The moment they crossed into the hall, the pressure dropped.
Not completely.
But enough.
Lucen felt it first in his teeth, like someone had stopped ringing a tuning fork next to his jaw.
Then the fog pulled back.
Not violently. Not like smoke getting pushed by air.
It just… retracted.
Peeled off the ground like it had gotten bored and decided to go home. The heavy gray curtain around their ankles thinned, then vanished into the cracks between floor tiles like it was never there.
Lucen didn't relax.
He dragged Maika with one arm and half-supported Rin with the other, and every nerve in his body screamed that something was still watching.
His system stayed quiet.
No alerts.
No status changes.
No helpful voice whispering, "Good job, now cry in a corner."
Just the cold silence of a system pretending it hadn't nearly let him die.
Maika stumbled once, catching herself against the wall.
Her voice came out rough. "That thing… it didn't chase us?"
Lucen said nothing.
Mostly because he didn't have an answer.
Also because he didn't want to think about how close it had gotten to Rin. Or how Kell's body hadn't moved once.
Rin breathed in short, broken gasps.
Still conscious.
Barely.
Lucen adjusted his grip on her arm. She didn't resist.
He kept walking.
Tile gave way to uneven stone. The hallway curved upward again. Lights flickered the same sickly blue as before, but the weight was gone.
The pressure.
The sense that the walls had eyes.
Gone.
He glanced down.
No fog.
No line on the ground.
Just floor.
Like a normal dungeon.
If that was even a thing.
Maika looked over at him. Her face was pale, mouth tight.
She asked, "Where's Kell?"
Lucen's jaw clenched.
He didn't answer.
Not with words.
He just shook his head once.
Maika's breath caught. She didn't cry. Didn't scream.
She just looked forward again and kept walking.
'That's probably worse.'
They reached a broken archway. Lucen recognized it. The edge of the spiral section, near where they'd entered.
The hallway where the trap had dropped. Same busted frame. Same flickering conduit leaking mana sparks near the ceiling.
Rin mumbled something. Too quiet to hear.
Lucen tightened his grip. "Almost there."
He glanced at the system again.
Drift Path: Rejoined
Exit Node: Available
Synchronization: Partial
Threat Level: Neutralizing
Neutralizing.
He almost laughed.
'That's what you call it? One dead teammate and a hallway full of PTSD, and now it's neutral?'
They passed another turn.
Maika leaned hard against the wall, hand braced against a broken pipe.
Lucen let go of Rin for half a second, then reached back and helped Maika forward too.
They moved together like a trio of wet laundry. Uncoordinated. Heavy. Tired.
Still breathing.
The drift gate came into view.
Flickering light. Buzzing panel. And the faint shimmer of the exit field.
Lucen stepped toward it like someone approaching a mirage.
His system pinged again.
Exit Confirmed
Drift Field Disengaging
Experience Gained: 63
Level Up Available
He stared at the message.
Didn't react.
Didn't care.
Not right now.
They crossed the gate.
And the pressure vanished entirely.
The moment they hit real ground again, Maika dropped to her knees. Rin collapsed against the wall and didn't get back up.
Lucen stood in the center of the field, not moving.
Just breathing.
His jacket was soaked. His hands were shaking. His shoes were coated in ash.
A soft voice called from near the gate table.
The official.
Same guy.
Same bored tone.
"Welcome back. Oh."
Lucen turned his head.
The guy stared at them for a second, chewing whatever sad excuse for food was still in his mouth.
Then he slowly reached for his comm bead.
Lucen didn't wait to hear what he'd say.
He stepped away from the gate.
And sat down on the nearest bench.
He didn't say a word.
Just tilted his head back against the wall.
Eyes closed.
Breathing.
And whispered, "I'm never joining a team again."
Hands loose in his lap. His fingers still twitched sometimes, like they hadn't figured out they were safe yet.
The air smelled like burnt plastic and copper. The drift gate behind him hissed once as the seal reset. Lights buzzed overhead.
Somewhere across the room, a vending machine made a clunk like it was trying to spit out a drink and gave up.
Maika sat down on the other end of the bench.
She didn't say anything.
Lucen didn't look at her.
The two of them sat in silence long enough for it to feel real. Not awkward. Just there. Like background noise without volume.
Then she said, "Why didn't you help him?"
Lucen's jaw moved, but no sound came out.
"I'm serious," she said. "He wasn't dead."
Lucen turned his head, slow.
Maika didn't look at him.
Her hair was stuck to one side of her face. There was blood on her collar. She didn't seem to notice.
Lucen said, "I couldn't carry three people."
"You didn't even check."
The words weren't loud.
They just hurt more because of that.
Lucen looked at the floor.
A scuff mark near his boot caught his eye. Something someone else had left. Probably weeks ago. Didn't matter.
'Do I say sorry? Do I say he looked dead? That I didn't have time? That I panicked?'
He swallowed once.
"I made a choice."
Maika's voice was quieter now. "You made it fast."
Lucen looked at her.
She finally looked back.
Her eyes were tired. Red-rimmed. Not crying. Just drained.
He said, "He was gone."
"You don't know that."
"No," Lucen said. "I don't. But if I went back, we'd both be dead. Or all three."
She didn't answer.
The hallway behind them buzzed again.
Lucen leaned forward, elbows on his knees. His fingers laced together, then tightened.
He spoke low. "I've been in two drifts. That one was worse than anything I've read. That thing in there—whatever it was—it didn't care if we fought back. It was watching all of our moves."
Maika shook her head. "You still should've tried."
Lucen nodded.
Just once.
"Yeah," he said. "Maybe. Or maybe if you were stronger yourself then you wouldn't have ended up in that situation."
Maika's body shook completely.
Neither of them spoke after that.
The bench creaked under their weight.
Lucen stared straight ahead.
'She's not wrong though. But if I stop and think about it too long, I'm gonna break something.'
His system hovered in the corner again. Still flashing the level-up screen.
He didn't touch it.
Not yet.