Chương 30: What is Hope?

And then, at last, the question Lloyd had wanted to ask his Guide from the very beginning finally left his lips. — How do I get out of here? Mippo froze for a moment, as if his words had become stuck somewhere halfway between thought and sound. But from how quickly he regained his composure, it was obvious that he had been expecting this question for a long time—ever since he had emerged from the sludge at the start of their conversation.

The golden glow of the lantern flickered for a second, reflecting across the dark slime beneath them as a trembling ribbon of warm light. — Well. You're really in a bad situation. I think you already know that without me telling you. Lloyd nodded sadly. The sludge beneath him had long since gone cold. The chill seeped into his clothes, his skin, and even his bones—so deeply that sometimes it felt as though it would stay with him forever, even if he somehow managed to escape this place.

The green crystal above flickered once, then a second time, slowly, as if deep in thought, like an old, weary lighthouse sending rare signals into the darkness. — The dungeon entrance that connected it to your home closed a long time ago. Lloyd lowered his head. The upper half of his face disappeared into the shadow cast by his tangled hair, stiff with dried green muck.

Something tightened inside his chest—heavy and dull, as if only now was he truly beginning to understand the scale of the mess he had gotten himself into. Beyond the room's walls, the tunnel released another distant sound—perhaps a dripping drop of water, perhaps something else—and a cold shiver ran down Lloyd's spine, unrelated to the dampness around him. — But you do have a way out. In fact, you have three. Lloyd snapped his head up so quickly that his neck cracked.

His eyes lit up with something that looked remarkably like hope—the very feeling he had nearly forgotten during the endless hours spent wandering these rotten corridors. For a brief moment, even the exhaustion, hunger, and all-pervasive stench of decay faded into the background, replaced by the only thing that mattered now: the possibility of returning home. — Well, we'll rule out the first option immediately. You're clearly not ready for it. Besides, I assume you want to get home as soon as possible.

Lloyd became so focused on the mere fact that an exit existed that he didn't even bother asking what the first option was. Besides, he really didn't have time for unnecessary questions. The tunnel behind them remained silent, waiting, as if the darkness itself were listening to their conversation. — Which leaves you, ideally, with two options for getting back. Lloyd shifted closer. The sludge beneath his knees squelched loudly, but he barely noticed.

All of his attention was fixed on the small wooden creature before him—the only source of hope in this decaying underground world. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. — One of them is finding a Return Crystal. Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

He had heard something about that before—a passing mention on some forum, buried among dozens of other fragments of information he had absorbed before coming here, sitting on his bed under the yellow glow of a desk lamp what now felt like a lifetime ago. But those fragments contained no real details at all—just a vague reference, blurred and incomplete like most of the information he had managed to gather.

Mippo, apparently accustomed to the fact that every statement he made required further explanation, continued without pause in the tone of a slightly tired but patient teacher. — A Return Crystal is the very passage between your home and the dungeon. If you can find it, you'll return to the exact place you came from. Mippo fell silent for a second. The lantern at his feet flickered faintly, casting long shadows across the slimy walls, which somehow seemed to have crept a little closer during their conversation.

And that brief pause was enough for Lloyd to realize that things weren't nearly as simple as they sounded. — As always, there's some kind of catch, right? Mippo nodded slowly. The feathers atop his head swayed with the motion, throwing a strange dancing shadow across the wall. — Yes. Finding a Return Crystal isn't easy. I'd say cases like that happen maybe once in a thousand. So unless you have skills or relics that improve your luck, your chances of finding one are extremely low. Lloyd lowered his gaze again.

Disappointment slowly spread across his face, growing heavier with every second like water-soaked cloth. But then he remembered something, and his eyes rose once more, clinging to the last remaining thread of hope. — Then what's the final option? Mippo seemed to hesitate, carefully choosing his words like someone who already knew the news would be unpleasant. His wooden head tilted slightly. For a moment, his green eyes dropped to the floor, to the dark sludge between them, before lifting back to Lloyd.

Watching that pause, Lloyd already understood—whatever his Guide was about to say would leave a bitter taste, even more bitter than everything he had endured over the past few hours. The silence in the room grew heavier than usual. Somewhere far down the tunnel, water dripped again—steady and indifferent, like a metronome counting down the seconds until the inevitable. — The last option—the only one that will almost guarantee you obtain a Return Crystal—is... Mippo paused again.

Only for a fraction of a second, but to Lloyd it felt like an eternity. The green crystal above them flickered one final time before settling into a cold, steady glow, as if it too had held its breath in anticipation of what was about to be said. The golden light of the lantern at Mippo's feet seemed to freeze as well, as though this tiny island of warmth and light had braced itself for something important. — The death of the Dungeon Boss. Mippo's words hung in the air like a stone. Lloyd didn't answer immediately.

For a moment, it felt as though even the sounds of the dungeon had fallen silent. The dripping stopped. The drafts lurking deep within the tunnels seemed to freeze in place. Even the thick green sludge surrounding them became motionless, like the surface of a stagnant swamp. Only the distant rumble rising from the depths of the dungeon continued to vibrate faintly through the walls, resembling the heartbeat of some enormous creature. An unpleasant chill spread through his chest.

He stared at Mippo for several seconds, hoping the Guide would suddenly laugh and admit it had all been a joke. But Mippo's wooden face remained serious. Far too serious. High above them, the green crystal trembled once more, its dim light sliding across the damp walls of the chamber. The shadows swayed, stretched, and then became still again, turning the already gloomy shelter into a place where hope felt foreign and out of place.