No more running

Running was the answer to all ailments, according to the ancient Greeks.

"Τρέξε για να θεραπεύσεις τα πάντα." after all.

Do you feel unhealthy?

Run a mile or two.

Feeling stressed out?

Run to clear your mind.

Lost your keys?

Run around the house.

Burned your toast?

Run to the store for more bread.

Or something along these lines...

I was quite literally forced to see the wisdom in their teachings as I ran through the dungeon, chased down by a veritable stampede of monsters.

Maybe the dungeon was annoyed by the Loki Familia pounding it so hard, and the other adventurers pouring salt into its wounds, but the monster spawn rate had increased massively compared to the night before.

I was leisurely making my way through the second floor, feeling happy and relaxed when I unexpectedly bumped into this horde. Since then, the commotion had attracted several others to the party.

Curiously, I couldn't see a single adventurer as I ran.

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might have even thought that they already knew delving the night after a strong familia began their expedition would be a bad idea...nah.

I wasn't certain about the exact number at this moment, but the last time I glanced over my shoulder, I counted around twenty goblins and about eight or so kobolds snapping at my heels.

The goblins snarled and bared their jagged teeth, moving in a surprisingly coordinated manner as they did their very best to close the last bit of distance.

The kobolds were no less fierce. Their roars were higher-pitched, almost shrill, as they clawed at the ground, trying to gain speed.

Their growls reverberated in my chest from how close they were, but I wasn't overly concerned.

Their limbs churned furiously, but I already saw and heard the telltale signs of fatigue—tongues lolling, breaths coming in ragged gasps. They were giving it their all, desperate to reach me and tear me to shreds, but their stamina was failing them.

When the Kobs initially entered the fray, their superior speed enabled them to surge ahead, even forcing me to zigzag through the wider tunnels to avoid being tackled to the ground and literally dogpiled.

However, the goblins are already starting to overtake them.

It was hard to feel truly intimidated by their efforts when their panting grew louder and more labored with each passing second.

Many of their movements were utterly futile as they clawed at the empty air in a desperate attempt to hit me, while their continuous noises only served to exhaust them further.

The thing about running was that with the proper technique, it was possible to run long distances without fatigue.

Saying that breathing, posture, and rhythm were crucial would be an understatement and while I was no Marathon Runner back on Earth, I knew this shit far better than some creatures who had been birthed by a fucking wall maybe half a day ago.

Hell, without the initial sprint of the Kobs, I would have outrun these bitches even as a baseline human, let alone now that I was enhanced by literal divine power.

Alas, no matter how counter-intuitive it might have seemed, my goal wasn't to shake them off...

'The exact opposite, in fact' I thought as I intentionally lowered my speed the tiniest bit so that everyone could keep up.

I didn't want my precious test subjects to get left behind, after all...

∞

∞

∞

The dungeon was beautiful, as much as a glowing underground cave could be.

I couldn't be sure about the lower floors, but the first three I had visited had a certain... serene feeling about them.

Soft blue light emanated from the glowing rocks embedded in the walls, casting an ethereal glow that danced across the smooth stone surfaces.

The air was slightly cold, a refreshing chill that contrasted with the warmth of the surface above.

Instead of feeling claustrophobic, dirty, or constricting, when one wasn't fighting for their life, the Dungeon was a tranquil, almost otherworldly environment, where the gentle luminescence and the cool atmosphere combined to create a sense of peaceful isolation.

It was almost as if one could just sit down and meditate after a hard-earned victory, catching their breath and forgetting their worries for a moment...only to get shanked by a monster from behind.

'It's quite crafty...I wouldn't have noticed if not for a small urge to sit down and rest.'

While the effect was extremely subtle, so faint that one might not even notice it at all under normal circumstances, when coupled with blood loss and/or a general depletion of stamina, it could spell the demise of many rookie adventurers, leading them to an untimely end.

"Haaa... Well, it's not like it matters now," I murmured aloud, exhaling deeply as I fixed my gaze on the towering marble stairs ascending to the surface, a mere 100 meters away from my current position.

My destination had been reached.

The very beginning of the first floor.

After all, while I had faith in the plan I crafted, having a way of bailing the fuck out was the bare minimum for someone who wasn't keen on courting death...too much.

"It's only a matter of rationality...or at least a methodical insanity..."

My words were drowned out by the thunderous growls, roars, and footfalls of dozens of rabid creatures.

These were the ones who joined the latest, and as a result, had the most energy remaining.

I turned around, coming face-to-face with a lively goblin, a newly spawned most likely.

It came face-to-face with my fist.

Some of its many teeth sank into my skin even as its face crumpled, but before it could even recoil from the sudden strike, it fell to the ground like a stringless puppet, sporting a brand new hand-sized hole through its chest cavity.

I disregarded its desperate pleas, my attention fixed on the veritable legion of monsters I had gathered, each of them intent on slaughtering me in the same way I did to the pitful gob lying at my feet.

Their shapes blended in the corridor's dimness, green, brown, and grey mingled, forming an indistinct mass of malevolence.

With every step, their snarls grew louder once more as their prey finally stopped running.

I could almost feel an icy hand tightening around my heart, a primal instinct urging me to turn away and rush toward the surface, away from this horror, away from this insanity...

...but...

...how could I hesitate when this was exactly what I wanted?

...when all of these monsters served one, singular purpose.

...Pushing me to my limits...and beyond...

I brought my bloodied hand to my mouth.

The ice began to melt as I felt the minty taste of the gob's magic stone...

As I shattered the tiny crystal between my molars and felt my Hunger begin to awaken...

...I felt my perspective shift.

I wasn't surrounded by a sea of man-eating monsters anymore, no...

The only thing I could see surrounding me was...

An All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet