After the spider attack, a heavy, sticky silence settled over the cave. The air hung thick with the smell of burnt chitin, ozone, and the metallic taste of fear. The only sounds were Lucas's uneven breathing and Lira's quiet, rhythmic sobs born of shock.
"Pull yourselves together," Lucas said, forcing authority into his voice. As he sheathed his sword, I could see his hands trembling slightly. "The Alpha is dead. The swarm has scattered. The worst is over."
Titus grimaced at the unidentifiable mass of flesh on the ground—the former Alpha Spider—and nudged it with the tip of his steel boot. The meat jiggled like jelly. "I still can't believe that happened. It's like some invisible giant squeezed it in its fist and wrung it dry. Disgusting."
Jin Ryer muttered as he gathered the arrows that had survived, his hands shaking. His eyes kept darting around. "Could it have been a magical anomaly? They say dungeons sometimes have… spatial distortions or mana vortices. Maybe we just got lucky."
I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. That wasn't luck, it's called Space Fracture, you ignorant fool, I thought. I remained seated on a damp rock in the corner, knees pulled to my chest, continuing my role as a "shell-shocked civilian." My hands covered my face, but through my fingers I watched everything with a hunter's focus.
Grim on my arm purred contentedly beneath my skin like a cat after a feast, slipping into sleep.
[Chaos Reserve: 20%]
I felt stronger than I ever had, my mind clearer than ever before. What flowed through my veins wasn't blood—it was pure power.
But that power didn't lessen the pressure on me. It intensified it.
Because she was coming toward me.
Elena Frost.
The silver-haired girl separated from the group and approached the rock where I sat with ghostlike silence. Her shadow fell over me. The ambient temperature dropped by several degrees. I didn't lift my head. I kept trembling, rocking back and forth rhythmically.
"Drop the act," she said. Her voice was so quiet only I could hear it—and so cold that the hairs on my neck stood on end.
Slowly, I raised my head. I had crushed the purple flame in my eyes under the iron grip of my will, replacing it with watery, fear-filled, exhausted brown eyes.
"W-what… what act?" My voice cracked. Perfect performance.
Elena leaned down. Her face was very close to mine. There was no human warmth in her blue eyes—only the ruthless curiosity of a scientist examining a lab rat.
"The spider didn't attack you. It didn't even look at you. Those creatures can smell fear, Arthur. And you… you weren't afraid."
Her gaze dropped to my hands resting in my lap. To where my right glove was.
"…you moved your fingers. Just two. Like scissors. And at that exact moment, the creature vanished."
My heart skipped a beat. She was sharp—far sharper than I'd expected. She hadn't just seen it; she'd sensed the atmospheric change.
"I was just trying to protect myself," I said, forcing my voice to tremble as I looked away. "I raised my hand because it was coming at me! What could that thing exploding possibly have to do with me? I'm an F-Rank, Elena. I don't even have mana. You've seen my stats!"
Elena narrowed her eyes. "Status panels don't lie, Arthur. But neither do my eyes. At that moment… the air around you changed. The pressure vanished. As if… a void opened there."
She reached out with her gloved hand and firmly grabbed my wrist, right over where Grim's tattoo lay, checking my pulse. Grim froze instantly beneath my skin, hiding. My pulse was calm.
"There's something wrong with you," Elena whispered, leaning closer. Her breath smelled of mint and cold air. "You're like an error in an equation. And I like correcting errors."
At that moment, Lucas's voice echoed through the chamber.
"Hey! You two. Break's over. According to the map, we should be reaching the Crystal Passage. We're only halfway there."
Elena released my wrist. After shooting me one last piercing, warning glance, she straightened up and turned back to Lucas, her hair swaying.
I let out a deep breath. My shoulders sagged.
That was close, Grim murmured from the depths of my mind. Should we eat this one? She tastes cold, but delicious.
No, idiot, I replied internally. She's our shield. For now. And if you touch her, the entire academy will come after us.
We continued forward. But the deeper we went into the cave, the stronger the unease inside me grew. This wasn't just a feeling—it was a writer's instinct.
