We were now in a jungle with a flower-lined path to the ninth dungeon, the Fairy King's castle.
Then a system message appeared as three world-ranked players entered the dungeon.
[WORLD RANK PLAYERS DETECTED]:
[PLAYER 21]: [ADAM WHITE] – (LEVEL 80) – [WORLD RANK 10]
[PLAYER 61]: [LEON LEONARDS] – (LEVEL 83) – [WORLD RANK 8]
[PLAYER 10]: [CLAIRE PASTEL] – (LEVEL 85) – [WORLD RANK 9]
The crowd erupted behind me. Players were gasping and shouting in disbelief.
"It's the legendary trio!"
"No way! They're here?! We're gonna win this for sure!"
"LET'S GOOOO!!!"
They sounded so sure. But the moment my boots sank into the dirt, the jungle twisted. And so did my gut.
"What the…" I thought as I observed the surrounding change.
What should've been a serene, flower-lined path to the Fairy King's castle morphed into something monstrous. The trees lost their color. The sky went sickly green, like bruised fruit left too long in the sun. Vines as thick as cathedral pillars choked the canopy, winding around bone-white columns cracked with age.
The air hummed. Not with life. But decay.
The air was sweet. Rotten sweet. It clung to my tongue like syrup that had soured in the sun, thick and wrong. A metallic tang buzzed behind it, like copper and mildew mixing in the back of my throat. A fly crawled across my cheek. I slapped it away, heart lurching, breath shallow.
Beside me, Claire Pastel shimmered into view like someone had dropped a drag queen into a horror movie. Her pink robe changed into a pink silk dress with lace. Dangling gold earrings that jingled like wind chimes in a graveyard. Her golden curls bounced as she turned, and her smile was pure sin wrapped in sugar.
"Damn it, I thought that detonator would teleport me to a treasure chest room..." I said.
"What did you expect?" She said, flicking her weapon: a pink orb. It hovered beside her like a heartbeat made of crystal with soft pink pulses matching her rhythm, like it loved her. "Leon told you to be careful about it. Now we're in a dungeon that we haven't prepared for. Try your best not to die, I guess."
I didn't respond due to shame.
Claire rolled her eyes at me as she passed by.
Ahead, Adam White rolled his shoulders, silver armor catching what little light existed. Etchings across the plating glowed faintly of holy symbols, all of them. His white ponytail swayed as he stepped forward, slow, deliberate, every step silent despite the soft, wet earth.
His voice was low. Unemotional. "Weapons up. Or you'll die."
Behind him, Leon Leonards appeared like a shadow torn from reality. His armor was blackened steel, but darker than black, like it sucked the light from the air. His cape of black fog trailed him like smoke from a dying fire. He carried an obsidian shield with an eye. Not carved. Not painted. Living. It stared, unblinking, into the jungle.
My eyes widened out of admiration. "Leon Leonards, such aura…" I whispered.
And then, a system message appeared in the air once more. A new presence entered the field.
[PLAYER DETECTED]: SHEN BEIFONG - (LEVEL 78) – WORLD RANK CANDIDATE
She walked past the crowd, tall and lean, with fair complexion, blindfolded eyes, and a silent presence. Her white armor clung only to her chest and waist, leaving much of her lean body bare. Her gauntlets and greaves gleamed. A katana rested at her side. Its hilt pure white with three glowing purple diamonds.
It seemed like another divine weapon. I wondered what the blade looked like.
People whispered like they were in church.
"She's a candidate?!"
"She solo'd a mini-dungeon boss by herself."
"She looks so cool…"
She stepped up beside me, silent, the weight of her presence heavier than iron. Her aura crackled—literal lightning dancing at her fingertips, the air warping around her. Then she nodded at me, and I nodded back. A silent pact was formed.
The jungle suddenly shook.
A tree moved—or no, slithered. The first monster suddenly broke through the underbrush.
A system window appeared in front of me and to the rest of the players:
[JUNGLE DEVOURER] – (LVL 65)
It was ten feet tall, built of warped bark and pulsing muscle. Its chest split open, revealing a pulsing red core like a meat heart dipped in oil. Vines rooted into its limbs and dragged behind it like rotting tendons. No eyes. Just a mouth, hollow and jagged. Its breath smelled like blood-soaked moss. It groaned, and it sounded like a forest dying.
