“—hell is that supposed to mean?!!!”

“—willing to risk our lives unlike you psychos!!!”

“—crazy, do you think we will go with that plan!!”

Most of the students who weren’t willing to go ahead inside through the next set of doors, were just shouting, complaining and lashing out their anger and discomfort at Ryuya and the others.

It had been almost thirty minutes since they had began to complain continuously at Ryuya and the others, and I had kept quiet the entire time, exchanging a few glances from time to time, as Ryuya made an awkward expression each time as he looked back at me.

I sighed deeply looking at the distrust displayed palpable in the students eyes and on their faces. Of course they were scared, tired and hungry. But staying here wouldn’t solve those problems. And despite the rations we had they weren’t enough to feed everyone here a full stomach .

We needed to find a way out of here, and it was only to move forward and find an exit ourselves. Because, just like in the past, the system didn't present me with an impossible; almost impossible, quest which I couldn’t clear. There has to be some kind of catch in all of this.

I turned my head at the flock of students gathered around Ryuya, as my mana rolled out of me in a fleeting ruffle, in the specific direction of the students, as the atmosphere around us became heavy and oppressive.

Their faces twisted into a tight frown, as the loud voices inside here diminished. Everyone held their breath as they felt the oppressive pressure being bore down on them.

I withdrew my mana and the pressure also disappeared, as everyone turned to look at me. Their fearful faces looking at me like I was some kind of monster who could rip their throat out any moment.

I walked closer to the bunch and held their gazes with my eyes emotionless and indifferent. I peered through the majority of the students who were not willing to move forward, and there were a total of nineteen students, out of the meagre amount of sixty-two left—with three dead—,who were dissatisfied with my proposal of moving forward into the dungeon. The rest were reluctant but had agreed into following us.

“Then what do you want to do instead, huh?” I asked, my voice stern and emotionless as it boomed in their ears, as they all jumped a step. I held the youth, Kale Triden’s gaze—who was standing in the front of the group—as he flinched back another step, thinking I might jump him any moment.

“Y-You—You’re one to say,” Kale sputtered as he hesitantly looked me in my eyes with a finger pointing in my direction. But his eyes drifted away from mine, as a moment later he shuddered another step back—afraid. “You were hiding your strength all along, and you know perfectly well if someone—anyone—who has the best chance at escaping this shit hole, its you Seo Jiwoo!” He grumbled as his voice echoed inside the hall. He clenched his hands and looked at me with his eyes blood shot.

“Your strength is at least equal to a rank hunter, isn’t it, then what about us who are barely on the threshold of the rank or on the borderline of the rank. I don’t want to die. No one here does, and knowing fully well just what kind of monsters and shit that this dungeon has that awaits us if we move forward, you want us to risk our lives knowing fully well the risk yourself, that any of us could die at any moment!”

Seriously, he’s sputtering whatever that comes to his puny mind at this point of time. Then staying here fixes that problem.

“And there is still the risk of you being a demon’s contractee,” a student barked from behind Kale as he awkwardly held my gaze.

I deliberately led my sigh roll out of me longer as they all had their eyes fixed on me. “Then tell me, does staying here and waiting for your deaths from starvation, or coming along with us and trying to find a way out, which choice is better, huh?” I asked as I peered across all of the students, judging who was faltering from this situation. Almost all of them reluctantly looked at me, evading my gaze as if what I was saying made the most sense, in front of the bullshit they were spewing nonstop.

“Do you think you would be able to survive with the meagre supplies you have left? Or are you all just waiting for some kind of miracle to happen?” I stopped as I looked at the doors mounted at the end of the room. “Wake up, the world doesn’t work like that, its either kill or be killed in this world! And if you are so willing to be left behind, then I also wouldn’t want to carry a dead weight with me, which might hinder or risk others lives who can assist as a better fighting force.”

“Its better to die with a struggle, knowing you tried to do something—tried to change your inevitable fates—, then to die without doing anything, just sitting around idly," I let my words roll out of me with more emotion as I finished my sentence.

“And about why you suspect me being a demon’s contractee, if I had really been one, then would I have been so willing to risk my life for all of you back then. I would have so generously prioritised my own safety, leaving you all behind to met your maker.” My voice once again boomed across the mass of students, as they turned their head away from me.

