Martin walked closer to the entrance and held his hand out.
Nothing blocked his entry into the buried mine. It wasn’t like the System, or the dungeon itself, was blocking the entrance.
"This level requirent has to be a warning," Martin muttered.
He checked the other information he could pull up at will.
[Ti: 21:14]
[Chaosgraphy HP: 100/100 MP: 100/100]
[NukEncore HP: 100/100 MP: 120/120]
[Kill Clause HP: 100/100 MP: 100/100]
They’d all taken damage earlier, and their equipnt had lost so durability, but it wasn’t anything that would ruin their dungeon run. Their HP and mana had refilled after killing the Wooden Bears.
Either way, it was ti to look inside and see what the hidden mine had to offer.
"Our exploration continues," Martin said. "Let’s make sothing clear, though. At this point, it’s better for us to explore as much as we can inside rather than focus on clearing the hidden mine."
Kill Clause agreed. "Yes. Information is the strongest asset."
Chaosgraphy and NukEncore nodded.
They weren’t here to overthink the hidden mine’s chanics and monsters. They’d learn the hard way by putting themselves in danger.
As soon as the party entered the sloping tunnel, the darkness beca their first obstacle.
In the near-total dark, it was hard to move forward without slipping on loose grit or bumping into small, jutting slabs. Thankfully, those didn’t cause much trouble for Martin. His raw stats kept him steady.
NukEncore had it worse. Her stats leaned toward mana and raw damage, and she slipped more than once.
Blind in the dark, NukEncore held her hands out and clung to Kill Clause.
In the dim tunnel, their eyes t. NukEncore gave her a faint smile. "Sorry. And thanks."
"No problem," Kill Clause replied. "We’ll be turning right soon, and I don’t see any enemies yet. Keep a hand out so you don’t walk into the wall."
"You can see in the dark?" NukEncore asked, curious.
Kill Clause didn’t even glance back. "Keen Eyesight. Longbow mastery."
She kept moving. "Gives a clean line and distance. The dark isn’t much of a problem."
"Handy," Chaosgraphy comnted.
"You girls think I should use Fireball as a light?" NukEncore asked. "I could shape it into a bolt by combining Arcane Mana Bolt and Fireball, then hold it in place to light the way."
"Your mana would get depleted in seconds, and you’d be useless," Chaosgraphy said.
"Agreed," Kill Clause added.
NukEncore tossed her hair and raised her chin loftily after hearing that. Then she slipped on a crack and caught Kill Clause’s arm again to steady herself. She didn’t look awkward about it.
In the anti, Martin felt his way forward through the pitch-black tunnel. He didn’t want to move slowly. Ti wasn’t on their side in this dungeon.
At the sa ti, he didn’t want the tunnel to set their pace.
It’s so quiet. I swear the place is daring us to make the first move.
Just then, Martin made sothing out in the dark.
A calm call ca through voice chat.
[Kill Clause: Rusted mine cart. Big enough for all of us.]
[Emperoar: Let’s get in. The darkness already slows us down.]
No one objected. No one else had ever taken a cart down a slope like that, so it was sure to be a one-of-a-kind experience.
Without wasting a second, Martin walked over to the cart, ran his hands over the cold tal fra to get a feel for it, then knelt beside it.
He patted his thigh.
[Emperoar: Step on .]
I ant "Step here." Too late. Well, I might as well enjoy this now.
Chaosgraphy’s laugh ca soft and pleased.
She set her foot on his thigh and didn’t hurry. Her weight sank in slow, asured, like she wanted him to feel exactly where she was standing.
She’s doing this on purpose.
Chaosgraphy tilted her head, then gave him a slow, sexy smile. "Boys will be boys."
She rose, caught the rim of the cart, and hopped in like nothing happened.
Martin stared at the darkness like it could hide him.
My pulse just went straight to my dick. Great.
Next ca NukEncore.
She stepped onto his thigh and used him like a stair, but her heel slid a little first, slow and searching, until she found balance.
Then she looked up at him.
Her eyes flicked down for a split second, then back to his face. Her smile sharpened like she’d found a weakness.
She whispered, "Hold still."
Fuck. She noticed.
