The Purification Protocol
"Graaaagh!"
A ravenous tide of corpses surged through the corridor. Even Bennett, who rarely resorted to profanity, felt a string of foul curses rising in his throat at the horrific spectacle.
The panic lasted only a fraction of a second before his instincts took over. Bennett barked a swift, steady order.
"Left side. Breach it."
Snapping out of his brief fluster at the calm command, Edgar raised his heavy shield and rammed it violently against the door on their left.
Crash!
The office door gave way, bursting inward. The party scrambled inside, and Bennett, slipping in last, slammed the door shut behind them.
No sooner had the latch clicked into place than hurried footsteps and ragged breaths echoed right outside in the hallway. It was the presence of other scavengers.
"Hey! Let us in too! You can't just lock yourselves inside, you bastards!"
"Shut up, you lunatic, just run!"
Someone hammered frantically against the panel, but the desperate pounding receded quickly down the corridor toward the direction Bennett's party had come from. Bennett raised Shooting Star just in case, but froze almost immediately.
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
A colossal rumble of footfalls resounded through the structure, utterly drowning out the footsteps of the fleeing scavengers. The floor vibrated beneath their boots, so distinctly that Bennett could feel the tremors rattling his teeth. The truth hit him in an instant: the main horde of zombies was thundering right past their door.
Thump! Bang!
Stray bodies slammed hard into the door, rattling the hinges and buckling the frame. Bennett, Kyle, and Edgar threw their full weight against the barrier to brace it, but the reinforced leaf shuddered precariously, threatening to tear free at any moment.
Their only stroke of luck was that the corridor walls were constructed of solid, dense material. Had they been made of glass, the monsters would have shattered them long ago.
— Security regulation violation detected.
An automated voice speaking in incomprehensible Dungeon Language rang out overhead. Startled, the party snapped their heads up toward the ceiling.
"Wh-what is that?"
"Who knows?"
Yet unlike his companions, Bennett's attention wasn't drawn to the ceiling. His mind instantly flashed back to the peculiar pillars they had passed along the hallway. The metallic columns had caught his eye earlier, exuding an unnatural aura. Though his expression remained stoic, his pulse spiked in alarm.
— Contaminants detected.
— Commencing purification protocol.
Though the synthesized tone was devoid of emotion, an instinctive dread crept down Bennett's spine. He pivoted toward Erika.
"Defensive magic. Now."
"Ah—yes!"
She had already begun weaving a similar incantation beforehand. With the foundation already laid, a swift flourish of her staff brought the spell to completion.
— Contaminant eradication sequence... initiated.
Bennett grabbed Kyle and Edgar, hauling them backward. The ambient air superheated in an instant, turning scorchingly dry against their skin. Through the seam beneath the door, a blinding crimson radiance bled into the room.
"Shield!"
Erika's completed barrier enveloped the doorframe and the surrounding wall, locking them behind a shimmering dome of mana.
Fwoooosh—!
"Aaaaargh!"
The scavengers' agonizing screams failed to last even two seconds before cutting off abruptly. The heavy vibrations and the thunderous footfalls of the zombie horde met the exact same fate—wiped clean, leaving no trace behind.
Crack!
A sharp, glassy snap resonated through the room.
"Guh...!"
— Contaminant purification complete.
— Switching to standby mode.
The blinding glare beneath the crack faded, and the blistering heat in the air began to recede.
"Blegh!"
Vomiting a mouthful of dark blood, Erika collapsed onto her knees. The second barrier she had desperately manifested spiderwebbed with fractures before shattering into dissipating motes of light.
"Erika-nim!"
Erika leaned forward on all fours against the tiles, hacking violently as more blood spilled from her lips. Her trembling hands fumbled blindly at her waist pouch. Bennett knelt immediately, uncorked a recovery potion, and tipped it straight past her lips.
She gagged midway through the draught, but Bennett held her steady until she drained two full bottles down her throat.
"Haaah..."
"Are you alright?" Bennett asked, closely inspecting her complexion.
Her skin, already fair, had turned ghastly, bleached as white as a corpse. Fortunately, the restorative draughts took effect quickly, coaxing a faint brush of vitality back into her hollow cheeks.
"I-I think I'll be fine... once I rest a little."
"You did well."
Leaving Kyle and Edgar to watch over Erika, Bennett cautiously approached the door and pushed it open a fraction.
...That was close.
The hallway was an utter ruin. Nothing remained intact. Neither the scavenger party nor the legion of zombies had left behind a single corpse—they had been utterly disintegrated. A thick layer of grey ash coating the floor was all that attested to their existence.
The walls and the neighboring offices along the corridor had been shredded and melted as if swept by an incandescent storm. The solitary room that remained whole was the very office Bennett's party had barricaded themselves inside. Had Erika not dual-cast layered barriers under immense pressure, they would have been swept into oblivion alongside the rest.
Bennett scanned the scorched floor for any salvageable loot dropped by the scavengers or the mutants, but beings reduced past the bone could hardly leave their equipment behind.
He turned his gaze toward the pillar they had passed earlier.
Just as I thought.
At the apex of the metal pillar, the smooth sphere that had seemed dormant minutes ago now simmered with a dull, cherry-red glow. Satisfied, he stepped back into the office.
"Can you walk?"
"I... I can manage."
"Are you certain?" Bennett asked, his gaze firm. "Don't hide anything. Be completely honest about your condition."
