Dungeon (7) – "Isn't That Lucy?"
"Isn't that Lady Lucy?"
Eily's voice echoed cautiously through the chamber. At her words, murmurs rippled through the group. In an instant, the thrill of discovery that had electrified the air grew frigid.
"You're right?" Varis muttered, pointing at the statue with wide eyes. "She looks just like Senpai... no, it's way beyond that."
Elisha swallowed hard and stepped closer. "It's doppelganger level."
Now, no one cared about the treasure chest waiting to be opened. Every gaze locked onto the statue of Lucy, which seemed to carry some profound religious significance, far more captivating than the weathered, faded box.
The surface of the massive statue was worn smooth by the passage of time, but its facial contours and delicate details remained strikingly clear. The real issue, though, was that its face was identical to Lucy's.
"This is weird…." Eily whispered. "They said this was an ancient ruin…."
Confusion clouded everyone's minds. It felt like puzzle pieces that refused to fit. Caught off guard by the unexpected sight, no one could hide their bewilderment. The excitement over finding the treasure chest had evaporated, leaving only an inexplicable unease and a tightening dread in their chests.
But while the others stared at the statue in stunned silence, one person had completely frozen. Lucy. No, "frozen" didn't quite capture it. Her face was a storm of bewilderment, anxiety, and worry. The faint sheen of cold sweat trickling down her cheek betrayed her tension.
She tried to speak, but her lips only trembled without sound. Her fingertips quivered faintly. She knew something. But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Lucy-senpai, what's going on here?" Elisha asked, stepping back and narrowing her eyes warily. Suspicion and unease laced her voice.
This was a dungeon. An ancient temple said to date back to time immemorial. As a relic of antiquity, it should bear traces of an era beyond human comprehension. Yet the statue before them defied time itself, mirroring the face of the living, breathing Lucy.
It was a scene no rational mind could grasp. But Lucy forced a smile and brushed it off lightly. "Beats me~?"
She let out an awkward laugh and patted the statue casually. "Ha, haha... it really does look just like me, huh? What a shock."
But her act wasn't flawless. Even as she spoke, a subtle tremor undercut her voice. And I wasn't the only one who noticed. Elisha shot her a more distrustful glance and quietly put more distance between them. Varis, Eily, and Melina watched Lucy with equally subtle expressions.
They all sensed it. Lucy knew something about this place—and that statue.
"Senpai… do you know something about this place?" Varis asked cautiously.
At that moment, Lucy's body stiffened ever so slightly. He frowned, staring at her. "You're not… connected to this place somehow, are you?"
Silence.
Lucy still didn't open her mouth. She just pressed her lips tight, her eyes flicking between the statue and herself.
The tension thickened. A stifling quiet, like everyone was forcing down their breaths, filled the space.
"But that's impossible…. This building predates even our ancestors' time," Elisha insisted, still eyeing Lucy suspiciously, though she nodded at Varis's point.
But this time, Melina countered with solid reasoning. "Even if Senpai were a long-lived elf or something, this is from far earlier. It doesn't add up."
"Still, calling it a coincidence doesn't explain it either."
"It's too identical to just say she resembles it…."
"It's like they sculpted it straight off Lucy-senpai herself."
Melina's words carried conviction. Elisha and Melina's opinions sowed doubt in everyone. The timeline didn't match for any real connection, yet it was too perfect to dismiss as chance.
"Guys…."
Under the mounting suspicion, Lucy finally pried open her tightly sealed lips. Her eyes held a mix of resolve and worry, as if bracing for a major confession. Her fingertips trembled faintly. It felt like she was about to spill everything.
But—
"It's okay, Senpai."
Varis stepped forward at that moment. "Varis…?" Lucy murmured his name.
"If there's a story behind this, just tell us straight."
"We're comrades, right? We'll understand."
"So let's figure it out together."
Varis's earnest words subtly shifted Lucy's expression. This wasn't a small matter for her. When everyone else eyed her with suspicion, the one extending a hand would feel like true salvation.
"Varis…!"
This was one of the main events tied to Lucy. The moment she started warming to Varis for being the only one to reach out amid the distrust. And those lines meant a "bigger event" was imminent.
"Actually, there's something I need to confess to you all…."
Lucy clasped her hands in front of her chest, steeling herself to speak—
Thud—
A massive rumble shook the entire dungeon. The ground lurched beneath their feet.
"Ugh?"
"The dungeon's shaking! Master, are you okay?"
Just as the fragile tension began to ease, the dungeon convulsed like it might collapse. It felt like some colossal beast awakening to life. Vision blurred, balance faltered.
"Earthquake? No, something's off!"
"Everyone, get low!"
Caught off guard, they flailed in panic. But the sudden disaster wasn't over.
Crack, craaack—
"Cracks in the floor…! Master, watch out!"
As if the whole place might crumble, fissures spiderwebbed across the ground. But they weren't random. The cracks veered in a deliberate direction.
"Lucy-senpai!"
Varis shouted, sensing the anomaly. But it was too late.
"Wha—?! Wait—"
Thud—
"—?!!"
The floor gave way beneath Lucy. In a heartbeat, she plummeted into the void. Below yawned an abyss of darkness, an endless chasm waiting to swallow her.
"Senpai!"
She vanished without resistance. Varis lunged reflexively toward the hole.
"Lucy-senpai!"
But he was too slow to grab her. Her silhouette faded into the black, leaving him gritting his teeth in helpless frustration.
"Master, what do we do? Lady Lucy fell!"
Eily scanned around anxiously, but no safe path down presented itself.
"Going down recklessly is too dangerous."
Elisha peered into the pit murmuring lowly. An endless void, too dark to glimpse what lay below.
"It's too deep…." Melina couldn't hide her unease, cold sweat beading on her cheek.
Up to here, it's following the original script.
I quickly assessed the situation. In the original story, Lucy fell into the abyss right as she was about to reveal her identity, triggering the dungeon collapse.
But….
Something's wrong.
There was a subtle but significant difference.
"Ugh, we need to hurry down after her!"
Varis shouted without hesitation. In the original, he would've fallen with her at this point, leading to a duo event deep in the dungeon's heart.
But that expectation shattered—thud.
"Ugh?"
Suddenly, a strong force hit my back.
What the—?
It felt like someone shoved me. A chill raced down my spine.
"M-Master?!!"
Eily's horrified cry rang out, but my body was already tipping forward, balance lost.
Someone… pushed me?
No time to think. My unbalanced form tumbled straight into the pit.
"What the—"
Vision spun as the floor vanished. My stomach dropped with the sickening pull of gravity, hurtling me downward.
"Arnold?!!"
Fading voices from above. Their desperate shouts grew distant, drowned by the roar of wind in my ears.
"……!"
A world of pure darkness. I plunged toward the same abyss that claimed Lucy, into the endless void below.