Endless Gluttony

"Breaking news! Field reports points towards strange phenomenon amongst Dungeon Monsters. The creatures seem to have a tendency to slowly gravitate towards the center of their home Dungeons, and though the reasons are unknown as of yet, our scientists are working on finding out…"

Amidst the bustling streets filled with the sound of honking cars and news channels being displayed on large billboard screens, a sudden voice called out to Zane.

"Yo!"

As he approached the Hunter's Association branch here in City X, he immediately heard his best friend calling out to him. Turning his head, he found Leo standing a few meters away, waving his arm by the entrance to the Association building.

"Isn't that the infamous Porter of Porters…?"

"Wow… he really is as skinny as the rumors say. As expected of E-rank."

"Shut up, bruh. Aren't you the same rank as him?"

"Well, yeah, but I just started so it's only natural. I heard he's been Hunting for seven years straight."

"At the very least, that would mean he's very experienced with what he does, then, right? Hahaha!"

Leo, hearing the murmurs coming from all around them, narrowed his eyes and turned back to Zane.

"Don't mind them. They're just…"

"I know. Used to it," Zane replied, hiding his grimace with an awkward smile.

"So… he's going to be our porter?"

At that moment, a burly man stepped up beside Leo and began walking towards Zane. He had a body of enormous stature, with wide shoulders and muscle-lined limbs befitting of the enormous spiked metal club on his back. His thighs were probably around the size of Zane's chest, and the difference in height between the two was completely out of the question.

He looked like a thirty-year-old thug with his gloomy expression—and a dangerous one at that. The arrogant type of Hunter who looked down on those of lower rank than him, especially 'porters' like Zane.

Surprisingly enough, however, the man's next action was not a punch to the face, or an act of intimidation. Instead, he simply held out his hand—an invitation for a handshake.

Zane was cautious at first. But after several seconds of silence, he took the hand, and shook it firmly. The large man nodded in satisfaction at this, and without letting go, introduced himself.

"Welcome to the team, rookie. My name is Dante. And you?"

"Zane. Zane Silverdale."

"Good."

At last, the man—Dante—let go, and patted Zane twice on the shoulder.

"I'm trusting you with our supplies. Don't let me down."

Zane couldn't help but be surprised. Usually, other Hunters treated porters like him quite harshly. In their eyes, porters were just like robots who carried all the luggage and supplies. They weren't of any use otherwise, but this man seemed to actually place trust and importance in them.

Turning back to the others who'd gathered, Dante gave a nod.

"Everyone has assembled. It's time to move in."

*****

The location of the Dungeon was quite bold.

There the Gate sat, right in the middle of a busy major intersection. It was shaped like an oval portal, the void particles within swirling slowly. The police had sealed off the roads and contacted the Hunter's Association right away as soon as it appeared, so fortunately, no accidents happened.

As soon as a Gate opened, the countdown began. 14 days was the amount of time a party of Hunters had to shut down a Dungeon, before monsters could start leaking through into humanity's world via the portal. It was unknown how they get through since as recent studies show, monsters tend to move towards the center of the Dungeon slowly as time passes on, but that wasn't anything Zane had to worry about. Leave the science to the scientists, as they say.

After entering the Dungeon, the Hunt proceeded as normal. It was of the catacombs archetype, meaning the enemies found were pretty much all Undead. Normally, that would be a cause of concern due to their sheer numbers, but being a low-rank Dungeon, these creatures were more like EXP fodder and training dummies than an actual threat.

Even Zane managed to kill two and obtain their Monster Cores, which could sell for quite a bit of money depending on their size and luminosity—factors decided by the monster's level and rank respectively. Just the two he had in his hand was probably enough for a hundred dollars.

The Dungeon itself, however, was surprisingly big for being D-rank. Even after hours of slaughter, the Cartographer of the party said they weren't even halfway done clearing it. That was a letdown for the Hunters who were starting to grow tired and hungry, but they carried on and endured to the best of their abilities. This discrepancy between Dungeon size and rank was rare, but it wasn't unheard of before.

