After fifteen minutes of walking through total darkness, we reached a room with four passageways, only one of which led to the next chamber. We did not know what awaited us the moment we stepped into any of them.
"You've got to be kidding me..." Lars muttered, looking at the passageways.
"Listen up, everyone," Wex said. "This may sound crazy... but... we need to split into squads of six people to explore each passageway and search for the second key.
The players immediately responded with anger in their voices.
"Are you telling us to die?!"
"Are you out of your mind?!!"
"Why not go together as a whole?!"
"What if we stumble upon a trap room, huh?!"
Wex slammed the bottom of his wooden staff on the ground. "I'm pretty sure each of you here knows that a dungeon has a time limit of two hours, yeah?" he said. "And if we reach that time limit, the monsters in the dungeon will spawn faster and double in numbers. So, if we don't finish this in an hour, we might as well just die."
I clenched my right fist. "This is a bad idea," I thought. "But what choice do we even have?"
We had fifty-five minutes left on the timer, leaving us no choice but to follow Wex's plan.
Lars and I grouped up with four players: the high-level warrior, me, Lars, a female healer, a male archer and an injured male warrior.
The Archer in Gold joined forces with an old muscular healer and four other players. The rest of the remaining players formed their own groups.
"We'll take this way!" the high-level warrior said, stepping toward the left passageway.
My group followed closely behind him as he led the way. The other teams disappeared into the remaining passageways.
As we moved deeper into the passageway, a massive coral golem appeared, blocking the green door. It towered at least three times my height, its barnacle-covered hands gripping a jagged trident. Each step it took sent ripples through the water at our feet, making the floor tremble beneath us.
A system window appeared above its head:
[CORAL GOLEM] - (LVL 20)
"L-Level twenty??!" I thought.
The injured male warrior charged in too early like a total clown, shouting, "DEATH OR GLORY!!!"
"STOP!" Lars shouted, sprinting to intercept him, but he was too late.
The golem swung its massive trident, impaling the warrior like a skewer. He let out a scream that echoed through the chamber before going still.
"I GOT THIS!" the high-level warrior shouted, activating a skill: Frenzy. His body glowed crimson, moving with supernatural speed. He became a blur of metal, slashing and dodging with deadly precision.
I slipped around the side, driving my dagger upward through the coral golem's barnacle-covered gut, twisting it hard. "That should do a bit of damage," I thought.
The golem roared once, then collapsed, crumbling into chunks of coral.
"Good assist, commoner!" the high-level warrior proudly said.
"Does this guy have a superiority complex or something?" I thought. "Commoner?"
Lars tapped my back. "You looked cool back there!" he said, grinning. "You should give that move a name, even if it's not a skill."
"Thanks…" I said, scratching my head. "Giving it a name would sound goofy. Like your 'SUPER DUPER OMEGA FIREBALL!'" I swung the air with my sword, copying a mage casting a spell.
Lars pointed his wooden staff at me. Tiny flames curled at the tip. "Say that again and I'll smite you from this world," he warned, half joking but with a hard edge in his voice.
"O-oy!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up like a man under arrest. "I-I'm joking, okay? Geez."
He snorted and lowered the staff, the flame dying down. We both cracked a laugh, the brief laugh easing some of the tension around us.
"That's enough, boys! Let's move forward," The high-level warrior said.
The moment we went through the green door, three level twenty Eel-Beasts slid out of the water. They were huge, their twisted bodies covered in sharp scales and jagged teeth, moving like dark, living nightmares. Behind them, two level twenty Ghost Captains appeared from the fog, their cloaks swirling like smoke, swinging their sabers.
The high-level warrior stepped forward. "You guys take care of the Ghost Captains, I'll take care of the eels!" he shouted, swinging his sword. "I'll crush these weaklings!"
"I'm ready to help anytime!" the female healer said, her hands glowing with soft light. "I'll heal you whenever you get hurt!"
"OKAY, DO THAT!" the high-level warrior shouted, charging toward the Eel-Beasts.
The first Eel-Beast attacked, whipping its massive tail toward the high-level warrior.
The high-level warrior leapt, dodging the attack, and drove his sword into its head. Purple blood sprayed everywhere as it thrashed in pain and went still. He looked at the second Eel-Beast and charged forward. "You're next, Mongrel!"
