As he walked around the market, it was clear that the time zone of this area was... off, not the same as the time zone in Bangladesh, which he was used to; it was daytime.
He scoured the market until he saw himself before a shop, a shop with an insignia of a long sword in the shape of a cross, sideways with something etched onto it, something written in a language he didn't recognize, but it was a sword, so clearly it was a blacksmith's shop or a place that sells weapons or swords at least.
As he opened the door and walked in, a bell chimed from above; to his left were swords of various kinds: longswords, zweihänders, and some swords that looked like a Chinese Dao. and even some katanas and so much more, not including the daggers, maces, and hammers even, and all of these weapons looked unique; the metal came in various colors, and some even looked like they were shimmering and glowing.
"You buying or selling?" asked a grumbling voice.
It was from behind the table at the back of the room; there stood a bulky man with broad shoulders and a long, fluffy brown beard. He had muscle, and it was clear that he got them working in the furnace. His complexion was that of a tan, and his hands were calloused and still covered in ash and soot.
"Oh right, sorry, I was looking to buy a new dagger or a sword, something I can rely on," replied Ax.
"Take your pick; most of my wares are affordable, and you can lay your life on them.', explained the man.
"How much... is that one?" Ax pointed at the silver sword next to the table.
"Three silver Totas."
"Oh, lord, okay, that one," Ax pointed at the black short sword next to it.
"Two silver and two bronze."
"The... silver dagger?" he asked sheepishly.
"Seven bronze Totas or one silver and two bronze; how much do you have anyway?" asked the man.
Ax slowly reached for his pocket and pulled out five bronze Totas. The man raised his eyebrow and just stared at Ax when he put his hand in his pocket.
"Sorry, this is all I have," said Ax.
"No, that's not why I'm... show me your dagger," demanded the man.
Ax took out his flaky, blunt dagger and his bronze gun he found in the box.
"So, you're new here, I assume," asked the man.
"Yeah, how'd you know?" asked Ax.
"Because—never mind, you'll figure it out, but give me the dagger and the coins," the man demanded once again.
"Okay, I guess.". Ax said as he gave him his coins and weapon.
The man took the coins, and they just vanished into his hand; he then took the dagger and tossed it aside by the scrap pile behind the counter.
"Hey, what? Why did you—how did you—" asked Ax.
The man interrupted him by placing a clean, brand new bronze dagger on the table and said, "This is a 'Ranker Certified' dagger, not my ware, not even as reliable really, so if this breaks, it's not my fault, but this should be enough for what you're looking for. You will have a lot of questions because you're new, I can tell, but all you should know is that you should keep moving forward no matter what. What you are, or will be at one point, is a 'Summit Seeker.' You'll know why, and come back when you do become one with your rewards, and I'll fix you up with something, and keep the gun with you; it'll come in handy."
"Can I still ask you some questions?" asked Ax.
"No, and don't bother asking anyone else; they'll refuse to answer your questions," explained the man.
"Alright, how do I go back to... one of those black-doored rooms?" asked Ax.
The man nodded in a direction behind him; as Ax turned around, he saw... the same door made of black wood, the one that killed him once already.
Ax then walked up to it and just stood there, contemplating in front of the door, just staring at it...
He took a deep breath.
He then tied his hair behind his head and opened the door standing in front of him.
"Godspeed, newcomer," said the man.
Ax nodded to him and walked in.
As he walked in, the room was still the same color, except it was bigger this time; the opposing black door was still shut. He prepared; he took his newly given dagger in his left hand and held the gun in his right hand; he then kicked the door behind him shut.
The door in front of him creaked open slowly, and out walked two goblins this time.
As he took a final deep breath and said, "I guess I should've tested this beforehand, but... here it goes." he then aimed at the green imp-like creature on the left and-
*Shatter*
The gun shot a glass bullet that crashed into the goblin's chest, shattering into pieces, but only after piercing the goblin's chest, causing the shattered glass fragments.
The shattering sound came from the gun's barrel, and not from the bullet itself.
"Oh?" Ax then aimed at the goblin right next to it, which was disoriented because a fragment of the bullet went into its eye.
*Shatter*
Another bullet exited the barrel with the same velocity and crashing sound as the first, piercing the skull of the goblin and killing it instantly.
Dwellers Slain
"That was... way easier... did I seriously die to that thing?".
Ax then walked around the bodies and found seven bronze togas on the ground.
Clink
As he shoved them down his pocket, he looked around and saw three more doors, one blue and two black doors. If he wins again, there will be another black door, behind that, another door... and another one... and so on.
Deep breath
Dwellers Slain
Dwellers Slain
Dweller slain
Dwellers Slain
Dwellers Slain
Hours have passed since.
The last couple of doors introduced walking skeletons with tattered clothes, sometimes none, sometimes they came with goblins, all of them carrying more varied weapons this time. To Ax, this was comparable to a 'Roguelike' video game where more and more enemies kept coming.
Sometimes the skeletons came with bows and arrows, which he compared to a different videogame.
"Just one last one; let's see if I get something new this time. All the other ones just gave me coins. My pants are getting heavy; I wanted a new weapon before I hit the hay." Ax talked to himself before he opened the last door.
As he walked in, the room was... a jungle? It was a jungle, and he could not see the end of the room, meaning it was massive—REALLY massive. This might be a hard room.
"I should leave and come back with better gear, right? Yeah, this might be a tough one; doing that would make it easier, way easier."
Ax slammed the door behind him shut.
"Like hell I will; this is the most fun I have had in months!" he exclaimed, clearly enjoying the last couple of hours.