Among the students I saw Thomas standing at the rear end of the students’ group, his eyes met mine for a moment, as a wide scowl plastered over his face, but I nonchalantly looked at him as I shrugged. “Its your choice, whether you die here, or try and struggle together with us to find a way out of here.”

“But even you can’t guarantee that we all will make it out alive, would you?” A student asked, as a scowl and an expression of panic arched across his face. The others also began to vent out their distress and panic in that moment.

I drew in a quick breath, as all the desperate awaiting eyes turned to me, as if I was some kind of hero, some saviour for them in this desperate situation.

This was exactly the reason why I never wanted to be given the leader position. I inwardly grunted. But still, they are afraid, and them being stuck inside this place is I think, partially my fault. We were all transported inside here due to the sudden quest of the system. And I was getting a hunch that the system was responsible for them being here.

Seriously, the system was getting more unpredictable than before the more time I spent studying it.

“I can’t promise you anything,” I said placidly, as I met their gazes head on. “But staying here won’t do us any good either. But even if its that, we all are willing to take the risk to explore ahead to find an exit.” I slowly turned to look behind me where the others were standing, with their weapons ready to be drawn anytime.

Kale finally sighed in defeat as he held on to my wrist and looked me straight in my eyes this time, his gaze unflinching. His scowl turned into a slightly determined expression, but his lips quivered as he spoke.

“Damn it...alright then,” Kale said. “Then you better try your hardest in finding that damn exit out of here. I’ll follow you!”

I nodded at him in response then turned around in the direction of the doors.

But some anxious eyes still followed me from behind, each step I took, as I walked closer to the metallic doors.

I activated Mind’s Eye and looked for any trigger or gap. But this time there wasn’t any. The door itself looked just like any random run down door, which had rusted as a result of years of mould and moss growing over it.

I placed both hands over it and pressed hard. As I kept pushing, my mana surged as I reinforced my body and kept pushing with all the strength I could muster. Then the doors lightly creaked. From my right side, Ryuya, Amelia, Han, Claire and a few others began to push together with me. And on my left, Jiyoung, Lucas, Derek, Kale and the rest.

The doors screeched against the cobblestone floor, as the floor shook and the rusty metal doors pushed open. A slight breeze swayed my hair and clothes as I took a step forward, with the others right beside or behind me.

But this time the doors opened up to a room which was closer in size—but still wide enough—but as I peered across the room, I was left a little dumbfounded and awestricken by the items which were laid here on display. There were many kinds of equipment—be it swords, daggers, spears and artifacts—laid on the floor as there were many stands on which extravagant armours were hanged which gleamed brightly and had a strong signature of mana emanating from them.

The gleaming sheen of the gems, sapphires, rubies and many other kinds of treasure were littered all over the floor of this room as the blistering light of the purple fire reflected through the fist size—or bigger—gems. There was a small pavement in the middle through which lush blades of grass were growing out of as the pavement led to an even wider tunnel which was twice the size and width of the metallic doors. The grass pavement let deeper into the tunnel which grew deeper and eerie as far as my eyes could see.

“Holy shit—!” Kale said, with an exaggerated tone, as his eyes gleamed in surprise and his mouth agape as he took in the sight in front of him.

I stepped forward and began to observe the equipments which were stored inside this room.

This room must be some kind of treasury. I thought as I held up a pair of daggers. They were perfectly crimson in colour with the exception of having a few black lines spiralling down their body.

There were rubies embedded on the pommel of the handle, with the intersecting part of the dagger having something written over it.

‘Res Ku Tel!’ That was what was written over the dagger. But I couldn’t understand the language in which the words were written. It was some foreign language which I had never seen or heard of.

I withdrew a dagger from its leather sheath, and spun it in my hand, as I looked at my reflection in the blade of the daggers. It was perfect in the weight as well as the balance department, I pocked a finger near the edge of the blade and it cut right through my skin like a knife on a brick of butter. Its sharpness was quite good. These pair of daggers were far better than any pair I had seen out there.

From my side I saw Lucas Claymore taking a peek at the daggers I firmly held in my hand. I withdrew the dagger back into the sheath and tossed them in his direction, as the wound over my finger patched itself.