NukEncore lifted herself into the cart, and as she passed him, she added under her breath, "Next ti I’ll cast light so I can watch your face properly."
After her ca Kill Clause.
She didn’t tease. She simply placed a steady hand on his shoulder, anchoring him.
"Don’t move," she said, flat and calm.
Then she stepped onto his thigh with clean confidence, using him without hesitation, and hopped in.
Martin exhaled through his nose and climbed up last, forcing his mind back into tank mode.
Enough, I needed to focus.
The cart tipped.
The mont it went, everyone dropped onto their backsides. The rails rattled hard as the cart picked up speed fast.
Acceleration pinned Martin to the back, and the girls slid with it.
NukEncore hit his chest first, soft and warm, her hands gripping the front of his chestplate like she had nowhere else to go. Chaosgraphy’s leg hooked across his thigh, her hip pressed tight against him as she braced.
Kill Clause caught herself with a palm against his shoulder, fingers digging in, steady and strong.
Martin’s arms were trapped. His breath was trapped.
I’m pinned under three won in a pitch-black mine cart. If I get any harder, I’m going to die before the dungeon kills .
That wasn’t the worst part.
The speed kept building, and it got uncomfortable fast. Then, ahead of them, they finally saw a light. A beautiful blue glow that looked like hope.
Oh, I was wrong.
At the end of that light was the exit, where the rails kicked up like a ramp.
The exit flung the cart into the air.
Beneath them, a stadium-sized crater glittered with countless blue crystals and the old mine’s shattered furniture. Martin and the others didn’t even have ti to take it in. The crater yawned open beneath them.
And they had no way to stop falling.
They scread at the top of their lungs.
NukEncore shot her hands out and clutched Martin’s arm. Kill Clause did the sa, latching onto him as if her life depended on it. Chaosgraphy twisted and grabbed the rim of Martin’s armor, holding on with everything she had.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
All four plumted down until their vision turned black.
[You have died.]
—
Without waiting in the death room, Martin resurrected imdiately.
Back at the Light Tree Hub, he walked over to the bench where he usually sat with his teammates. A mont later, Chaosgraphy loaded in and walked over to him.
She sat down in silence, then said, "It’s an experience even actors in big-budget movies never get... You know, I kind of want to try it again."
"The roller coaster, or the free fall to death?" Martin asked. His mind was still clearing from the unusual experience.
"Both, I guess?" Chaosgraphy gave him a crooked smile, clearly aware of how insane that sounded.
Martin chuckled. "Yeah, fine. I’ll be there for you so you can clutch onto ."
Chaosgraphy’s cheeks reddened just slightly, and she fell silent.
Seconds later, NukEncore spawned. She looked around like a lost kid, then sprinted up to Martin and Chaosgraphy.
She squeezed herself between them and pressed a hand to her chest with a loud sigh. "Never. Again."
The corners of her eyes were red, so she’d probably cried in the death room.
Chaosgraphy sneered. "What, you’re out already?"
"Eh?" NukEncore blinked adorably, then turned to Martin with a No way, right? look.
Chaosgraphy delivered the punchline. "We just agreed to do it again."
"Martin!" NukEncore shouted.
Sorry, but the way you shout my na when you’re excited or in disbelief is starting to grow on . It’s too hot.
Martin just smiled.
NukEncore pressed her lips together and hid her face as everyone’s attention snapped to her voice.
Last to return, Kill Clause materialized. She walked over to her team as though nothing had happened. There was no shock on her face, no aftershock at all.
It was as if she’d never suffered death.
Martin was impressed.
Chaosgraphy scoffed. "Did it take you so long to return because you needed to co back to your senses?"
Kill Clause let that slide.
Chaosgraphy chuckled. "Not so cold on the inside."
Kill Clause inhaled deeply, then said it with a straight face. "Of course we need to do it again."
She said it so evenly it almost sounded practiced.
Hearing that, NukEncore shook her head. "No..."
Martin patted her back. "You’ll get used to this. It’s part of being a hardcore gar."
He kept his tone calm, like he was stating the obvious. "We’ll keep dying until we squeeze the lesson out of it and figure out the best way to beat this dungeon. It’ll be fun."
NukEncore stared at him, then sagged. "It’ll be fun, he says..."
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