According to the scenario I had written, the Whispering Caves were a simple, linear dungeon:
Entrance → Spider Nest → Crystal Passage → Goblin Village (Boss).
A standard, safe "training" dungeon designed for first-years. The walls were supposed to be limestone. The ground, dirt.
But the path we were walking now…
…was wrong.
"That's strange," Lucas said, shaking the holographic map in his hand. He tapped the device lightly. "There should be a right turn here. The map shows a tunnel. But the path… it keeps going straight."
Titus punched the wall. "Maybe the map's outdated. Don't these damn places change all the time? Dungeons are alive and all that nonsense."
Yes, dungeons changed. But not like this.
I touched the wall. The stone was cold. And… wet. But this wasn't ordinary water. It was a reddish, sticky, resin-like substance. I sniffed the liquid clinging to my finger. Not blood. This was the stench of Decayed Mana—old, stale, corrupted magic.
"Stop," I said instinctively. My voice echoed through the cave.
Everyone halted and looked at me.
"What now, shrimp?" Titus sneered. "Seeing things out of fear?"
"The air…" I said, staring into the depths of the cave. The data in my vision was going berserk. "It's getting colder. And the moss… it's changing color. Can't you see it?"
Lucas shone his light on the walls. Indeed, the phosphorescent moss that had been a vivid green near the entrance had turned a sickly purple-black here. As if the cave itself had gone gangrenous.
And worse—the ceiling was rising.
This was no longer a narrow cave tunnel. It opened into a massive, ancient underground temple filled with worked stone, towering columns, and gargoyle statues.
"This isn't on the map," Jin said, his voice shaking. "This… this isn't the Whispering Caves."
My blood ran cold.
Because I recognized this place.
This temple.
That purple moss.
That rotten stench.
The broken chain symbols carved into the columns.
This was a section I had designed while writing The Sovereign of Aether, then deleted because it was "too dark, too difficult, and didn't fit the tone of the story."
The Tomb of the Forgotten Deity.
In the original draft, this dungeon had been built atop the grave of a dead demigod. The boss here wasn't a goblin chief—it was a chained, immortal bishop.
My editor had told me, "This is way too much for Chapter One. The readers won't handle it. Delete it, Arthur."
And I had.
I deleted the file from my computer.
I emptied the recycle bin.
But apparently, this world didn't delete anything.
It only hid things.
And now, my trash had come back.
"We need to turn back," I said. The seriousness in my voice wasn't an act. The terror in my eyes was real. "Now. Immediately."
"Don't be ridiculous," Titus said, swinging his axe. "You want to run because some moss changed color? The boss has to be nearby. Might even be a hidden treasure room."
"Listen to me!" I shouted—the first time I'd raised my voice. It was authoritative. "This isn't a normal dungeon deviation. This place is wrong. The mana here is toxic. If we go any further, none of us will get out alive."
Lucas hesitated, torn between his leadership instincts and caution. He looked at me, then at Elena. Elena looked uneasy as well.
"Arthur might be right," Elena said. "The energy here… it makes me nauseous."
"Alright," Lucas decided. "We're turning back. It's not worth the risk."
But he never got the chance.
BOOOOM!
Behind us, a massive boulder crashed down in the tunnel we'd come from. When the dust settled, the path back was gone—sealed by tons of rock.
We were trapped.
From the darkness of the temple came the sound of metal grinding against metal.
Clink… clink… clink…
The dragging of heavy, rusted chains across stone.
And a deep, rasping breath.
The system panel materialized before us, flashing red as it updated.
[System Alert: Area Difficulty Updating.]
[Calculating…]
[Difficulty: F → B (Lethal)]
[Boss Detected: Chained Bishop (Level ???)]
Lucas's face drained of all color. His sword nearly slipped from his hand. Elena formed an ice dagger, but her hands were shaking. Titus raised his shield, but his legs looked too weak to support his massive frame. Lira collapsed to her knees and began praying.
I stared into the darkness.
The nightmare I had erased—thrown into my own trash bin—was walking toward me.
A bitter smile crept onto my lips.
"Welcome back, Author," I whispered to myself.
"Time to clean up your own mess."