Fine, Let's Give It a Shot
Zanil Peze, who had been staunching his wound, and Dr. Robanton heard the voice too.
-30 seconds until incineration procedures commence.
The blaring alarm was followed by that announcement.
"I-Incineration?"
"It means they're gonna burn it. This godforsaken place!"
Dr. Robanton bellowed. Zanil looked utterly bewildered. Sure, the doctor was lowborn and Zanil just a ranger, but treating him like some illiterate idiot?
Zanil snapped too. "I know that, you prick!"
His outburst made Dr. Robanton flinch and freeze. The man's face went pale. Can't blame him—three fingers sliced off by a flying snake.
Zanil sighed, swallowing his anger. "Haa, sorry for yelling. Anyway, we shouldn't be fighting each other right now..."
"Right. We need to find a way to survive somehow."
Zanil had half-expected the doctor to burst into tears. Thankfully, no such horror unfolded.
"It said incineration's starting, so we find somewhere the flames won't reach... or a way to cancel it."
Sound judgment. But time was short.
-25, 24, 23...
The countdown echoed in real time.
"Damn it, th-that way...!"
This was clearly the dungeon's core. No way those grotesque tanks and labs were on the outskirts. Zanil's sense of direction confirmed it.
"Maybe we can do something there."
A room crammed with intricate machinery. Dr. Robanton read the inscription above it.
"C-Control room...!"
Dr. Robanton knew plenty about Pellelian's dungeons. The archmage who left the world's most behind. Not ancient history either—new ones popped up decades ago.
But he'd never dreamed of this one. No clue how it was built. Dwarves claimed half was Pellelian's own work. His elemental magic touched the heavens—that much was true.
But the real genius? The magic spirit system controlling it all.
"Magic spirit, respond!"
Dr. Robanton shouted at the controls. Zanil stared in disbelief.
-You called?
The reply came from thin air. Dr. Robanton yelled with hopeful fervor.
"Incineration! Halt the incineration procedures immediately!"
In foreign lands, bumping into a fellow countryman was joy enough. In a dungeon about to become an inferno, a talking opponent made his legs shake.
But soon, both men's faces twisted.
Identity unconfirmed.
Unable to halt procedures.
Of course. It wouldn't let just anyone tamper.
So, meekly burn to death it was.
"Do something!"
"U-Uwaaaak!"
-12, 11, 10...
The control room brimmed with bizarre devices even scholar Dr. Robanton couldn't fathom. Fairy tech? No, pure Pellelian ingenuity.
They yanked levers, mashed buttons. No time to puzzle them out properly.
-8, 7, 6...
Like toddlers with toys, they pounded, pulled, pressed wildly.
"Ah, aaah...!"
Zanil groaned. A long nozzle snaked down from the ceiling. Clearly for the "incineration."
Even the control room would burn.
-5, 4, 3...
Zanil jammed buttons too, nearly breaking them.
Bang!
"What the hell?!"
"Wait, something's happening...!"
A beep sounded.
Playing calming music.
"Damn it!"
Dr. Robanton yanked a red lever. Hiss! Compressed air vented.
Did it stop the incineration?
-...1.
Commencing incineration.
-...Draining nutrient solution, operating.
The spirit's voice overlapped; the end was muffled, but "incineration commencing" rang clear.
Zanil and Dr. Robanton screamed, clutching each other.
But heaven intervened—or their frantic fiddling worked. A miracle.
Test subject not recovered.
Halting incineration procedures temporarily.
The ceiling nozzles stayed put, flames dormant.
"Wh-What...?"
"We hit something right?"
Test subject not recovered? The tanks held those freakish floaters—no empties.
"...Let's get out first."
Dr. Robanton seemed braver now. Zanil nodded, impressed.
"You're fearless, Doctor."
"The Chuugota nest was worse. This is nothing."
His scream hadn't been quiet, though. Still, Zanil followed silently.
The doctor was remarkable. Overcoming trauma to return to the mountains. His resolve awed even Zanil.
"Can't die in a place like this."
The doctor muttered. Outside the control room...
"Huh."
The outer corridor looped circularly. Control room inward, tanks lining the walls.
Splash.
The floor was soaked ankle-deep in sticky, fishy fluid. Leaking from the tanks' culture solution, obviously.
"That lever did this?"
Would the monsters wake? Zanil worried alone.
Dr. Robanton approached a tank. "Maybe the lever drained the solution to kill them, or..."
