Lila closed her eyes, focusing intensely.

After a few moments, she pointed to one of the dark passages branching off from where we stood.

"That way," she said softly. "My Inheritance says we need to go that way."

I gave her a reassuring nod and motioned for her to stay close as we began our march down the ominous corridor.

My slimes formed a defensive perimeter as usual, staying vigilant.

As we walked through the dim light, I decided to break the silence.

"Lila... how did you get captured by those people?"

She hesitated, her small face scrunching up in thought, as if struggling with how to share her experience.

"I-I was with my family," she began quietly, her voice trembling with sadness. "We were moving from our home in search of a new one, like we always do. We never stay in one place too long... it's safer that way. But one night, they found us."

"They?" I asked, trying to understand who she meant.

"They were... bad men." she whispered, shivering at the memory. "We tried to run, but they were faster and prepared. Our species can't defend ourselves against outsiders. Our only ability is to find our way. We don't delve into dungeons, so we don't acquire classes or skills. So, how could we... escape?"

"...."

"They took me away. The group must have been made up of different parties because once they captured us, they split up, taking my parents and younger siblings in different directions."

"Bastards..." I muttered under my breath, feeling a surge of anger.

Lila continued, her voice barely audible. "They kept me in that cage and eventually sold me to those men. They said they were going to use me to find treasures in the dungeon. But I didn't want to help them. I just wanted to go home with my family."

She looked up at me with big, sad eyes, and I felt a heavy weight in my chest.

"For now, I just want to get out of this dungeon... and once I'm outside, I'll search for my family."

"..."

I couldn't promise her that her family was alive and well.

I couldn't assure her that she would find them.

The odds were too small.

All I could do was continue walking down the path she led us on, silently expressing my resolve, which she understood without seeking sympathy.

"S-since you entered the dungeon, you should now have been granted a class." I asked, trying to to keep the conversation going, hoping it would distract her from the grim reality.

"Though you probably didn't earn a new skill since those usually come from the crystallized white orb, 'God's Gift.' "

She nodded. "They forced me to take the cleric class."

"Cleric?!"

"They said if I ever get hurt, I could heal myself. They didn't want me to die too early... I was too valued for them, they said. And they didn't want to spent money on potions or hire a cleric if they ever got hurt themselves. So, they made me pick the cleric class."

The more I listened, the angrier I became.

Not because of what they did, but because I realized I would have done the same thing.

If I had been playing the game normally, seeing them only as NPCs, I would have told her to take the cleric class too—the perfect support character.

What truly infuriated me was the realization that I was just like those bastards, treating her like an object to be used and discarded.

I could see my own hypocrisy in all this... but my actions came from not knowing that everything was real.

"Since you acquired the cleric class, then you must have gained that trait, right?"

"Mhm, the [Path of a Clergy]. But it's useless to me since I can't use it, and it's only making my situation worse..."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“As I thought. Until you get a skill that complements it, this class is pretty much dead weight for you.”

The [Path of a Clergy] was the trait granted to anyone who took the [Cleric] class.

Like my Necromancer class, which gave me the [Animus] trait, the cleric’s trait doesn’t change their skills outright.

Instead, it enhances them—but at a steep cost.

[Path of a Clergy] boosts the effectiveness of all healing, buffing, and miscellaneous skills by 50%, but in exchange, it slashes action speed by 20%.

That means casting, attacking, and even moving are all permanently slowed by that massive 20%, making clerics nearly useless in direct active situations.

This is why most clerics avoid dungeon delving altogether and work for the church instead as to pay off their credit taxes—the same church that collides with the government to distribute the God’s Gift each year.

There’s a reason why their fees for healing and curse removal are sky-high—they hold a monopoly.

You rarely see a cleric in the dungeon, and those who do choose the adventurer’s path are highly valued, though most don’t survive long.

The real problem is that even if Lila were to acquire a skill from the God’s Gift stone, it wouldn’t guarantee her success.

Her trait only works with abilities that heal, buff, or provide some kind of effect—skills that are rare to begin with.

The only real hope would be for her to find an awakened crystallized heart that matches her class.

But that’s unlikely. Once she’s out of here, she probably won’t ever step foot in a dungeon again.

As our conversation was wrapping up, Lila suddenly stiffened, her eyes narrowing as she whispered, "Quiet. We're close to the destination, but I hear voices up ahead."

