Ryusei awoke from his unnatural slumber, blinking in confusion as he tried to piece together what had happened. Next to him lay a passed-out Haku, bruised and wounded.
"Haku! Hey! Haku!"
Ryusei called out, but no response came from Haku. He shifted his gaze around, trying to assess the situation he currently found himself in.
A room...
"What?!"
Ryusei couldn't believe his eyes. He blinked rapidly to ensure what he was seeing was real.
A room, filled with water. Waterfalls gushed from holes in the walls, and they were currently situated on a path that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance. Not only that—the path also branched out into multiple smaller paths.
Ryusei shook his head, trying to make sense of the bizarre scene as thoughts raced through his mind.
How far did Haku make it?
Yes. That was the real question to ask. With no way of knowing which floor he was currently on, he couldn't afford to act recklessly—for one very specific reason: the boss monster.
Every dungeon had a boss monster, as Haku had recently discovered. And said boss monster was extremely powerful—far more so than any normal creature.
You could say a boss monster was Tyrant-ranked… or even higher.
Ryusei let out a deep sigh.
"Haku..."
What should I do with you...?
And then there was the problem of transportation. How was a little snake, not even half Haku's size, supposed to carry him?
Should I just leave him here for now?
After a moment of hesitation, Ryusei decided to do just that—to leave Haku at the starting area.
Although it wasn't exactly the safest option, he couldn't think of a better alternative.
At least, there didn't seem to be any monsters nearby.
Ryusei followed the path until it branched out. Three different routes lay before him. Each path looked identical.
Left, down the middle, or right? Which way should I go?
This floor would've been easy to clear if Haku were here. They could just fly.
Ultimately, Ryusei chose to go right because—
Right is always right... right?
he thought, as he slithered down the right path. He continued down the watery trail, but there was no indication of how far he'd gotten. Everything looked the same, and the water only made things worse.
After a few hours of slithering, something finally changed. But... it was too different.
A red, swirling portal stood at the end of the path. It looked ominous and unsettling—but he had no choice. He had to go through it.
As he passed through the portal, a cold chill spread through his body—it was like sliding through a block of solid ice.
On the other side, a cave came into view, and...
Those chattering teeth. Those red eyes. The plague.
Hundreds of rats twitched and turned toward him. They charged at him in an instant, giving him no time to breathe.
But unfortunately for them, their charge would be their last.
"Fools! Didn't you learn the first time?!"
And so, Ryusei activated his skill.
"Black Hole!"
In an instant, the rats were pulled into the dark void, their existence erased like dust in the wind.
He wasn't the weak little snake he used to be. How could someone as majestic as him be hurt by a bunch of stupid rats?
A smug grin crept onto his face as pride swelled in his chest. He had become stronger—though not yet quite where he wanted to be.
After exterminating the rats, another portal appeared a short distance ahead—this one white. It looked far calmer than the last.
Ryusei waited for a while, expecting rewards to be distributed.
But he waited in vain.
"So, no rewards this time? Does that mean I didn't clear the floor? Why can't the dungeon be more specific?!"
He let out an exaggerated sigh.
"Let's just go through the portal for now."
And so, he slithered through the white portal—which led him back to the starting area, where Haku still lay unconscious.
"Is this some kind of joke?! Why the heck am I back here?!"
Ryusei's tail swayed violently behind him. Was this some elaborate prank by the dungeon? Or was it part of a puzzle he needed to solve in order to clear the floor?
Well, one thing was clear—he had to choose a different path. And he'd also learned something else:
Right... isn't always right.
And so, it was back to square one. Ryusei slithered to the spot where the path branched out. But this time, the journey took longer.
Previously, it took about thirty minutes at most. But now, it felt like an hour—or even more.
He couldn't make sense of why this was happening, but a faint idea lingered at the back of his mind.
This time, he chose left. The reason he avoided the middle path was because it looked too convenient—like it was trying to lure him in.
Trusting his instincts, he slithered down the left path.
Once again, a red portal awaited him.
Just like before, he passed through it. But this time, he thought he knew what to expect.
He was wrong.
On the other side of the portal, a floating platform came into view, surrounded by black water. On the platform was a pedestal, and resting atop it was a red orb that screamed "Touch me!"
And just like the voice in his mind suggested, he slithered down the narrow path toward it.
He reached the pedestal and touched the orb with the tip of his tail.
For a brief moment, the orb flashed, startling him.
And then... nothing.
Ryusei tilted his head.
"Is it broken?"
As if those were its trigger words, the black water began to rise.
"What's happening?!"
Then suddenly... it stopped. The narrow path was now completely submerged beneath black waves.
Ryusei immediately realized what was going on.
It was one of those patterns.
The ones where the water rises every few minutes, and you need to find a way to escape before it reaches the ceiling.
A classic escape room trick.
He scanned the room, searching for anything—anything—that could hint at an escape.
Time was ticking. The water began rising again, now reaching the top of the pedestal. Only the surface remained unsubmerged.
Think! Think! There's nothing on the walls… nothing on the ceiling... Wait. Don't tell me...
He looked down at the black water.
Exactly as he suspected.
He had figured out the puzzle. The rising water—black as midnight—told him everything he needed to know.
This game was designed so that the player—him—needed to dive into the black depths and search for a lever or some sort of mechanism to stop the water.
What made it especially difficult was the water's color—pitch black. He wouldn't be able to see a thing.
Although his Sense Detail and ability to detect mana could help, it would still be incredibly difficult. He didn't have infinite oxygen, which meant he had to resurface often.
Couldn't I just use Black Hole to suck in the water?
No.
Black Hole didn't suck things in. It shredded them at an incredibly fast speed—making it look like they were being pulled in.
Shredding water would just waste mana.
He didn't have time to think of what to search for or where to start. Clearing his mind, he dove into the pitch-black waters just as they began to rise once again.