After the trio rested for another ten minutes, having declined the option to leave the dungeon, a new notification popped up.
DING!
[ To reach Layer 3, you need to walk through one of the two doors up ahead. ]
Sigh—
Dustin looked at the notification with exhaustion and stood up slowly. "Let's get going."
The trio stood up and started walking. After roughly a hundred steps, two doors appeared in their vision.
The doors were completely dark. They were unable to see anything beyond the frames.
"We have reached the gates of the abyss," Saya joked. "Let's just choose one and walk through. They look exactly the same, and I'm really tired of all this now."
"Okay, but shouldn't we at least think it through?" Zac looked toward Saya with narrowed eyes. "At Layer 1 you were really fired up at me, and now you are saying we should just choose one randomly."
"Let's get going, Zac," Dustin said, putting his hand on Zac's shoulder and leading the way. "Let's go to the right one."
"Yeah, because right is always right," Zac laughed heartily.
The trio stepped forward, quickly engulfed by the darkness. In the very next moment, they appeared in a completely new room.
"Is this some kind of funhouse?" Dustin muttered, taking in the scene in front of him.
The room was once again extremely large, but this time it was filled with countless obstacles. There were spinning bridges over water, moving weapons swinging through the air, and strange contraptions that blasted fire from time to time.
"I think the objective this time is to cross all this and get to the other side," Zac deduced, rubbing his chin.
"We might have some company this time," Dustin said, nodding toward a similar door some distance away on their right.
Just as he spoke, three figures walked out of the other door.
"That same bastard," Zac said, frowning as he recognized one of the men in that group.
"Who?" Saya asked.
"See that muscular one? He is the cocky one," Zac said, slamming his fists together. "Now I'll show him how to behave."
DING!
[ Both teams have reached Layer 3. ]
[ You will all now receive one cinder ball each. ]
Magically, a red ball appeared in the hands of Dustin, Zac, and Saya. It wasn't hot as the name suggested. It was just a deep red colored ball.
"It feels like a rubber ball and is bouncy, just slightly translucent," Dustin noted, analyzing the object in his hands.
[ Task: To clear Layer 3, you must place your balls into one of the three circular slots on the other side of the room. Whichever team successfully places two balls first wins and will advance, while the failing team will be thrown out of the Dungeon. ]
[ If a team wins by placing all three balls, they will receive the rewards of this layer and enter Layer 4. If the team wins by placing only 2 balls, they will not get any rewards, but they will still be allowed to enter Layer 4. ]
"So basically, we are going to fight," Dustin told himself internally, keeping a close eye on the other team.
Dustin's hands were trembling slightly. One couldn't clearly see it unless they focused. This trembling was not just due to exhaustion.
It was not like he hadn't fought people before. He had fought many times during his martial classes before he quit. But those fights were just friendly spars. But here this gs were totally different. Dustin was no fool. He knew that in a place where there was no law binding them, people would eventually start killing each other to gain benefits.
"Will I be able to kill someone if such a situation arises in front of me?"
[ Below is the information of all the participants in this layer. ]
Holographic images of all six participants popped up, showing Dustin, Zac, Saya, and the three men of the opposing group alongside their respective classes.
In the opposite group, Dustin and Zac quickly recognized the heavily built man named Zama, who was a Warrior. The other two had normal builds in which one was a Rogue, and the other was a Healer.
"They have a healer. We need to be careful," Saya warned.
[ You may begin in 5 minutes. Time remaining: 00:04:59 ]
[ Note: If both teams fail to complete the task within the 30-minute time limit, both teams will fail and be thrown out. ]
A massive sand clock materialized on the far side of the room, past all the deadly obstacles, right near the pedestals where they had to place their balls.
"We definitely can't just escape from them without fighting," Dustin said quietly to the other two as they sat down. "We need a good strategy to outsmart them."
The trio huddled together. "Why don't you take all three balls and charge ahead while we two give cover?" Saya suggested, looking at Dustin. "You are a rogue, meaning you are much faster and have higher agility to cross these obstacles."
Dustin looked toward the chaotic maze of traps, and a chill ran through his heart. He would have to speedrun through hundreds of deadly hazards while fighting off enemies. One mistake could lead to his end. He couldn't help but sigh. If they failed and were thrown out, he would fail his event tasks, which meant he would die anyway.
"Your idea of me doing a speedrun while you both provide cover is good, but the other team also has a rogue. There's a chance they might try the exact same thing," Dustin contradicted.
