In the deeper sections of the Upper Labyrinth, Luki finished adjusting his plate armor before heading out. But this time, everything felt different.
The first noticeable change was the armor itself. Once a true masterpiece of metalwork, it was now completely worn down, dented, scratched, and stripped of any hint of its former glory.
An entire section was missing as well: the whole right-arm guard had been blasted to hell.
The second difference lay in the safe room.
Once nothing more than an empty, sterile chamber, it had transformed into a chaotic nest. Piles upon piles of miscellaneous junk cluttered every corner. The floor was stained with soot and char, clear signs of makeshift campfires that had burned there.
Dried blood, filthy rags, splintered wood, and countless other scraps were scattered around, all evidence that people had lived in that place far longer than they should have.
Three months. It had already been three months since Luki and Lili last saw sunlight, trapped within the living labyrinth that was the Dungeon.
It's funny, in a way.
It had been six months since Luki transmigrated into this anime world, roughly a hundred and eighty days.
And in all that time, he could honestly say he'd spent far more days facing the dangers of the Dungeon than enjoying the comfort of any place he could call home.
'What a shitty isekai…' he had thought. Not at that exact moment, but during countless others when his mind wandered simply because there was nothing else to do.
Maybe if someone else had taken his place, they'd be reveling in the attention of several beautiful girls desperate for his gaze, blessed with some incredible otherworldly power or a Fate Series Gacha System, leveling up faster than the original protagonist despite not having a single ability that boosted Excelia gain.
Meanwhile, what did he have? A dead weight in the shape of a cursed Pallum he had to protect and somehow keep from dying in this hellhole.
— You ready? — he asked as he walked toward a bundled heap of fabric.
— Uhm… — Lili answered. Not that there was any doubt it was her; no one else remained down there.
Her body was wrapped in so many layers of cloth it looked like a crude cocoon, leaving only her face exposed.
Luki crouched beside her, staring closely. Behind the scratches that marred his visor, the marks of strikes aimed at his face, his eyes were filled with helplessness and guilt.
Lili's expression wasn't good. She had never been healthy to begin with, but at least she used to move and talk like a normal person. Now…
Her skin had taken on a faint grayish tint, thin slight dark veins standing out here and there. Her limbs were thinner than they should be, her breathing labored, her body burning with fever even though she felt cold as a corpse.
— Hey… — She called, catching his attention.
— Don't… look at me like that. Makes me feel like… garbage… — she muttered, each word dragged out with effort.
Luki answered with silence.
Lili's condition was only getting worse with each passing day.
The longer someone stayed inside the Dungeon, the more its aura seeped into their body—slowly corrupting, slowly cursing.
There was no way to avoid it. Not for them. Not when they had no way out.
There were countless types of curses, and since her symptoms had begun only recently, neither of them could figure out which one was eating away at her.
At first, it had only been occasional discomfort, high fever, headaches. Then it escalated into bloody coughs and a fading appetite.
Until finally reaching… this.
During all three months they had been trapped down there, Luki had searched relentlessly for a way out, any route that could lead them even a single floor upward.
But no matter how far he walked, no matter how thoroughly he explored, it was as if the Dungeon itself actively prevented their escape. He never found an exit.
The sensible option would have been to wait. But doing nothing was suicide, their time and supplies were running out, and Lili desperately needed to reach the surface for real medical help.
She needed to get out. Now.
And so, Luki found himself forced into a desperate solution… carrying a sick Pallum on his back while wandering the Dungeon with no direction at all.
— Everything's going to be fine. I promise. — he said softly, using his exposed hand to brush her hair.
— I know. Luki-sama will always protect me. — she replied, looking up at him with hope and a gentle smile.
Seeing that expression on her face made something sour twist inside him. All that trust she poured into him… and he had nothing to offer in return.
Empty promises.
Without saying anything else, he grabbed the ropes attached to her cloth cocoon and carefully secured Lili to his back, using the wooden frame strapped to him as support to hold her in place.
'This reminds me of Death Stranding… carrying Mama to reunite her with Lockne.'
But in that case, she died. Lili won't.
Luki walked toward the entrance of the Safe Room, the same passage protected by a barrier, still intact since the very first day.
As he reached the threshold, a wave of nostalgia washed over him.
He turned back, taking one final look at the tiny room that had unwillingly become their home for months.
Memories rose on their own, simple and fleeting…
— Lili, what are you doing?
— Cutting my hair. Then yours. I can't stand these uneven ends anymore.
— You're doing self-care in a dungeon?
— Even trapped, we still need dignity, Luki-sama. Now sit down.
— Fine, fine…
— Don't worry, I'll make you handsome!
— Just shorten it a little…
— Shhh. Professional at work.
