The night sky looked beautiful. Multiple stars of different colours were glowing in the sky. The moon looked bigger than ever. Hills reaching the clouds, forests as deep as the Amazon rainforest. Everything, indeed, was different.
In this nighttime, someone was running in the forest alone, gasping for air. She was running desperately.
"Haa... Haa... nghh—haah!"
There was a deep wound on her right forearm. A small amount of blood was constantly dripping from her wound. She was trying to cover the wound with her right hand, but it wasn't doing anything.
It was like she was running from something. Something dangerous. Something threatening. She was running desperately, maybe in search of help.
...How can this happen? It wasn't supposed to turn out like this... then why? Why? Why?
Tears were dripping down her face. Her eyes resembled helplessness. There was darkness in her eyes.
Constantly gasping for air. Running desperately. Having such serious wounds. What in the world could do something so brutal? So brutal that no one could take their eyes off her once they saw this miserable sight.
No. This is the world we are living in. A world where breathing without worry is a luxury. It's a world where you are destined to die. Brutal things happen every second. If you're still alive after all this, then you're lucky—for now. Only for now.
No one would look at her anymore. They'll just walk in the same direction. Because they know. They know the burden of carrying someone helpless. Helping isn't valid anymore. Or in other words, no one can dare to help someone.
"Haa... Haa..."
Someone! Someone help me! Please save him! I need him to live! Please! Someone!
Screaming for help won't work as the forest is filled with multiple mana beasts and unsettling traps. You need to run desperately in search of help. But can you guarantee that the person you find is a good one?
I can't, nor can you.
Still, she screamed.
"H...H-Help! S-Someone!"
Her voice was too low to be called a scream. Probably because of the wounds she was bearing and the tiredness creeping more into her wounded body.
"S-Someone! Please! H-Help!"
It would do nothing but attract the mana beasts lurking in the woods.
Finally, she stopped after a long run. She started taking deep breaths. Her energy had finally run out and she was on the verge of collapsing.
Her knees were trembling. Her vision slowly getting dizzy. The blood stream still continued.
It feels cold. My body feels cold. Just what in the world is happening?
The girl running around in the forest for help was now stopping. Not because she had given up or was tired.
But because she was dying. Dying alone in this deep forest where no one would find her, and eventually, her body would become food for mana beasts. That's the type of world it is now.
A world not for the weak, but only for the strong.
The world around the girl started revolving. It wasn't the world—it was her dizzy vision showing this sight.
...It's over...?
The girl started to fall straight forward as she closed her eyes. Her life was ending in front of her. In just a split second, the mana beasts would sense a dead body nearby and gather around her.
Just to massacre her body.
Thud!
She didn't fall on the ground. She fell on someone's shoulder. Someone who had been standing there in front of her all this time. His dirty, tattered cloak was flying with a short breeze.
She slowly felt the presence of someone as she tried to open her eyes.
...There's someone. Has someone finally come to rescue us?
She opened her eyes slowly and looked straight into the eyes of the person in front of her. Their eyes glanced at each other.
A hand reached her wounded forearm and lifted it a bit to look at it. The girl was still looking at the man standing in front of her. She was still clinging to his shoulder like a child.
Finally, the man in front of her spoke up. "It's a deep wound."
The girl, who had her eyes closed, laughed in a stressed manner. "Haha, I already know."
She narrowly opened her eyes as she felt the warmth of the cloak worn by the man.
It's really warm...
The man glanced at the girl without any reaction. He just looked at the wound.
The man thought:
It isn't some random wound. The amount of radiation coming from this wound only indicates one thing.
The man glanced behind the girl—at the path she had come from.
This type of wound is only seen in a dungeon.
He looked back at the girl's face, who was sleeping on his shoulder.
She ran away from a dungeon.
Gulp
She left the dungeon without clearing it...!
Tsk!
***
In the Endless Dream, if a dungeon is challenged but the challenger leaves the battleground before conquering the dungeon, then the dungeon monsters have the right to leave and massacre everything until they kill the challenger.
