Jin-woo had been moving through the tunnels for the past few hours after waking up. The system had somehow knocked him out and applied the stat boost without any warning at all. That left him constantly thinking about two very important things. The first and foremost was how happy he was about waiting. His guess had been correct in assuming a full reboot was necessary inorder to apply whatever upgrades they were giving him. Had he been out in the tunnels, he suspected death would already have gotten a hold of him.
The second and more concerning was how the system was capable of knocking him out without his final input. Yes, he had clicked apply to the stats change, but there had to be a final warning notification for it. What if he had been in battle? Or what if the system turned rogue due to a hidden virus he had yet to find. Would it be capable of killing him or forcing his body into a coma state without any chance to fight back?
But that was in the back of his mind.
Something was wrong in this area. The giant rats he killed acted weird, almost like they were drunk. They still attacked him with furious intent, but they were as coordinated and without real patterns to use. While that meant they were easier to pick off individually, it made the unpredictability harder to manage them in larger groups of four.
The issue was the experience remained the same, hinting that nothing should have changed. Even his system didn’t seem to find anything different with them.
But there was more to it.
Jin-woo felt the humidity rise before his system interface flickered with a notification. Only a couple turns and already it was suffocating to run or fight hard. The air grew thick and seemed to wrap something around his lungs making his breathing harder. And yet, his enhanced body powered through it through the boost of his vitality and already prodigious power.
The change was a stark contrast to the dry stone he had wadded through for the longest time. His senses could detect shifts in temperature, air pressure, and something else, something that made his system stutter with uncertainty.
[ENVIRONMENTAL ANOMALY DETECTED]
[HUMIDITY LEVELS: 87% AND RISING]
[WARNING: UNSUITABLE CONDITIONS FOR STANDARD OPERATIONS]
Another anomaly added to the long list he was compiling.
He kept going forward, eyes looking for any new points of interest or attempted ambushes. Instead, it was completely clear, twists and turns, lefts and rights. Nothing new or different for longer than he expected. Usually, every turn meant a new group. Nothing changed until he reached a doorway into another room. From a distance he glimpsed rainfall or raindrops from what had to be a massive room.
I wasn’t until he got close enough to step in did he get a glimpse at what it was. The tunnel opened into a vast chamber that defied the dungeon's established architecture. Ancient trees lined the edges, their massive trunks disappearing into the darkness above. Leaving only a path, albeit very wide, clear of obstruction. The top of the trees disappeared into the darkness that coated the ceiling. Massive trunks with red streaks running down them, equally gargantuan roots that wove through the walls and stone floors like thread. Seamlessly creating a vast forest ecosystem that could hide multiple groups of enemies within its bowels.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Water dripped steadily from somewhere above in the darkness of the ceiling. It turned into vapor as soon as it touched the ground, not leaving a single puddle or wet spot. A light mist circulated around the area, clearly dodging the extremely wide path that wound between the trees. The rainfall echoed like an orchestra. The scene before him was stunning, beautiful in ways he couldn’t explain. And yet, it was all wrong. Another damn anomaly.
His BasicAnalysis skill hummed to life.
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE: Bloodweep Trees]
[CLASSIFICATION: Unnatural - Non-Monstrous]
[WARNING: Anomalous Growth Patterns Detected]
[NOTE: Species Exhibits Impossible Biological Characteristics]
"Bloodweep trees," he whispered to himself. "You couldn’t pay me to test if they sucked blood.”
That was ominous enough to keep him on edge. Jin-woo would refuse to walk through what was clearly an ambush, or maybe even multiple ambushes, yet it was the only path forward. Maybe after clearing the room he could search for some fruits…?
“Yeah. That’s not happening.” The thought of attempting to eat anything these trees produced was a non factor entirely.
His mechanical process of thinking about things recognized danger, but it struggled to generate an appropriate amount of fear. Instead, it cataloged facts with precision, instantly adding onto his notes. More oddities he noticed as he carefully walked down the path. Things like the way the roots avoided the central path with unnatural purpose and created very convenient hiding spots along its widening course. Or how the water that dripped from above seemed to abstract his view when he was one-hundred percent sure that it shouldn't have with how light it was.
This was the perfect makings of an elite ambush. One that Jin-woo was walking directly into on purpose. He moved with careful purpose, body tense enough to react in a second. This could have been the perfect spot to test his vitality, but the risks outweighed the benefits. It would be tested thoroughly during battle anyways. The droplets pitter pattered on him leaving him soaking wet and his metal rod slippery in his palms.
He had to pause and rip a piece of his shirt and wrap his spear to his right hand. The risk of losing his only weapon with reach was not a chance he was willing to take. Yes, the four foot spear would do okay, but its size made it too risky and required he get uncomfortably close to the balls of rage and insanity. The further he walked in the more deliberate the design seemed.
He was right, kind of. Jin-woo watched as a group of four Giant rats seemed to be huddled around… nothing. Acting busy…? He took a few steps closer, getting the four foot spear ready to throw. Once he calculated he was near enough, he launched it, slipping out of his hand. The slick metal causing him to miss bad as it clattered to the side.
The rats turned around towards him.
What…? That gave Jin-woo pause. Their pattern protocol should have been forced to initiate. All four should have charged at him, headless of the danger and began their coordinated assault. Two launching themselves like missiles and the other two swiping at his feet to slow him down. And yet, they only surveyed him.
It took a moment before the Giant Rats began to snarl at him. Slowly approaching like predators.
A flash of sickly green movement caught his eye. His caution proved right. His experience within the dungeon had taught him to trust his peripheral vision.
He dove instinctively. A glob of something viscous and green sailed through the air where he had been moments ago. It splattering against the stone floors, splashing. The droplets that caught his shirt sizzled and burned through the fabric instantly. It caused his system to go haywire sending a multitude of warnings of poison and acid down his feed. He jumped to his feet and looked hard to find whatever it was.
He caught a glimpse of a smaller rat with faded green on the tips of its head fur, almost like a mohawk. Though it was dwarfed by its Giant Rat counterparts, it was still a large thing. The size of a big medium sized dog. Its eyes glowed with an unnatural green light. Green viscous acid or venom dripped out of its maw like drool causing hissing smoke to rise from the tree trunks.
[HOSTILE ENTITY DETECTED]
[CLASSIFICATION: Poison Rat (Unnatural) - (F+) Ranked Monster]
[WARNING: Highly Toxic Substance Detected]
[THREAT LEVEL: Calculating…]