Surprised, Lucas caught the daggers in his hands as he turned to look at me. “Why are you giving these to me?” He asked confused. Those daggers were at least a , close to a rank item, which could be sold for a good price. But it was also an item which Lucas could barely wield now that his strength was on the borderline of the rank, close to reaching the threshold of the rank.

But the mana consumption as well as how a person wielded a weapon depended on the wielder itself.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“My specialty and mastery is mostly in the sword, so daggers are pretty much useless to me,” I returned as Lucas nodded back at me in acknowledgement, then I began to look around the hordes of the treasures which laid on the floor.

The others were doing the same. Some were pulling the armour off from the stands and trying them on. My attention went to Jiyoung for a moment who was pulling a sword out of its sheath which had a beautiful subtle white colour as she kept on observing the item with keen eyes.

On my left side, I saw Ryuya’s emerald eyes begin to slightly gleam as he took a silvery breastplate which had a dirt colour orb embedded in its surface which emanated a rich mana signature of earth mana around it like a defensive shield.

And the other students who hungrily looked at the items which they held as their head snapped from left to right, reminded me of the movies I had seen a very long time ago about scavengers who were scavenging a temple filled with treasures dry. I chuckled as my gaze went to Derek, who had slipped on a few pebble size rubies as he crashed on to the hard floor of this chamber. He awkwardly looked around him to see if someone had seen this embarrassed moment of his, but he lightly sighed in relief as the others were busy in pillaging the place dry, but his gaze came to a stop at me. I giggled lightly, as Derek’s face turn a shade of red and he lowered his face down in embarrassment.

Claire on his side extended him a hand and helped the youth to his feet. She slightly glared at me with her eyes squinted and brows knitted with a playful expression over her face.

I returned with the left side of my lips carved into a playful and mischievous smile.

For a second, my worries had disappeared and I felt refreshed as I saw the others better expressions now.

‘I guess we just needed a change of pace in this grim situation,’ I thought as I walked to the top of a mountain made of gold coins, with gems here and there.

But despite that, the item and equipment here might help the others in their journey and fights ahead. I held up a golden coin, but released it a moment later as it plummeted and rolled down the steep mountain of gold with a tinkling noise.

“Has everyone taken what’s needed?” I asked taking a good look around the group. Everyone nodded back as a few students head turned in the direction of the gems. They hungrily looked at the gold and gems, but their dimensional rings must have become full after storing them with whatever items they could find.

But I turned around and swiped my hand near the surface of the gold coins, gems and the remaining item which were left by the students. The mountain of gold disappeared from beneath me as I stored it all inside the system inventory. Seriously, the only good thing about the system was its storage capacity. I think it was infinite.

A thin smile carved the edges of my lips as I envisioned Salvador’s drooling mouth when he sees the amount I had brought back with me. Well, Salvador would be quite delighted if I brought a gift back for him. And what better gift than money. He loved noting more than money. Well, who didn’t.

“Now, let’s move on,” I ordered, as I made my way toward the wide tunnel. The tunnel from up front was more bigger than I had thought. Then I stepped forward and the others followed me from behind.

There were wide, dark and malnourished vines growing and covering the ceiling and walls of the tunnel, as I smelled a mossy moist smell, the deeper I went.

With now fully geared and ready for battle, they all covered their steps with more determination and confidence. But their panic was still somewhat there, not leaving entirely.

The tunnel grew darker and more eerie, as we moved through it, but after a fifteen minute walk, I saw a bright light emerge from in front of us. I quickened my pace and quickly reached for the exit.

But just as I exited through the mouth of the wide tunnel together with the others, my eyes went wide as I peered across the beautiful meadow which stretched out far beyond my vision. We all peered agape at the brightly lit field of grass which glittered like polished emeralds, lush blades of grass swaying with a slight breeze. The deep warmth of the sun light basked us underneath its light which felt refreshing to the skin.

No, I squinted my eyes and looked above at the ceiling, where countless rows of stalactites were emanating a bright and warmth filled light. The deposit of calcium which littered the ceiling glowed tremendously bright.

I snapped my head around, but there weren’t any pillars visible which supported this place, it was simply a wide field. That means we are still instead this rune of some cave which was connected to that castle like halls from before. And this field stretched out for at least a few hundred metres in all directions. This place was giving me a bad feeling. As if he had walked through a portal and appeared at an entirely different location. A place where we weren’t supposed to be.

