Chương 31: Phantom

Lloyd sat, staring at the filthy floor, feeling the last drop of hope inside him dissolve. The sludge beneath him had long since gone cold, turning into a dark, motionless mass he had stopped feeling anything about a while ago. The tunnel beyond the room stayed silent — only occasionally, somewhere deep within, came the distant drip of water, methodical, indifferent, counting down the seconds of his life in this cursed place.

The green crystal overhead glowed just as steadily as always, reflected in countless dim glares across the sludge spread over the floor, and the empty chest behind him now seemed like a particularly pathetic reminder of the brief joy he had felt not so long ago. He raised his eyes to look directly at Mippo. — The death of the Boss, you say, huh?... Mippo nodded slowly.

The green eyes beneath the mask looked at him calmly, without much emotion, as though this were the most ordinary piece of news he could possibly deliver. The golden light of the lantern at his feet swayed faintly, casting long, uneven shadows across the slimy walls — shadows that seemed to Lloyd almost alive right now, breathing in rhythm with this dreadful place. — And how exactly do you want me to do that?

Mippo scratched his mask — a wooden finger against a wooden surface, producing a quiet creaking sound that echoed off the walls of the room — and shifted his gaze to his own yellow lantern, as though searching for a hint there, or simply avoiding Lloyd's direct stare. There was a deliberate slowness to this pause, as though the creature were intentionally stretching out the time before saying something he knew would land badly. — You've already defeated monsters that wander these tunnels. More than once.

Lloyd was visibly startled, his eyebrows shooting up. His exhaustion receded for a second, pushed aside by something sharper — suspicion. — Have you been watching me? Mippo lifted his shoulders — a gesture surprisingly human for a creature made of wood and green flesh, and with that motion the feathers atop his head swayed slightly. — Relatively speaking.

Lloyd leaned back, resting against the chest behind him — the wood was cold even through his jacket, which had soaked through completely hours ago — and looked up at the greenish light of the crystal set into the room's ceiling. The light pulsed steadily, indifferently, just like everything else in this place, oblivious to whatever was happening below it.

He pressed a hand over his face, closing his eyes, feeling exhaustion settle over him with its full weight — every muscle, every bone seemed to scream for rest that simply didn't exist here. — And what does that change? Those bastards are Shadow rank. I doubt the Boss will be just as easy to kill. Mippo nodded, the feathers on his head swaying slightly, casting a strange trembling shadow on the wall. — You're right. A dungeon Boss can never be lower than Phantom rank.

Lloyd's face twisted with genuine shock, and he couldn't hold himself back, shouting into the darkness of the tunnel: This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. — Phantom?! How am I supposed to defeat a monster that strong?! An ordinary person could never get past a monster of that rank!

His voice echoed through the room, bounced off the slimy walls, and sank somewhere into the darkness beyond their tiny circle of light, repeating itself over and over before finally fading deep within the tunnels. The crystal overhead flickered, as though the underground world itself had reacted to this outburst of despair — responding with a brief, almost mocking tremor of light. And then Lloyd ran out of breath for shouting.

He spoke more quietly now, almost a whisper, his voice shaking with exhaustion and bitterness, breaking off mid-sentence. — The bastards wandering these tunnels are only Shadow rank. And someone like me will never be able to defeat a Phantom rank monster... Lloyd lowered his head, his eyes fixed on the floor, where the remnants of green sludge glistened, reflecting the cold light of the crystal above in uneven, trembling glares.

Something inside him tightened — a dull, gnawing hopelessness pressing down harder than any physical fatigue, harder than hunger, harder than the cold seeping through his soaked clothes. But then Mippo spoke up — his voice came out sharper than before, carrying a new, almost irritated edge that cut through the silence hanging in the room. — And what were you hoping for, coming here without even reaching the first level? Did you really think this would all be easy?

He fell silent for a second, the golden light of the lantern at his feet flickering, reflecting off the sludge in an uneven golden streak, and then continued in a colder tone: — Those who don't want to play only have death waiting for them. The corner of Lloyd's eye twitched — a nervous tic that betrayed just how much Mippo's words had cut deeper than he wanted to show. He clenched his fists, feeling the dried filth crack under his fingers, and said nothing in response. He looked up at his guide.

Mippo, in turn, had already gotten to his feet and was heading toward the dark opening leading back into the tunnel — the same place he had emerged from not long ago to the ring of his bell. The creature's steps were light, almost silent, against the backdrop of thick sludge that squelched loudly under Lloyd's own boots at the slightest movement. — Where are you going?

Mippo turned around, and there was something haughty in the motion — the wooden head tilted slightly upward, as though the creature were looking down at Lloyd, despite being noticeably shorter than him. The lantern light caught his entire silhouette for a moment — a small figure in a green cloak, three feathers atop its head swaying solemnly in some faint, imperceptible draft. — I can't sit here with you forever. Especially not in a place like this.

Lloyd kept staring at the floor, unable to find the strength to answer. The sludge beneath him felt colder than usual, the darkness around him thicker, pressing down harder than before. The tunnel behind Mippo seemed especially deep and bottomless in that moment, like a mouth ready to swallow anyone who dared step inside. When Mippo had nearly left the room, swallowed almost entirely by the darkness of the tunnel, he suddenly stopped.

The golden light of his lantern flashed briefly in the opening before disappearing from view completely, leaving behind only the faint greenish glow of the crystals embedded in the tunnel walls. — You know, an ordinary person would never have gone into a dungeon without even reaching the first level. A chuckle came from beneath the mask — short, biting, almost mocking, echoing off the tunnel walls in a strange, drawn-out reverberation that refused to fade for a long while.

And then Mippo vanished completely into the darkness. The last thing Lloyd heard was the quiet ring of the bell the guide carried on his belt, growing fainter, more distant, until it disappeared altogether. Strangely, sometimes that bell made no sound at all, moving in complete silence — Lloyd had noticed this before. But right now, it didn't bother him in the slightest.

The room settled into relative silence — only the green crystal glowed from above, only a distant drop of water kept counting endless seconds somewhere deep within the tunnels. Before him hung that same, familiar question once again, looming over his head for so long now that it had become a constant companion to every minute spent in this rotting place. He murmured quietly to himself, his voice hoarse, staring into the darkness of the empty room: — What do I do now?