It's pretty rare for a challenger to run away from a dungeon successfully. But the consequences are really brutal. A lot will die just because of your cowardice.
That's why the exit of a dungeon is filled with a lot of monsters—so no one can escape it. That's the reason we never see anyone return from a dungeon unwounded.
How did she manage to run...?
I sighed and asked the girl in front of me, "What do you want to do?"
The girl looked at me with narrowly opened, tired eyes. She'll die in a few minutes if I don't do anything.
I continued, "Do you want to go back and save your comrades? Or do you want to join my party?"
I laughed a bit at my own stupidity and whispered slowly, "Stupid me. There isn't any party of mine."
The girl looked down at my shoulder, to which she was clinging. I need to heal her as quickly as possible.
I didn't get a reply—well, I never expected one.
So I continued speaking. "Give me all your coins. That way, I can heal you and protect your comrades."
Basically, it was a fee I wanted to take from her just to save her and her comrades. Nothing is free, after all. That's my policy.
The girl opened her mouth in an anxious manner. "...I-I don't have any money."
I didn't have any money either. That's why I was asking for it. I sighed in a disappointed manner and looked at the stars in the glowing sky.
Unknown – Hey?
...
I messaged Void but didn't get a reply. Normally he should reply in just some seconds. It's strange. I didn't even get to ask him about the Murim guy.
I was looking at the blank space when I heard a ding sound. I opened the system screen and looked at the notification panel.
– You've received a new message
Is it from... Void? He took too long to reply.
Void: Who is this?
Unknown: Your handsome dreamer.
Void: What do you want?
Unknown: You remember the contract???
Unknown: You promised that you would give me 2000cc per week...
Void: It hasn't even been a week.
Unknown: Give me the 2000 right now.
I received another notification.
– You've received 2000cc from Void.
[Total Coins – 2000cc]
I made a satisfied smile and held the girl's shoulder, carefully laying her down on the ground.
"Can you see me?"
There wasn't a reply. Maybe she had fallen unconscious when I was begging Void for coins.
Her body is getting cold...
I quickly went over to the store. "Purchase All-in-One."
'All-in-One' is a syrup which can be used on any wound, scar, or disease. It can cure anything in just 5 seconds. That's why it's known as All-in-One.
[You've purchased 'All-in-One' syrup for 500cc]
[500cc have been deducted from your account]
[Total Coins – 1500cc]
The small bottle appeared in front of me. I quickly opened it and slowly tried to open the girl's mouth.
I poured half of the syrup into her mouth. This girl would have died if I hadn't appeared here. Maybe her fate was decided here, and I changed her fate?
I glanced at her face carefully. She isn't someone who appeared in the original novel, so does that mean she was supposed to die here?
Did I just change someone's fate? Does that mean mine can also change?
[Void – Stop having these thoughts and look at her situation]
I looked at the girl. Maybe she was in her twenties. Long black hair, a face that resembled beauty.
I bitterly smiled. This type of girl was supposed to die here—just how many people die every second?
Her face and body, which were covered with dirt and several scratches and wounds, started to heal. The deep wound on her forearm was also closing. She will wake up in a minute if she continues to heal like this.
I have two choices now. Either I take her with me, or go with her to the dungeon if she wants to actually save someone.
I can see it. I can see the need for her in the future. She wasn't even introduced in the original dream, so I need to let her be a part of it this time. She won't be an NPC anymore.
***
Blood was dripping down on the ground. It was coming from someone's head—someone who had taken a direct hit. Their whole face was covered with blood. Eyes red as hell.
It wasn't Anna nor Seonyeon.
It was someone I met recently but never got to talk much. Someone who was with Anna while abandoning me. It looked like he was dying—a painful death.
It was Hyunwoo.
He thought,
...It's over.
He looked down at all the blood he had lost. He was standing in a big pool of blood at the center of a dungeon room.
I should have never trusted that bitch...