Rattles
Ax stood quiet, recognizing the slithering and the hissing that followed the rattle.
It was a snake...
"Usually they are small..." he thought to himself... but he knew it would not be that easy; even if it was, it would be a rattlesnake that would kill him even if a fang gently grazed him.
As Ax stood still, he saw neon green beads with a slit in their diameters stare at him as the slithering got closer and closer... he saw it.
It was a ginormous snake with green shimmering scales and a scarlet forked tongue.
"I should've gone back home," he muttered to himself.
The snake lunged at him; its head was already the size of his shoulder's, but it unhinged its jaws, and it grew even wider, and he was swallowed whole in a blistering speed, before he could even think. It was as if it was as fast as lightning; he didn't even feel a hint of pain as he was being swallowed whole.
Ax closed his eyes... knowing that this was the end.
"Should've said something, should've gotten back to them for the gig... sorry Ace, Hamz, Nasri, and of course, how could I ever forget. I'm sorry, A-," it was too late; before he could finish his thought, his eyes shut and—
He woke up, in front of the door, facing the jungle in front of him, face to face with the snake again.
"What? Huh? I swear I—" the snake bit his head.
He woke up again; this time he sprinted to the side, causing the snake to ram its massive head into the indestructible door behind him; this disoriented the snake.
As Ax ran, many questions kept coming up: Did he die? Is this a video game? Did he just come back to life? Is it a loop like one of those anime he used to watch? But all he really knew was he felt the pain every time, and there was no way to leave, so he had to fight and kill this thing before it kills him again.
All this went through his head in a fraction of a second, as if time slowed down for him. He took his gun in his right hand and—
*Shatter*
He shot the snake at the side of its head, behind the joint where the snake's skull was attached to its spine.
It knocked the snake to its side, and it didn't die.
"I am so screwed, aren't I? At least I don't have to worry about dying." He thought to himself as he kept running in that direction while looking at the snake and
Slip
His foot caught onto a vine, and he fell. He turned around to see the snake slithering at him; he tried to cut the vines off his foot, accidentally nicking his boot over and over again, and kept trying to shoot the snake at the same time, but he kept missing his shots. One missed its head by a hair, the snake dodged the three, and one bullet lightly grazed its body, and—he's out; he shot all six shots.
To reload his revolver, he just needed to air out the cylinder, but that needed to be done with two hands, and the snake bit his head again.
He woke up, again, in front of the door. He ducked instinctively, but the snake was nowhere to be seen, and his gun was in his right hand and dagger in his left. As always, he was safe.
He ventured into the jungle, ready to be ambushed at a moment's notice by that 'Basilisk,' but it never came. As he walked through the jungle, he lost sight of the door behind him, and he was surrounded by the darkness and a deep shade of green and brown all over.
...
Ax walked on and on, and he found bones and skeletons, thankfully not the living kind, undead? No idea what to call them, all he knew was that the snake was the only dweller that was in this room.
He walked around and rummaged through the different skeletons he could find, and one had... a singular golden Tota.
"Jackpot." Ax found his first gold Tota, and as he tucked it into his pocket... he realized that it felt awkwardly light. As he dropped the coin, he noticed the lack of the clink he was used to; he put the gun in his other pocket and patted his pockets and found nothing, not a single bronze or silver Tota; his progress was lost as he was rummaging through his own clothes...
A thick, scaly green tail wrapped around his body.
"You...", he said to himself...
The snake had slithered its way back to him, and it started constricting him more and more, making its body wrap around his, causing him to be trapped under its suffocating, constricting force.
Only his arms were free, but that's because the snake didn't bother; it knew that its scales could not be penetrated by a measly bronze dagger.
"Next time, I'll make sure you bite the dust, you disgusting serpe-bingo." Ax noticed blood drip from the right side of its head, right behind its skull.
Ax waited for the snake to get closer and closer...
"Now!" he screamed as he rammed his dagger into the already inflicted wound of the snake.
It was still ten times stronger than him, but he has a chance this time.
He grabbed the dagger with both of his hands and shoved its head to the side, against its body that was constricting him, using its own force against it.
Axton screamed as loud as he could, exerted as much force as he could, and as he was being crushed by the suffocating strength of the basilisk, he was about to lose consciousness due to being lightheaded, but the adrenaline going through his veins, the blood rushing through his body, went all into his arms, and he twisted the dagger and shoved it in deeper and deeper, twisting it again and again, all within seconds, and finally.
The crushing force of the snake started to subside, and its eyes dilated, tongue stopped hissing, and tail stopped rattling.
Ax did it; he killed the stupid snake as he fell onto his back, on the limp body of the beast he just killed.
Dweller Slain
Axton needed to catch his breath, so he just laid there, the muscles of the snake were... soft... a bit... too soft.
Axton realized that he was lying on its stomach. He got up and felt it with his hands, and it wasn't empty, it had something in it.
Axton tried stabbing it with his dagger, but it was no use.
*Shatter*
*Shatter*
*Shatter*
No use; it somewhat pierced its skin, but he needed to improvise.
He got an idea.
*Shatter*
*Shatter*
*Shatter*
He shot at the gums of the snake and broke free two of their fangs; very gently he grabbed them, careful not to nick himself, and as he was picking them up, he noticed that his boot had scratches on its heel.
"No..."
Ax hurried to the snake's stomach, almost forgetting his fatigue even existed, and stabbed it with both of the fangs; it went in like a knife to leather.
He mustered the last of his strength and ripped through the stomach, and out fell... three bodies and—
A metallic jingle could be heard.
Those were the bronze and silver coins he collected... and the three bodies were...
"These are... me?"