"Wow! Its so pretty,” a female student said with a gasp, as she took a step forward into the open field, snapping her head in all directions to take in the view.

But regardless, the scenery in front of me was relaxing, I felt the fatigue leave me at this moment, as I held back the impulse to just lay down on the grassy field and take a very long nap underneath the warm light and feel the soft breeze as my fatigue washed away.

I just felt too tried at this point.

But ever since entering this place, the hair at the back on my neck have kept standing, my body was high on alert, and my senses sharp to look out for any sudden attacks.

“Keep your guards up,” I reminded, as I took a step forward firmly keeping my sword held in my hand. The other heeded my warning, and pulled their body’s into stances, and kept attending to their surroundings.

We weren’t out in the open, and something was giving me a really bad feeling.

But some of the students had began to initiate a steady conversion, for distraction, action and anyway which could help them keep their panic at bay. Some of the others spread across the area examining it, trying to find an exit.

I continued examining the surrounding area, searching for what was making me so tense. The stalactites were illuminating the surrounding brightly. But after looking around for a few minutes, I couldn’t find an exit.

There had to be an exit portal somewhere!

Just what am I missing?

But my eyes drifted across the rich field and landed over the black mountain which was in front of us. It was entirely black in colour, as the grass and land around it was withered and dead. And it looked like as if the mountain was curled up on itself, as it looked shallow to the eyes.

I squinted my eyes and saw that there were fine scale like lines over the surface of the mountain which were highly detailed, but as if they were slightly transparent.

Now we all were only thirty meters away from the mountain and in the further edge of this field, but the eerie feeling I was getting since stepping foot into this place was only getting stronger the deeper we moved inside here.

“What the hell are we supposed to do now?” A student said in dissatisfaction, as he grimaced and pulled away from us. He tightly held a shield in his hand which had several groves over its surface and had a bright red orb embedded on the middle.

“What the hell are you doing? Come back here this instant!” Kale said to him as he tried to pull him back. But the student with blond hair slapped his hand away and continued with his ranting.

“As far as I can see, there isn’t anywhere to go from here onwards,” he said, as his face twisted even more and the scowl over his face worsened. “There isn’t even an exit portal here is there! I did agree in coming along with you bastards, but what are we supposed to do now, huh?!!!” His voice grew more tense and loud with each other we spewed out of his mouth.

But in that exact moment, the ground beneath us began to tremble as the hair at the back of my neck stood in complete alert.

My eyes followed from where the mountain was emerging—technically, something massive from behind it—, as my face twisted in horror as I saw two deep scarlet eyes about the size of a crate looking down upon us. From behind the shallow mountain, I saw a beast emerge as it kept looking down upon us as if we were its prey. I felt cold sweat at the back of my neck, as I kept lifting my head as the beast seem to kept on growing taller.

“What? What is it?” The student with blond hair asked, confused, as a wave of fear hit him.

Kale grimaced as he pointed in the direction where the silhouette of a colossal beast became visible which was both tall and large enough to blanket the majority of the area around us. It was at least a hundred metres long, with sharp fangs jolting out of its mouth, and two thick lance like spikes riddled with smaller ones, which curved back from the base of it head, making it look like a crown. It had a purple shaded tongue which swayed slightly making a hissing noise from its mouth which rang uncomfortably in my ears. Its body was covered in obsidian scales shinning like the most glittering and expensive jewels basking underneath the light projected by the stalactites. I swallowed hard on my saliva as I saw the mighty Basilisk standing in front of us. Its body was as wide as a building and its height reaching ten stories high, up to the ceiling, as my eyes never once left it.

Then that mountain must have been its shedded skin. I thought as I saw the despaired faces of the others. Everyone was petrified in their places, not willing to move.

As if a single glance from the Basilisk had immobilised them, turned them all to stone. But, Ryuya and a few others had returned to their senses quickly from the sense of the sudden shock.

“W-We are all g-going to die,” I heard a student stutter on his words. All the colour of his face had left him. His eyes displayed despair as he looked upon the Basilisk. His knees gave out as he slumped on the ground and he began to shudder in fear. He wrapped his arms around himself and began to mumble indistinctly.

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry,” his words came out as a hoarse whisper, but I nontheless still heard him.