"I can still use magic. But the internal backlash was severe... I need to avoid casting as much as possible if I want to recover quickly. 4th-Circle spells are out of the question until the internal trauma heals, and even 3rd-Circle spells might worsen the backlash if miscast. 2nd-Circle spells should be manageable, though."
Erika lowered her head in shame, but Bennett gently checked her apology.
"No. We owe you our lives. A simple thank you isn't even enough."
"Pardon?"
"If not for you, every one of us would be dead."
Rather than offering a lengthy explanation, Bennett gestured for the party to look out the door. The moment Erika and the others saw the hallway, their jaws went slack in shock.
"You did exceptionally well," Bennett said softly.
"Ah..."
"We'll rest here before moving out."
After a brief ration break and a period of quiet recovery, Bennett's party set out once more. Rounding the corner where the scavengers and the zombie horde had originally emerged, they encountered a three-way intersection.
Above each branch hung signs written in Dungeon Language, though dried, crusted bloodstains obscured most of the characters. Even if the lettering had been pristine, none of them could have read it anyway.
"Let's check the left path first," Bennett decided.
Unlike the sterile corridors, the left passageway possessed a softer, brighter ambience. A short walk brought them into an expansive, open chamber, but the party was immediately forced to clamp hands over their noses.
"Ugh, what in the world is that smell...?"
Despite the airy layout, a putrid stench hung thick in the air. Try as they might, they couldn't pinpoint the exact source; there were no heaps of rotting refuse or visible filth scattered across the dining floor.
Glancing downward, Bennett spotted a faded, tarnished metal serving tray lying on the floor.
A cafeteria, then.
Back on the continent, wooden sectioned trays were standard issue in military mess halls and public kitchens, making the room's function easy to deduce. The Closed Prison they had explored in the past also had a mess hall, but that had been a grim, utilitarian block designed strictly for control. This cafeteria, by comparison, was far larger, designed with a touch of comfort and leisure that felt almost luxurious.
Bennett led the group toward the kitchen area. The rancid odor grew heavier, but their search soon yielded a few promising finds.
"What should we do with this?" Kyle asked, holding up a sturdy metal ladle. It looked barely used, clean and untouched where it hung from a rack on the wall.
"Pack it for now. We can always discard it later if it proves useless."
"Understood."
Dungeon metals were widely regarded as far superior to the alloys of their home world. While continental smiths could replicate some of the common varieties, certain alloys possessed bizarre physical properties that even dwarven masters dared not attempt to forge. Unsure of the ladle's exact composition, Bennett decided to salvage whatever metal goods they could carry.
Their search uncovered cold noodle bowls, a stainless-steel frying pan, portable thermoses, forks, and various cutlery. Bennett's party stowed every last piece into their packs.
"There's a sealed storage room over here!"
Just as they were wrapping up the kitchen sweep, Edgar called out. The party converged on the heavy door, which featured a pull handle rather than a latch or lock.
Creeeeak—
Edgar pulled the heavy door open, stepped forward, and froze dead in his tracks.
"Ghk!"
Whatever tolerance they had built up over the past hour shattered instantly. The sickening stench inside was thick enough to choke on, prompting the party to step back out of pure survival instinct.
Bennett gave up on entering entirely, choosing instead to peer into the gloom from the threshold. Inside lay rotting, unrecognizable mounds of organic waste. And in the far corner, slumped against the wall, sat two skeletons draped beneath a tattered blanket.
"...This was likely a walk-in freezer."
On the continent, refrigeration was an unattainable luxury reserved exclusively for high nobles and merchant lords. Yet within the dungeon world, such devices were surprisingly common. Bennett had seen them multiple times in varying shapes and sizes across LT Department Store, Closed Prison, and the Closed Police Headquarters. Had those units not been obscenely heavy, scavengers would have hauled one out long ago.
Steeling himself against the odor, Bennett stepped into the freezer and searched the skeletons. Beneath the fraying blanket lay a yellowed, fragile scrap of paper.
"If I had known things would end like this, we should have gone on our honeymoon as planned. At least then we could have shared a few days of happiness... I'm so sorry, Sujin. And I love you."
Setting aside the note penned in alien Dungeon Language, Bennett's eyes drifted to the skeletal hands. The two sets of finger bones were intertwined, locked together in an eternal clasp. On each of their ring fingers sat an identical band.
Crack.
Snapping the brittle bone, Bennett slipped the rings free and examined them closely. Though simple in design, the tiny gem set into the band possessed an otherworldly clarity. It was a stone he had never encountered on the continent.
This should fetch a decent price.
Aside from the jewelry, the skeletons wore only tattered garments and worn running shoes. The rubber soles had completely rotted away, so Bennett left the footwear behind.
"Let's finish checking the dining hall."
Emerging from the kitchen, they spread out into the main dining area. Whether the research complex had once employed a massive staff or simply possessed ample funding, the sheer scale of the cafeteria was staggering. Unfortunately, useful loot was scarce. The floor was strewn with mysterious plastic wrappers and decayed refuse that crumbled under their boots.
Further along, they found another preparation area similar to the first kitchen, but it had been stripped remarkably bare. The only real harvest from the hall was a simplified floor plan posted near an exit.
Bennett had assumed the entrance they used was the facility's sole portal, but the diagram revealed multiple entryways serving identical roles. The scale of the installation was vastly larger than he had anticipated.
Finding nothing else worth carrying, Bennett led the party back to their starting point at the three-way intersection.
As Bennett moved toward the central corridor, an abrupt chill washed down the back of his neck.
What is that?
He flung himself backward on pure instinct.
Sssshk!
Th-th-thung!