"L-LEVEL SIXTY-FIVE?!" an archer screamed. "WE'RE FUCKED!"
Then it charged.
More followed. Dozens.
"RUN!!!"
Panic spread like wildfire.
But other players were clutching their weapons. They weren't cowards.
"CHARGEEE!!!" a bulky warrior yelled, swinging his massive axe as he charged toward the enemy, mindlessly.
"I'LL KILL IT FROM BEHIND!" an assassin shouted, slipping through shadows with deadly intent.
But soon, their screams shattered the air.
A Jungle Devourer lunged from the underbrush, jaws snapping around a mage's head. The mage's eyes went wide, then blank, as he was crushed.
"Someone help!" a healer cried, casting a skill but it fizzled before the monster tore through her defenses. Killing her.
Nearby, a mage activated a skill: Fireball. The fireballs erupted into a brilliant sphere, setting vines ablaze and burning back some monsters. But the monsters were relentless. One root-like claw slashed through her midsection, and she crumpled with a cry.
"H-HELP!!!" an archer screamed, loosing arrows that hummed through the thick air.
Suddenly, another player, a lanky archer, was caught in a tangled mass of vines sprouting from the ground. He struggled, panicked. "Somebody! help me!" he gasped. The vines squeezed tighter until his armor cracked. Then his throat was crushed in silence.
"Gather!" Adam shouted, slamming his lance into the ground. He activated a skill: Banner of Empowerment. A golden banner unfurled into the sky, bathing us in warm light. A shield shimmered into place, thin, but strong. I felt it in my bones.
Claire's heels clicked against the blood-slick earth as she stepped forward, elegant and untouchable. Her orb shimmered like a living gemstone.
"Alright, bugs and boys," She said. "Time to get dazzled." Then she activates a skill: Love Bomb. The orb exploded into pink firework energy. A radiant heart shot into the air, hovered, and detonated like a bomb.
The shockwave washed over the Devourers. Their roars twisted into soft groans. Their eyes glowed pink as a status appeared above their head: Charmed.
Claire twirled a curl and winked. "They always fall for me."
One monster lunged.
"Not today, sweetheart," She said, flicking her wrist. She activated a skill: Pure Love. A massive pink beam shot from her palm, slamming into the monster and launching it backward into a tree. It exploded into pink petals.
Behind her, more creatures charged. She spun, orb pulsing. She activated a skill: Love Orbs. Six massive orbs surrounded her and launched, one by one. Each—poom! sent a Devourer flying, pink sparks erupting as they hit. One hit the ground so hard its bark cracked and its core burst like rotten fruit.
Leon stepped up, sword low. He activated a skill: Soul Cleave. Black crescent waves cut through the air. Each one hit like a guillotine. The jungle devourers froze, twitching—paralyzed.
Then Shen moved.
She didn't walk. She vanished.
Shen activated a skill: Storm Call. A blue X mark lit across five jungle devourers. She unsheathed her katana, and in a single heartbeat, five bolts of violet lightning cracked from the sky, illuminating the jungle with searing arcs of purple light. Bark and bone sizzled and burned.
"She didn't even move!" someone gasped.
Shen vanished again as she activated a skill: Thunder Step. Afterimages flickered like ghosts. The monsters near her convulsed, stunned by the electric aura she left behind. She then raised her hand and activated a skill: Primal Water.
Claire blinked as massive jets of water that came from the ground slammed four monsters into trees, cracking trunks and sending splinters flying with a deafening crash.
Claire scoffed. "Water AND lightning? She's a walking weather disaster!"
"She's insane!" someone yelled.
"Amazing!" another one yelled.
Claire rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. We get it. Now, can I get some stage time?"
"Claire, behind you!" I shouted.
Without looking, she flicked her wrist. The orb pulsed, and dozens of heart-shaped projectiles shot backward, homing in on enemies sneaking up behind her. They struck with soft poom-poom-poom sounds. Each blast was followed by a sharp jolt of energy that lifted the monsters into the air like they'd been sucker-punched by an explosion of emotion.
"Back off, creeps! This is a designer armor!" She shouted, looking pissed.