Or what? Curiosity piqued—
Crash!
The tank's light died abruptly. Magical illumination—why now? The dim corridor plunged into total black.
"Geez."
Dr. Robanton tapped the tank glass. "A bit..."
Zanil felt uneasy. "Step back a..."
Crack!
A fissure spiderwebbed the glass. Not from tapping—something burst through.
It impaled Dr. Robanton's gut.
"Guhk, kuh."
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Shatter, boom!
The tank exploded, solution flooding out. Zanil barely stayed upright, regaining balance to look.
The prisoner had escaped. Bloated belly. Head just a mouth, no eyes or nose. Tentacle arms.
One clutched Dr. Robanton like a skewer.
Zanil glanced between the doctor and the nearby plaque.
Potbelly
Glass shattered everywhere. The chimeras awoke.
What the hell did you do, Robanton?
The doctor didn't go quietly.
"Kweeeek!"
Gut pierced, he vomited blood and bile.
"D-Doctor!"
"Saaak!"
Another screamer joined Zanil. The little white snake appeared beside him.
* * *
Pellelian's offer to burn clean together was rejected. Incineration halted.
His brief peace shattered; his face twisted demonically again.
Rats opened the tanks... K-Kill them all!
Pellelian perked up. I raced to the control room.
Its entrance? Hidden beside tank 5, of all places. Pellelian, obsessed with chimeras, forgot to mention.
Humans stood before it. One skewered by the protruding chimera already.
"Saaaaak!"
My roar made the potbelly—clutching its human shish kebab—flee in terror.
Not just it. Others screeched, scattering down the corridor.
Don't let them escape!
To Pellelian, this was his secret diary flapping away.
I turned to a fleeing one.
Isil!
Flame spray!
One shot to nab them all. Isil extended vines before me.
Purple flames erupted from the tips.
Whoosh!
Flame spray in tight quarters is devastating. It was.
Hellfire spread, revealing shadows ahead. Some had fled, but slowpokes burned.
First: nearby potbelly 5.
Test Subject 5: Potbelly lv50
Next: legless meat blob.
Test Subject 1: Meat Blob lv30
One-legger dodged flames, hopping madly. True to its Uni-Hop epithet.
Three-legged three-eyer burned easy.
Test Subject 3: Three-Eye lv50
Three down—decent. But seven fled. Not enough.
Catch the rest—no exceptions!
To Pellelian, these were his shame. Soul-scarring embarrassments unfit for existence.
If a game, a quest window would've popped.
【Pellelian's Chimera Purge (A)】
Slay all escaped chimeras before they flee the dungeon.
These abominations of shame cannot be revealed to the world.
Remaining Chimeras: 7/9
Reward: ???
Accept? Y/N
Something like that. Not thrilled. Chase grotesque chimeras in pitch-black dungeon?
Pellelian deserved help, though.
What're you waiting for?!
I fought surging euphoria.
Level increased.
Level increased.
Level increased.
Level increased.
Level increased.
...Monstrous essence flooded me, levels skyrocketing.
Chimeras weren't strong, levels modest—yet this haul? Instant 40+.
50 for evolution? Even 60 possible. Chimeras were XP goldmines.
Hey!
Sure.
Quest accepted.
Fine, let's give it a shot.
Th-Thank you!
Even barking Pellelian seemed touched.
I checked the humans. Gone. Potbelly-kebab corpse left; the other fled fast.
Seal the exits so they can't escape. Control room, now!
Chimeras outside? No chase possible.
I darted in. Machinery labyrinthine.
Damn, voice commands would be easy. They trashed it... Open that quartz lid.
I did. Wires and pins galore.
Pull yellow and red pins.
Fairy geezer had comp-sci charm. Past-life me couldn't assemble PCs, so I followed orders.
Thud!
Something descended from ceiling. Ah, that.
Insert the ring.
Tail-ring in.
Identity recognized.
Welcome, Lord Pellelian.
The spirit greeted me. No chit-chat, sadly.
Switch to manual!
More tweaks per instructions.
Sealing dungeon entrances.
A distant boom. Doors shut.
Now, crystal panel—twist pin right.
Amazing: dungeon map via life signatures! Intruders and chimeras pinpointed.
Twist, and a map appeared.
Nearest chimeras first...
Center: two white dots—me and Isil.
And...
Huh? Right behind us.
Another signature.
Behind!
"Saaak!"
I leaped, spinning around.