Ash stood at the mouth of the cave, the damp wind whispering out of its depths like a warning. The forest had grown quieter as he approached, birds silenced, even the usual hum of insects gone. Only the rustle of leaves behind him broke the stillness, as though the world itself didn't want to follow him any farther.
"Creepy," he muttered, adjusting the strap of his gear bag over his shoulder. "Ten out of ten on atmosphere, I'll give you that."
It was supposed to be a side quest. Something simple. "Investigate the strange cave" had sounded more like tutorial content than an actual challenge. But now, staring into the yawning black throat of the earth, Ash wasn't so sure.
He lit one of the torches he'd bought at the village inn. The flame flared bright, then steadied, casting long shadows along the jagged stone. They moved strangely, lagging just behind his movements like they weren't quite tethered to the firelight.
Ash swallowed. It's just a good design. Games love messing with your head in caves. Don't get jumpy now.
He stepped inside.
The temperature dropped immediately, as if he'd crossed some invisible barrier. The air grew thick, carrying a metallic tang that coated his tongue. Every breath felt heavier, harder to pull into his lungs.
The torchlight revealed bones scattered across the floor. At first he thought they were animal remains, but the longer he looked, the more certain he became — these were human. Or at least humanoid. Long femurs snapped in half. Ribs splayed like cages. A skull rested against the wall, a rusted sword still clutched in its skeletal fingers.
Ash knelt, squinting at the armor that clung in scraps to the skeleton. It was old, dented, and torn through by something strong enough to shear steel like paper. He touched the broken edge of a breastplate, running his fingers along the jagged gash.
"Not NPC trash loot…" he muttered. "Someone actually fought here."
Deeper inside, the walls narrowed, forcing him to duck and twist sideways through a jagged passage. The torch guttered in the stale air, and the shadows reached long, clawlike fingers across the stone.
The deeper he went, the heavier the pressure on his chest became. A weight that wasn't quite physical but pressed all the same, like the cave itself was alive and disliked his presence.
"Games always make caves creepy," he said, half to reassure himself. "But this one… this one feels like it's pressing in on me. Like it doesn't want me here."
His skin prickled. The hairs on his neck rose, and he could swear he felt unseen eyes scraping across his back. He spun once, torchlight flaring across empty stone. Nothing moved.
Still, he opened his Stats out of reflex.
Name: Ashfall
Race: ???
Class: Classless
Level: 1
HP: 50/50
XP: 0%
Strength: 5
Vitality: 6
Agility: 5
Intelligence: 7
Charisma: 4
He frowned. Same as before. Nothing had changed since he left the village. He almost closed it, but something new caught his eye. Just below his HP bar, a thin line flickered faintly.
Corruption: 2%
Ash blinked. "What the hell…?"
He hadn't earned that. There'd been no notification, no tutorial popup, no indication that the stat even existed until now. It hadn't been there when he checked back at the inn.
"Great," he muttered. "Hidden mechanics. Love those. Always balanced and fair."
Still, the sight of it unsettled him more than he wanted to admit. HP he understood. XP made sense. But corruption? What did it mean? Why two percent already?
He shut the panel quickly, as though hiding it would make it go away.
The tunnel opened into a wide cavern. The ceiling disappeared into shadows, with dripping stalactites gleaming faintly. The floor was littered with broken weapons, snapped arrows, shattered shields. Armor rusted into dust at his touch.
Bones were everywhere. Not scattered like animal remains this time, but heaped in piles. He crouched by one and picked up a helm, its surface bent inward, as though smashed by something unimaginably heavy. The hole in the forehead was too precise to be random damage.
The air was heavier here. His torchlight seemed to dim, swallowed by the oppressive darkness pressing in from every side. A metallic scent filled the air and coated his tongue.
Ash's hand trembled as he set the helmet back down. "Not creepy at all," he whispered. His voice sounded smaller, almost muffled, as though the cave absorbed it hungrily.
And then he heard it.
A whisper.
Faint, curling just at the edge of his hearing. Not words he could understand, but sounds. Wet, sibilant, echoing like voices carried from deep underwater. He froze, heart hammering.
The whispers didn't stop. They slid along the walls, behind him, beside him, inside his ears.
Ash pulled the torch close to his chest. Sound design. It's just sound design. Scripted whispers. Don't freak out.
But his stats flickered again.
Corruption: 3%
His breath caught.
He hadn't fought anything. He hadn't done anything. Just walking here was changing him.
Ash stared at the screen, unsettled for the first time since entering the game. It wasn't the usual thrill of challenge or the rush of something new. This was different. This was… invasive.
He pushed forward anyway, forcing his legs to move. The path narrowed again, forcing him to stoop, the torch scraping against the ceiling. His boots crunched on brittle bones, the sound sharp and harsh on his ears.
When the tunnel widened, it split into two paths.
The left glowed faintly with pale light, almost silver, like moonlight leaking through cracks. The right oozed with an oily haze, shadows darker than the dark around them, as though the cave itself bled smoke.
Ash swallowed hard.
The corruption bar pulsed faintly at the edge of his vision.
He shifted his grip on the torch, staring at the two paths. One seemed safe, or at least safer. The other practically radiated danger.
He checked his stats one last time, staring at the new line.
Corruption: 3%
"Okay," he whispered, his voice trembling just enough to betray him. "This isn't just a cave. Something down here is changing me."
And with that, he stepped forward.