For several long seconds, no one moved.
The huge mutant wolf stood over Qin Zetian, sniffing the scattered food on the ground. The smell of raw meat and spices floated through the cold air.
The crowd watched in shock.
"What… what is happening?"
"Why did the monster stop?"
One hunter slowly raised his weapon, but he did not dare attack. If the wolf became angry again, many more people could die.
Zetian was still lying on the cold ground. Her heart was beating so fast that it hurt. Around her were piles of food ingredients that had appeared from nowhere.
Rice spilled across the ground. Vegetables rolled near her feet. A bottle of sauce leaked slowly on the stone floor. Even Zetian herself did not understand what had happened.
Did I do this?
Inside her mind, she could still feel that strange, empty space.
Dark.
Quiet.
Endless.
It felt like a door had opened somewhere deep inside her.
The wolf lowered its head and sniffed a piece of raw meat. Then it picked it up with its sharp teeth.
The crowd gasped.
But the monster did not attack. It simply swallowed the meat. Then it looked at the rest of the food. Its tail moved slightly.
Zetian stared at it in disbelief.
The monster that almost killed her a moment ago now looked more interested in eating than attacking.
Some people in the distance began whispering nervously.
"Is the monster… distracted?"
"Now is the chance!" One of the hunters suddenly shouted. "Prepare to attack!"
Several hunters raised their weapons at the same time. Bright energy gathered around their blades.
But the moment their power moved, the dungeon gate behind Zetian began to shake violently.
A deep rumbling sound came from inside the dark mist.
The hunters froze.
"That's not normal…"
The broken barrier suddenly flashed with wild energy. Dark red light burst out from the dungeon entrance. Then, a terrifying force exploded outward.
The ground cracked open beneath Zetian and the mutant wolf. The land collapsed instantly. Zetian felt the world disappear under her feet.
"Ah!"
She had no time to react. Her body dropped into darkness. The mutant wolf fell with her. The last thing Zetian saw was the shocked faces of the crowd above. Then everything vanished.
The fall felt endless.
Cold wind rushed past her ears.
She could not see anything.
The darkness swallowed everything.
Zetian tried to grab something, but there was only empty air.
Then, her body hit something hard. Pain exploded through her back. She rolled across rough stone before finally stopping.
For several seconds, she could not breathe.
Her chest felt tight.
Her vision blurred.
When she finally opened her eyes, the world around her looked completely different. She was no longer near the dungeon entrance. She was deep inside the dungeon.
The cave around her was enormous. Strange glowing crystals covered the walls and ceiling. They shone with a faint purple light. Thick mist floated across the ground. The air smelled sharp and metallic like burned metal.
Zetian slowly pushed herself up. Her whole body hurt. Blood stained the sleeve of her dress.
"What… is this place…" Her voice echoed softly through the cavern.
Then she remembered something.
The mutant wolf.
Her heart jumped. She quickly looked around. The giant wolf had fallen into the cavern, too. But it had landed near a large pit filled with glowing crystals.
The crystals shone with an intense purple light. Energy flowed between them like lightning. The wolf tried to stand, but the moment it touched the crystals, purple lightning spread across its body.
The monster let out a painful roar. Within seconds, its body turned black and collapsed. It did not move again.
Zetian stared in horror. The crystals were releasing powerful radiation. She could feel it in the air. Her skin tingled. Her breathing became heavy.
Everyone knew about dungeon radiation. It was created by strange energy from space.
Years ago, a giant meteor fell to Earth. After that day, dungeons began appearing everywhere. Inside them were monsters. And a dangerous energy called meteor radiation.
Too much radiation could kill a normal person in minutes.
Zetian stepped back slowly. "I need to leave…"
But when she turned around, she realized something terrifying. There was no way back up. The hole she fell through was far above. The stone walls were smooth and steep. Even hunters would struggle to climb it.
Her body suddenly felt weak. The radiation in the air was growing stronger. Her head started spinning. Her knees trembled.
"So… this is how it ends…" She laughed softly.
Her family had thrown her away. Her fiancé abandoned her. And now she would die alone in the dungeon.
Zetian slowly fell to her knees. The purple light from the crystals reflected in her eyes. Her breathing became slower. Her body felt cold.
Then, that strange space inside her mind moved again. The dark, empty area expanded. The small storage space she felt earlier began to grow larger, like a hidden world opening.
Energy from the glowing crystals rushed toward her body.
Instead of destroying her, it flowed into that strange space. Her chest suddenly felt warm. The pain in her body began to fade.
Inside her mind, the dark storage space changed. Shelves appeared in the darkness. Countless items rested on them. Bags of rice, fresh vegetables, meat, fish, cooking oils, spices, cooking pots, knives, and utensils.
There were even strange ingredients she had never seen before. It was like a giant interdimensional pantry.
Zetian's eyes slowly moved. "What… is this…"
The space was no longer small. It felt endless, as if it connected to another world.
Her body was no longer collapsing from the radiation. Instead, the energy was feeding the strange storage space. It had bonded with her. Then, her stomach suddenly made a loud sound.
"Grrr…"
Zetian blinked. She had not eaten since yesterday.
After everything that happened, she was starving. Without thinking, she reached toward the invisible space.
A small cooking pot suddenly appeared beside her. Then a bag of rice. A piece of raw meat. A few vegetables.
Zetian stared at them.
"…Did I just summon those?"
She looked around the cavern again.
The mutant wolf was still lying near the crystal pit. Completely dead. But further away in the darkness, she heard movement.
Soft footsteps, low growls. Other monsters lived in this dungeon. And they were slowly coming closer.
Zetian swallowed nervously. "I need food first… then I'll think about escaping."
Using the cooking tools from her strange storage space, she started preparing a simple meal. She built a small fire using broken crystal pieces and dry stone dust. Soon, the pot began to heat.
The smell of cooking rice slowly filled the cavern. Then she added meat and vegetables. The scent became rich and warm. It spread through the dark cave like a gentle wave.
The growling sounds in the distance suddenly stopped.
A pair of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness.
Then another.
And another.
Several dungeon monsters slowly stepped out of the shadows.
Zetian froze. "…This is bad."
But something strange happened.
The monsters did not attack. They simply sat down a short distance away. Their eyes stared at the cooking pot. Their noses twitched. Just like the mutant wolf earlier.
They were not angry.
They looked…
Hungry.