After the light flash that signals we reached our destination, I get ready for the Dungeon Invasion.

“All right, let’s get ready for this…”

Right next to me, Marta asks me an obvious question. “Are you really going to use that…? Aren’t you exaggerating quite a bit?”

She’s right, it’s obvious I’m going to use this. ‘Why obvious?’ you ask. That’s an easy thing to answer, my friends. It’s because I don’t want to see ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING of what’s to come next.

So I’m obviously putting a blindfold on myself. This way, I won’t see anything, even if I feel the urge to open my eyes at some point.

But this isn’t all I’ve prepared for today. No, it isn’t. I still have something else…

The next thing I take out of my ‘Inventory’ is earplugs.

“Oh, come on, Andreu! We’re supposed to play together! How am I supposed to test Clara’s dungeon if you’re like this!?”

“I don’t care,” I say. “It’s your fault I have to come here, you forced me to do it. So I’m going to do everything I can to avoid suffering.”

“Ugh… If I had known…” She mutters.

Hah! Serves you right! You were the one who practically forced me to invade Clara’s dungeon, even after whining the whole time about how much I hated it. Now, you must face the consequences of your decision! Hahaha!

After yesterday’s psychological and physical torture, also called battle training with my little sister’s Champion while Marta taught us, I couldn’t sleep. And I already decided a long time ago I wouldn’t enter an Abyss dungeon ever again…

Since I have no way to avoid coming here, I’ll do everything I can to prevent myself from suffering today too.

What are we doing here? Isn’t it obvious Marta came here today to check up on Clara’s dungeon and tell her how to improve it?

As for me… I got dragged against my will into this mess. These kinds of things happen sometimes, especially when your sisters decide things without taking your opinion into consideration.

Anyway! Let’s move to my last protective measure.

I take a heavy fur coat to cover my whole body in it. Followed by thick gloves and some other protective clothes. They will prevent me from feeling almost anything. Things like slimy tentacles, for example. Or slimy tentacles.

Did I mention slimy tentacles…?

The only spot the thick clothes don’t cover is the eyes, but there’s the blindfold there… It’s the perfect defense against disgusting things! Hahaha!

“Oh, come on. You’re kidding me now!”

I hear somebody complain near me, but I ignore it. Did you say anything, Marta? I can’t hear you with the earplugs on… Fufufu! Hahaha!

Oh, and by the way. These are just cosmetic elements. DMA has a lot of personalization so that players can make their Champions look as they want without preventing them from playing the game properly.

It’s possible to make a blind monk, for example, similar to what I’m doing right now, but still be able to see.

What will prevent me from actually seeing, hearing, or feeling anything aren’t the blindfold, earplugs, or thick clothes, but the game options. I lowered all sounds and feelings to the minimum possible without actually turning them off, as well as disabling the sight completely.

And as I put the protections on my Champion, I also modify the game options appropriately.

It’s fun that the game allows for so much customization while not limiting gameplay, but at the same time has options to impose those same penalties if you actually want to. Penalties like being blind, or deaf.

I turned on the blind mode but didn’t activate the deaf mode because I still want to be able to communicate with my sister. Instead, I turned the volume to the minimum.

What the game doesn’t allow is to completely turn off the sense of touch. I suppose it’s something about player mentality. Something like not wanting players to play as if they were invulnerable to damage and then think it’s the same in real life…

“Did you say anything? I can’t hear you.” I shout.

Hmm… It’s kind of weird to almost not hear my own voice when I’m shouting. I’ll need some time to get used to it.

“Don’t shout, you jerk! I’m right next to you!” Oh, I can hear her properly now. I’m sure she’s shouting too.

“Is that so? I can’t see you, so I don’t know where you are...”

“I didn’t move, and neither did you, so of course I’m next to you. And I said don’t shout at me!”

I’m sorry, but I can’t stop. If I don’t shout, I won’t hear my own voice. “I can’t!”

“Ugh, you really… You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you!?”

“Uh… maybe?”

“Aaagh! I hate you!”

I feel something hit me, and then I hit something hard.

Heh, this is fun. I’m sure she just kicked me and I fell to the ground, but I almost didn’t feel anything.

“Hey! Why did you kick me!?”

“Just because I wanted to!”

“...ok. But I’ll need your help to stand up. Here.” I extend my hand for her to grab and help me up.

“...”

She doesn’t say anything but still grabs my hand and I feel myself flying for a moment before finding myself standing up again. Hahaha, her Champion’s strength is the real deal!

Oh, by the way, she’s using her main account for this, so she’s using the Seraphim champion. It’s a matter of fact her STR stat is monstrous right now.

Now that I think about it… I’m glad I didn’t fall into the void because of her previous kick. I’m sure she must’ve controlled her strength. She can be ‘nice’ too.