On the way, Zane had talked to Leo about their party and learned a number of things. Dante, for example, was a C-Rank Hunter who had apparently just moved into this city from someplace else, for reasons unknown and shrouded in mystery. That was about it—the rest of the party was hardly remarkable, consisting of various E to D-Rank Hunters—the sheer number of Hunters here was overkill for such a low-rank Dungeon, but they probably all came along after catching wind of the 'abnormal energy signatures', just out of curiosity.

Soon, however, the group came across a grandiose double door made of stone, with a lavish green vine-like design on both sides and golden handles that looked authentic. There was no other way to go but forward—the rest of the Dungeon up until this point had already been explored and cleared.

"What's up ahead, Little Dan?" Leo asked a tiny kid—the Cartographer of the group. "Danger? Fortune?"

"Hm… I can't say for sure since my [Cartography] skill tier is not high enough yet," the child replied, eyes closed and brows furrowed in concentration. "But my current map does mark it as a beneficial area, so there could potentially be treasure or other helpful items to progress in the Dungeon."

"There's no other choice. We're going in," Dante said, voice low and calm. "Is everyone ready?"

The party members all gave firm nods, Zane included. Why wouldn't they be? If it's a beneficial area, then only good things could await. Dante, however, forever cautious, carefully pushed opened the doors, ready to swing his massive club down at a moment's notice.

"What the—?!"

The next instant, Zane's eyes were blinded by a bright white light, and he quickly covered them out of instinct. Once his vision adjusted, he slowly moved his hands away, and took in the sight before him.

And what a sight it was.

There, laid out in front of him, was an enormous golden cage, surrounded by puffy white clouds and flying doves. The party stood on the highest step of a gilded, floating staircase leading down, with no railings or anything to support it. The various steps of the stairs simply hovered there, each one sinking a slight bit as someone stepped on it.

It was truly a divine sight—something wild enough to make Zane think he was in heaven, especially when compared to the dark, humid, and dimly-illuminated environment of the catacombs. He'd been in his fair share of Dungeons before, and none had ever looked like this. The smell in the air was great too; a faintly sweet aroma that seemed to be coming from the direction of the cage.

"Wow…" A girl breathed, taking in the beautiful scenery. "Is this… really a Dungeon?"

Dante, however, being the most experienced one there, narrowed his eyes and frowned.

"… Don't let your guard down."

That was all he said.

Slowly, the group made their way down the magical staircase, down to the golden cage. They were careful with each step, always placing something heavy like baggage in front first to make sure it wasn't a trap. Everyone followed behind Dante like ducklings following after their mother, cautious and nervous. As always in a Hunt, Zane was last.

When the party arrived before the open doors of the golden cage, they were finally able to see what lay inside—the source of the smell.

An incredibly long rectangular table with silky smooth white cloth draped over it sat surrounded by royal leather chairs, one for each member of the party. On top of the table lay numerous delicious-smelling dishes—rotisserie chicken, roasted lamb skewers, lobsters—and many more. Not only that, the scenery was beautiful too—seven large stone marble statues stood around on the edges of the circular cage, all of them with wings attached to their backs. It would appear they represented the Seven Archangels from the Bible—a good omen.

Faced with this assortment of food and atmosphere, the group's members who were already excited only became happier.

"Woah… so much food…"

"Perfect, I'm starving!"

As the group's members eagerly dashed towards the table, however, Dante stopped them with his large arm, and without even looking at them, gave his order.

"Stay back."

His voice was calm and deep, but it also carried an edge with it—enough to make the idiots back off. Then, he slowly took off the large club on his back and propped it against the edge of the gate, finding a good position to lay it at. The others, seeing this, all lifted eyebrows in confusion.

"What's he doing?"

"I don't know… can we just eat already?"

"Yeah… I can feel my mouth watering…"

"He's making sure the doors won't shut tight on us after we enter," Zane explained, speaking up confidently. "After all, there are too many traps like that inside Dungeons."

At this, the party members all looked at Zane in surprise, while Dante paused.

"Huh… he's actually pretty smart, for a porter."

"Yeah… but still, he's going to be useless if we end up having to fight. Luckily, there seems to be no need for that here."

"… It's done. You can all enter."