Then a pack of jungle devourers circled toward Claire. Five of them. Fast.
"Ugh. So persistent." She said.
She tossed her orb upward. It hovered above her, spinning faster, light intensifying. And she activated her orb's skill: "Valentine Vortex." The orb exploded into a swirling storm of pink and gold hearts.
The monsters were sucked into the center like a vacuum, their bodies flailing as their limbs bent inward, drawn by an invisible gravity. The ground trembled under the sheer magical pull. Then she stepped back and snapped her fingers. The vortex imploded, a glittering nova of raw love energy blasted outward. When the light faded, all five monsters lay twitching, their bodies smoldering, pink burns scarring their bark.
Shen glanced at me. "Focus."
I replied with a nod.
"Copy Skill. Thunder Step." I muttered.
Then a system window appeared in front of me:
[New Skill Detected]: Copy Skill?
[Y/N]
"Oh…" I thought. "I can… do it?"
Before I could think twice, I tapped "Yes."
My body surged forward in a flash of violet sparks. Lightning arced along my arms and legs as my speed multiplied. I became a storm myself, darting past enemies, crackling with purple current. Their howls of pain sounded distant, like screams underwater, stunned by the static that rolled off my skin.
Shen skidded to a halt beside me, her expression unreadable behind the blindfold.
"…You copied me," She said quietly.
I nodded, panting. "Yeah."
"But how?" She said.
"I'll answer your questions later," I replied, eyes scanning for more threats. "Let's kill these monsters first."
She tilted her head. "You're not normal."
"I get that a lot," I replied.
We pushed forward again, fighting side by side. Shen was a blur of destruction, her movements flowing like wind and crashing like thunder. She summoned another set of blue X across a swarm of monsters and unsheathed her blade in a smooth arc. Her blade was living thunder itself. And in a blink, she vanished, then reappeared behind them, her sword crackling with energy as a line of monsters collapsed, split open, and burned with electric heat.
The stench of ozone filled the air. My skin tingled just standing near her.
In the end, there were eleven deaths out of the three hundred and ten players after the clearing.
And then… a breath. Too still.
"I think we're clear," I said.
Shen turned to answer, then staggered. Her body hunched slightly, blood soaking down from under her arm. Her HP hit fifteen percent. She pulled a healing potion from her belt with shaking hands, unscrewing the cap with trembling fingers.
A sudden snap cracked through the clearing.
The ground split open.
A Venus flytrap the size of a wagon burst upward, its petals lined with saw-like teeth. And before Shen could drink the healing potion, it closed around her in one violent, final slam. A wet crunch echoed.
Claire reacted. Her orb detonated. Light. Sound. Pink shockwaves. The monster was shredded to bits. But it was too late. Way too late.
"No—NO!" I stumbled toward the place where she'd been.
Shen's body fell to the ground. It was filled with large bite marks.
"I-I'll save you, Shen!" I stuttered. "Hang on…"
I shut my eyes, focusing my memory on the female healer earlier. I reached deep. And then, I saw her, helping an injured archer, casting a healing skill: Greater Healing.
A system window appeared:
[New Skill Detected]: Copy Skill?
[Y/N]
"YES!" I said, fast and immediate.
[Skill Copied]: Greater Healing
The magic surged through my arms. I pushed it toward her. "Greater Healing!"
The light shot forward like a comet and died.
A system window appeared in front me:
[CANNOT HEAL A DEAD PLAYER]
My eyes widened. The skill animation fizzled. My stomach dropped into my feet.
Claire stood beside me. Her orb dimmed. Her dress was stained and tattered.
"Stand up," She whispered, quieter than ever. "Let's finish this."
"Yeah." I replied.
"Not bad," Adam said, giving me a sideways look as he cleaned his blade. "Didn't think a random would keep up."
I wiped blood off my weapon. It stuck like glue.
"I'm not just any random," I replied.
Claire gave a soft laugh, brushing ash and spores from her dress. "Ya hear that, Adam? Don't underestimate the kid."
Leon said nothing. But the shield blinked again. Once. Twice. Deliberate. Unblinking. Watching the gate.
Then the doors groaned open, stone grinding like bones in a crypt.