The passage I came from is now sealed off by a solid wall as if I didn't come from there.
Maybe it is an illusion? We have one in our cellar hiding the underground area with the glitch zone, so it is a possibility.
No matter how hard I try, this wall doesn't budge, so it seems to be real.
Just great, exactly what I needed today. An overpowered monster is hunting for us, we already got separated and the pathing makes no sense at all...
Well, got no choice left but start searching...
But before wandering aimlessly through this labyrinth, I take a sheet of paper out of my inventory and write on it: "J: got separated, currently alone, what's the situation on your side, Lucy?", I just hope my dear checks her inventory at one point.
Guess that's one way to reinvent IRC. Slow as that shit was, it should've been obvious that it was analog and not digital.
While waiting or at least hoping for an answer, I try to scribble "Jared was here" opposite of the first side passage I find. Not really legible but should suffice for now, at least it is hard to overlook. If the place can warp you from a plain cave to a dead end of this castle underground without you noticing, it is possible there are more non-sensical connections to lead back here, maybe through teleports or one-way passages.
Ah, Lucy has written an answer: "L: also alone, ended up in an ice cave, you?"
I write back: "J: castle underground. How are you holding up, is it very cold?"
So much for my hope that we ended up close enough at least, but now she could be anywhere. In the worst case, everyone has their own 100-floor labyrinth to conquer... Shit.
Well, waiting won't get me anywhere and the first passage leads to the right, so I give the right-hand rule a shot and start walking, carefully watching around corners if any monsters lurk there but so far there are none.
After a few minutes and turning exactly three times to the right, I'm back where I started with my marking directly in front of me. This makes no sense, after each turn I walked at least for two minutes, so how come three turns by 90 degrees equal to a 180-degree turn...
I repeat the short trip to make sure I didn't discount but no, after three turns I'm back exactly where I started.
Frustrated, I check my inventory again to see if Lucia has written anything new in the meantime, and indeed, she has: "L: I don't feel cold but instead got even more lost, walking back send me to a different place than I was before"
I write back: "J: took three right turns and also ended up back at the start, this place makes no sense either."
I really should've never used a guide for Antichamber, then I might have a better idea of how this stupid place works...
Since three turns right are wrong, I want to try a different direction this time, going right-right-left, but after the first turn, I already run across five monsters.
They kinda look like pitbull heads on three legs with overgrown teeth and the whole thing covered in rainbow-colored crystal shards.
Name N/A Age N/A Classes Jewel Beast 1 Race Generic Monster 1 Extra Monster 1 HP 630/630 MP 336/336 SP 1029/1029 STR 252 DEX 105 VIT 210 MAG 126 FTH 147 WIL 189 CHA 231 Skills NO EXP Weakness Physical
I could just turn on the glitched [Life Eater Armor] and simply ignore them...
Does their skill do what it says?
NO EXP
Passive
You can neither gain nor give exp.
Removes all other generic skills.
Yup, not worth interacting with but better safe than sorry. Although, they could still drop something important.
But if they don't have other skills does that mean they are free from the pain of [Mindless Monster]?
I turn the filter off but naturally [Mindless Monster] is still present and not crossed out. Figures.
Disappointed by this revelation, I throw an area ice spell at them.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Your Ice Blast has inflicted a total of 3575 damage and defeated 5 monsters.
Obtained 5 Food Pills.
So much for that group of monsters.
No clue how I should ever stand a chance of reaching the goal if I'm even denied that little bit of exp. Well, what items did I get there?
Food Pill
Provides the effect of resting for 30 minutes and eating a minor food portion.
Mostly devoid of taste.
Only good until: end of this dungeon
I doubt this works for me since I'm undead but worth a try...
Blech
I'd rather eat vomit than live off of that... and of course, I feel just as hungry as before and my MP didn't recover one bit either. At least they may help Lucia a bit, she can still eat regular food.
I take a few more steps but end back at the start again. Instead of three right turns like before, I was already sent back after two, shit, what is going on here?
I need to figure out fast what the fuck is going on with this stupid labyrinth...
----------------------------------------
POV: Anna
I've been wandering around aimlessly for a while now, didn't find any of my friends, where is everybody? Just stupid dog-sized spiders everywhere... White ones, red ones, black ones, blue ones, yellow ones, some with skull shapes on their body, others have targets painted on their butts or are covered in strange, purple flames.
Why did it have to be spiders!? I hate spiders! They always steal my candy!
