Buried

Ligi woke up with darkness in his eyes. He felt this weight all over his body. This certain situation reminded him of those nightmares he was having from time to time. The nightmares give him these feelings and emotions he doesn't want to have. No. No! No!!

"NO!!!"

Ligi forcefully moved his body. His body tensed and released in a burst of power that took out the soil that buried him within. He blinked furiously, wanting to wake up from the dream. He had to hold his chest because it was beating so hard as if it wanted to get out. He noticed he was holding soil in his hand.

It was only then that relief filled his whole body. He much preferred this unknown environment to that dark, cold, and infinite space in the dream. Clearing his head, he started to evaluate his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was feeling slight dizziness that turned into a full-blown headache. He didn't even remember fainting.

He looked at the soil in his hand and studied it carefully. If he wasn't wrong, this was the same soil like the one in the Dreaded Valley. This dark, dry, and lumpy soil were very memorable.

His surroundings were the same as the soil. There were only two possibilities, this was a structure made of soil and that he was dragged in it or that he was underground.

He used his hand to prop himself up and patted down his clothes for remaining soil debris. He immediately checked out his surroundings for any exit, any hole, or anything he could fit in. He didn't find anything. He wanted to get out but recklessly digging around won't get him anywhere. It may even have the opposite effect and collapse and bury him inside.

He had to think about all the possible solutions before acting. He just hoped Bang was alright.

"AHH!"

A sudden shout made Ligi flinch. He subconsciously took out his shield and turned around and backed himself up against the wall. This way he wouldn't have to worry about attacks from the back.

He had to focus his eyes hard since this place was only dimly lit. He saw a lump of soil in the ground slightly shift, then it exploded. Something came out of the ground. No, that's a person. Who?

Ligi decided to get a closer look and walked step by step into the coughing person.

"Where the hell am I?!?!"

Those were the first words that Ligi heard. That voice sounded familiar. It was the same raspy annoying voice. It was unbridled and arrogant. When Ligi first heard this voice he instantly hated it.

'Please no, don't tell me it's him.'

The man covered in soil looked around and locked eyes with Ligi. They both instantly recognized each other and a frown started to appear on both their faces at the same time.

"It's you!!"

"It's you!!"

It was Resi. Ligi couldn't believe his bad luck. How could he be stuck in here with this guy?!

Resi couldn't believe his bad luck. How could he be stuck in here with this guy?!

Resi instantly got up to his feet and started digging around the cave. He had to get out of this place. He was starting to feel suffocated just looking around himself.

"Hello!!! Is anybody out there?!?!"

Resi couldn't take it anymore and just shouted out. He put his hands on his mouth to create a booming sound that echoed throughout the chamber.

"Hey! Stop it!"

Ligi immediately tried to stop Ligi by covering his mouth. They don't know where they are and how they got here. Recklessly shouting may give their position away to the enemy.

"Ow!!!!"

Resi bit Ligi's finger in irritation. Ligi doesn't have the qualifications to stop him from doing what he wants. It made him want to do it more.

"We're stuck out here!!!"

Before Ligi could even stop Resi from shouting again, they felt a tremor in the ground. At first, it was a small vibration but has now become a full-on earthquake. Ligi immediately used his shield to protect himself from possible rocks falling from the ceiling. Resi just stayed where he was and steadied his balance. He looked up, wanting to dodge the rocks falling.

The rocks didn't fall. There was only dust that scattered throughout the cave. After the earthquake, it was silent. Eerily silent. They prepared for anything that might come.

The earthquake struck again. The magnitude this time was stronger than before. Ligi was now sure that the cave would collapse onto itself so he curled up even further behind his shield.

The rocks didn't come but instead, they saw the walls move. The walls inched closer to them at a slow pace. Ligi started panicking. He immediately went into the center of the room to at least survive this event for a long time. Resi tried to brute force his way out and hold down the walls with his bare hands. It didn't work. If this goes on, they'd be dead within minutes.

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Bang could only see the sword coming to him but he couldn't react. It was too fast. He just closed his eyes and let the system take control of his body. He heard a squishy sound like a cockroach being stepped on but he didn't feel pain. He slowly opened his eyes to see Gotang with his sword thrusting the ground. He looked down and saw a literal cockroach the size of his feet dead and cleaved in half.

"Be careful. Those are pesky to deal with."

Bang couldn't say anything else and just said thanks.

"Th—thanks."

Gotang held his hand out and helped Bang off the ground to which Bang accepted. He looked around again to see where he was and then he looked at Gotang for instructions.

"We're underground. This is the digestive system of the soil."

"Wait were in what now?!?!"

"Don't worry, your crewmate is probably okay. Ligi's a strong kid I could feel it."

Bang didn't care about Ligi right now. All he wanted to know was how to get out of this 'digestive system'. Bang looked panicked as he gleamed sweat by the second. Gotang wasn't doing anything and was just standing and observing his surroundings.

Bang noticed that Gotang was looking in a certain direction. He followed his line of eyesight and saw a corridor that led into darkness.

"Should we go there?"

Gotang didn't speak but gave an affirming nod. Bang let Gotang walk first since he didn't have anything to protect himself with and he knew nothing about this place. Gotang's eyes widened and there was a look of recognition in his eyes as he stared down the corridor.

They walked to the corridor with each step as carefully as the first. Bang was only one step behind Gotang and following his every step, fearing he might step on a trap or something.

As they stepped into the darkness, it seemed to stretch into infinity. There was no light source in here but Gotang seemed confident in his stride. From Bang's minimap, he could see that the corridor was wide enough for the two of them and it was going on a straight line into somewhere.

It seemed they were walking for over an hour and there was still no end in sight. Bang started to have thoughts of retreat. Maybe there was some other corridor that led somewhere safe. Maybe this was all a trap by the digestive system. Bang didn't notice it but he was suddenly two steps behind Gotang.

After two more hours, Bang started to get more and more anxious. The system wasn't saying anything and Gotang seemed like he knew where he was going but even Bang who had a mini-map felt it was useless. Bang was now four steps behind Gotang. He now noticed the difference.

Thinking it was weird, Bang decided to hurry and catch up to Gotang only to find Gotang speed up. He tried again with hurried steps but it seemed like whenever he was speeding up, Gotang would also speed up. No, that's not right. The corridor seemed like it was expanding between them which was effectively separating them.

"Wait, stop!"

Gotang ignored Bang's shout. Was he ignoring him? Or maybe he didn't hear Bang?

"WAIT!!!!!"

Bang shouted with more volume and force which made the corridor echo with his voice. Gotang still didn't hear Bang and just stared straight at the darkness. He always seemed determined to walk ahead as if he knew where he was going.

Bang was now five steps behind Gotang. His heart beat faster and faster as he got more anxious. This was the worst-case scenario for him. He was all alone in an unknown dangerous place without anything to protect himself with.

He tried harder and harder to catch up. He tried walking at a fast pace, and he tried sprinting to the fullest but he still couldn't catch up. He was starting to feel it was hopeless. He started to have doubts about this journey and the mind-numbing pursuit of nothingness. He has now stopped walking. Without Gotang or Ligi here, he was just by himself.