"Hey, Den. Did you hear something just now?" Lathan asked quietly, his eyes scanning the darkness in the corner of the dungeon.
"Hear what? You must be hungry. If it's your stomach, well, it's been creepy since birth," Deni replied casually while continuing to shove the monster's claws into a large sack that was starting to fill up.
Lathan merely let out a thin laugh. "Maybe," he said softly. But something felt off. His skin tingled, and the air around him felt colder. As if this dungeon... was breathing.
After making sure nothing was left behind, the cleanup team—including Lathan and Deni—began moving toward the dungeon's exit gate. Traces of monster blood still clung to his shoes. A heavy breath escaped his dry mouth.
"Haaaahhh, finally done," Lathan muttered, wiping sweat from his temple.
"Hahahaha, what's wrong, Than? Tired? Come on, getting tired from that? You're such a wimp," Rio scoffed, a cleaner from another team who loved to taunt.
Lathan frowned. "You know I haven't awakened yet. My body's still like a normal human."
"Oh right, I forgot you haven't awakened. HAHAHA!" Rio laughed loudly, obnoxiously.
Lathan merely scoffed. What's the point in arguing with someone like that? Better to save his energy for walking. But inside, he suppressed the annoyance slowly building up.
The closer they got to the exit, the stranger Lathan felt. At first, he thought it was just fatigue. But the sensation grew heavier. Darker.
He glanced at the player team escorting them. One of them—a buzz-cut man in light armor—was clenching his teeth, eyes sharply fixed behind them.
And in the next second…
"Get out quick! The dungeon is showing signs of instability!" the player team leader shouted. His voice was loud, but full of tension.
At the same time… a terrifying sound echoed behind them.
Grrrrrrrhhhhhhhkk—
Something emerged from the dark corridor. A monster. No, that wasn't an ordinary monster. Its appearance resembled a nightmare sent directly from hell.
Seven eyes of different colors stared at them from all directions. Four arms, each holding a grotesque organic weapon, and ten spider-like legs stepped on the ground with a sticky, revolting noise. Its back was covered in sharp spikes that moved as if alive.
Fear immediately blanketed the area. The monster's "Fear" skill overtook their minds. Several cleaners ran away immediately. But they didn't make it five steps—sharp spikes shot from the monster's back, piercing their bodies in an instant.
Blood flowed. Screams rang out. The scene turned into a slaughterfield.
Lathan froze.
"Holy—"
A magical shield suddenly protected his body. One of the mages from the player team had activated a defensive spell.
"RUN!!" a warrior shouted, attacking the monster from the side. His teammates followed with swords and magic. They tried to hold the creature back.
Lathan didn't wait to be told twice. He ran. So did Deni. His breath was ragged. His hands trembled. The world spun too fast. Behind him, the sound of battle shook the ground.
But one by one, those sounds vanished. Replaced by terrifying silence.
After reaching several meters from the exit, Lathan stopped. He turned around.
Empty.
Everyone was dead.
Bodies scattered. Heads severed. Limbs torn apart, intestines spilling across the stone floor.
Lathan couldn't breathe.
He froze. The world seemed to lose its color. His legs gave way. Tears nearly escaped, but there was no time. Because the monster… was right behind him.
Once again, seven differently colored eyes stared at him. Deeply.
Lathan couldn't move. Not out of fear. But because his body refused to obey. His legs felt rooted to the ground. His heart beat too fast, then seemed to stop.
Death, it turned out, wasn't painful.
That was the last thought that passed before…
Srekkkk—
The monster's sharp claw pierced his chest. There was no time to scream. No chance to think. The world vanished in a blink.
Darkness. Silence. Emptiness.
No sound. No body. Only awareness slowly drifting away from everything.
But then…
[|You have died|]
That sentence... floated in the void. Not heard through ears, but appeared directly in his mind.
[ERROR: TRANSITION PROCESS FAILED]
[SKILL HAS BEEN GRANTED]
. . .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[|OVER LIMIT has been permanently added to user's skill set|]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[#$&#$2$237$52728#]
[&$836$5276&2€363#]
|ERROR|
|ERROR|
Beep—beep—beep—echoed like a glitching system.
[WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE ERROR]
.
.
[ADJUSTMENTS WILL BEGIN…]
.
.
[YOUR SOUL IS BEING RESTORED]
.
.
[AS SYSTEM COMPENSATION, EARLY REVIVAL IS AUTHORIZED]
.
.
[Dear Player]
.
.
[You will be revived one day before your death]
. . .
"...Hah?"
Lathan wanted to ask, to scream. But there was no mouth to speak. No body to cry out. Only awareness drifting in a swirl of data, electronic sounds, and glowing screens in the darkness.
Then his body felt like it was being pulled.
Light. Bright. Too bright.
KRASHH!!
The world shattered like broken glass.
.
.
.
"Huaaah!!"
Lathan woke up, gasping. His body soaked in sweat. His chest rose and fell rapidly. Eyes wide open.
He recognized the ceiling of his room.
Hot, humid, a faint smell of soap and instant coffee. All of it felt too... real.
He looked around. A small desk. A plastic chair. Cracked walls. A humming fan. Clothes hanging behind the door.
Alive.
He was alive.
Lathan stood up immediately, slipped, and fell onto the floor.
"...Ouch," he muttered softly.
Okay. That was clearly not a dream. He could even feel the pain in his back from the fall. And his chest—he touched his chest, where the claw had once pierced—there was no wound. But the chill from that memory still lingered.
"This… is the day before I died," he whispered.
His head felt heavy, but his mind worked faster than ever. Lathan scooted to the edge of the bed, gazing at the slightly open window. The sun wasn't too high yet. Still morning. The damp Bandung air crept in, carrying the scent of wet asphalt and distant birdsong.
He stood up slowly, making sure both feet touched the floor firmly. Still shaky, but not physically. This... was something deeper.
"If this really is the day before I died, that means tomorrow I'll still have to join the cleanup team for that dungeon," he muttered.
His hand trembled as he picked up his phone from the table. The screen lit up. He opened the messages. One last text from Deni, sent last night:
"Don't be late tomorrow, Than. We gather at 16:40. Don't let boss Erwin get mad again because you're always late."
Lathan exhaled deeply.
"So… this isn't a dream. This is real."
Slowly, he touched his chest again. Still intact. But every breath felt haunted by the sensation of that cold claw that once pierced him. It felt… too real to be an illusion.
[|OVER LIMIT has been permanently added to user's skill set|]
That sentence echoed again in his mind. Sounding like a reverberation, but from nowhere. And strangely… he could feel it. As if something had been implanted in him now. Something that wasn't a part of his body before.
"Over Limit… what the hell is that?" he muttered, frowning.
I walked out of my room, heading toward the bathroom. I walked while thinking again about my current condition. Although I had felt motivated earlier... I couldn't deny that the sensation of death I had just experienced was truly terrifying.
~~To be continued.~~