The Blue Light in the Dark
The instant the level-up notification faded, a new window refreshed before Bennett's eyes.
◈ Night Vision Lv.1
◈ Stone Fist Lv.1
◈ Blade Claws Lv.1
After verifying that his immediate surroundings were secure, Bennett focused on the options floating in the air. He had already confirmed firsthand that gathering experience points until reaching a critical threshold resulted in a so-called 'level up.' It seemed that upon leveling, the system granted new abilities just like this, offering a choice of one out of three.
Bennett cautiously tapped each option to read its details.
Night Vision Lv.1: Grants clear vision in total darkness.
Stone Fist Lv.1: Hardens fists to the density of solid rock.
Blade Claws Lv.1: Sharpens fingernails into razor-sharp talons.
The choice was not a difficult one.
◈ Silent Footsteps Lv.1
◈ Marksman Lv.1
◈ Night Vision Lv.1 (New!)
A momentary prickling sensation flared across both eyes, and the world before him transformed. The pitch-black gloom that had completely suffocated his vision peeled away, brightening his surroundings by several degrees. It was not as luminous as broad daylight, but considering there was no light source whatsoever in the dark, the clarity was more than satisfactory.
Bennett was inside an enclosed room. It was narrow and sealed off, littered with mop handles, buckets, and scattered cleaning rags, suggesting it had once served as a janitorial closet.
He reached out and grasped the metal door handle. Its design differed greatly from anything found in his homeland. Twisting it firmly downward, he felt the latch disengage inside the frame.
Screeech.
Despite his best efforts to ease it open, a faint groan escaped the hinges. Bennett slipped out silently. Though he called it the outside, he was still indoors; another corridor simply stretched out before him.
The wall bore painted letters, but it was written in Dungeon Language, entirely indecipherable to him.
Bennett reached into his coat and drew his weapon.
Clack!
Pulling back the cocking lever chambered a quarrel from the magazine into the firing groove. Confirming that the mechanism was primed, he held the custom Dwarven rapid-fire repeating crossbow at a ready angle. This weapon was fundamentally different from ordinary crossbows.
He had obtained it years ago after saving the life of a dwarf during his mercenary career. It was defensive ordnance forged exclusively for dwarves to protect their own kind—a masterwork they refused to craft for outsiders under any circumstance, no matter how much gold was offered or how high a noble or royal made the request.
While an ordinary bow or crossbow loosed a single shot before requiring a lengthy reload, this Dwarven crossbow could rattle off four to five bolts in rapid succession. Had the dwarf Bennett rescued not been a high-ranking dignitary, he never would have laid hands on it.
Thud.
Bennett snapped his crossbow toward the sound. It echoed from the corner where the corridor widened out. It was not the tramp of a crowd, but a single set of footsteps. He held his breath, waiting for the figure to emerge into view.
Grrrhh...
A rotten corpse stumbled out from the blind spot.
A zombie.
He remembered seeing it in the guidebook. It had been described as one of the most common 'mobs' encountered within the dungeon. Its weakness was the head—specifically, destroying the brain.
Eliminate 5 Zombies (0/5)
🎁 Reward: 15 EXP
⚠ Failure Penalty: Injury
Glancing at the floating interface prompting the hunt, Bennett chose not to expend a quarrel. Instead, he drew his dagger and closed the distance with measured steps.
Thwack!
The blade sank deep into the skull, and the zombie collapsed lifelessly to the tile floor. It had been staring vacantly toward the opposite wall, making the takedown effortless.
Bennett knelt to inspect the fallen corpse. The clothing was heavily decayed, yet the baseline craftsmanship remained unmistakably superior. The shoes were particularly striking. Because Bennett's profession demanded endless marching, he took care to wear the finest footwear he could afford—goods nearing the quality worn by minor nobility. Yet the shoes on this corpse rivaled the luxury items of high aristocrats. If the soles had not been completely torn away, they would have become his first scavenged loot.
Clicking his tongue in mild disappointment, Bennett surveyed the wider hall. It was massive. Faded signage depicting fruit and prepared dishes hung from overhead beams, confirming that food had once been traded here. But the display counters held nothing. Every shelf stood stripped bare, and what little remained amounted to scattered, rusted tin cans. Finding nothing of value, he had half a mind to look for spare shoes, but apparel seemed to be sold elsewhere.
"They're coming!"
Bennett dropped into a low crouch as several points of light bobbed into view ahead. Flickering orange flames cut through the gloom. Torches possessed limited reach, but against the suffocating pitch-black of the interior, they were impossible to miss.
"Watch the front!"
Judging by the cadence of footfalls and shouts, it was a sizeable party. Perhaps bolstered by their numbers, they cut down the zombies shambling from all sides with practiced ease. The fact that the zombies were sluggish—befitting an [Easy] difficulty rating—undoubtedly helped.
"Hey! Finish it off properly!"
"One's crawling behind the counter! Watch out, watch out!"
Though loud and undisciplined, the party succeeded in eliminating every corpse in their path. Even after the skirmish concluded, they lingered in the open, loudly conversing while reorganizing their gear. Whether their confidence stemmed from headcounts or combat experience, they operated with brazen audacity.
"Nobody took a bite, right? Check yourselves right now! Don't go crying that you're turning when it's too late!"
"All clear!"
"Good. Move out!"
Clatter, clatter, clomp!
Bennett waited until their torchlight retreated entirely before stepping into the skirmish ground. Every zombie lay strewn across the floor with crushed craniums or severed necks. Anything of potential value had already been stripped clean. Someone had even scavenged a zombie's shirt and trousers, leaving the rotting carcass lying completely bare on the cold floor.
