Chương 19: Rotten Corpse

Lloyd continued making his way through the dungeon. The tunnel didn't change. The same slimy walls, the same dark sludge underfoot, the same greenish half-light that neither dispersed nor deepened — it simply existed. The green crystals in the tunnel ceiling lit up one by one as he approached and went dark behind him as he moved away — methodically, indifferently, like streetlamps along an empty night road. The sludge squelched underfoot with every step.

The smell hadn't gone anywhere — the same heavy, rotten, damp smell, settling on his skin and clothes, working its way into his lungs with every breath.

"I've been walking here for ten minutes already — and not a single monster. What is this? I definitely imagined a dungeon differently." Lloyd glanced at his sleeve. Sniffed it.

"Definitely differently..." He walked forward, trying to avoid the densest patches of green sludge — though there wasn't much point. His sneakers had soaked through long ago, his trousers were splattered to the knee, his jacket had absorbed the smell of this place so thoroughly it seemed like it would never wash out. The orange fabric, which had still looked more or less normal that morning, was now covered in green stains — stains that had no intention of going anywhere.

The tunnel stretched ahead — straight, uniform, without turns. Somewhere in the darkness water dripped — infrequently, methodically. Somewhere the sludge gurgled. Nothing else. Nothing at all. No movement. No sounds apart from his own footsteps and the distant dripping of water. No creatures — neither small nor large, neither aggressive nor neutral. Just an empty tunnel. Green crystal light. A smell that made him want to breathe as rarely as possible.

And silence — dense, oppressive, living silence that seemed to watch him from the darkness on both sides of the crystal light. And then Lloyd saw something ahead in the darkness. A silhouette. Vague, indistinct — there, where the light of the nearest crystal didn't yet reach. Something dark against the wall. Low. Motionless.

"What the..." He stopped. Gripped the knife tighter — felt his knuckles whiten. The silhouette didn't move. It simply sat against the wall, there where the greenish half-light gave way to complete blackness. Lloyd stared at it without looking away, counting seconds. One. Two. Three. Nothing. The crystal above that section of tunnel slowly began to brighten — first a barely noticeable glow, then brighter, brighter.

The shadows retreated slowly, reluctantly, as though unwilling to give up what they had been concealing. Lloyd clenched his teeth and moved forward — with slow steps, not taking his eyes off the silhouette. The sludge squelched underfoot — every sound seemed unnaturally loud in this silence. He shifted the knife to both hands. The crystal blazed fully to life. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. It was a person. Or rather — what remained of one.

Lloyd stopped a few steps away and stared — unable to look away, though that was exactly what he wanted to do more than anything right now. The corpse sat slumped against the wall — legs stretched out in front, head dropped lifelessly onto the chest. It had almost entirely decomposed. The clothing had turned into dark rags, stuck fast to what remained of the body. When the crystal lit it fully, Lloyd saw the eye sockets — empty, black voids gaping in the greenish light like two holes cut into space.

The head was tilted slightly, as though the person had simply dozed off against the wall — if you disregarded the fact that almost nothing remained of the face. The entire surface of the body was coated in green sludge — thickly, in an unbroken layer, as though the tunnel were slowly consuming it, dissolving it, making it part of itself — part of these walls, this smell, this darkness.

From the slightly open mouth the same dark green mass was seeping — slowly, heavily, drop by drop, falling into the sludge below and spreading there in circles. The hands lay at the sides — relaxed, palms facing upward. There was something particularly disturbing about that relaxation. Lloyd's stomach lurched. He felt a sharp bitter taste appear in his mouth. Swallowed. Held it together. Looked away — and brought his gaze back, because looking into the darkness on either side was somehow worse.

"What in the hell happened to him?" The green crystal overhead glowed steadily and coldly, illuminating the scene without the slightest hint of mercy. The sludge continued to drip from the corpse's mouth. Somewhere in the darkness behind him water dripped.

"Wait. I'm supposed to be the first person to have been in this dungeon. So how did this lucky guy end up here?" He stared at the corpse for a few more seconds — studying it, trying to find some kind of clue. The clothing — what was left of it — gave no information. No weapon nearby, no backpack, nothing whatsoever that might explain who this person had been or how they had got here. Just a corpse against a wall. Just green sludge. Just empty eye sockets looking down at the floor — or at what served as the floor.

Lloyd almost reached for the idea of calling Mippo. Almost. No. It wasn't fear of violating the creature's request that stopped him. Something else — simpler and more honest. Plain fear. That whatever had done this to this person would hear his voice. That it would pick up the sound, find the direction and come. And then Lloyd would be sitting next to this poor soul — against the same wall, in the same sludge. He turned and moved on. His footsteps began squelching through the sludge again — evenly, methodically.

Green crystals lit up ahead and went dark behind him. The tunnel stretched forward. The image of the dropped head, the empty eye sockets and the relaxed palms turned upward wouldn't leave his mind — it just hung there, in the corner of his consciousness, quietly and persistently. Lloyd tried to breathe evenly. Tried not to think. Tried to simply walk. The tunnel was the same. The same walls. The same smell. The same greenish light that illuminated exactly as much as was needed — and no more.

The darkness beyond that light was absolute, impenetrable. Lloyd tried not to look into it. It wasn't going well. And then — a strange sound. Something squelched. Not the way the sludge squelched under his own feet — this was a different sound. Denser. Heavier. As though something large, something weighty had taken a step in this same sludge — very close by, in the darkness. Lloyd froze. Silence fell instantly — dense, absolute. Only his heart, which had suddenly become noticeably louder.

Only his breathing, which he was trying to suppress. Only a drop of water somewhere in the darkness — drip. A long pause. Drip. He slowly looked around. The green crystals illuminated exactly as much as was needed — and not a metre more. The darkness beyond that light was impenetrable. Nothing. No movement. No silhouette. Lloyd waited. Exhaled — slowly, through clenched teeth. And then again — the sound. Clear. Distinct. Close. Leaving no room for doubt any longer.

"Behind me..."