The second Eel-Beast opened its mouth, channeling a skill: Electric Beam, lightning dancing across the water.
The high-level warrior sliced its neck while it was still channeling. He knew that once a monster is channeling a skill, it cannot move.
"ONE MORE!" the high-level warrior yelled, swinging his sword at the last Eel-Beast near him. But in the blink of an eye, it vanished.
"BOY!" he shouted at me, pointing frantically. "BEHIND YOU!"
I spun around just in time to see the third Eel-Beast lunging at me, its wide jaws snapping open. Its teeth were just inches from my face.
My eyes widened in surprise. "Y-You've got to be kidding me..."
I rolled under the Eel-Beast's body just in time, stabbing its underbelly. The high-level warrior followed up, cutting its head, killing it.
The moment I regained my footing, a Ghost Captain charged at me with deadly speed.
"Oh, come on..." I muttered, ducking under its swing. I spun and slashed it across the shoulder area. Lars helped me, striking it with his skill: Arc Lightning. Finally, I stabbed its neck as it stumbled, and the male archer followed up with a volley of arrows, killing it.
"Are you alright?" the male archer asked me.
"Yeah," I replied, cracking my fingers.
"HERE COMES THE KNIGHT OF THE ROUND TABLE!" the high-level warrior shouted, attacking the last Ghost Captain with a jump strike.
Then, we noticed another green door revealing itself from the mist after the last Ghost Captain died.
Lars crossed his arms with a smirk. "I wish that eel took a bite of your face," he said. "Then you'd look like a walking half-eaten apple."
"Oh, yeah?" I shot back, glaring at him. "Well, I wish that coral golem from earlier had impaled your butt instead!"
Lars gasped dramatically, pointing his staff at me. "You dare speak such cursed words?"
"Can you stop saying cringe words..." I said, frowning.
"That's enough, boys!" the high-level warrior said, his voice firm but amused as he pointed his sword toward the green door. "Save the bickering for later. We don't have time to lose, let's move!"
Lars and I exchanged a glance, both letting out a small laugh before following behind him.
We passed through the green door.
Inside was an old ballroom. It was vast and open, with a high ceiling that seemed far above.
Tall windows ran along the walls, their glass streaked with dirt and age, letting in thin shafts of light that cut across the water. The walls were decorated with faded tapestries, worn and drooping, showing scenes of battles, dances, and gatherings from long ago. Wooden panels framed the tapestries, though some were cracked and peeling with age.
Its floor was covered in knee-high water, smooth enough to reflect the walls and chandelier like a mirror. A large, old chandelier hung in the center, made of metal and glass, swinging slightly as if caught by a breeze.
Twenty level fifteen Spectral Pirates floated in midair, circling the chandelier in a slow, haunting waltz. Their movements were elegant, almost human. A tinny, distant music box's haunting melody echoed from nowhere.
The overall space felt grand but abandoned, with the water giving the room a strange calm. Reflections doubled the windows, the chandelier, and the tapestries, making the room feel larger than it really was.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." I said quietly, my eyes fixed on the Spectral Pirates above us.
The male archer gave me a reassuring pat on the back. "Relax, we got this," he said with a confident grin, drawing an arrow from his quiver.
I took a breath and nodded, tightening my grip on my dagger. "Yeah… we got this."
The moment we took another step forward, the music suddenly stopped.
"What happened to the music?" Lars muttered, glancing around.
The Spectral Pirates froze mid-dance. Their hollow, eyeless faces slowly turned toward us. Then, in perfect silence, they drew their weapons and jumped.
"GET READY!" I shouted. "THEY'RE GONNA ATTACK!"
The music box began to play again. Its haunting melody twisting through the chamber as the Spectral Pirates leapt down from above. Water splashed around their boots as they hit the floor, cutlasses raised high, ghostly voices shrieking as they charged straight at us.
"Attack!!!" the high-level warrior shouted, charging toward the monsters.
The battle began.
The female healer assisted the high-level warrior as he fought a dozen Spectral Pirates. The male archer, Lars, and I handled the rest.