"But they lack someone with long-range attacks. If they give their balls to their rogue, and our guy manages to get out of the Warrior's reach, your agility will easily let you escape. Meanwhile, Saya can target their rogue, and I'll take care of their healer," Zac pointed out, a sly grin forming on his face.
[ 00:00:09 ]
The final 10-second countdown started. Both teams had finalized their strategies and were now standing at the edge of the course.
[ 00:00:03 ]
"Let's go!"
Dustin and the others charged toward the only narrow path leading to the other side, as the rest of the floor was made of bottomless chasms filled with rushing water.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Small explosions happened as Zama, the heavy-built Warrior, deflected all the arrows shot by Saya with his club.
THUD!
Dustin narrowly dodged a overhead blow from Zama's club. The weapon cracked the stone floor. Instead of staying to fight, Dustin kept running.
On the other side, Zac had successfully intercepted the Healer. Since the Healer didn't have many combat skills, he kept trying to maintain a safe distance. Zac kept interrupting him, aggressively charging forward whenever the man tries to use some spells. Their situation was locked in a stalemate.
Saya, however, was not only suppressing the Warrior but also shooting arrows toward the enemy Rogue. Even though she didn't manage to land a single hit, her covering fire was enough to drastically slow the Rogue down.
WHOOSH!
A jet of fire shot out, grazing Dustin's head and burning a few of his hairs. He immediately rolled, dodging three swinging hammers, and then nearly got skewered by a spear thrusting up from the floor. The only thing that saved him was his Super Sense.
"You are getting nowhere!" Zama roared, lunging forward to attack Dustin.
"Damn it!" Dustin brought up his daggers to block.
CLANG!
The impact was really heavy. The sheer force of the Warrior's attack sent a painful shockwave up Dustin's arms.
Zama definitely had far more strength and endurance than Dustin. There was no way Dustin could fight him one-on-one on this narrow path where he couldn't even strafe or retreat properly.
"Take this!" Dustin lashed out, kicking Zama in the chest and making the man stumble backward slightly.
The path ahead was still blocked by a continuous stream of fire, so Dustin took a running start, jumped sideways across a perilous gap, landed safely on an adjacent path, and sprinted ahead.
"Zama, help me!" the enemy Rogue shouted. He had gotten himself trapped inside a falling metal cage and was shaking the bars in panic.
Zama, who was about to chase Dustin, snapped his head toward the voice. He glared at Dustin's retreating back. "Once I get out of here, you are so dead you won't even be able to walk!" Leaving Dustin for the time being, Zama leaped across a few platforms and rushed to help his teammate.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Dozens of arrows rained down around Zama, but the Warrior aggressively pushed through, dodging and deflecting as he charged toward the cage.
After taking five winding turns, he finally reached the trap. Zama grabbed the steel bars of the cage and, with a grunt of effort, bent them open just enough for a person to squeeze through.
Realizing the distance had become too great to aim properly, Saya started moving into the trap zone herself.
Just after taking her first turn inside the obstacle course, Saya drew an arrow and aimed toward Zama and the Rogue.
SWOOSH!
A silver light flashed in Saya's peripheral vision. Her eyes widened, and she instinctively threw herself sideways. A sharp metal rod flew past her, scratching her neck and leaving a faint, warm stream of blood.
Saya gulped hard. She fell to her knees, touching her neck with trembling fingers. It was just a small cut and she was still fine. But her chest heaved as she struggled to control her heavy breathing.
"Bitch," Zama sneered, taking his eyes off Saya. He turned to the Rogue. "What are you standing around for?" Zama kicked the Rogue hard in the back.
"We need to wait a minute for the fire trap to turn off!" the Rogue yelled, stumbling forward apologetically.
"You are all good for nothing!" Zama said in a angry voice. He grabbed the Rogue, lifted him right off the ground, and hurled him over the flames. The fire trap was roughly three meters wide, but Zama threw him with enough strength that the Rogue cleared the hazard, landing with a grunt on the safe stone beyond.
The Rogue quickly downed a healing potion to soothe his bruised ribs and started running again.
Dustin was moving at a sluggish pace now, constantly weaving and ducking as he dodged hundreds of arrows and floor spikes.
He was entirely reliant on his Super Sense to survive. Suddenly, his sense flared—something was moving extremely fast from behind. At first, he thought of catching it and throwing it back, assuming it was a projectile from Zama.
But as it closed in, he realized it was moving way too fast. One slight mistake and it would pierce right through his hand. Dustin threw himself out of the way, dodging the projectile entirely.