“Ugh… I hate this… It was Clara, not me, who wanted you to come, you know? I would have preferred to come alone if I knew it would be like this…”

I think I heard Marta say something, but I’m not sure. This minimum volume thing is kind of annoying. But it’s indispensable to protect my mental health, so there’s no way I’m going back to the normal volume.

“Did you say anything?”

“No, I didn’t!”

She didn’t? It must have been my imagination, then.

Like this, we start our dungeon invasion.

“You’ll have to protect me from all the dangers, ok? Also, guide me so I don’t step into a hole and fall into the void, ok?”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Sure, yes. Whatever… I’ll take this as an extra handicap to train myself…”

“Did you say anything?”

“I said yes! I’ll protect you!”

“Thank you! I love you! Hahaha!”

“Ugh… You… you!”

I feel myself falling to the ground yet another time. Did I trip over because I can’t see where I step?

Or… did she kick me again?

*Sigh!* This Dungeon Invasion is going to be hard on several levels…

----------------------------------------

“Marta, are you there? Am I still following you, or did I get lost? I can’t see anything…”

This is weird… it’s been some time since I’ve last heard her say anything. I don’t know where I am, nor do I know if there are any enemies… And I don’t know where my sister is either.

Of course, it’s my fault that I can’t see, and also that I can barely hear or feel anything. Mich makes me completely useless. Scratch that, it makes me worse than useless. I’m the worst baggage I could possibly be right now.

But she’s a ‘pro player’, isn’t she? She should be able to carry me even in this situation, ain’t I right?

That’s why I find this situation weird. It can’t be she’s dead, and there’s absolutely no way she got lost. So… does this mean it’s me who got lost?

“Hey, are you there? Did you leave me alone…?” I wait for an answer, but I hear nothing. “Hmm… did I fall into the void? …but I should have felt like I was falling if I did, right?”

I didn’t feel like I was falling. Nor flying, like when Marta kicked me before. So it shouldn’t be.

“Then, did I take the wrong turn and we split up?”

That’s… possible. I mean, I can’t see where I go. If she told me ‘go right’ and I went left instead, she might be somewhere else. Obviously, it's her fault for not guiding me properly.

Me, you say? I’m the victim here!

Ok, so we all agreed I’m the victim and it’s definitely not my fault. But this doesn’t make the situation any better.

“Should I… leave the dungeon?” For blind people, or for people who disable the sight sense like me, or for anyone who wants to do it, it’s possible to control the game through voice commands. This means I can surrender whenever I want. “I could do it, but then Clara will be sad about it. Let’s stay here for a while…”

I anxiously turn my head around a few times. I can’t see anything, but what else can I do? It’s scary being here alone, not knowing when an Abyss monster can come and attack me.

“Hello? Marta…?”

…how long do I have to wait?

This, this is oppressing… it’s so dark, and I can’t see, feel, or hear anything… It might be even worse than having to suffer one of those horrible hugs with the slimy tentacles or having to see one of those mind-shattering horrors… I have to admit, I didn’t think this properly.

I can’t stop myself from imagining the tentacles dragging me into a giant eye with teeth as I struggle to survive.

You know what? I take it back. This oppressive feeling is waaaay better. At least, I won’t get nightmares from this.

Just at this moment, I can feel something touching my arm and slowly crawling upwards. Since I have the feeling sense set to the minimum, I can barely perceive it. Maybe… maybe it isn’t real? I was fantasizing about this exact situation a moment ago, it could be my imagination.

“I-I can’t feel anything. This, this is just… my imagination. Y-yes! I-it’s my imagination!”

Stupid imagination! I hate you so much! Why did you have to be so good at it, Andreu?

“This isn’t real. Nothing is touching me. I’m safe…”

Wait a moment… This shouldn’t be possible! I should be surrounded by my Good Followers right now! And they should take care of everything near me! It isn’t possible for an enemy to reach me unless… unless I’m completely alone…

Oooh, shit. OOOOH, SHIT!

Am I actually alone? Did all my Good Followers die and now I’m alone!?

The feeling continues to go up my arm until it reaches my shoulder. Then, it trails up my neck.

It isn’t disgusting, don’t misunderstand. Since I turned it to the minimum, I only feel a gentle touch that goes up my arm and my neck. The problem is with ‘what’ might be causing me to feel this.

O-ok. I think the time has come. It’s time to surrender.

“I-I surre-”

I try to speak, but the ‘something’ that’s grabbing me reaches my face and prevents me from talking.

Aaagh, shit! Like this, I can’t talk. And if I can’t talk, I can’t give the voice command to surrender and leave the dungeon! This is very bad…

I struggle the best I can to free myself, to no avail. Whatever’s grabbing me is stronger than I am.