Lars' voice rang out behind me, his staff glowing dimly as he fended off a Spectral Pirate. "Shit, I'm almost out of mana!"
"Didn't you bring an MP potion?!" I shouted, slashing through a Spectral Pirate's chest.
"I—!" His voice cut off.
As I turned to glance at Lars, a Spectral Pirate that had been hiding behind a wooden box threw a rusted chain that lashed through the air like a whip.
"Hey, watch out!" the male archer yelled while fending off a Spectral Pirate. "Behind you!"
"Shit!" I ducked just in time. The chain barely missed my head, grazing past me with a hiss.
The female healer cried out as the tip of the chain scraped across her shoulder, tearing her sleeve and drawing blood.
The high-level warrior lunged at the Spectral Pirate who threw the chain. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, YOU SNEAKY BASTARD!" His sword came down with a heavy swing that shattered the pirate into mist.
But when I turned to Lars, my heart froze. A Spectral Pirate had drifted up behind him like a shadow in fog. Before I could shout, its blade slid straight through his back.
"Lars—no!" I screamed.
Lars gasped, his eyes wide and glassy. "...That hurts," he whispered weakly before collapsing to the wet floor.
The world slowed. Sound faded. Everything felt distant, except the quiet cracking as Lars shattered into light and fragments, like glass dropped in water.
Something inside me snapped.
I surged into motion. No hesitation. No thought. Just rage and reflex.
I screamed and lunged at the Spectral Pirates, water splashing around my legs as I charged forward. I slashed at one, then twisted my body to fake a strike toward another before spinning low and driving my dagger into its chest. Another Spectral Pirate swung at me—I ducked under the blade and countered with a quick slash across its midsection, then turned and kicked a third one backward. Their blades grazed my arms and tore through my tunic, but I barely felt it. My arms burned, my legs ached, but my mind was empty. Only the fight existed.
"H-Hey!" the high-level warrior shouted, splashing through the shallow water as he ran toward me, sword raised. "Fall back! You'll get yourself killed!"
I didn't care. I couldn't stop. Every movement felt natural, almost automatic, like my body was fighting on instinct alone. A Spectral Pirate swung too close—I ducked under its blade and drove my dagger deep into its chest, twisting it before pulling away.
The high-level warrior froze mid-step, lowering his sword. "T-This guy's in a flow state…" he muttered, disbelief in his tone.
The female healer's eyes widened as she watched me move. "What level is he? He's… moving like a high-level player!"
Then, the music box fell silent. The last Spectral Pirate let out a hollow groan as my dagger pierced its chest. Its body flickered, then slowly dissolved into mist.
I fell to my knees as a system window appeared in front of me:
[WARNING]: [LOW HP!]
[HP]: [12/100]
[MP]: [100/100]
"Low HP, huh?" I thought. "I should've been better off dead."
I was gasping for breath and drenched from the water when the high-level warrior approached and placed his hand on my right shoulder.
"Boy, you're no longer a commoner," he said with a smile. "You've ascended into knighthood!"
I glared at him. "Shut your mouth or I'll fucking slit your throat."
"Leave the guy alone," the male archer said quietly, lowering his bow as he looked at the high-level warrior. "He just lost a friend."
The high-level warrior removed his hand from my shoulder. "I-I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that."
A flashback hit me like a punch, showing Lars getting killed by that Spectral Pirate. The image burned in my mind.
"That's why I hate making friends," I thought, my chest tightening. "I don't like the idea of leaving them, or being left behind. It just hurts too much." A single tear fell from my cheek.
The female healer knelt briefly beside me, uncorking a small mana potion and drinking it in one swift motion. A soft blue glow spread from her hands as she activated her skill: Lesser Healing. Warmth flowed through my body, knitting together cuts and bruises, restoring my health to seventy percent.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you," she said, her voice steady but soft, her eyes locking onto mine. "Let's avenge your friend's death by clearing this dungeon."
I nodded once in response.
Then, a stone pedestal slowly rose from the corner of the room, grinding against the floor with a deep rumble. Resting on top of it was the green key, glowing faintly in the dim light.
A system window popped into visibility above it.
[You have acquired: Green Key]
Only four of us remained alive as we left the chamber.