Regret was passing through his mind. He was regretting all his decisions. At this final moment, he remembered a guy who had been abandoned like him.
I can understand how Kang Hong felt when we left him.
He gritted his broken teeth in frustration.
I feel powerless. Just like him.
Surprisingly, he was still holding a sword. It seemed like the battle still wasn't over. His eyes were looking at the same place—
At an empty, rusty, and dusty throne in front of him. Some parts of the throne were missing. Maybe they broke during a fight.
Hyunwoo slowly opened his bloody mouth. "...Haha, I can't believe it. Have I even made a scratch on you?"
The point Hyunwoo was looking at wasn't the throne. It was someone behind the throne, releasing a tremendous aura. This type of aura could easily bring anyone to their knees. It was surprising that Hyunwoo still stood, despite suffering such serious injuries.
"You've been abandoned by your comrades, so why are you still fighting? Just give up already."
A deep and terrifying voice was heard from behind the dungeon. The voice of a Dungeon Master, not a dungeon boss.
Hyunwoo laughed in a taunting manner. "Being abandoned doesn't mean I can give up. I'm still standing, ain't I?"
A small sigh was heard behind the throne, and the voice came again. "I can't deal with stupid creatures."
The fight between two different beings was beginning again. One was hiding behind the throne, while the other was standing despite losing a lot of blood.
***
We were running toward the direction the girl had come from. Surprisingly, when she woke up, she instantly demanded I go help her comrades. So I didn't have a choice.
I gritted my teeth in frustration as we got near the dungeon. She mentioned that she left the dungeon half an hour ago, which is more than enough time for the monster to come out of the dungeon and massacre everything.
We were way too late. I opened my mouth while running. "How many are there?!"
She replied, "There are two!"
I was really scared this time. Not only would the monsters come out, but also their strength would be ten times stronger. It wasn't a joke. They could easily trample upon hundreds of lives without any problem with their increased strength. And I was going to encounter those.
"Which rank was the dungeon?!"
"It was E!"
An E-rank dungeon, hm. It would've been easier to kill them inside the dungeon. They will be way harder to deal with now. But maybe I can use my knowledge in order to save everyone.
But what do I do with the wall? It's a total pain!
"Which type of monster species were present inside the dungeon?!"
"It was a mixed one."
Huh?! I suddenly stopped running. The girl noticed me and came toward me. She asked in a rush, "What's wrong? We'll be late at this rate!"
No one could define the face I was making at this very moment. There were a lot of emotions visible on my face. But one was exceptionally more visible than the others.
That emotion was fear. The fear of mixed dungeons. The ones which lure adventurers inside with their fake ranks but then kill them brutally. These types of dungeons are the most dangerous ones.
Usually, they fake their ranks to D or E, but in reality, they are S or A rank. This girl was luring me into a high-rank dungeon. Someone like me, who struggled against a D-rank dungeon.
"It isn't possible."
"What isn't possible?"
My hands were trembling in fear. The monsters would have already come out by now. Their strength would be ten times stronger. It's no longer an A or S rank. It might be above that.
Moreover, there's a whole army of them. I can't deal with them alone. I started taking long breaths in order to calm myself down and get a grasp of the situation in front of me.
The girl was looking at me, tense. She was questioning me in her mind. I couldn't hear it, but I could feel her questioning the reason behind my fear. She wanted to ask me what I was afraid of but didn't have the guts to ask me.
I didn't say a word and stood silent to think of ways to encounter this situation. This type of situation never happened in the novel. It's a unique situation that never took place. But still!
This world is written by me, so there should be a solution. I just need to think of a solution.
There wasn't a solution. At my current stats, it was impossible for me to survive. I need to survive for two days, but it seems like these two days would be total hell for me.
I might even die. I started looking back at the path we had come from... when I heard a scream.
"KYAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
"NOO ARGHH NOOO NOO NO NO NO!!"
Screams were heard. A lot of them. They were coming from the direction we were heading toward.
The incident which never occurred in Desired End was occurring now.