This would be their first real Dungeon…
A desolate building. Gloomy, dark, falling in ruins, and now featuring a purple portal. This place smelled of death and—
| Du-Du-Du! Reached Your Destination! |
The cheerful tune from the Dungeon Companion APP clashed so much with the otherwise heavy atmosphere as Men in Black established a yellow tape safety perimeter.
“Miaow?!” (Who the hell are those guys?!)
“People from the Bureau. They are to Awakened what meter maids are to the police. They mostly make sure no one steps into a Dungeon by mistake.”
Then again, they also did other stuff. Right now, they had Energy Level Detectors next to the portal, monitoring it. But as soon as they saw Damon, their eyes lit up—
“Finally! You’re here, oh god! We thought you’d never show up! That Dungeon’s about to break!” Damon instantly turned serious.
Dungeon Break? This meant Monsters all over the place and LOTS of dead civilians. They had to act now before it was too late.
Dungeon After Some Time? → Dungeon Break!
Dungeon Cleared before Breaking? → Crisis Averted!
That’s why the Men in Black looked at him as if a lifelong friend:
“Where’s the rest of your team? I gotta warn you, this one’s an Anomaly! The Soul Reading’s Low, but the Corruption’s off the charts!”
Hearing this, Damon couldn’t help but still. First, the random Rat King, and now this?! What the hell was wrong with Amber City?! Still, that wouldn't stop him.
“Thanks for the info. Then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going.”
Damon didn’t even pause. Corruption? That was his jam! What would it do? Corrupt his already corrupted soul? But seeing him so fearless, the guy shook.
“D-Don’t tell me you’re going in alone?! That’s CRAZY!”
“Miaow!” (Pfft— Who’s alone? Are you actually blind!)
This cat seemed so confident that he couldn’t help but freeze. What woke him up was lots of notifications on his phone as it endlessly Beeped AND vibrated!
[URGENT! Survivors of the Last Attempt = All DEAD!]
[Current Updated Mortality Rate 100%!]
[Do Not Let Anyone In!]
Raising his eyes, the Man in Black called out, panicked.
“WAIT, DON’T—” but they were already gone…
.
.
.
[Welcome to Hollow Cave!]
[Here Joy Comes to Die…]
As soon as Damon saw the interior, he understood the name. The Hollow, eh? Indeed, the people working here would have indeed felt hollow.
It was giant cubicles everywhere, but with the whole place covered in an eternal and oppressive black fog. It felt like braving the darkest cave with a lighter… bad!
“Miaow?!” (Why’s this fog so smelly?! Poison?!)
“It’s full of demonic energy. Without a cleric, clearing this Dungeon is nearly impossible. No wonder this place hasn’t been beaten yet. ”
“Miaow?!” (D-Demonic?! Should we leave then? Actually, where’s the exit?!)
At this moment, Damon wasn’t sure whether to laugh or slap it. “You, you’re LITERALLY a demon! As for the Exit, once we kill enough enemies, it will spawn.”
There was a reason so many died in Dungeons. It wasn’t like the Amber Tower, where one could retreat at any time. It was DEADLY!
“C’mon, enough time wasted already.”
With this, they dived into the black fog, their bodies disappearing. Darkness. Darkness. Even more Darkness. This was—
— CRACK! —
Damon threw himself backward, all matrix style.
That when he felt it. A human-sized shadow flew right above him, and as it did he could smell the stench. Whatever this was seemingly hadn’t showered in a few millennium!
“Miaow?!” (Master, where are the enemies?!)
“You have ears? Use them! You have a nose? Smell them!”
Hearing his tips, the cat focused. Yes, it could smell the enemy… but it definitely shouldn’t have! Now, it already felt a sense of nausea overcome it.
“Careful, it’s coming back!”
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— CRACK! CRACK! —
This was the goddamn floor creaking with each of their steps! But as the creature dashed again, Damon got ready. Evade? This time, he’d do more!
“Come here, you bastard!” He actually grabbed it by the… tie?! That’s when he threw their opponent backward, as if a judo master, the thing flying once more.
With this, it landed at the spawn, where there were the tiniest shreds of light, and they were finally able to see their enemy.
It was an office worker, suit and all. The issue was the rest: bloated purplish skin, sharp fangs, blackish nails, and yellow sickly eyes.
“Miaow!” (This guy’s definitely dead! A Zombie?! Let’s kill it!)
The cat went forward, slashing with its claws! Yet, just as it was about to make contact, the Zombie suddenly opened its maw wide and— BLERGGGG!
It vomited a cloud of darkness, one that engulfed the poor cat completely. Panicking, it tried its best to fight back, but this was so hard!
It kept slashing, and slashing, until finally the Zombie fell! Only then did it suddenly realize that it had been slashing a lamp all along?! Good thing Damon had dispatched the enemy.
“Miaow?!” (How?! I swear I heard it move?!)
“Come closer, you’ll understand.” Damon sighed.
Then, as soon as the cat touched the lamp, it had the shock of its life. That lamp… was being devoured by the fog?! It was worse than getting eaten by acid!
“It got hit in the fight earlier, and it lit up for half an instant. While the light never actually left the fog… it angered it! Now, just imagine a Newbie Cleric illuminating the path…”
SCARY! Corruption was hella terrifying!
“Anyway, let’s keep going. Ah, but before that…”
[Successfully Absorbed 0.7 Demonic Energy!]
[Power of Demonic Abilities Enhanced!]
[Corruption Increasing! WARNING!]
Damon stopped to collect the Zombie’s Energy. This one in particular contained pretty much only Demonic Energy, thus he sucked it completely dry!
Thus, the duo kept progressing. The more they did, the darker it got, until they couldn’t even see their own hands if they put them 1 cm from their faces!
And at the same time, so did the Zombies increase…
“BRAINNNNSSSS!”
“BRAINNNSSSSSS!”
“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”
Yet, even facing such harassment, Damon didn’t falter. Instead, he used a self-made technique, one that they had used in the past before…
“Here, you go. Zombie at 3 o’clock!” But he didn’t just point out their location; he simply picked up his cat and threw it. Animal cruelty again?! Nope, he had its consent…
“Miaow!” (Flying canon-cat! You expected a projectile, but it was me…CAT!)
Then it’d happily start slashing their heads until it made them fall! With this, they’d stop spitting their disgusting Black smoke… killing them a nice added bonus.
Yet, that could only work to a certain point. At other times, they found themselves running for their lives. Damon was good, but there was a limit to his prowesses.
After all, those monsters not only had stamina, but they even had teamwork! At this moment, they were showcasing their might as ex-office workers!
They were FAR better than the bandits he had easily toyed with.
This meant only one thing… they had to be extra careful!
“Miaow!” (I’m Sorry, master, I’ll work hard not to disappoint you!)
Thus, the two kept hunting and training until…
“Holy shit! This is HUGE!”
Damon had just noticed something in the Pet panel. Before, it had looked like this:
[300 SP] → Steel Claws!
[30 SP] → Snack Attack!
[150 SP] →Shadow Cloak!
But now, new options had just appeared! Not only that, but they actually required Demonic Energy to be unlocked! Seeing this, Damon couldn’t help but rejoice.
[20 DE] → Corruption Adaptation!
[420 DE] → Corrupted Claws!
[1000 DE] → Corrupted Cloud!
This was perfect! Now, all they needed to do was to hunt a couple more Zombies and— But just as he was rejoicing, everything suddenly went to shit!
There was no warning, there was no logic to it either, the Dungeon just turned mad.
“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”“BRAINNNSSSSSSSS!”
The two didn’t hesitate, running for their fucking lives. A Swarm of rats? Manageable. A Swarm of Zombies? Hell no! Even if the Zombies didn’t move, they'd run out of energy just trying to hack them all!
“Miaow?!” (Why does it always end like that, Master?!)
“Pfft— Isn’t that your fault? Black cats are unlucky, aren’t they?!”
“Miaow!” (Black? Then it’s 100% that black fog’s fault! This cat is sure!)
But just as they were bickering, they suddenly saw something on the horizon. Was that… a light?! Then, as they got closer, they couldn’t help but gawk.
A woman clad in the whitest robes, her entire body glowing like a lighthouse as she wielded a magical-looking staff. She was so beautiful, she was so pure, she was so…
“Are you DUMB?! Shut the light now, or we’ll all bloody die!”
“W-What?! Who goes there?! Who, no, what are you?! Show yourself, fiend!”
Fiend?! The nerve of some people! But Damon didn’t have any time to debate her idiocy. As for stopping her directly? She was surrounded by a magical barrier.
“I said shut it! You’re making them all rabid. Do you think it helps? You’re just rousing the entire Dungeon right now with your shitty skill! Then they’ll swarm us in a gigantic group!”
Yet, all she did was tremble a bit before showing even more resolve!
“No, you’re trying to trick me for sure!”
She was akin to a small kid scared of a stranger. Seeing this, Damon turned ice-cold. “Fine, if you won’t listen…” That’s when he attacked the barrier directly!
— THUMP!—
How was it so solid?!
That meant he had to resort to plan B!
Damon hurried to the nearest Zombie. Then, he… ?!?
At this moment, even the cat who was used to his shenanigans couldn’t place a word. He was holding a Zombie… as if a fire extinguisher?! Then he “fired in the hole”!
— BLERGGGG! The creature quickly vomited a cloud of darkness, all of it going toward her barrier, engulfing it! Sadly, it seemed like just one wouldn't be enough.
But when had a little setback stopped him? If one Zombie wasn’t enough, then he’d use 10. And if ten weren’t enough… then they were fucked!
— BLERGGGG!
— BLERGGGG!
— BLERGGGG!
— BLERGGGG!
Her barrier was finally covered from head to toe with the last one. As for her light, what light? Now, it couldn’t be seen at all, and with it, peace seemingly returned to the Dungeon.
The screaming Zombies? While they didn’t magically disappear, they at least lost their rampaging state… for now! With this, the Master and pet cleared their immediate area.
As for the woman, she was now panicking inside her cocoon.
“Villain, I don’t know what you’re planning, but—”
“Pfft— Planning? For you? A LOT!” He spat out as he continued.
“If you don’t behave, I won’t just break your magical shield, but I’ll get in there, grab that long staff of yours, and shove it up your ass till it goes out from—”
At this moment, she shuddered endlessly. Yet, she finally stopped her light spell, seeing that the zombies had effectively calmed down.
Still, she couldn’t help but be apprehensive.
This man was EVIL, she could sense it. Appearance? No issue there. Voice? Cold and domineering, but neither. No, it was his soul. Never had she felt one so corrupted!
But then it got worse, WAY worse! All the Demonic Energy that she could feel from the Zombies’ remnants?! It was now disappearing! Were the duo…. Absorbing it?!
They were monsters! They were the real monsters here! That’s when she subtly clenched her fist. No matter what, she couldn’t allow them to leave this place alive!
“Let’s go. It’s time to clear this goddamn Dungeon….”
“Miaow!” (Hell yeah, Master!)