Zama was already closing the distance. "I need to go faster. If I cross this dense trap zone, I'll have enough time. It'll take a heavy guy like him much longer to get through," Dustin thought inwardly, pushing his tired legs to move faster.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Arrows once again rained down in front of Zama. The Warrior just threw a nasty glare toward Saya's direction and kept relentlessly chasing Dustin.
Saya had now switched targets, chasing down the enemy Rogue, though she still fired occasional warning shots at Zama to disrupt his footing.
More than half of the sand had already drained down. Dustin hit a bottleneck in the traps and had to slow down, allowing Zama to close in once again.
Unable to move ahead safely, Dustin spun around and directly engaged Zama.
CLANG! CLANG!
Weapons collided violently, and the fight resumed. The platform here was much wider, giving Dustin the space he desperately needed to move, dodge, and utilize his agility. This slightly shifted the upper hand in his favor.
"Why is he fighting? Shouldn't he be running?" A sudden realization hit Zama. He quickly glanced across the room toward his team's Rogue. His eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth. "They tricked me!"
On the other side of the course, Saya aimed carefully and released her bowstring.
THWIP!
The arrow dug right into the enemy Rogue's leg, making him scream and crash to the ground. She didn't stop to gloat, keeping her pace up and sprinting toward the final goal.
Realizing he'd been played, Zama became much fiercer. He abandoned his defense and started attacking with violent, sweeping strikes, reclaiming the upper hand.
"I won't last much longer," Dustin thought. He quickly grabbed a healing potion, downed it while ducking under a horizontal swing, and tossed the empty vial.
Spotting a brief opening while Zama was blinded by rage, Dustin lunged forward. His dagger carved a deep cut into Zama's forearm, forcing the Warrior's grip to fail. His club clattered to the ground.
"AAARGH!" Zama roared furiously. Ignoring the weapon, he started throwing massive, bare-handed punches.
The fight turned brutal.
CRACK!
"Arrrgh!" Dustin cried out in pain. A punch from Zama connected awkwardly with his guard, instantly breaking his wrist.
There was no time to pull out another healing potion, and he was too low on stamina to use Shadow Heal effectively. Running on pure adrenaline, Dustin desperately dodged Zama's next flurry of strikes, leaped low to the ground, and slashed his dagger right across Zama's leg.
He cut perfectly through the tendons of the Warrior's leg. Without waiting to see the result, Dustin scrambled up and sprinted ahead.
With his tendons severed, Zama collapsed. He was completely unable to stand, let alone run. Even if he drank a healing potion right now, it would take several minutes to knit the tendons back together.
"Damn it!" Zama roared, punching the stone floor. Intense killing intent surged inside him, but he was grounded.
Since he couldn't do anything to Dustin or the others, his total rage shifted toward his two teammates. If only they weren't so completely useless! And he wasn't entirely wrong. Throughout this whole ordeal, Zama alone had done all the heavy lifting, taking the brunt of the attacks and navigating the worst traps, only to fail because his teammates couldn't hold their own.
Saya had already reached the safe zone on the other side. Dustin vaulted the final trap and landed next to her. Only a few handfuls of sand remained in the giant floating clock.
"Zac, now!" Dustin shouted with all the breath he had left.
Hearing the signal, Zac immediately stopped harassing the Healer. He turned toward the center of the room, reached into his clothes, and pulled out all three red cinder balls. With a mighty yell, he threw them as hard as he could across the expanse of the room.
It turned out the balls had been with Zac the entire time. Their actual plan was brilliant: Dustin would bait and fight off the heavy hitter, Zama, while Saya pinned down the Rogue. If either Dustin or Saya made it to the goal, Zac who will be standing safely at the starting line would hurl the bouncy balls over to them. Because the balls were like rubber, they wouldn't shatter even if they missed the catch and hit the floor.
CATCH! CATCH! CATCH!
Dustin and Saya scrambled, successfully catching the bouncing red balls. They sprinted up the final steps toward the altar.
TING! TING! TING!
One by one, the three balls locked into their respective circular slots. Instantly, three brilliant pillars of light shot up from the altar, illuminating the entire room.
On the other side of the room, Zama and his two teammates dissolved into light, forcefully ejected from the dungeon.
"Ow, ow, ow..." The pain in Dustin's broken wrist flooded back the moment his adrenaline wore off. He quickly purchased two more healing potions and chugged them down to mend the bone.
DING!
[ You have successfully cleared Layer 3 of the dungeon. ]