Rising silently, Bennett directed his gaze toward the stairs. A set of crisscrossing metal staircases rose overhead. Seeing that the earlier party had used them without incident, they appeared structurally sound. He stepped onto the treads with extreme care. The edges of each step were notched with unusually sharp ridges, and whenever he placed too much weight upon them, a hollow metallic chime echoed through the stairwell.
"Hm?"
As he neared the upper landing, a shift in the air caught his attention. The stale stench of rot and mildew still lingered, but a faint draft brushed against his cheek. The breeze blew from straight ahead. The building's main entrance—and exit—was far closer than he had anticipated. Most of the glass doors were shattered, allowing the external breeze to spill freely inside.
Whoosh.
From an illustrative map mounted beside the landing, Bennett confirmed this was the 1st floor. Though parts of the directory were torn away and spattered with dried blood, he could tell the structure rose ten stories high. There was also a diagram depicting a vertical shaft running straight through the building's core, though its purpose eluded him entirely.
Turning his head, he examined the expanse of the 1st floor, which was just as cavernous as the basement. Scavengers holding torches were combing through the space, keeping deliberate distance from one another. Wary of encroachment, whenever the gap between two torches narrowed, one party would quickly divert their path.
Bennett furrowed his brow at the sheer volume of competitors. Trying to squeeze between the scavengers on the 1st floor seemed counterproductive; moving to a different floor was far more practical. And above all else—
Those doors.
The shattered glass entrance bothered him immensely. He did not know whether going outside was even permissible, nor what lurked in the world beyond, but his mercenary instincts rang with clear warning: lingering near the ground floor was not a wise choice.
Bennett made use of the adjacent staircase.
A similar scene unfolded here. Torches lit by scavengers dotted the floor in various corners. Just as Bennett moved to ascend straight to the 3rd floor, he froze. The stairwell was blocked. A deliberate barricade of stacked scrap, busted metal shelves, and broken furniture choked the entire passage. While a small gap existed near the ceiling, scrambling through it was practically impossible; the debris was piled haphazardly without any stable footing. If that precarious mountain gave way...
"Not worth the risk."
Bennett turned back. Fortunately, other routes upward remained. According to the floor plan on the 1st floor, an auxiliary stairwell existed away from the central core.
It was toward that direction, wasn't it?
Bennett struck flint and lit a torch he had carried in reserve just in case.
Fwoosh.
The sudden appearance of a new flame made the existing lights in the area hesitate momentarily, but they soon resumed their steady pace. A tacit rule governed the scavengers moving across the 1st and 2nd floors:
Maintain a fixed interval, and circulate in a single direction to prevent collision.
On the 1st floor, the torches moved in a clockwise pattern; on the 2nd floor, they circulated counterclockwise. Bennett simply conformed to the local order. He felt several sharp gazes probing him from the dark, but once they observed him following the flow, their hostility dissipated.
A space selling food and clothing?
Unlike the basement, the display counters here possessed a more refined design, but there was still nothing worth salvaging. Whatever scraps had survived the cataclysm had already been scooped up by previous scavengers. Walking on without any meaningful harvest, Bennett's eyes drifted forward.
Curiously, an entire section of the outer wall on the 2nd floor was composed of glass. Tables and chairs were arranged before it, facing outward to view the exterior landscape—evidently a lounge or rest area.
"Grab whatever looks intact, even if it's small!"
"Yeah, yeah, on it."
A five-man scavenger party was busily turning the area upside down. Four combed through the booths looking for usable scrap, while the fifth kept a vigilant eye on Bennett trailing behind them. From their perspective, such wariness was only natural; Bennett took no offense.
"Looks like we cleared it all."
"Rear flank?"
"All clear!"
Having gathered their meager haul, the party turned to round the next corner. Bennett prepared to follow at a measured distance when—
Bennett's entire vision was dyed a sickening, vivid blue.
Reflexively, he threw his body backward. A blinding beam of The Blue Light erupted through the glass from outside, engulfing the entire lounge. The five-man party, caught in mid-stride, was instantly swallowed by the azure radiance. Their limbs locked rigid in awkward, mid-step postures.
The light was so intensely blue it felt chilling to the bone, flickering and pulsing like a predator that had just seized fresh prey.
Gulp.
Swallowing hard, Bennett backed away from the window with meticulous care. The blue light persisted for merely a few seconds before abruptly dissipating. Naturally, the radiance was gone now, but the five scavengers exposed to its glare remained motionless—
Crunch.
Backing away, Bennett's heel crushed a piece of shattered glass. He flinched. At the sound, the frozen scavengers slowly rotated their heads in unison. From their eye sockets, the exact same eerie blue light poured forth in glowing streams.
"Hey... let me show you something wonderful."
"...What?" Bennett muttered, frowning at the disjointed utterance.
"It's a sight so exquisite that if one person watches, two could die without even noticing. Come on... come over here."
...Isn't that saying supposed to mean the exact opposite?
"Hurry and come over! Do you know how rare it is to see a view like this in a dungeon?"
"That's right! Hurry and join us!"
The scavengers reached out, their hands grasping wildly toward him. Bennett gave no reply, steadily opening the distance between them. Seeing him withdraw, their calm façade shredded instantly, their voices turning ragged and frenzied.
"Come here while we're asking nicely! Get over here!"
"Witness the rapturous glory and BECOME ONE WITH USSSSS!!!!!!"
Howling like rabid beasts, the five scavengers lunged straight at Bennett.