The first thing Luki noticed was the sound.
Nothing.No echoes, no whispers of monsters. Just stagnant air.
An interesting point to question, how could one breathe normally, without heat or pressure, this deep underground? It wasn't the kind of thing you thought about while busy surviving, only when left alone with your thoughts.
He opened his eyes slowly. Through the helmet's visor, he noticed the golden glow of the barrier flickering in the distance, reflected on the smooth walls of the chamber.
The armor clung to him, biting into his shoulders and ribs with every shallow breath, as the metal scraped against the hard ground. It was the kind of discomfort he'd grown used to. Still, after what they had been through, lying there felt like heaven itself.
Luki was waking up slowly.
His body no longer felt heavy. His muscles renewed, his breathing steady. The Tireless Explorer Skill was doing its silent work, restoring every fiber, every drop of spent energy.
Still, something clung to him.A phantom pain, almost nonexistent, lodged somewhere between mind and flesh, as if the memory of exhaustion refused to fade.
A psychological weight tugged him back toward sleep, whispering that it was easier to just stay down, forget the labyrinth and the chaos outside.
In short: laziness.
— Urgh... — he groaned, raising a hand to his head.
He opened his eyes and saw the polished ceiling reflecting the barrier's light. For a moment, he couldn't even remember where he was. Then, everything came back.
Beside him, Lili was sleeping far too close, almost touching his shoulder.
At some point during the night, she must've crawled closer, which would be impossible because of the armor, maybe seeking warmth or just by instinct.
Her small body was curled beneath the cloak, her breathing light and steady. Her face, still dirty and marked with fatigue, wore a rare calm. Something strange to have for someone stuck in Blight Town: poison-free edition.
Luki straightened up slowly, moving just enough not to wake her.
The first thing he did was undo the helmet latch. The sound of metal sliding echoed softly in the room before he removed it completely.
He took a deep breath. Fresh air filled his lungs, as though it flowed through his entire body, cleansing away the weight of hours of tension.
His ears, finally freed from the suffocating space of the helmet, stretched out like prisoners seeing sunlight for the first time. The tips trembled, then both began to move in opposite directions, one turning forward and the other spinning halfway back, as if trying to work out the stiffness. They twitched again, in slow, deliberate motions, testing their range like limbs waking from deep sleep.
A faint rustle echoed each time they shifted, brushing against his hair. Then, as if acting on their own will, both ears gave a quick flap, a sharp and satisfied fwap-fwap, before drooping lazily to the sides. It was a bizarre sight; anyone watching might've thought he was trying to pull a Dumbo and fly away.
Still, the relief was undeniable. He could feel the warmth returning through the base of each ear, blood flowing freely again, chasing away the numbness. The little muscles twitched one last time before settling into a relaxed rhythm, occasionally flicking toward faint noises only he could hear.
Luki ran a hand over them, massaging the base with slow movements. Strange as it sounded, he could feel the blood returning, shaking off the numbness.
Then his hand went to his face. He rubbed his eyes, scratched the corners, wiped away a bit of crust. The gesture was followed by a restrained yawn.
His messy hair fell over his face; he pushed it back with his palm, fingers sliding through the damp fringe of dried sweat.
For a few seconds, he just stood there, existing, eyes heavy, expression still half-dragged by sleep.
He swallowed the saliva pooling in his mouth. The taste was odd, bitter enough to cause a faint discomfort in his stomach. He didn't need to imagine how awful his breath must have been.
Placing both hands on his knees, he rose slowly. His body responded sluggishly, as if still unsure about obeying.
He took two steps forward, and instinct made him stretch his arms upward. Standing on tiptoe, muscles tensed beneath the thick gambeson, air escaping in a satisfied groan.
Then he rolled his shoulders and ran a hand over his face again, dragging the drowsiness down through his fingers.
Now fully awake, Luki finally looked around.
It was the first time he truly had the chance to observe the place. Until now, he only knew one thing: monsters couldn't enter here. Couldn't appear. And that alone was reason enough not to question it and just lie down.
The room was large and rectangular. On the ceiling, a massive crystal shone with steady white light, like the one on Floor 18, but on a smaller, more controlled scale. Perhaps it served the same purpose, glowing according to the time of day.
If that logic was right, it should be around 7 a.m. now. For someone used to waking up at the same time every day, Luki must've been truly exhausted.
The floor contrasted with the outside world. The simple yellowish bricks laid side by side had been replaced by square, polished tiles, small circles at the corners fitting perfectly together.
The pattern formed a subtle geometry, beautiful, even, if you ignored the fact that it wasn't really ceramic, just the same brick with a different design.
A few marble pillars rose here and there, smooth and white, maybe structural, maybe purely decorative. It was impossible to tell. Nothing in that place made much sense anyway, so why question it?
Up to that point, everything seemed within reason... until he noticed the number.A large blue digit floated at the center of the room, translucent and still, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
2/3 - 03:52:03
2/3 - 03:52:02
2/3 - 03:52:01
2/3 - 03:52:00
2/3 - 03:51:59
Luki stared at it for a few seconds. He blinked once, then twice, and decided it wasn't worth burning neurons over.
