thoroughly cleared. The remaining monsters were sparse, not enough to make for a memorable encounter. No traps, no tension. And because of that, no emotions.
If nothing unexpected happened, there would only be two options left:
The first… was to go back the way they came.
Copper's group might split up and loop around to try their luck again with a few leftover monster packs.
Bit by bit, they'd accumulate experience points, like machines endlessly repeating a simplified cycle: slash, dodge, loot, level up.
The second was…
To descend to the second floor.
Ren tightened his grip on the sword hilt.
The domain of the Kobolds, short, beast-like creatures with gray skin, stone axes in hand, and glowing red eyes.
They were much stronger than the Sewer Frogs, yet still a tier below the Ruin Kobold.
Kobolds usually moved in groups of three to five. They could coordinate, set ambushes, lure players into traps, then attack from multiple directions.
Some even carried crude shields, creating a clear distinction between fresh novices and those who truly knew how to fight.
Ren closed his eyes for a moment. He still remembered where the path down to the second floor was. If they chose to walk through that gate… then from this point on, the real game would begin.
No more repetitive strolls.
No more leniency of the first floor.
And if it was Copper, the one always trying to prove he had changed, the one who knew exactly how much information to use to manipulate emotions, he wouldn't let this chance slip by.
"We've reached the end of the first floor… and nothing happened. We should turn back."
Copper's voice rang out calmly, almost emotionless, but his eyes said otherwise.
For a brief moment, his gaze flicked toward the narrow path leading to the floor below, a place where magic light no longer reached, where only cold shadows and the faint breath of unnamed things remained.
Ren stood a few steps away, and his eyes instinctively followed that same gaze. A strange sensation crept along his spine, as if an invisible thread from deep within the darkness was tugging faintly at his soul.
It wasn't fear.
It was instinct. The instinct that told him this wasn't just the second floor.
Copper turned back, his smile just warm enough to soothe unease, just restrained enough not to seem fake.
"You all did very well," he said, gesturing slightly toward the group behind. "Many of you leveled up. Some got new gear. All of you… are stronger than when you first stepped in here."
A few players nodded quietly. Some younger ones had a glimmer in their eyes. Trust, though only just forming was easily molded by intentional words.
Copper paused. His voice dropped lower, but it rang clearer in their ears than any sword clash from earlier.
"Maybe… we should test ourselves on the lower floor."
No one answered right away.
Only the sound of a few deep breaths, as if they were swallowing down anxiety, trying to keep their hands from shaking with conflicted emotions.
Some looked at each other glances passing briefly, then slipping away like blades avoiding a wound.
Ren still said nothing.
He only quietly observed their faces… and saw himself in them, in those early days, trusting. Eager. And naïve.
Copper raised his hand, opening his palm as if offering them a choice.
"I'll go down. If anyone wants to join, come with me. I won't force anyone."
He paused for a beat, then added:
"If you want to return, the old path is still there. The monsters won't respawn for at least another two hours."
He turned back, stepping slowly toward the passage to the second floor, as if certain that even without looking back, someone would follow.
A few players who seemed more experienced, those who had brushed with death a few times, quickly turned back without needing further explanation.
They didn't hesitate. They didn't question. They simply chose survival as their guiding star.
They disappeared behind a dark bend, leaving behind about seven to ten other players, frozen in collective uncertainty.
They lacked the courage to move forward, yet didn't have the clarity to retreat either.
Suspended between two extremes, they waited...perhaps for a signal, or perhaps… for someone to lead the way.
Ren looked down the dim path leading to the second floor once more. The light from the enchanted torch fixed on the wall illuminated only a short stretch, after which everything sank back into a darkness thick as living ink.
He turned his head, looking at those who still remained. They were still waiting... or afraid. Or maybe, they were simply looking at him as if Ren himself would be the one to decide whether their hope was worth betting on.
Ren opened his mouth, his voice not loud, but carrying far, as if even the darkness was listening.
"If you want safety... then stop here."
He lightly clenched his fist. His breath was steady, but his chest throbbed with sharp stings.
"Don't step any deeper... Down there... lies something more terrifying than anything you could imagine."
An image surged in Ren's mind, that face. That twisted face, with four cloudy, hollow eyes, as if it had seen through his soul that day.
Ren instinctively stepped back, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword so tightly it turned pale.
His heartbeat stabbed with each thump. His eyes darted around. Part of him wanted to turn back, and part of him... was being pulled forward by something like a whisper from the marrow of his bones.
He didn't want to go down. No one did. No sane person would.
But still, something remained.
Something he had never named. Something deep in his chest, in the rising chaos of his heartbeat.
Not duty. Not pride. Not to prove anything.
But fear.
And the awareness that... if he didn't face it, it would consume him from within.
Ren looked at the other players turning away. Maybe they were right. Maybe they were wiser. Maybe... if he followed them, he would be safe, he would live.
But living... isn't the same as existing.
He clenched his teeth, as if to swallow the last of his hesitation. And then, without warning, his foot stepped onto the first stone step leading down to the second floor.
A hush fell over the entire hallway. No one said anything. Only the dry, steady sound of footsteps echoed.
'This is the burden I must bear.'
'This is the fear I must overcome.'
'No one can help me... but myself.'
'And so Ren vanished into the darkness, not once looking back.'
...
Each of Ren's footsteps echoed down the cold stone stairs, stirring lonely echoes through the aged stone corridor.
The air on the second floor was denser than the one above, as if old memories had been compressed to the bottom, waiting to be stirred.
At the end of the staircase, Copper was already waiting.
He wasn't surprised. He didn't ask anything. He just wore a faint smile, almost too warm to be real, like he had known the outcome from the very beginning.
"I'm glad you're here with me... Ren."
Ren paused a few steps above, his gaze gliding over Copper's face like a cold blade.
For a brief moment, he didn't answer. He just watched, calmness, confidence, and the calculated intent behind every expression.
Copper smiled again, a light smile, like a passing breeze, but enough to send chills down one's spine.
"Sorry if my attitude unsettled you... but aren't we both down here for something left unfinished?"
Ren frowned. The way he spoke... as if he had seen through everything.
"I will defeat that boss," Copper continued, tone casual, as if talking about dinner. "You have the same intention... don't you?"
Ren remained silent, but his gaze betrayed his unease. Copper was hitting the deepest part of him, the part that hadn't slept since the first battle in this place.
"This is a truth we can't escape," Copper stepped up a stair, eyes locked on Ren. "It's something we must face... to overcome... or be buried by forever."
He paused, giving a small nod as if confirming something already decided.
"And besides, aren't you curious about the reward for defeating the boss?"
A long silence. Ren said nothing.
Copper chuckled softly, not from joy, but as if mocking something no one else could see. He turned, his gaze sweeping the dense darkness ahead.
"Just the two of us will be enough," he said, not looking back. "If I hadn't met you... my plan would've had to change... there would've been more sacrifices..."
That voice... wasn't a welcome. It was a declaration, like he had just placed the final piece in a long-prepared game.
Ren clenched the hilt of his sword. A cold sensation crawled down his spine.
Copper still stood there, back straight, his eyes glancing subtly at the stairs behind Ren, as if he had already severed every way back.
And in that moment... Ren suddenly realized... whether by accident or design, he had walked right into Copper's game.