“Everyone back to the tunnel,” I barked, snapping everyone out of their daze. They turned to look at me as they almost choked on their breath which had lodged in their throats as they looked upon the majestic of the beast.

Despite the initial shock which had overcame everyone on the ground as the Basilisk loomed above us, everyone snapped back to reality quickly, but some weaker students were unable to control their emotions.

Their shock and fear still palpably visible on their face, but at my call they began to rush toward the mouth of the tunnel.

But the ground shook as the Basilisk whipped its enormous tail at us. I was ready to dodge the sudden attack, but I watched in complete helplessness as the tail smashed into the students—eight of them—on my left, the ground shook and cracked as a pool of blood spread from underneath the leathery tail, as I heard the loud noise of the ground and bones cracking and shattering mixed together, and visibly saw blood splatter all around the area, dying it in a deep crimson. As the Basilisk lifted its tail again, I saw squashed corpses and blood stuck to it’s leathery scales, as I saw a tinge of delight in the beast's scarlet eyes, as if we were its playthings. But as it readied its tail again to whip at us in a horizontal strike, a student tripped over his feet as he stumbled on to the ground.

“HELP ME!!!” He pleaded as the Basilisk' tail was only a few feet away from him.

My mana erupted inside me, as I lunged my body backward, as I twirled I saw a few others slightly turning their head backward to look at me. I rushed to him and took the student by his arm and threw him forward with all the force I could muster.

But it gave the Basilisk’ tail enough time to reach me.

‘Damn it,’ I cursed as I readied my body and reinforced every inch of it with mana I could gather. I held both of my arms upwards defensively as its tail was now only a few inches away from me.

Then as the tip of the tail impacted against my body, my eyes momentarily rolled into my head as I felt myself go blank—in and out of consciousness—, as I flew and crashed on to the ground several meters away from where I had stood. I felt like a twig being brushed away by a heavy broom. My arms went numb as my bone shook terribly, but I felt relieved that the bones of my arms hadn’t broken and shattered under the impact.

I laid over the grass as I gnashed my teeth, my brows furrowed with such an intensity as my body wheezed in pain. I took a moment to dwell and allow the pain to subside and also allow my body to regenerate. The force at which the tail had impacted with my body had caused many of my bones to shatter. I vomited a mouthful of blood as I weakly straightened my body and saw that the Basilisk was over the other students in a moment, as they reached for the mouth of the tunnel.

But a few of them had began to fight back, as the others escaped, to distract the Basilisk. Among them were, Ryuya, Lucas, Han, Jiyoung, Claire, Derek and a few others.

Through my blurred and bloodied eyes, I saw Amelia mumbling something underneath her breath as a moment later, the earth mana coalesced around her and converged around her hands in a cluster of light. She waved her arms around and allowed her mana to conjure into whatever she willed it to.

[Earth Spikes]

A bright glow erupted from Amelia’s body, as the ground trembled and many sharp and thick spikes sprouted out from the ground and launched from all directions at the Basilisk.

Some of them impaled and obstructed the beast’s path, but didn’t do as much damage as they should have to the titanic beast. It's body was heavily guarded by the thick scales. And only a blow extremely strong enough could penetrant its defences.

As Ryuya dodged a whip attack from the Basilisk, barely, it swiftly launched its razor sharp tongue at Lucas who was right behind him, ready to launch a swift strike of his dagger which he held. And there was some black liquid oozing and drooping from its tongue, which fell over the ground, causing everything—wherever the liquid had fallen—to wither and melt away.

I breathed heavily as the poisonous tongue of the Basilisk reached near the youth. I quickly shot to my trembling feet, as my body kept of regenerating the damage I had undergone. But I didn’t have time or leisure to allow myself to completely heal.

I buckled my body and searched for my ability, the shackled power which housed itself deep within me, as my body squealed and shuddered in agony.

I took a deep breath, as the scenery around me began to shift, colour drained from my vision as I was only able to see in shades of grey. The colours around me ran and darkened, as everything began to be eclipsed by a veil of grey, the world around me was becoming inverted, as everything came to a stand still.

Be it the swaying trees, the blades of grass and plants, the students, the Basilisk, even the mana in the atmosphere all around me, everything became motionless and became static as I activated acausality. The wheels of time had stopped according to my will, as I slowly separated myself from the physical realm.