Samuel adjusted the hood of his cloak, his fingers trembling slightly as he clutched the edges.

The weight of the task loomed heavy on his timid shoulders.

He was a member of the Demonic Guild's scout team, but truth be told, he often wondered how someone like him—timid and easily frightened—ended up here.

His heart raced as he approached the crowded portal site.

The orange glow of the dungeon gate cast an eerie light over the surroundings, its radiance contrasting sharply with the bustling hunters preparing for the raid.

Samuel fidgeted nervously, his eyes darting to every figure around him.

The towering portal seemed to pulse faintly, as if alive, and its sheer presence was enough to unsettle him.

"Stay calm, Samuel," he muttered under his breath, swallowing the lump in his throat.

But the feeling of unease only grew as he scanned the crowd.

His trained but jittery senses picked up something off—small details that others might overlook.

The hunters standing near the portal weren’t just regular adventurers.

Their stances were too poised, their gazes too sharp.

Civilians in the crowd lingered a little too long, their movements calculated rather than natural.

Samuel recognized the telltale signs of surveillance.

'Shit! They’re already watching over this dungeon,' he thought, his heart pounding.

His palms grew sweaty as his eyes flicked from one suspicious figure to another.

Was it the Lionheart Guild?

Or perhaps the Black Serpent Guild?

Both were known to keep a tight leash on anything unusual, and an orange-ranked dungeon rising so quickly would definitely catch their attention.

He forced himself to breathe.

'Calm down, calm down. They don’t know who you are. Just act normal.'

But his knees felt weak, and he could feel his fear bubbling just beneath the surface.

Samuel wasn’t a fighter; his strength lay in stealth and observation, and that suited him fine.

Confrontation?

That was a nightmare he wanted to avoid at all costs.

Clutching his forged identification card tightly, he slipped into the group of hunters entering the portal.

He kept his head low, his hood casting a shadow over his face.

The air around the portal buzzed with energy, and as he stepped closer, his anxiety spiked.

'What if they catch me? What if they know?'

The questions circled in his mind, his stomach twisting.

He tried to reassure himself, but his hands shook as he handed over his fake ID.

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The guard barely glanced at it, waving him through.

Relief flooded Samuel’s chest, but it was short-lived.

He could still feel the weight of unseen eyes following him.

The moment he stepped through the portal, the world shifted.

The buzz of the crowd disappeared, replaced by the tranquil rustle of leaves and the soft scent of fresh air.

Samuel blinked, momentarily stunned by the change.

He stood in the middle of a vast, vibrant forest.

Towering trees stretched toward the sky, their leaves shimmering faintly with a hint of magic.

The air was cool, almost refreshing, but Samuel’s nerves refused to settle.

The other hunters began moving forward, weapons drawn, their voices hushed as they strategized.

Samuel followed at a distance, his steps careful.

He kept his head down, avoiding eye contact, waiting for the right moment to slip away.

Finally, when the group paused to check their bearings, Samuel seized the chance.

Activating his invisibility skill, his body shimmered before fading into nothingness.

His heart hammered as he quietly slipped away from the others, heading deeper into the forest.

'Okay, okay… I did it,' he thought, exhaling shakily.

'Now just stay out of sight and gather the information. No one will notice me. No one will…'

But even as he tried to reassure himself, the oppressive silence of the dungeon pressed down on him.

The forest felt alive, and not in a comforting way.

Shadows moved unnaturally between the trees, and faint, distant sounds—low growls and rustling—sent shivers down his spine.

Every step he took felt like it echoed in the unnatural stillness, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching him.

'Why did I agree to this?!' Samuel thought, biting his lip.

His legs felt like jelly, but he forced himself to keep moving.

His guild had tasked him with investigating this dungeon, and failure wasn’t an option.

'Just a quick look. Find something useful and get out. That’s all.'

But deep down, Samuel couldn’t shake the growing dread.

The dungeon wasn’t just alive; it felt like it was aware of him.

Every rustle of the leaves, every faint sound seemed to whisper his name.

And somewhere, not too far away, the faint sound of something unnatural flickered between the trees.

'What… is that?' Samuel froze, his breath catching in his throat.

Timid as he was, his curiosity was his only weapon against the terror gripping him.

He crept forward, his breathing shallow, his heart hammering in his chest.