As Dante said those words, everyone immediately poured into the cage, dancing and prancing around in the clouds beneath their feet. It felt like solid ground, but with this faint warm and marshmallowy feeling around their ankles—quite enjoyable.

Zane and Leo, being the last to go in, were suddenly stopped by Dante, who patted the former on the shoulder.

"… Hey, kid. How'd you know what I was doing?"

"Oh, it's just… it's usually my job to do that on Raids," Zane replied, scratching his head, as Leo grinned and nudged him on the shoulder.

"You see, the first time this guy went on a Raid, we got trapped in a sealed chamber with monsters in it, because the doors shut on us. It was a relatively low-rank Dungeon so we were able to make it out fine, but ever since then, he's remembered to always prop the door open before entering through it. Even though he's a porter, he's the best porter you can ask for."

At this, Dante let out a low chuckle.

"… Heh. I can see that."

*****

After setting down all the luggage he'd been carrying, Zane settled down in the only remaining empty seat around the table with everyone else. No one, however, made a move just yet, and instead were looking around at their companions anxiously. Eventually, one guy decided to speak up, and voice the elephant in the room.

"So… uh, I'm guessing we don't have any Venomancers here?"

Venomancy—the Specialization of poison. Venomancers were generally immune to poison and could sense it upon taste-testing, so whenever food or water was found inside a Dungeon, they would be asked to try it first for the safety of the rest of the group. It was standard Hunter's Association protocol. Unfortunately, Venomancers were not exactly common, so when a party lacked one… the porter would be the one to take on the taste-testing job.

In this case, no one spoke up—and so, all eyes converged on Zane.

Sighing, he knew this was his fate. It's not like he hasn't done it before. Hesitantly, he picked up a chicken drumstick and took a bite out of it, relaxing as the delicious juices flowed into his mouth. After chewing for a while, he swallowed the meat down with a sip of the red wine stored in his glass, and waited.

Nothing happened.

"It's safe," he concluded, and the others immediately dug in before Dante could even open his mouth to interject.

"…" He looked like he'd been about to warn them, but the low-rank Hunters had already began stuffing their faces full with the feast laid out before them.

Of course, if there really was poison and it was a slow-acting one that didn't trigger immediately, then they'd all be dead, but Dungeons tended to be sudden and explosive in their traps. At the very least, Zane had never encountered a slow-acting poison trap, even in all the Raids he'd been on with a Venomancer, not to mention Little Dan's mapping skill marked this area as a 'beneficial' area. Cartographers' maps were always fully accurate—that was what made them so useful in the first place—so theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any risk of eating and drinking the items here.

Even so, Zane and Dante both remained cautious, being the most experienced ones. The other Hunters, however, were different. After slaughtering for so long inside these dark, gloomy catacombs, it was only natural they were hungry. This acted like a good 'break' room for them, and being fairly inexperienced as E-ranks and D-ranks, they ate without thinking about too much.

As minutes turned to hours, the food on the table began slowly disappearing dish by dish, yet no one showed any sign of stopping. In fact, despite eating quite a bit, Zane still felt hungry, and those who ate even more than him seemed to be even more hungry than before. The same applied with thirst—he'd already downed his entire glass of red wine, yet his lips felt dry and crusty.

On top of this, Zane could feel his head getting light. He was starting to see things—hallucinations, but faint ones that would go away as soon as he shook his head.

Realizing this oddity, he placed his fork and knife back on the table despite his hunger. No one else seemed to notice, however, except for maybe Dante who had been eating reservedly since the beginning. Even Leo continued to ravage the food on the table without showing any restraint.

It was understandable. Low-ranking Hunters could barely afford a living, so when they were met with a free feast like this, naturally they were going to enjoy themselves.

Very soon, the food on the table was completely depleted, and the party members' outreached arms froze in mid-air as they realized there was nothing left.

"Eh…? There's no more…?" A boy tilted his head, eyes spinning. "I was just getting started…"

"Guess not… I'm still hungry, though…" A man added, slowly rising from his seat. "Sooo… sooo… hungry…"

Like a well-oiled robot, his head slowly creaked to his left, as he stared at the boy who'd just spoken. His eyes, spinning with delusion, seemed to intensify, and his mouth widened into a maniacal, terrifying smile.

