Later That Evening
After the adventurers had left for the day and the fire crackled low, we sat beneath the stars just outside the dungeon gate. Felix shared tales of dungeon runs in other territories—of poison mazes, mimic chests, and wyvern nests tucked into collapsed ruins.
"Still," he said, poking the fire with a stick, "I've never seen someone fight like you, Dirk. That thing with the spider... I don't think it was normal magic."
"Yeah..." I looked down at my hand, flexing my fingers. "Something inside me was different. I feel it every time I fight. Like my body knows what to do before I do."
Elvie nodded. "Maybe it's time you stop pretending you're just a merchant."
"I'll pretend a little longer, thanks," I muttered with a smile.
We all laughed.
But in my heart, I knew they were right.
Something had awakened in me—and the deeper we went into this world, the harder it would be to stay in the shadows.
For several days, our stall thrived.
Word had spread fast among human and mage adventurers—Dirk's Delights was a miracle oasis near the dungeon mouth. Every morning, we'd open shop at sunrise, and by early afternoon, we were sold out of water, mamon, cups noodles, coffee, and even deodorant.
"Another bottle of water!" one bloodied rogue shouted, running up to our stand with a limp.
"And one mamon with mana boost!" a winded archer added.
Ella worked tirelessly behind the stall, her cheeks always dusted with flour. Elvie kept a close eye on supplies, scribbling notes on parchment and whispering to herself about "inventory magic." Felix patrolled nearby with a relaxed but sharp gaze—his presence alone kept petty thieves at bay.
By the end of the fifth day, we were exhausted but happy.
"Let's take a break tomorrow," I suggested as we sat around our little campfire. "We've earned it."
"Agreed," Elvie sighed, rubbing her shoulders. "We've been working nonstop. One day inside the dungeon might give us insight into better products too."
Ella grinned. "And maybe I can gather some new herbs. Dungeon flora has great magic potential!"
"Let's hope we don't run into that 'black-scaled ogre' rumor," Felix muttered.
Everyone paused.
I smirked. "What's life without a little danger?"
The next morning, we left a simple wooden sign on our stall:
—Dirk's. Team
We descended into the dungeon fully geared—Felix with his enchanted spear, Elvie with a staff laced with silver runes, and Ella armed with enchanted throwing knives laced with sleeping herbs. I carried my trusty sword and a backpack full of emergency food and gear.
As we huddled in the narrow alcove of the dungeon, the eerie silence was only broken by the occasional dripping of moisture from the jagged stone ceiling. I was still reeling from the chaos earlier when the familiar blue glow flickered before my eyes again.
A echoed in my ears like a quiet bell in the void.
New Quest: Eliminate the Spider Queen
Reward: Unknown Item Drop
My heart dropped into my stomach.
I stared at the floating message, the words pulsing gently, almost mockingly. Eliminate the ? As in, queen of all those freakishly large, acid-spitting, trap-setting monsters?
"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath, eyes wide.
Elvie noticed my pale face. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "I think we need to eliminate the Spider Queen."
Ella's face paled slightly. "The one that controls this section of the dungeon? That queen?"
Felix rubbed the back of his neck, visibly unsettled. "They said it's the size of a wagon. Armored. Intelligent. And its venom... It doesn't just paralyze—it infects."
"Of course it does," I mumbled. "Because normal spiders weren't scary enough."
I crouched beside a flickering mana lantern, squinted at the quest screen. Wait—the reward, 'unknown item drop'? That could be anything.
Elvie said flatly. "But if that spider's been nesting down here, it explains the increasing number of traps and the changes in the dungeon paths."
Ella looked at me, her expression shifting to a serious one.
Level One was easy. Goblins again—dull, predictable. They barely lasted five minutes.
Level Two was creepier. The scent of webs still lingered in the air from our last encounter with the spider brood. We moved fast, avoiding traps and snaring vines.
By the time we reached Level Three, everything changed.
The air turned colder. The walls of the dungeon shimmered with faint runes. A low growl echoed through the tunnels, making Ella freeze.
"What was that?" she whispered.
"Something big," Felix said, gripping his spear tighter.
We turned a corner and found ourselves in a wide cavern. Stone pillars rose from floor to ceiling, half-buried in thick moss and old bones.
Then we saw it—a creature with jagged obsidian skin, twice my height, its eyes glowing a haunting violet.
"A void-hound and the spider queen," Elvie whispered. "Those are extremely rare. And dangerous."
I stepped forward, gripping my sword. "Looks like we're testing that break day after all."
The void-hound lunged.
