The hidden door groaned open behind Oberon's throne, revealing a passage swallowed in shadow and the soft scent of earth and rain.
As I stepped inside, the air shifted instantly, heavier, warmer, charged with a living pulse that thrummed through my bones.
The chamber unfolded like a secret glade trapped beneath a glass dome. Towering trees, their bark smooth and iridescent, twisted upward toward a ceiling lost in mist and shimmering leaves. Tiny motes of golden light drifted lazily, floating like fireflies caught in an endless twilight. The walls themselves breathed, covered in thick moss and delicate vines that rippled as if stirred by a gentle breeze, though no wind could be felt. Soft, verdant moss carpeted the floor beneath my feet, springy and cool, muffling every step. Here and there, flowers bloomed in impossible colors, deep blues and radiant purples that seemed to glow from within, their petals translucent and shimmering like stained glass.
At the room's heart, resting on a bed of thick moss and framed by twisting roots, lay two massive chests carved from ancient, dark wood streaked with veins of emerald and gold. Their surfaces pulsed faintly with an inner light, as if alive, and each chest was secured with an ornate lock shaped like a delicate, interwoven vine. Next to each chest rested a single key, forged from the same shimmering metal as the locks. It was cold and heavy to the touch, engraved with tiny leaf patterns that seemed to shift when I glanced away.
The space between the chests was empty except for a shallow pool of water, perfectly still, reflecting the room's enchanted canopy above. A gentle mist rose from it, fragrant with the subtle sweetness of honey and freshly fallen leaves, mingling with the faint tang of something ancient, like the earth itself was exhaling. Around the edges of the room, natural stone pedestals carved with swirling patterns of leaves and thorns held soft glimmers of light, as if the very life force of the forest had gathered there, waiting. A delicate hum vibrated in the air, a quiet song sung by unseen creatures nestled among the branches.
My jaw dropped. "Holy shit…" I said as I stared in awe. "Are you seeing this, bro?"
Leon stepped forward, his boots pressing softly into the moss, his movements calm but deliberate. The green light from the chest painted shifting patterns across his face, like dappled sunlight bleeding through leaves.
"Obviously. Do you think I'm blind?" he replied in a sarcastic tone, eyeing me sideways. "And I'm not your bro, Kiddo."
I smirked, letting the moment hang between us. "Right…" I said, my voice light, trying not to show how tense I felt inside. "Are you picking that chest?"
"Yeah," he nodded. His hand hovered above the key, fingers barely touching it. "I'm picking this one. It feels like it's chosen me."
"Sure…" I replied. Something about the air had changed. It felt thicker.
He slid the key in.
The lock clicked open with a sound like a vine snapping in reverse, like it was being unbroken. The lid creaked upward, not fast, not slow, just steady, like it had been waiting for centuries to be touched.
Then all of a sudden, Leon's body twitched violently. His back arched hard like something had yanked the air out of his lungs. His scream wasn't pain. It was deeper. It was panic and confusion, the kind of sound people made when they were falling and realized there was no ground beneath them.
My eyes widened as I turned quickly.
The chest gaped wider, impossibly wide now, darkness swirling where light had once been. Vines lashed upward like tongues, wrapping around Leon's limbs in a blur. They weren't rough. They were velvet-smooth. Hungry.
He didn't fight it. Or maybe he couldn't.
It swallowed him whole.
Gone. Just like that.
My feet were glued to the moss. My jaw hung open.
"H–HOLY SHIT!" I shouted, chest tightening. "NO FUCKING WAY THAT JUST HAPPENED!"
There was no blood. Just silence, like the forest itself had taken a long breath and refused to exhale.
The chest sat there, closed again. Peaceful.
I blinked, hard. "Okay. That… actually just happened."
Then I looked at the second chest.
It sat there, perfectly centered in the golden glow of the room, like some smug bastard waiting to ruin my life. The key still rested in the moss in front of it, glinting gently in the light like it hadn't just watched its twin commit first-degree murder.
"Alright," I said, slowly stepping toward it. "Screw it."
The closer I got, the weirder it felt.
Not ominous like the other one. This one actually felt inviting. Warm. Like it wanted to be opened. Which, frankly, made it way more suspicious.
"The second chest…" I muttered. "Because the first one eating Leon wasn't traumatic enough. This one probably offers you cookies before it murders you."
I crouched down in front of it as I picked up the key. It was smooth. Warm. It felt alive in my hand, like a pet mouse or a piece of bread that had opinions.
And the chest?
It looked back at me. Not literally, but emotionally. Emotionally, that chest had eyes. I stared at it. It stared at me. We were in a full-on trust standoff.
"This is how Leon died," I reminded myself. "Am I about to get thrown into another world if I die?"
I stared at the canopy. "Well..." I said. "Probably..."
I looked back toward the entrance. The vines had sealed up. No way out.
Then I looked at the chest again.
"Fuck it," I said, sticking the key in. "If I die, I fucking die."
Click.
The lock turned. The vines recoiled. The chest breathed open, light spilling out like golden fog in slow motion, soft and warm, bathing me in a glow that smelled like honey and crushed mint.
A system window appeared in front of me:
[ITEM ACQUIRED]: AMBROSIA (RARE ITEM)
—Removes a familiar's sleeping status.
[ITEM ACQUIRED]: EXALTED POTION OF EXPERIENCE (UNIQUE ITEM)
—Grants ten levels in an instant.
[ITEM ACQUIRED]: Ring of The Guardian (UNIQUE ITEM)
—Grants user immunity to fire.
[ITEM ACQUIRED]: LEAF ARMOR (DIVINE ARMOR)
—Restores the user's lost HP five seconds after taking damage. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
[ITEM ACQUIRED]: CLAYMORE OF OBERON (DIVINE WEAPON)
—Unleashes a massive emerald beam that reduces enemies' current HP by 50% instantly and prevents healing for 5 seconds when hit. Cooldown: 30 seconds.