1 The 'Accident'

"You need to be the bait. Most of us are injured, we need a distraction so that we can reach the dungeon's entrance and leave." Says Alan.

"What!? What do you mean bait? I am not even a hunter, what am I supposed to do if you leave me behind!?"

My yells reverberate through the hollow tunnels of the cave, bouncing off their cracked and warped stone walls. Sarah walks up to Alan's side. The couple often receive praise for their looks. Alan's height, combined with his short blonde hair and blue eyes, always draw attention. Sarah is more of a traditional brunette. I hate to admit it, but despite her common features, her figure is striking.

"Didn't you hear? You are supposed to be bait!" Sarah yells.

She walks towards me; my legs start feeling weak. Her smirk sends chills down my spine. As she reaches me, she shoves me onto the floor. Even though she is only an E rank support hunter, her strength surpasses most athletes, let alone a rankless porter like me. I hit the ground with a low thud, my chest feels like it got hit by a truck. I immediately start gasping for air with a hurried panic, the realization sets in.

'I am going to die here.'

"Alright, let's go guys. And someone start thinking of an excuse for our missing 6th member, our dear porter." Alan scoffs.

The group of hunters begin to gather their things. In a full panic, I search for a set of eyes looking my way, trying to find any sign of compassion or doubt. Ekon is standing to the side of the group, his face full of concern. He's always been the more reserved one of the group. His appearance is quite the contrast to that, as a tall and burly black man, he can be quite imposing. 'Yes! He is a foreigner; he should know how it feels to be alienated. He wouldn't leave me behind!' Like he could hear my thoughts, Alan notices Ekon's concern and turns his way.

"You aren't going to help him, are you?" he asks in a threating tone.

"Huh?" Ekon snaps out of his thoughts. "Of course not. I was thinking he won't be much of a bait if we leave him here hiding in silence."

'Ah, I'm done for.'

"Ekon's right Alan. We've been here yelling at each other for some time and the monsters still haven't found us," one of the group's new members, Han, chimes in.

"Yeah. Come on Will! Make some noise!" Han's buddy remarks.

The pair fill the cave once more with loud echoes, but before the group could get too rowdy…

CLAP!

Alan's clap gets the group's attention. A smirk on his face, identical to Sarah's when she first shoved me. Yet, this one has a more sinister look to it.

"It's easy, I'll break one of his arms. That way he'll be screaming, but still able to run. We don't want him to die too quickly after all, otherwise it wouldn't be much better," Alan says.

'No, this has to be a joke, they can't do this to me.' My thoughts stop as Alan's hands grasp my left arm. They are cold, like a dead man's, an ironic metaphor considering my fate. With absolutely zero hesitation, akin to a bored teenager breaking pencils during class, he snaps my left arm. A clean crack fills the tunnels and pierces my ears. Almost immediately; 'AHHHH!' So do my screams.

"There we go! Alright everyone, follow me. Be careful as we leave, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Slow and steady, I'm sure William here will try his best to buy us plenty of time," Alan says mockingly.

I'm assaulted by the feeling of fire spreading through my arm, consuming my flesh. My mind is devoid of any thoughts, pain filling every crevice in my head. Seconds pass, with each one feeling longer than the last. With the adrenaline kicking in, I finally quiet down, pathetic whimpers replacing my screams. Opening my eyes, the world regains its sharpness, which I didn't realize it had lost. After the initial shock of pain subsides, my mind begins to clear, and I realize they are all gone. The silence is unnerving. It is only interrupted by spurts of my blood hitting the ground, marking the time I have left like a sinister metronome.

I realize they even took the time to take the pack of loot I was carrying. Even now their greed drives them. 'What the fuck! This was supposed to be a normal E ranked run for our group. Why did it have to be a linked dungeon? I thought having dungeons connect like this was a myth. Something those who failed to clear the dungeons made up to cover for their incompetence. To think I'd end up dying in one.'

A screech echoes through the caves, like nails on a chalkboard, except in this case it's claws on rock. My panic dwindles, replaced by apathy as I think of giving up. 'Should I even run? Wouldn't it be better if I die quickly? Like Alan said, by running, I would only raise their chances of escape. Would it be less painful if I let the monsters kill me? Wait…. Should I kill myself? My skinning knife is sharp enough to cut monster hide, it should go through normal people's skin like butter. It should guarantee me a quick death.'

The growls grow in number, but they are drowned out by the pounding of drums coming from my chest. The drums speed up, every beat faster and faster, louder, and louder. My knife inches towards my throat and hovers over it…

"Will! You're back! Everything okay? Are you hurt? You didn't go to a higher ranked dungeon, did you?" I remember Tom saying this with his signature concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, not hurt at all. Remember I'm a porter okay? I don't do any of the fighting. And rankless porters aren't even allowed anywhere near anything higher than E tier." I respond, dismissive as usual.

With the memory fading, tears start to flow down my cheeks.

'Tom…. What is he going to do when I'm gone? Will he be able to finish high school? He's barely started, I wanted to see him graduate. He's always felt guilty about me having to drop out of college to become a porter. Will he feel responsible for my death too? His smile grows rarer by the day, will anyone see it again? I-I can't leave him alone. I need to survive. I need to escape.'

A new set of growls remind me of their presence, hellhounds. Dog's from the dungeon's original dimension, mutated by mana. They are pack animals, not that it matters, one of those pitch-black fuckers is enough to kill me. Those bastards are as big as a horse. I can't fight, I need to run, but I can't outrun them forever. Even worse, the commotion might've attracted monsters from the linked section too. We spotted some trolls and living armors while trying to hide. If I remember correctly, they are classified as rank A monsters. Considering I would struggle to fight even a single F rank goblin, it is pointless to mention A rank monsters.

