Chapter 2: The Forgotten Ruins
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Haruto crashed into solid stone with a force that rattled his bones.
For a moment, he just lay there, dazed, staring up at the crumbling ceiling high above. Dust and small rocks rained down from the hole he had fallen through, and he let out a long, pained groan.
"Ow. Ow. Ow."
When he finally managed to roll onto his stomach, his entire body protested. His arms felt bruised, his ribs ached, and he was pretty sure his spine had filed an official complaint against him.
"Okay. Quick injury check. Head? Not cracked open. Arms? Still attached. Dignity? Dead on arrival."
He slowly pushed himself up, blinking through the dim light. The air here was thick with dust and the scent of ancient stone. The walls around him stretched high, covered in faintly glowing carvings, their light barely illuminating the space.
Then it hit him—
This place wasn’t a natural cave.
It was a ruin.
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Haruto turned in a slow circle, taking in his surroundings. Towering stone pillars lined what seemed to be an ancient hall, long abandoned. The walls were cracked, vines creeping through the broken structure. Statues of figures in armor loomed over him, their faces weathered away by time.
But the most unsettling part?
He wasn’t the first person to be here.
Scattered across the floor were broken weapons, rusted armor, and decayed banners. The remains of past adventurers… or maybe something worse.
"Oh good. This place just screams 'totally safe and not at all cursed.'"
As much as he wanted to sit and process, his survival instincts kicked in. He needed to:
1. Find an exit.
2. Avoid anything that wanted to kill him.
3. Not die like the last people who came here.
With no other option, he pressed forward, stepping carefully over debris and old bones.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
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As Haruto navigated the ruins, he noticed a faint glow ahead.
Cautiously, he approached and found something unexpected—
A small pedestal stood in the center of the hall, covered in dust and strange symbols. Resting atop it was a metallic gauntlet, sleek and surprisingly well-preserved compared to everything else. It seemed important.
Which, in hindsight, should have been a huge red flag.
Haruto hesitated. This is either a treasure or a death trap.
After a long internal debate, he reached out—
And grabbed it.
The moment his fingers made contact, a faint blue light pulsed from the gauntlet’s surface. A whisper of magic shivered through the air, and for a brief second, Haruto felt something click in his mind—like a door opening.
Then, suddenly—
The gauntlet disappeared.
Vanished. Into thin air.
Haruto stared at his empty hands. Then at the pedestal. Then back at his hands.
“…Huh?”
He took a step back. Maybe he had imagined it? Maybe it was a hologram or illusion?
Nope. It was just gone.
After several seconds of stunned silence, Haruto’s brain finally turned back on.
"Oh, come on! Did I just break it?! Is that a thing here?! Do artifacts just vanish if you touch them too hard?!"
Frustrated, he patted his pockets, checked his sleeves, even looked behind the pedestal. Nothing.
And that’s when a new problem arose.
A deep rumbling echoed through the ruins.
Haruto’s stomach dropped.
"Oh, that’s not good."
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The entire hall shook, dust cascading from above. Somewhere in the distance, stone scraped against stone, as if something massive was stirring.
Then, from the far end of the ruins, two enormous stone doors began to creak open.
Haruto froze.
Because beyond those doors, something was moving.
The dim blue light of the carvings flickered, illuminating a towering silhouette. A hulking figure of metal and stone, its eyes glowing with an eerie, mechanical light.
It was a guardian.
And it had just woken up.
Haruto’s survival instincts screamed:
RUN.
And, for once, he actually listened.
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The ruins shook violently as the guardian stepped forward, its movements slow but heavy. Its massive stone hand reached out, and from deep within its hollow chest, a low, mechanical voice rumbled:
“INTRUDER DETECTED.”
Haruto did not stick around to hear the rest.
He sprinted.
As he bolted through the ruins, the guardian gave chase, each step causing the ground to quake. Haruto ducked under broken pillars, leapt over rubble, and avoided crumbling sections of floor.
The whole time, one thought pounded in his head:
"Why does every fantasy world have killer ruins?! Who built this crap?!"
He rounded a corner and spotted a narrow passageway ahead. A small opening between two fallen pillars—too small for the guardian to follow.
Hope.
Pushing himself forward, he dove through the gap, rolling onto the cold stone floor on the other side.
Behind him, the guardian lurched forward, but the passage was too tight for its bulk. It slammed into the wall, causing more dust and debris to fall.
Haruto lay there, panting, watching the thing struggle to reach him.
Eventually, the rumbling died down. The guardian’s glowing eyes flickered, and then—without another word—it froze. Like a machine powering down.
Silence returned to the ruins.
Haruto slowly sat up, heart pounding.
"Well. That was a thing that happened."
After a long moment of recomposing himself, he frowned.
"Okay. So. Gauntlet disappeared. Ancient robot tried to kill me. Still no exit. Love that for me."
He sighed, rubbing his temples.
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End of Chapter 2