You have inflicted 282 damage to a monster and defeated it.
I've been fighting them for days and there's no end to them in sight. And despite that, my exp hasn't gone up at all! What's wrong with this stupid world!?
Sigh
At least they leave some edible pills behind, so I'm not starving, but still kinda hungry... I just want some proper food, that crap tastes like garbage!
And what's with all those icky webs? Yuck. The spiders I know produce clay or sludge, not sticky webs, stop being weird you freaking monsters!
Every once in a while I come across some alcoves containing what looks like a webbed-up cocoon just the size of one of these monsters and two or three spiders guarding it. I can deal with such a tiny group of these weak spiders, so I take them out quickly.
Out of [Curiosity], I open the cocoons. The first cocoon contains a dead person, but it isn't anyone I recognize. The second cocoon, reveals several spider monsters. I've no idea what is up with that.
I hope to run into some of my friends soon, so I can ask them what is going on here...
I wander around a while longer, but I've long since lost track of time, it has probably been days already... and the clock in my menu doesn't help either, it only displays the time outside which is frozen...
I can't even tell if I make progress or run in circles, none of the passages is a straight path. Everything just curves around, left and right. And everything is covered in webs, making movement unnecessarily difficult.
Eventually, I come across a room with a third cocoon. This cocoon is huge, you could easily stuff two or three adults in there!
A few of the smaller spiders cling to the cacoon and other spiders cover them in more webbings enlarging the cocoon even further.
What are they trying to do there? Do they want to merge the smaller spiders into a big, creepy mother spider? No idea...
I kinda want to check what's happening in that pod but there are hundreds of spiders in the way. I could take on four or five at once but not that many. Sorry, [Curiosity], but you'll have to stay disappointed. Getting out of here alive is more important and so far it doesn't seem like the creepy crawlies have noticed me.
So I courageously advance in the other direction. Yup, yup, totally not sneaking away.
----------------------------------------
POV: Marca
Stupid ice cave, it is fricking cold!
Had I known, I would've bought a new cloak...
Brrr
And to top it off I have to deal with corridors that wind unto themselves, one-way doors, and crumbling floors, I have had enough of this stupid dungeon!
I wish I had a connected inventory like our two unholy abominations, I could at least talk with someone. As it is, I know nothing. For all I know, half of them could already be dead... Who knows who I might have talked to for the last time without knowing it.
Oh, great, a bit ahead of me is another ice golem, they take way too little damage from my attacks. I can beat them one-on-one but it drains a lot of my SP.
From here I can't properly see it, it stands half in a side corridor, no idea what else lurks there. Blindly attacking it with my bow could draw more attention than I can deal with.
Carefully, I sneak along the wall to see what else would be around the corner. Of course, the golem isn't alone. There's a second golem and two wolves as well.
Shit, I can't deal with that many at once.
Guess I'll have to hand back and-
Crack
The floor below me gives away and drops me into a different part of the ice cave.
Great, so I'm now even more lost than before.
I look quickly around me but see no monsters, I'm safe for the moment.
...
Maybe I'm lucky and the others have already cleared half the dungeon.
Yeah, wishful thinking. I've to move on.
I flip a coin to decide which direction I take, head to the left, tails to the right.
Coin flip
Tails, so right it is.
I try to walk a bit faster since it is still too cold, I want to get out of here as soon as possible.
After a while, I encounter another ice golem, it hasn't noticed me yet. I sneak closer to check again if other monsters are in the vicinity, this time I'm lucky, it is alone.
I take a few steps back to increase our distance and so the time I have to damage it with arrows.
I look around a final time but no other creatures have appeared.
Finally, I take a deep breath, draw my bow, create a magic arrow and-
YOU DIED
----------------------------------------
POV: Dan
Maybe I should've given myself a bigger handicap, starting at 2/5 score for a win is kinda lame. But then I have already waited for three days before I ordered my Ava to start searching and what do you know, there's already one of them.
Hey, miss... Uh, what was her name again? Wait, did we even introduce each other?
Ah, who cares, you can totally be best friends without knowing each other's names!
Come on, dummy, I'm standing right behind you, don't you notice anything? No? Ah, your problem, not mine.
And TAG, you're out girly!
Nom Nom Nom
That's score number three for me!
Score: 4/5
Only one more kill for victory!
Or four? Huh, you hid a little one from us, neat. I wish to see you two play with us again soon!
So, uh, which way was forward again?