"Heheh… food…"

Then, he jumped.

Like a predator targeting its prey, the man launched himself towards the boy, and tackled him to the ground. With crazed, bloodthirsty eyes, he opened his mouth wide…

… And bit down straight into his neck.

The poor victim let out a blood-curdling scream, but it was already too late for him. Not unlike a hungry wolf, the man earnestly began his meal, starting with the boy's neck. The boy tried his best to resist, but the man, overcome with hunger, was far too much for him.

With a twist of his head, he viciously tore off the skin, and then immediately began to shred the flesh and arteries with reckless abandon. After another moment of squelching and muffled shrieking, the man's head snapped back—the boy's throat held in his stained jaws. One final, strangled noise—the boy's last desperate cry for help—and the body fell to the bloodied ground, lifeless—or at least, that's what was supposed to happen. But at that moment, the boy suddenly attacked back despite the gruesome gap in his throat, and began tearing away at the man's flesh.

"Wha… wha…"

Zane hurriedly got out of his chair and knocked it backwards, terrified. Before he could react, the other party members began jumping at each other one by one, hungry and monstrous. What was once a beautiful feast now turned into a scarlet bloodbath. The white clouds beneath their feet were stained red with gore, as body parts and intestines flew around in the cage.

The food had turned these people into hungry zombies—beings that were no longer human. Despite their supposedly lethal wounds, they still continued laughing and ravaging on each other's flesh, and until someone forcibly lopped their head off, they weren't going to stop.

It was a monstrous sight, and made Zane want to vomit.

One of the zombies jumped towards Dante, but the large man opened his palm to call back his club and slammed them directly in the temple, knocking them away. However, it was far from dead, and was already beginning to crawl back to its deranged feet.

"Go… hurry!"

It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was talking about. Zane quickly grabbed his friend Leo by the shoulders and shook him a few times, panic in his eyes.

"Leo! Leo, can you hear me!"

"Ngh... Zane... My head hurts so damn much... like there's something invading my brain… agh…"

"Don't let it take over!" Zane yelled, throwing one of Leo's arms around his shoulders and practically dragging him away from the battlefield. Unfortunately, since Dante summoned his club back, that meant nothing was stopping the cage gates from closing themselves anymore, and the entrance was sealed off.

"Shit…!"

Quickly, Zane turned away and searched for another exit. He found one all the way on the other end of the cage, but to do so, he'd have to make it past this gruesome field of cannibals eating one another alive. Gritting his teeth, he looked around for anything he could use with one hand, and in the end, settled on a sharp piece of a marble plate.

Just at that moment, however, Dante slammed down in front of him, gripping his metal club tightly as he panted.

"I'll clear a path. Go, kid!"

Without time to even say thank you, Zane dashed past him and towards the other entrance, while Dante attracted all of the cannibals' attention with a roar. One by one, he swung his spiked club at his former party members, but these monsters just kept coming. Driven completely insane by hunger, they jumped towards Dante like zombies, and soon overwhelmed him.

"Dante…!"

Zane, realizing there was nothing he could do, only grit his teeth and carried on running, still carrying Leo's sweating body as he tried to fight the malicious thoughts inside his head. Zane could feel them too, but since he didn't eat nearly as much, they couldn't do anything to him—yet. Dante, on the other hand, was simply stronger than everyone else here, and had the mental fortitude to push past the food's effects.

As soon as Zane went through the doorway on the other end of the golden cage, the illusion fell. He found himself staring at a stone wall, old enough to have green fungi growing on it. Ominous blue torches provided illumination, and it soon became clear that this was, in fact, a Dungeon of the catacombs archetype.

"Hah… hah… hah…"

Looking both ways, Zane decided to go left. Dragging Leo with him, he fled the field of blood and gore, heartbeat rising and sweat forming. A sinking feeling brewed in his stomach—he had taste-test the food, had he not? Was it not his job to inform the other hunters about the poison?

'No, no… it's not my fault. I couldn't have known… I'm not a Venomancer… the map… the map lied…'

Zane bit his lip and carried forth. It was not his fault, he told himself. But even though he tried to convince himself otherwise, the more time passed, the guiltier he felt.

And time—was ticking.