Further back, something even stranger caught his eye, a shallow basin on a pedestal, like the ones used in old movies' gardens to give water to birds.
Empty.
Its polished surface reflected the crystal's light like an incomplete mirror, waiting for something that wasn't there.
Luki remained silent.
Speaking now, with that bitter taste still on his tongue, would only upset his stomach, and risk waking Lili.
Even so, he already had a good idea of what this place was.
Everything in this world operated under RPG logic, and the Dungeon was no exception. Since arriving here, the patterns had been far too obvious to ignore.
This was, without a doubt, a Safe Room.
The kind of place where a player could breathe, catch their breath, restore HP and MP without using items… and save progress before trying their luck again, only to die right after and start all over, assuming they hadn't saved.
If his reasoning was right, that floating number indicated the occupancy limit: two out of three.
Him and Lili.
As for the changing digits beside it, that one was easier to recognize, especially when the numbers were Indo-Arabic, something only he would understand in this world.
A timer.
What would happen if the limit were exceeded… or if the counter hit zero?
'I don't know, and I don't want to find out…'
With a weary sigh, Luki began undoing the clasps of his armor. The soft clinking of metal echoed through the room.
Plate by plate, he removed the weight he'd carried since the night before. The chainmail came next, then the upper part of the gambeson, leaving his torso bare, the cold air touching his skin for the first time in hours.
He cracked his back slowly, the dry pop echoing like a release. A hoarse groan escaped him, more relief than pain.
— Damn… that's better… — he muttered without thinking.
'The armor isn't as uncomfortable as it looks… but that doesn't mean it's pleasant.'
Maybe he hadn't been as discreet as he thought, or maybe she was already on the verge of waking, but the sound of metal shifting was enough to pull her from sleep.
Lili stirred under the cloak. Her brows furrowed first, face tightening in a silent protest against consciousness. Then her lips parted slightly as she drew a small breath, eyelids fluttering open and closed in uneven rhythm. The crystal's light caught her lashes each time, glinting like tiny sparks before her pupils finally adjusted to the glow above.
She blinked again, slower this time, and lifted a hand to rub one eye before propping herself up on her elbow. The movement was clumsy, heavy with sleep, the kind that made the body move before the mind caught up. Her hair slid forward over her face, half-shadowing her expression as she tried to make sense of where she was.
For a few seconds, she didn't recognize the place. The soft light above, the faint chill in the air, none of it fit the fragments lingering in her head. She had been dreaming, she was sure of it.
It was a strange dream.
A dream where she had been saved and had saved someone in return. A dream where she met a man, a kind and strong one, who didn't look down on her, didn't treat her like trash. Someone who spoke to her like she was… normal. Just another person.
In that dream, they had walked side by side through the Dungeon, fought together, bled together. Every time she thought of it, the images slipped away like mist, but the warmth remained. That small, unexplainable warmth that sat somewhere between her chest and her throat, like a memory borrowed from a childhood she never had.
For a moment, she wished it had been real.For a moment, she believed it was.
Then, slowly, the haze began to clear.
The hard ground beneath her, the faint hum of magic in the air, the dust, they all settled into place, stitching dream and reality together until the truth became impossible to ignore.
Her gaze lifted, and she froze.
— ...Luki-sama...?
For a heartbeat, she didn't recognize him.The man standing before her wasn't the same one she remembered — the one hidden behind layers of steel and shadow. Without the armor, his presence felt… different. Almost unfamiliar.
His bare back glistened faintly under the crystal's light, skin marked by faint scars and the sheen of dried sweat. Each slow breath drew a subtle movement from the lean muscles along his shoulders and spine. Without the armor's weight, his figure seemed broader, stronger… alive in a way she'd never noticed before.
Lili found herself staring, caught between disbelief and something she couldn't name. It was strange, seeing him like this, stripped of the shell that made him seem untouchable. For the first time, she could imagine the person beneath the legend. It's like remembering that your idol, your greatest, is also a person like anyone else.
Luki shifted slightly, turning toward her. — Sorry… I didn't mean to wake you.
Lili rubbed her eyes and yawned, stretching a little under the cloak. — It's… it's fine. I was actually just about ready to wake up anyway.
She glanced at him, and her eyes lingered a second too long, unsure where to look.
Luki noticed her staring and frowned slightly, tilting his head. He raised a hand to sniff at himself, a faint blush rising to his cheeks. — Uh… is something wrong? Do I smell bad or something?
Lili shook her head quickly, cheeks heating. — N-no… it's not that. It's just… it's the first time I'm seeing you without armor. I didn't know… I didn't realize you were an elf.
Luki froze for a moment, the realization hitting him. His ears twitched slightly, and he rubbed the back of his neck.
— Ah… I-I see… sorry. I didn't mean to… — he muttered, voice awkward, almost fumbling over the words.
— It's okay… really. — Lili quickly looked away, hugging her knees under the cloak, her heart still racing.
The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable, just… charged. Both were aware of the small space between them, of the warmth and quiet lingering in the Safe Room.