...
— Lili… what the hell is this taste?
— I don't know!
— I think it's killing me.
— I think it's killing me!
They both bent forward at the exact same time, vomiting violently onto the stone floor.
After a few seconds, breathless and miserable, they started laughing.
...
— Lili…?
— Hm?
— What's your dream?
— Why are you asking that all of a sudden?
— Don't know. Just curious. If you don't want to answer, you don't have to.
She hesitated for a moment.
— I… want to be an adventurer. A strong one. A rich one. Strong enough to never depend on anyone again. Rich enough to make my own choices.
— That's a good dream.
— And you? What's yours?
— Not sure. Maybe just… living a little. Seeing what's outside Orario. The world's too big to stay stuck in one city forever.
— Seriously… I've always wanted to leave that damn place. So… Luki-sama, when all this is over… let's travel the world together. Okay?
— Okay. It's a promise.
— Uhn!
...
So many moments shared, mundane, simple, ordinary. And yet, because of that, they had become precious. In the middle of hell, any fragment of normal life gained a special kind of glow.
Small pieces of happiness clinging to the soul like light in a boundless cavern.
Poetic.
— Luki-sama, is something wrong? — Lili asked, confused when he suddenly stopped.
— Nothing… just remembering a few things…
She frowned but didn't push further.
Luki took a deep breath, as if closing a door behind him, then turned his back and walked forward. It felt like he was leaving not just a safe room, but an entire chapter of his life, a short yet unforgettable chapter.
Neither of them realized that, the moment they were far enough to feel nothing unusual, the Dungeon reacted.
The ground trembled.
Inside the Safe Room, everything began to shift.
The piles of items…
The markings on the floor…
Every trace of their presence, routine, survival, companionship, was pulled into the walls, devoured by the Dungeon itself.
Within seconds, the room was spotless, sterile, empty, as if no one had ever lived there.
The floating timer, once filled with hours earned through sweat and blood, began to fall. The numbers spun rapidly, erasing all of Luki's hard-earned time as though it had never existed.
Until finally:
00:00:00
Bam!
The barrier vanished with a sharp crack. The doors, once seemingly decorative, slammed shut with brutal force, as if the room were exhaling its final breath.
Then the entire thing began to transform.
The ornate details on the door shifted into simple stone bricks. The polished luster dulled into dusty, lifeless gray.
In mere moments, nothing remained to show the place had ever existed. It was now just another random wall of the Dungeon.
In the span of just a few seconds… everything was gone.
Meanwhile, Luki, with Lili on his back and the Hestia's Blade in hand, was sprinting through the Dungeon corridors at full speed.
Fatigue? Breath? Those were concepts he had long stopped recognizing the deeper he lived inside this place.
Apparently, even without Falna updates, he hadn't stopped growing during these three months.
Tireless Explorer had become stronger than ever, turning Luki into an unstoppable machine that knew nothing of exhaustion.
Roar!
A massive shape dropped from the ceiling right in front of him, a towering, white, muscle-bound gorilla.
A Silverback.
Vush!
Luki swung his blade with a single hand, severing the monster's head cleanly without slowing down for even a heartbeat.
'I'm stronger now. Regular monsters aren't a threat to me anymore.'
Corner after corner.
Dead-end after dead-end.
Trap after trap.
Hordes upon hordes of monsters.
Luki ignored all of it and pushed forward like an arrow, cutting down everything in his path without ever losing momentum.
This was a one-way trip.
So why hold back?
Why hesitate?
If the alternative was doing nothing and dying, then better to give everything he had and die trying.
The sprint finally brought him into a chamber unlike anything he had seen in months.
A vast, open hall, the floor charred black as if scorched by hellfire itself. Piles of gold, broken coins and melted trinkets lay scattered everywhere, glittering faintly in the dim light like dying stars.
And on the opposite side, far beyond the scorched ground, was the passage forward.
But of course… it wouldn't be that easy.
Bam!
A wall suged, sealing the path they came from.
Crack!
A deafening, bone-deep sound echoed above them, the ceiling split open. Debris rained down.
And from the gaping fissure, a colossal body dropped with earth-shaking force.
CRASH!
A reptilian quadruped, scales as red as fresh blood, claws like serrated daggers, a wicked horn, rows of razor fangs, and a pair of wings that spread wide despite the cramped chamber.
A dragon.
— L-Luki-sama… — Lili's voice trembled behind his shoulder, terrified.
He shifted his stance, tightening his grip on the Hestia Knife.
— Stay calm. I've got this.
The dragon let out another thunderous roar, flames swirling deep in its throat as it lowered its massive body.
Then, with a quake that shattered scattered tiles beneath it, the beast charged straight at them.