I moved fast—faster than I thought possible. My sword clashed against its claw with a burst of sparks. Elvie summoned a barrier to protect Ella as Felix thrust his spear into the beast's side.
It roared and released a wave of dark energy, slamming into my chest.
But something... stopped it.
A golden shimmer pulsed from within me, wrapping around my body like a warm cloak. The energy wave dissipated instantly, and the void-hound reeled as if the magic had been reflected.
"Dirk!" Ella shouted. "You're glowing again!"
I didn't stop to think. I dashed forward and slashed upward with a cry, cutting deep into the creature's throat.
It howled once—and fell.
Silence fell over the cavern.
"Did anyone... see that?" I said, breathing heavily.
"You didn't just kill it," Elvie said slowly. "You nullified its magic. You absorbed it somehow."
Felix approached and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Whatever that shield is... it's not normal."
I nodded, the adrenaline wearing off.
Unbeknownst to us, we were not alone.
Back on the surface, a tall figure in silver and green armour rode up to the edge of the woods overlooking the dungeon. He dismounted quietly, his eyes scanning the area.
A black cloak fluttered behind him, and an insignia of the Elven Kingdom glinted on his chestplate.
He approached our empty stall and looked over the goods left behind.
"A foreign product... unusual materials," he murmured, inspecting a discarded noodle cup. "This scent... mana-enhancing properties. The rumours were true."
He pulled out a crystal orb from a satchel. It shimmered faintly as he whispered, "Report to High Priest Hector. The merchant exists. And he is gaining influence."
He turned toward the dungeon entrance with narrowed eyes.
"And now... I'll see what kind of man this 'Dirk' really is."
The surrounding air was thick with silence, the kind that only dungeons could conjure. Level three had proved more ominous than the last two. The deeper we ventured, the colder and damper it became, the stone walls slick with moisture and riddled with ancient carvings that pulsed faintly with dormant magic.
Elvie carefully swept aside a patch of dry ground near the base of a crumbled pillar while Ella gathered a few loose stones to form a circle for their small campfire. I crouched beside my backpack, pulling out three cups of instant noodles and a bottle of water to boil.
Felix, ever the quiet one, unsheathed his sword and set it beside him as he sat down, still catching his breath from the earlier battle with two horned ogres. He had a large bruise forming on his arm but refused to let it slow him down.
The fire crackled to life with Elvie's help, a small controlled flame that gently pushed away the darkness creeping along the dungeon corridor. The scent of hot noodles soon filled the air, mingling with the musty, earthen smell of the underground.
Ella slurped hers first and sighed. "This... is exactly what I needed."
"This tastes way better in a dungeon for some reason," Elvie said with a smile, blowing on her noodles.
I chuckled, stirring my own. "Survival makes everything gourmet."
Felix nodded. "And hot food before a potential fight with who-knows-what? A blessing."
But as we relaxed and shared quiet laughs, a pale mist crept from the cracks of the dungeon walls. It slithered like a living thing, curling around their ankles and slowly rising. None of us noticed until the edges of our vision began to shimmer.
I blinked and looked up. "Hey, do you guys smell something... sweet?" My voice felt distant in my own ears.
Elvie squinted. "No, I just smelled the noodles. Why?"
Before anyone could respond, my world began to tilt. The shadows around the dungeon flickered like flame, then stretched, then disappeared entirely.
The stone walls around him vanished, replaced by the soft crash of waves against white sand. He found himself standing barefoot on an island—lush palm trees waving in a gentle breeze, clear turquoise waters stretching into the horizon. Warm sun poured down on my face.
"What the hell..." I whispered.
A voice, familiar yet warped, echoed across the shoreline.
"You don't belong here... but you are needed."
I turned. A massive stone gate stood on the beach behind me, glowing with symbols identical to the ones carved into the dungeon walls earlier. A beautiful woman, cloaked in white, her eyes veiled, stood just before it.
"Who are you?" I asked, stepping closer, my heart pounding.
But the woman raised a hand, her voice layered with dozens of others. "The seal is weakening. I stirred. And you must awaken."
Suddenly, the beach dissolved around him like sand slipping through fingers. The sea became misty. The trees twisted into shadows. And I gasped—
—only to find myself lying back beside the fire, Elvie shaking my shoulders hard.
"Dirk! Dirk, are you okay?!"
Ella's face hovered behind her, worried. "You just... collapsed. You were mumbling."
Felix had his sword drawn, standing guard. "There's magic in the mist. I should have known. Illusions. Targeted."
I sat up, drenched in sweat. "It was more than a vision. Someone... or something... was trying to tell me something important."
Elvie handed him water. "What did you see?"