I paused, straining to catch what she heard.

It wasn’t until she mentioned it that the faint echoes of raised voices reached my ears, bouncing off the walls of the narrow passage.

I exchanged a look with her, and we began to move cautiously, our steps deliberately slow and silent.

My slime, slithered close behind, its gelatinous form gliding almost soundlessly over the stone floor.

The corridor widened, the oppressive walls opening into a massive chamber.

As we edged around the corner, the sight before us made my breath catch.

The space expanded into a vast room, with countless tunnels and passageways converging into this single, colossal point.

But it wasn’t only the architecture that seized my attention—it was the sheer number of adventurers crammed into the area.

Dozens, maybe even hundreds, filled the space, organized into distinct groups and parties.

The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife, every eye locked on the others, some exchanging death stares, others in the midst of heated arguments that looked ready to explode into violence at any second.

“What the hell is going on?” I wondered, my mind racing to make sense of the scene unfolding before me.

The question nagged at me until I noticed what dominated the very center of the chamber.

"T-This?!"

A massive sculpture loomed over the gathered adventurers, its form impossible to mistake.

My heart skipped a beat as recognition set in. “Isn’t that... the Overfiend Slime?”

Sure enough, the sculpture at the center of the arena was a towering replica of the boss I’d barely managed to defeat not long ago.

As I took in the gathering of adventurers, the pieces began to fall into place.

“This is where your inheritance led us, right, Lila?” I asked, keeping my voice low but urgent.

Lila nodded, her eyes fixed on the statue. “Yeah. My Pathfinder ability pointed us straight here. It’s all converging on that statue.”

The realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

“So, this floor’s hidden area... it’s a Boss Rush reward.”

The adventurers gathered here weren’t just here by chance.

Lila looked at me, confusion in her eyes. “What’s a Boss Rush reward?”

I glanced around at the tense faces of the adventurers surrounding the statue, then back to her.

“A Boss Rush reward is one of the rarest events in the dungeon. It’s something most adventurers only hear about in rumors. Once someone discovers a statue like that one,” I nodded toward the massive Overfiend sculpture, “it signals that a Boss Rush event is active. When that happens, things usually turn into a bloody massacre.”

Lila’s eyes widened, and I continued, “These statues represent the boss of the floor, and they’re incredibly rare—usually found on the middle to higher floors, where competition isn’t as fierce. But when a Boss Rush statue appears on the lower floors, like this one... blood is sure to be spilled. A lot of it.”

She swallowed hard. “What makes it so dangerous?”

“The statue indicates that the first group to kill the boss of the floor can claim an exclusive reward.

Normally, on the higher floors, the competition is low because the adventurers up there are seasoned, and they know better than to fight over a reward that’s not guaranteed.

But on the lower floors, like this one, it’s a different story. A lot of people think they have a shot, so they stay and wait for the boss to be defeated. Then, they’ll try to kill the group that took it down and steal the reward from their dead bodies.”

Lila’s face paled. “So that’s why there are so many adventurers here... they’re waiting for the group that killed the boss?”

I nodded grimly. “Exactly. They’re waiting for the group that killed the boss to emerge with the reward located at the statue. And when that happens, all hell is going to break loose. They’ll try to take it by force, and with so many of them here, it’s going to turn into a bloodbath. Everyone will be fighting for that one reward, and the chaos will be unimaginable.”

Lila sighed in relief. "So it's a reward only given to the group that kills the boss. That means we’re safe, right? There’s no need for us to stick around. Our deal is done. You can just help me get out of here now."

I shook my head, giving her a silent, serious look.

She frowned, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “...Don’t tell me.”

I nodded slowly.

"...By yourself?" she asked, her voice in disbelief.

I nodded again, trying to keep a straight face.

She threw her hands up in the air. “Unbelievable! And here I was thinking you were my ticket out of this dungeon! What’s wrong with that Pathfinder ability of mine? You’re obviously going to be my one-way trip to heaven!”

I couldn’t help but shrug at her dramatic outburst, a small smirk tugging at the corner of my lips.

“Well, it might actually be worth going after this reward… as long as we strategize properly. And I might just have a way to do so.”

The plan was already forming in my mind, a risky one, but if we played our cards right, it could work.

Lila stared at me, still half-convinced that I was leading her to her doom, but there was a flicker of trust in me. And that was enough.

"Hear me out..."