<<You have entered the ‘Dreamlike Forest’ dungeon.>>
After ten seconds passed, the screen shifted into a fog-covered forest.
Sometimes on TV, they warn drivers to slow down because heavy fog reduces visibility to less than fifty meters—that was exactly what this felt like. Luckily, Moment’s weapon burned brightly with roaring flames, making him easy to see as we followed behind. Every so often, he glanced back to check that we were keeping up.
True to the name Dreamlike Forest, it felt like anything could jump out from any direction at any moment. As the fog thickened, Moment began leaving trails of fire with each step, just like before.
“Looks like the level got set higher than expected.”
Human’s voice came from behind, tinged with concern. Just in case, I cast a party shield. The bubble-like barrier wrapping around our bodies disappeared after about a minute, but on an unfamiliar path like this, it was still reassuring.
“Wait.”
Moment raised a hand, staring straight ahead to halt our movement. He formed a massive Fireball in one hand and hurled it toward a direction. Flames ignited along its path, briefly clearing some of the fog.
Boom!
Something collided with it, followed by a shrill screech. Only SunlightAngel and I flinched at the noise; Moment and Human just wore expressions that said, So that’s where it is.
“I’ll go take it out. Human, block the surroundings. If you touch that, mobs will spawn immediately.”
Before the flames from the Fireball had even died down, Moment leapt forward. He vanished into the fog in an instant, and in the distance, bursts of red light exploded intermittently like blurred flashes.
“You two, this way.”
Human guided us, who had been staring blankly in the direction Moment disappeared. He swung his whip around, cutting through the fog as he walked.
“Is it okay to leave him like that? Won’t he get lost?”
“Him?”
Human laughed at my concern, as if it were pointless. Looking at the party window, I swallowed dryly—Moment’s HP remained steady, while his PG kept climbing.
Leaving Moment behind, we slowly followed Human forward.
Sksss—.
A creepy sound suddenly echoed from somewhere. At the same time, the dirt path we’d passed began turning black.
“Ant swarm.”
I stretched out my hand to check their level—thankfully, they were only level 30.
But there were so many of them. The scraping noises came from every direction—front, back, and sides. With no way to escape, we had no choice but to stand back-to-back.
Whoosh—!
Human lashed his whip forward. A wave surged out from it, rolling endlessly along the path.
“This way.”
He moved between the front and back of SunlightAngel and me, constantly creating waves to keep a path open.
The sounds from all sides weren’t a bluff—a massive black swarm of ants surged toward us from behind. If we got surrounded, it would be instant death. Each ant was as big as a palm, their mandible-like jaws especially pronounced. Up close, the fact that they were insects made them downright disgusting.
Before I knew it, my sense of duty to look after SunlightAngel vanished—my only thought was to survive as I ran. SunlightAngel, whose level was even lower than mine, began slowing down as their SP (stamina) dropped.
“…I—I can’t… haah…”
Human, who had been running ahead, created another wave, then immediately ran back to grab SunlightAngel’s arm and pull them along.
“We’re almost there.”
Somehow, I ended up running in first place and glanced back. Human was supporting SunlightAngel while sending waves behind us, but it didn’t look easy to hold back the incoming swarm. Ants began creeping up behind Human. He summoned a massive pillar of water that absorbed every ant within a certain radius.
This dungeon really seemed endless. Now I understood why it was time-based—it basically meant, run as fast as you can and get out.
Not long after the water pillar cleared the area, that sksss— scraping sound returned from all sides. SunlightAngel, panting heavily, finally collapsed to the ground. Human began chanting to summon another water pillar, and during that moment, I cast a party shield again. It worked well enough that an ant trying to bite SunlightAngel bounced off.
But the shield vanished quickly like a soap bubble. If we ran now, we could probably break through, but SunlightAngel needed to sit and recover SP. Human kept blocking the approaching ants from every direction, though one or two occasionally slipped through and rushed toward SunlightAngel.
Ah, whatever.
I cast [Light Sunset], the skill that once drew a spider’s attention. Instantly, the ants that had been swarming toward SunlightAngel turned their focus on me instead.
Since I was a little away from Human, I tried to run back toward him—but ants rushed me before I could. Luckily, my heart staff had an additional personal shield effect, so handling two ants at once wasn’t too bad.
Whiiish—!
Seeing that, Human cracked his whip and sent water crashing forward, but the ants only retreated slightly before surging back again. Maybe I’d overstepped, acting brave despite my low level. The personal shield from the heart staff began flickering as if it were about to break.
Why did those ants have so many teeth in their jaws? This wasn’t the time to admire details, but I felt like filing a complaint to the game developers—were they telling people with insect phobias not to play? I squeezed my eyes shut and thrust the heart staff forward as far as I could.
Pop!
The barrier shattered, and a massive pair of jaws lunged toward my body as if to tear me apart. A terrified “Eek!” escaped my mouth.
Ssssss—.
Something burned across the ground.
“Gentle, are you crying?”
As I half-lay there, blocking with my staff, Moment’s voice sounded above my head.
He split the ground open, creating a field of molten lava. A short distance away, I saw Human and SunlightAngel step into the safe zone. The ants naturally circled around the lava, unable to cross. Some got pushed from behind and fell straight into it, burning instantly.
“You know, my PG shoots up like crazy when I use this. Hurry up and cool me down.”
Moment leaned down, trying to kiss me, but I blocked his approaching lips with my hand.
“I’ll use Relax. Hold on.”
I pulled Human and Moment close together and activated the Relax skill. Human praised it immediately.
“Wow, this really is good.”
SunlightAngel looked at me with pure admiration, asking if I really had a skill like that. Then suddenly they pointed at my face.
“ShutUp’s partner!”
SunlightAngel finally recognized me. Well, there had been a giant banner in town—seeing them only realize now made me think, Yeah, total beginner.
Beginners usually have a narrow focus. They’re too busy completing quests to pay attention to anything else. But now, SunlightAngel looked slightly downcast.
“I made my partner without this skill. So don’t feel discouraged.”
“No… it’s not that…”
Meanwhile, Moment clicked his tongue in disappointment, and Human spoke beside him with a cold tone.
“If you want to fight ShutUp again, go ahead and link.”
“Wouldn’t be impossible.”
Even at Human’s provocation, Moment shot back without backing down.
But I didn’t want them fighting over me again. Things were already loud enough—if this escalated, I might really end up becoming some kind of infamous gay charmer in this game.
“Enough. We’re not done yet, are we?”
At my intervention, both of them averted their glares. SunlightAngel, who had been sitting in the middle of the bubbling lava field, stood up and said their SP had fully recovered, so we should get moving again. Human approached them as they rose.
“Can you run?”
“Yes, I’m okay now.”
We lined up facing forward again, and Human sent a wave toward the path we needed to take. The ants split apart along the rushing water. The moment a path opened, we dashed through it and escaped.
“Huh?”
Just as we reached a relatively safe zone, a whisper notification appeared at the top of the screen.
“Looks like ShutUp logged in. He’s asking if I’m inside a dungeon. Probably tried to move to me but couldn’t.”
“Tell him you’re with me.”
Yeah, saying I was with Human sounded safe enough, so I sent the whisper like that. I’d thought he wouldn’t log in today after disappearing into his building with Bin-ssi, but of course he showed up anyway.
I’m… not really in the mood to link.
Either way, it wouldn’t be too late to think about it after finishing the dungeon.
