Chương 41: Ten Minutes of Silence

Recap: You Taunted the Assassin, saved the party, and were healed by Kara. You voted to SLEEP (REGEN) for 10 minutes. Closing my lid felt like putting on a blindfold after staring into the sun. Finally. Darkness. Quiet. No arrows. No stabbing. I settled into the niche. The stone walls hummed with a low-level ward—Kara's doing. It masked our heat signatures. It masked my mana. But it didn't mask the Voice.

"Closer… Little… Mimic… Closer…" It was a whisper in the back of my mind. Like a notification I couldn't swipe away. I focused on regeneration. My muscles unclenched. My mana pool trickled upward. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION Time Elapsed: 10 Minutes SP Regenerated: +10 (1 per min) Current SP: 12/24 MP Regenerated: +1 (1 per 10 mins) Current MP: 4/14 Status Effect: Undead Flesh (Expired) MP Regen Penalty: Removed Better. Not full, but I wasn't about to collapse if I sneezed. The Undead Flesh penalty was gone too. Thank god.

I didn't miss the cold stomach. Outside my lid, the prisoners whispered. They thought I was asleep. Or standby. Or whatever boxes do when they aren't eating people.

"We can't go deeper," Torin said. His voice was low, gravelly.

"We lost our supplies. Kara's mana is low. The boy is exhausted."

"I know," Kara replied. She sounded tired.

"But that wall… the box ate it, Torin. I've never seen magic like that. It wasn't illusion. It was… assimilation."

"It's a mimic," Torin insisted.

"They eat anything. Leather. Wood. Stone. It's not special." If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"It spoke," Renn whispered.

"It warned us about the ambush. It… it chose to help us." Silence. Heavy. Thoughtful.

"Whatever it is," Kara said, "it's valuable. If we take it to the Guild… the appraisal fee alone would buy us a farm." Don't you dare, I thought. I'm not a loot drop.

"If we take it to the Guild," Torin countered, "they'll dissect it. You heard the Captain. There's a bounty on 'anomalous monsters' in the sewer district." There's a bounty on ME? Great. Just great. First Elara wants to keep me, now the Guard wants to dissect me. I'm becoming a wanted criminal chest.

"We need to decide," Kara said.

"Surface or Deep? The tunnel ahead… it feels wrong. The mana density is spiking. But the exit is back the way we came. Through the cultists."

"Through the cultists," Torin said firmly.

"We know that path. The deep path… that's Floor 4 territory. Bone Pits. Undead. We're not equipped for that."

"But the box…" Renn started.

"The box can come with us," Torin said.

"If it's smart, it'll follow. If it's not… it's just weight." I felt a pulse from the tunnel ahead. The Core Voice surged.

"Deep… Power… Evolution…" If I went to the surface, I'd be safe from dungeon monsters. But I'd be in human hands. Appraisers. Mages. Elara. If I went deep, I'd be in danger. But I'd be closer to the source of my reincarnation. Closer to answers. Closer to… becoming something more. And the party… they were leaning toward surface. Torin was decisive. Kara was greedy but pragmatic. Renn was loyal to Kara. If I wanted to go deep, I had to convince them. Without talking. Without revealing I knew about the Core.

My stamina was 12/24. I could move. I could make noise. I could… nudge. The rest time was up. Torin stood up. I heard the clink of his armor.

"Ready up," he ordered.

"We move in one minute. Surface bound." No, I thought. Not yet. Current Stats (Level 3 - Ironband Mimic): HP: 13/19 (Unchanged) Mana: 4/14 (Regenerated) Stamina: 12/24 (Regenerated) Inventory: 2 Pebbles, Metal Items (Fused). Mage Staff (Loot). Status: Core Touched, Undead Penalty Expired, Party Moving Surface. What do you do? A) BLOCK THE PATH (OBSTRUCT) Slide into the tunnel entrance leading to the surface. Physically block them. Force them to consider the other route. (Cost: 3 SP. Gain: Delay. Risk: They might move you by force.) B) VIBRATE TOWARD DEEP (GUIDE) Slide toward the deep tunnel. Make noise. Show interest. Hope they follow your lead. (Cost: 3 SP. Gain: Directional Hint. Risk: They might think you're malfunctioning.) C) REGURGITATE LOOT (BRIBE) Spit out a piece of cultist gear (metal) toward the deep tunnel. Show them there's loot down there. (Cost: 1 SP. Gain: Greed Motivation. Risk: Lose Loot.) D) GO WITH FLOW (SURFACE) Let them carry you to the surface. Deal with Elara/Guild later.

Safety first. (Cost: 0 SP. Gain: Safety. Risk: Captivity/Dissection.) VOTING CLOSES IN 24 HOURS. Reply with A, B, C, or D. Most votes wins. [Author Note] Thanks for voting on Chapter 40! Option D (Sleep) worked! You regenerated stats and the Undead Flesh penalty expired.