"Shit! How am I supposed to escape this place!?" I yell, barely audible over the noisy hellhounds.

After pondering for a bit, it finally hits me. 'The living armors! This idea is crazy, but it might work.' Gathering my thoughts, I rip a piece of my shirt with my teeth and use it to tourniquet my broken arm. Everyone who wants to enter a dungeon needs to pass the basic explorer test. It includes a first aid course and porters are not exempt. 'Now, I'll last a little longer before bleeding out.'

Standing up, I try to recollect the layout we mapped out while we searched for a hiding spot. I would love to read the map instead of trying to remember, but those bastards aren't stupid enough to leave without it. With a vague sense of direction, I make my way out of the small clearing we've been using as a hiding spot. I know I have little time before the hellhounds arrive, so I start sprinting. Where to? Of course, the A ranked section.

'This is a terrible idea, I'm fucked.'

Living armors are sentinels, they stand guard in a designated location. Any intruders they detect will be killed, unless said intruders leave the area. By abusing this flaw in their orders, I hesitate to say I'll make it out alive. Now that the hellhounds have my scent, it will be impossible for me to hide from them. That's the good part, only the hellhounds can find me with ease. If I can hide from the living armors, I can use them for what they are intended. They'll be the guards that protect me from the hellhounds. After that, all that's left is to hope the higher ranked hunters sent to clear the linked dungeon make it in time. This dungeon was on the verge of breaking, so the association won't delay their response.

I search for the cavern's exit, trying to find a connected area to the A ranked dungeon that isn't riddled with monsters. After finally finding an opening, I enter the grassy planes of the secondary dungeon. My brain works double time as I make my way to the castle where we first spotted the armors.

'I need to figure out how to do this'.

Soon enough the crumbled walls appear in the distance and an idea forms in my head. 'Dammit! One gamble after another.' Hoping luck is on my side, I rip another piece of my shirt and soak it in some of my blood. Blood stains the cloth and I get closer and closer to the castle's fallen gate.

Two armors stand guard at the gate, when they spot me approaching, they unsheathe their swords. The soundless action is creepy enough, let alone when you add their piercing scarlet wisp eyes and their rustic, broken down look. Not that the rust detracts from their fearsome strength. As rank A monsters, they're strong enough to throw around smaller cars like basketballs. Speaking of throwing, that's exactly what I am going to do with this blood-soaked cloth.

I try to take aim but notice how hard I'm shaking, not being used to fighting, the situation is really getting to me. 'Tom better cook something for me after I get back.' Taking a heavy breath, I hold it and wait. The armors are making quick work of the distance that separated us. 'A little closer, I need to make sure this throw connects.' When the armors make it to the halfway point, I throw the cloth at the one on the right, watching it arcing towards its target and…

SQUISH.

The cloth makes a pathetic and embarrassing sound when it splatters into the monster's chest piece. But no amount of embarrassment can reduce the elation of seeing the shot succeed. 'Yes! What a throw!' While I celebrate, neither of the armors stop running. Seeing how it was a piece of cloth, they didn't even bother dodging, much less slow down their pursuit. 'Right! I have to run!' I bolt and hide behind some rubble nearby.

Noticing I left the perimeter, the armors return to their posts only to be alarmed by a new arrival. A massive pack of hellhounds. The armors lazily prepare to receive their assault, if they had emotions, they'd be annoyed. 'Thank god both groups are muscle-heads.' Lacking context, one would expect the clash to be fierce. But the hellhounds are simple E rank monsters, they are no match to even a single A rank monster, let alone two.

The hellhounds attempt to reach the armors, most of them fail, being lazily cut down. Those dogs who manage to reach the armors, break their own claws when they swipe at them. 'Of course you guys can't harm an A rank tank type, idiots.' Seeing a couple of hellhounds drop mana stones makes me cringe. 'What a waste, I can only get one or two every run.' There are at least 5 stones amongst the corpses. 'They might be E rank mana stones, but anything related to mana is expensive.'

While the two armors deal with the hellhounds, I race towards castle, yes, I'm going into the castle. Even though the hellhounds are being dealt with, that is only some of them. A few will notice the danger and flee the fight. Not only that, but hellhounds are also far from the only danger in this dungeon. On whether the armors will sense me inside the castle and come for me, I don't know.

Without much of a choice, I gamble yet again, hoping their perimeter doesn't extend to the inside of the castle. Once inside, I scout the rooms and corridors. Trying to see if there are any other living armors inside it, I see nothing. Eerily, the castle is deprived of life. Not even any artificial living armors populate it, there is a ghost like silence.

I wander around the rubble; the upper floors seem to have collapsed onto the ground level. Now there's an utter mess of stone and some rather large furniture. 'Research into ruins like these has yet to achieve any significant results. People speculate they are of some humanoid race that populated the dungeon's original dimension. I can see why they'd think so. I'll try to find anything of value, or at least some info that can increase my contribution to the association.'

I enter a massive room, occupied by an equally massive throne; although with that size, it looks more like a couch. The room is in shambles, marble litters the floor and vines invade its walls. Sizeable pieces of cloth lie on the floor, I assume they must be weathered banners. 'I wish I could've seen what it looked like in its prime. Must've been quite the sight to behold.'

Unfortunately, my wounds finally catch up to me. The world appears like a reflection in a fogged mirror. My breaths, few and far between, grow ever so faint. I stagger into a nearby room, not even checking to see if there's anything dangerous in it; thoughts are hard to form. I lie down on the floor, exhausted. 'Even after all my effort, I'll still die here. I'm sorry Tom, I tried.' Against my will, my heavy eyelids begin to close.

rumble

Rumble

'Huh?'

CRACK!

And so, as if the world were laughing at me one last time. I start falling.