Ah, the feeling of oppression from before is now getting worse. I can’t move. I can’t talk. Nor see. Hear. Feel. The last three are on me, but still…

In this absolute darkness, the only thing I can do is wait for death. Will it come soon? I hope so. I can’t even see the HP bar because I disabled the sight completely.

Wait a moment… I can’t talk!? The game’s monsters shouldn’t be able to gag a player unless it’s by accident or with a skill that allows them to do so. The only ones that can do so freely are the other players.

This must mean… ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME!?

“Pfft! Ahaha!” Right at this moment I hear somebody laughing right next to my ear.

It must be… It MUST be… My sister Marta!

“Hahaha! Your reaction was so funny, Andreu! Ahahaha!” While laughing, she releases me. “I’m sorry, but I HAD to do it. After annoying me for the whole dungeon invasion, I somehow had to make you regret your decision to turn off the sight, hearing, and touch.”

“Are you fucking with me!? You know the reason I disabled the three senses, so why are you making me scared like this!?”

She strikes me on the back a few times as she continues to laugh. At least, I think she does.

“Hahaha! Fuu…” She slowly breathes in and out to calm herself. “Come on, it wasn’t so bad. I’m sure you couldn’t feel almost anything anyway…”

“That’s true… Still, this doesn’t justify your actions!”

“It doesn’t? Do you know how annoying it was to guide you through the whole dungeon? Andreu, step to the right. Andreu, there’s an enemy in front. Andreu, beware the hole. Andreu this, Andreu that… I’m not your babysitter! Also, you brought it upon yourself! You could always say no to Clara and be done with the Abyss stuff.”

“...”

I hate to admit it, but she’s kind of right. I brought it upon myself. If only I could say no to my little sister when she asks…

And it was me who proposed to invade Clara’s dungeon. Sure, it was to avoid Marta’s teaching session, and it didn’t work anyway, but… It was me who said it first. And if there’s one thing I’ll always do, is to keep my word.

Only when I want, or when it comes to my little sister. But I’ll always keep my word.

“...it isn’t funny.”

“You’re right, it isn’t. Guiding you through the whole dungeon wasn’t funny.”

“You know I’m not talking about that.”

“Huh? I’m sorry, did you say anything? I think I disabled my hearing sense too, so I couldn’t hear what you just said.”

You, you’re doing this on purpose…

I sigh. “All right, let’s forget about this… should we continue? How long do you think it is until we reach the end?”

“Don’t you listen to what I say? We’re almost there. I said ‘guide through the whole dungeon’, didn’t I?”

“Does this mean we’re done with this?”

“Not yet. But I can see the dungeon core from here.”

“Nice! I can finally leave this horrifying dungeon behind! Fufufu! Hahaha!”

I’m not sure if I’m making the proper laughing pose or not because of my limited senses. But I hope I do.

“I see you recover quickly. If I had known, I would have stayed quiet until the end… Well, what’s done is done. Wait here, Andreu. I’ll come look for you once I finish this.”

She wants to leave me behind. Again, alone, in this dark space where I can’t feel anything… I shudder.

“C-can you not b-bring me with you?”

“Didn’t you hear me? I’m not your babysitter.”

“P-please, I beg you. Can’t you guide me as you’ve been doing all the time?”

“No. I’m tired of it. And there’s no reason to because we’re almost at the end.”

“T-then… Can I… no, this won’t work. Umm, please? I beg you, don’t leave me behind!”

“What are you complaining about now? Weren’t you scared of the monsters here?”

I do. But I hate this dark isolation too.

I try to make puppy eyes at her. I’m really worried if it’ll work or not… After all, I’ve got this giant rat head. This, and I can’t see. Maybe I’m not even looking in her direction.

“Sigh, fine. You can come. But don’t hope for me to give you instructions. You can, I don’t know... Just grab onto one of your Best Followers of whatever they’re called and make it follow me. This way I don’t have to look out for you.”

“Ok, I’ll do it.”

And it’s Good Follower, not Best Follower.

I stumble around until I grab something. It doesn’t react, so I guess it’s one of my Good Followers. I really hope so, because if it’s one of the monsters I’m going to cry.

Good Follower, it’s time to switch our roles. This time, it’s me who’s going to follow after you!

We walk like this for what feels like a minute or two, though it might be less. It’s hard to keep track of time when I can’t see the game’s clock.

We… couldn’t have we done this from the beginning?

“If I had thought of this before, I would have had an easier time… Tsk! Damn it!”

Looks like both of us are thinking the same thing.

[https://i.imgur.com/ZGSK4Pl.png]

This was the second time Andreu invaded an Abyss dungeon. In the future, he would avoid them the best he could. Clara’s dungeon included.

In fact, from then onwards, when he got randomly paired with an Abyss player in PvP, he immediately surrendered. Even before the match started. This was the reason he never reached the top PvP rankings.