The air in the dungeon felt heavy, almost suffocating, and every sound seemed amplified in the eerie silence.

As he pushed past the thick underbrush, his eyes widened at the sight before him.

Towering golems, their forms crudely carved from stone and earth, were moving deliberately through the forest.

Some stomped through the trees, their footsteps shaking the ground, while others methodically ripped trees from their roots as if they were nothing but weeds.

'Are… are golems the main monsters here?'

Samuel wondered, his voice barely a whisper in his own mind.

But his astonishment quickly turned to fear as he watched the sheer strength of these creatures.

A massive golem picked up an ancient tree, its trunk thicker than Samuel’s body, and shattered it into pieces with ease.

"What the hell…" he muttered under his breath, his fingers trembling as he clutched the edge of his cloak.

'How are we supposed to deal with monsters like these?'

He shook his head, forcing himself to refocus.

It wasn’t time to marvel or panic.

He needed to move before the golems noticed him.

Activating his invisibility skill again, he cautiously backed away, his eyes darting to every shadow and movement.

Suddenly, the bushes nearby rustled violently.

Samuel froze, his body stiff with fear.

He immediately cloaked himself, blending into the surroundings, and crouched behind a tree, peeking out cautiously.

His heart felt like it might leap out of his chest.

From the bushes, a massive beetle emerged, its glossy, armored shell glinting faintly in the dim dungeon light.

It lumbered forward, its pincers crunching on a cluster of berries it had picked from the nearby shrubs.

'A… a beetle?' Samuel blinked in confusion.

His brows furrowed as he watched the creature devour the berries with surprising calm.

It didn’t seem aggressive, but its sheer size made Samuel uneasy.

The creature could probably crush a man with a single movement.

Shaking his head, he whispered to himself,

'What is this place? Why are there beetles here?'

He didn’t have time to linger, though.

Gathering his courage, he crept further away, determined to learn more about this bizarre dungeon.

But the deeper he ventured, the stranger things became.

Samuel’s invisibility skill kept him hidden, but his anxiety grew with every passing moment.

The golems weren’t the only ones here.

He spotted chimera ants, monstrous hybrids with sharp mandibles and segmented bodies that gleamed with a metallic sheen.

They moved in coordinated swarms, their pincers tearing through trees and unfortunate hunters alike.

Samuel’s stomach churned as he stumbled upon a gruesome scene.

The hunters he had entered the dungeon with, their confident bravado now gone, were being torn apart by the ants.

Their screams echoed through the forest, but the ants were relentless, showing no mercy.

'What the hell are those things?' Samuel’s voice cracked in his mind.

His palms were slick with sweat as he clung to the rough bark of a tree.

The sight of the ants devouring the hunters was enough to make his legs shake.

'This place… this place isn’t normal.'

He forced himself to move, his breath shallow, his chest tight with terror.

He needed to get out.

But as he pressed forward, he heard something that made him stop in his tracks.

"Kaw! That was easy!"

The voice was high-pitched and distinct, cutting through the forest's unnerving silence.

Samuel’s heart skipped a beat.

Slowly, he turned his head, hiding behind a thick tree trunk, his hands trembling.

Peeking out cautiously, his eyes widened as he spotted a crow-like creature perched on a fallen log.

It was larger than any crow he’d ever seen, with feathers that shimmered unnaturally and sharp, intelligent eyes that scanned the area.

The crow wasn’t alone.

Beside it stood a small golem, its form smoother and more refined than the others he’d seen, as well as several horned moles.

They were working together, digging a large hole in the ground with surprising coordination.

Samuel’s breath hitched.

'A… a talking crow?!'

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

This crow was nothing like the mundane birds outside.

Its presence radiated intelligence and authority, and its words—those words—chilled him to the bone.

The moles, too, seemed strange, their movements eerily synchronized as they burrowed deeper into the earth.

The little golem supervised, its glowing eyes flickering with a strange energy.

Samuel pressed himself against the tree, his mind racing.

'I have to leave. I have to get out of here.'

His instincts screamed at him to run.

His breathing quickened, and he clenched his fists, willing himself to stay silent.

He knew one thing for certain.

This wasn’t just another dungeon.

This was something far more dangerous, far more sinister.

And if he didn’t escape soon, he might not leave at all.